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Percy's POV

I am feeling the tension. We were on the airplane and all of my demigod friends were on one side, and the Electroclan was on the other. Where was I? I was all the way in the back at the snack stand with Ostin, because when you think you're gonna die, you eat as much food as you can. Well, that was my reason. Ostin was just hungry.

I was gripping that plastic counter so hard I thought it might break off. Seriously, though, I thought I was going to die. I know that Zeus won't strike me out of the sky or anything, but old habits die hard. And so do I. I'd prefer to keep it that way, so get me out of this plane as soon as possible.

Also, I don't understand why we need to take the plane in the first place. We're going by boat to Poseidon, disguised as a trader. Once we're in the port, Nico's gonna shadow travel us to Hades, where, hopefully, Torstyn, Quentin, and Tara will be. They better be grateful, or I'll kill them before Hatch does for making me endure this torture.

The plane shook with turbulence, and before I knew it, I was curled up on the ground, whimpering. Piper looked back, "You okay, Perce? You know it's safe for you in the sky, now. There's nothing to worry about." I tried to respond, but it came out so shrilly you couldn't even make out the words. She laughed, walking back and sitting me up. Instantly, my arms were sprawled out along the cabinets, effectively pinning me to the wall. Leo called from the front of the plane, "Bro, I've got some cookies, but if you want them, you're gonna have to be a man and walk all the way up here." I looked down the long hall. I managed some words, "What color are they?" Leo laughed, "Blue. Duh. What other color would they be?" I looked at Tessa, who was the closest person sitting on a chair, "See? Cookies are supposed to be blue. Deal with it." I took a deep breath, and stood. Nico cheered, "Aww, Kelp Head's taking his first steps!" I stuck my tongue out at him like the mature man I was.

Although, I couldn't help but feel proud of myself, sauntering over to the front of the plane. As if intentionally, more turbulence happened, knocking me over to the ground again. This carpet is very comfy. I might consider taking permanent residence on it. Quietly, I cursed at Zeus, "Why're you doing this to me? I saved your bolt, remember?" Suddenly a crunching caught my ear. Is that... Is that...

LEO EATING MY COOKIES???

I shot up, hearing the laughter of everyone around me. I marched up to that little scrawny dude and grabbed him but the front of his shirt. I looked at Calypso, "I'm gonna kill your boyfriend now, okay?" Calypso yawned, "And why is that?" I jabbed my finger in his face, "HE ATE MY COOKIES!" Calypso, Leo's ever so loving girlfriend, reclined in her chair, "Yeah, go ahead, Perce." I grinned at the sight of his fear. Frantically, Leo gave me a whole jar of cookies, labeled, In the case of an emergency, give Percy the whole container. I nodded, "I think this qualifies as an emergency. I mean, it's highly probably that I'll die on this plane."

I smiled at him, "Mine now." Then I curled back up on the carpet to eat my cookies in terror. An hour later, the plane landed in what I think is somewhere in Hawaii or something. I shot out of the plane before everyone else, still eating my cookies. I looked around, and saw nothing but beach, which wasn't surprising since we just landed the plane on a deserted strip of island. I looked at Frank, and I thought of something.

"So how did you convince Reyna to let the Praetor and a Centurion go on leave?" I asked him as we walked to the ocean. Hazel shrugged, "Nothing big. Just convinced Reyna that finding the strongest demigod of all time merited a leave of absence. She governed the legion by herself for long enough that it doesn't come very hard." Frank nodded, "Besides, it's not as if Reyna left me to go on a quest for you, Percy." I shivered, grinning, "Yeah, that would be a bloodbath." As me and my demigod friends walked on the beach, talking and laughing, the Electroclan trailed behind us. I didn't think much of it, especially since they were talking among themselves.

I sat down on the sand, sighing. This reminded me of Montauk. Speaking of which...

