𝒊𝒊. 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝒙𝒗.

"Percy, wake up." Noelle was shaking his shoulder as she splashed salt water on his face.

In the distance, the sun was setting behind a city skyline. They could see a beachside highway lined with palm trees, storefronts glowing with red and blue neon, a harbor filled with sailboats and cruise ships.

"Miami, I think," Annabeth said as her and Grover's hippocampus glided along to their right. Clarisse and Tyson were on the hippocampus to their left.

"Yeah, but the hippocampi are acting funny," Grover said.

Sure enough, their fishy friends had slowed down and were whinnying and swimming in circles, sniffing the water. They didn't look happy. One of them sneezed. Percy could tell what they were thinking.

"This is as far as they'll take us," Percy said. "Too many humans. Too much pollution. We'll have to swim to shore on our own."

None of them were very psyched about that, but they thanked Rainbow and his friends for the ride. Tyson cried a little. He unfastened the makeshift saddle pack he'd made, which contained his tool kit and a couple of other things he'd salvaged from the Birmingham wreck. He hugged rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he'd picked up on the island, and said goodbye.

Once the hippocampi's white manes disappeared into the sea, they swam for shore. The waves pushed them forward, and in no time they were back in the mortal world. They wandered along the cruise line docks, pushing through crowds of people arriving for vacations. Porters bustled around with carts of luggage. Taxi drivers yelled at each other in Spanish and tried to cut in line for customers. If anybody noticed their group— six teens dripping wet and looking like they'd just had a fight with a monster— they didn't let on.

Now that they were back among mortals, Tyson's single eye had blurred from the Mist. Grover had put on his cap and sneakers. Even the Fleece around Noelle's shoulders had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery Omega on the pocket.

After Noelle's long nap, which thankfully had no dreams, her legs didn't hurt anymore. But she knew that it would ache from time to time, especially with a lot of strain. One of those 'it only hurts when it rains' type of things.

Annabeth ran to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the Miami Herald. She curse. "June eighteenth! We've been away from camp ten days!"

"That's impossible!" Clarisse said.

But they truly knew it wasn't. Time worked differently in monstrous places.

"Thalia's tree must be almost dead," Grover wailed.

Noelle said, "We have to get the Fleece back tonight."

Clarisse slumped down on the pavement. "How are we supposed to do that?" Her voice trembled. "We're hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride. This is just like the Oracle said. It's your fault, Jackson! If you hadn't interfered—"

"Percy's fault?!" Noelle exploded. "Clarisse, how can you say that? You are the biggest—"

"Stop it!" Percy said.

Clarisse put her head in her hands. Noelle crossed her arms aggressively.

They'd almost forgotten this quest was supposed to be Clarisse's. For a scary moment, Percy saw things from her point of view. How would he feel if a bunch of other heroes had butted in and made him look bad?

"Clarisse," Percy said, "what did the Oracle tell you exactly?"

The daughter of Ares looked up. They thought she was just going to tell Percy off, but instead she took a deep breath and recited her prophecy: