𝐎 𝐂 𝐄 𝐀 𝐍   𝐄 𝐘 𝐄 𝐒   !

𝙲 𝙷 𝙰 𝙿 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁   𝚂 𝙴 𝚅 𝙴 𝙽   !

( 𝔭𝔬𝔯𝔨𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔨 ! )

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

          𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐋 𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 floor of a gymnasium-sized tank. Except for water and some cheap decorations, it seemed majestically empty. Malia guessed there were about fifty-thousand gallons of water over their heads. If the tunnel were to shatter for some reason, Malia knew she'd be fine. Water was her element. But she noticed something off about Percy.

His skin had paled and he was looking around nervously. She reached over and locked her pinky with his, giving him a small smile of what she hoped was comfort. He attempted one back, but it came out as a grimace instead. Her eyes asked the question her lips couldn't: Why are you so nervous? 

Before Percy could answer, Phorcys stopped in the middle of the tunnel and spread his arms proudly. "Beautiful exhibit, isn't it?"

Malia looked around. In one corner of the tank, snuggled in a forest of fake kelp, was a life-sized plastic gingerbread cottage with bubbles coming out of the chimney. In the opposite corner, a plastic sculpture of a guy in an old-fashioned diving suit knelt beside a treasure chest, which popped open every few seconds, spewed bubbles, and closed again. Littered across the white sand floor were glass marbles the size of bowling balls, and a strange assortment of weapons like tridents and spearguns. Outside the tank's display wall was an amphitheater with seating for several hundred.

"What do you keep in here?" Frank asked. "Giant killer goldfish?"

Phorcys raised his eyebrows. "Oh, that would be good! But, no, Frank Zhang, descendant of Poseidon. This tank is not for goldfish."

At descendant of Poseidon, Frank flinched. He stepped back, gripping his backpack like a mace he was prepared to swing.

Percy stiffened beside Malia and she understood why. Dread seeped into her bloodstream like liquid hydrogen, freezing her to the core. It reminded her of the feeling she got in Camp Jupiter before everything went to shit. She moved closer to her brother, her fingers twitching for a fight.

"How do you know Frank's last name?" Percy demanded. "How do you know he's descended from Poseidon?"

"Well . . ." Phorcys shrugged, trying to look modest. "It was probably in the descriptions Gaea provided. You know, for the bounty, Percy Jackson."

Malia wasted no time, flicking her wrist. Her sword appeared at the same time as Percy's, the magical blades gleaming dangerously in their hands. Malia's eyes swirled like a vortex of rain and wind, jaw ticked and tongue itching to spew out every curse she knew toward Phorcys until one finally did some damage.

"Don't double-cross me, Phorcys," Malia warned, her tone dangerous and low. "You promised us some answers. I'm expecting you to provide them, or we will no longer be needing your services."

The threat dripped from her lips like mercury—sweet and slow, but sickly and deadly. Malia was normally bright and energetic, but when it came to her friends—her family—she did not mess around. Especially not with crab-like gods that needed to be put in their proper place.

Phorcys hid his fear well. "After the VIP treatment, yes," he said. "I promised to tell you everything you need to know. The thing is, however, you don't really need to know anything." His grotesque smile stretched wide. "You see, even if you made it to Rome, which is quite unlikely, you'd never defeat my giant brothers without a god fighting at your side. And what god would help you? So I have a better plan. You're not leaving. You're VIPs—Very Important Prisoners!"

Percy lunged. Frank hurled his backpack at the sea god's head. Phorcys simply disappeared.

Malia stood still in her spot as the god's voice reverberated through the aquarium's sound system. She should have seen this coming. "Yes, good! Fighting is good! You see, Mother never trusted me with big assignments, but she did agree that I could keep anything I caught. You three will make an excellent exhibit—the only demigod spawns of Poseidon in captivity. 'Demigod Terrors'—yes, I like that! We already have sponsorship lined up with Bargain Mart. You can fight each other every day at eleven AM and one PM, with an evening show at seven PM."

"You're crazy!" Frank yelled.

"Don't sell yourself short!" Phorcys said. "You'll be our biggest draw!"

