"WAKE UP, EDEN!"
Eden's eyes snapped open and suddenly she was on the ground. Her eyes looked up at Piper. "Pipes . . . what—"
"No time! The alarm bell rang!" And then she was gone.
Eden sighed. "What the fuck is happening now?"
She went up to starboard and almost threw up.
The thing was the length of their ship. In the moonlight, it looked like a cross between a giant shrimp and a cockroach, with a pink chitinous shell, a flat crayfish tail, and millipede-type legs undulating hypnotically as the monster scraped against the hull of the Argo II.
Its head surfaced last — the slimy pink face of an enormous catfish with glassy dead eyes, a gaping toothless maw, and a forest of tentacles sprouting from each nostril, making the bushiest nose beard Eden had ever had the displeasure to behold.
"What the fuck is that?" Eden screamed.
"That's Shrimpzilla, that's what that is," Percy muttered from beside her.
"How did it get so close?" Annabeth shouted, pulling herself up on one of the rail shields.
"I don't know!" Hedge snarled. He looked around for his bat, which had rolled across the quarterdeck.
"I'm stupid!" Leo scolded himself. "Stupid, stupid! I forgot the sonar!"
The ship tilted farther to starboard. Either the monster was trying to give them a hug, or it was about to capsize them.
"Sonar?" Hedge demanded. "Pan's pipes, Valdez! Maybe if you hadn't been staring into Hazel's eyes, holding hands for so long—"
"What?" Frank yelped.
"It wasn't like that!" Hazel protested.
"It doesn't matter!" Piper said. "Jason, can you call some lightning?"
Perfect Jason struggled to his feet. "I—" He only managed to shake his head. Summoning the storm earlier had taken too much out of him. Eden doubted the dude could pop a spark plug in the shape he was in.
"Percy! Eden!" Annabeth said. "Can you talk to that thing? Do you know what it is?"
Eden stared up at the thing. "You think I want to fucking talk to that fucking thing?"
Her brother shook his head, clearly mystified. "Maybe it's just curious about the ship. Maybe—"
The monster's tendrils lashed across the deck so fast, Eden didn't even have time to yell, Look out!
One slammed Percy in the chest and sent him crashing down the steps. Another wrapped around Piper's legs and dragged her, screaming, toward the rail. Dozens more tendrils curled around the masts, encircling the crossbows and ripping down the rigging.
"Nose-hair attack!" Hedge snatched up his bat and leaped into action; but his hits just bounced harmlessly off the tendrils.
Eden drew a sword. She went in and got Piper out, but slowly, because she was still groggy from waking up like that. And also the tentacles kept multiplying the more she cut them, so that was fantastic.
She saw Annabeth and Perfect Jason run through the forest of tentacles, dodging and stabbing at whatever target they could find. She saw Frank pull out his bow. He fired over the side at the creature's body, lodging arrows in the chinks of its shell; but that only seemed to annoy the monster. It bellowed, and rocked the ship. The mast creaked like it might snap off.
Eden winced as she got Piper free, bringing out a gun instead and shooting through three instantly. "You're alright, yeah?" She stared down at her, checking for injuries as she sliced at more tentacles.
"Yeah," Piper repeated, bringing out her dagger. "I'll be fine."
"Good." Eden looked at the fucking giant ass shrimp monster. "Let's—"
Then, all she saw was green.
* * *
After the green disappeared, along with the monster and Fire Boy, Frank, and Hazel, they did some shit.
Annabeth, Coach Hedge, and Buford the table rushed around repairing things so that the ship wouldn't sink. Eden and Percy, despite being exhausted, searched the ocean for their missing friends. Perfect Jason, also exhausted, flew around the rigging like a blond Peter Pan, putting out fires from the second green explosion that had lit up the sky just above the mainmast.
Piper looked in her knife to see where they were, as well as did an Iris-Message with Annabeth to Chiron.
While they were doing that, Eden and Percy had scoured the seafloor and found nothing. Now they were alone on deck. Eden hated that fact. She didn't want to be here, with him, alone.
It was funny. They were supposed to be the closest platonic relationship, and yet they were the farthest from it.
Well, unless you counted that stint with Leo, Frank, and Hazel a thing. Then sure.
Eden had been avoiding this. Being stuck with him. Even in that tank in Atlanta, they'd had Frank, and she just wanted to get out.
But the universe hated her, as usual. Procrastinating didn't work. Maybe it was the work of the gods.
