Daughter of the Sea || HoO

CHAPTER FORTY

Tori had a new entry in her top-ten list of Times Tori Felt Useless. Dropping Tidal while fighting Shrimpzilla, not so effective. Then the monster had sunk into the deep and disappeared along with three of her friends. She was the daughter of Poseidon and yet she'd felt so powerless to help them.

Tori and Percy, despite both of them being exhausted, searched the ocean for their missing friends. Jason, also exhausted, flew around the rigging like a blond Peter Pan, putting out fires from the second green explosion that had lit up the sky just above the mainmast. Annabeth, Coach Hedge, and Buford the table rushed around repairing things so that the ship wouldn't sink.

By the time the sun rose, none of them had slept. The two Poseidon siblings had scoured the seafloor and found nothing. The Argo II was no longer in danger of sinking, though without Leo, they couldn't do full repairs. The ship was capable of sailing, but no one suggested leaving the area—not without their missing friends.

Tori, Piper, and Annabeth sent a dream vision to Camp Half-Blood, warning Chiron of what had happened with the Romans at Fort Sumter. Tori told him about the strength of the Roman army, followed by Annabeth explaining her exchange of words with Reyna. Piper relayed the vision from her knife about the SUVs racing north. The kindly centaur's face seemed to age thirty years during the course of their conversation, but he assured them he would see to the defenses of the camp. Tyson, Mrs.O'Leary, and Ella had arrived safely. If necessary, Tyson could summon an army of Cyclopes to the camp's defense, and Ella and Rachel Dare were already comparing prophecies, trying to learn more about what the future held. The job of the seven demigods aboard the Argo II, Chiron reminded them, was to finish the quest and come back safely. 

After the Iris-message, the demigods paced the deck insilence, staring at the water and hoping for a miracle. 

When it finally came—three giant pink bubbles bursting at the surface off the starboard bow and ejecting Frank, Hazel, and Leo—Piper went a little crazy. She cried out with relief and dove straight into the water.

"Safe to say she's happy," Tori said to Jason, who was standing right next to her.

They both laughed as Piper frantically paddled over to Leo and kissed him on the cheek. 

"Miss me?" Tori heard Leo laugh.

Piper was suddenly furious. "Where were you? How are you guys alive?"

"Long story," Leo said. Tori watched as a picnic basket bobbed to the surface next to him. "Want a brownie?"

"Where did you get brownies fire fingers?" Tori asked from her spot on the ship.

"If you let us up, I'll tell you everything."

Once they got on board and changed into dry clothes (poor Frank had to borrow a pair of too-small pants from Jason) the crew all gathered on the quarterdeck for a celebratory breakfast—except for Coach Hedge, who grumbled that the atmosphere was getting too cuddly for his tastes and went below to hammer out some dents in the hull. While Leo fussed over his helm controls, Hazel and Frank related the story of the fish-centaurs and their training camp.

"Incredible," Jason said. "These are really good brownies."

 "That's your only comment?" Piper demanded.

"No, I agree with Gracie," Tori said, "these brownies are amazing." 

Jason nodded. "I heard the story. Fish centaurs. Merpeople. Letter of intro to the Tiber River god. Got it. But these brownies—"

"I know," Frank said, his mouth full. "Try them with Esther's peach preserves."

"Zhang," Tori cringed, "please tell me you did not."