[Y/N's POV]
The first thing I felt was a stinging sensation across my face, and then it was my body tumbling off of the tree I was sleeping in.
Turns out, Tantalus wasn't fond of having a demigod live in the Big House, so I got evicted from my room. I was supposed to end up at the Hermes cabin, but instead chose to take refuge in the forest for as long as needed. Hopefully Chiron would be back soon.
Anyway. Once I smacked into the ground, and detangled my body from the blanket that was burying me, I stood up, pulling out the new sword Beckendorf made me.
There wasn't a whole lot around right now, so I kept surveying the surrounding woods until I swiveled and spotted that mischievous face. I'd seen Hermes once before, when he was one of the gods at the council where I was begging for answers.
"Hi." he said, suddenly zipping out of sight. The world turned to a blur as I felt his hands on my back. Now, the location was different. We were on the edge of the woods, closer to camp, and I had a fully packed bag beside me. I massaged my neck, feeling slight effects of whiplash. Hermes looked at me and shook his head. I heard a pair of voices in my head, Not those voices from lately. Different ones.
'Is the lad alright? He looks pained.' The female voice said. 'See, lord, I told you. Hold the back of the head when you run like that. It hurts them.' a male voice said. Hermes slapped down on his pocket and both voices cried out. 'OW!'
"Stop that, George, Martha. Not the time." he turned to me, with the appearance of a sly fox, about to steal something. "Hello, Y/N. Been a while hasn't it?" I blinked, now feeling a pounding headache, and noticing Percy's voice calling out for help. "Yes, lord Hermes. It's not been long enough. Do you need something?"
He chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. "Yes and no. Your friend needs you at the moment more than me, but you wouldn't wake up to just the cries for help, so I chose to take matters into my own hands."
I rubbed the side of my face. "More like hand. That hurt. You couldn't have done something else?" He breathed out a laugh. "No. Well. Get a move on then." He started to push me toward the beach.
"Wait wait hang on why?" I dug my heels into the dirt, stopping the god from ushering me away. "What's going on here exactly?" He sighed and walked beside me, looking out at the water of Long Island Sound.
"You and my son. You were friends once, right?" he asked. I thought for a moment, of the years I'd been here and the amount of sons of Hermes I've met. But it was pretty clear that this conversation was only about one person. "Luke, right?" I muttered.
Hermes nodded. "We used to be. Then he tried to kill me. And I may not be good at the whole friends thing, but I'm pretty sure that's as good a reason as any to break off a friendship."
"Yeah. Yeah I heard about that. Sorry." he said, pulling out his caduceus and tapping it on his leg. "You don't need to apologize. Not like it was entirely your fault. Luke's being manipulated. Sure, he's also insane, but there's more behind it than just your terrible parenting." Suddenly I was whacked in the back of the head with the caduceus.
George and Martha laughed as Hermes glared daggers through me. "Watch it kid. I'm trying to do you a favor. Listen."
He grabbed me by the shoulder. "You're going to run into Luke soon enough. And when you do, I want you to try and talk him out of this. And if you can, I'll put in a good word with your mom. I know you two don't exactly see eye to eye. And with Luke doing all this, some of the olympians wanted to make sure that the demigods who had some clear problems with us had a better-"
"Better what? Better opinion?" I scoffed. "I'm sure Artemis wasn't exactly thrilled with that idea." I scratched the side of my neck, still feeling the veins pulsing. It's been constant lately. Like a building tension in my chest. Like a balloon about to pop. I brushed Hermes' hand off my shoulder and grabbed my bag.
"Listen, Hermes. I may hate my mother, but I would never pull what Luke did. I care too much about my friends to try and start another war. Okay? So put in a good word with her if you want. I don't care what she thinks of me anymore. If Luke tries to hurt my friends, I won't hesitate to fight him. Sure, I might die, but my friends will be fine. That's all I'm worried about." I nodded at the god with a grim smile and started down toward the beach.
Eventually, I spotted Percy and called out to him. I heard Annabeth and Tyson's voices as well. Hermes brought the whole crew out for this.
Annabeth, Tyson, and I converged on Percy at the edge of the beach. "Sup, Percy." I patted him on the shoulder. He nodded and looked at the other two.
"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. "I heard you calling for help!"
"Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"
"I didn't call you guys," he said. "I'm fine."