He finally speaks. "You don't look that tired anymore,"
"Yeah." Eden replied shortly, looking anywhere but him. "Piper's really helped."
Silence. One whole rest. Two. Three. Then—
Percy asks why they aren't closer. As if he knew what she was thinking about earlier.
"You fucked it all up for me," she continued looking down into the ocean, as if she could see Leo down there, or literally anyone else to save her. She couldn't.
"How did I fuck it up for you?" Percy asked her. "I didn't ask for this. For anything that happened."
"I'd been preparing for that moment my entire life," Eden snapped, turning toward him, and, god, she didn't see the resemblance of why they were siblings. Bonded by blood. By the ocean.
"And I mean my whole life." She broke eye contact with him. "When I was four, Roman demigods took me in. They were exiled from Camp Jupiter. They knew, that I was powerful. But I was too young to fight, so they taught me how to heal. How, as a child, to deceive and lie and bail myself and them out of situations. That was after they put Achilles's blood in me, getting it from god knows where. They taught me how to heal because my powers were weakened by his blood. And then I learned how to fight from them, and I was . . . powerful. I learned all of my dodging tricks by fighting with them. The adrenaline. Predicting moves. They were supposed to teach me more, about my lineage, about how to use more weapons — but then they got caught. The gods killed them. They killed the only parents I knew."
"Then the gods put me in camp. When I was revealed as the daughter of Poseidon, I was immediately getting lessons from Luke. He taught me what weaponry I needed to use in which situation. Which one I needed to be flashy. I heard the prophecy, because they believed it was for me. I had prepared myself to face whatever challenge it was. I was destined to be a hero, and then you came. You dragged me along on every quest that I should've had. And I hated it. I didn't want to go, I just wanted to be with my friends. With her. I was destined to be you, and you stole everything from me. And you assumed that I was always on your side."
"Eden—" her brother started.
Eden stared down at her reflection, at her gold tears coming down her face. "I don't want to hear your apologies." She said. "I don't want to be you anymore. I don't want to be a hero. I just want to be safe with my girlfriend. To live a peaceful life. That's all I ever wanted, ever since you came. Even with her."
"When you say her, who are you talking about?" She could sense his frown, his confusion.
"It was always her, that I did everything for before August happened," Eden breathed out. "Are you really that dumb, that you didn't notice?"
"Tell me who."
Eden laughed bitterly. Loud enough that someone below could've heard. Or above, because Perfect Jason was still scouting. "I was in love with Silena Beauregard for years."
Percy froze. "You—"
"Don't act so surprised, or like you care," anger rose inside of her. "You never did. just dragged me along, without a care in the world. You would've died without me. And you didn't care at all. When the one person I loved the most died, you didn't even notice. You didn't notice that I was in love with her. Everyone noticed, except for her. And Beckendorf."
He flinched at the name.
"Everyone knew. Everyone knew that was the reason why I stayed, and frankly, you should be thanking me. Connor and Travis wouldn't have been with you. I could've easily convinced Clarisse. and Rachel. and Thalia. God, Percy, I could've convinced them all to not be on your side. All because of her. You get that, don't you? You'd do the same with Annabeth?"
"I do." he said automatically.
"You can't ask me to be loyal to the gods, ever again," Eden swallowed her anger down. "You can't ask me to do anything. Only Piper can, because she is everything to me. I'd kill everyone in this world if she wanted me to. I'd count every page in every book just for her. I'd deny immortality for her."
Percy stared at her. He knew, that she'd wanted immortality more than anything. It'd been her desire, besides for love. Luke had told them all. He hadn't told them at all about Silena.
"I want that feeling of peace," Eden said quietly. "It was in immortality for me. That was what Luke wanted. He wanted revenge on the gods, because they made everything so much worse. He wasn't a good person, Percy, but his views are right. They ruined a lot of lives, including my own. If I gave them my anger tenfold, they'd die from the amount. Even our father, who never cared about me like he did you. Barely said passing words to me. I just wanted you to know that."
As the last word spilled from her mouth, the door opened, and Coach Hedge came out with Annabeth. Eden immediately dashed down to go and get some coffee — or alcohol, whichever one came first.
When she felt a tug in her gut, she dashed outside, coffee in hand, not dropping it because of practice. She looked over the edge and saw Piper in the water with Leo, Frank, and Hazel.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" Eden called down.
"Shut up!" Piper yelled. "Just get us out!"
Eden sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, before snapping her fingers and a wave pulled Piper close enough to where she could pull her up.
