THEY DIDN'T MAKE IT back to the ship.
Halfway across the dock, three giant eagles descended in front of them, blocking their bath. Each deposited a Roman legionnaire in purple and denim with glittering gold armor, sword, and shield. The eagles flew off, and the Roman in the middle raised his visor.
"Surrender to Rome!" Octavian shrieked.
Hazel drew her cavalry sword and grumbled, "Fat chance, Octavian."
Ophelia drew her own sword as Annabeth cursed under her breath.
It would have been easy to take Octavian out—he had little experience with actual fighting, and she'd beaten him more times than she could count in training sessions. But the two soldiers with him—Michael Kahale and Nathan Bellows, two other legionnaires from Octavian's cohort—were both experienced soldiers. The fact that Piper and Annabeth were only armed with daggers didn't help, either.
Piper raised her arms in a placating gesture. "Octavian, what happened at camp was a setup. We can explain."
"Can't hear you!" Octavian yelled. "Wax in our ears—standard procedure when battling evil sirens. Now, throw down your weapons and turn around slowly so I can bind your hands."
"Let me skewer him," Hazel muttered. "Please."
"Only if we can take turns," Ophelia said.
"Deal," Hazel agreed.
The Argo II was only fifty feet away, but there was no sign of Hedge or Percy. Jason's group wasn't due back until sunset. The eagles circled overhead, no doubt calling for more Romans.
"Well?" Octavian demanded. Michael and Nathan brandished their swords.
Ophelia watched Annabeth slowly take out her dagger. Instead of dropping it like Octavian asked, she threw it as far as she could into the water.
Ophelia looked at her like she'd suddenly lost her mind.
Octavian made an indignant squeaking sound. "What was that for? I didn't say toss it! That could've been evidence. Or spoils of war!"
Annabeth feigned a dopey smile, and Ophelia bit back a smirk, catching onto the daughter of Athena's plan. Nobody who knew her would believe her "oops" smile for a second, but Octavian was stupid and arrogant. He huffed in exasperation.
"You other three..." He pointed his blade at Ophelia, Piper, and Hazel. "Put your weapons on the dock. No funny bus—"
All around the Romans, Charleston Harbor erupted like a fountain, sweeping the Romans off of the deck. When the wall of seawater subsided, the three Romans were in the bay, spluttering and frantically trying to stay afloat in their armor. Percy stood on the dock, holding Annabeth's dagger.
"You dropped this," he said, totally poker-faced.
Annabeth threw her arms around him. "I love you!"
"Guys," Hazel interrupted, a tiny smile on her face. "We need to hurry."
Down in the water, Octavian yelled, "Get me out of here! I'll kill you!"
"Tempting," Percy called down.
"What?" Octavian shouted. He was holding onto Michael, who was having trouble keeping them both afloat.
"Nothing!" Percy shouted back. "Let's go, guys."
Hazel frowned. "We can't let them drown, can we?"
"They won't," Percy promised. "I've got the water circulating around their feet. As soon as we're out of range, I'll spit them ashore."
Piper grinned. "Nice."
They all climbed aboard the ship and Ophelia ran straight for the helm, Annabeth close behind to man the controls.
"Piper, get below," Annabeth said. "Use the sink in the galley for an Iris-message. Warn Jason to get back here!"
Piper nodded and raced off.
"Hazel, go find Coach Hedge and tell him to get his furry hindquarters on deck!"
"Right!"
"Percy, Ophelia—we need to get this ship to Fort Sumter."
Percy nodded and ran to the mast. Ophelia took the helm as Annabeth's hands flew over the controls.
Ophelia knew children of Poseidon/Neptune had some level of magical control over boats and other water-based crafts, but she'd never actually seen it in action. Ropes flew on their own—releasing the dock ties, weighing the anchors. The sails unfurled and caught the wind. At Annabeth's nod, Ophelia fired the engine. The oars extended with a sound like machine-gun fire, and the Argo II turned from the dock, heading for the island in the distance.
The three Roman eagles still circled overhead, but they made no attempt to land on the ship, probably because Festus blew fire whenever they got too close. More eagles were flying in formation toward Fort Sumter—at least a dozen. If each of them carried a Roman demigod... they'd be in trouble.
Coach came pounding up the stairs with Hazel at his hooves. "Where are they?" he demanded. "Who do I kill?"
"No killing!" Annabeth ordered. "Just defend the ship!"
"But they interrupted a Chuck Norris movie!"
Piper emerged from below. "Got a message through to Jason. Kind of fuzzy, but he's already on his way. He should be—oh! There!"
Soaring over the city, heading in their direction, was a giant bald eagle, unlike the golden Roman birds.
"Frank!" Hazel said.
Leo was holding onto the eagle's feet, and even from the ship, Ophelia could hear him screaming and cursing. Behind them flew Jason, riding the wind.
"Never seen Jason fly before," Percy grumbled. "He looks like a blond Superman."
"Not the time!" Piper scolded. "Look, they're in trouble!"
Sure enough, a 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. If Ophelia wasn't watching in horror, she would have tried to cover Hazel's ears.
Jason and Frank were forced to overshoot the Argo II and fly toward Fort Sumter.
"I'll get them!" Hedge yelled. He spun to the port ballista and fired before anyone could protest. A flaming spear rocketed toward the chariot. 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.
Ophelia watched in horror as Jason lunged for Leo, caught him, then struggled to gain altitude. He only managed to slow their fall. They disappeared behind the ramparts of the fort, and Frank tumbled after them. Then the chariot dropped somewhere inside and hit with a bone-shattering CRACK! One broken wheel spun in the air.
"Coach!" Ophelia screamed.
"What?" Hedge demanded. "That was a warning shot!"
Ophelia gunned the engines. The hull shuddered as they picked up speed. The docks of the island were only a hundred yards away now, but a dozen more eagles were soaring ahead, each carrying a Roman demigod in its claws.
They were outnumbered at least three to one.
"Percy," Annabeth said, "we're going to come in hard. I need you to control the water so we don't smash into the docks. Once we're there, you're going to have to hold off the attackers. The rest of you help him guard the ship."
"Jason's in there," Ophelia growled. "I'm going."
"Frank and Leo are in there, too!" Hazel added.
"I'll find them," Annabeth promised. "Besides, I've got to figure out where the map is. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who can do that."
Ophelia knew Annabeth was right, but that didn't mean she liked it.
"The fort is crawling with Romans," Percy warned. "You'll have to fight your way through, find our friends—assuming they're okay—find this map, and get everybody back out alive. All on your own?"
"Just an average day." Annabeth kissed him. "Whatever you do, don't let them take this ship!"
❖
It didn't take long for Jason, Leo, and Frank to make it back to the ship. Leo took over the helm but Ophelia stayed close by, just in case. At the mast, Jason and Percy went to work creating a miniature storm to keep the Romans from advancing on the Argo II. They were working together like a well-oiled machine, which felt like a miracle after the earlier tension between the two.
Ophelia lost track of how long Annabeth was gone, but when she returned, she screamed for them to go.
The engines rumbled beneath them and the oars churned. Jason changed the course of the wind, and Percy called up a massive wave, which lifted the ship higher than the fort's walls and pushed it out to sea. By the time they reached top speed, Fort Sumter was only a blot in the distance.
And just like that, they were off toward the ancient lands.
❖
They sailed away from Charleston for what felt like forever, trying to put as much distance between them and the city as they could, but eventually, the sea calmed and the winds died. Hedge took the wheel from Leo, and he staggered over to where everyone else was.
Jason and Percy sat with their backs against the mast, exhausted from their storm-making. Ophelia and Annabeth tried to get them to drink some water as everyone gathered around them.
Frank scowled at the horizon. "No sign of pursuit."
"Or land," Hazel added, looking seasick again.
"Did you find the map you wanted?" Leo asked Annabeth.
Annabeth nodded, though she looked pale. "I'll have to study it," she said, as if that was the end of the subject. "How far are we from those coordinates?"
"At top rowing speed, about an hour," Leo said. "Any idea what we're looking for?"
"No," Annabeth admitted. "Percy?"
Percy raised his head. His green eyes were bloodshot and droopy. "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 just 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."
"Fantastic," Ophelia grumbled.
Jason tried to stand, which was a bad idea. Ophelia grabbed him to keep him from falling over.
