***
Percy and I were staring at each other when Annabeth and Tyson arrived.
"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. "I heard Lillian calling for help!"
"Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"
"I didn't call you guys," I said. "We're fine."
"But then who..." Annabeth noticed the yellow duffel bags, then the thermos and the bottle of vitamins Percy was holding. "What-"
"Just listen," I said, playing with my charm bracelet. "We don't have much time."
Percy and I took turns telling them about the conversation with Hermes. By the time I was finished, I could hear screeching in the distance. Patrol harpies picking up our scent.
"Guys," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."
"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled." Percy told her.
"So? If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."
"Yeah, but you promised Chiron-"
"I promised I'd keep you from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them-"
"I want to go," Tyson said.
"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded close to panic. "I mean...Percy, come on. You know that's impossible."
"I agree with Annabeth." I tell Percy. I wondered again why she had such a grudge against Cyclopes. There was something she wasn't telling me.
She and Tyson both looked at me, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away.
"We can't leave him," Percy decided. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."
"Percy," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus's island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k...a C-y-k..." She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. We could've been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. "You know what I mean!"
"Tyson can go," he insisted, "if he wants to."
Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!"
Annabeth gave Percy the evil eye, but I guess she could tell he wasn't going to change his mind. Or maybe she just knew we didn't have time to argue. I meet Percy's eyes, trying to reason with him. He shakes his head, and I look away with a sigh.
"All right," Annabeth said. "How do we get to that ship?"
"Hermes said my father would help."
"Well then, Seaweed Brain? What are you waiting for?"
"Um, Dad?" he called. "How's it going?"
"Percy!" Annabeth whispered. "We're in a hurry!"
"We need your help," he called a little louder. "We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so..."
At first, nothing happened. Waves crashed against the shore like normal. The harpies sounded like they were right behind the sand dunes. Then, about a hundred yards out to sea, three white lines appeared on the surface. They moved fast toward the shore, like claws ripping through the ocean.
As they neared the beach, the surf burst apart and the heads of three white stallions reared out of the waves.
Tyson caught his breath. "Fish ponies!"
He was right. As the creatures pulled themselves onto the sand, I saw that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail fins.
"Hippocampi!" Annabeth said. "They're beautiful."
The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled Annabeth.
"We'll admire them later," I said. "Come on!"
"There!" a voice screeched behind us. "Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!"
Five of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes- plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies. They reminded me of miniature cafeteria ladies who'd been crossbred with dodo birds. They weren't very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious if they caught you.
"Tyson!" I said. "Grab a duffel bag!"
He was still staring at the hippocampi with his mouth hanging open.
"Tyson!" Percy yelled.
"Uh?"
"Come on!"
With Annabeth's help we got him moving. We gathered the bags and mounted our steeds. Poseidon must've known Tyson was one of the passengers, because one hippocampus was much larger than the other two- just right for carrying a Cyclops.
"Giddyup!" Percy said. His hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves. Annabeth's, Tyson's, and mine followed right behind.
The harpies cursed at us, wailing for their snacks to come back, but the hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Jet Skis. The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp HalfBlood was nothing but a dark smudge. I wondered if I'd ever see the place again. But right then I had other problems.
The cruise ship was now looming in front of us- our ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.
Riding the hippocampus was even easier than riding a pegasus. We zipped along with the wind in our faces, speeding through the waves so smooth and steady I hardly needed to hold on at all. I still prefer flying, but this was great for the situation.
As we got closer to the cruise ship, I realized just how huge it was. I felt as though I were looking up at a building in Manhattan. The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship's name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight. It took me a few seconds to decipher it: PRINCESS ANDROMEDA
Attached to the bow was a huge masthead- a three story-tall woman wearing a white Greek chiton, sculpted to look as if she were chained to the front of the ship. She was young and beautiful, with flowing black hair, but her expression was one of absolute terror. Why anybody would want a screaming princess on the front of their vacation ship, I had no idea.
I remembered the myth about Andromeda and how she had been chained to a rock by her own parents as a sacrifice to a sea monster. My friend's namesake, Perseus, had saved her just in time and turned the sea monster to stone using the head of Medusa.
"How do we get aboard?" Annabeth shouted over the noise of the waves, but the hippocampi seemed to know what we needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, riding easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.
"You first," Percy told Annabeth.
She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once she'd hoisted herself onto the ladder, her hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove underwater. Annabeth began to climb. Percy let her get a few rungs up, then followed her.
I slung my duffle over my shoulder, then flew up next to Annabeth on the ladder.
"Cheat." She tells me, jokingly.
"Geek." I match her tone. "Need me to take your duffle?"
"A little late now. I'm already basically at the top."
Finally it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to 360º aerials and backward ollies, and Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.
"Tyson, shhh!" Percy said. "Come on, big guy!"
"Can't we take Rainbow?" he asked, his smile fading.
Percy stared at him. "Rainbow?"
The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name.
"Um, we have to go," Percy said. "Rainbow...well, he can't climb ladders."
Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus's mane. "I will miss you, Rainbow!" The hippocampus made a neighing sound I could've sworn was crying.
"Maybe we'll see him again sometime," Percy suggested.
"Oh, please!" Tyson said, perking up immediately. "Tomorrow!"
Percy didn't make any promises, but he finally convinced Tyson to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a back-flip and dove into the sea.
The ladder led to a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. There was a set of locked double doors, which Annabeth managed to pry open with her knife and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.
I figured we'd have to sneak around, being stowaways and all, but after checking a few corridors and peering over a balcony into a huge central promenade lined with closed shops, I began to realize there was nobody to hide from. I mean, sure it was the middle of the night, but we walked half the length of the boat and met no one. We passed forty or fifty cabin doors and heard no sound behind any of them.
"It's a ghost ship," I murmured.
"No," Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. "Bad smell."
Annabeth frowned. "I don't smell anything."
"Cyclopes are like satyrs," Percy said. "They can smell monsters. Isn't that right, Tyson?"
He nodded nervously. Now that we were away from Camp Half-Blood, the Mist had distorted his face again. Unless I concentrated very hard, it seemed that he had two eyes instead of one.
"Okay," Annabeth said. "So what exactly do you smell?"
"Something bad," Tyson answered.
"Great," Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up."
We came outside on the swimming pool level. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water in the pool glowed eerily, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship.
Above us fore and aft were more levels- a climbing wall, a putt-putt golf course, a revolving restaurant, but no sign of life.
"We need a hiding place," I said. "Somewhere safe to sleep."
"Sleep," Annabeth agreed wearily.
We explored a few more corridors until we found an empty suite on the ninth level. The door was open, which struck me as weird. There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a handwritten note that said: Enjoy your cruise!
We opened our duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything- extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He'd even managed to pack Tyson's oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Annabeth's cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.
There were only two places to sleep in this room, so Annabeth and I decided to bunk together in the next room.
"We'll be next door," Annabeth told the boys. "You guys don't drink or eat anything."
"You think this place is enchanted?"
She frowned. "I don't know. Something isn't right. Just...be careful."
The two of us left the room, making our way to the room next door. We entered and locked our door.
Annabeth took the bed with very little prompting from me. She just flopped down and fell asleep quickly. I took the couch, looking out the porthole. It was hard for me to sleep, because I could have sworn I heard voices right outside the hall. We'd walked all over the ship and had seen nobody. But the voices kept me awake.
Finally my weariness got the best of me. I fell asleep.
***
A/N: Sorry I haven't posted this yet! I think I'm sick (or it's just allergies but either ways it sucks). Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and have a great Easter tomorrow, or if you don't celebrate it a great Sunday.