"WATER FIGHT!!!" I yelled. I knocked Frank flat on his face with a huge palm of water. He turned into a whale and dove into the waves. Don't ask me how he got all those tons of blubber into the sea without flopping around a lot. Even the Electroclan joined in, although they were a lot less violent. Well, except Zeus. Like when we all go out to ice cream and Frank gets an apple. It's just plain sad. I grabbed his wrist and tried to drag him into the fray. He stutters and protests. I roll my eyes, "Just trust me, man." Still struggling. Just give up already! I need to go dominate the war again. I sigh and sling him over my shoulders, running under the spray of water. He screams, but abruptly stops. I put him down and grab him by the wrist, keeping him dry. I held my free hand out, a vortex swirling around me. There were screams of delight and I summoned a huge wave that knocked them all on their butts. When it receded they were all soaking wet, and me and Zeus were perfectly dry.

I laughed, "Ha! Take that." Piper looked me in the eye, "Dry me, now." I tapped her on the shoulder, completely recognizing the charmspeak being used on me. "That was smooth, Beauty Queen. Really smooth." I said sarcastically. I tapped the shoulders of all of the girls in our group, leaving the guys soaked. Leo walked up to me, "Bro! What gives? You can't douse the fire!" I nodded, "Exactly. So a little water shouldn't hurt." Michael, Jack, Frank, and Ian stood to the side watching him pester me. Finally, I groaned. "You know what Leo?" I asked, my hands spread out innocently, "Fine. I'll dry you." Leo fist pumped into the air in victory. I put my hand on his shoulder, drying him, and effectively holding him in place.

While a huge wave beat him into the sand.

He screamed while everyone else laughed. I ran around the rest of the boys, drying them as well. Leo was sputtering when he got up, gasping for breath. Calypso walked up to him, "You'd think my boyfriend would be smart enough to use his fire powers to dry his own clothes, but nooo." Leo grinned, "Oh, yeah." And instantaneously lit himself on fire, running around the beach to the hasty production of mass fear from the Electroclan. That's right. I somehow learned some big words when I was by myself in the rainforest. With all of the snakes. I smiled, "Oh, same, bro!" while pulling a Leo and lighting myself on fire. We're cool that way.

By the time we got back, we'd scorched half the beach. Nichelle crossed her arms, "That was the strangest filler of time I've ever seen. You demigods are strange." Frank shoved his face in his hands. "No, no. That's just the Greeks. You'd be surprised what they do in their free time." I shrugged, "Nah, nothing big. Just a little maiming, maybe watching Clarisse stuff some heads into some toilets. S'mores around a giant color-changing bonfire, pranking with the Stolls. By the way, that is extremely dangerous. Hm, what else? Oh yeah. We've got some Demigod-style Capture the Flag, invade the hill of man-eating ants for a haywire dragon. Burst into fire and run around the cabins. You know, the works." I fingered my chin. "But the Romans have war games with an elephant! Tell me that's worse than the Greeks." McKenna smiled, "No, actually you Romans are pretty strange. But Greeks are more strange." Leo shouted, "GREEKS ARE THE COOLEST!" and spontaneously burst into fire again. Emphasis on again.

Piper shook her head, "Then again, it's just Leo." We laughed at the scrawny boy blazing around the beach. It wasn't that different from normal camp. That made me a little homesick, but I'll get over it. It doesn't hurt as much anymore. I sat down on the sand, "So who is on my side about this whole catastrophe." Hazel counted on her fingers, "Let's see. Reyna, the Stolls, Grover, Thalia, Katie from Demeter, Chris Rodriguez, um, Will Solace from Apollo, and Clarisse." My eyebrows shot up at that last one. "Clarisse?" I choked out, "Your kidding, right?" Frank shook his head, "No. She said something like, 'Prissy tried to study so he could get into the New Rome college for Annabeth. Study. It was catastrophic. He wouldn't go back on that. But the blondie's got a problem.'" I smiled, "That's true. I needed to catch up on all of my classes because someone took away eight months of my life." I looked up at the sky, "I'm talking about you, Hera!"

The sky just rumbled in response. Unsurprisingly. That's all Zeus and Hera ever do. Thunder the sky with empty threats and then hide behind their demigod slaves to protect their thrones. Great leadership, guys. Me, Leo, and Hazel were practically bursting out of our seats waiting for Jaime or Gervaso or Ben or someone to get here and pick us up. Where are they!?! Michael was ticking in anticipation.

