𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎: 𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐬𝐬 𝐊𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐲 𝐚 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭
June 18, 2019
OLIVIA LIGHTLY TAPPED PERCY'S ARM. "Percy, wake up."
She splashed his face with water. It did nothing to wet his hair and face, but he still wiped at it. "Ugh," he groaned, sitting up.
In the distance, Olivia could see the sun setting behind a city skyline. A beachside highway lined with palm trees, storefronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbor filled with sailboats and cruise ships came to view next.
"Miami, I think," Annabeth said. "But the hippocampi are acting funny."
Sure enough, the aquatic little creatures had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. They didn't look all that happy to be here. One of them sneezed.
"This is as far as they'll take us," Percy said, reading their thoughts.
"So, we're swimming," Olivia said flatly.
No one was too pleased about swimming alone, but they thanked Rainbow as well as Starlight and Minty—as Tyson called the others—for the ride.
Tyson cried a little. He unfastened the makeshift saddle pack he'd made for Rainbow, which held his tool kit and a couple of other things he'd salvaged from the Birmingham wreck within it. He hugged Rainbow tightly around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he'd grabbed on Polyphemus' island, and said a sad goodbye.
Once the hippocampi's white manes disappeared into the sea, the others drifted to shore. Minutes later, they were wandering through the mortal world again.
They made their way along the cruise line docks, pushing through crowds of people arriving for vacations. Porters bustled around with carts of luggage. Taxi drivers yelled at each other in Spanish and tried to cut in line for customers.
To call it chaotic would be a bit of an understatement.
If anybody noticed the six kids walking around, soaking wet and looking like they just battled a giant Cyclops, they didn't say anything about it.
Now that they'd returned to the mortal world, Tyson's single eye had blurred from the Mist. Grover had put on his cap and sneakers to blend in. Even the Fleece itself had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery Ω on the pocket.
Annabeth raced to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the Miami Herald. She cursed. "June eighteenth!" she exclaimed. "We've been away from camp ten days!"
"That's impossible!" Clarisse said.
"Oh, no," Olivia gasped. "The tree!"
"Thalia's tree must be almost dead," Grover wailed, turning to Olivia. "We have to get the Fleece back tonight."
Clarisse slumped down on the pavement. "How are we supposed to do that?" Her voice trembled, and for the first time since Olivia had met her, she looked scared. "We're hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride. This is just like the Oracle said. It's your fault, Jackson! If you hadn't interfered—"
"Percy's fault?!" Annabeth exploded. "Clarisse, how can you say that? You are the biggest—"
"Shut up!" Olivia huffed. "What was the stupid prophecy?"
Clarisse put her head in her hands, ignoring them. Annabeth stomped her foot in frustration.
There was a beat of silence before Olivia spoke up again.
"Clarisse," she said, "what did the Oracle tell you exactly?"
She looked up and took a deep breath as she recited her prophecy.
"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,
You shall find what you seek and make it your own,
But despair for your life entombed within stone,
And fail without friends, to fly home alone."
"Ouch," Grover mumbled, looking almost sympathetic.
"No," Percy said, his voice just above a whisper. "No... wait a minute. I've got it."
He searched his pockets for money, and frowned when he pulled out a golden drachma. "Does anybody have any cash?" he asked.
Annabeth and Grover shook their heads morosely. Clarisse pulled a wet Confederate dollar from her pocket and sighed. Olivia was reaching for her infinite credit card when Tyson asked, "Cash? Like... green paper?"
She looked up at him. "Yeah, exactly."
"Like the kind in duffel bags?" he asked.
Percy nodded. "Yeah, but we lost those bags days a-g-g—"
Percy stuttered to a complete halt as Tyson rummaged in his saddle pack and pulled out the Ziploc bag full of cash.
"Tyson!" Percy exclaimed in surprise. "How did you—"
"Thought it was a feed bag for Rainbow," he said. "Found it floating in sea, but only paper inside. Sorry."
"No, don't be sorry!" Annabeth said, almost laughing. "You just saved us!"
"Saved?" Tyson asked, handing Percy the cash.
Percy smiled. "It's just enough," he said. He ran to the curb and grabbed a taxi that was just letting out a family of cruise passengers.