I bent down and picked up a bottle of Hermes' patented multi vitamins. He was pulling out all the stops for what he wanted us to accomplish.
"But then who..." Annabeth noticed the bags on the ground and the bottle of vitamins I was holding. "What-"
"Just listen," he said. "We don't have much time."
Percy proceeded to tell us all about his conversation with Hermes. By the time he finished, the security harpies were screeching into the night, headed right our way.
"Percy," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."
"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled." he said.
"And?" I questioned. "It's Tantalus' camp right now. Do we really want to be here that badly? " I said. He nodded in consideration. Annabeth said "Percy. If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."
"Yeah, but you guys promised Chiron-"
"Percy. We promised Chiron to keep you safe from danger. If we let you leave on this quest alone, you're gonna die." I told him. His eyebrows raised.
"And we swore on the Styx." Annabeth cut in. "Therefore, if you die, we're probably gonna die. So we're coming with you, alright?" Percy tried to get a word in but I spoke over him. "You're not arguing with us on this. Tyson can stay and tell everyone where we've gone."
"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 looked at Tyson. He seemed really eager to go, and it wasn't like I could physically stop him from coming. I may be decently strong for a demigod, but Tyson could pretty easily squash me like a grape on a chariot track. The three of us looked at Percy expectantly, waiting for an answer as he looked out at the cruise ship passing by.
"We can't leave him," he decided. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."
"Percy," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus's island!
I started to think about it. Polyphemus and Tyson are still related, so who's to say Tyson couldn't just sneak us around. He'd cover our scent drastically, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea. Annabeth started stammering.
"Polyphemus is an S-i-k... a C-y-k..." She stamped her foot in frustration. Her face started to go red as I fought to hide the laugh that was working its way out. She gets so flustered when she can't do something like this. It's adorable.
Now, Annabeth is one of the smartest, well, the absolute smartest person I know, but she's still a demigod. And she's VERY dyslexic. If we didn't stop her, she'd be fighting to spell cyclops all night. "You know what I mean!" she sputtered, defeated.
"Tyson can go," Percy insisted, "if he wants to." Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!" Annabeth gave him the evil eye, and then looked at me as if she wanted support in this battle. "No fighting it." I mouthed silently. She slumped her shoulders. "Alright," she said. "How do we get to that ship?"
"Hermes said my father would help."
"Yeah your dad also didn't acknowledge your existence for twelve years, so who's to say he's gonna actually do anything?" I asked, looking at the water. A hermit crab scuttled out of the tide and pinched my ankle. Sure, I deserved that, but it was a fair question.
"Well then, Seaweed Brain? What are you waiting for?" Annabeth asked.
He stepped into the waves, ankle deep. "Um, Dad?" he called. "How's it going?"
"Clock's ticking, Percy!" I whisper yelled. "This is time sensitive!"
"We need your help," he called a little louder. "We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so..."
Nothing happened at first. The waves kept slapping the sand, same as before, and the security harpies only got louder. Then, out of nowhere, sea foam started bubbling up to the surface. Out of that foam, four white streaks sped toward us, like some giant invisible eagle was hanging its talons in the water.
When they got to the beach, the shore exploded and four horses of ocean water emerged. They pulled themselves up onto the beach and stood in front of us, magnificent as the deep blue sea. They were only half horses, with rainbow fish scales dotting their back ends.
"Hippocampi." I muttered, passing a hand over the creature's mane. Tyson caught his breath. "Fish ponies!" he exclaimed. "That's nothing like what I said." The hippocampi snorted what sounded suspiciously like a laugh, and put its head under my hand, as if asking for more attention.
"They're beautiful." Annabeth said. The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled her. I was lost in thought petting the creature when Percy shouted "We'll admire them later. 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. They were plump little old women, with wrinkly faces and claws as sharp as a knife. They had wings too small for their body and reminded me of the school librarian at the one I attended. The harpies weren't fast enough to catch me, but if they did catch someone, that someone would be torn apart.
"Good call, Percy." I tossed the vitamins back into that bag and zipped it up, hurrying to my horse thing. I looked back and saw the cyclops still slack jawed in amazement.. "Tyson!" I said. "Grab a duffel bag!" He was still staring at the hippocampi. "Tyson!"
"Uh?"
"Let's go, dude!"