Frank ran for the exit, only to slam into a glass wall. Percy ran the other way and found it blocked as well, bumping into the glass with his forehead. Their tunnel had become a bubble. Malia pressed her palm against the glass beside her and realized with a sickening jolt that it was softening, melting like ice. Soon the water would come crashing in.

"We won't cooperate, Phorcys!" Percy shouted.

"Oh, I'm optimistic," the sea god's voice boomed. "If you won't fight each other at first, no problem! I can send in fresh sea monsters every day. After you get used to the food here, you'll be properly sedated and will follow directions. Believe me, you'll come to love your new home."

Over Malia's head, the glass dome cracked and began to leak.

"I'm the son of Poseidon and Malia is the daughter of Poseidon!" Percy sounded on edge. "You can't imprison us in water. This is where we're strongest."

Phorcys's laugh seemed to come from all around them. "What a coincidence! It's also where I'm strongest. This tank is specially designed to contain demigods. Now, have fun, you three. I'll see you at feeding time!"

The speakers cut off and Percy whipped around toward Malia, who had been silence the whole time. "Can you do something?"

Malia flung her arms up. "Like what, Kelp Head?"

"Freeze the glass? Cause an earthquake? I don't know!" He was beginning to panic and Malia could tell.

She stomped her foot. "If you couldn't tell already, those would be useless against Phorcys. Freezing the glass would only make it crack more and causing an earthquake could hurt a lot of people! I'm not about that, genius!"

She was sure they would've kept arguing, if not for the glass above them shattering and the water rushing in at top speeds, knocking them all to their feet.

Malia—out of pure instinct, she supposed—held her breath as the water surrounded them. When she finally sucked in a breath, she remembered how she could actually breathe underwater. Her clothes were dry as usual and she didn't feel any resistance as she spun in a circle, attempting to gather her bearings. 

She looked over to her brother, who seemed to have reacted the same as she had. Her eyes widened as she remembered Frank, the son of Ares who could not breathe underwater. When she looked around for him, she was shocked to see that hovering above her was a giant goldfish—a koi the size of a teenage boy.

Dude, Percy said, his voice speaking in Malia's mind. A goldfish?

Frank's voice came back to them: I freaked. We were talking about goldfish, so it was on my mind. Sue me.

Don't be rude, Barnacle Brain, Malia shot at her brother. Frank makes a lovely goldfish.

Percy rolled his eyes. I'm having a telepathic conversation with a giant koi and yet Malia still finds a way to call me names. 

It's a talent. Malia grinned cheekily at him before turning to Frank. No offense, Frank, but is there any way you could turn into something more . . . I don't know . . . useful?

Silence. Maybe Frank was concentrating, though it was impossible to tell, since koi don't have many facial expressions to go off of. 

Sorry. Frank sounded embarrassed. I'm stuck. That happens sometimes when I panic.

Fine. Percy gritted his teeth. Let's figure out how to escape.

Frank swam around the tank and reported no exits. The top was covered with Celestial bronze mesh, like the curtains that roll down over closed storefronts at the mall. Malia and Percy tried to cut through with their swords, but they didn't make a dent. Percy tried to smash the glass with his sword hilt—again, no luck. Malia watched him with a bored expression as he began to attack the wall with the multitude of weapons littering the tank floor.

Finally, after growing tired of his constant failures, Malia attempted to control the water. She tried to make it expand and break the glass, and when that failed, she tried to pop the top off. The water didn't obey anything. Maybe it was enchanted, or under the power of Phorcys. Malia concentrated until her ears popped, but the best she could do was blow the lid off the plastic treasure chest. 

Percy, mind giving me a hand? She hoped that with two children of Poseidon working, the water would be easier to control. 

Percy nodded and closed his eyes, the two siblings concentrating as hard as they could. Sadly, they got the same results. Malia let out a frustrated breath and kicked a plastic rock, wincing when she realized it was actually a real one. 

Perfect! She's have to live in a stupid gingerbread house for the rest of her life, stuck with Percy and koi fish Frank as her only company. And sh'd have to fight them both with the hope of getting something disgusting as her meal. 