"Clarisse!" he yelled. "Come on. You're going to the airport. Via, give her the Fleece."
She moved quickly, letting Percy take the Fleece from her and stuff the money in its pocket before giving it to an even more stunned Clarisse.
"You'd let me—" Clarisse began.
"It's your quest," Percy told her. "We only have enough money for one flight. Besides, I can't travel by air. Zeus would blast me into a million pieces. That's what the prophecy meant: you'd fail without friends, meaning you'd need our help, but you'd have to fly home alone. You have to get the Fleece back safely."
"Wait, Olivia should go, too," Annabeth said.
Olivia bit her bottom lip as she thought it over. "No," she decided. "I'm staying here. Clarisse can go back, save the tree, and all that. I... I need to stay here. I've got a bad feeling. Clarisse, go. Now."
Clarisse stared at her suspiciously before she finally jumped in the cab. "You can count on me," she promised. "I won't fail."
"Not failing would be good," Percy agreed.
The cab peeled out in a cloud of exhaust. The Fleece was on its way to camp.
"Percy," Annabeth said, "that was so—"
"Generous?" Grover offered.
"Sweet?" Olivia spoke up, smiling softly.
"Insane," Annabeth corrected. "You're betting the lives of everybody at camp that Clarisse will get the Fleece safely back by tonight?"
"It's her quest," Percy insisted. "She deserves a chance."
"Percy is nice," Tyson said.
"Percy is too nice," Annabeth grumbled.
"And what's your plan, Wise Girl?" Olivia asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's her quest. If she showed up on yours and took over, you'd be really angry about it. So let's just be grateful."
Annabeth rolled her eyes and Olivia frowned. "Hey, I almost died after I saved you today," she pouted.
"Come on," Percy told the group. "Let's find another way home."
Just as they all turned the other way, a sword's point found itself at Percy's throat.
"Hey, cuz," said Luke Castellan. "Welcome back to the States."
Two bear-man thugs appeared on either of side of them. One grabbed Annabeth and Grover by their T-shirt collars. The other grabbed Olivia in one hand. He tried to grab Tyson, but Tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at Luke.
"Percy," Luke said with an eerily calm voice, "tell your giant to back down or I'll have Oreius bash your friends' heads together."
The one that Olivia guessed was Oreius grinned and raised Annabeth and Grover off the ground, kicking and screaming.
"What do you want, Luke?" Percy growled.
He smiled, the scar on his face rippling.
He gestured toward the end of the dock, and Olivia finally noticed the biggest boat in port. Squinting her eyes, she noticed that it matched the description of a ship she'd seen in her dreams once a few weeks ago: the Princess Andromeda. She mentally kicked herself for not noticing earlier.
"Why, Percy," Luke said almost mockingly, "I want to extend my hospitality, of course."
🌣⸻➳⸻🌣
THE BEAR TWINS "ESCORTED" THE GROUP ANOARD THE PRINCESS ANDROMEDA. They threw the kids down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains that sprayed into the air. A dozen of Luke's monstrous allies—snake people, Laistrygonians (which it freaked Olivia out to see) demigods in battle armor—had gathered to watch the group get tormented by Luke.
"And so, the Fleece," Luke mused. "Where is it?" He looked them all over, prodding Percy's shirt with the tip of his sword and poking Grover's jeans.
"Hey!" Grover yelled at him. "That's real goat fur under there!"
"Sorry, old friend." Luke smiled at the satyr. "Just give me the Fleece and I'll leave you to return to your, ah, little nature quest."
"Blaa-ha-ha!" Grover bleated in protest. "Some old friend!"
"Maybe you didn't hear me." Luke's voice was still dangerously calm. "Where—is—the—Fleece?"
"Not here," Percy said. He looked almost smug as he narrowed his eyes at Luke. "We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up."
Luke's eyes narrowed. "You're lying. You couldn't have..." His face reddened as a horrible possibility occurred to him. "Clarisse?"
Percy nodded.
"You trusted... you gave..." Luke was baffled.
"Yeah."
Luke's eye twitched. "Agrius!"
The bear giant flinched. "Y-yes?"
"Get below and prepare my steed," Luke ordered. "Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to the Miami Airport, fast.'"
