You'll Learn to Love Me

Chapter 75: Sibling Bonds

When Piper and Frank returned from their expedition to retrieve the poison, Laylana almost collapsed. She had spent hours worrying about the idiots, and asked to come along only to be denied. Laylana called that a hate crime.

She quickly gathered the rest of the crew on deck for a hurried meeting. Mainly because she and Percy had been keeping an eye on the giant red sea serpent swimming off the port side of the ship.

"That thing is really red," Percy muttered.

"I wonder if it's cherry-flavoured." Laylana shrugged.

"Why don't you both swim over and find out?" Annabeth asked.

"How about no." The siblings answered in unison.

"Anyway," Frank said, "according to my Pylos cousins, the chained god we're looking for in Sparta is my dad... uh, I mean Ares, not Mars. Apparently the Spartans kept a statue of him chained up in their city so the spirit of war would never leave them."

"Oo-kay," Leo said. "The Spartans were freaks. Of course, we've got Victory tied up downstairs, so I guess we can't talk."

Jason leaned against the forward ballista. "On to Sparta, then. But how does a chained god's heartbeat help us find a cure for dying?"

From the tightness in his face, Laylana could tell he was still in pain. She had kept him on a healthy dose of Advil and Tylenol, but that was the extent of what she could do. They had morphine, but she was not about to drug Jason up to that extent.

"Piper?" Hazel asked. Laylana turned to her friend and noticed she was looking spaced out.

Piper stirred. "Sorry, what?"

"I was asking you about the visions," Hazel prompted. "You told me you'd seen some stuff in your dagger blade?"

"Uh... right." Piper reluctantly unsheathed Katoptris. "I, um... I don't see anything right now. But one vision kept popping up. Annabeth, Laylana and I are exploring some ruins –"

"Ruins!" Leo rubbed his hands. "Now we're talking. How many ruins can there be in Greece?"

"Quiet, Leo," Laylana scolded. "Piper, do you think it was Sparta?"

"Maybe," Piper said. "Anyway... suddenly we're in this dark place like a cave. We're staring at this bronze warrior statue. In the vision I touch the statue's face and flames start swirling around us. That's all I saw."

"Me and flames?" Laylana grimaced. "I don't like that vision."

"Me neither." Percy kept one eye on the red sea serpent, which was still slithering through the waves about a hundred yards to port. "If the statue engulfs people in fire, we should send Leo."

"Wow, I feel the love."

"You know what I mean." Percy scowled at him. "You're immune. Or, hell, give me some of those nice water grenades and I'll go. Ares and I have tangled before."

Annabeth stared at the coastline of Pylos, now retreating in the distance. "If Piper saw the three of us going after the statue, then that's who should go. We'll be all right. There's always a way to survive."

"Not always," Hazel warned.

Since she was the only one in the group who had actually died and come back to life, (minus Laylana but she was dead for maybe a total of five minutes) her observation sort of killed the mood. Frank held out the vial of Pylosian mint. "What about this stuff? After the House of Hades, I kind of hoped we were done drinking poison."

"Store it securely in the hold," Annabeth said. "For now, that's all we can do. Once we figure out this chained god situation, we'll head to the island of Delos."