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Percy and Marlowe were staring at the waves when Annabeth and Tyson found them.
"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. "I heard you guys calling for help!"
"Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"
Percy glanced at Marlowe, who continued to stare at the waves. More specifically, the ship they would soon be boarding.
"We didn't call you guys," Percy said. "We're fine."
"But then who..." Annabeth noticed the three yellow duffel bags, then the thermos, and then the bottle of vitamins Marlowe was holding. "What—"
"Just listen," Percy said. "We don't have much time."
Percy and Marlowe told them about their conversation with Hermes. By the time they were finished, they could hear screeching in the distance—patrol harpies picking up their scent.
"Guys," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."
"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."
"It doesn't matter if we get expelled," Marlowe said. "If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."
"Yeah, but Annabeth promised Chiron—"
Annabeth cut him off. "I promised I'd keep you both from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them—"
"I want to go," Tyson said.
"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded close to panic. "I mean... Percy, come on. You know that's impossible."
Percy stared at Annabeth and knew deep down that there was something she wasn't telling him. He almost looked to Marlowe for an answer, but she was already coming up with an answer for all of them.
"Tyson's coming with us," Marlowe decided. She shouldered a duffel bag and held onto her vitamins tightly. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."
"Marlowe," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus's island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k... a C-y-k..." She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. They could've been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. "You know what I mean!"
"Tyson can go," Percy insisted, "if he wants to."
Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!"
Annabeth gave Percy and Marlowe the evil eye, but neither of them were going to back down.
"All right," she said. "How do we get to that ship?"
"Hermes said my father would help," Percy said.
"Well then? What are you waiting for?"
Percy looked around, partially waiting for something to happen without him doing anything. He sighed and stepped into the waves.
