𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

48

They made it out of danger thankfully. And for the next two hours, no one moved. They were all on deck, waiting for Leo to join them.

Hadrian poured a cup of water on Percy which seemed to make him a bit more alert. Though he frowned when Hadrian tried to take a photo with his polaroid camera.

Hazel and Frank stood just out of earshot, having an argument that involved lots of arm waving and head shaking.

The argument stopped abruptly when Hazel saw Leo walking up to them. Everybody gathered at the mast.

Frank scowled like he was trying hard to turn into a bulldog. "No sign of pursuit," he said.

"Or land," Hazel added. She looked a little green, though Hadrian wasn't sure if that was from the rocking of the boat or from arguing.

Hadrian scanned the horizon. Nothing but ocean in every direction. That shouldn't have surprised him. He'd spent months preparing for this knowing they would cross the Atlantic. But until today, their embarking on a journey to the ancient lands hadn't seemed real.

Hadrian had been outside the U.S. before, but he had been young then. When he was six, his mom had shifted for work and he supposed that's when everything went wrong. He didn't like thinking about her, it was only bad memories. He focused on the blue water.

He felt exposed and terribly alone, with no land to be seen. They were in the middle of the open sea, completely on their own, sailing to the Mare Nostrum, where all the scary monsters and nasty giants had come from. The Romans might not follow them, but they couldn't count on any help from Camp Half-Blood, either. This was Percy's home turf, though, so he didn't feel as scared.

Leo turned to Annabeth. "Did you find the map you wanted?"

She nodded, though she looked pale. Hadrian wondered what she'd seen at Fort Sumter that could have shaken her up so badly. Reyna. She had said.

"I'll have to study it," she said, as if that was the end of the subject. "How far are we from those coordinates?"

"Not that far, a couple hours at most, maybe a little longer." Leo said. "Any idea what we're looking for?"

"No," she admitted. "Percy?"

Percy raised his head. His green eyes were bloodshot and droopy. "The Nereid said Chiron's brothers were there, and they'd want to hear about that aquarium in Atlanta. I don't know what she meant, but..." He paused, like he'd used up all his energy saying that much. "She also warned me to be careful. Keto, the goddess at the aquarium: she's the mother of sea monsters. She might be stuck in Atlanta, but she can still send her children after us. The Nereid said we should expect an attack."

"Wonderful," Hadrian muttered. "Always a pleasure to meet telekhines and whatnot"

Jason tried to stand, which wasn't a good idea. Leo grabbed him to keep him from falling over, and he slid back down the mast.

"Can we get the ship aloft?" he asked. "If we could fly—"

"That'd be great," Leo said. "Except Festus tells me the port aerial stabilizer got pulverized when the ship raked against the dock at Fort Sumter."

"We were in a hurry," Annabeth said. "Trying to save you."

"And saving me is a very noble cause," Leo agreed. "I'm just saying, it'll take some time to fix. Until then, we're not flying anywhere."

Percy flexed his shoulders and winced. "Fine with me. The sea is good."

"Speak for yourself." Hazel glanced at the evening sun, which was almost to the horizon. "We need to go fast. We've burned another day, and Nico has less than a week more left."