Once they got on board and changed into dry clothes ( poor Frank had to borrow a pair of too-small pants from Perfect Jason ) the crew all gathered on the quarterdeck for a celebratory breakfast — except for Coach Hedge, who grumbled that the atmosphere was getting too cuddly for his tastes and went below to hammer out some dents in the hull. While Leo fussed over his helm controls, Hazel and Frank related the story of the fish-centaurs and their training camp.
"Incredible," Perfect Jason said. "These are really good brownies."
"That's your only comment?" Piper demanded. Admittedly, she looked gorgeous in Eden's giant hoodie.
He looked surprised. "What? I heard the story. Fish-centaurs. Merpeople. Letter of intro to the Tiber River god. Got it. But these brownies—"
"I know," Frank said, his mouth full. "Try them with Esther's peach preserves."
"That," Hazel said, "is incredibly disgusting."
"Pass me the jar, man," Perfect Jason said.
Eden's imbecile brother wanted to hear every detail about the aquatic camp. He kept coming back to one point: "They didn't want to meet me?"
"It wasn't that," Hazel said. "Just . . . undersea politics, I guess. The merpeople are territorial. The good news is they're taking care of that aquarium in Atlanta. And they'll help protect the Argo II as we cross the Atlantic."
Percy nodded absently. "But they didn't want to meet me? Or Eden?"
"They'd fucking want to meet me, that's for sure," Eden muttered.
Annabeth swatted his arm. "Come on, Seaweed Brain! We've got other things to worry about."
"She's right," Hazel said. "After today, Nico has less than two days. The fish-centaurs said we have to rescue him. He's essential to the quest somehow."
She looked around defensively, as if waiting for someone to argue. No one did.
"Nico must have information about the Doors of Death," Kaleidoscope said. "We'll save him, Hazel. We can make it in time. Right, Leo?"
"What?" Leo tore his eyes away from the controls. "Oh, yeah. We should reach the Mediterranean tomorrow morning. Then spend the rest of that day sailing to Rome, or flying, if I can get the stabilizer fixed by then . . ."
Perfect Jason suddenly looked as though his brownie with peach preserves didn't taste so good. "Which will put us in Rome on the last possible day for Nico. Twenty-four hours to find him — at most."
Percy crossed his legs. "And that's only part of the problem. There's the Mark of Athena, too."
Annabeth didn't seem happy with the change of topic. She rested her hand on her backpack, which, since they'd left Charleston, she always seemed to have with her.
She opened the bag and brought out a thin bronze disk the diameter of a donut. "This is the map that I found at Fort Sumter. It's . . ."
She stopped abruptly, staring at the smooth bronze surface. "It's blank!"
Percy took it and examined both sides. "It wasn't like this earlier?"
"No! I was looking at it in my cabin and . . ." Annabeth muttered under her breath. "It must be like the Mark of Athena. I can only see it when I'm alone. It won't show itself to other demigods."
Frank scooted back like the disk might explode. He had an orange-juice mustache and a brownie-crumb beard.
"What did it have on it?" He asked nervously. "And what is the Mark of Athena? I still don't get it."
Annabeth took the disk from Percy. She turned it in the sunlight, but it remained blank. "The map was hard to read, but it showed a spot on the Tiber River in Rome. I think that's where my quest starts . . . the path I've got to take to follow the Mark."
"Maybe that's where you meet the river god Tiberinus," Pretty Girl said. "But what is the Mark?"
"The coin," Annabeth murmured.
Percy frowned. "What coin?"
Annabeth dug into her pocket and brought out a silver drachma. "I've been carrying this ever since I saw my mom at Grand Central. It's an Athenian coin."
She passed it around. Eden immediately handed it to Piper when she got it, not bothering to look at it.
"An owl," Leo noted. "Well, that makes sense. I guess the branch is an olive branch? But what's this inscription, ΑΘΕ — Area Of Effect?"
"It's alpha, theta, epsilon," Annabeth said. "In Greek it stands for Of The Athenians . . . or you could read it as the children of Athena. It's sort of the Athenian motto."
"Like SPQR for the Romans," Eden guessed smartly.
Annabeth nodded. "Anyway, the Mark of Athena is an owl, just like that one. It appears in fiery red. I've seen it in my dreams. Then twice at Fort Sumter."
She described what had happened at the fort — the voice of Gaea, the spiders in the garrison, the Mark burning them away.
Percy took Annabeth's hand. "I should have been there for you."
