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Percy XXIX

It'll give me something to do while I'm stuck on the ship. The son of Poseidon thought, rolling his eyes.

Whenever Percy stopped by to see her, she was so lost in thought that the conversation went something like this:

Percy: "Hey, how's it going?"

Annabeth: "Uh, no thanks."

The Stolls snickered.

"I love when she gets distracted like this, it makes games like 'Would You Rather?' so interesting." Connor said, smiling wide.

Annabeth frowned in confusion. "What?"

"Who knew that instead of being stuck in an elevator full of chicken-sized zombies or full of wet dogs, Annabeth would rather 'papaya'?" Travis laughed.

"I don't remember this." Annabeth's eyebrows furrowed.

"My favorite one was the 'Would you rather lose a fight against a harpy or a leprechaun?' And she says 'Ask Clarisse, she would know.'" Connor laughed harder.

"What?!" Said girl shouted, glaring at Annabeth.

"I don't even remember having these conversations!" she said defensively.

Will waited until they quieted down before continuing to read.

Percy: "Okay...have you eaten anything today?"

Annabeth: "I think Leo is on duty. Ask him."

"Uh... You're better off asking Piper." Leo corrected. He hadn't had time to go to the Mess Hall with all the random monster attacks. Hades, Leo hadn't even had enough time to remove the stupid coconuts lodged in the hull's bronze plating.

Percy: "So, my hair is on fire."

Annabeth: "Okay. In a while."

Thinking about their other 'Would You Rather?' questions, the Stolls snickered.

...He was worried about her after her encounter with the spiders at Fort Sumter, and he didn't know how to help her, especially if she shut him out.

"There isn't much you can do except focus on finding Nico and figuring out how we can close the Doors of Death." Annabeth said. "That's just as important as finding the statue."

She was right, of course. But that didn't stop Percy from worrying about her and her quest. Does she have to do this alone?

After leaving the Pillars of Hercules—unscathed except for a few coconuts lodged in the hull's bronze plating—

"Really? The ship can't go through one place without some damage?" Nyssa groaned.

"Nope," Leo sighed.

the ship traveled by air for a few hundred miles.

Percy hoped the ancient lands wouldn't be as bad as they'd heard. But it was almost like a commercial: You'll notice the difference immediately!

The demigods braced themselves for what they were about to hear.

Several times an hour, something attacked the ship.

Out of all the things they had been expecting, this wasn't it. Some of the teens gasped, others just sat there stunned.

"Seven times?!" Annabeth exclaimed.