ONCE EVERYONE ELSE had got on board and changed into dry clothes (poor frank had to borrow a pair of too-small pants from jason) the crew gathered on the quarterdeck for a celebratory breakfast— except for coach hedge, who grumbled that the atmosphere was getting too cuddly for his tastes and went below to hammer out some dents in the hull. while leo fussed over his helm controls, hazel, frank, and karina related the story of the fish -centaurs and their training camp.

karina sat comfortably next to percy, his hand not leaving her's since she'd gotten on the ship. she had changed into one of his old school's swim team hoodies, making it look more like a blanket rather than a sweatshirt. but, percy found it cute.

"incredible," jason said. "these are really good brownies."

"i know right?" karina agreed with her mouth full, taking another bite out of her second brownie.

"that's your only comment?" piper demanded.

he looked surprised. "what? i heard the story fish-centaurs. merpeople. letter of intro to the tiber river god. got it. but these brownies— "

"i know," frank said, his mouth full. "try them with esther's peach preserves."

"that," hazel said. "is incredibly disgusting."

"pass me the jar, man," jason said.

hazel and piper exchanged a look of total exasperation. boys.

karina turned to percy, holding her brownie out to him. "want a bite?" she asked.

he nodded, and karina pushed the brownie closer to his mouth, feeding him it as he took a bite, and he smiled at her, though, he still looked a bit distracted.

percy wanted to hear every detail about the aquatic camp. he kept coming back to one point: "they didn't want to meet me?"

"it wasn't that," hazel said. "just . . . undersea politics, i guess. the merpeople are territorial. the good news is they're taking care of that aquarium in atlanta. and they'll help protect the argo II as we cross the atlantic."

percy nodded absently. "but they didn't want to meet me?"

annabeth swatted the back of his head. "come on, seaweed brain! we've got other thing to worry about."

"she's right," hazel said. "after today, nico has less than two days. the fish-centaurs said we have to rescue him. he's essential to the quest somehow."

she looked around defensively, as if waiting for someone to argue. no one did. karina tried to imagine what nico di angelo was feeling, stuck in a jar with only two pomegranate seeds left to sustain him, and no idea whether he would be rescued. it made karina anxious to reach rome, even though she had a horrible feeling she was sailing toward her own inevitable demise. she could feel gaea growing stronger in her as they got closer.

"nico must have information about the doors of death," piper said. "we'll save him, hazel. we can make it in time. right, leo?"

"what?" leo tore his eyes away from the controls. "oh, yeah. we should reach the mediterranean tomorrow morning. then spend the rest of that day sailing to rome, or flying, if i can get the stabilizer fixed by then . . . "

jason suddenly looked as though his brownie with peach preserves didn't taste so good. "which will put us in rome on the last possible day for nico. twenty-four hours to find him— at most."

percy crossed his legs. "and that's only part of the problem. there's the mark of athena, too."

annabeth didn't seem happy with the change of topic. she rested her hand on her backpack, which, since they'd left charleston, she always seemed to have with her.

she opened the bag and brought out a thin bronze disk the diameter of a donut. "this is the map that i found at fort sumter. it's . . . "

she stopped abruptly, staring at the smooth bronze surface. "it's blank!"

percy took it and examined both sides. "it wasn't like this earlier?"

"no! i was looking at it in my cabin and . . . " annabeth muttered under her breath. "it must be like the mark of athena. i can only see it when i'm alone. it won't show itself to other demigods."

frank scooted back like the disk might explode. he had an orange-juice mustache and a brownie crumb beard that made karina want to hand him a napkin.

"what did it have on it?" frank asked nervously. "and what is the mark of athena? i still don't get it."

annabeth took the disk from percy. she turned it in the sunlight, but it remained blank. "the map was hard to read, but it showed a spot on the tiber river in rome. i think that's where my quest starts . . . the path i've got to take to follow the mark."

"maybe that's where you meet the river god, tiberinus," piper said. "but what is the mark?"

"the coin," annabeth muttered.

percy frowned. "what coin?"

annabeth dug into her pocket and brought out a silver drachma. "i've been carrying this ever since i saw my mom at grand central. it's an athenian coin."

she passed it around. while each demigod looked at it, karina had a ridiculous memory of a show-and-tell that her and jason did together, and they passed around their weapons around to the class, showing how they changed form from a necklace and a coin. that's when jason had his coin, at least.

"an owl," leo noted. "well, that makes sense. i guess the branch is an olive branch? but what's this inscription AOE— area of effect?"

"it's alpha, theta, epsilon," annabeth said. "in greek it stands for of the athenians . . . or you could read it as the children of athena. it's sort of the athenian motto."

"like SPQR for the romans," piper guessed.

annabeth nodded. "anyway, the mark of athena is an owl, just like that one. it appears in fiery red. i've seen it in my dreams. then twice at fort sumter."

she described what had happened at the fort— the voice of gaea, the spiders in the garrison, the mark burning them away. karina could tell it wasn't easy for her to talk about.

percy shook his head. "i should have been there for you."

"but that's the point," annabeth said. "no one can be there for me. when i get to rome, i'll have to strike out on my own. otherwise, the mark won't appear. i'll have to follow it to . . . to the source."

frank took the coin from leo. he stared at the owl. "the giants' bane stands gold and pale, won with pain from a woven jail." he looked up at annabeth. "what is it . . . this thing at the source."

before annabeth could answer, jason spoke up.

"a statue," he said. "a statue of athena. at least . . . that's my guess."

piper frowned. "you said you didn't know."

"i don't. but the more i think about it . . . there's only one artifact that could fit the legend." he turned to annabeth. "i'm sorry. i should have told you everything i've heard, much earlier. but honestly, i was scared. if this legend is true— "

"i know," annabeth said. "i figured it out, jason. i don't blame you. but if we manage to save the statue, greek and romans together . . . don't you see? it could heal the rift."

"hold on." percy made a time-out gesture. "what statue?"

karina rolled her eyes. "have you been listening at all?"

annabeth took back the silver coin and slipped it into her pocket. "the athena parthenos," she said. "the most famous greek stature of all time. it was forty feet tall, covered in ivory and gold. it stood in the middle of the parthenon in athens."

the ship went silent, except for the waves lapping against the hull.

"okay, i'll bite," leo said at last. "what happened to it?"

"it disappeared," annabeth said.

leo frowned. "how does a forty-foot tall statue in the middle of the parthenon just disappear?"

"that's a good question," annabeth said. "it's one of the biggest mysteries in history. some people thought the statue was melted down for its gold, or destroyed by invaders. athens was sacked a number of times. some thought the statue was carried off— "

"by romans," karina finished. "at least, that's one theory, and it fits the legend i heard at camp jupiter. to break the greeks' spirit, the romans carted off the athena parthenos when they took over the city of athens. they hid it in an underground shrine in rome. the roman demigods swore it would never see the light of day. they literally stole athena, so she could no longer be the symbol of greek military power. she became minerva, a much tamer goddess."

"and the children of athena have been searching for the statue ever since," annabeth said. "most don't know about the legend, but in each generation, a few are chosen by the goddess. they're given a coin like mine. they follow the mark of athena . . . a kind of magical trail that links them to the statue . . . hoping to find the resting place of the athena parthenos and get the statue back."

percy watched the two of them— annabeth and karina— with quite amazement. they spoke like a team, without any hostility or blame. the two of them had seemed to trust each other off the bat, but seeing them talk about such a huge problem like this so calmly— the ultimate source of greek/roman hatred— maybe there was hope for the two camps, after all.

percy had a surprised expression on his face. "so if we— i mean you— find the statue . . . what would we do with it? could we even move it?"

"i'm not sure," annabeth admitted. "but if we could save it somehow, it could unite the two camps. it could heal my mother of this hatred she's got, tearing her two aspects apart. and maybe . . . maybe the statue has some sort of power that could help us against the giants."

karina stared at annabeth in awe, just starting to appreciate the huge responsibility her friend had taken on. and annabeth meant to do it alone.