"But, boss—"
"Do it!" Luke screamed in rage. "Or I'll feed you to the drakon!"
The bear-man gulped and lumbered down the stairs. Luke paced in front of the swimming pool, cursing in Ancient Greek, gripping his sword so tight his knuckles turned white. "Somebody get Paris!"
The rest of Luke's crew looked uneasy at the sight. Olivia considered that they'd possibly never seen Luke so visibly unstable. A few monsters quickly booked it to find the daughter of Aphrodite. Olivia sighed in relief when the familiar blonde girl stormed up, glaring at Luke. "What do you want, you son of a bitch?"
Like gave her a smile. "Come on, dove. Don't be like that," he teased. "We've got guests. You missed them last time."
Her eyes moved towards the campers and Olivia saw her gasp, covering her mouth. "Oh, gods..."
"Aren't you so happy?" Luke asked her, and Olivia couldn't tell if he was teasing her or being serious.
She tore her eyes away from the group. "It won't change anything, Luke," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'll never love you again."
"Oh, don't start that," Luke huffed. "You know I'm right about the gods."
"You've been toying with us all along," Percy said, drawing attention to himself. and noticed his gaze was more so on the fountain than Luke. "You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."
Luke scowled at him. "Of course, you idiot! And you've messed everything up!" he snapped.
"Traitor!" Percy shouted.
He dug the gold drachma from earlier out of his pocket, throwing the coin at Luke, who easily stepped to the side to avoid it. The coin landed in the spray of rainbow-colored water.
"You tricked all of us!" Percy yelled at Luke. "Even Dionysus at Camp Half-Blood!"
Behind Luke, the fountain began to shimmer. Olivia realized it was an Iris message beginning to form. Percy stepped an inch or so forward and uncapped Riptide, drawing everyone's attention away from the fountain.
Luke sneered, almost looking offended by Percy's actions. "This is no time for heroics, Percy," he warned. "Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."
"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?" Percy asked him.
"I did, of course," he snarled. "I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."
"Chiron had nothing to do with it?" Percy questioned.
"Ha!" Luke chortled. "You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts."
"You call it guts?" Percy interrogated Luke. "Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?"
Luke raised his sword. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece... once I was done with it."
Percy huffed. "You were going to heal Kronos."
"Yes!" Luke confirmed. "The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. After all, Olivia refused to help me."
He turned to her. "Come on, Liv," he goaded. "You know what this thing could do for her. Just think about it."
She warned or shout at him. She wanted to scream, You're losing it!
But she just looked away, defeated. "I have nothing to say to you anymore, Luke," she sighed.
"So you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods," Percy said.
Luke gritted his teeth. "You know that!" he almost screamed. "Why do you keep asking me?"
Percy smirked. "Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you."
"What audience?" Luke asked.
Then his eyes narrowed. He looked behind him and his little servants did the same. They gasped and stumbled back.
Above the pool, shimmering in the rainbow mist, was an Iris-message vision of Dionysus, Tantalus, and the entirety of the camp in the dining pavilion. They sat in stunned silence, watching the conversation on the ship.
"Well," said Dionysus dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."
"Damn, that's wild," Alice mumbled next to him.
"Silena..." Paris gasped quietly, reaching for the shimmering vision.
"Mr. D, you heard him," Percy said. "You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn't Chiron's fault."
Mr. D sighed. "I suppose not," he said with a shrug.
"The Iris-message could be a trick," Tantalus suggested, but his attention was mostly on his cheeseburger, which he was trying to corner with both hands.
"I fear not," Mr. D said, looking with distaste at the cannibalistic ghost. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."
Tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger. It didn't bolt away from him. Instead, it stayed in his hands as he lifted it from the plate and stared at it in amazement, as if it were the largest diamond in the world. "I got it!" he cackled gleefully.
"We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus," Mr. D announced.
Tantalus looked stunned. "What?" he questioned. "But—"
"You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."
"No! But—Nooooooooooo!"
As he dissolved into mist, his fingers clutched at the cheeseburger, trying to bring it to his mouth. But it was too late. He disappeared and the cheeseburger fell back onto its plate. The campers exploded into cheering.
