Annabeth Chase and the Sea of Monsters

Chapter 20 - I refind an old hideout

When we Iris-messaged Chiron, he was having a party. The Flask kicked up spray perfectly for a connection, but it was impossible to hear him over the sound of rock music blaring. Also, we could barely see his dear bearded face over the strobe lights and an occasional centaur dancing in front of him.

Despite that, we told him all about the state of camp, how we snuck away, Luke, the Princess Andromeda and the golden sarcophagus. I wasn't sure how much he heard, but his face looked grave.

"Percy!" he yelled, "you have to watch out for -"

Loud whoops drowned him out, and in the background I could see some centaurs attempting to limbo a stick. I don't know how they managed to do it with their horse bodies, but they were surprisingly flexible.

"What?" Percy yelled.

"Curse my relatives!" Chiron yelled, ducking as a plate soared past his head like a frisbee. "Annabeth, you shouldn't have let Percy leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece -"

"Yeah, baby!" a centaur yelled. "Woo-hoooooo!"

The music was cranked up so loud that the Iris-message screen was actually wobbling.

"- Miami," Chiron was trying to make himself heard over the music. "I'll try to keep watch -"

Chiron disappeared as a bottle smashed into the screen, leaving us staring into empty space.

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It was over an hour of dull traveling before we spotted land. High-rise hotels stood over beaches and more boats crowded the waves. A coastguard cruiser passed us, the men on board following us with their heads as we sped past using our magical propeller-Flask.

As we got closer to the shoreline, I began to recognize the land features. "That's Virginia Beach!" I exclaimed, shocked. "Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That's like -"

"Five hundred and thirty nautical miles," Percy answered immediately.

I stared at him. What the Hades? "How did you know that?"

He shrugged, looking as puzzled as I felt. "I - I'm not sure."

I studied him. Usually when someone had some ability they could do that I couldn't, I could usually attribute it to their godly parent. And seeing as Percy's was Poseidon, maybe . . .

"Percy, what's our position?"

"Thirty-six degrees, forty-four minutes north, seventy-six degrees, two minutes west," he answered without seeming to even think about it. Then he looked shocked. "Whoa. How did I know that?"

"Because of your dad," I said. "When you're at sea, you have perfect bearings. That is so cool." Before we'd become friends, I would never have dared admit that, but now it was alright to. Our parents might still be at each other's throats, but that didn't mean we had to. Besides, Poseidon's powers were pretty awesome.

Not that I would ever tell Athena that.

"Other boat coming," Tyson suddenly announced.

I looked back to see the coastguard cruiser was headed in our direction, picking up speed as its lights started to flash. This was going to be awkward.

"We can't let them catch us," Percy said, rather obviously. "They'll ask too many questions."

An idea popped in my head suddenly. This wasn't the first time I'd been to Virginia Beach, so hopefully I'd be able to use my experience to our advantage.