Phorcys had promised they'd learn to love it. Malia immediately thought of the dazed telkhines, the Nereids and hippocampi, all swimming in bored, lazy circles. The thought of ending up like that didn't help her calm down. In fact, just thinking about never seeing her mother, or Paul, or Piper and Leo and Annabeth. She'd never see New York, or camp, or any of her friends ever again. Jason! Oh, gods! She'd never see Jason again.

Anger boiled within her blood. Her nails dug into her palms enough to draw blood. If she ever saw Phorcys again, she was gonna kill him. She knew gods couldn't die, but she was pissed enough to try. No one should ever threaten to take Malia's family away from her. 

Look! Frank's voice startled Malia out of her rage.

Outside the glass, Keto was leading Coach Hedge through the amphitheater, lecturing him on something while the coach nodded and admired the stadium seating. 

Coach! Percy yelled. 

Dingus, he can't hear us! Malia shouted at her brother.

Frank bumped his head against the glass.

Hedge didn't seem to notice. Keto walked him briskly across the amphitheater. She didn't even look through the glass, probably because she assumed the tank was still empty. She pointed to the far end of the room as if saying, Come on. More gruesome sea monsters this way. 

Malia realized with a shock that she only had a few seconds before the coach would be gone. She and Percy swam after them, but the water wasn't helping them. It seemed to pulled them back, making Malia feel as though she was swimming through syrup.  Malia let out a frustrated breath and pushed herself forward with both arms, reaching the edge of the tank. 

Coach Hedge and Keto were five feet from the exit.

Percy suddenly chucked a giant marble and hurled it underhand at the glass like a bowling ball.

It hit the wall with a thunk—not nearly loud enough to attract attention.

Malia's shoulders slumped.

But Coach Hedge had the ears of a satyr. He glanced over his shoulder. When he saw Percy and Malia, his expression went through several changes in a matter of microseconds—incomprehension, surprise, outrage, then a mask of calm.

Before Keto could notice, Hedge pointed toward the top of the amphitheater. It looked like he might be screaming Gods of Olympus, what is that?

Keto turned. Coach Hedge promptly took off his fake foot and ninja-kicked her in the back of the head with his goat hoof. Keto crumpled to the floor.

Malia cheered, throwing her arms up while Percy just winced. Probably still feeling the pain from Blackjack's kick to his noggin. Malia was just happy that her chaperone was a fan of martial arts.

Hedge ran to the glass. He held up his palms like: What are you doing in there, Jacksons?

Percy and Malia pounded their fists on the glass and mouthed: Break it.

Hedge yelled a question that might have been: Where's Frank?

Percy and Malia pointed at the giant koi.

Frank waved his left dorsal fin. 'Sup?

Behind Hedge, the sea goddess began to move. Malia pointed frantically.

Hedge shook his leg like he was warming up his kicking hoof, but Percy waved his arms, No. Apparently, he didn't want to keep whopping Keto on the head forever. Which made sense. She was immortal. She wouldn't stay down, and it wouldn't get them out of this tank. It was only a matter of time before Phorcys came back to check on them.

On three, Malia mouthed, holding up three fingers and then gesturing to the glass. All of us hit it at the same time. 

Malia hadn't done sign language since middle school and she hadn't played charades in a while, but Hedge nodded like he understood. Hitting things was a language the satyr knew well.

Percy and Malia grabbed a giant marble each. Frank, we'll need you too. Can you change form yet?

Maybe back to human.

Human is fine! Just hold your breath. If this works . . .

Keto rose to her knees. No time to waste.

Malia counted on her fingers. One, two, three!

Frank turned to human and shoved his shoulder against the glass. The coach did a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick with his hoof. Percy and Malia used all their strength to slam the marbles into the wall, but they did more than that. Malia called on the water to obey her, and this time she refused to take no for an answer. She put all her rage toward Phorcys into her abilities and felt all the pent-up pressure inside the tank finally get put to use. Water liked to be free. Given time, water could overcome any barrier, and it hated to be trapped, just like Malia and Percy. 