Suddenly a man burst out of the bushes. Michael stood up, grinning, "Ben! You're finally here. When are we going?" The man nodded grimly at the Electroclan, looking surprised at all of the other people. In other words, all of the demigods. He waved us toward him, "Come. The boat is this way." We stood up, stretching, and followed us to a wooden boat that looked a lot like Blackbeard's. Not that I know what his looks like because I didn't steal his ship. Yeah.

He prodded us along like we were walking too slow or something. I raced ahead of him. The ocean is my turf. Ian shouted, "There are Elgen!" Three snipers walked out of the bushes. Stupid Elgen snipers. You're supposed to be killing in secret. Not walking out of the bushes and exposing your hiding spots. Stupid Elgen. A couple of shots rang out and I yelled, "Hit the deck!" We all dropped to the ground as me and Zeus shot our hands out, zapping them. I looked around at our group, "Everyone okay?" Ben was clutching his arm and the captain of the ship had a bullet wound in his head. The guy was dead as a Medusa victim.

I pointed at Ben, "Abigail and Nichelle take Ben below deck and treat the wound. Maybe Ian should go with them. Jack and Zeus, go collect those Elgen soldiers. If they're alive, bring them aboard. If they died," I shrugged, "Do whatever you want with them. Someone take the captain below deck, too. The rest of us can help get the boat moving." Everyone started to do their assigned jobs when Ben shouted, "But we cannot go to Tuvalu without a captain. We'll have to wait." I waved him off, "Don't worry. I've got this." As Ben walked below deck, Taylor looked at me, "Do you even know how to sail a ship?" I gave her a pointed look, and she nodded, "Oh, yeah. Son of Poseidon. What was I even thinking?"

I concentrated, my hands out. The ropes started flying and the mast raised itself. Jack and Zeus walked back onto the ship with one Elgen sniper. I raised my eyebrow at them, "And what did you do with the other two?" Zeus grinned, "Stuffed them in the hollow of a tree." We all just stared at him. Like, dude. Why the hollow of a tree? Why not just bury them in the sand like a normal group of teens who walk around being chased by a bunch of rifleman and happen to accidentally kill them? Duh. I shook my head, "Whatever. Zeus, maybe you should go below deck. There's gonna be a lot of spray and I'm not gonna be able to concentrate enough to keep you dry. In fact, maybe all of you should go down there." Leo grinned, "Man, I wish Coach Hedge was here." I smiled, "He'd be like, 'OCEAN! You can do better than that, cupcake! Let me see some real spray!" Ostin gave me a funny look, "You've got a coach that's crazy, or something?" We nodded. Nico took out his sword and did his best impression of Coach Hedge, "Let's go, cupcakes! Step on it! Do your jobs or you can do some push-ups! Why aren't you moving yet!?! I'm gonna bash some skulls!" Leo shivered, "That goat's got a problem. Once, I heard him singing the Coach Hedge violent version of the Pokemon Theme song." Piper nodded, "Yeah. He sings Old MacDonald with weapons instead of animals." I rolled my eyes, "We don't have enough time to talk about that crazy goat. Let's go! It's been five minutes since my life was in danger. I'm getting a little bored." They all started to walk below deck when I remembered something. "Wait!" I called, "I recommend staying out of the bathroom. Hazel might need it." Nico raised his hand, "Me too! Children of Hades don't do well on boats." Hazel was already clutching her stomach and we weren't even at sea yet. Her face was tinted green. She pointed down the stairs, "I'm gonna-" She didn't say anymore before she pushed past everyone and ran to the bathroom. Nico quickly followed.

I chuckled, "And they laughed at me on the plane. Serves them right." Those children of Hades will face my wrath! Okay, no. That just sounds like I'm evil. Plus, only Nico deserves the horror of seasickness. I saw a landform in the distance, and I called up the group to see it. "Land ho!" I shouted. Leo was the first one up the steps, groaning, "Wow, your ship-talk is almost as bad as Coach Hedge's." I grinned, "You know it. So, Ian. About those patrol ships." Ian nodded, "Elgen. We must be approaching Poseidon."

We were finally at Tuvalu, the Hatch Islands.