Waves of Fire || Leo Valdez

VIII - Armor Isn't Exactly a Good Idea of Swimwear, But OK, Octavian

We landed back on the Argo II and Frank ran off to look for Leo.

Percy and I just collapsed on the deck, too exhausted to move. Hedge was missing his shoes. He grinned at the sky, muttering, "Awesome. Awesome."

Annabeth and Hazel came running up, Frank huffing and puffing behind them.

"What happened?" She asked.

I was too exhausted and shaken up to say anything, but Percy reached out and gripped Annabeth's hand, like, be right with you, once everything stops spinning.

Leo came running up the stairs, followed by Jason and Piper.

"What? What?" Leo cried, holding a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's wrong?"

"Followed!" Frank yelled.

"Followed by what?" Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted. "Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky!"

Nobody seemed sure how to take that answer, but I didn't care. I still wanted to save the animals, but I wanted to get as far away as possible from that aquarium more.

"That makes absolutely no sense," Annabeth said, shaking her head. "Leo, you'd better get us out of here."

Leo put his sandwich between his teeth, pirate-style, and ran for the helm.

Soon the Argo II was rising into the sky. I saw no sign of pursuit by whales or otherwise, but we didn't start to recover until the Atlanta skyline was a hazy smudge in the distance.

"Charleston," Percy said, hobbling around the deck like an old man. He still sounded pretty shaken up, something I didn't blame him for. "Set course for Charleston."

"Charleston?" Jason said the name as if it brought back bad memories. "What exactly did you find in Atlanta?"

"Stuff," I muttered, having collapsed into a chair.

Frank unzipped his backpack and started bringing out souvenirs. "Some peach preserves. A couple of T-shirts. A snow globe. Some stuffed animals Alaia named after Fall Out Boy--"

"Give me Patrick!" I demanded. Frank tossed over the shark plush, whom I decided to name Patrick. The octopus was Andy, the dolphin was Pete, and the swordfish was Joe.

"--And, um, these not-really-Chinese handcuffs," Frank finished.

"How about you start from the top," Annabeth suggested, looking like she was trying not to strangle us. "Of the story, not the backpack."

We gathered on the quarterdeck so Leo could hear the conversation as he navigated. Percy, Frank, and I took turns relating what had happened at the Georgia Aquarium, with Coach Hedge interjecting from time to time: "That was awesome!" or "Then I kicked her in the head!"

We also explained about the sea creatures that were still trapped in the aquarium.

"That's terrible," Annabeth said. "We need to help them."

"We will," I promised. "In time. But we have to figure out how. I wish..." I shook my head. I wanted to go back to them, to fill up the stables with water and take them all with us. But I knew that was about as possible as it was for Octavian to stop spewing out schist.

"Don't worry," Percy assured me. "First we have to deal with this bounty on our heads."

Coach Hedge had lost interest in the conversation—probably because it was no longer about him—and wandered toward the bow of the ship, practicing his roundhouse kicks and complimenting himself on his technique.

Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger. "A bounty on our heads...as if we didn't attract enough monsters already."

"Do we get WANTED posters?" Leo asked. "And do they have our bounties, like, broken down on a price list?"

Hazel wrinkled her nose. "What are you talking about?"

"Just curious how much I'm going for these days," Leo said. "I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Percy or Jason or even Alaia--"

"What do you mean, 'even Alaia?' " I asked, pausing the process of taking out my other stuffed prizes.

"Uh, nothing," Leo said quickly. "But am I worth, like, two Franks, or three Franks?"

"Hey!" Frank complained. I frowned and elbowed Leo in the ribs.

"Knock it off," Annabeth ordered. "At least we know our next step is to go to Charleston, to find this map."