She thought about getting back to Jason. She thought about returning from the quest to her mom's apartment in Manhattan. She thought of seeing her friends and family. She thought about shoving Phorcys's microphone up his ass. Fifty thousand gallons of water responded to hers and Percy's anger.

The glass wall cracked. Fracture lines zigzagged from the point of impact, and suddenly the tank burst. Malia was sucked out in a torrent of water. She tumbled across the amphitheater floor with Frank and Percy, some large marbles, and a clump of plastic seaweed. Keto was just getting to her feet when the diver statue slammed into her like it wanted a hug.

Coach Hedge spit salt water. "Pan's pipes, Jacksons! What were you doing in there?"

"Phorcys!" Malia growled. 

"Trap!" Percy spluttered. "Run!"

Alarms blared as they fled the exhibits. They ran past the Nereids' tank, then the telkhines. Malia wanted to free them, but how? They were drugged and sluggish, and they were sea creatures. They wouldn't survive unless she found a way to transport them to the ocean.

Besides, if Phorcys caught them, Malia was pretty sure the sea god's power would over come hers and Percy's. And Keto would be after them too, ready to feed them to her sea monsters.

I'll be back! Malia promised, but if the creatures in the exhibits heard her, they gave no sign.

Over the sound system, Phorcys's voice boomed: "Percy and Malia Jackson!"

Flash pots and sparklers exploded randomly. Donut-scented smoke filled the halls. Dramatic music—five or six different tracks—blared simultaneously from the speakers. Lights popped and caught fire as all the special effects in the building were triggered at once.

Percy, Coach Hedge, Frank, and Malia stumbled out of the glass tunnel and found themselves back in the whale shark room. The mortal section of the aquarium was filled with screaming crowds—families and day camp groups running in every direction while the staff raced around frantically, trying to assure everyone it was just a faulty alarm system.

Malia knew better. She and her friends joined the mortals and ran for the exit. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

Malia felt exhausted as she laid beside her brother and Coach Hedge on the deck of the Argo II, soaking up the sun. Annabeth came rushing up the steps and over to the trio. Hedge was muttering about something Malia didn't care enough to pay attention to. Both she and Percy were covered in scrapes and Malia was sure she was missing a shoe. 

Leo, Piper, and Jason, joined them, Jason immediately going to where Malia was laying and taking her hand. 

"What? What?" Leo cried, holding a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's wrong?"

"Followed!" Frank yelled.

"Followed by what?" Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted. "Whales? Sea monsters?"

"Maybe Kate and Porky!" Malia added tiredly.

Annabeth looked ready to strangle them, but she instead took a deep breath. "That makes absolutely no sense. Leo, you'd better get us out of here."

Leo put his sandwich between his teeth, pirate style, and ran for the helm.

Soon the Argo II was rising into the sky. Out of her peripheral, Malia spotted Annabeth manning the aft crossbow, preparing for a battle. Luckily, there was none, but Malia didn't feel herself relax until the Atlanta skyline was a hazy smudge in the distance.

When she could finally sit up without feeling like she was going to either pass out or puke, she managed to speak. "Charleston," she said, not even laughing when she saw Percy hobbling around the deck like an old man. "Set course for Charleston."

"Charleston?" Jason said the name as if it brought back bad memories. "What exactly did you find in Atlanta?"

Frank unzipped his backpack and started bringing out souvenirs that Malia had forgotten about him gathering. "Some peach preserves. A couple of tee shirts. A snow globe. And, um, these not-really-Chinese handcuffs."

Annabeth looked like she was forcing herself to remain calm. "How about you start from the top—of the story, not the backpack."

They gathered on the quarterdeck so Leo could hear the conversation as he navigated. Percy, Frank, and Malia took turns relating what had happened at the Georgia Aquarium, with Coach Hedge interjecting from time to time: "That was awesome!" or "Then I kicked her in the head!"

Malia had to stop in the middle of her explanation about the captive sea creatures to keep herself from punching something. Jason's hand slipped into her own, trying his best to calm her down. Percy took up the job of telling the story. Both children of Poseidon were beyond upset with the revelation of innocent sea creatures being held captive in such terrible conditions.

