Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 78

Percy had been talking with Nico who was trying ropes onto the Athena Parthenos when Cressida joined them, walking right up to the younger boy and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you," she said genuinely. "Truly, Nico, thank you. You saved our lives more than once down there."

"Well," he said smally, his face extremely red. "I guess we're even now."

"No," she said. "There's no score with you and me. You didn't owe me anything. Just, accept my thanks."

His face was tight. "You're welcome."

"Good luck," she said, and he nodded but he didn't meet her eyes.

"You too."

A minute later, Reyna and Coach Hedge arrived in full armour with packs over their shoulders. Reyna looked grim and ready for combat. Coach Hedge grinned like he was expecting a surprise party. Reyna gave Annabeth a hug and the two girls had a brief conversation as Cressida threw her arms around Gleeson.

"You keep your switchblade close, Ressa, you hear? You stay alive."

She nodded. "Promise," she said. "And I can't wait to meet your baby when I meet you back at camp."

She kissed his cheek before pulling away and Coach Hedge shouldered his baseball bat. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm going to get to camp and see my baby! Uh, I mean I'm going to get this baby to camp!" He patted the leg of the Athena Parthenos.

"All right," said Nico. "Grab the ropes, please. Here we go."

Reyna and Hedge took hold and Cressida stepped in front of Nico as she took a deep breath.

"I'm going to give you everything I've got right now. Ration it properly and it should be able to last you several jumps," she explained, and he nodded before she offered him her hands.

Nico hesitated for a second before he took them, her hands warm in his before they glowed purple, and her eyes flamed.

"Strength."

And Nico knew that the power she gave him would last a lot longer than several jumps as his body surged with a ridiculous amount of strength before Cressida promptly collapsed into Percy's arms as he was waiting to catch her.

She really had given him all the strength she had as Annabeth was armed with a vial of Solace Solution and tipped it into Cressida's mouth.

The air darkened. The Athena Parthenos collapsed into its own shadow and disappeared, along with its three escorts.

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Though the Solace Solution helped, Cressida was still unconscious for a couple of hours as the Argo II sailed after nightfall.

They veered southwest until they reached the coast, then splashed down in the Ionian Sea. Percy was relieved to feel the waves beneath him again. It would have been a shorter trip to Athens over land, but after the crew's experience with mountain spirits in Italy, they'd decided not to fly over Gaia's territory any more than they had to. They would sail around the Greek mainland, following the routes that Greek heroes had taken in the ancient times. That was fine with Percy. He loved being back in his father's element— with the fresh sea air in his lungs and the salty spray on his arms. He stood at the starboard rail and closed his eyes, sensing the currents beneath them. But images of Tartarus kept burning in his mind—the River Phlegethon, the blistered ground where monsters regenerated, the dark forest where arai circled overhead in the blood-mist clouds. Most of all, he thought about a hut in the swamp with a warm fire and racks of drying herbs and drakon jerky. He wondered if that hut was empty now.

"Ok," came a sleepy voice as Cressida appeared on the deck, dressed in one of his hoodies and sweat shorts. "I can feel what you're thinking from my cabin mainly because I can't stop thinking about it either."

Percy pulled her into his arms, her warmth reassuring as was the smell of her hair as it smelled like freshly ripe grapes.

"Damasen," Percy said. "And Bob..."

"I know." Her voice was fragile. "We have to make their sacrifice worth it. We have to beat Gaia. That's what you told me and those are the words we both should live by."

Percy tipped his head back as he looked up at the night sky and he desperately wished they were back home, sitting on the beach in Long Island or on the top of his apartment building, even on the fire escape. Instead, they were halfway around the world sailing toward almost certain death.

Over in the bow, Leo whistled happily as he tinkered with Festus's mechanical brain, muttering something about a crystal and an astrolabe. Amidships, Piper, Hazel and Annabeth practised their swordplay, gold and bronze blades ringing in the night.

Cressida had stared at the bronze blade her best friend trained with in addition to her dagger. She had considered giving Annabeth the drakon-bone blade Damasen had given her since she had her spear, but she found that she couldn't part with the weapon. She felt as if it would be like abandoning him twice and she barely survived the first time.

Jason and Frank stood at the helm, talking in low tones—maybe telling stories of the legion, or sharing thoughts on being praetor.

"We've got a good crew," Percy said. "If I have to sail to my death—"

She shoved his chest as she pushed him away from her. "So help you Fish Face, you're not dying on me! And don't think that I don't know you were lying to me after you swore to my brother on the Styx," she said, her chest rising and falling heavily as tears threatened to line her eyes. "You're not dying on me and you're not leaving me," she continued as her voice broke. "You promised."

She resisted a little a first before Percy was able to coax her into another hug as he kissed her temple.

"I did. And so did you. That promise works both ways. Never separated again," he whispered into her ear, and she shuddered.

"When we get home..."

"What?" he asked.

She took a deep breath as she held him tighter. "Ask me again, once we defeat Gaia."

He smiled, happy to have something to look forward to. "Whatever you say. You know you're the boss, baby."

Her laugh was broken at his attempt to cheer her up.

"I love you, honey."

"I love you too, but I really hate those names."

She laughed again as she adjusted herself in his arms. "Me too. I'd much rather you be my Fish Face."

"Me too. I'd much rather have my Grape Girl."

As they sailed farther from the coast, the sky darkened, and more stars came out.

Percy studied the constellations—the ones Cressida and the Astronomy class he took had taught him so many years ago. Zoë was watching over them as he spotted her.

"Bob says hello," he told the stars, Cressida also with her head tilted up.

"Damasen says hello," she said.

And the Argo II sailed into the night.