"Y/N, wake up." Salt water splashed on his face. Annabeth was shaking his shoulder. In the distance, the sun was setting behind a city skyline. He could see a beachside highway lined with palm trees, storefronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbor filled with sailboats and cruise ships.
"Miami, I think," Annabeth said. "But the hippocampi are acting funny." Sure enough, the horse fish had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. They didn't look happy. One of them sneezed.
"This is as far as they'll take us," Percy shouted out. "Too many humans. Too much pollution. We'll have to swim to shore on our own."
"Great." Clarisse grumbled. They weren't very psyched about that, but they thanked Rainbow and his friends for the ride. Tyson cried a little. He unfastened the makeshift saddle pack he'd made, which contained his toolkit and a couple of other things he'd salvaged from the Birmingham wreck. He hugged Rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he'd picked up on the island, and said goodbye.
Once the hippocampi's white manes disappeared into the sea, they swam for shore. Percy willed the waves to push them forward, and in no time, they were back in the mortal world. They wandered 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. If anybody noticed the 6 sopping wet children walking around, they didn't care.
Now that they were back among mortals, Tyson's single eye had blurred from the Mist. Grover had put on his cap and sneakers. Even the Fleece had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery Omega on the pocket.
Annabeth ran to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the Miami Herald. She cursed. "June eighteenth! We've been away from camp ten days!"
"That's impossible!" Clarisse said.
"Time travels differently in monstrous places." Y/N's face was grim.
"Thalia's tree must be almost dead," Grover wailed. "We have to get the Fleece back tonight."
Clarisse slumped down on the pavement. "How are we supposed to do that?" Her voice trembled. "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..."
"Stop fighting! Both of you!" Y/N exclaimed. Clarisse put her head in hands. Annabeth stomped her foot in frustration.
Y/N thought for a moment. Technically, the quest was supposed to be Clarisse's. Y/N could tell she didn't want to look bad. How would he feel if a bunch of other heroes had butted in and made him look bad? He thought back to what he overheard in the boiler room of the CSS Birmingham—Ares yelling at Clarisse, warning her that she'd better not fail. Ares couldn't care less about the camp, but if Clarisse made him look bad...
"Clarisse," Y/N said, "what did the Oracle tell you exactly?"
She looked up. She took a deep breath and 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.
"No," Percy said. "No... wait a minute. I've got it." He searched his pockets and pulled out nothing but a golden drachma. "Does anybody have any cash?"
Annabeth and Grover shook their heads morosely. Y/N pulled out a dime with a grim look on his face. Clarisse pulled a wet Confederate dollar from her pocket and sighed. "Cash?" Tyson asked hesitantly. "Like... green paper?"
Percy looked at him. "Yeah."
"Like the kind in duffel bags?" The cyclops asked.
"Yeah, but we lost those bags days ago..." Percy stuttered to a halt as Tyson rummaged in his saddle pack and pulled out the Ziploc bag full of cash that Hermes had given them.
"Tyson!" Y/N said. "How did you..."
"Thought it was a feed bag for Rainbow," he said. "Found it floating in the sea, but only paper inside. Sorry." He handed Percy the cash. He counted it out. Fives and tens, at least three hundred dollars.
Percy 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. Annabeth, give her the Fleece."
Clarisse looked stunned as Percy took the Fleece letter jacket from Annabeth, tucked the cash into its pocket, and put it in Clarisse's arms.
Clarisse said, "You'd let me..."
"Percy's right." Y/N said. "It's your quest. Besides, we can't travel by air. Zeus would blast Percy 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."
Clarisse seemed stunned, before nodding in determination. She jumped in the cab. "You can count on me. I won't fail."
"Not failing would be good." Percy called after her. The cab peeled out in a cloud of exhaust. The Fleece was on its way.
"Percy, Y/N." Annabeth said, "that was so..."
"Generous?" Y/N offered.
"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 said. "She deserves a chance."
"Percy is nice," Tyson said.
"Percy is too nice," Annabeth grumbled.
"Nothing wrong with being too nice." Y/N clapped Percy on the back. "Come on," he said. "Let's find another way home."
That's when he turned and found a sword's point at his throat.
"Sup," said Luke. "Welcome back to the States."
His bear-man thugs appeared on either side of them. One grabbed Annabeth and Grover by their T-shirt collars. The other tried to grab Tyson, but Tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at Luke.
"Percy," Luke said calmly, "tell your giant to back down or I'll have Oreius bash your friends' heads together."
Oreius grinned and raised Annabeth and Grover off the ground, kicking and screaming. "What do you want, Luke?" Percy growled.
He smiled, the scar rippling on the side of his face. He gestured toward the end of the dock, towards the biggest boat in the port. The Princess Andromeda.
"Why, Percy," Luke grinned, "I just want to extend my hospitality, of course."
.
.
.
The bear twins herded them aboard the Princess Andromeda. They threw the demigods down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains that sprayed into the air. A dozen of Luke's assorted goons had gathered to watch them get some "hospitality."
"And so, the Fleece," Luke mused. "Where is it?" He looked them over, prodding Y/N shirt with the tip of his sword, poking Grover's jeans.
"Hey!" Grover yelled. "That's real goat fur under there!"
"Sorry, old friend." Luke smiled. "Just give me the Fleece and I'll leave you to return to your, ah, little nature quest."
"Blaa-ha-ha!" Grover protested. "Some old friend you are!"
"Maybe you didn't hear me." Luke's voice was dangerously calm. "Where... is... the... Fleece?"
"Not here," Percy said smugly.
"Percy!" Y/N hissed.
"We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up." Percy smirked.
Luke's eyes narrowed. "You're lying. You couldn't have..." His face reddened as a horrible possibility occurred to him. "Clarisse? You trusted... you gave..."
"Yeah." Percy said. Y/N sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Agrius!" Luke growled.
The bear giant flinched. "Y-yes?"
"Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to Miami Airport, fast."
"But, boss..."
"Do it!" Luke screamed. "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. Y/N glanced at Percy. 'We need to keep him talking.' Y/N thought.
"You've been toying with us all along," Y/N said. "You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."
Luke scowled. "Of course, you idiot! And you've messed everything up!"
"Traitor!" Percy dug a gold drachma out of his pocket and threw it at Luke. He dodged it easily. The coin sailed into 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. Y/N's eyes widened. Percy was smarter than he let on. He uncapped Riptide. Luke just sneered. "This is no time for heroics, Percy. Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."
"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?" Percy questioned.
"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?"
"Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts." Luke cackled.
"You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?" Percy said angrily.
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 hesitated. Luke was about to notice the fountain, before Y/N stepped forward. "You were going to heal Kronos, weren't you?" He said.
"Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process tenfold." Luke growled. "But you haven't stopped us. You've only slowed us down a little."
"And so, you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods." Percy confirmed.
Luke gritted his teeth. "You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"
"Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you." Percy smirked.
"What audience?" Then his eyes narrowed. He looked behind him and his goons 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 whole camp in the dining pavilion. They sat in stunned silence, watching.
"Well," said Dionysus dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."
"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."
"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 Tantalus. "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. 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.
"We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus," Mr. D announced.
Tantalus looked stunned. "What? 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 the deed was done.
Y/N raised an eyebrow at Percy. "Not bad, kelp head." He grinned.
Percy was feeling pretty good about himself until Luke turned and gave him a murderous look. "Kronos was right, Percy. You're an unreliable weapon. 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 us, the brass tips of their spears bristling.
Luke smiled evilly. "You'll never leave this boat alive."