"That's terrible," Annabeth said. "We need to help them."

"We will," Malia managed, her eyes glinting with anger. "In time. But Percy and I have to figure out how."

Percy nodded. "I wish . . ." He shook his head. "Never mind. First we have to deal with this bounty on our heads."

Coach Hedge had lost interest in the conversation—probably because it was no longer about him—and wandered toward the bow of the ship, practicing his roundhouse kicks and complimenting himself on his technique.

Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger. "A bounty on our heads . . . as if we didn't attract enough monsters already."

"You're telling me," Malia muttered. Four children of the Big Three all in one place, along with a Hephaestus kid who could control fire, a Mars kid who could shapeshift, an Aphrodite kid who could Charmspeak, and a daughter of Athena who had a huge responsibility on her shoulders. It was a wonder none of them were dead yet.

"Do we get WANTED posters?" Leo asked, causing Malia to laugh beneath her breath. "And do they have our bounties, like, broken down on a price list?"

Hazel wrinkled her nose. "What are you talking about?"

"Just curious how much I'm going for these days," Leo said "I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Percy, Malia, or Jason, maybe . . . but am I worth, like, two Franks, or three Franks?"

"Hey!" Frank complained.

Normally, Malia would find this funny, but at the moment, she couldn't. "Knock it out, you two."

"At least we know our next step is to go to Charleston, to find this map," Annabeth said.

Piper leaned against the control panel. She'd done her braid with white feathers today, which looked good with her dark brown hair. Malia fiddled with the ends of her own hair nervously, frowning when she felt how tangled it had gotten while on her . . . adventure.

"A map," Piper said. "But a map to what?"

"The Mark of Athena." Percy looked cautiously at Annabeth, like he was afraid he'd overstepped or something. Malia looked at her blonde friend and flinched a bit at the look she was giving her brother. It was her I don't want to talk about it look.

"Whatever that is," Percy continued. "We know it leads to something important in Rome, something that might heal the rift between the Romans and Greeks."

"The giants' bane," Hazel added.

Percy nodded. "And in my dream, the twin giants said something about a statue."

"Um . . ." Frank rolled his not-exactly-Chinese handcuffs between his fingers. "According to Phorcys, we'd have to be insane to try to find it. But what is it?"

Malia had been thinking about it herself. What could be so bad that it could cause a war but so good that it could heal two different mythologies after years of turmoil between them? She'd considered many possibilities like the Golden Fleece, or maybe the Oracle. But none of that made sense to Malia. Why would the Romans want something they already had some type of version of? 

Everyone turned to Annabeth. She looked as if she wasn't happy about the attention. Malia then caught the look that Jason was giving Annabeth. He seemed to know exactly what the blonde was thinking, and he didn't seem to like it any more than Annabeth. She'd have to ask him about it later that night once she was fully recovered.

"I—I'm close to an answer," Annabeth said. "I'll know more if we find this map. Jason, the way you reacted to the name Charleston . . . have you been there before?"

Jason glanced uneasily at Malia, confusing her.

"Yeah," he admitted. "Reyna and I did a quest there about a year ago. We were salvaging Imperial gold weapons from the C.S.S. Hunley."

"The what?" Piper asked.

"You're shitting me!"

"Whoa!" Leo and Malia's voices overlapped as they both turned to Jason in surprise.

"That's the first successful military submarine," Malia said, standing up to lean against the ship.

"From the Civil War," Leo added happily. "I've always wanted to see that."

"Same!" Malia managed to get close enough to Leo to give him a high five, the two laughing in excitement. Don't ask her why, but she loved stuff like that.

"It was designed by Roman demigods," Jason said, shooting his girlfriend a goofy smile at how nerdy she'd just been. Malia's cheeks turned red. "It held a secret stash of Imperial gold torpedoes⎯until we rescued them and brought them back to Camp Jupiter."

Hazel crossed her arms. "So the Romans fought on the Confederate side? As a girl whose grandmother was a slave, can I just say . . . not cool?"

