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Rory, Annabeth, and Tyson found Percy on the beach. In one piece... which was a relief.
The girls found it strange that they could hear Percy's screams all the way from the cabins, but for nearly ten minutes, they couldn't locate his location. It wasn't until Tyson found them and they followed him. He was a Cyclops after all, he had exceptional hearing.
"Percy!" Rory called when she spotted him.
He was staring into the waves, deep in thought. He was standing on a beach towel with a six pack of Coca-Cola cans beside him, though two were missing.
He turned around to look at them. He wasn't in any form of danger nor did he look pained. He didn't even seem surprised to see his friends.
"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. "We heard you calling for help!"
"Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"
"I didn't call you guys," Percy said, strangely nonchalant about the whole situation. "I'm fine."
"But then who..." Annabeth trailed off and glanced down at the ground. Rory followed her gaze.
She hadn't noticed before, at Percy's feet were four yellow duffle bags. And in his hands, he was holding a thermos — and she could just barely make out a cartoon Heracles — and a bottle of vitamins.
"What the—"
"Just listen," he interrupted. "We don't have much time."
He told the three about his conversation with Hermes. How the god basically told Percy that they need to sneak out of camp and follow on Clarisse's quest. Specifically, onto a cruise ship. He gave Percy the thermos (with the winds trapped in it) and the vitamins ("to make you feel yourself again," according to Percy).
By the time he was finished, Rory could hear screeching in the distance — patrol harpies picking up their scent. Usually the harpies would leave her alone, but she didn't think they would extend the courtesy to Annabeth, Tyson, and Percy.
"Percy," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."
"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."
"So? If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."
"And do you think they'll turn us away if we show up with the Golden Fleece?" Rory added.
She tried to sound confident, but the truth was, the idea of getting expelled from camp terrified more than any monster she had fought. She had nowhere to go if that happened. This was her home. No matter how distance she felt from it, she could never leave.
"Yeah," Percy didn't sound convinced, his face twisted in confusion, "but you promised Chiron—"
"We swore on the River Styx that we would keep you from danger," Rory corrected, smiling mischievously. "We can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them—"
