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i woke up when the hippocampus started acting funny.
one of them sneezed. they were swimming in circles, and whinnying. they were slowing down, and sniffing the water.
confused, i shook percy's shoulder. "perce, wake up."
he woke up, and looked towards the city skyline.
i pursed my lips and answered his unspoken question, "miami, i think. but the hippocampus are acting funny."
"this is as far as they'll take us," percy said, listening to the hippocampus. "too many humans. too much pollution. we'll have to swim to shore on our own."
none of us was very psyched about that, but we 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 good-bye.
once the hippocampi's white manes disappeared into the sea, we swam for shore. the waves pushed us forward (no doubt, courtesy of percy), and in no time we were back in the mortal world.
we 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 us —five kids dripping wet and looking like they'd just had a fight with a monster-they didn't let on.
now that we were back among mortals, tyson's single eye had blurred from the mist. grover had put on his cap and sneakers. even the fleece had transformed from a sheepskin to a red-and-gold high school letter jacket with a large glittery omega on the pocket.
annabeth ran to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the miami herald. she cursed.
"fuck! june eighteenth! we've been away from camp ten days!"