Jason put his hands in front of him, palms up. "I personally was not alive then. And it wasn't all Greeks on one side and all Romans on the other. But, yes. Not cool. Sometimes demigods make bad choices." He looked sheepishly at Hazel. "Like sometimes we're too suspicious. And we speak without thinking."

Malia smiled softly at Jason, proud of him for setting aside his pride to apologize to Hazel. 

Hazel stared at him. Slowly it seemed to dawn on her that he was apologizing. 

Jason elbowed Leo.

"Ow!" Leo yelped. "I mean, yeah . . . bad choices. Like not trusting people's brothers who, you know, might need saving. Hypothetically speaking."

Hazel pursed her lips. "Fine. Back to Charleston. Are you saying we should check that submarine again?"

Jason shrugged. "Well . . . I can think of two places in Charleston we might search. The museum where they keep the Hunley⎯that's one of them. It has a lot of relics from the Civil War. A map could be hidden in one. I know the layout. I could lead a team inside."

"I'll go," Leo said. "That sounds cool."

Jason nodded. He turned to Frank, who was trying to pull his fingers out of the Chinese handcuffs. "You should come too, Frank. We might need you."

Frank looked surprised. "Why? Not like I was much good at that aquarium."

"You did fine," Percy assured him. "It took all three of us to break that glass."

"Yeah," Malia said, smiling at him. "Plus⎯and trust me when I say this⎯Percy has done worse than turn into a giant koi fish. Want me to fill you in on how he managed to get turned into a guinea pig?"

Percy's cheeks went red at the memory, but Frank seemed to lighten up a bit. Jason nodded. "Besides, you're a child of Mars," he said. "The ghosts of defeated causes are bound to serve you. And the museum in Charleston has plenty of Confederate ghosts. We'll need you to keep them in line."

Frank gulped. 

"Okay," he relented. "Sure." He frowned at his fingers, trying to pull them out of the trap. "Uh, how do you⎯?"

Leo chuckled. "Man, you've never seen those before? There's a simple trick to getting out."

Frank tugged again with no luck. Even Hazel was trying not to laugh.

Frank grimaced with concentration. Suddenly, he disappeared. On the deck where he'd been standing, a green iguana crouched next to an empty set of Chinese handcuffs.

"Well done, Frank Zhang," Leo said dryly, doing his impression of Chiron the centaur. "That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas."

Everybody busted out laughing, Malia leaning onto Jason's shoulder. Frank turned back to human, picked up the handcuffs, and shoved them in his backpack. He managed an embarrassed smile.

"Anyway," Frank said, clearly anxious to change the subject. "The museum is one place to search. But, uh, Jason, you said there were two?"

Jason's smile faded, causing Malia to frown. What could he be thinking about that would make his happy demeanor change so quickly?

"Yeah," he said. "The other place is called the Battery⎯it's a park right by the harbor. The last time I was there . . . with Reyna . . ." He glanced at Malia, then rushed on. "We saw something in the park. A ghost or some spirit, like a Southern belle from the Civil War, glowing and floating along. We tried to approach it, but it disappeared whenever we got close. Then Reyna had this feeling⎯she said she should try it alone. Like maybe it would only talk to a girl. She went up to the spirit by herself, and sure enough, it spoke to her."

Everyone waited.

"What did it say?" Annabeth asked.

"Reyna wouldn't tell me," Jason admitted. "But it must have been important. She seemed . . . shaken up. Maybe she got a prophecy or some bad news. Reyna never acted the same around me after that."

Malia frowned. She felt her heart drop like it always did when Jason mentioned Reyna. She knew he liked her. Hell, he even potentially loved her, but still. Her heart ached when he talked about someone from his past. Someone he knew before his memories were taken and he'd ended up falling for Malia. She knew the way he looked at her was different from how he looked at Reyna, but that didn't mean she didn't worry.

"A girls' adventure then, then," Annabeth said. "Piper, Hazel, and Malia can come with me."

Malia shook her head. While she did want to go and find that Southern belle and get some information from her, she knew that she had something more important to get done.