With Percy's help, we pushed him off, hurrying and mounting the hippocampi. Tyson's was a lot bigger than ours, probably to handle his massive size.
"Giddyup!" Percy yelled. Our rides turned hard off to follow Percy's gliding along the waves like a bird flying through the air. Percy's was leading us, with Annabeth, Tyson and I in tow.
The harpies swore at us, crying in anguish about how they'd lost their snacks. But we certainly didn't feel bad for them. The hippocampi sped toward the cruise liner like a boat. Soon enough, we lost sight of camp and Long Island in general. I wasn't sure if I'd ever come back, but we had enough problems to worry about.
Like how we had a fairly good chance of all dying on this quest. But let's be optimistic. The cruise ship was looming in front of us. This would be our ride to the sea of monsters? Hermes must not have cared very much about stealth. Because this thing was brightly lit and enormous.
I wasn't exactly having an easy time riding this animal. But we still zipped down the hull of the boat, smoothly. Percy obviously was having no trouble with this whole thing, but us three were holding on for dear life, trying not to slide off and be forgotten in the middle of the atlantic ocean.
When we finally really reached the side of the boat, it felt like I was looking up at some massive city building. It had to at least be twenty stories tall, with letters on the side that were individually bigger than my entire body. The ship was named the 'Princess Andromeda'
"Andromeda?" I shouted. "Isn't that the woman that Perseus saved?!" Percy looked back at me. "I didn't save anybody!" he shouted. I put my arm in front of my face, squinting so none of the sea water would blind me. "Not you, dummy! The other one!"
"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.
I grabbed hold of one of the ladder rungs, with one foot on the lowest bar and the other on my still speeding along Hippocampus. I gestured to Annabeth. "You're first, Einstein!" She slung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed my other hand. I assisted her in grabbing the first rung hearself, and she was off. I grabbed Percy next. He started going up. Their horses whined goodbye.
Then I looked at Tyson. His ride was spinning him around and he was giggling like a child at the carnival. It echoed out over the open water. "Tyson! Hush!" I muttered, offering him my hand to help him up. "Let's go big guy!"
"Can't we take Rainbow?" he asked, his smile fading. I stared at him. The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name. "Oh gods, he named it." I muttered, my face in my hand.
"Rainbow can't climb ladders buddy! We have to leave him behind. I'm sorry. Come on!" Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus's mane. "I will miss you, Rainbow!" I grabbed his hand, and while he almost pulled me off the ladder, he started climbing.
Rainbow started whining. I started climbing behind Tyson, not without a farewell nod for my hippocampi. It nodded as well, disappearing into the surf with Rainbow.
"Maybe we'll see him again sometime," I suggested.
"Oh, please!" Tyson said, perking up immediately. "Tomorrow!"
"Sure, Tyson. Maybe tomorrow. Could you climb faster?" He nodded and made it up the ladder much faster than I thought he could. My top speed was when I was on foot, so I had to climb a ladder like a normal person.
It led up to somewhere stock full of lifeboats. Some double doors were ahead of us, but Annabeth was in the middle of prying open the lock. Percy had his sword out just in case. Once I got over the burning muscles in my arms, I did too.
We'd have to sneak around, since we had snuck on the ship at all. I didn't grow up in the mortal world, but I'd learned enough from all of the other demigods to be able to figure out that you shouldn't sneak onto a cruise ship.
But when we'd reached the central deck, nothing was going on. All of the shops were closed, and there was no one milling around. Nobody was here. Yeah it was like two in the morning, but we made rounds on half of the ship and nothing.
There was no one here, but all of the lights were on in the halls. We walked past almost fifty rooms and not a single sign of life.
"It's a ghost ship," Percy murmured. "No," Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. "Bad smell." he muttered. Annabeth frowned. "I don't smell anything." she said. I took a deep nasal inhale. I couldn't really smell anything but salt water. A few more sniffs, and then it started to smell like sea water full of dead fish. I decided to be on my guard still, even though it didn't smell that bad.
"Cyclops are like satyrs," Percy said. "They can smell monsters. Isn't that right, Tyson?"
He nodded nervously. "Okay," Annabeth said. "So what exactly do you smell?"
"Something bad," Tyson answered. "Great," Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up."
"Annabeth. Keep it together, okay? For now at least." I put a hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath and nodded, screwing her face up with focus.
