'•' The Sea of Monsters '•'

2 :: Hydra-tion Issues

Published: September 10, 2021
Edited: July 22, 2022

'•'

"Thermos!" Percy screamed as we hurtled toward the water. 

"What?!" I screamed back. I'd thought Percy lost his mind. 

I was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, my hair flying straight up like a torch. Thank the gods that Tyson understood. He managed to open a duffel bag and take out a strange looking thermos. Arrows and javelins whistled past us but I sent jets of water up to meet them in midair, causing bursts of shrapnel and water to fly in every direction. Percy grabbed the thermos from Tyson and I hoped he knew what he was doing. 

"Hang on!" Percy screamed, his hand on the thermos cap.

"I am hanging on!" Annabeth yelled. 

"Tighter!" 

I hooked my feet under the boat's inflatable bench, and as Tyson grabbed Annabeth and me by the backs of our shirts, Percy gave the thermos cap a quarter turn. Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the thermos and propelled us sideways, turning our downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing.The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the thermos, like it was glad to be free.

As we hit the ocean, we bumped once, twice, skipping like a stone, then we were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in our faces and nothing but sea ahead. I heard a wail of outrage from the ship behind us, but we were already out of weapon range. The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance, and then it was gone.

As we raced over the sea, Annabeth and I tried to send an Iris-message to Chiron. We figured it was important we let somebody know what Luke was doing, since I had abandoned my post as spy, and we didn't know who else to trust. The wind from the thermos stirred up a nice sea spray that made a rainbow in the sunlight—perfect for an Iris-message— but even with Percy and I holding the mist together with our will, our connection was still poor. When Annabeth threw a gold drachma into the mist and prayed for the rainbow goddess to show us Chiron, his face appeared all  right, but there was some kind of weird strobe light flashing in the background and rock music blaring, like he was at a dance club. We told him about Percy, Tyson and Annabeth sneaking away from camp, and Luke and the Princess Andromeda and the golden  box for Kronos's remains, but between the noise on his end and the rushing wind and water on our end, I'm not sure how much he heard. 

"Neridia," Chiron yelled, "you have to watch out for—" His voice was drowned out by loud shouting behind him—a bunch of voices whooping it uplike Comanche warriors. 

"What?" I yelled. 

"Curse my relatives!" Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head and shattered somewhereout of sight. "Annabeth, you shouldn't have let Percy leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece—" 

"Yeah, baby!" somebody behind Chiron yelled. "Woohoooooo!"The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made our boat vibrate. 

"—Miami," Chiron was yelling. "I'll try to keep watch—" Our misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, and Chiron was gone. 

An hour later we spotted land—a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers. A coast guard cruiser passed on our starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. I guess it isn't every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a hundred knots an hour, manned by three kids. 

"That's Virginia Beach!" Annabeth said as we approached the shoreline. "Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That's like—"