"No. I think I'll stay with Percy. Check the harbor around Charleston. See if any of the local Nereids know anything that could help out those creatures at the aquarium," she said, running her fingers through her hair.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Plus, traveling in smaller groups will mean that the Romans and monsters will have a harder time finding us."

Annabeth thought for a moment before slowly nodding along. "So that's settled." She turned to Leo, who was studying his console, listening to Festus creak and click over the intercom. "Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?"

"Good question," he muttered. "Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us⎯long-range radar, still not in sight."

Piper leaned over the console. "Are you sure they're Roman?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "No, Pipes. It could be a random group of giant eagles flying in perfect formation. Of course they're Roman! I suppose we could turn the ship around and fight⎯"

"Which would be a very bad idea," Jason said, "and remove any doubt that we're enemies of Rome."

"Or I've got another idea," Leo said. "If we went straight to Charleston, we could be there in a few hours. But the eagles would overtake us, and things would get complicated. Instead, we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston, and get there tomorrow morning⎯"

Hazel started to protest, but Leo raised his hand. "I know, I know. Nico's in trouble and we have to hurry."

"It's June twenty-seventh," Hazel said. "After today, four more days. Then he dies."

"I know! But this might throw the Romans off our trail. We still should have enough time to reach Rome."

Hazel scowled. "When you say should have enough . . ."

Malia managed a small smile as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "How do you feel about barely enough?"

Hazel rested her head on Malia's shoulder for a count of three. "Sounds about typical for us."

Annabeth took that as their green light. "Okay, Leo. What kind of decoy are we talking about?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" He punched a few buttons on the console, rotated the turntable, and repeatedly pressed the A button on his Wii controller really, really fast. He called into the intercom, "Buford? Report for duty, please."

Frank took a step back. "There's somebody else on the ship? Who is Buford?"

Malia grinned. "Someone hella cool."

A puff of steam shot from the stairwell, and Leo's automatic table climbed on deck.

Malia hadn't seen much of Buford during the trip. He mostly stayed in the engine room. (Leo insisted that Buford had a secret crush on the engine, which Malia shipped whole-heartedly). He was a three-legged table with a mahogany top. His bronze base had several drawers, spinning gears, and a set of steam vents. Buford was toting a bag like a mail sack tied to one of his legs. He clattered to the helm and made a sound like a train whistle. 

"This is Buford," Leo announced.

"You name your furniture?" Frank asked.

Leo snorted. "Man, you just wish you had furniture this cool. Buford, are you ready for Operation End Table?"

Buford spewed steam. He stepped to the railing. His mahogany top split into four pie slices, which elongated into wooden blades. The blades spun, and Buford took off.

"A helicopter table," Percy muttered. "Gotta admit, that's cool. What's in the bag?"

"Dirty demigod laundry," Leo said. "I hope you don't mind, Frank."

Frank choked. "What?"

"It'll throw the eagles off our scent."

"Those were my only extra pants!"

Leo shrugged. "I asked Buford to get them laundered and folded while he's out. Hopefully he will. "He rubbed his hands and grinned. "Well! I call that a good day's work. I'm gonna calculate our detour route now. See you all at dinner!"

The Valdez boy ran off, Frank moving to go after him, only for Malia to stop him. "Don't worry, Frank. I happen to have a friend who could get you more pants, okay?"

She didn't explain further, just walking away and leaving Frank confused, just like everyone else aside from Percy and Annabeth, who knew who she was talking about. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

𝐀 𝐔 𝐓 𝐇 𝐎 𝐑 𝐒   𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 𝐄   !

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Okay! Another chapter, guys! I'm so so sorry for making you guys wait for this chapter. I've been hella busy as of late and so I never had time to sit down and finish up this chapter. I will edit it later, but if there is anything wrong within this chapter, that's just because I didn't have the time go edit it since I wanted to post a chapter for you guys!

Malia and Percy and Frank went on a little trip in this chapter, and the next chapter will be more of a Percy and Malia chapter, as well as a bit of a Malia and Jason chapter since they need to talk about some stuff. I'm super excited for everything I have in store for you guys.

Please comment and vote!

Love you all!

~ a.h.