"this could change everything," piper said. "it could end thousands of years of hostility. it might be the key to defeating gaea. but if we can't help you . . . "

she didn't finish, but the question seemed to hang in the air: was saving the statue even possible?

annabeth squared her shoulders. karina knew she must be terrified inside, but she did a good job hiding it.

"i have to succeed," annabeth said simply. "the risk is worth it."

hazel twirled her hair pensively. "i don't like the idea of you risking your life alone, but you're right. we saw what recovering the golden eagle standard did for the roman legion. if this statue is the most powerful symbol of athena ever created— "

"it could kick some serious ass," leo offered.

hazel frowned. "that wasn't the way i'd put it, but yes."

"except . . . " percy shot a nervous glance at annabeth. "no child of athena has ever found it. annabeth, what's down there? what's guarding it? if it's got to do with spiders— "

"won through pain from a woven jail," frank recalled. "woven, like webs?"

annabeth's face turned as white as printer paper. karina suspected that annabeth knew what awaited her . . . or at least that she had a very good idea. she was trying to hold down a wave of panic and terror.

"we'll deal with that when we get to rome," piper suggested. "it's going to work out. annabeth is going to kick some serious ass, too. you'll see."

"yeah," percy said. "i learned a long time ago: never bet against annabeth."

annabeth looked at them both gratefully.

judging from their half-eaten breakfast, the others still felt uneasy; but leo managed to shake them out of it. he pushed a button, and a loud blast of steam exploded from festus's mouth, making everyone jump.

"well!" he said. "good pep rally, but there's still a ton of things to fix on this ship before we get to the mediterranean. please report to supreme commander leo for your super fun list of chores!"

percy and karina took charge of the upper deck, cleaning off any debris and sea life that was floating around.

"what was the training facility like?" percy asked as he hosed seaweed off the deck.

"amazing," karina breathed out. "it was so . . . peaceful, there. annabeth would've loved the architecture."

percy nodded in agreement. "definitely. i mean, she did get to rebuild olympus, after all."

karina stopped short. "what?" she said abruptly, turning to percy with a look of shock. "she did what now?"

percy chuckled at karina's reaction. "after defeating kronos, olympus was destroyed, and zeus gifted annabeth with the job to rebuild and recreate mount olympus."

"wow," karina breathed out, her eyes wide. "i couldn't even imagine what it would be like to visit the palace of the gods, let alone rebuild it."

percy put the hose down as he finished cleaning the deck, and he moved to the railing of the ship, leaning his forearms against it. "it really isn't all that," he offered. "it's just really white, and bright."

karina scoffed, sidling up next to him. "if you're trying to downplay the house of the gods, it's not working."

percy smiled. "was it that obvious?"

"there isn't any possible way that olympus is 'not all that', percy."

he sighed, and wrapped his arm around her. "okay, fine. i guess it is pretty cool."

karina smiled at him. "i know."

percy rolled his eyes, and then turned to the sea, staring contentedly at the glowing horizon.

karina took a deep breath, leaning her head on percy's shoulder, and she felt her body relax as he pulled her in front of him, leaning his head against her shoulder.

she felt the soft ocean breeze blow through her hair and onto her face as she closed her eyes, a peaceful smile adorning her face as she leaned into percy.

they stayed like that for a while, basking in a comfortable silence as they watched the sunset— a moment that karina would forever believe to be the most calming and serene time of her life. with percy in her arms, and the calming colors of the sunset surrounding them like a warm blanket, she couldn't help but let all of the dangers and monsters that awaited her . . . slip out of her mind.

eventually, leo rang the dinner bell, and everyone came up to eat a rather peaceful dinner, for once.

except for the fact that leo threw a bread roll at her after she stole the last piece of pizza. (she retaliated by shoving a piece of celery into his ear, and he convinced everyone that she bursted his ear drum).

dramatic.

after dinner, everyone settled down for the night, and karina kissed percy goonight before retiring to her cabin, taking a quick shower before falling asleep.

