When Adelia finds out she's the daughter of a Greek god you've got to admit she was freaked. I mean so freaked she decided to teleport to a camp without a word to Percy. However fate, or is it The three fates now, were smiling at her because they br...
"Giddyup!" I said. My hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves. Annabeth's, Tyson's and Percy's followed right behind.
The harpies cursed at us, wailing for their snacks (cause you're damn right i am one) to come back, but the hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Ares motorbike. The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge.
It was weird how I'd only been at camp-half blood for like two years and it felt like home. Ok, maybe not that weird but still.
The cruise ship was now looming in front of us—our ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.
Riding the hippocampus was even easier than riding a pegasus. We zipped along with the wind in our faces, speeding through the waves so smooth and steady I hardly needed to hold on at all. Although i did for safety's sake because i don't feel like plunging in the sea.
As we got closer to the cruise ship, I realised just how huge it was. I felt as though I were looking up at a building in Manhattan. The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship's name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight. It took me a few seconds to decipher it:
PRINCESS ANDROMEDA
hah - ironic cause of the old myth. The one where Princess Andromeda was chained to a rock and then saved by Perseus. Except this Percy was about to sabotage this whole ship thing.
Attached to the bow was a huge masthead—a three-story-tall woman wearing a white Greek chiton, sculpted to look as if she were chained to the front of the ship. She was young and beautiful, with flowing black hair, but her expression was one of absolute terror. Why anybody would want a screaming princess on the front of their vacation ship, I had no idea.
That Perseus always won. The original Perseus was one of the only heroes in the Greek myths who got a happy ending. The others died—betrayed, mauled, mutilated, poisoned, or cursed by the gods.
"How do we get aboard?" Annabeth shouted over the noise of the waves, but the hippocampi seemed to know what we needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, riding easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.
"You first," Percy told Annabeth. I rolled my eyes and mouthed 'wimp' to him. He feigned a look of shock at me.
She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once she'd hoisted herself onto the ladder, her hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove underwater.
Annabeth began to climb. I let her get a few rungs up, then followed her. Percy right on my tail. He kept shoving my feet trying to make me go faster so i kicked him in the face.
"OW!" he yelled
"Shut up," Annabeth hissed at him whilst i gave him a smug grin.
Finally it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to 360° aerials and backward ollies, and Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.
"Tyson, shhh!" Percy said. "Come on, big guy!"
"Can't we take Rainbow?" he asked, his smile fading.
I stared at him. "Rainbow?"
The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name.
"Um, we have to go," Percy said. "Rainbow ... well, he can't climb ladders."
Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus's mane. "I will miss you, Rainbow!"
The hippocampus made a neighing sound I could've sworn was crying.
"Maybe we'll see him again sometime," Percy suggested. Sentimental piece of shit.
"Oh, please!" Tyson said, perking up immediately. "Tomorrow!"
Percy didn't make any promises, but we finally convinced Tyson to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a back-flip and dove into the sea.
The ladder led to a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. There was a set of locked double doors, which Annabeth managed to pry open with her knife and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.
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. This was not a good sign for a demigod
"It's a ghost ship," I murmured.
"No," Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. "Bad smell."
Annabeth frowned. "I don't smell anything."
"Cyclopes are like satyrs," I said. "They can smell monsters. Isn't that right, Tyson?" Percy gave me a quizzical look as if he was surprised i knew that. I sketched an eyebrow at him. Percy looked away.
Tyson nodded nervously. Now that we were away from Camp Half-Blood, the Mist had distorted his face again. Unless I concentrated very hard, it seemed that he had two eyes instead of one.
"Okay," Annabeth said. "So what exactly do you smell?"
"Something bad," Tyson answered.
"Great," Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up." I clapped her on the back and tried to give what i thought was an encouraging smile but by the look on Annabeth's face i reckon it was more of a grimace.
We came outside on the swimming pool level. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water in the pool glowed eerily, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship.
Above us were more levels—a climbing wall, a putt-putt golf course, a revolving restaurant, but no sign of life.
And yet ... I sensed something familiar. Something dangerous. I had the feeling that if I weren't so tired and burned out on adrenaline from our long night, I might be able to put a name to what was wrong.
It looked like Percy also had the same feeling
"We need a hiding place," I said. "Somewhere safe to sleep."
"Sleep," Annabeth agreed wearily. Percy nodded with a yawn.
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!
Mmm, chocolate. My one weakness. Ok maybe an exaggeration but still.
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, and Annabeth's cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.
He'd even packed my tiara - or what used to be my tiara. It was now a ring with one of the blue gems in it. It had a note that read:
I loved your diadem/tiara thing little cousin but i thought this would be easier to carry around. Twist right for your dagger but if you still want your fashion statement twist left.
Hermes
Wow - one helpful God. I tried it out and it worked beautifully. I sent a silent thank you to Hermes and turned to the rest of the group
A/N: So this one was a long one but i love Adelia's new ring. However i realised i never showed you guys her diadem so here it is
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