𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

chapter twenty-four. ☄︎. *. ⋆

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I TOOK MY ANGER OUT on Will's teddy bear. Its name was Theodore, after me, but it went by Teddy, much unlike me. When we got back to the cabin after dinner, I picked up the stuffed animal, stared into its beady black button eyes, and punched it square in the face.

     "Stupid Tantalus," I muttered, punching Teddy in the gut. "Stupid Clarisse. She's gonna have no idea what to do on that quest."

     Will pursed his lips. I could tell he was trying not to say something. When I raised my eyebrows and drew back my fist to punch Teddy again, Will sighed and shook his head. "I just don't think you should sneak out of camp, Theo. You're just gonna get caught—and you can bet Tantalus is just itching for a chance to kick you guys out of camp."

     "Will's right," Michael said, unhelpfully. "But," he added, helpfully, "if you really do want to sneak out, you've got a bunch of the best archers on your side."

     "Archers are sneaky," Lee said, like he was trying to help me understand what they were insinuating. "Sneaky people can be sneaky. And th—"

     "Okay, I get it," I said loudly. Lee may not have been the brightest son of Apollo—pun unintended—but he was right. Our cabin was filled with skilled archers who had been trained to keep from being noticed. "Maybe you guys can help sneak us out tomorrow night. I'll talk to Aquaman in the morning."

     Will snorted, grabbing his bear and hopping off my bunk. "Yeah, sure," he laughed, shaking his head. "Talk to him. Try not to get too distracted."

     Michael and Lee laughed along with him, but I didn't get the joke.

I began to try and ask what they thought was so funny, but I stopped suddenly, picking my head up and peeking out the window. They slowly stopped laughing.

Will said, "What's wrong?"

I twisted my lips. "I thought I heard—"

There it was again. I could've sworn it was Percy yelling for help, but it was well past curfew. He was smarter than to be out so late, right? Then again, this was Percy we were talking about. I slid out of bed and grabbed my bow and quiver. "I'll be back."

"Theo," Will called before I could make it through the door. He gave me a worried look. "Stay safe."

"Yes, sir." I saluted, then dashed off in the direction where I'd heard Percy yelling from. A small part at the back of my mind told me to stop looking for him, that the harpies would find me first and enjoy a nice midnight snack, but I didn't listen. I figured I could outrun a harpy or two.

     I found Percy on the beach at the same time as Annabeth and Tyson. Breathless, confused, and on edge, I looked at Percy and said, "Well, what's going on?"

     "I heard you calling for help!" Annabeth said. She had drawn her dagger.

     "Me, too!" Tyson said. I noticed Annabeth stiffen and shuffle so I was on the side closer to the Cyclops. He was oblivious, though, and continued, "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"

     "I'm fine," Percy said, raising his eyebrows and lifting his shoulders up. "I didn't call you guys."

     "But th—" I caught sight of what he had in his hands; four bright yellow duffle bags, a bottle of gummy vitamins, and a thermos, like the kind you drink soup out of when you're sick. I looked to Percy and raised an eyebrow. "You trying to keep your vitamin D levels up, or what?"

"Listen, I just—" He faltered, looking behind us. I spun around and aimed my bow. I didn't know what had gotten his attention until I heard it; the screeching of patrol harpies picking up our scents. Percy cursed. "We don't have a lot of time. Hermes gave me these. He thinks we should go on the quest. He's even provided us with a ride."

"My entire cabin thinks we should go," I said, dropping my bow to my side.

"My siblings don't think it's safe, but they know it's the right thing," Annabeth added, nodding.

"We'll get expelled," Percy said. "Trust me. I'm an expert at getting expelled."

"If we fail," I argued, "there won't be any camp to come back to."

Annabeth said, "Tyson can stay behind and tell th—"

"I want to go!" Tyson exclaimed.

"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded panicked. I faintly remembered her fear of Cyclopes, but I was drawing a blank for why she was so scared of them. Annabeth shook her head. "I mean... Percy, come on. You know it's impossible."

We all looked at Percy. He had his lips pursed, clearly deep in consideration of whether to leave his Cyclops brother at camp or not. I couldn't blame him if he decided to leave Tyson. Percy had been getting made fun of for days now, ever since Tyson had been claimed as his brother.

I thought he wasn't going to let Tyson come along, but he shook his head and said, "We can't leave him. Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."

"Well, if you wanna use that logic," I said in increasing frustration, "then Will and all my siblings will be punished as well. And Annabeth's. Do we have to take them too?"

"We're taking Tyson," Percy snapped. "That's final."

I clenched my jaw, but knew he wouldn't change his mind. Then I heard a foghorn—like that of a really large ship. Annabeth and I shared a glance, then looked out onto the water; there was a huge cruise ship passing by.