Luke bellowed with rage. He slashed his sword through the fountain and the Iris-message dissolved, but it was too late. He'd been exposed. Paris jumped back in fear of him as he gave Percy a murderous glare.
"Kronos was right, Percy. You're an unreliable weapon," he told the half-blood son of Poseidon. "You need to be replaced."
One of his men blew a brass whistle, and the deck doors flew open. A dozen more warriors poured out, making a circle around the half-bloods and their companions, the brass tips of their spears bristling.
Luke smiled at Percy with that infamous wicked smile. "You'll never leave this boat alive."
Percy barely acknowledged the threat. "One on one," he challenged Luke. "What are you afraid of?"
Luke curled his lip. The soldiers hesitated to kill the remaining members of the group, waiting for his orders.
Before he could say anything, Agrius burst onto the deck leading a flying horse. It was the first pure-black pegasus Olivia had ever seen, with wings like a giant raven. The pegasus bucked and whinnied.
"Sir!" Agrius called, dodging an angry pegasus hoof. "Your steed is ready!"
Luke kept his eyes on Percy. "I told you last summer, Percy," he said. "You can't bait me into a fight."
"And you keep avoiding one," Percy pointed out. "Scared your warriors will see you get whipped?"
Luke glanced at his men wearily. Percy had successfully trapped Luke. If he backed down now or made his monster goons do it for him, he would look weak. If he fought Percy, he'd lose valuable time chasing after Clarisse. There was no way around it.
"I'll kill you quickly," he decided, and raised his weapon. Backbiter was a foot longer than Riptide. Its blade glinted with an evil gray-and-gold light.
"Human steel and celestial bronze," Olivia whispered. She'd carried the ability to know what all metals were her entire life. These metals were never meant to fuse. The only metal that should ever be able to hurt mortals and immortals alike was the metal of the Underworld.
She could almost feel the blade fighting against itself, like two opposing magnets bound together. She didn't know how it was made, but the forging of this blade had cost someone their life.
Luke whistled to one of his men, who threw him a round leather-and-bronze shield. He grinned at Percy wickedly.
"Luke," Annabeth said, her voice almost pleading, "at least give him a shield."
"Sorry, Annabeth," Luke said. "You bring your own equipment to this party."
"You bastard!" Olivia shouted. "How could you do that to her? How could you do that to me?!"
Luke faltered slightly. "I offered you a chance, rockstar."
"Don't call me that!" Olivia yelled. "That was her nickname for me. You have no right! Let us go, Luke."
He hummed. "Maybe you and Beth. But the others?"
Luke lunged and damn near killed Percy on the first try. His sword went under the boy's arm, slashing through his shirt and possibly grazing his ribs. Olivia couldn't see much, so she wasn't too sure.
Percy jumped back, then counterattacked with Riptide, but Luke slammed the blade away with his shield.
"My, Percy," the blond demon chided. "You're out of practice."
The daughter of Apollo watched as Luke attacked Percy again with a swipe to the head. Luckily, Percy parried and returned the attack with a thrust, which Luke very easily sidestepped. When the son of Hermes attacked again, Percy jumped backward into the swimming pool. She grinned, knowing it'd give him a well-needed boost.
Percy spun underwater and created a funnel cloud. He blasted out of the deep end, straight at Luke's face. The force of the water knocked the man down, leaving him spluttering and blinded.
But unfortunately, before Percy could strike, Luke rolled aside and was on his feet again. Percy attacked and sliced off the edge of Luke's shield, but Luke only dropped to a crouch and jabbed at Percy's legs. Suddenly, he collapsed.
Luke hacked downward, but Percy rolled behind a deck chair. He tried to stand up, but his leg wouldn't take the weight. Luke's sword had severely inured him.
"Perrrrrcy!" Grover bleated in fear.
Percy rolled yet again as Luke's sword slashed the deck chair in half, metal pipes and all. He clawed toward the swimming pool, but Olivia knew he'd never make it. Luke knew it, too. He advanced slowly, smiling. The edge of his sword was tinged with red.
"One thing I want you to watch before you die, Percy," Luke taunted. He looked at Oreius. "You can eat your dinner now, Oreius. Bon appetit."
"He-he! He-he!" The bear-man lifted Grover and bared his teeth. Grover bleated in dear.
