Chapter 2 Apollo Sends Us On A Quest Without Our Consent

Leo was already annoyed with whatever godly shenanigans they were about to get into. Of course, at this point he was just grateful that Apollo hadn't smited him. Smote him? Whatever. He may have been immune to fire but he didn't want to test his luck on an angry god.

It was harder to focus than normal, which was already saying a lot. Everything spun. His mind raced five times faster than normal. Maybe that sixth cup of Kool-aid hadn't been the best idea.

Piper crossed her arms, "You need our help?"

Apollo nodded.

"And why is that?"

Apollo opened his mouth to answer but Nico, Hazel, and Frank all came running out of the house.

"Is everyone okay?" Frank looked around frantically, as if checking to make sure no one was hurt, then noticed Apollo. He quickly fell to one knee, "Lord Apollo," He said. Hazel followed suit, but everyone else remained standing. Leo rolled his eyes. At this point, he'd gotten on the nerves of most of the gods. If he was still in one piece, then the gods probably weren't going to hurt him for not following formalities.

"Gods of Olympus! What happened?" Hazel asked, as she and Frank stood, noticing the Maserati Spyder, which was still smoking.

"Apollo crash landed on the beach." Jason told her.

"Aren't you supposed to be on the other side of the country right now?" Annabeth said. Leo glanced over at her, who looked completely done with this conversation already. Clearly she was not amused to be getting asked to complete a favor by a god.

"Believe me, I'd rather be there," Apollo explained, "But like I said-"

"You need our help." Piper deadpanned.

It was hard to pick out her words. Leo put a hand on his head. Why was it still spinning? Thinking hurt. He was definitely gonna feel this in the morning. How did Dakota drink so much of that stuff? Like, it was really good and all but gods-

"I may or may not have lost a magical lyre somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle." Apollo admitted.

Leo cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "A what?" He blinked. A magical liar? What would Apollo even do with something like that? What did that even mean?

"It's like a mini harp," Annabeth explained, "Used a lot in Ancient Greek times." She frowned, "How did you not know that? We have a bunch of them at camp."

Leo shrugged. That made a lot more sense.

Nico shook his head, "Anyway, what does that have to do with us?"

"Well, you see, it started a few days ago as I was driving my usual route across the Atlantic…" Apollo's eyes glazed over with a dreamy look, as if reminiscing a pleasant memory, "It gets boring taking the same trip day after day, and so I thought, 'Why not play some music?' But I couldn't just find a radio station, oh no no no, so I pulled out my lyre and began creating a tune. It was beautiful, the chords moving like the gentle tropical breeze. I would play it for you now, except I can't." He paused, "I think I should write a haiku about this."

"Please don't-" Annabeth started, but it was too late.

"Oh lyre so bright

Music dancing through the sky

Is out of reach"

Apollo finished with a proud look on his face not unlike that of a five-year-old showing off a stick figure drawing to his Mom. He was met with uncomfortable silence. Annabeth smacked her forehead and groaned. Nico smirked.

"Wow, Apollo," He said, "That was actually really terrible," Hazel promptly stomped on his foot. Nico didn't react, "But you never answered my question. Why did you come to us and not, you know, any of the gods on Olympus?"

Apollo waved his hands in front of him, "Right, sorry. Guess I just got so caught up in the moment. When inspiration hits you have to act," He cleared his throat as his face turned red and he looked at the ground, "But anyway, this lyre I dropped was kind of a special one. My father gave it to me a while back as a present and said, "Now Apollo, this is a very powerful lyre, and you must be careful as to not lose it. If you do, I will smite you for your own stupidity.' Apollo blinked, "Or something like that."

"How powerful are we talking?" Leo asked, crossing his arms.

Apollo winced, "Like in the wrong hands one could take over Olympus kind of powerful. And with it being on an island somewhere…"

Everyone exchanged a knowing glance. Leo did not. Instead he looked around at everyone and tried to remember what inside joke he was missing . Something about Poseidon, maybe? Leo wasn't sure. He couldn't think clearly with the sugar running through his brain. It spun so fast that it almost felt like it was going slow, and his thought process was more sluggish than normal. For the first time, Leo missed the chaos of his ADHD brain. At least he could think then, even if his thoughts were a cluttered disaster.

Maybe that was why he never took his meds as a kid.

"…how do you know it's on an island?" Frank asked as Leo turned back to the conversation, "Not that I'm doubting you or anything."

"It's magical," Apollo answered. "I can sense a vague direction of where it is, but not a specific location."

"So then how are we supposed to find it?" Hazel wondered.

