EDEN AND PIPER took charge of cleaning the lower deck, which had been thrown into chaos during the monster attack. Reorganizing sickbay and battening down the storage area took them most of the day, but Eden didn't mind. For one thing, she got to spend time with Piper.
Which was the only reason. Even though they hung out a lot, because Piper is Eden's girl and they literally share a room.
As they were fixing up the stables, Eden's mind ran to the talk she'd had with her brother. At least she'd gotten her thoughts out, but at what cost? Now he'd probably try to get closer to her, because that was just his personality.
God, Eden hated him. So much.
So much resentment piled up over the years. Eden was glad that that was out, because then her resentment would be turned toward the gods. Fuck them.
Kaleidoscope swept the hay into piles. Eden fixed a broken door on one of the stables. The glass floor hatch glowed from the ocean below — a green expanse of light and shadow that seemed to go down forever. Eden had been in water too much lately. She hated the parts that tied her to her father.
Parents were overrated. Who needed them?
While Eden was finishing up the door, she noticed Piper staring at her. Her expression got sourer as she finished, putting her stupid hammer down.
"Do you really think I look that bad?" Eden asked. "I understand, not having slept all night like the olden days, but seriously, babe."
Piper rolled her eyes, but she smiled, and Eden silently cheered for herself. "You always look good, darling. And you know it."
Eden let herself laugh, coming over to take her hands. "It's going to work out for us," she promised. "You said so yourself."
"Yeah," Kaleidoscope agreed. "Except I was just saying that to make Annabeth feel better. And not about us."
"Well, everything you say goes back to us eventually, you know that." Eden grinned. She just couldn't stop smiling around her girlfriend. "So, what're you thinking about? Since you weren't thinking about me, which is a shame. I am a great thing to think about."
"All my thoughts come back to you, always," Piper sighed. "It's just that . . . it's the way Aphrodite talked about you. About me and you. About Annabeth and Hazel, even. How we're just stories to her, words she can edit as she pleases. How you were — are — just her plaything, and—"
"Pipes, look," Eden squeezed her hands, trying to be as comforting as possible. "Whatever shit she did in the past, whatever she's doing now to me, that doesn't matter. You know my first, my second, my third, they don't matter. She made my feelings what they were with them. But with you, you will be my last. My last girlfriend. The last person I kiss. My last love. And even if we will be a story, in the future, we will be written as heroes, as the women that defied history, that defied the gods, because of our love. Because with you, nothing is fake. My adoration for you isn't fake. My love for you isn't fake, Kaleidoscope. Because of the call of the void, we will be bonded together, for eternity. And I would die right now, if it meant that I would always be with you."
Tears prickled in the corners of Piper's eyes. "Eden . . ."
She leaned in to kiss her just as the ship's bell rang for dinner above them.
Piper groaned. "We'd better get up there. We don't want Coach Hedge tying bells around our necks."
Eden pinned her to the wall. "You're forgetting that I'm his favorite," she smirked. "And that I can't stay away from you."
* * *
The next morning Eden woke to a different ship's horn — a blast so loud it literally shook Piper out of bed. Eden nearly laughed at her, but held it in.
"I'm surprised you woke up," Piper said.
"It's not my fault!" Eden protested. "When a giant fucking horn—"
It boomed again. It sounded like it was coming from several hundred yards away — from another vessel. So it wasn't another joke from Fire Boy then. Huh.
They rushed to get dressed. By the time they got up on deck, the others had already gathered — all hastily dressed except for Coach Hedge, who had pulled the night watch.
Frank's Vancouver Winter Olympics shirt was inside out. Percy wore pajama pants and a bronze breastplate, which was an interesting fashion statement. Eden's statements were way better. Hazel's hair was all blown to one side, as though she'd walked through a cyclone; and Fire Boy had accidentally set himself on fire. His T-shirt was in charred tatters. His arms were smoking. And, god, she loved him.
About a hundred yards to port, a massive cruise ship glided past. Tourists waved at them from fifteen or sixteen rows of balconies. Some smiled and took pictures. None of them looked surprised to see an Ancient Greek trireme. Maybe the Mist made it look like a fishing boat, or perhaps the cruisers thought the Argo II was a tourist attraction.
The cruise ship blew its horn again, and the Argo II had a shaking fit. Eden had flashbacks to the Princess Andromeda, and she cursed her thoughts.
Coach Hedge plugged his ears. "Do they have to be so loud?"
"They're just saying hi," Frank speculated.
"WHAT?" Hedge yelled back.
The ship edged past them, heading out to sea. The tourists kept waving. If they found it strange that the Argo II was populated by half-asleep kids in armor and pajamas and a man with goat legs, they didn't let on.
"Bye!" Leo called, raising his smoking hand. Eden snorted at him, dousing him with water.
"Can I man the ballistae?" Hedge asked.
"No," Leo said through a forced smile. Hopefully he wasn't cold from the water. Then again, he was literally fire. He didn't get cold.
Hazel rubbed her eyes and looked across the glittering green water. "Where are — oh . . . Wow."
