Leo docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall in the morning. Along the shore was a historical district with tall mansions, palm trees, and wrought-iron fences. Antique cannons pointed at the water.
Kira had been rudely woken up by Jason. He had woken her in the middle of her nightmare, so she accidentally almost punched the boy, thinking he was a giant.
"No one else is even up," Leo grumbled, but Jason only told him to shut up. His mood seemed to get better once he caught sight of Kira, but he still looked disheveled and tired.
Not that Kira looked any better. She barely had time to brush her hair and tie it into a ponytail. She was wearing a Camp Half Blood shirt and sweatpants again, and she defended herself when Jason told her she looked like she was pajamas. She had told him that she was.
She wished she could be going with the girls. She hadn't been able to bond with Annabeth recently, and she wanted to get closer to Hazel. But she was stuck with Leo, Jason, and Frank. This would be fun.
They made their way to the confederate museum, after a lot of bickering.
They found nothing there except racist, complaining ghosts.
Frank had tried to control them before Kira got a chance to.
That was their first mistake.
The confederate ghosts didn't seem to like Frank. They began chasing them through Charleston.
"Kira!" Leo yelled as they ran. "Your turn!"
After how well Frank had done, Kira was nervous, but Clarisse had taught Kira how to do it. If only she could remember how, that would be great, but she tried her best.
She closed her eyes as she ran, focusing on the angry spirits.
She channeled her anger, her face grimacing in concentration. She thought of every moment that she had ever been angry, trying to use it as a weapon.
"They're slowing down!" Jason screamed. "Keep going, Kira!"
Kira clenched her jaw, continuing to channel her anger. She thought of any extreme emotion.
She turned, to the see the spirits very confused. She skid to a stop, her group falling behind her.
She turned to the spirits, glaring. She took a deep breath as they charged, holding out her hand.
As she outstretched her hand, a burst of power seemed to come out of her palm, and hit the ghosts.
Most of them fell over and evaporated, and the ones who didn't, stood straight up, unmoving like they were awaiting directions.
She put her hands on her knees, exhausted.
"That's what you get, racist pigs!" Leo shouted.
"Piper!" Jason yelled, and Kira turned to see an Iris message.
"You guys need to get to the ship now!" She yelled. "We're under attack!"
"We're trying!" Leo told her.
"Do we leave the ghosts here?" Frank asked.
"No, they can help fight the Romans," Kira offered. "Right?" She asked darkly, glaring at the confederates.
They nodded quickly. She gave them a sarcastic smile, but it only seemed to scare them more. Good, she thought.
Leo and Kira rode on Frank, who had turned into a giant eagle. Jason flew next to them.
They could see the fighting instantly, Romans were everywhere.
Leo slipped, and he was hanging onto Frank by the feet, screaming and cursing.
Kira would have found it extremely funny it he wasn't about to fall to his death. She extended her arm, trying to get him to grab it.
"Leo!" She cried, but Leo was too busy screaming to hear her.
The Roman flying chariot had descended from a cloud and was diving straight toward them. Jason and Frank veered out of the way, pulling up to avoid getting trampled by the pegasi. The charioteers fired their bows. Arrows whistled under Leo's feet, which led to more screaming and cursing. Jason and Frank were forced to overshoot the Argo II and fly toward Fort Sumter.
All the sudden, as if things could get any worse, a flaming spear flew towards them.
It exploded over the heads of the pegasi and threw them into a panic. Unfortunately it also singed Frank's wings and sent him spiraling out of control. Leo slipped from his grasp. The chariot shot toward Fort Sumter, slamming into Jason.
Jason lunged for Leo, caught him, then struggled to gain altitude. He only managed to slow their fall. Frank and Kira tumbled after them.
Kira groaned, rolling around, trying to find to strength to stand. She was already sucked out of energy, but falling out of the sky didn't help. She ripped off her necklace, using it to her help stand shakily.
She was surrounded. But Kira Willows never went down without a fight. Her stare hardening into a glare, she was about to run into some Romans when there was a roar behind her.
A dozen confederate soldiers held their swords high, screaming at the Romans. The Roman demigods looked at each other nervously, but Kira didn't wait.
Leo was unharmed, and Kira could see him in the corner in her eye, blasting fire and dodging cannonballs.
Kira leapt into a action, focused to not kill, but knock out as many as she could.
