DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- nine

THE SHIP WAS FALLING APART.

not long after piper and rose got back, they'd had an encounter with one of percy's favorite siblings— kymopolea, a sea monster.

the argo ii limped through the aegean, too damaged to fly, too slow to outrun monsters. they fought hungry sea serpents about every hour. they attracted schools of curious fish. at one point they got stuck on a rock, and percy and jason had to get out and push.

the wheezing sound of the engine made Leo want to cry. over the course of three long days, he finally got the ship more or less back to working order just as they made port at the island of mykonos, which probably meant it was time for them to get bashed to pieces again.

percy and annabeth went ashore to scout while leo stayed on the quarterdeck, fine-tuning the control console, while rose read a book annabeth had given her. she was so into it that she didn't notice the landing party was back until percy said, "hey, guys. gelato."

instantly, rose's day got better. the whole crew sat on deck, without a storm or a monster attack to worry about for the first time in days, and ate ice cream. well, except for frank, who was lactose intolerant. he got an apple.

the day was hot and windy. the sea glittered with chop, but leo had fixed the stabilizers well enough that hazel didn't look too seasick. rose sat next to percy, with her head leaned against his arm.

curving off to their starboard side was the town of mykonos– a collection of white stucco buildings with blue roofs, blue windows and blue doors.

"we saw these pelicans walking around town," percy reported. "like, just going through the shops, stopping at the bars."

hazel frowned. "monsters in disguise?"

"no," annabeth said, laughing, "just regular old pelicans. they're the town mascots or something. and there's a "little italy" section of town. that's why the gelato is so good."

"europe is so weird." leo shook his head. "first we go to rome for spanish steps. then we go to greece for italian ice cream."

piper set down her ice cream cup. "so, the island of delos is right across the harbor. artemis and apollo's home turf. who's going?"

"me," leo said immediately.

everybody stared at him.

"what?" leo demanded. "i'm diplomatic and stuff. frank and hazel volunteered to back me up."

rose raised an eyebrow. "diplomatic and stuff?"

"we did?" frank lowered his half-eaten apple. "i mean... sure we did."

hazel's gold eyes flashed in the sunlight. "leo, did you have a dream about this or something?"

"yes," leo blurted. "well... no. not exactly. but... you got to trust me on this, guys. i need to talk to apollo and artemis. i've got an idea i need to bounce off them."

annabeth frowned. she looked like she might object, but jason spoke up.

"if leo has an idea," he said, "we need to trust him."

rose couldn't read leo's eyes. "thanks, man."

percy shrugged. "okay. but a word of advice: when you see apollo, don't mention haiku."

hazel knitted her eyebrows. "why not? isn't he the god of poetry?"

"just trust me."

"got it." leo rose to his feet. "and, guys, if they have a souvenir shop on delos, i'm totally bringing you back some apollo and artemis bobbleheads!"