Percy Jackson's Twin Sister

The Starbucks Of Ancient Greece

I wake up to a different ships horn. Percy springs up nearly hitting his head in the ceiling.

"What was that?" Percy asks alarmed.

"I don't know," I say.

Percy slips on one of his bronze armor plates. I think he was being a little dramatic.

We run upstairs and see Leo, Hazel, and Annabeth already there looking at the ship. It was a touristy ship. It had fifteen or sixteen rows of balconies that held tourists taking pictures of us. They didn't look surprised at the Greek ship.

"Do they have to be so loud?" Coach asks plugging his ears.

"They're just saying hi," Frank says.

"What?!" Coach yells back.

The ship moves past us. The tourists kept aging like they didn't find it at all strange to have a ship manned by children going past them.

"Bye!" Leo yells waving his hand at them.

"Can I man the ballista?" Coach asks.

"No," Leo says.

Hazel rubs her eyes, "where are- oh- wow..." hazel says.

With the ship out of the way we could finally see the mountains springing from the earth.

"The rock of Gibraltar. They're at the tip of Spain. And over there," Annabeth pointed, "That must be Africa. We're at the mouth of the Mediterranean."

I shivered a little despite the heat. I felt like I was staring at an impossible barrier. If what the Romans says is true this quest is going to get ten times harder.

"What now? Do we just sail?" I say.

"Why not? It's a big shipping channel. Boats go in and out all the time," Leo says.

Annabeth gazed at the mountains. I  could read the look on her face. She was most defiantly anticipating trouble. I walk over to her.

"What's on your mind?" I ask.

"In the old days, they called this area the Pillars of Hercules. The rock was suppose to be one pillar. The other was one of the African mountains. Nobody is sure which one," Annabeth says.

"Hercules huh?" My brother says walking up to us, "he was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you turn- there he is."

A thunderous boom shook the Argo ll. There wasn't any clouds so I do t know where it's coming from. Maybe Zeus didn't like Percy talking about one of his kids.

"So... these Pillars of Hercules. Are they dangerous?" Piper asks.

"For the Greeks the pillars marked the end of the world," Annabeth says, "The Romans said the pillars were inscribed with with a Latin warning-"

"Non plus ultra," Percy says.

Annabeth looks stunned, "Yeah. Nothing further beyond, how did you know?"

Percy pointed, "because I'm looking at it."