If you motivated Percy in the right way, you could get him to do anything. For example, motivate Percy with a rain check, and he'll empty an entire Greek trireme of tens of thousands of gallons of water in under 10 seconds.
But even still, the ship wasn't in good shape as they sailed for Delos. They were too damaged to fly and too slow to outrun monsters.
They fought hungry sea serpents about every hour. They attracted schools of curious fish. At one point they got stuck on a rock, and Percy and Jason had to get out and push. With Cressida's help of course as she gave the boys a boost and grew some grapevines to help lift the ship.
Let's just say it was a long three days before they made it to Mykonos and Cressida, Percy, Annabeth and Piper went on a scouting mission. Piper mostly wanted the chance to quiz him on the whole immortality thing. Percy didn't mind it. He enjoyed the chance to make his girlfriend blush as he said nice things about her.
And then they came back, they brought gelato for everyone. Percy made sure to get himself rocky road and get Cressida cookie dough just as he did in central park on her birthday two years ago.
The whole crew sat on deck, without a storm or a monster attack to worry about for the first time in days, and ate ice cream. Well, except for Frank, who was lactose intolerant. He got an apple.
Mykonos was beautiful. – a collection of white stucco buildings with blue roofs, blue windows and blue doors.
"We saw these pelicans walking around town," Percy reported. "Like, just going through the shops, stopping at the bars."
Hazel frowned. "Monsters in disguise?"
"No," Annabeth said, laughing, "just regular old pelicans. They're the town mascots or something. And there's a 'Little Italy' section of town. That's why the gelato is so good."
"Good? Books, this stuff is heavenly," Cressida said from where she sat, leaning against Percy as she ate her gelato.
Leo was inclined to agree as he thanked Piper for getting him double chocolate delight.
"Europe is messed up." Leo shook his head. "First we go to Rome for Spanish steps. Then we go to Greece for Italian ice cream."
He did hate the fact that the closer they got to August 1, the more upbeat his friends acted. Or maybe upbeat wasn't the right word. They seemed to be pulling together for the final lap – aware that the next two days would make or break them. There was no point moping around when you faced imminent death. The end of the world made gelato taste a lot better.
Especially for Cressida who was supposed to turn 17 on D-day.
Piper set down her ice cream cup. "So, the island of Delos is right across the harbour. Artemis and Apollo's home turf. Who's going?"
"Me," Leo said immediately.
Everybody stared at him.
"What?" Leo demanded. "I'm diplomatic and stuff. Frank and Hazel volunteered to back me up."
"We did?" Frank lowered his half-eaten apple. "I mean ... sure we did."
Hazel's gold eyes flashed in the sunlight. "Leo, did you have a dream about this or something?"
"Yes," Leo blurted. "Well ... no. Not exactly. But ... you got to trust me on this, guys. I need to talk to Apollo and Artemis. I've got an idea I need to bounce off them."
Annabeth frowned. She looked like she might object, and so did Cressida, but Jason spoke up.
"If Leo has an idea," he said, "we need to trust him."
Leo felt guilty about that, especially considering what his idea was, but he mustered a smile. "Thanks, man."
Percy shrugged. "Okay. But a word of advice: when you see Apollo, don't mention haiku."
Hazel knitted her eyebrows. "Why not? Isn't he the god of poetry?"
"Yeah, but just take it from the demigods who've actually met him before," Cressida added.
"Got it," Hazel said.
Leo rose to his feet. "And, guys, if they have a souvenir shop on Delos, I'm totally bringing you back some Apollo and Artemis bobbleheads!"
While the three of them left, Percy was content sitting on the deck with his girlfriend wrapped in his arms as the sun shone down on them.
It was a peaceful moment between the two of them before they were joined by Piper and Jason and eventually Annabeth, the group of friends simply sitting and enjoying whatever time together they had left.
And when the trio came back, they came back with good-ish news.
Apollo had given them the last ingredient to make the supposed cure for death. And he'd given them the name and directions to Asclepius, the god of healers and the supposed only being who knew how to make the cure.
Which is now where they were headed, over the ruins of Epidaurus.
The Argo II really wasn't in good shape to fly, but Leo had got her airborne after only one night of work. With the world ending tomorrow morning, he was highly motivated.
Now, at last, they hovered over the ancient temple complex of the healing god Asclepius, where they could hopefully find the physician's cure and maybe also some ambrosia, nectar and Fonzies, because Leo's supplies were running low. Not to mention they were also running low on Solace Solution, and considering Cressida drank at least one a day, they would need to restock before they fought the giants in Athens.
Percy peered over the railing. "Looks like more rubble."
His face was still a little green from his underwater poisoning but between the bit of nectar he was given and whatever magic healing Cressida's back rub had done, he was hardly throwing up anymore.
Annabeth pointed to the disc-shaped structure about fifty yards off their port side. "There."
Leo smiled. "Exactly. See, the architect knows her stuff."
The rest of the crew gathered around.
"What are we looking at?" Frank asked.
"Ah, Señor Zhang," Leo said, "you know how you're always saying, 'Leo, you are the only true genius among demigods'?"