her dreams were the same as usual— trapped in a a void of nothingness as gaea whispered evil nothings to her— but, she was rudely awoken the next morning to a different ship's horn— a blast so loud it literally shook her out of bed.

she wondered if leo was pulling another joke. then the horn boomed again. it sounded like it was coming from several hundred yards away— from another vessel.

karina didn't even care to change— her pajamas consisting of a small, light green tank top, and a pair of pajama pants that had red and white mushrooms scattered all over them. she frantically slipped on her pair of frog slippers and raced up to get on deck. by the time she got there, the others had already gathered— all hastily dressed except for coach hedge, who had pulled the night watch.

frank's vancouver olympics shirt was inside out. hazel's hair was all blown to one side, as though she'd walked through a cyclone, and leo had accidentally set himself on fire. his t-shirt was in charred shatters. his arms were smoking.

karina turned to percy to see him wearing pajama pants and a bronze breastplate, which led her to raise an eyebrow. "do you just have breastplates lying around your room?"

he shrugged his shoulders. "it was dark, and it was the first thing i grabbed," he pointed the tip of his sword at her feet. "nice slippers."

karina smirked. "want a pair?"

percy gave her a playful grin. "maybe if they were dolphins."

the ship's horn blew again, causing karina to stumble back, covering her ears at the obnoxiously loud sound.

about a hundred yards to port, a massive cruise ship glided past. tourists waved at them from fifteen to sixteen rows of balconies. some smiled and took pictures. none of them looked surprised to see an ancient greek trireme. maybe the most made it look like a fishing boat, or perhaps the cruisers thought the argo II was a tourist attraction.

the cruise ship blew its horn again, and the argo II had a shaking fit.

coach hedge plugged his ears. "do they have to be so loud?"

"they're just saying hi," frank speculated.

"WHAT?" hedge yelled back.

the ship edged past them, heading out to sea. the tourists kept waving. if they found it strange that the argo II was populated by half-asleep kids in armor and pajamas and a man with goat legs, they didn't let on.

"bye!" leo called, raising his smoking hand.

"au revoir!" karina said in a tired voice.

"can i man the ballistae?" hedge asked.

"no," leo said through a forced smile.

hazel rubbed her eyes and looked across the glittering green water. "where are— oh . . . wow."

karina followed her gaze and gasped. without the cruise ship blocking their view, she saw a mountain hitting from the sea less than half a mile to the north. karina had seen impressive mountains before. she'd ridden a horse along the side of an alaskan mountain range, and seen the canyons in california. but neither was as amazing as this massive fist of blinding white rock that thrust into the sky. on one side, the limestone cliffs were almost completely sheer, dropping into the sea over a thousand feet below, as near as karina could figure. on the other side, the mountain sloped in tiers, covered in green forest, so that the whole thing reminded karina of a colossal sphinx, worn down over the millennia, within a massive white head and chest, and a green cloak over its back. she could feel the mass amounts of energy rolling off the forest in waves, the lush green forests sending intense vibrations in her direction.

"the rock of gibraltar," annabeth said in awe. "at the tip of spain. and over there— " she pointed south, to a more distant stretch of red and ochre hills. "that must be africa. we're at the mouth of the mediterranean."

the morning was warm, but karina shivered. despite the wide stretch of sea in front of them, she felt like she was standing at an impassable barrier. once in the mediterranean— the mare nostrum— they would be in the ancient lands. if the legends were true, their quest would become ten times more dangerous.

"what now?" piper asked. "do we just sail in?"

"why not?" leo said. "it's a big shipping channel. boats go in and out all the time."

not triremes full of demigods, karina thought.

annabeth gazed at the rock of gibraltar. karina recognized that brooding expression on her friend's face. it almost always meant that she anticipated trouble.

"in the old days," annabeth said, "they called this area the pillars of hercules. the rock was supposed to be one pillar. the other was one of the african mountains. nobody is sure which one."