She took on three demigods, all around her age, but they circled her nervously as their friends fought the confederates.
Kira cleared her mind with ease this time. She twirled her sword as one of them ran towards her.
She easily deflected his blows, seeing how Romans strictly had offensive strategies.
She blocked another jab when the other two sprung into action.
She was overwhelmed by the amount of blows she needed to deflect, but she held her ground.
She swiped at the boys' feet as he swung out, making him crash to the ground.
She slammed her hilt into his head, and he crumpled.
The other two hesitated, but only for a second. She used that to kick the girl's legs, causing her to lose balance and fall.
An loud explosion caused the ground to rumple. The last boy slashed her arm with the distraction, and she tripped backing up.
He went to stab her chest, but she blocked the blow, twisting his sword enough where she would either make him drop the sword or break his wrist.
He dropped his sword. The injured girl snatched Kira's sword, but she just punched the boy in the face.
He stumbled back, holding his nose before sinking. She circled the girl with two swords, with nothing but her fists.
She swung, but two swords slowed her down. Kira tackled her with no hesitation, grabbing her sword and knocking her out as well.
Breathing heavily, she saw her friends, Leo, and Frank running for the boat.
Two more demigods surrounded her.
Leo was yelling. He was too far away to hear, but he was waving his arms wildly, pointing to the ship.
They had to go. She nodded, and took off towards the ship, away from two demigods calling her a coward.
Roman demigods had formed ranks and were advancing toward the Argo II, but a miniature storm had gathered over their heads. Though the day was clear all around them, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed above the Romans. Rain and wind pushed them back.
She fought as many demigods as she could. It was a blur, but she remembered using her hilt to knock them out, or stabbing non-deadly places. She gained injuries, but it didn't seem to slow her down at all. She was deep in thoughts of war, and nothing slowed her down.
Kira had no idea how to get to the boat without drowning in the waves that Percy was creating to keep the demigods out, but when she dove into the cold water, it didn't seem to affect her.
The demigods in the water were rougher and stronger.
One pulled her away from the ship, and yanked her sword out of her hands. He threw it onto the deck, where she couldn't reach it. He punched her, and she struggled in his iron grip.
She kicked him in the groin, and while he was distracted she continued to the ship.
Leo pulled her up as Argo II was pulling out of the dock. They fell on the dock, entangled in themselves, exhausted.
Kira coughed, water dripping out of her mouth and nose. She was a mess, small nicks and bruises were all over her. She had no energy to stand, but Leo was already hunched over her, whispering, "Oh, Ki,"
She managed to sit up, trying to keep her eyes open. Everyone had made it to the ship. Kira sighed in relief, leaning against Leo for support.
Leo could only kiss her on the forehead and pass her to Annabeth though, he had to keep the ship from capsizing.
Annabeth slumped her against the mast and ran off to tell Percy something.
Percy and Jason sat with their backs against the mast as well, their heads slumped in exhaustion. Annabeth and Piper were trying to get them to drink some water.
Kira was in out of sleep, her eyes drooping but not completely asleep. She really only felt safe to fall asleep next to Leo.
Her cuts had started to sting when the adrenaline wore off. The boy had gotten her arm good, and blood was still falling out of it. Her cheek was bruised and swelled from the demigod in the water, and almost everywhere else probably had a small nick from a sword or a bruise from a staff or other blunt weapon.
Leo knelt beside after what felt like forever, handing her a glass of water. At the presence of him, Kira felt a little better, and the water cleared her throat a bit.
"No sign of pursuit," Frank said.
"Or land," Hazel added. Leo stood back up, looking at the horizon.
Leo turned to Annabeth. "Did you find the map you wanted?"
Kira's head rested on Leo's leg, eyes shutting.
"I'll have to study it," Annabeth said. "How far are we from those coordinates?"
"At top rowing speed, about an hour," Leo said. "Any idea what we're looking for?"
"No," she admitted. "Percy?"
"The Nereid said Chiron's brothers were there, and they'd want to hear about that aquarium in Atlanta. I don't know what she meant, but..." He paused, like he'd used up all his energy saying that much. "She also warned me to be careful. Keto, the goddess at the aquarium: she's the mother of sea monsters. She might be stuck in Atlanta, but she can still send her children after us. The Nereid said we should expect an attack."
"Wonderful," Frank muttered.