"I'm pretty sure I never said that."
"Well, turns out there are other true geniuses! Because one of them must have made that work of art down there."
"It's a stone circle," Frank said. "Probably the foundation of an old shrine."
Piper shook her head. "No, it's more than that. Look at the ridges and grooves carved around the rim."
"Like the teeth of a gear," Jason offered. "And those concentric rings."
Hazel pointed to the centre of the structure, where curved stones formed a sort of bull's-eye. "The pattern reminds me of Pasiphaë's pendant: the symbol of the Labyrinth."
"Huh." Leo scowled. "Well, I hadn't thought of that. But think mechanical. Frank, Hazel ... where did we see concentric circles like that before?"
"The laboratory under Rome," Frank said.
"The Archimedes lock on the door," Hazel recalled. "It had rings within rings."
Percy snorted. "You're telling me that's a massive stone lock? It's, like, fifty feet in diameter."
"He might be right," Cressida spoke up. "Back when Ancient Greece wasn't so ancient, the temple of Asclepius was like a general hospital for Greek citizens, the best healing you could get. The legend was that aboveground, it was the size of a major city, but supposedly the real action happened belowground. That's where the high priests had their intensive-care super-magical-type compound, accessed by a secret passage."
Percy was bewildered. "How do you know this?"
She grinned at him. "How do you think?"
Percy sighed. "Greek History Class."
"Ding. Ding. One point for you."
Percy scratched his ear. "So, if that big round thing is the lock, how do we get the key?"
"Way ahead of you, Aquaman," Leo said.
"Okay, do not call me Aquaman. That's even worse than Water Boy."
"Hollywood gets to call you those names, why can't I?"
"Because 'Hollywood', is my girlfriend. And if I said no, she's probably not going to give me the Halloween thing. And that was one of the few things that kept me going in Tartarus."
"One day, Jackson, you're going to tell me what the Halloween thing is."
"The day he wishes to get dumped," Cressida added. "Can we get back to opening the giant lock now?"
Leo turned to Jason and Piper. "You guys remember the giant Archimedes grabber arm I told you I was building?"
Jason raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were kidding."
"Oh, my friend, I never kid about giant grabber arms!" Leo rubbed his hands in anticipation. "It's time to go fishing for prizes!"
"Why exactly were you building a giant grabber arm?" Percy asked and Leo's smile fell a little.
"It was...it was to pull you guys out of the pit when we found you."
Percy's entire expression changed. "Ok," he said, "I'll give you Aquaman. No Water Boy."
Leo gave a small grin before he looked to Cressida, whose eyes were just wide as she closed the distance between them.
Cressida cupped his face as she pressed her lips to his cheek.
Leo's cheeks were on fire (not literally) as his skin tingled as she pulled away and she met his eyes, Spanish rolling off her tongue.
"You're a good person, Houston. And that mystery girl you have on your cabin wall is going to love you. She's going to love the person and the heart that your mother would've been so proud of."
Leo looked as if he was about to cry. Those words meant a lot coming from someone like her.
"Gracias, Hollywood," he returned, and Cressida kissed his cheek again. "Easy, Hermana," Leo said, well aware of the tight look that now showed on Percy's face. "Aquaman looks like he's going to kill me if you plant another one on me - not that I'm complaining."
Her smile was small as if she was also trying not to cry. "Yeah, well, Aquaman can grow up, because while my friends share my heart, he owns it and he knows that."
Piper then put her hand on Leo's shoulder. "Why don't we get back to the grabber arm before Percy blows a vein?" she suggested.
"Come on, Houston," Cressida invited with a grin. "Let's see your Lunatic Let's-do-it Leo Valdez plan."
Leo beamed. "I thought you'd never ask."
As Cressida moved back over to Percy she stopped him before he could kiss her. "I kiss everyone on the cheek. You, Tyson, Leo, Jason, Annabeth, Thalia, Piper. You can't get angry or jealous every time that happens. I told you, you have my heart. That's all that should matter."
"So, you'd be ok if I did that?"
She shrugged. "I wouldn't care. I trust you. I love you. And I know you wouldn't hurt me."
"How much of that do you really believe?"
"About half, but I'm working on it. And what I do completely believe is that you like kissing me way too much to ever do anything that risks me stopping."
"You got me there. And I'm sorry. I'll work on the whole jealousy thing, just like you're working on your abandonment thing. But you can't blame me for being concerned. I mean, you are totally out of my league."
She rolled her eyes. "You underestimate yourself. I already told you," she said as she wined her arms around his neck. "Sea-green eyes that make my knees weak. Words that make me swoon. A trouble-maker grin that drives me up the wall but makes my heart race a million miles a minute. And I've also told you that I'm only with you for your looks, so clearly you have them if I'm still here."
"Shut that beautiful mouth of yours."
And Percy pecked her lips as they wished Leo, Piper and Jason good luck and Jason flew them down to the surface. And then Percy need to lie down or else he was worried he'd throw up again.
Despite that potential threat, Cressida still came to lie down with him, to just hold him, because their journey was reaching the end and time was running out.