"hercules, huh?" percy frowned. "that guy was like the starbucks of ancient greece. everywhere you turn— there he is."

a thunderous boom shook the argo II, knocking karina into jason's side, causing him to stumble to the side as well, holding onto her forearms instinctively to steady her.

jason playfully rolled his eyes, removing his hands from her arms. "watch where you're going, flower face."

she narrowed her eyes at him. "i'll literally choke you with a sprout."

jason sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. "feisty!" he said, letting out a short chuckle after.

karina rolled her eyes, and gave him a teasing glare, before turning back to piper, who was saying: "so . . . these pillars of hercules. are they dangerous?"

annabeth stayed focused on the white cliffs, as if waiting for the mark of athena to blaze to life. "for greeks, the pillars marked the end of the known world. the romans said the pillars were inscribed with a latin warning— "

"non plus ultra," percy said.

annabeth looked stunned. "yeah. nothing further beyond. how did you know?"

percy pointed. "because i'm looking at it."

directly ahead of them, in the middle of the stairs, an island had shimmered into existence. karina was positive no island had been there before. it was a small hilly mass of land, covered in forests and ringed with white beaches. not very impressive compared to gibraltar, but in front of the island, jutting from waves about a hundred yards offshore, were two white grecian columns as tall as the argo II's masts. between the columns, huge silver words glittered underwater— maybe an illusion, or maybe the inlaid in the sand: NON PLUS ULTRA.

"guys, do i turn around?" leo asked nervously. "or . . . "

no one answered— maybe because, like karina, they had noticed the figure standing on the beach. as the ship approached the columns, she saw a dark-haired man in purple robes, his arms crossed, staring intently at their ship as if he were expecting them. karina couldn't tell much else about him from this distance, but judging from his posture, he wasn't happy.

frank inhaled sharply. "could that be— "

"hercules," jason said. "the most powerful demigod of all time."

the argo II was only a few hundred yards from the columns now.

"need an answer," leo said urgently. "i can turn, or we can take off. the stabilizers are working again. but i need to know quick— "

"we have to keep going," karina said. "i think he's guarding these straits. if that's really hercules, sailing or flying away wouldn't do any good. he'll want to talk to us."

"won't hercules be on our side?" piper asked hopefully. "i mean . . . he's one of us, right?"

jason grunted. "he was a son of zeus, but when he died, he became a god. you can never be sure with gods."

karina remembered their meeting with bacchus in kansas— another gods who used to be a demigod. he hadn't been exactly helpful.

"great," percy said. "eight of us against hercules."

"and a satyr!" hedge added. "we can take him."

"i've got a better idea," annabeth said. "we send ambassadors ashore. a small group— one or two at most. try to talk with him."

"i'll go," jason said. "he's a son of zeus. i'm the son of jupiter. maybe he'll be friendly to me."

"or maybe he'll hate you," percy suggested. "half brothers don't always get along."

jason scowled. "thank you, mr. optimism."

karina pinched his arm, which made him elicit a small yelp of pain, looking at her in confusion.

"be nice," karina warned, giving him a side-eyed glare.

jason grumbled something incomprehensible and rubbed his arm, a small pout sported on his face.

"it's worth a shot," annabeth said. "at least jason and hercules have something in common. and we need our best diplomat. somebody who's good with words.

all eyes turned to piper.

piper looked terrified— but she did her best to hide it. "fine," she said. "just let me change my clothes."

once she had returned, leo anchored the argo II between the pillars, and jason summoned the wind to carry him and piper ashore.

karina watched nervously as her two friends flew to the island, observing them begin to speak with the god.

it seemed that hazel could sense her nervousness, and she placed a comforting hand on her shoulders, squeezing it softly. "they're going to be okay," she said reassuringly, looking at karina with her mesmerizing honey eyes.

karina swallowed and nodded, placing her hand atop hazel's, lightly grabbing it. "i know," she said softly, giving her a small smile.

the rest of the crew spent the majority of the time eating breakfast, and just staying in the mess hall together, talking up a storm about pointless matters.

