𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 8

Eight
𖧷

We Sail On A Cruise

  I was watching the sky when Annabeth crashed onto my back and almost instantly relaxed her whole body when she saw me.

  "Oh, gods it's just you," she sighed.

  "What's up?" Percy asked as he ran in. "I heard you screaming!"

  "Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, “Bad things are attacking!”"

  "I didn't call you," I shrugged. "I'm okay."

  "But then who ..." Annabeth noticed the four yellow duffel bags, then the thermos and the bottle of vitamins I was holding. "What–"

  "Just listen," I said. "We don’t have much time."

  I told them about my conversation with Hermes. By the time I was finished, I could hear screeching in the distance—patrol harpies picking up our scent.

  "(y/n)," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."

  "We’ll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I’m a master at getting expelled."

  "So? If we fail, there won’t be any camp to come back to."

  "Yeah, but you promised Chiron–"

  "I promised I’d keep you from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them–"

  "I want to go," Tyson said.

  "No!" Annabeth’s voice sounded close to panic. "I mean ... (y/n), come on. You know that’s impossible."

  I wondered again why she had such a grudge against Cyclopes. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

  She, Percy and Tyson all looked at me, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away.

  I grunted and shook my head. "We don't have time for this!"

  "(y/n)," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we’re going to Polyphemus’s island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k ... a C-y-k ..." She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was
dyslexic, too. We could’ve been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. "You know what I mean!"

  "Alright, dammit! The Cyclops comes, and that's final!" I said.

  Annabeth gave me the evil eye, but I guess she could tell I wasn’t going to change my mind. Or maybe she just knew we didn’t have time to argue.

  "All right," she said. "How do we get to that ship?"

  "Hermes said my mother would help."

  "Well then, Pet? What are you waiting for?"

  I sighed through my nose and looked up at the moon. I had always been bad with talking to my mother when I wasn't face-to-face with her, or praying, to be more precise. I was never one to believe in gods before Camp Half-Blood and ever since I haven't gotten used to praying yet.

  I stepped out from the shadows and let the moon light hit my body. I felt like I was glowing. "Umm, mom? Hey. How's everything?"

  "Not the time!" Annabeth whispered.

  I gulped down. "We need help!" I called, louder this time. "We're about to get eaten if we don't get to that ship! ... Please."

  I didn't see anything or feel anything different for a moment, just the clouds moving normally with the wind. The harpies sounded like they were inside of my ear at this point with how loud and close they were. Until from the sky, a jet of air blew, pushing every cloud near the moon away and forming a circle of clouds on the air.