"Can we get the ship aloft?" Jason asked. "If we could fly—"
"That'd be great," Leo said. "Except Festus tells me the port aerial stabilizer got pulverized when the ship raked against the dock at Fort Sumter."
"We were in a hurry," Annabeth said. "Trying to save you."
"And saving me is a very noble cause," Leo agreed. "I'm just saying, it'll take some time to fix. Until then, we're not flying anywhere."
Percy flexed his shoulders and winced. "Fine with me. The sea is good."
"Speak for yourself." Hazel glanced at the evening sun, which was almost to the horizon. "We need to go fast. We've burned another day, and Nico only has three more left."
"We can do it," Leo promised. "We can make it to Rome in three days—assuming, you know, nothing unexpected happens."
Frank grunted. "Is there any good news?"
Kira passed out before she head the good news.
Everyone looked concerned for the girl, she had gone pale and her arm was still bleeding. Leo picked her up bridal style, holding her tightly against his chest.
"Actually, yes," Leo said, glancing at the girl in his arms nervously. "According to Festus, our flying table, Buford, made it back safely while we were in Charleston, so those eagles didn't get him. Unfortunately, he lost the laundry bag with your pants."
"Dang it!" Frank barked.
Percy interrupted by doubling over and groaning.
"Did the world just turn upside down?" he asked.
Jason pressed his hands to his head. "Yeah, and it's spinning. Everything is yellow. Is it supposed to be yellow?"
"Summoning that storm really sapped your strength," Piper told the boys. "You've got to rest."
Annabeth nodded agreement. "Frank, can you help us get the guys belowdecks? Leo's got Kira,"
Leo held her tightly, as if an eagle was going to soar out of nowhere and snatch her from him.
He placed her in her bed, wrapping gauze and around her arm wound.
He hadn't meant to, but he fell asleep right next to her after patching her up the best he could.
Both of the couple woke up to a surprise. Piper was holding a camera, and when they woke up, she offered them an innocent smile.
All the sudden, the deck rattled.
"We can't ever catch a break, can we?" Leo yelled before kissing Kira on the forehead and taking off to the deck.
Piper helped her stand, Kira putting her arm around her supportively.
They made their way to the deck.
Percy yelled, "What's going— Gah! Shrimpzilla!"
The monster rammed the ship again. The hull groaned. Annabeth, Piper, Kira, and Jason tumbled to starboard and almost rolled overboard.
Kira, who was still exhausted from the battle, managed to stand with help from the rails. She grabbed her sword, which had been sitting on the deck since she passed out.
"How did it get so close?" Annabeth shouted, pulling herself up on one of the rail shields.
"I don't know!" Hedge snarled. He looked around for his bat, which had rolled across the quarterdeck.
"I'm stupid!" Leo scolded himself. "Stupid, stupid! I forgot the sonar!"
"Sonar?" Hedge demanded. "Pan's pipes, Valdez! Maybe if you hadn't passed out in Kira's bed—"
"Jason, can you call some lightning?" Piper yelled.
Jason struggled to his feet. "I—" He only managed to shake his head. Summoning the storm earlier had taken too much out of him.
Kira wasn't sure what she could do either. She hadn't felt this crappy since the first quest.
"Percy!" Annabeth said. "Can you talk to that thing? Do you know what it is?"
"Maybe it's just curious about the ship. Maybe—"
The monster's tendrils lashed across the deck. One slammed Percy in the chest and sent him crashing down the steps. Another wrapped around Piper's legs and dragged her, screaming, toward the rail. Dozens more tendrils curled around the masts, encircling the crossbows and ripping down the rigging.
Kira branded her sword weakly, swinging at the tendrils. She managed to cut through one, but three more then whacked her into a wall.
"Kira!" Leo cried.
"Nose-hair attack!" Hedge snatched up his bat and leaped into action; but his hits just bounced harmlessly off the tendrils.
Everyone on the ship was fighting as best as they could. Kira managed to stand and hold her ground, slicing at different tendrils.
"Hazel!" Leo yelled. "That box! Open it!"
Kira continued to defend the ship, stumbling a little more then she usually would.
"Open it!" Leo yelled again. "Coach, take the wheel! Turn us toward the monster, or we'll capsize."
Kira sliced at another, defending Leo from one that was aiming for him.
The monster pushed against the Argo II. The deck lurched to forty-five degrees.
"Frank!" Leo called as he ran toward Hazel. "Buy us some time! Can you turn into a shark or something?"