they even got onto the topic of plant based cereal, and karina had never gotten more excited to talk about something as interesting as that.

but, just as she had taken her first breath to speak, they heard a shriek come from the island, and everyone immediately rushed out to the deck to investigate.

karina was in utter shock at what she saw. on the island, piper had blasted forth a flood of food as powerful as a river. a torrent of fresh fruit, baked goods, and smoked hams completely buried hercules. karina didn't understand how all that stuff could fit through the entrance of the horn, but she thought the hams were especially appropriate.

when it had spewed out enough goodies to fill a house, the horn shut itself off. karina could faintly hear hercules shrieking and struggling somewhere underneath. apparently even the strongest god in the world could be caught off guard when buried under fresh produce.

"go!" piper yelled to jason, who was staring in amazement at the fruit pile. "go!"

karina turned to leo. "leo!" she yelled, "get ready to go! fast!"

leo saluted her. "already on it, chica!"

when she turned back around, she saw jason shooting away from the island, heading straight for the ship. as they continued to retreat from the island. hercules head broke above the mound of goodies. half a coconut was stuck on his noggin like a war helmet. "kill!" he bellowed, like he'd had a lot of practice saying it.

jason touched down on the deck of the argo II. and just as she'd assumed, leo had done his part. the ship's oars were already in aerial mode. the anchor was up. jason summoned a gale so strong, it pushed them into the sky, while percy sent a ten-foot-tall wave against the shore, knocking hercules down a second time, in a cascade of seawater and pineapples.

karina turned to him with a grin, giving him a high-five. "that was awesome!"

he matched her expression. "i know, know. i am pretty awesome."

karina pursed her lips, her grin immediately gone. "see, now you ruined it. if you had just taken the damn compliment— "

percy cut her off by pushing his finger against her lips, shushing her. "don't kill my vibe, girlfriend."

karina smacked his hand away, narrowing her eyes at him. "your vibe? you mean your ego?"

"i mean my awesomeness." percy retorted, putting his hands on his hips.

karina rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "you're impossible," she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

percy gave her a cheeky grin, walking up to her and placing both of his hands on either side of her face, squeezing her cheeks softly. "you know you love it," he said playfully.

karina crossed her arms, looking up at him with a calculating expression. "do i?" she asked.

percy nodded, and placed a quick kiss to her pouted lips. "yes, you do."

karina sighed, and pulled away from him, grabbing his hand. "come on, fish brain. let's go do a tarot card reading on you."

percy's eyebrows furrowed. "a what?"

karina grinned. "come on."

THEY DIDN'T GET to spend very much time together after that, considering that after they had left the pillars of hercules, several times an hour something attacked the ship.

a flock of flesh-eating stymphalian birds swooped out of the night sky, and festus torched them. storm spirits swirled around the mast, and jason blasted them with lightning. while coach hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, stampeded over the coach's enchilada's, and flew off again, leaving cheesy foot prints all across the deck.

"what was that for?" the coach demanded.

around midnight, karina took percy's spot on deck for the night watch with jason— to which he immediately protested, insisting that she needed sleep.

"i already took a nap earlier," karina insisted. "i can help jason while we're in the air, and then you can take over once we go on to the ocean."

percy stayed silent for a moment, before sighing, and giving in. "okay," he said reluctantly. "but come get me if you need anything, you two." he glanced at karina and jason, and they both nodded.

percy gave karina a soft kiss goodnight, before heading back down to his bunk.

karina sighed softly and sidled up to jason's side, settling into the comfortable silence that had arisen between them through the low sounding wind that was blowing through the air.

"you didn't take a nap earlier, did you?" jason finally said, turning to her expectantly.

karina bit down on the inside of her cheek, and slowly shook her head. "no," she admitted. "i haven't slept much at all, recently."

jason sighed, and fiddled with one of the woven bracelets that was secured around his wrist, and karina immediately recognized it as the one that she'd made him for his birthday last year, right before he had disappeared.

it was a mixture of navy blue, gray, and black string, weaved together in intricate patterns to from a bracket that fit him perfectly.

