𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

chapter thirty-three. ☄︎. *. ⋆

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NEXT THING I KNEW, my hippocampus was splashing saltwater in my face to wake me up. I spluttered and nearly slid off his back.

I said something really intelligent, like, "Bl—wh—ah?"

"We're in Miami, I think," Annabeth replied. "But all the hippocampi are acting weird."

Sure enough, our fishy friends had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. They didn't look happy. Mine sneezed.

"This is as far as they'll take us," Percy said. "Too many humans. Too much pollution. We'll have to swim to shore on our own."

None of us was very psyched about that, but we thanked Rainbow and his friends for the ride. Tyson cried a little. He unfastened the makeshift saddle pack he'd made, which contained his tool kit and a couple of other things he had salvaged from the Birmingham wreck. He hugged Rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he'd picked up on the island, and said goodbye.

     Once the hippocampi's white manes disappeared into the sea, we swam for shore. The waves pushed us forward, and in no time we were back in the mortal world. We wandered along the cruise line docks, pushing through crowds of people arriving for vacations. Porters bustled around with carts of luggage. Taxi drivers yelled at each other in Spanish and tried to cut in line for customers. If anybody noticed us—five kids dripping wet and looking like they'd just had a fight with a monster—they didn't let on.

Now that we were back among mortals, Tyson's single eye had blurred from the Mist. Grover had put on his cap and sneakers. Even the Fleece had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery Omega on the pocket.

Annabeth ran to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the Miami Herald. She cursed. "June eighteenth! We've been away from camp ten days!"

"That's impossible!" Clarisse said.

But I knew it wasn't. Time traveled differently in monstrous places. "Thalia's tree must be almost dead," I said sensibly. "We have to get the Fleece back tonight."

Clarisse slumped down on the pavement. "How are we supposed to do that?" Her voice trembled. "We're hundreds of miles away. This is just like the Oracle said. And it's your faults!" She was glaring at me and Percy. "If you hadn't interfered—"

"If we hadn't interfered, you would be married to that big, ugly Cyclops and stuck on that island forever!" I argued. My cheeks burned. We'd come all this way, just for Clarisse to get a big head and act like it was our fault she was going to fail the quest.

"That'd be better than going back to camp a failure!" she said, pointing a stubby finger in my face. I scowled.

     Clarisse and I both reached for our respective weapons, but Annabeth and Grover came in between us. Annabeth shot me a warning glance.

     Percy caught my eye. He gave me a look that said Lay off her. For a moment, I thought about what Clarisse must be feeling: How would I feel if a bunch of other heroes had butted in and made me look bad?

     I drew in a deep breath. "Clarisse," I said, "what did the Oracle tell you?"

     She looked up. I thought she was going to tell me off, but instead she took a short sigh and recited her prophecy: "You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone; You shall find what you seek and make it your own; But despair for your life entombed within stone; And fail without friends, to fly home alone."

     "Ouch," Grover mumbled.

     I twisted my lips off to one side. "The first line—that one's obvious; CSS Birmingham. The second part is about the Fleece. We found what we were looking for. And the next part, about despairing for your life.. Well, I can't imagine it was all sunshine and roses inside that cave."

     "And the last part?" Annabeth urged.

     I glanced to Percy. "Fail without friends." I gestured to us. I drew in a short breath, pursing my lips and looking back to Clarisse. "But... you have to fly home alone."

     "That makes the most sense," Percy said. "But we don't have any cash for a ticket."

He looked to Clarisse and Grover, but both of them shook their heads helplessly. I shrugged. Annabeth frowned.

"Cash?" Tyson asked. "Like... green paper?"

"Yeah."

"Like the kind in duffle bags?"

"Yeah, but we lost those bags days ag—"

Percy stuttered to a halt as Tyson rummaged in his saddle pack and pulled out a plastic bag full of cash that Hermes had included in our supplies. Percy's eyes widened. "Tyson! How did y—?"

"Thought it was a feedbag for Rainbow," he said. "Found it floating in sea, but only paper inside. Sorry."

I opened the bag and peered in it with Percy. Fives and tens, at least three hundred dollars worth. Percy ran to the curb and grabbed a taxi that was just letting out a family of cruise passengers.

"Clarisse," I yelled. "Come on. You're going to the airport. Annabeth, give her the Fleece."

I'm not sure which of them looked more stunned as I took the Fleece letter jacket from Annabeth, tucked the cash into its pocket, and put it in Clarisse's arms.

Clarisse said, "You'd let me—?"

"It's your quest," I said. "We only have enough money for one ticket. Besides, Percy can't travel by air. Zeus would blast us into a million pieces. This is what the Oracle meant. You have to get the Fleece back safely."

I could see her mind working—suspicious at first, wondering what trick I was playing, then finally deciding I meant what I said.

She jumped in the cab. "You can count on me. I won't fail."

"Not failing would be good." I shut the door, and the cab peeled out in a cloud of exhaust. The Fleece was on its way.

Annabeth said, "That was so—"

"Generous?" Grover offered.

"Insane," she corrected. "You're betting the lives of everybody at camp that Clarisse will get the Fleece safely back by tonight?"

"It's her quest," Percy said. "She deserves a chance."

"Percy and Theo are nice," Tyson said.

"Percy and Theo are too nice," Annabeth grumbled.

I grinned, giving Percy a fist bump. "Come on, we've gotta find another way home. Luckily, I know a few friends that live around here, and they might be able to lend a—"

That was when I spun around and found a sword's point at my throat. Again. I was beginning to become accustomed to that.

