The Truths Spoken In The Sea Of Lies

That's a Hydra ... Oh hey! That's Clarisse!

"Rhea," Chiron yelled, "you have to watch out for-" His voice was drowned out by loud shouting behind him-a bunch of voices whooping it up like Comanche warriors.

"What?" Rhea said while laughing.

"Curse my relatives!" Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head and shattered somewhere out of sight. "Annabeth, you shouldn't have let Rhea leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece-"

"Yeah, baby!" somebody behind Chiron yelled. "Woo-hoooooo!" The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made our boat vibrate.

"-Miami," Chiron was yelling. "I'll try to keep watch-"

Their misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, and Chiron was gone.

Party Ponies are crazy. Rhea smiled.

An hour later they spotted land- a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers.

A Coast Guard cruiser passed on our starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look, guess it isn't every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a hundred knots an hour, manned by three kids.

"That's Virginia Beach!" Annabeth said as they approached the shoreline. "Oh my gods, how did Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That's like-"

"Five hundred and thirty nautical miles," Rhea said.

Annabeth stared at her. "How did you know that?"

"We're in the sea" Rhea answered like it was obvious.

Annabeth thought for a moment. "Rhea, what's our position?"

"36 degrees, 44 minutes north, 76 degrees, 2 minutes west," Rhea said immediately like a GPS.

"Your dad," Annabeth with 'I get it' face. "When you're at sea, you have perfect bearings. That is so cool."

"Yeah, I'm a walking, talking, breathing, human marine GPS." Rhea chuckled.

Tyson tapped Rhea's shoulder. "Other boat is coming."

Rhea and Annabeth looked back. The Coast Guard vessel was definitely on their tail now. Its lights were flashing, and it was gaining speed.

"Great last thing I want is nosy normies asking too many questions."

"Keep going into the Chesapeake Bay," Annabeth said. "I know a place we can hide."

This time instead of loosening the thermos cap a little more she closed it and commanded the water to send them rocketing around the northern tip of Virginia Beach into Chesapeake Bay.

The coast guard boat fell farther and farther behind, Rhea didn't slow the waves down until the shores of the bay narrowed on either side, and they entered the mouth of a river.

Rhea could feel the change from salt water to fresh water. And pouted. "I wanna return to the sea."

She didn't know where she was anymore, she knew what this place was, but she didn't know the direction, or which way to steer the boat. It was a good thing Annabeth was directing her.

"There," she said. "Past that sandbar."

They veered into a swampy area choked with marsh grass. Rhea beached the lifeboat at the foot of a giant cypress. Vine-covered trees loomed above them.

Insects chirred in the woods. The air was muggy and hot, and steam curled off the river. Basically, it wasn't Manhattan, and Rhea didn't like it.

"Come on," Annabeth said. "It's just down the bank, and we'd better cover the boat. We don't want to draw attention."