"you still have it," karina said softly, a small smile rising on her face.

"i never took it off," jason said. "when i disappeared, this was the only thing i had that reminded me of you, and it was the main thing that kept me grounded when i lost all of my memories."

karina looked at him with shining eyes, and then proceeded to slowly pull up her sleeve, revealing the same bracelet, only the colors were different shades of green instead of blue. "i never took mine off either," she admitted, and jason smiled at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her into his side as he looked at the bracelets.

"i missed you," she said quietly, moving her gaze from his wrist to the sky above them, pinpointing all of the constellations that showed through the stars.

jason sighed softly, and peered up at the stars as well. "i missed you, too, rina." he said. "more than you think."

after that, they stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other's presence after being so absent from each other for so long— and it was as if two pieces of a puzzle had finally reconnected after being lost from each other so long, and they could finally be molded back together— just like they used to be. karina would occasionally make a comment about a constellation that she saw, or start asking him questions about his birth chart, but other than that they stayed silent.

eventually, she felt jason's head fall onto her's, and she knew that he was getting too tired to stay out there with her— no matter how much he had tried to stay awake with her already.

"jason," karina muttered softly. "you can go to sleep.  i'll take watch for the rest of the night."

his eyes fluttered open, and he looked down at her hesitantly. "are you sure?" he asked. "i know there hasn't been many attacks recently, but still— "

"yes," karina insisted. "i'll be fine. now, go rest. you need it."

"but so do you," jason replied, looking at her with a slight accusatory expression.

karina shook her head, smiling at him. "i'm fine, jase. i promise. now, please, go to sleep."

jason sighed, and nodded. "okay," he gave in, and he gave her a quick hug, before they bid their good night's, and karina was left alone to stand guard.

karina was lying when she had said she wasn't tired. she was downright exhausted. but karina knew what awaited her every time she closed her eyes— every time she even tried to sleep, she couldn't. gaea had rid her of her main source of energy by plaguing her with nightmares that she couldn't escape. and she absolutely hated it. she hated the feeling of slowly draining herself to nothing everyday, and not being able to refresh herself at all— even when she was on the brink of exhaustion, she still couldn't. she just couldn't bear to go back to the horrible place in which her dreams occur.

she tried distracting herself by observing the stars, trying to make meaningless shapes out of them as she felt her eyes grow heavier as the time passed.

as she continued to stare at the night sky, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and she turned to see percy slowly making his way beside her, his bed hair sticking out in all different angles as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"i thought i told you to sleep?" karina said accusingly as percy sat himself beside her on the deck.

he gave her a tired smile. "i had a nightmare," he said, his voice thick and raspy from not using it. "and i knew you'd still be up."

karina sighed and scooted closer to percy, interlocking their hands together as she leaned into him, laying her head on his shoulder. "tell me about it," she said softly.

percy explained to her about what he saw, and if karina was surprised or scared about this news, she didn't show it.

she peered into the fog. "percy, you have to promise me something. don't tell anyone else except annabeth about this dream."

"don't what? karina— "

"what you saw was about the mark of athena. don't ask me how i know . . . i just do. it'll only make them worry, and it'll make it harder for annabeth to go off on her own. she needs to know this information."

"karina, you can't be serious. that thing in the dark, the big chamber with the crumbling floor— "

"i know." karina looked paler than usual, and percy suspected it wasn't just the fog. "but annabeth has to do this alone. you of all people should understand that. you're her best friend."

percy was silent for a moment, swallowing down his anger. he knew that karina was right, and that annabeth has to do this quest alone. but how was he supposed to agree with that? they had been separated for six months from each other— and having to willingly let her go by herself into danger? he just didn't know if he could do it.

karina sat up and made her way to the forward rail— leaning her arms against the cool metal.

percy followed shortly after— the silence taking over them like a thick blanket, neither comfortable or uncomfortable.

"we're not far from the italian coast," percy said, mostly to break the silence. "maybe a hundred nautical miles to the mouth of the tiber."

