Nemesism

4)

I GOT READY TO go. I didn't bring a sword in hopes we didn't have to fight. I had my shield and a dagger just in case. Leo grabbed hold of me the entire time. He wrapped his arms around me and went on his tippy toes and kissed me. I gripped his waist and pulled him closer to me. His hand went up my stomach to my neck and touched my necklaces. He froze for a moment and pulled away from the kiss.

    He saw that I only had two. "What—"

    I grabbed his hand and pulled it down. "Its fine."

    He frowned. "You need your sword. Where is it? I can get it for you."

I smiled and shook my head. "I don't have it anymore."

    His frown deepened. "What do you mean? Its always on you. It always come back."

    "Not this time," I pecked his lips once more. "I think it is in tartarus."

    Leo opened his mouth, but then closed it. His eyes showed regret. He probably doesn't want me to go anymore.

    "I'll be alright," I whispered. "I'll come back to you."

We climbed a two-hundred-foot cliff on a stairway without rails. I was winded.

    Jason walked behind Hazel and I walked behind him. Jason could catch Hazel if she fell.

    I looked at the ship, then heard Hazel squeal. I looked back at Hazel seeing that her foot slipped a little.

    "You all right?" Jason asked.

    "Yes." Hazel's heart jackhammered at her ribs. "Fine."

    "This, uh, controlling the Mist," Jason said. "Have you had any luck?"

    "No," Hazel admitted.

    "You'll get it," Jason said.

    I nodded agreeing but then slapped myself in my head because they couldn't see it. "You got this, Hazel. You were chosen."

    "How can you be sure?" she asked.

    "Just am. I've got a good instinct for what people can do—demigods, anyway. Hecate wouldn't have picked you if she didn't believe you had power."

    We reached the top, breathless and sweaty. A long sloping valley marched inland, dotted with scraggly olive trees and limestone boulders. There were no signs of civilization.

    Far below, the Argo II looked like a toy boat in the channel. I didn't understand how anyone could shoot an arrow accurately from this high up, accounting for the wind and the glare of the sun off the water. At the mouth of the inlet, the massive shape of the turtle's shell glinted like a burnished coin.

    Jason and I joined Hazel at the top, looking no worse for the climb. He started to say, "Where—"

    "Here!" said a voice.

    Hazel flinched and stepped on my foot accidentally. I moved her softly. It didn't even hurt, she weighed almost nothing. Only ten feet away, a man had appeared, a bow and quiver over his shoulder and two old-fashioned flintlock dueling pistols in his hands. He wore high leather boots, leather breeches, and a pirate-style shirt. His curly black hair looked like a little kid's do and his sparkly green eyes were friendly enough, but a red bandana covered the lower half of his face.

    "Welcome!" the bandit cried, pointing his guns at us. "Your money or your life!"

    I raised my eyebrows at him blinking on how he was straight to the point.