Eden followed her gaze. Without the cruise ship blocking their view, she saw a mountain jutting from the sea less than half a mile to the north. She had seen impressive cliffs before, but this was a massive fist of blinding white rock thrust into the sky. On one side, the limestone cliffs were almost completely sheer, dropping into the sea over a thousand feet below, as near as Eden could figure. On the other side, the mountain sloped in tiers, covered in green forest, so that the whole thing reminded her of a colossal sphinx, worn down over the millennia, with a massive white head and chest, and a green cloak over its back. She almost shuddered when remembering that stupid sphinx in the Labyrinth. Fucking Annabeth for being too prideful and wanting harder questions.
"The Rock of Gibraltar," Trivia Sweat said in awe. "At the tip of Spain. And over there—" She pointed south, to a more distant stretch of red and ochre hills. "That must be Africa. We're at the mouth of the Mediterranean."
Wow. Sweatier now. How surprising.
Despite the wide stretch of sea in front of them, Eden felt like she was standing at an impassable barrier. Once in the Mediterranean — the Mare Nostrum — they would be in the ancient lands. If the legends were true, their quest would become ten times more dangerous.
"What now?" Piper asked. "Do we just sail in?"
"Why not?" Leo said. "It's a big shipping channel. Boats go in and out all the time."
Not triremes full of demigods, Eden thought.
Trivia Sweat gazed at the Rock of Gibraltar. Eden recognized that brooding expression on her face. It almost always meant that she anticipated trouble.
"In the old days," Trivia Sweat said, "they called this area the pillars of Hercules. The Rock was supposed to be one pillar. The other was one of the African mountains. Nobody is sure which one."
"Hercules, huh?" Percy frowned. "That guy was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you turn — there he is."
A thunderous boom shook the Argo II, though Eden wasn't sure where it came from this time. She didn't see any other ships, and the skies were clear. Maybe underwater.
"So . . . these Pillars of Hercules or whatever. Are they dangerous?" Eden asked. "I love danger."
Trivia Sweat stayed focused on the white cliffs, as if waiting for the Mark of Athena to blaze to life. "For Greeks, the pillars marked the end of the known world. The Romans said the pillars were inscribed with a Latin warning—"
"Non plus ultra," Percy said.
Trivia Sweat looked stunned. "Yeah. Nothing Further Beyond. How did you know?"
Percy pointed. "Because I'm looking at it."
Directly ahead of them, in the middle of the straits, an island had shimmered into existence. Eden was positive no island had been there before. It was a small hilly mass of land, covered in forests and ringed with white beaches. Not very impressive compared to Gibraltar, but in front of the island, jutting from waves about a hundred yards offshore, were two white Grecian columns as tall as the Argo's masts. Between the columns, huge silver words glittered underwater — maybe an illusion, or maybe inlaid in the sand: NON PLUS ULTRA.
"Guys, do I turn around?" Leo asked nervously. "Or . . ."
No one answered — maybe because, like Eden, who was a genius, they had noticed the figure standing on the beach. As the ship approached the columns, she saw a dark-haired man in purple robes, his arms crossed, staring intently at their ship as if he were expecting them. Eden didn't really care much, but judging from his face, he wasn't happy.
Frank inhaled sharply. "Could that be—?"
"Hercules," Perfect Jason said. "The most powerful demigod of all time."
The Argo II was only a few hundred yards from the columns now.
"Need an answer," Leo said urgently. "I can turn, or we can take off. The stabilizers are working again. But I need to know quick—"
"We have to keep going," Trivia Sweat said. "I think he's guarding these straits. If that's really Hercules, sailing or flying away wouldn't do any good. He'll want to talk to us."
Eden hated talking to people that weren't Piper and Leo. She hated it here.
"Won't Hercules be on our side?" Piper asked hopefully. "I mean . . . he's one of us, right?"
Perfect Jason grunted. "He was a son of Zeus, but when he died, he became a god. You can never be sure with gods."
Eden remembered their meeting with Dionysus in Kansas — another god who used to be a demigod. He hadn't been exactly helpful. If she became a god, she'd be helpful.
"Great," Percy said. "Eight of us against Hercules."
"And a satyr!" Hedge added. "We can take him."
"I've got a better idea," Trivia Sweat said. "We send ambassadors ashore. A small group — two or three at most. Try to talk with him."
"I'll go," Perfect Jason said. "He's a son of Zeus. I'm the son of Jupiter. Maybe he'll be friendly to me."
"Or maybe he'll hate you," Percy suggested. "Half brothers don't always get along."
Eden felt attacked by that comment.
Perfect Jason scowled. "Thank you, Mr. Optimism."
"It's worth a shot," Trivia Sweat said. "At least Jason and Hercules have something in common. And we need our best diplomat. Somebody who's good with words."
All eyes turned to Piper.
"Fine," she said. "Just let me change my clothes."
"As long as I come with you!" Eden cut in, and everyone looked at her. "What? Just looking after my girl. Besides, I bet that Hercuknees would absolutely adore meeting me. We're both bitter heroes, after all. Bet y'all ten bucks."
Trivia Sweat frowned. "I don't know . . ."
"She's coming with us," Piper looked over at Eden, who pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I trust her."
Eden snorted. "You should," she gestured down below. "But hells yeah, I'm fucking changing."