The Last Boeotian (Percy Jackson)

Chapter 9: I'm Starting To Regret Coming

I placed my bag in a hallway near where most of the others had their belongings. Everything was strapped down, ready if the ship were to tilt and turn. I slipped my bow over my torso and let the grip of the curvy weapon rest on my back against the quiver. The string reached across my chest like a security belt, getting caught on the buttons of my closed flannel shirt.

I stood out by the railing of the boat as the sails were already released and the boat was easily pushed off the coast. The heavy ship glided across the dark blue water like it was flying in the moonlit sea. Percy put someone in charge of steering the boat on its path before he stepped off the raised platform, walking up to stand next to me and placing his hands on the railing.

"You ready?"

"Is there a plan?"

"I have no idea," he confessed. "We're just gonna have to lead it away."

"Where? All the way to the Bermuda Triangle? I'm not sure that's the greatest idea."

"That's what I thought, but I told Chiron that we'd do anything we had to in order to lead the beasts away. We'll probably have to lead them there."

"So, we just joined a suicide mission?"

"Probably."

I stared down at the white beads of light reflecting from the moon on the water. The movement of the boat sent ripples across the water, refracting and bending the light. Percy stood next to me for a moment before turning and walking in another direction.

I said I would do this, I told myself, I promised I wouldn't turn back, no matter what. It's more important to get the monsters away from the coast.

I turned away from the water, stalking across the deck of the ship. I padded up the wooden steps to the platform at the back of the ship, where Percy stood. A boy who looked only slightly younger than him held onto the wheel, steering the boat.

"This is Agori," Percy said softly as he sat on a box. "He's a son of Atlas, the god of navigation."

I gave the boy a small smile and a nod, and he nodded back at me, his wavy black hair bobbing in front of his face. He turned back to face the direction we travelled, slowly turning the wheel carefully.

I sat cross-legged on the ground near the back railing of the ship, near the box that Percy sat on. "So, there's not really much to do until we get there?"

"Nope," he replied softly. "We just have to be ready."

I nodded, tangling my fingers in my lap and wrapping them around each other.

"So, uh, what was it you were telling me about Euboea?" Percy asked. "What was it like there?"

"It was... It was home," I replied softly. "Everybody took care of each other, we all protected each other. I didn't really have any 'friends' there, but everyone got along well... Even if Enya- Ares's kids got a bit hardheaded. We played war games like Chiron told me about capture the flag, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it wasn't capture the flag, though. It was dodgeball or Human Stratego."

"Like the board game?"

"Yeah, except... More fire and blood. Only a couple people went missing, though."

Percy laughed quietly. "You're joking, right?" I paused with a small smirk, looking up at him. "You're not joking." He shook his head.

I felt nostalgia knocking at my brain as I remembered the games at Euboea. I missed belonging somewhere. It had been only a day, but I could tell I was out of place at this new Olympian camp. 

"So, uhm," Percy hesitated, "How did you end up in the Gulf Of Mexico?"

I remembered the map Pholos had given me. Somehow, it really was important. It brought me to Percy, whether it meant to bring me to him or Scylla.

"This map," I answered. "It's in my bag... A centaur, Pholos, gave it to me a while back, when I was still in Euboea Base. It never really did anything, but it ended up showing me a pinpoint of where Scylla was... He also told me how to summon the Chariot of Damnation, if I ever needed to get anywhere far away in case of a huge emergency."

"It came up with a pinpoint?"

"Yeah, it just.... Appeared."

"Percy," Agori piped up. "I think we should be almost there."

The older boy stood, gazing out at the different directions of water. I stood to my feet, too, reading the latitude and longitude lines that my head drew out across the rippling surface of the water.

The sun had finally begun to rise, but heavy clouds hung over the sky. The dim light turned the water a lighter blue, and rolling waves pushed up and down the surface. The boat moved up and down slowly as the waves pushed it.

I sensed a disturbance in the water. There was something nearby. It had to be Scylla.

"We have to be close to it," I stated, mostly for Agori's knowledge.

"How do you know?" It was Percy who spoke.

"I can feel it," I replied simply. "Can't you?"

The brother made a confused face and shook his head. "No."

"Can you at least tell where we are?"

"Of course," he responded. "If I'm by the sea, I can tell. Look," he pointed out at a bright blue line across the water. "Do you see that longitude line?"

"Yeah. Of course, that's how you know where you're going. But can't you feel.... I don't know, disturbances in the sea?"

"No. It feels the same as always."

"Oh," I breathed out, almost disappointed. "Maybe since we were born in different areas, or something..."

"Percy!" A feminine voice echoed across the boat. Annabeth pointed from the front of the ship, where large waves came rolling around, and water splashed up from the horizon. A dark moving monster could be seen thrashing about the water, and its shape only grew larger as it seemed to move closer.

"It's moving fast," Percy shouted at the crew. "We're leading it to the Bermuda Triangle! Move straight ahead to it!"

"Are you crazy, Jackson?" Adrianne stood on the steps near the wheel. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"I promised Chiron we would do whatever it took to take care of the beasts. So did the rest of you. Straight ahead, shoot when I call, not before."