~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Sailing Through The Atlantic

{Leo}

After raiding a museum full of Confederate ghosts, Leo didn't think his day could get any worse. He was wrong.

   They hadn't found anything in the Civil War sub or elsewhere in the museum; just a few elderly tourists, a dozing security guard, and—when they tried to inspect the artifacts—a whole battalion of glowing zombie dudes in gray uniforms.

   The idea that Frank should be able to control the spirits? Yeah... that pretty much failed. By the time Piper sent her Iris-message warning them about the Roman attack, they were already halfway back to the ship, having been chased through downtown Charleston by a pack of angry dead Confederates.

   Then—oh, boy!—Leo got to hitch a ride with Frank the Friendly Eagle so they could fight a bunch of Romans. Rumor must've gotten around that Leo was the one who had fired on their little city, because those Romans seemed especially anxious to kill him.

   But wait! There was more! Coach Hedge shot them out of the sky; Frank dropped him (that was no accident); and they crash-landed in Fort Sumter.

   Now, as the Argo II raced across the waves, Leo had to use all his skill just to keep the ship in one piece. Percy and Jason were a little too good at cooking up massive storms, and Kiara's skeletons had tired her so much that she had had trouble controlling them at the end and they had done little damage to the ship. Leo hoped the storm wouldn't damage his beautiful ship any more than it had already been.

   At one point, Annabeth stood next to him, yelling against the roar of the wind: "Percy says he talked to a Nereid in Charleston Harbor!"

   "Good for him!" Leo yelled back.

   "The Nereid said we should seek help from Chiron's brothers."

   "What does that mean? The Party Ponies?" Leo had never met Chiron's crazy centaur relatives, but he'd heard rumors of Nerf sword-fights, root beer–chugging contests, and Super Soakers filled with pressurized whipped cream.

   "Not sure," Annabeth said. "But I've got coordinates. Can you input latitude and longitude in this thing?"

   "I can input star charts and order you a smoothie, if you want. Of course I can do latitude and longitude!"

   Annabeth rattled off the numbers. Leo somehow managed to punch them in while holding the wheel with one hand. A red dot popped up on the bronze display screen.

   "That location is in the middle of the Atlantic," he said. "Do the Party Ponies have a yacht?"

   Annabeth shrugged helplessly. "Just hold the ship together until we get farther from Charleston. Jason and Percy will keep up the winds!"

   "Happy fun time!"

It seemed like forever, but finally the sea calmed and the winds died.

   "Valdez," said Coach Hedge, with surprising gentleness. "Let me take the wheel. You've been steering for two hours."

   "Two hours?"

   "Yeah. Give me the wheel."

   "Coach?"

   "Yeah, kid?"

   "I can't unclench my hands."

   It was true. Leo's fingers felt like they had turned to stone. His eyes burned from staring at the horizon. His knees were marshmallows. Coach Hedge managed to pry him from the wheel.

   Leo took one last look at the console, listening to Festus chatter and whir a status report. Leo felt like he was forgetting something. He stared at the controls, trying to think, but it was no good. His eyes could hardly focus. "Just watch for monsters," he told the coach. "And be careful with the damaged stabilizer. And—"