We walked past a pool that smelled awful. I always hated chlorine. The pool was surrounded by chairs and a closed bar. The water was lit by in-pool lights, giving the room an ominous, unsettling aura.
We walked past a mini golf course, more levels of arcades, restaurants, a climbing wall, and more booths. All empty and none giving a sign of life. Not one.
But this still didn't make me feel very good. My heart was on the verge of popping like a pimple. I felt like someone was watching us. We weren't alone. That's what it felt like, but all of the evidence would tell you the exact opposite. I haven't seen another living creature outside of the other three since the hippocampi.
"We need somewhere to stay for the night. You guys need to sleep." I reasoned. "Sleep..." Annabeth agreed wearily.
We walked around for a little while longer, exploring the corridors until we found an open door. I found that odd, but this whole place felt off. There was a box full of chocolate on the bedside table, and weirdly, sparkling cider in a bucket of ice on the central table in the room. On the pillows, there was a note that said, "enjoy your cruise!" taped to a mint.
We opened up the duffel bags and I was not kidding when I said Hermes pulled out all the stops.
There were extra clothes in there. Toothbrushes, deodorant, toothpaste, and all of the works for the bathroom. There was a bag full of bundled up cash, and a pouch weighed down by drachmas inside. He even packed tools and a rag, which Tyson visibly was overjoyed to see.
Annabeth's cap of invisibility was in there as well. She smiled brightly, getting my attention when she pulled it out. I flashed her a thumbs up and dug into my own bag, finding my bracers magically inside. I couldn't help but grin. I strapped them on my arms and turned to Percy.
"Don't I look awesome?" I jokingly posed, taking in just how good these felt on my arms. They were breathable, and lightweight. Lou Ellen told me that she succeeded in putting magic on them, but I wouldn't know for sure until the time came to test it.
Percy's eyes widened and he had a disappointed expression. "Why couldn't you have given me one of those when I fought Ares? Those are so much cooler." I laughed. "I didn't have them yet, dude. But yeah. They look so much cooler. And I got Lou Ellen to magic them. Look." I unbuckled one and handed it to Tyson. "Try and break that, big guy."
His eyebrow raised and he started trying to bend the metal. Much to my dismay, it started to give, but when Tyson stopped applying pressure, it returned back to its original shape. "They're flexible too? Oh, I could kiss that girl right now! These are awesome!" I turned to Annabeth. "Don't you think, Einstein?"
When I looked up at her, the entirety of her face had gone violently pink. I tilted my head in confusion. "Are you alright?" I asked. She started stammering, but eventually cleared her throat and let out a whimpering "yes"
"Oooookay." I turned back to Tyson and Percy. Percy was looking at me with a silly smirk on his face. Tyson was digging through his tools. "What are you smiling at, Percy?" I lunged at him and fake punched him. "Two for flinching." I lightly dug my knuckles into his shoulder and he started laughing. "I'll be next door," Annabeth said. "You guys don't drink or eat anything."
"Why? It's all free." I said. "So was the Lotus Hotel." she muttered, looking around the room like a concerned mom. "You think this place is enchanted?" Percy asked. She frowned. "I don't know. Something isn't right. Just... be careful."
She started to walk out of the room. I did too, and while I was doing so, she looked at me in confusion and expectation. "I'm just keeping watch outside, Einstein. I'm not gonna watch you sleep if that's what you're thinking." She got flustered again. "Of course not."
I went to take a seat right in front of the doors, ready for action. Annabeth held her door handle and turned back to me. "Y/N?" She asked. I looked up at her. "Yeah, Annabeth?" She wiped a lock of her blonde hair out of her face. She muttered something I couldn't hear. "What's that?"
A little louder this time. "Keep going. I don't have super hearing." I joked, even though I kinda did. "You have this bad habit of throwing yourself into danger for people. Why?" she asked.
I breathed a soft laugh. "Uh... I don't know. You guys are my friends, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you." I was fine with that answer, but she clearly wasn't, as she sat down next to me on the floor. "But what if something bad happens to you?" she asked, looking at the floor.
I had never really thought about it, but the answer came to me pretty quickly. "Then it happens. I don't care about myself very much, Annabeth. If I die, that's what happens. As long as I die in a cool way." I spoke softly.
"Why don't you just let Percy or I protect you for once?" she mumbled. "No rest for the wicked, Einstein."