"Can we get the ship afloat?" he 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."
"Doesn't something unexpected always happen?" Ophelia grumbled.
Frank grunted. "Is there any good news?"
"Actually, yes," Leo said. "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!"
Percy doubled over and groaned. "Did the world just turn upside down?"
Jason groaned. "Yeah, and it's spinning. Everything is yellow. Is it supposed to be yellow?"
Ophelia rolled her eyes. "I think you already know the answer to that," she said, exchanging a look with Annabeth. "Come on, let's get you guys belowdecks."
"Frank, can you help us?" Annabeth asked.
With the son of Mars's help, they managed to get Jason and Percy down to their cabins. Jason passed out as soon as he laid down, effectively trapping Ophelia by laying his head down in her lap and wrapping his arms around her. She couldn't complain, though. The door was wide open so it wasn't like Coach Hedge could accuse them of doing anything unsavory.
She leaned her head back against the wall at the head of his bed, closing her eyes but still a little too wired to sleep. She busied herself with brushing her fingers through Jason's hair, praying the peace would last.
❖
The peace didn't last. Barely an hour after they left Fort Sumter, the ship suddenly lurched to the side. Jason startled awake as the ship's bell rang over the intercom, almost falling off of his bed, and Ophelia couldn't bite back the string of curses that escaped her mouth.
She and Jason ran up onto the deck right behind everyone else.
"What's going—Gah! Shrimpzilla!" Percy yelled.
There was a gigantic sea monster in the water beside the ship. Ophelia got flashbacks to when she and Jason fought the Trojan sea monster over a year ago, but this sea monster was nothing like the serpentine creature they fought. This one was as long as the Argo II, looking like a cross between a giant killer shrimp and a cockroach. Its head was that of an enormous catfish with glassy dead eyes. It didn't have any teeth, but the forest of tentacles sprouting from each of its nostrils certainly made up for that.
The monster rammed the ship again. The hull groaned, and Ophelia, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason all tumbled to starboard and nearly rolled overboard.
"How did it get so close?" Annabeth shouted, pulling herself up on one of the rail shields.
"I don't know!" Hedge snarled.
"I'm stupid!" Leo scolded himself. "Stupid, stupid! I forgot the sonar!"
The ship tilted farther starboard.
"Sonar?" Hedge demanded. "Pan's pipes, Valdez! Maybe if you hadn't been staring into Hazel's eyes, holding hands for so long—"
"What?" Frank yelled.
"It wasn't like that!" Hazel protested.
"Doesn't matter!" Piper said. "Jason, can you call some lightning?"
Jason struggled to his feet. "I—" He only managed to shake his head. Summoning the storm earlier had drained him.
"Percy!" Annabeth said. "Can you talk to the thing? Do you know what it is?"
He shook his head, clearly mystified. "Maybe it's just curious about the ship. Maybe—"
The monster's tendrils lashed across the deck in a blur. One slammed Percy in the chest and sent him crashing down the steps past Ophelia. 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.
"Nose hair attack!" Hedge snatched up his baseball bat and leaped into action; but his hits bounced harmlessly off the tendrils.
Ophelia ran for Piper, pulling her back away from the rail and slicing at the tendrils with her sword. Her blade cut through the monster's tendrils no problem, but faster than she could hit them, more took their place. Annabeth, Jason, and Frank were fighting not too far away, but the monster wouldn't budge. It bellowed, rocking the ship. The mast creaked like it might snap off.
Ophelia heard Leo yelling a few feet away, and she hoped he had some kind of plan because she had nothing, and by the looks of it, neither did anyone else.
The monster pushed against the Argo II. The deck lurched to forty-five degrees. Despite everyone's efforts, the tentacles were too numerous to fight. They seemed to be able to elongate as much as they wanted, and soon, they'd have the Argo II completely entangled. Percy hadn't returned from where he'd been thrown belowdecks, and everyone else was struggling against the monster's stupid nose hair.
Ophelia managed to pull Piper's leg free of the monster's tentacles, but she lost her balance in the process. It only took one smack of a single tentacle to send Ophelia overboard.
She fell silently into the sea.
❖
and there she goes, back into the water. rip :(
see y'all friday!