Warped: Sea of Monsters (A Percy Jackson Fanfic) (Book 7)

Chapter 10: We Board the Princess Andromeda (Isa's POV)

After the campfire sing-along (which wasn't much of a sing-along) and the duel, Noah and I dragged Tantalus's body into the forest, and dug a pit, and buried him to let the earth eat him. I pounded the earth twice, to alert Hades. After all, I was doing him a favor.
Did I feel bad for killing Tantalus? A little. But he was technically already dead. And he deserved it. He was a tyrant and my mother on my home earth had been Cuban. By doing this, I honored her family who had suffered under Fidel Castro's tyranny. My grandparents on her side had escaped Cuba to give their descendants a better life, and I wasn't about to let some dead king threaten me into obedience. Plus, what he had done to get his punishment in the Underworld was terrible. Zeus was the god of hospitality as well, and Tantalus had gone against that, so of course Zeus had been pissed. And then the fact that he killed his son, mutilated him, and served him up to the gods as a sacrifice? That was cannibalism. A big no-no. He was gonna threaten us with that? I had to stand up for myself and others. I had been possessed by Thomas Jefferson, one of the ghosts in my roster, who I had played the part of, and had a good quality of, and he had tried to urge me to solve this peacefully. But that didn't work, so I did the one thing left to do. I John Laurens'ed him. Beat him in a duel. Sorry, you might not know who John Laurens was. Alexander Hamilton is more well-known for his duel, but unfortunately he didn't win. Laurens was a man during the Revolutionary War who wanted to create the first Black army by freeing the slaves. He had been a good friend of Alexander Hamilton. Some could even say they had a secret love for each other, based off letters they exchanged. But his dream died along with him at a shooting after the war, in which the British soldiers had not known the war was over yet. But before he died, he had fought in a duel between him and Charles Lee, George Washington's first second-in-command. Lee had been talking smack about General George Washington, and Laurens had enough, and demanded satisfaction. Laurens had chosen Hamilton as his Lieutenant, while Lee had chosen Aaron Burr. (Foreshadowing!) They followed the normal rules (unlike Tantalus.) Laurens (the good guy) won the duel in the end. Tantalus had tried to George Eacker me. That was another duel that happened in Hamilton's lifetime. But this time, it was his eldest son's duel, Phillip Hamilton. George Eacker had talked smack about Phillip's father, and Phillip demanded satisfaction. Eacker had cheated, just like Tantalus had with the paces. And Phillip died in the end. Luckily, I had a happy ending.
Now, the only thing I had to worry about was if Mr. D might try to bring Tantalus back. But I would deal with that when the time came.
Noah and I walked back to our cabin, and went to bed.