"Do not worry, young demigods," Apollo said, which was received with eye rolls, "I know where you can find information. Go to the island of Eqira. It's just north of the Sea of Monsters."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Leo interrupted, putting his hands in front of him, "You never said anything about a 'sea of monsters'."

"The Sea of Monsters is in the Bermuda triangle, dork," Annabeth muttered.

"Sor-ry I didn't know that," Leo muttered, then under his breath added, "Smart-ass."

Annabeth turned to him with daggers in her eyes, "What did you say?" She began marching toward him with the obvious intent to maul him, but Frank stopped her.

"Guys, knock it off!" Frank said, "Lord Apollo, we are so sorry. Please, continue."

"I like this one," Apollo said to no one in particular, then continued, "There, on the island of Equira, you will find a demigod named Pietro. He's the son of Petro, the god of missing objects."

"You just made that up," Piper said.

Apollo shook his head, "Of course not. Why would I do that? I do my research, unlike some people who are too lazy. Dang authors, they'd rather spend their time making up names than take two seconds to look up the source material they're writing from."

"So let me get this straight," Jason took off his glasses and rubbed his nose before replacing them and tried to get the conversation back on track, "You dropped an all-powerful object in the middle of the ocean, the center of Poseidon's power, where he can easily get it and possibly take over Olympus, and you want us to find it because you're scared of what you're dad will say to you?"

Apollo nodded and smiled, "Exactly."

"Typical," Nico muttered.

"And why us specifically?" Hazel asked, ignoring Nico.

"I can't ask any god, major or minor, without raising suspicion, like I said earlier. With demigods, however, I should be able to keep it under wraps without my father finding out. And, as it turns out, you seven are the strongest I know," Apollo answered, "If anyone can brave the Sea of Monsters, it'd be you guys."

Piper rolled her eyes, "Of course."

"Heck no!" Leo yelled, "Ain't no way in Hades I'm sailing through some "Sea of Monsters" to get a stupid harp."

"Lyre," Annabeth corrected.

"Whatever!" Leo sighed. His head pounded. The last thing he needed right now was a whiny god who was too scared of his daddy to ask for help, "My point is, fire and water don't exactly mix, so that's problem numero uno. And not only do we have to deal with an angry sea god who probably won't be too happy about a bunch of us non-sea creatures trespassing on his property, we also have to deal with a crap ton of other Tartarus-spawns in the freaking "Sea of Monsters". So no, Mr. Sunshine Music Man, I don't want to go on your dumb quest. I just wanna light up my personalized fireworks and go to sleep!"

Everyone turned to Leo, shocked by what he had just said. Frank's jaw dropped. Leo was even a little surprised himself. Obviously, they'd all been thinking along the same lines, but to rant at a god-

"Brave words coming from a demigod," Apollo said, "Fortunately for you, I'm not in the mood for lighting you on fire. If I was, you'd be dead three times now."

Probably wouldn't have worked anyway, Leo thought, but for once kept his mouth shut. Gods, his brain felt like jello. It was a miracle he had any impulse control left, what with little he had anyway.

"Apollo, we're sorry," Frank said, "He's not completely with it right now."

Apollo sighed, "It's alright."

"How would we even get to the Bermuda Triangle?" Annabeth asked, "It's not like we have a boat or anything."

"Also," Jason held up a finger, "I know Poseidon won't be happy to have any non-ocean demigods near him, but I doubt he'd let a son of his arch-nemesis even step foot on a boat before drowning him." He cringed at that, "Just saying."

"That's a good point, Jason," Annabeth added, "Is there any way we could get there from the air?"

"Theoretically," Apollo answered, "Although it will be harder to distract my father that way."

"I could just shadow-travel there," Nico suggested, "That would save us all a lot of trouble."

"That would be great!" Apollo beamed, "But…" He trailed off.

"Of course," Annabeth said. Leo knew what she was implying. Of course there had to be a reason it couldn't be done the easy way.

"The Sea of Monsters is in the center of Poseidon's domain. The second you get over the ocean, all of your powers will be weakened. I'd be surprised if any of you will be able to use your abilities at all by the time you reach the heart of the Bermuda Triangle."

Some of the others grumbled about that. Leo paid them no attention. Something tugged at his gut, like there was a simple solution to all of this. He thought at first it was just the sugar again, but that wasn't it. Something he'd done years back…

Wait a second. Flying boat…

Leo grinned. Suddenly this quest got a whole heck of a lot better.

"We could take the boat I built!" Leo shouted out. That got everyone's attention.