"Wait!" Olivia called desperately. Her voice rang out around the deck. "Y-you can't kill Percy! You need him because of the prophecy!"
She subtly hit the ground twice. She tried to keep her eyes open as she attempted to reach into the depths of Elysium and pull someone out.
Luke scoffed. "I've found a solution to that problem," he said. "Hence his replacement."
"B-but what if that fails?" Olivia asked. "Won't you have nothing? This will all have been for nothing..."
Come on, come on. Who could she even use? Which one trained her mom again?
"Oh, Olivia," Luke taunted. "You almost sound like you understand how big this is."
He raised his sword above Percy and prepared to swing as he turned back to Oreius. Olivia stood up as she found the solution, feeling satisfied with herself. "I'm not letting you kill him!" she shouted. "I'm going to stop you!"
Luke hesitated, then chuckled. "Liv, you're an archer," he said, laughing. "You're decent with a sword, sure. But you don't think you're good enough to take me down, do you?"
"Maybe I'm not," Olivia admitted, smirking. "But she is."
She pointed behind Luke and he turned just in time to have a sword swung at him. Luke nearly bent over backwards to avoid the sword. He scowled at the spirit and swung at her in return, jabbing at her chest. "Who the hell are you?!"
The woman was dressed in dark clothes, her pale skin becoming less ghostlike as she shimmered to reality. Her short hair was pinned and her lips were painted red. Rolling her eyes, she merely dropped down to a crouch the same way Olivia had seen Luke do, jabbing her sword at Luke's legs. Luke hissed, but knocked her in the face with his shield. The woman kicked her legs into the air, one hitting Luke in the gut, and one getting him right in the chest. He wheezed as he staggered back.
"I believe you should know who I am," she said disdainfully, gesturing to the ship. "After all, you have me at my worst moment presented on this ship."
"Andromeda?" Luke questioned. "How did you—"
"Have you heroes no shame?!" she scoffed. "Thank the gods I married a man like Perseus, who taught me how to fight to deal with fools like you!"
She jumped back up as Luke's sword Backbiter swung at her stomach. She narrowly avoided the blade, but when Luke hit her with his shield again, she fell down, hitting her head.
Luke sneered, thrusting the sword straight down.
Andromeda grabbed the blade, grinning as it had no affect on her already deceased form. She pulled it down and kicked upwards.
Luke groaned as her shoe made contact with his face. She quickly stood up and went to stab him in a very vulnerable place. He quickly went to block her hit and she jumped into the fountain, spraying him with so much water that he fell back, his shield falling over the side of the ship.
"Did you know my Poseidon favors me even after my mother insulted his wife? He took quite a surprising liking to Perseus," she said. Grinning, she swung at Luke, who blocked it, racing towards her and stabbing her right through the chest.
"No!" Percy and Annabeth screamed in unison, each sounding utterly horrified by Luke's actions.
But Andromeda was already dead. She looked at the sword impaling her, then back to Luke. "Cute," she said, swinging Riptide at him and trimming a few inches of hair from his head.
Luke growled as she pressed him, backing him further away from the pool and where his goons stood around it. He tried to swing at her again, but she shimmered away, reappearing behind him. She jumped onto his back, twisting at his head like a bottle cap. Luke tried to throw her off of him, but she used her body weight to pull him down as well. Then she took her sword and swung at Luke's arm, cutting it and making him howl in pain.
"What's the matter?" she taunted. "Hurt?"
She got up and spit at Luke. "Fight me, you bastard! You fought a child! Why not a woman?!"
Luke glared.
"Get up!" Andromeda yelled. "Get up, you coward! Get up and fight! Or are you scared because I had more experience in my lifetime than you do now?!"
Luke stood, and she immediately clawed at his face, making him yell in pain. He kicked her away, but she only came back with the sword to cut at Luke. But at the last second, she seemingly changed her mind. Instead, she dropped the sword and slid past Luke, then grabbed his arm and pulled it towards her while kicking him away.
There was a loud crack, and Luke almost screamed. "Oh, you bit—"
Before Luke could finish his sentence, all Hades broke loose.
Whish!
A red-feathered arrow suddenly sprouted from Oreius' mouth. With a surprised look on his hairy face, he crumpled to the deck.
