Stark's Deadly Daughter (S.P.N.D. Book 4)

Chapter 15: We Meet C.C.

***

When Percy woke up, we were still sailing. Annabeth and I had managed to make a makeshift sail of gray uniform fabric. Percy tried to sit up, but immediately felt woozy.

"Rest," Annabeth told him. "You'll need it."

"Tyson...?"

I shook my head, still facing the water. I couldn't look at him. "Percy, I'm really sorry."

None of us said anything after that.

"He may have survived," Annabeth said halfheartedly. "I mean, fire can't kill him."

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Percy nod, but didn't reply.

Waves lapped at the boat. Annabeth showed him some things she'd salvaged from the wreckage- Hermes's thermos (now empty, sadly), a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia, a couple of sailors' shirts, and a bottle of Dr Pepper. She and I fished him out of the water and found the knapsack, bitten in half by Scylla's teeth. Most of his stuff had floated away, but thankfully he still had Hermes's bottle of multivitamins, and of course Riptide. The ballpoint pen always appeared back in his pocket no matter where he lost it.

We sailed for hours. Now that we were in the Sea of Monsters, the water glittered a more brilliant green, like Hydra acid. The wind smelled fresh and salty, but it carried a strange metallic scent, too- as if a thunderstorm were coming. Or something even more dangerous.

No matter which way we turned, the sun seemed to shine straight into my eyes. We took turns sipping from the Dr Pepper, shading ourselves with the sail as best we could. And we talked about Percy's latest dream of Grover.

By Annabeth's estimate, we had less than twenty-four hours to find Grover, assuming Percy's dream was accurate, and assuming the Cyclops Polyphemus didn't change his mind and try to marry Grover earlier.

"Yeah," Percy said bitterly. "You can never trust a Cyclops."

Annabeth stared across the water. "I'm sorry, Percy. I was wrong about Tyson, okay? I wish I could tell him that."

Percy changed the subject. "Annabeth, what's Chiron's prophecy?"

She pursed her lips. "Percy, I shouldn't-"

"I know Chiron promised the gods he wouldn't tell me. But you didn't promise, did you?"

"Knowledge isn't always good for you."

"Your mom is the wisdom goddess!"

"I know! But every time heroes learn the future, they try to change it, and it never works."

"The gods are worried about something I'll do when I get older," Percy guessed. "Something when I turn sixteen."

Annabeth twisted her Yankees cap in her hands. "Percy, I don't know the full prophecy, but it warns about a half-blood child of the Big Three- the next one who lives to the age of sixteen. That's the real reason Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swore a pact after World War II not to have any more kids. The next child of the Big Three who reaches sixteen will be a dangerous weapon."

"Why?"

"Because that hero will decide the fate of Olympus. He or she will make a decision that either saves the Age of the Gods, or destroys it."

Percy and I let that sink in. After a moment, my friend said, "That's why Kronos didn't kill me last summer."

She nodded. "You could be very useful to him. If he can get you on his side, the gods will be in serious trouble."

"But if it's me in the prophecy-"

"We'll only know that if you survive three more years. That can be a long time for a halfblood. When Chiron first learned about Thalia, he assumed she was the one in the prophecy. That's why he was so desperate to get her safely to camp. Then she went down fighting and got turned into a pine tree and none of us knew what to think. Until you came along."