Frank, distracted, was flung overboard.
Hazel screamed. She'd opened the supply box and almost dropped the two glass vials she was holding.
Kira ran to where Frank had gone over, but he was nowhere to be seen.
A tendril plucked her up, and she tried to hit at it.
Something exploded in the monsters mouth.
She was released, and her vision blurred as she smacked the water, like hitting the cement.
She tried to swim up, but she was already tired before the fight. She struggled to keep her eyes open, her gauze falling off and her cut stung in the salt water.
Her vision turned to black.
Nightmares plagued her dreams, as usual. She saw giants fighting her friends, the hole again, and Gaea whispered that she didn't want her blood, that she was too weak.
Kira woke up underwater, gasping for breath, holding back tears from her nightmare. Where was Leo?
"Leo?" She called hesitantly.
"Not here," Hazel said miserably. "Just you and me."
Kira jumped at her voice, and turned to see Hazel in the bed next to her. They were underwater, but somehow breathing.
Kira made sure she still had everything. Her Ares knife and her sword were nowhere to be seen, but she still had her original sword in the form of a ring.
Her arm was rewrapped, in some sort of seaweed mush.
Something walked into the room, and Kira backed up on instinct.
His skin was green, his beard scraggly brown, and his longish hair was tied back in a seaweed bandana. A pair of lobster claws stuck up from his head like horns, turning and snapping at random. He had the forelegs of a blue-green horse, sort of like a centaur, but toward the back, his horse body morphed into a long fishy tail about ten feet long, with a rainbow-colored, V-shaped tail fin.
Kira waved.
"Who are you?" She asked the fish-horse. "I'm Kira, nice to meet you,"
Hazel smacked her for telling him her name.
"I am Bythos," said the green man. "I will interrogate Hazel Levesque,"
"Why are we here?" Kira asked sweetly, looking around at the underground room.
"You, Kira Willows, will go with my brother, Aphros,"
He was blue instead of green and much, much bigger. He had a square, brutish head. A huge Conan-approved sword was strapped across his back. Even his hair was bigger—a massive globe of blue-black frizz so thick that his lobster-claw horns appeared to be drowning as they tried to swim their way to the surface.
They didn't answer any other questions, and they led each other separate ways, which made Kira very nervous. She shot a look to Hazel, but she just shook her head, as if to say don't start anything.
She followed the fish centaur through a massive forest of kelp for what felt like a half a mile.
Finally the kelp forest opened up. Kira gasped. They were floating at the summit of a high underwater hill. Below them stretched an entire town of Greek-style buildings on the seafloor.
The roofs were tiled with mother-of-pearl. The gardens were filled with coral and sea anemones. Hippocampi grazed in a field of seaweed. A team of Cyclopes was placing the domed roof on a new temple, using a blue whale as a crane. And swimming through the streets, hanging out in the courtyards, practicing combat with tridents and swords in the arena were dozens of mermen and mermaids—honest-to-goodness fish-people.
"Wow," Kira said. "This is awesome! This is a training camp?"
Aphros nodded, pride showing in his eyes.
"We have trained all the famous mer-heroes! Name a mer-hero, and we have trained him or her!"
"Um.." Kira was nervous, not wanting to offend him with not knowing any of them. "Bill?" She asked, a random name popping into her head.
"Yes!" He exclaimed. "I trained him myself!"
"Impressive." Kira mused. "What do you call it?"
"This is Camp -" He made a sound that was a series of sonar pings and hisses.
Kira nodded her head with false excitement.
"That's lovely," Kira said sweetly, but Aphros was done with small talk.
"Tell me your story," He said.
Kira gulped. Where would she start? Wilderness School? Camp Half Blood? Argo II?
She decided to begin from the very beginning. She told him that her mother died, that she was thrown into Wilderness School. She was extracted by Annabeth and Butch, being claimed by Ares. They were thrown into her first quest to save Hera. She told him about the Prophecy of Eight, Argo II, and the quest to defeat the giants.
Aphros seemed to consider her story. Kira felt uncomfortable underneath his stare.
"I believe you," He said simply.
"Really?" Kira couldn't help the relief being laced in her words.
"As simple as that?"
"I am quite good at discerning lies. I hear none from you."
Aphros led her back to theorem, where Hazel was. Before he swam out, Kira called out, "Is Leo alright?"