"Brother!" Agrius wailed. He let the still-fighting pegasus' reins go slack just long enough for the black steed to kick him in the head and fly away free over Miami Bay.
FOR a split second, Luke's guards were too stunned to do anything except watch the bear twins' bodies dissolve into smoke while their boss crumpled and groaned miserably.
Then there was a wild chorus of war cries and hooves thundering against metal. A dozen centaurs charged out of the main stairwell.
"Ponies!" Tyson shouted joyfully.
Olivia looked carefully. Chiron was among the crowd, but his relatives were almost nothing like him. There were centaurs with black Arabian stallion bodies, others with gold palomino coats, and some with orange-and-white spots like paint horses. Some wore brightly colored T-shirts with Day-Glo letters that said PARTY PONIES: SOUTH FLORIDA CHAPTER.
Some of them were armed with bows, some with baseball bats, some with paintball guns. One had his face painted like a Comanche warrior and was waving a large orange Styrofoam hand making a big Number 1. Another was bare-chested and painted entirely green. A third had googly-eye glasses with the eyeballs bouncing around on Slinky coils, and one of those baseball caps with soda-can-and-straw attachments on either side.
They were such a contrast from Chiron that Olivia was half-sure she was having a fever dream.
"Have I served you well, Mistress?" Andromeda asked, kneeling.
Olivia frowned as she looked at Luke. She hadn't wanted him to get so hurt. But she couldn't give him pity. "Yes," she said. "You are dismissed."
Andromeda nodded and vanished into mist.
At that moment, the centaurs exploded onto the deck with such ferocity and color that for a moment even Luke was stunned as he struggled to rise, leaning onto his sword for support.
Olivia honestly couldn't tell whether these guys had come to the ship to celebrate or attack.
It seemed to be both. As Luke was weakly raising his sword to rally his troops, a centaur shot a custom-made arrow with a leather boxing glove on the end. It smacked Luke in the face and sent him crashing into the swimming pool, spluttering and trying to stay afloat.
His warriors scattered. It honestly made sense, and Olivia couldn't blame them. Facing off against a possibly drunk centaur, armed with a bow and whooping it up in a soda-drinking hat seemed like a pretty normal thing to run from.
"Come get some!" yelled one of the party ponies.
They started firing their paintball guns. A wave of blue and yellow exploded against Luke's warriors, blinding them and splattering them from head to toe. They tried to run, only to slip and fall.
Chiron galloped toward Olivia, Annabeth, and Grover, neatly plucked them off the deck, and deposited them on his back.
Luke was crawling out of the pool. "Attack, you fools.'" he ordered his troops. Somewhere down below deck, a large alarm bell thrummed.
Olivia knew that at any second, Luke's reinforcements would stop Chiron and his brethren. The warriors already on deck were getting over their surprise, coming at the centaurs with swords and spears drawn. Tyson slapped half a dozen of them aside, knocking them over the guardrail into Miami Bay. But more warriors were coming up the stairs.
Olivia screamed as she saw three more Laistrygonians bolt up he stairs. One of them looked at her and threw its spear, which was suddenly flaming, at her. She lifted her hand and a dark shadow extinguished it.
Huh. That was new.
"Withdraw, brethren!" Chiron called.
"What about Percy?!" Olivia asked.
"You won't get away with this, horse man!" Luke shouted. He raised his sword, but got smacked in the face with another boxing glove arrow, and sat down hard in a deck chair.
"And yet, here I stand," Chiron muttered.
Luke's warriors were organizing themselves into a phalanx. But by the time they were ready to advance, the centaurs had galloped to the edge of the deck and fearlessly jumped the
guardrail, as if it were a steeplechase and not ten stories above the ground. They hit the asphalt with hardly a jolt and galloped off, whooping and yelling taunts at the Princess Andromeda as the group raced into the streets of downtown Miami.
Streets and buildings began to blur as the centaurs picked up speed. It felt as if space were compacting—as if each centaur step took us miles and miles. In no time, they were bolting through marshy fields of high grass and ponds and stunted trees.
Finally, they arrived at a trailer park at the edge of a lake. The trailers were all horse trailers, tricked out with televisions and mini-refrigerators and mosquito netting. A centaur camp, apparently.
