𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚊 (𝙇𝙚𝙤 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯 𝙓 𝙊𝙘)

είκοσι έξι

Elena was tired, she was trying hard to keep her eyes open, this was proving to be harder than she anticipated, she could only catch bits of the conversation.

Reyna, spirit, Southern belle, glowing weird.

Elena stifled a yawn. "Could be Aphrodite." She muttered.

"Hmm?" Leo asked.

"Said it could be Aphrodite," she said again, "I heard from the minor deities on Olympus that she frequented the area a lot."

"Possibly." Annabeth agreed, "Girls adventure then. Elle you coming?"

Elena stood straighter, "Hell yeah, Just give me a strong shot of nectar before we leave and I'll be good to go!"

"So that's settled." Annabeth turned to Leo, who was now studying his console, listening to Festus creak and click over the intercom. "Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?"

"Good question," he muttered. "Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us-long-range radar, still not in sight."

Piper leaned over the console. "Are you sure they're Roman?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "No, Pipes. It could be a random group of giant eagles flying in perfect formation. Of course they're Roman! I suppose we could turn the ship around and fight-"

"Which would be a very bad idea," Jason said, "and remove any doubt that we're enemies of Rome."

"Or I've got another idea," Leo said. "If we went straight to Charleston, we could be there in a few hours. But the eagles would overtake us, and things would get complicated. Instead, we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston, and get there tomorrow morning-"

Hazel started to protest, but Leo raised his hand. "I know, I know. Nico's in trouble and we have to hurry."

"It's June twenty-seventh," Hazel said. "After today, four more days. Then he dies."

"I know! But this might throw the Romans off our trail. We still should have enough time to reach Rome."

Hazel scowled. "When you say should have enough..."

Leo shrugged. "How do you feel about barely enough?"

Elena gave an unsatisfied groan and Hazel put her face in her hands for a count of three. "Sounds about typical for us."

"We'll have to get to Nico quickly though." Elena agreed, "Stupid eagles."

Annabeth decided to take that as a green light. "Okay, Leo. What kind of decoy are we talking about?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" He punched a few buttons on the console, rotated the turntable, and repeatedly pressed the A button on his Wii controller really, really fast. He called into the intercom, "Buford? Report for duty, please."

Frank took a step back. "There's somebody else on the ship? Who is Buford?"

A puff of steam shot from the stairwell, and Leo's automatic table climbed on deck.

"Buford!" Elena exclaimed. She hadn't seen the table in so long. Leo had insisted Buford had a crush on the engine and (as the amazing wing-woman she was) Elena had been trying to give the two ample alone time.

"This is Buford," Leo announced.

"You name your furniture?" Frank asked.

"You don't?" Elena teased making Frank shrug.

Leo snorted. "Man, you just wish you had furniture this cool. Buford, are you ready for Operation End Table?"

Buford was toting a bag like a mail sack tied to one of his legs. "Remember what I said about the skirt?" Leo attempted to whisper to the table who made a series of clicks and whistles.