"Is that the ride Hermes provided?" I asked Percy, staring open-mouthed at the large ship. "How are we supposed to.. get there?"

"Hermes said my father would help." Percy cleared his throat and looked out onto the water. He clapped his hands together. "Um.. Dad? How's it going?"

"We're a little short on time, Percy," Annabeth said anxiously, glancing over her shoulder. I could hear the patrol harpies' shrieks getting closer.

"We need your help!" Percy told his dad, a little louder and more urgently. "We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so.."

Nothing happened. I was sure we were doomed to death by hungry harpies. They were almost at the top of the hill when, about a hundred yards out to sea, four white lines appeared on the surface. They moved quickly through the water, ripping toward the shore.

As they neared the beach, the surf burst apart and revealed the heads of four white stallions.

"Fish ponies!" Tyson exclaimed happily.

He was right. As the creatures pulled themselves onto the sand, I saw that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail fins.

"Hippocampi!" Annabeth said. "They're beautiful." The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled her.

"We'll admire them later," Percy said. "Come on!"

"There!" a voice shrieked behind us. "Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!"

Five of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes—plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies. They reminded me of miniature cafeteria ladies who'd been crossbred with dodo birds. They weren't very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious if they caught you.

"Yeah, what Percy said," I agreed, nodding quickly and boarding the back of the hippocampus and slinging my bow over my shoulder to help Annabeth climb atop hers.

Percy urged the creatures to speed off, and they did, much quicker than I would have expected to. We plunged through the waves at the speed of a jet ski. The harpies were cursing at us, wailing for their snacks to come back, but we were yards away from the shore faster than they could reach where the water met the sand. Soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was a dark smudge in the distance. I felt a pang of guilt—I hadn't even said goodbye to Will or anybody. But right then we had other problems.

As we approached the cruise ship, our hippocampi slowed down. I wondered how we were supposed to get aboard the ship, but before I could ask, my hippocampus led me to the far side of the ship. We pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.

"Theo first," Percy said. I raised my eyebrow, intending to ask why he insisted it was me that went first, but he flushed. "So you can.. you know, eliminate any dangers with your bow."

As I climbed up the side of the ship, I could've sworn I heard Annabeth ask Percy, "Like I couldn't do that with my dagger?" To which he replied with a scoff.

"No dangers," I called sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "But I'm so glad you thought ahead."

I figured we'd have to sneak around, being stowaways and all, but after checking a few corridors and peering over a balcony into a huge central promenade lined with closed shops, I began to realize there was nobody to hide from. I mean, sure it was the middle of the night, but we walked half the length of the boat and met no one. We passed forty or fifty cabin doors and heard no sound behind any of them.

"Weird," I muttered. "It's like a ghost ship."

"No," Tyson said, shaking his head. "Bad smell." He looked anxious.

Annabeth frowned. "I don't smell anything."

"Cyclopes are like satyrs," Percy explained. "They can smell monsters."

"Okay," Annabeth said cautiously, nodding slowly. "Tyson, what do you smell?"

"Something bad."

"Great," Annabeth muttered. "That about clears it up."

     We continued stalking through the cruise ship, as quietly as we could—three exhausted demigods and a baby Cyclops, by the way, are not very stealthy. I tripped over one of the deck chairs and would have fallen into the pool if Tyson hadn't caught me by my armpits.

     "Thanks," I muttered. My heart about leapt out of my chest. It wasn't that Tyson scared me, really, but his hands on my arms felt frighteningly familiar—too monster-like for me to appreciate.

     "We need a hiding place," Percy decided. "Somewhere to sleep."

     "Sleep," Annabeth repeated, nodding. For emphasis, I yawned.

     We explored a few more corridors until we found an empty suite on the ninth level. The door was open, which struck me as weird. There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a handwritten note that said: Enjoy your cruise!

     We opened our duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything—extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He'd even managed to pack Tyson's oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, Annabeth's cap of invisibility, and even a few trick arrows Will had had Charles Beckendorf of Hephaestus cabin craft over the winter.

     I picked one up and inspected its tip, frowning. "These are still under investigation," I said, gently poking at it. "One almost blew Connor's head off when Will tested it. I'm not sure they'll be all that handy."

     "Sure they will," Percy said. "What can they do?"

     "Blow up." I shrugged. "Not sure what else. Beckendorf said he crafted a bunch of different types, but we didn't get to find out what any of them did, since Connor had to go to the infirmary."

     After gathering our things, Annabeth and I headed to the suite next-door. It looked the same as the other one, but mirrored. There was only one bed, and I told Annabeth she could have it. She didn't argue much. I heard snoring within a few minutes.