"Dude!" said a party pony as he unloaded his gear. "Did you see that bear guy? He was all like: 'Whoa, I have an arrow in my mouth!'"
The centaur with the googly-eye glasses laughed. "That was awesome! Head slam!"
The two centaurs charged at each other full-force and knocked heads, then went staggering off in different directions with crazy grins on their faces.
Chiron sighed. He set the group down on a picnic blanket next to Percy. "I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare."
"Chiron," said a stunned Percy. "You saved us."
Chiron offered a dry smile. "Well now, I couldn't very well let you die, especially since you've cleared my name."
"But how did you know where we were?" Annabeth asked.
"Advanced planning, my dear," he said. "I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami."
"Gee, thanks," Grover mumbled.
"No, no," Chiron said. "I didn't mean... Oh, never mind. I am glad to see you, my young satyr. The point is, I was able to eavesdrop on Percy's Iris-message and trace the signal. Iris and I have been friends for centuries. I asked her to alert me to any important communications in this area. It then took no effort to convince my cousins to ride to your aid. As you see, centaurs can travel quite fast when we wish to. Distance for us is not the same as distance for humans."
Olivia's phone rang at that moment. The loud sound made its way through the group, who all turned to her with suspicious gazes.
She felt her face warm as she reached into her bag, pulling her phone out. Annabeth's jaw dropped, a lecture on the tip of her tongue about the dangers of technology for demigods before Olivia clicked the button to accept the call.
"OLIVIA LILY JADE ANWORTH, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
She let the silence run for a moment before saying, "Hi, Mama."
"Do you understand what it means to answer the phone?" Alisha demanded. "I've been calling you for the last several hours! Where are you?!"
"With Chiron," Olivia offered. "Does that help?"
"Your father just told me that you are in Florida!" Alisha shouted. "Apparently, you're returning from a quest."
"Dad's a snitch!" Olivia yelled back. "And I had to go on the quest, Mama. Thalia's tree was dying."
There was a long pause before Alisha sighed. "You are not going on quests anymore," she said. "Or at the very least, not without me knowing. Can you imagine the heart attack I had when I felt you slipping away? I thought you were dying.
Olivia chose not to bring up the fact that was actually did almost die. "Um... no, Mama. I'm not going to Grandpa any time soon."
"I would hope not," Alisha said sharply. "It's summer, too. He'll be pissed if you die and doesn't even have Persephone there to make him feel better."
"Mama," Olivia called, staring at her friends, "people are watching me on my phone."
"Why does that—oh, shit," Alisha said. She sighed and Olivia could almost see her face as she pinched her nose. "Okay, you call me when you get back to camp. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Mama," Olivia said softly.
"Good," Alisha said. "I love you."
Olivia smiled. "I love you, too."
She clicked the hang up button and turned to the others with an awkward smile.
"Are you insane?!" Annabeth demanded. "You've been carrying a phone on you this whole time?! No wonder all these monsters attack us! They—"
"My phone is safe!" Olivia shouted. She held it in the air. "See? It's not attracting anything. I had it on me last summer at camp. I always have it, even when we go somewhere like the movies. It's fine."
Chiron looked at her suspiciously. "I do not sense the dangers posed by technology," he said slowly. "Olivia, what is this?"
"My mom knows a guy," Olivia said quickly, shoving the phone in her bag.
"Is that guy a half-blood?" Annabeth questioned.
Olivia hummed. "He's escaped death," she admitted. "That's all I know about him. And in exchange for my mom not snitching on him, he supplies us with his inventions."
Chiron stroked his beard. "How is she able to threaten this man?" he wondered. A look of realization crossed his face. "Does she have connections in the Underworld, Olivia?"
"She was already seventeen when the oath was made," Olivia said. "That's all I can tell you. She doesn't trust you, Chiron."
He sighed. "Very well."
Olivia frowned. "Sorry, but I can't argue with her. And nothing about this gets out, or you face my father's wrath at you for risking his lover's life."
Chiron nodded. "Of course," he said. "Your secrets are safe with me."
"Promise me," Olivia said.
Chiron nodded solemnly. "I swear it on the River Styx."
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When writing this chapter, I pictured
Lana Condor as Andromeda.