"—hand," I finished, my voice flat. "Luke, how wonderful to see you again."

     "Chin up, Tiny." He grinned at me maliciously from behind the sword. "Is that a way to greet your old friend?"

     "Oh, is that what you are?" I grumbled.

     Luke's bear-man twin henchmen appeared on either side of us. One grabbed Annabeth and Grover by their shirts collars. The other reached for Tyson, but Tyson knocked him into a pile of luggage and roared at Luke.

     "Percy," Luke said calmly, "tell your giant to back down or I'll have Oreius bash your friends heads together."

     Oreius grinned and raised Annabeth and Grover off the ground, kicking and screaming. I reached out to help them, but Luke's sword jabbed into my throat, and I froze.

     "What do you want, Luke?" Percy growled.

     Luke smiled, the scar rippling on the side of his face. He gestured toward the end of the dock, and I noticed what should've been obvious. The biggest boat in port was the Princess Andromeda.

     "Why, Percy," Luke said, "I want to extend my hospitality, of course."

     The bear twins led us aboard the Princess Andromeda. They threw us down on the aft deck in front of a swimming pool with sparkling fountains that sprayed into the air. A dozen of Luke's assorted goons—snake people, demigods in battle armor, Laistrygonians—had gathered to watch us get some "hospitality."

     "And so, the Fleece," Luke said. He looked over us. "Where is it?"

     None of us answered. Luke's voice grew dangerously calm, like the sea before a sudden storm. "Maybe you didn't hear me," he said. "Where is the Fleece?"

     "Not here." I probably shouldn't have told him anything, but I suppressed a smile at his shock. "You're too late, Luke. How's it feel?"

     "You're lying," he said. "You couldn't have—" His face reddened as a horrible possibility occurred to him. "Clarisse?"

     Percy and I nodded.

     "You trusted.. you gave..." He screwed up his face and glared at the both of us. I thought he was going to kill us on the spot, but he shouted, "Agrius! Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to the Miami Airport, fast."

     Arguis swallowed. "But, boss—"

     "Do it!" Luke screamed. "Or I'll feed you to the drakon!"

     The bear-man gulped and lumbered down the stairs. Luke paced in front of the swimming pool, cursing in Ancient Greek, gripping his sword so tight his knuckles turned white.

     I glanced around, at the rest of his crew; there wasn't many of them at hand, and they seemed uneasy. Maybe they'd never seen their boss so unhinged before. I wondered if we could use this to our advantage, and when I looked to Percy, he seemed to be thinking the same thing. He met my eyes. We shared almost a full conversation within a glance, and when I looked back at Luke, I already knew the plan.

     "Traitor!" Percy shouted. He dug something out of his pocket—his last golden drachma—and threw it at Luke. As expected, he dodged it easily. It landed in the fountain of the pool behind him, flying through the spray of the rainbow-colored water.

     I glanced at Percy. He was silent—praying to Iris for an Iris-message—so I yelled, "You tricked all of us! Even DIONYSUS AT CAMP HALF-BLOOD!"

     The fountain behind Luke began to shimmer. Percy drew his sword to distract the crew from it.

     Luke just sneered. "This is no time for heroics, Percy. Drop your puny sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."

     "Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?" I asked loudly, making sure everyone in the shimmering image behind him could hear.

     "I did, of course," he snarled. "I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."

     "Chiron had nothing to do with it?"

     "Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts."

     "You call it guts?" Percy asked. "Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?"

     Luke raised his sword. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece... once I was done with it."

     That made Percy hesitate. Why would he let us take the Fleece? He must've been lying. But we couldn't afford to lose his attention.

     "You were going to heal Kronos," I said, and Luke turned to me.

     "Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven't stopped us. You've only slowed us down a little."

     "And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods."

     Luke gritted his teeth. "You already know that! Why do you keep asking me?"

     I grinned charmingly. "Because I want everyone in our audience to hear it straight from you."

     "What audience?" Then his eyes narrowed. He looked behind him and his goons did the same. They gasped and stumbled back.

     Above the pool, shimmering in the rainbow mist, was an Iris-message vision of Dionysus, Tantalus, and the whole camp in the dining pavilion. They sat in stunned silence, watching us.

     "Well," said Dionysus dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."

     "Mr. D, you heard him," Percy said. "You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn't Chiron's fault."

     Mr. D sighed. "I suppose not."

     "The Iris-message could be a trick," Tantalus suggested, but his attention was mostly on his cheeseburger, which he was trying to corner with both hands.

     "I fear not," Mr. D said, looking with distaste at Tantalus. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."

     Tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger. It didn't bolt away from him. He lifted it from the plate and stared at it in amazement, as if it were the largest diamond in the world. "I got it!" he cackled.

     "We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus," Mr. D announced.

     Tantalus looked stunned. "What? But—"

     "You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."

     "No! But—Nooooooooooo!" As he dissolved into mist, his fingers clutched at the cheeseburger, trying to bring it to his mouth, but it was too late; he disappeared. The burger fell back onto its plate. The campers exploded into cheering.

     Luke bellowed with rage. He slashed his sword through the fountain and the Iris-message dissolved, but the deed was done.

     I was feeling pretty good about myself, until Luke turned and gave us a murderous look.

     "Kronos was right. You're both unreliable weapons. You need to be replaced."

     I wasn't sure what he meant, but I didn't have time to think about it. One of his men blew a brass whistle, and the deck doors flew open. A dozen more warriors poured out, making a circle around us, the brass tips of their spears bristling.

     Luke smiled at us. "You'll never leave this boat alive."