"You're not wicked Y/N." She cut in. "Try to tell that to my mom." I muttered "Someone has to be ready to die. At all times. Or else everyone dies. That's why every time something bad happens, I'm going to put myself between it and my friends, so you guys can keep fighting. Among other reasons." I replied, content with my stance on this. "Well what would you do if I stayed out here all night with you to keep watch?" Annabeth asked.
"I'd strap you down to your bed and make sure you get some sleep. We're not the same in that department. I only ever sleep like five or six hours a week. I just don't really need more. The night always makes me feel more awake. What can I say?"
"Artemis is the goddess of the moon, yeah. I know." she explained. "Pretty fair reasoning, wouldn't you think?" I asked.
"Yeah, I guess so. But still. You should try to sleep more often. It's not good for-" I put a finger up to her. "Please don't try to play the brainiac angle about sleep. I'm fine. Alright?" She nodded and leaned back. I kept watching around the hallway for a while, my mind racing around. "If anyone needs sleep it's you, Annabeth. So go lay down, okay?"
No response. I felt a weight drop on my shoulder. "Annabeth?" I asked, looking over to see. She had fallen asleep on my shoulder. "Oh great. Now I can't move." I whispered. Annabeth started gently snoring. I couldn't help but softly smile. She really was pretty cute when she did that.
I resigned to let her get her rest and wake her up when I guessed it was morning. We were on the inside of a boat so there weren't a whole lot of windows on this level. I sighed, and prepared for the wait ahead, somewhat hoping something would show up so there would be something to do.
[Percy's POV]
Tyson crashed on the couch. He tinkered for a few minutes on his metalworking project, which he still wouldn't show me, but soon enough he was yawning. He wrapped up his oilcloth and passed out.
I lay on the bed and stared out the porthole. I heard Y/N and Annabeth talking out in the hallway, but thought I heard other voices out there, like whispering. I knew that couldn't be. We'd walked all over the ship and had seen nobody.
But the voices kept me awake. They reminded me of my trip to the Underworld. The way the spirits of the dead sounded as they drifted past.
Finally my weariness got the best of me. I fell asleep... and had my worst dream yet. I was standing in a cavern at the edge of an enormous pit. I knew the place too well. The entrance to Tartarus.
And I recognized the cold laugh that echoed from the darkness below. "If it isn't the young hero." The voice was like a knife blade scraping across stone. "On his way to another great victory."
I wanted to shout at Kronos to leave me alone. I wanted to draw Riptide and strike him down. But I couldn't move. And even if I could, how could I kill something that had already been destroyed, chopped to pieces and cast into eternal darkness?
"Don't let me stop you." the titan said. "Perhaps this time, when you fail, you'll wonder if it's worthwhile slaving for the gods. How exactly has your father shown his appreciation lately?" His laughter filled the cavern, and suddenly the scene changed.
It was a different cave. Grover's bedroom prison in the Cyclops's lair. Grover was sitting at the loom in his soiled wedding dress, madly unraveling the threads of the unfinished bridal train.
"Honey Pie!" the monster shouted from behind the boulder. Grover yelped and began weaving the threads back together. The room shook as the boulder was pushed aside. Looming in the doorway was a Cyclops so huge he made Tyson look vertically challenged. He had jagged yellow teeth and gnarled hands as big as my whole body. He wore a faded purple T-shirt that said 'World Sheep Expo 2001.'
He must've been at least fifteen feet tall, but the most startling thing was his enormous milky eye, scarred and webbed with cataracts. If he wasn't completely blind, he had to be pretty darn close. "What are you doing?" the monster demanded.
"Nothing!" Grover said in his falsetto voice. "Just weaving my bridal train, as you can see." The Cyclops stuck one hand into the room and groped around until he found the loom. He pawed at the cloth. "It hasn't gotten any longer!"
"Oh, um, yes it has, dearest. See? I've added at least an inch."
"Too many delays!" the monster bellowed. Then he sniffed the air. "You smell good! Like goats!"
"Oh." Grover forced a weak giggle. "Do you like it? It's Eau de Chévre. I wore it just for you."
"Mmmm!" The Cyclops bared his pointed teeth. "Good enough to eat!"
"Oh, you're such a flirt!"
"No more delays!"
"But dear, I'm not done!"
