𝒊𝒊. 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝒊𝒙.

"Thermos!" Percy screamed from next to Noelle as they hurtled toward the water.

"What?" Annabeth must've thought he'd lost his mind by her tone. She was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, her hair flying straight up like a torch.

But Tyson understood. He managed to open Percy's duffel bag and take out Hermes's magical thermos without losing his grip on it or the boat.

Noelle managed to keep her footing as the boat fell, her feet hooked securely under the boat's inflatable bench. She kept shooting at the projectiles that were closer than she liked.

Percy grabbed the thermos and hoped he was doing the right thing. He tugged Noelle to sit down. "Hang on!"

"Yes, sir!" How Noelle still managed to tease him while falling to their possible death amazed him.

Percy rolled his eyes as he smiled at his girlfriend. "Tightly!"

Percy hooked his feet like Noelle's, and Tyson grabbed all three demigods by the backs of their shirts, Percy gave the thermos cap a quarter turn.

Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the thermos and propelled them sideways, turning their downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing.

The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the thermos, like it was glad to be free. As they hit the ocean, they bumped once, twice, skipping like a stone, then they were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in their faces and nothing but sea ahead.

A wail of outrage sounded from the ship behind them, but their small life raft was already out of weapon range. The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance, and then it was gone.

~

After their conversation with Chiron via Iris-message, which was mostly one-sided due to music blasting on the centaur's side of the call, Percy went to sit by Noelle. Percy knew something was wrong because she had hardly talked to Chiron. Annabeth knew that Noelle was thinking about her mother's test, they were best friends after all.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked, softly grabbing the girl's hand. "Is this about Luke?"

"Yeah," Noelle lied, giving Percy a small smile. "It's really nothing you have to worry about, though."

"Well, why don't you get some rest," Percy suggested.

Noelle nodded and rested her head on Percy's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her protectively.

Noelle didn't go to sleep right away. Instead, she thought about her mother's test. Did she really lie to Percy? For all she knew, the test could involve Luke. Noelle thought it more than likely, but some whisper in her mind told her it had nothing to do with Luke at all.

Whatever the test was, Noelle was confident that, fail or pass, someone would get hurt badly. And she swore she would make sure that someone was herself. She didn't want to see anyone she cared about hurt.

~

Noelle had woken up an hour later to Percy shaking her, telling her they found land— a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers. A coast guard cruiser passed on their starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. Guess it wasn't every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a hundred knots an hour, manned by four teenagers.

"That's Virginia Beach!" Annabeth said as they approached the shoreline.

Noelle stared at the beach in shock. "Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That's like—"