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

| Chapter XXI || Long Live the Tree! |

*August 30 XXXX*

***

The trip back up to the deck of the ship was one of the easiest that Percy has accomplished. He, Grover, Tyson, and Annabeth crept up the stairs, and though they creaked a little, not much else happened. There were no monsters, probably because it was dinner time and they were all on deck eating.

Of course, Artemis had disappeared with he Fleece – no longer worn by Annabeth – and promised to be back for them later, once she delivered it to Chiron. It sure was a lucky break to have a goddess with them on their quest – especially since said goddess wasn't recognized by their enemy, which led them to an easy escape.

Percy almost laughed aloud as he imagined the look of shock, horror, and astonishment on Luke's face when he realized his mistake. It would be absolutely priceless. Unfortunately, after this, they would no longer have that advantage, and if they had any quests in the future – and ran into Luke and his monsters – they'd be completely and utterly helpless.

Luke would obviously have the security bumped up to the max and may even acquire Celestial Bronze chains to hold Artemis – Percy shuddered at the thought. He wished for Artemis to never be chained or held captive in any circumstance. If she was, he'd save her – but hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Percy almost walked into the hallway before Annabeth grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him back.

"What are you doing?" she hissed in his ear, holding him tightly.

"Sorry," he replied, slightly dazed. What had he just been doing?

"You almost went into the open, Percy!" Annabeth continued as if she could read his thoughts. "Wait for my signal, or you'll get caught!"

"Okay." Percy nodded, knowing that in a situation like this, it was best for him to just agree, agree, agree. That was the best course of action for his current health, at least.

"Now!" she urged, and the four of them scooted out of the stairwell and across the hall, not the room just beyond. They scurried around the corner and made their way to the front of the ship – obviously, Annabeth had memorized in on the way down. Truly a daughter of Athena, she was.

Just before reaching the door to the outside, voices sounded.

"So, what'cha havin'?"

It was a deep grunt, and the words were slightly slurred, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that the voice was getting louder, meaning someone was coming. The four heroes darted into a cabin to their left and slammed the door behind them. It was empty.

Annabeth waited by the door, her ear pressed against the wood, and when the voices disappeared again, she relaxed, clicking the lock.

"That was a close call," Grover said. His voice was slightly higher than usual; he was frightened.

"Agreed." Annabeth turned her eyes to Percy. "Which leads me to decide that we're going to stay here until your Artemis returns. She is coming back for us, isn't she?" The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Yes! Of course! I'll just have to let her know where we are!" Percy replied, slightly flustered when Annabeth had said your Artemis.

"Why are we even still here, though?" she asked. "Couldn't Artemis have teleported us all out?"

"Well..." Percy stuttered, "I was kind of thinking that we'd escape, get out there, and trick Luke into saying something to clear Chiron's name, but...it seems like he'll be more interested in finding out how we escaped and where Artemis went to do that." Percy's face went red from embarrassment.