"good," karina said. "by daybreak we should— "

"stop." percy's skin felt washed with ice. "we have to stop."

"why?" karina asked.

"leo, stop!" he yelled.

too late. another boat appeared out of the fog and rammed them head-on. in that split second, karina registered random details: another trireme: black sails painted with a gorgon's head; hulking warriors, not quite human, crowded at the front of the boat in greek armor, swords and spears ready; and a bronze ram at water level, slamming against the hull of the argo II.

karina and percy were almost thrown overboard.

festus blew fire, sending a dozen very surprised warriors screaming and diving into the sea, but more swarmed aboard the argo II. grappling lines wrapped around the rails and the mast, digging iron claws into the hull's planks.

by the time karina had recovered her wits, the enemy was everywhere. she couldn't see well through the fog and the dark, but the invaders seemed to be humanlike dolphins, or dolphinlike humans. some had gray snouts. others held their swords in stunted flippers. some waddled on legs partially fused together, while others had flippers for feet, which reminded karina of clown shoes.

leo sounded the alarm bell. he made a dash for the nearest ballista but went down under a pile of chattering dolphin warriors.

karina and percy stood back-to-back, just as they'd done in alaska, their weapons drawn. percy tried to summon the waves, hoping he could push the ships apart or even capsize the enemy vessel, but nothing happened. karina tried to grow the seaweed from the ocean floor up to the other boat and pull them under, but it almost felt like something was pushing against her will, wrestling the sea life from her control.

percy raised riptide, and karina raised her gladius, ready to fight, but they were already hopelessly outnumbered. several dozens warriors lowered their spears and made a ring around them, wisely keeping out of striking distance of their swords. the dolphin-men opened their snouts and made whistling, popping noises. karina had never considered just how vicious dolphin teeth looked.

she tried to think. maybe she could break out of the circle and destroy a few invaders, but not without the others skewering her and percy.

at least the warriors didn't seem interested in killing them immediately. they kept percy and karina contained while more of their comrades flooded belowdecks and secured the hull. karina could hear them breaking down the cabin forts, scuffling with her friends. even if the other demigods hadn't been fast asleep, they wouldn't have stood a chance against so many.

leo was dragged across the deck, half-conscious and groaning, and dumped on a pile of ropes. below, the sounds of fighting tapered off. either the others had been subdued or . . . or karina refused to think about it.

on one side of the ring of spears, the dolphin warriors parted to let someone through. he appeared to be fully human, but from the way the dolphins fell back before him, he was clearly the leader. he was dressed in greek combat armor— sandals, kilt, and greaves, a breastplate decorated with elaborate sea monster designs— and everything he wore was gold. even his sword, a greek blade like riptide, was gold instead of bronze.

the golden boy, karina thought, remembering percy's dream. they'll have to get past the golden boy.

what really made karina nervous was the guy's helmet. his visor was a full mask fashioned like a gorgon's head— curved tusks, horrible features pinched into a snarl, and golden snake hair curling around the face.

karina turned so she was shoulder to shoulder with percy. he wanted to put his arm around her protectively, but he doubted she'd appreciate the gesture, and he didn't want to give this golden boy any indication that karina was his girlfriend. no sense giving the enemy more leverage than they already did.

"who are you?" percy demanded. "what do you want?"

the golden warrior chuckled. with a flick of his blade, faster than karina could follow, he smacked riptide out of percy's hand and sent it flying into the sea. karina instinctively turned her gladius back into her necklace, gripping in her hand as tightly as she could. unlike percy's sword, if her gladius got thrown into the ocean, it wasn't coming back to her.

"hello, brother." the golden warrior's voice was rich and velvety, with an exotic accent— middle eastern, maybe. "always haplu to rob a fellow son of poseidon. i am chrysaor, the golden sword. as for what i want . . . " he turned his metal mask toward karina. "well, that's easy. i want everything you have."

6650 words

in conclusion: movie hercules >> actual hercules.

and karina bout to turn nocturnal if gaea doesn't get her act together 😂😂🤣