Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Sea of Monsters

| CHAPTER IV || R & R on a Monster Cruise Ship? |

*August 23 XXXX*

*Percy's Point of View*

In hindsight, we should've planned ahead. I know, I know, planning ahead is the most obvious thing to do, but I'm not good at thinking about consequences. I mean, I was raised on Olympus for the sole reason that I'd not grow up to be evil, so I was rarely punished. I was like a prince, and it was illegal to strike a prince. Well... technically I am a prince... of the sea.

I shook my head. What was I talking about again? I groaned. My ADHD was acting up again.

"You okay, brother?" Tyson's kind voice cut through the vast darkness of my mind.

I looked up to see that he was giving me a look of concern, his big brown eye wide with thoughtfulness. His head was tilted slightly to the left, causing his short brown hair to lean that way a little as well. My eyes wandered to his hands, which were folded together at his waist, like two garbage can lids that had been bent into the rugged shape of human flesh.

"Yeah..." I said, "Yeah, buddy. I'm fine. Thanks, though."

His mouth twisted into such a jovial smile that for a moment I couldn't imagine that it had ever been any different.

"Alright, now let's get on that boat." Annabeth's voice carried over and distracted me before my thoughts claimed me once more.

My head shot up, instantly remembering what we were waiting for. As a tip from Hermes - the god visited Annabeth in a dream - we were about to board a boat called The Princess Andromeda.

It sounded like the best thing ever, right? Wrong! The usually beautiful girl on the front was carved with a horrendous silent scream ripping from her mouth. Her face showed pure terror as if she was a live girl tied to the front of the boat and we were sailing through shark-infested waters.

I'd made it of the utmost importance to share my views of this matter with my friends, but Annabeth had just slapped me and forced my head down behind a stack of barnacle-grown buckets.

I'd just gotten distracted again as we waited for boarding to start so that we could sneak on with the rest of the passengers. I'd been distracted, that is until Annabeth had called out our chance.

Sneaking on board wasn't the hardest thing to do. It was sneaking past all of the monsters that was the trickiest part. They were everywhere! And I mean everywhere! At the buffet table, in the pool, betting at the poker tables, the list goes on and on.

I could've sworn that I saw a hellhound digging his face through the scrambled eggs while an elderly couple stood behind him, patiently awaiting their turn.

I didn't get much of a look around before Annabeth grabbed me by the ear and tugged me into an empty cabin room. Our other two companions were already in there, shaking their heads at me.

I rubbed my ear, backing away from her as soon as she let go. "You know," I said," You really need to stop doing that!"

Annabeth glared. "And you really need to follow instructions! We said we'd get on and go directly to the nearest cabin to hide! Or did you forget?"

I turned pink.

Annabeth slapped a palm to her forehead. "Of course you did." Her voice was low and so disappointed that I almost let out a whimper of protest.

"It's not my fault that I get distracted! I have really bad ADHD! Blame my mental illness!"

Annabeth looked up at me. Her grey eyes bore into mine, and I felt as if I could see her brain trying to work out how she was going to deal with me. Finally, she said, "I have ADHD too, you know! And you don't see me wandering around a ship full of creatures that want to kill me, do you?"