"What?"Jason asked after a moment.

Leo thought back to the bunker he'd found all those years ago. There'd been detailed blueprints of a flying warship. The idea had been too good to pass by. After countless sleepless nights and enough energy drinks to stop a whale's heart, he'd finished it. With the help of some of the other Hephaestus kids, of course.

Despite its hindrances, his ADHD could really be a superpower at times.

"It flies too!" Leo said excitedly, trying to persuade them, but everyone just looked baffled.

Apollo smiled, "I knew you'd figure out something. And I'm glad you did, because if you'd denied the quest I would have had to give you all some deadly plague." He paused, "Farwell demigods. And may the gods be ever in your favor."

With that, Apollo and his car vanished in a flash of light.

"Well I guess we have no choice but to go on this quest now," Jason mumbled, "Thanks Leo."

Frank stared at where Apollo had just been, "Did he just threaten us?"

"Yeah," Leo said dryly, "And he didn't even use the reference correctly. It's "may the odds" not "may the gods", geez, Apollo…" Seriously, with how popular Hunger Games was it was absolutely ridiculous that he didn't know the quote.

"Leo," Annabeth turned to him, "Flying boat?"

That snapped Leo back to the current conversation, "Right." He waved toward where everyone's cars were parked, "Follow me. We're taking a trip to Camp Half-Blood."

oooooooooooo

"A warship?!" Nico yelled. Everyone gaped at the hangar of Bunker 9 as Leo opened the doors.

"Leo!" Jason said, "When…How…?"

Leo grinned, proud to show off his contraption, "Hey, I don't control the hyperfixations, man. I just follow 'em." He stopped, then added, "And I had some help from the other Hephaestus kids. Nyssa spent almost as much time on it as me. Probably would've stopped long before it's completion without them. But anyway," He stood up straighter and waved his hands for dramatic effect, "The Hephaestus cabin proudly presents The Argo II!"

No one responded initially. In their defense, they had every right to be in shock. It was huge. The top deck alone was a marvel, with a golden dragon head at the front. They'd probably go into shock a second time once they saw that it was controlled by wii remotes, and when they saw the lower decks…

Frank pointed at the dragon head, "Is that-"

"Yep," Leo answered before Frank could finish his question, "Festus. Or what was left of him anyway. I'll never forget the day we had to shut him down for good."

"He tried to set the whole camp on fire!" Annabeth told him.

"All relative," Leo said, "He was just malfunctioning. Poor guy."

"How did no one know about this?" Piper asked, "Does Chiron even know?"

Leo nodded, "Chiron approved of it, as long as we didn't actually try to use it. It was a good practice project."

"How did you come up with this?" Jason looked all the way up to the ceiling of the bunker, "And how did you even find a space like this big enough to build it?"

Leo shrugged, "Got bored in the forge one day. Went out for a walk in the forest, as one does. Set some things on fire, and whaddya know? There's a secret hangar in the middle of camp. I found the blueprints for this thing on a desk over in the corner," He pointed to the desk he'd discovered all those years ago.

"And it flys?" Annabeth questioned.

"Yep!" Leo said, "Well, it should. We haven't been able to fully test it beyond basic hovering in here, and Chiron wouldn't let us take it out of the Bunker. So…"

"So you don't know if it actually works?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Well we're pretty sure," Leo told him, "Mostly."

"Great," Frank said, "We have a ship that might spontaneously combust."

"It'll be fine," Leo turned to him, "When have I ever steered any of you wrong?"

They all gave him a blank stare. Leo rubbed the back of his neck, "Alright. Fair point."

Hazel shook her head, "Look, none of that's gonna matter if we can't get this thing out of here. We're kinda in the middle of the woods."

Leo faltered. He hadn't exactly gotten that far. Chiron wouldn't even let them take it out for a test drive, much less a quest.

Annabeth sighed, "I'll go talk to Chiron," She waved at Leo, "Valdez, with me. I need someone who can explain whatever all this is," She gestured at the Argo II.

Leo nodded and followed her out into the forest. They walked in silence, Leo igniting a small flame in his palm and making it jump between his fingers to pass this time. His head felt a little better now, but it still hurt. And he was tired. The last thing he wanted to do right then was go fight monsters and find a harp. He just wanted to curl up on the grass in front of him and pass out. He knew it was the start of a sugar crash, but this one was worse than most. Was this what a hangover felt like?

Then again, if this went through, they would get to ride his ship. His. The one he, and his siblings of course, had built. He'd get to test it out, see if it actually worked as intended. At least this quest wasn't all bad.