In the middle of the night, I heard a distant voice calling for me. Noah heard it too. I sat up. Noah's ears were like satellites, twitching every which way.
As I came to, I realized it was Percy calling for help.
I didn't have much time to decide what I was gonna do. He had hurt me. But that didn't mean he deserved to die. So I grabbed my weapons, my emergency backpack, put on my shoes, and started heading down.
"Come on, Noah, Percy needs help!" I called.
Noah quickly followed. Let's go!
My backpack was filled with anything we might need on an adventure. Ambrosia, nectar, extra clothes, my medications, a first-aid kit, my laptop, my chargers, a water bottle, snacks, money, my wallet, a blanket. Actually, it was a backpack I had put a magical spell on. It was like an unlimited storage. It was like a Mary Poppins trick. Anything that could fit in there by itself could go in.
I ran towards the beach, Noah was at my heels. I called Percy's name, trying to hear for him, hoping he'd respond to me. Even with my superhearing, I couldn't hear him again. I got a sick feeling in my stomach. What if whatever monster was attacking him had killed him? Was I too late?
The beach came into view, and I saw Tyson and Annabeth and Ben ahead of us. They had heard him too. And then I saw him. Annabeth, Tyson and Ben were talking to Percy. He looked okay. . .and then I saw him holding tightly to the crochet elephant I had left at this very spot at the beach.
My heart, having shrunken from all that Percy had done, grew just a little bit, and I suddenly, I cared just a little more.
I ran up. "Percy? Are you okay? What happened? I heard you calling me."
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Percy reassured me. "I didn't call you though."
His tone made me feel a bit unwanted. "Um, okay. . ." I felt ashamed. Had it been just my imagination playing tricks on me? How was that possible? Noah had heard it too. And so did Ben and Tyson and Annabeth. Annabeth explained to me that Percy had a conversation with Hermes about the quest. Of course, Hermes had played a part in getting me here, playing tricks on all of us to bring us here. But I stood back from Percy, and his face turned a little hurt. He looked apologetic.
I could hear screeching in the distance. Harpies picking up our scents.
"We have to do the quest," Annabeth said. "Otherwise, there will be no camp to come back to."
I nodded. "Okay then, I'm coming. But first I need someone to cover for me for activities director."
Percy looked relieved when he heard that. I was hoping he'd apologize, but it seemed there wasn't time for that.
"We don't have time for that," Annabeth said. "Plus, who would you call to take over? Barry?"
Percy, in the meantime was praying to his dad to help us get on to the ship.
"But that's a problem." I said. "Mr. D will try to bring Tantalus back. And you know what that means. . ."
Noah cocked his head. Microwave?
I narrowed my eyes and stomped my foot. "Noah! What is it with you and microwave? No! It means Tantalus will just go back to being a crappy activities director. And I wasn't gonna call Barry. He's not qualified. You thinking what I'm thinking, Noah?"
Noah panted. Toothless and Hiccup?
I smiled. "That's right, boy. I think it's time we call up our favorite Viking for help. This will be a good learning experience for him."
"Viking?" Annabeth asked. "But Vikings are barbaric? You really think a Viking could be better than Tantalus?"
"I've learned just to trust Isa's plans," Ben shrugged. "She says that this guy is the smartest one of the tribe."
"Their tribe is different," I said, pulling up Hiccup's Multiversal Traveling Bracelet number. "They're capable of change and adapting. This guy has never fit the mold for typical Viking. He doesn't look like much, but he's clever, tricky, and this would be good for him, for when he eventually becomes chief of his tribe. Plus, he trained a dragon. He doesn't believe in Mr. D, so Mr. D can't do anything to him. And at least he hasn't committed cannibalism."
Annabeth shrugged. "Well, I can't argue with that."
The Multiversal Traveling Bracelet rung.
"Come on, Hiccup, pick up," I whispered.
"Isa, it's the middle of the night!" Hiccup picked up. "What could be so urgent that you have to call me at this time?"
"Hey, Hiccup. I know, but it's a bit of an emergency. Hiccup, can you cover for me as activities director for a few days, here at Camp on Earth-14, starting tommorow?"
"Um, why?"
"Because I'm going on an emergency mission and I killed the standing activities director. . ."
"Isa, why would you do that? You can't do that!"
"Listen, Hiccup, it was honorable. He was a tyrant who committed cannibalism. He was also technically already dead. I beat him in a duel, fair and square. And he cheated. Plus, this will be good for you, for when you inevitably become chief."
"Okay, that's better. . .um. . .okay, I'll cover for you. Just give me the details I need to know. . .also, can I bring Toothless?"
"I was actually hoping you'd bring him." I began telling him about the concepts of Camp, everything he needed to know about the gods, the dryads, and everything magical about the Camp, as well as the situation it was in. I told him about Mr. D, and to watch out for if he tries to revive Tantalus.
As I finished my call with Hiccup, the surf burst apart and the heads of five white stallions reared out of the waves.
Tyson caught his breath. "Fish ponies!"
He was right. As the creatures pulled themselves onto land, I saw that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail fins.
"Hippocampi!" Annabeth said. "They're beautiful."
The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled Annabeth.
"We'll admire them later," Percy said. "Come on!"
"Noah, you can keep up with them, right?" I asked.
Can I? Noah asked. Of course I can! And he dived into the water right next to them, his bottom half turning into a blue fishtail.
"There!" A voice screeched behind us. "Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!"
Six of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes—plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies. They reminded me of miniature cafeteria ladies who'd been crossbred with dodo birds. They weren't very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious if they caught you.
"Tyson!" Percy said. "Grab a duffel bag!"
I grabbed the bigger duffel bag. Tyson was still staring at the hippocampi with his mouth hanging open.
"Tyson!" Percy called.
"Uh?"
"Come on!"
With Annabeth's help, Percy got him moving. We gathered the bags and mounted our steeds. Poseidon must've known Tyson was one of the passengers, because one hippocampus was much larger than the other four—just right for carrying a Cyclops.
"Giddyup!" Percy said. Percy's hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves. Annabeth's, Ben's, mine and Tyson's followed right behind. Noah jumped up and down in the waves like a dolphin beside my hippocampus.
The harpies cursed at us, wailing for their snacks to come back, but the hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Jet Skis. The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge.
The cruise ship was now looming in front of us—our ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.