Daughter of the Sea || HoO

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

That night, Tori slept without nightmares, which just made her uneasy when she woke up—like the calm before a storm.

Leo docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall. Along the shore was a historical district with tall mansions, palm trees, and wrought-iron fences. Antique cannons pointed at the water.

By the time Tori came up on deck, Jason, Frank, and Leo had already left for the museum. According to Coach Hedge, they'd promised to be back by sunset. Piper and Hazel were ready to go, but first Annabeth and Tori turned to Percy, who was leaning on the starboard rail, gazing over the bay.

Annabeth took his hand. "What are you going to do while we're gone?"

"Jump into the harbor," he said casually, like another kid might say, I'm going to get a snack. "I want to try communicating with the local Nereids."

"See if they can give you some advice about how to free those captives in Atlanta," Tori told him.

"I will," Percy nodded. "Besides, I think the sea might be good for me. Being in that aquarium made me feel...unclean." 

Tori had felt a similar way, but chose not to say anything.

Annabeth kissed him. "Good luck, Seaweed Brain. Just come back to me, okay?"

"Yuck," Tori gagged, "do you two have to do that infront of me?"

"I will," Percy promised; ignoring his little sister. "You do the same." 

Annabeth tried to push down her growing unease. She turned to Piper and Hazel. "Okay, ladies. Let's find the ghost of the Battery." Afterward, Tori wished she'd jumped into the harbor with Percy. She even would've preferred a museum full of ghosts.

Not that she minded hanging out with the other three girls. At first, they had a pretty good time walking along the Battery. According to the signs, the seaside park was called White Point Gardens. The ocean breeze swept away the muggy heat of the summer afternoon, and it was pleasantly cool under the shade of the palmetto trees. Lining the road were old Civil War cannons and bronze statues of historical figures, which made Tori shudder. She thought about the statues in New York City during the Titan War, which had come to life thanks to Daedalus's command sequence twenty-three. She wondered how many other statues around the country were secretly automatons, waiting to be triggered.

Charleston Harbor glittered in the sun. To the north and south, strips of land stretched out like arms enclosing the bay, and sitting in the mouth of the harbor, about a mile out, was an island with a stone fort. Tori had a vague memory of that fort being important in the Civil War, but she never really paid attention in history and she didn't spend much time thinking about it.

Mostly she breathed in the sea air and felt somewhat of a calmness washed over her. She was slightly disappointed when they turned away from the seawall and explored the inland side of the gardens.

The park wasn't crowded. Tori imagined that most of the locals had gone on summer vacation, or were holed up at home taking a nice nap. They strolled along South Battery Street, which was lined with four-story Colonial mansions. The brick walls were blanketed with ivy. The facades had soaring white columns like Roman temples. The front gardens were bursting with rose bushes, honeysuckle, and flowering bougainvillea. It looked like Demeter had set the timer on all the plants to grow several decades ago, then forgotten to come back and check on them.

"Kind of reminds me of New Rome," Hazel said. "All the big mansions and the gardens. The columns and arches."

Annabeth nodded. She remembered reading how the American South had often compared itself to Rome back before the Civil War. In the old days their society had been all about impressive architecture, honor, and codes of chivalry. And on the evil side, it had also been about slavery. Rome had slaves, some Southerners had argued, so why shouldn't we?