Nina's Destiny

Arai and Eros

This morning I woke up to find a weasel staring down at me. At least, that's what I thought it was when I first saw it. It was really a polecat with digestion problems. Hazel apologized profusely when she finally found the polecat, Gale. Apparently, it's one of Hecate's pets.

All Gleeson did all morning was complain about how rude the polecat was and how it refused to give him a straight answer. Apollo, Leo, Sirius, Tonks, Cassie, Remmy, and I were cracking up the entire time.

After breakfast, I went up on deck to look at the white cliffs of Croatia. Leo was on deck too, manning the controls. "Something bad is about to happen," I said as Hazel walked onto the deck.

"Yeah," she agreed. "That's why she sent Gale, to see how well we handle it and-"

"To see if we're worth helping," I finished ominously. Hazel nodded as she moved to stand next to me.

"Something is in the water!" Annabeth shouted. I looked up to see her in the rigging. I couldn't believe I had missed her when I was scouring the deck to see if anyone was up here. Suddenly, the boat lurched to the side. I grunted and went sprawling into Hazel as I lost my balance. She grabbed my arm, but I just dragged her down with me.

"Gahh!" Leo shouted. "It's eating the oars!"

Everyone quickly ran on deck. "Hey! HEY!" Piper yelled, waving a cornucopia she had picked up in Rome around. It was magic and spewing food into the water. "Eat this, ya stupid turtle!"

"Una tartaruga?"(A turtle?) I asked Apollo curiously.

He nodded and helped me up. "We're under attack."

I gave him a look that just screamed Seriously!

"You okay?" Frank asked as he helped Hazel up.

"Yeah," Hazel groaned. "Go!"

Frank pulled out his bow and arrows and ran to the helm. "Oars won't react!" Leo yelled. "Get it away! Get it away!"

"Styx – it's huge!" Nico shouted. "Port! Go port!"

The Argo II shuddered as more oars snapped. "No, no, no!" Leo shouted. "Dang slimey-shelled son of a mother!" Hazel, Apollo, and I ran to the stern. I couldn't believe what we saw. The turtle was the size of an island! I watched as it snapped off another half-dozen oars in its toothless mouth. "Stop that!" Leo wailed.

"Can the ship fly?" Hazel asked.

"Not with half the oars broken off," Remus groaned.

"There!" Cassie exclaimed. "Can you get us to those straits?"

I raised my hand and willed the water to push us away from the turtle and towards the straits. Leo swirled his Wii controler and we were sent forward even faster as cannons fired out of the stern. We shot into the channel. It was too thin for the turtle to get in. We ran into another problem though. The channel ended in a V. There was no way out.

"Well, the turtle can't get in, so at least we're safe," Piper said optimistically.

That didn't sound right. I've learned over the years that it doesn't pay to be optimistic. I was right. As soon as the words left Piper's mouth, an warning arrow flew within six inches of her face. We all studied the cliff. "Up there," Frank said, pointing. "Single shooter. See him?"

"Who the heck is he?" Leo asked.

Apollo scowled. "Sciron, a pirate son of Poseidon."

"Why am I related to all the weirdos?" I groaned.

"Guys," Tonks said. "There's a note."

Hazel grumbled, stormed over, and untied the note. She read out loud. "First line: Stand and deliver."