"He is, young hero." He told her, a ghost of a smile on his face.
Hazel and Kira were left alone.
"Kira?" Hazel asked.
"Yeah?" Kira responding, looking to the girl.
"I just wanted to tell you that you did awesome when the Romans attacked." She told her. "I don't think I've ever seen someone take on that many of our best fighters and live."
Kira was touched that the girl had gone from going her death glares to compliments.
"Thank you, Hazel!" She said with a bright smile. After hesitating, she wrapped the girl in a hug.
Hazel hugged back after a few moments.
Some merpeople came to collect them to get to Leo. Kira was jumpy to see him again.
Two merpeople escorted them, and they talked sweetly and laughed all the way through the kelp.
Once they went through the clearing, Kira could see Leo with Aphros.
She swam to him quickly, wrapping him in a underwater hug. When they left the embrace, Leo still hung his arm around her shoulder, so they were still close.
"There you are!" Kir recognized the first fish-horse from when she had woken up.
Bythos and Aphros floated over with Frank between them, looking pale but okay. Kira waved warmly to him, wrapping herself in Leo's embrace.
"You are free to go," Bythos said. He opened his saddlebags and returned their confiscated supplies. Kira rewrapped the Ares' knife around her thigh and her father's sword.
"Tell Percy Jackson not to worry," Aphros said. "We have understood your story about the imprisoned sea creatures in Atlanta. Keto and Phorcys must be stopped. We will send a quest of mer-heroes to defeat them and free their captives. Perhaps Cyrus?"
"Or Bill," Bythos offered.
"Yes! Bill would be perfect," Aphros agreed. "At any rate, we are grateful that Percy brought this to our attention."
"You should talk to him in person," Leo suggested. "I mean, son of Poseidon, and all."
Both fish-centaurs shook their heads solemnly. "Sometimes it is best not to interact with Poseidon's brood," Aphros said. "We are friendly with the sea god, of course; but the politics of undersea deities is...complicated. And we value our independence. Nevertheless, tell Percy thank you. We will do what we can to speed you safely across the Atlantic without further interference from Keto's monsters, but be warned: in the ancient sea, the Mare Nostrum, more dangers await."
Frank sighed. "Naturally."
Bythos clapped the big guy on the shoulder. "You will be fine, Frank Zhang. Keep practicing those sea life transformations. The koi fish is good, but try for a Portuguese man-of-war. Remember what I showed you. It's all in the breathing."
Frank looked mortally embarrassed. Leo bit his lip, determined not to smile so Kira wouldn't punch him.
"And you, Hazel," Aphros said, "come visit again, and bring that horse of yours! I know you are concerned about the time you lost, spending the night in our realm. You are worried about your brother, Nico...."
Hazel gripped her cavalry sword. "Is he—do you know where he is?"
Aphros shook his head. "Not exactly. But when you get closer, you should be able to sense his presence. Never fear! You must reach Rome the day after tomorrow if you are to save him, but there is still time. And you must save him."
"Yes," Bythos agreed. "He will be essential for your journey. I am not sure how, but I sense it is true."
Aphros planted his hand on Leo's shoulder. "As for you, Leo Valdez, stay close to Hazel and Frank when you reach Rome. I sense they will face...ah, mechanical difficulties that only you can overcome."
"Mechanical difficulties?" Leo asked.
Aphros smiled as if that was great news. "And I have gifts for you, the brave navigator of the Argo II!"
"I like to think of myself as captain," Leo said. "Or supreme commander." Kira shot him an amused smile.
"Brownies!" Aphros said proudly, shoving an old-fashioned picnic basket into Leo's arms. "In this basket you will also find the recipe. Not too much butter! That's the trick. And I've given you a letter of introduction to Tiberinus, the god of the Tiber River. Once you reach Rome, your friend the daughter of Athena will need this."
"Thank you!" Kira told him.
"Annabeth..." Leo said. "Okay, but why?"
Bythos laughed. "She follows the Mark of Athena, doesn't she? Tiberinus can guide her in this quest. He's an ancient, proud god who can be...difficult; but letters of introduction are everything to Roman spirits. This will convince Tiberinus to help her. Hopefully."
"Hopefully," Leo repeated.
Bythos produced three small pink pearls from his saddlebags. "And now, off with you, demigods! Good sailing!"
He threw a pearl at each of them in turn, and three shimmering pink bubbles of energy formed around them.