"Tomorrow!"
"No, no. Ten more days."
"Five!"
"Oh, well, seven then. If you insist."
"Seven! That is less than five, right?"
"Certainly. Oh yes."
The monster grumbled, still not happy with his deal, but he left Grover to his weaving and rolled the boulder back into place. Grover closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, trying to calm his nerves. "Hurry, Percy," he muttered. "Please, please, please!"
I woke to a ship's whistle and a voice on the intercom-some guy with an Australian accent who sounded way too happy. "Good morning, passengers! We'll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don't forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o'clock, and for our special guests, disemboweling practice on the Promenade!"
I sat up in bed. "What did he say?"
Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. "The happy man said... bowling practice?"
I hoped he was right, but then there was an urgent knock on the suite's interior door.
Y/N filed in, with a worried expression on his face. "What was that?" I asked him. "I have a very specific library of knowledge, Percy. Magic cruise ships aren't part of it." he answered. Annabeth came in after him, with a pink tint on her face, and her blonde hair tangled like a nest. "Disemboweling practice?" she panicked.
Once we were all dressed, we ventured out into the ship and were surprised to see other people. A dozen senior citizens were heading to breakfast. A dad was taking his kids to the pool for a morning swim. Crew members in crisp white uniforms strolled the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers.
Nobody asked who we were. Nobody paid us much attention. But there was something wrong. As the family of swimmers passed us, the dad told his kids: "We are on a cruise. We are having fun."
"Yes," his three kids said in unison, their expressions blank. "We are having a blast. We will swim in the pool." They wandered off. "Good morning," a crew member told us, his eyes glazed. "We are all enjoying ourselves aboard the Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day." He drifted away.
"Percy, this is weird," Annabeth whispered. "They're all in some kind of trance." Y/N spoke "This feels like magic. Whatever it is, it's not good."
Then we passed a cafeteria and saw our first monster. It was a hellhound. A black mastiff with its front paws up on the buffet line and its muzzle buried in the scrambled eggs. It must've been young, because it was small compared to most. No bigger than a grizzly bear. Still, my blood turned cold. I'd almost gotten killed by one of those before.
The weird thing was: a middle-aged couple was standing in the buffet line right behind the devil dog, patiently waiting their turn for the eggs. They didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. "Not hungry anymore," Tyson murmured.
Before any of us could reply, a reptilian voice came from down the corridor, "Ssssix more joined yesssterday."
Annabeth grabbed Y/N's arm and gestured us frantically toward the nearest hiding place. The women's room, and all four of us ducked inside. I was so freaked out it didn't even occur to me to be embarrassed. "Well... This isn't how I imagined today going, but here we are." Y/N muttered.
Annabeth shushed him in a series of squeals and squeaks. I struggled to look over but I did see the two of them pressed up against the wall, really close together because of Tyson.
Something, or more like two somethings slithered past the bathroom door, making sounds like sandpaper against the carpet. "Yesss," a second reptilian voice said. "He drawssss them. Ssssoon we will be sssstrong."
The things slithered into the cafeteria with a cold hissing that might have been snake laughter. Annabeth looked at us. "We have to get out of here."
"You think I want to be in the girls' restroom?"
"I mean the ship, Percy! We have to get off the ship."
"Yeah, this place is not where we're supposed to be. Hermes had different ideas when he sent us here." Y/N muttered. "Smells bad," Tyson agreed. "And dogs eat all the eggs. Annabeth is right. We must leave the restroom and ship."
I shuddered. If Annabeth, and Tyson were actually agreeing about something, I figured I'd better listen. Then I heard another voice outside-one that chilled me worse than any monster's. "-only a matter of time. Don't push me, Agrius!"
It was Luke, beyond a doubt. I could never forget his voice. "I'm not pushing you!" another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Luke's. "I'm just saying, if this gamble doesn't pay off-"
"It'll pay off," Luke snapped. "They'll take the bait. Now, come, we've got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket." Their voices receded down the corridor.
Tyson whimpered. "Leave now?"
My friends and I exchanged looks and came to a silent agreement. "We can't," I told Tyson. "We have to find out what Luke is up to," Annabeth agreed. "And if possible, we're going to beat him up, bind him in chains, and drag him to Mount Olympus."
"Dibs on beating him up. I owe him." Y/N cracked his knuckles.