They eventually met Chiron at the Big House. He was playing a game of cards with Mr. D, who look looked up from the game upon their arrival, "Valedz! Haven't seen you in a while," He then looked at Annabeth, "And Chase! What are you doing back here so soon? Didn't you just leave?"

"Unfortunately I didn't have a choice," Annabeth muttered.

"Do tell," Chiron said, "What brings you back here? Speaking of which, Leo, is everything all right? Annabeth left here quite suddenly to go help you."

Leo had almost forgotten about the surprise party with the influx of everything else going on, "Oh, that? That was just an excuse to get her to come to her surprise birthday party."

Chiron raised an eyebrow, "Well, happy birthday, Annabeth." Annabeth gave him a quick thank-you, "Now tell me: Why the sudden return?"

Annabeth recounted her party and Apollo crashing on the beach. She told Chiron and Mr. D about the quest, and how they had to sail to the Sea of Monsters and find his missing lyre before Poseidon and his minions did. Leo tuned out for most of it, having heard it all before. Instead he chose to look around the room at the various animal heads. He couldn't remember where those had come from. Had they been hunted? If so, by who? Whom? He could never remember which one was correct.

"And now we need to get said ship out of the forest and into the open." Annabeth finished.

"And you can't just take a normal ship?" Chiron proposed, "Does it have to be the Argo II? After all I specifically told Leo and the others they could build it if and only if," He looked directly at Leo at the point, "They kept it a secret and didn't actually use it. It's too big of a risk. The Mist is strong, and mortals will believe anything but the truth, but a flying warship?"

Leo's heart sank. The one positive about this dumb quest was about to go out the window. He had to trying persuading the centaur, "Chiron, please. The ship can fly. I know that makes it more conspicuous, but do you really think it would be a good idea for seven demigods-seven of the strongest living demigods at that- to go directly into Poseidon's domain?"

"I suppose not," Chiron said, "You do have a point. So now the question is, "How to get that ship out of the hangar."

"I can handle that," said a voice directly behind Leo. Leo screamed and turned to find Apollo standing there.

"Geez, man! What was that for?" Leo yelled.

Apollo shrugged, "Sorry."

"So, Apollo, getting demigods to do your dirty work because you're too irresponsible to keep an eye on your most valuable possession?" Mr. D sneered.

Apollo winced briefly, but then returned to his normal, arrogant attitude. He nodded at Chiron and acknowledged him, who did likewise. Then he turned to Mr. D and shot finger guns at him, "Dionysus, what's up? Haven't seen you in a century. What is it the kids call you these days? Mr. D?"

"Please don't ever call me that again," Mr. D took a sip of Diet Coke.

Apollo smiled, "Yeah. Anyway," He snapped his fingers, "Your boat is now docked at the shoreline outside of camp, ready to go."

Annabeth blinked, "How did you…you know what I'm not even gonna ask."

Apollo bowed, "You're welcome."

Leo folded his arms, "This isn't going to be a regular occurrence on this quest, will it?" He didn't know how much more he could take of this god.

"Nah," Apollo shook his head, "After this, I have to focus all my attention on keeping my father's nose out of your business. I'll leave you alone from here on out."

With that, he vanished into the air again. Leo sighed a breath of relief. At least he wouldn't have to listen to that guy anymore.

Mr. D snorted, "That makes me want to walk right up to Zeus and tell him what he did."

"Could you?" Annabeth asked hopefully, though even Leo knew it was a long shot, "That would get us out of this stupid thing."

Leo shook his head, "Look, as much as I'm annoyed about this, I don't really want to anger Apollo. I'd rather not get cursed with a "deadly plague" or whatever he said he'd do to us."

Annabeth sighed, "Fair point."

Leo smiled, then waved for her to follow him to the door, "Besides, now you guys all get to experience the Argo II!"

"How wonderful," Annabeth muttered.

"Be careful out there," Chiron warned, "And remember, you'll be outside of the Olympians domain on those islands. The Bermuda Triangle is full of dangers."

"We're aware," Annabeth said.

Chiron nodded, "Excellent. Have a great quest!"

As the two left the Big House, Leo pointed toward the coastline, "Onward now! We set sail for…" He trailed off, struggling to remember the name of the island Apollo had told them to go to, "Equality?"

"Equira," Annabeth said.

"Equira!" Leo said triumphantly, "We set sail for Equira to find Pedro!"

"Pietro." Annabeth corrected him.

Leo thrust his arm out again to the ocean, "That's what I meant. Now let's go get our friends and set sail!"