"But that's the point," Annabeth said. "No one can be there for me. When I get to Rome, I'll have to strike out on my own. Otherwise, the Mark won't appear. I'll have to follow it to . . . to the source."
Frank took the coin from Leo. He stared at the owl. "The giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won with pain from a woven jail." He looked up at Annabeth. "What is it . . . this thing at the source?"
Before Annabeth could answer, Perfect Jason spoke up.
"A statue," he said. "A statue of Athena. At least . . . that's my guess."
Piper frowned. "You said you didn't know."
"I don't. But the more I think about it . . . there's only one artifact that could fit the legend." He turned to Annabeth. "I'm sorry. I should have told you everything I've heard, much earlier. But honestly, I was scared. If this legend is true—"
"I know," Annabeth said. "I figured it out, Jason. I don't blame you. But if we manage to save the statue, Greek and Romans together . . . Don't you see? It could heal the rift."
"Hold on." Percy made a time-out gesture. "What statue?"
Annabeth took back the silver coin and slipped it into her pocket. "The Athena Parthenos," she said. "The most famous Greek statue of all time. It was forty feet tall, covered in ivory and gold. It stood in the middle of the Parthenon in Athens."
The ship went silent, except for the waves lapping against the hull.
"Okay, I'll bite," Leo said at last. "What happened to it?"
"It disappeared," Annabeth said.
Eden snorted. "How does a fucking forty-foot-tall statue in the middle of the Parthenon just disappear?"
"That's a good question," Annabeth said. "It's one of the biggest mysteries in history. Some people thought the statue was melted down for its gold, or destroyed by invaders. Athens was sacked a number of times. Some thought the statue was carried off—"
"By Romans," Perfect Jason finished. "At least, that's one theory, and it fits the legend I heard at Camp Jupiter. To break the Greeks' spirit, the Romans carted off the Athena Parthenos when they took over the city of Athens. They hid it in an underground shrine in Rome. The Roman demigods swore it would never see the light of day. They literally stole Athena, so she could no longer be the symbol of Greek military power. She became Minerva, a much tamer goddess."
"And the children of Athena have been searching for the statue ever since," Annabeth said. "Most don't know about the legend, but in each generation, a few are chosen by the goddess. They're given a coin like mine. They follow the Mark of Athena . . . a kind of magical trail that links them to the statue . . . hoping to find the resting place of the Athena Parthenos and get the statue back."
Percy seemed surprised, as per usual. "So if we — I mean you — find the statue . . . what would we do with it? Could we even move it?"
"I'm not sure," Annabeth admitted. "But if we could save it somehow, it could unite the two camps. It could heal my mother of this hatred she's got, tearing her two aspects apart. And maybe . . . maybe the statue has some sort of power that could help us against the giants."
"This could change everything," Piper said. "It could end thousands of years of hostility. It might be the key to defeating Gaea. But if we can't help you . . ."
She didn't finish, but the question seemed to hang in the air: Was saving the statue even possible?
"I have to succeed," Annabeth said simply. "The risk is worth it."
Hazel twirled her hair pensively. "I don't like the idea of you risking your life alone, but you're right. We saw what recovering the golden eagle standard did for the Roman legion. If this statue is the most powerful symbol of Athena ever created—"
"It could kick some serious booty," Leo offered.
Hazel frowned. "That wasn't the way I'd put it, but yes."
"Except . . ." Percy took Annabeth's hand again. Disgusting. PDA. "No child of Athena has ever found it. Annabeth, what's down there? What's guarding it? If it's got to do with spiders—?"
"Won through pain from a woven jail," Frank recalled. "Woven, like webs?"
Annabeth's face turned as white as Piper's nails. Which were still painted with her angelic colors, by the way. Eden was proud of her handiwork.
"We'll deal with that when we get to Rome," Piper suggested, putting a little charmspeak in her voice. "It's going to work out. Annabeth is going to kick some serious booty, too. You'll see."
"Yeah," Percy said. "I learned a long time ago: Never bet against Annabeth."
Annabeth looked at them both gratefully.
Judging from their half-eaten breakfasts, the others still felt uneasy; but Leo managed to shake them out of it. He pushed a button, and a loud blast of steam exploded from Festus's mouth, making everyone jump.
"Well!" he said. "Good pep rally, but there's still a ton of things to fix on this ship before we get to the Mediterranean. Please report to Supreme Commander Leo for your superfun list of chores!"
happy new years!! i hope your year is the best you've ever had <33
<3 maybel