chapter VIII

🌷  As soon as Daphne reached her cabin, she started packing her backpack with all of her belongings. Which really didn't take a lot of time, because she only really owned like, three things.

She chewed on her bottom lip as she stared at her yellow rubber ducky from the Waterland theme park. After a couple of seconds of debate, she picked it up and made her way towards the Big House. Daphne crept out of the cabin stealthily, but it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway because her cabin mates were snoring enough to shake the shack.

Daphne was never light-footed either. She seemed to have lost her ability to sneak around since finding comfort in camp. On the streets, she could dance between fast cars and yellow taxis, dodging as they came straight for her. But now she could hardly walk a few paces without stumbling over her own feet.

Basically, she let her guard down and became a total clutz. Maybe a quest would do good for her, bringing back that sneaky spark?

Bang. Daphne bumped into the door as it hit her back. She winced and scurried away.

She reached the Big House and inched up the creaky steps quietly. Daphne climbed and climbed until she made it to the ladder which lead to the attic.

She'd only been up there twice before. Once, because Chiron sent her up there to survey the Ancient Greek relics of their ancestors and the quest spoils. When she came down he looked almost disappointed, like he expected the horrifying mummy they kept up there to give Daphne her own prophecy.

(The mummy was pretty hard to explain. It was an oracle, actually, and you should never leave for a quest without seeking Her out. She - or It, more like - only awoke when She/It decided to. Daphne had never seen it happen, and to be honest, she didn't really want to.)

The second time was because Lee was teaching her how to use their new basketball launcher, courtesy of the Hephaestus cabin. Long story short, she overshot and it broke the top window of the Big House and because it was pretty much only her fault, she was nominated to retrieve it.

The place still gave her the shivers, but she pushed through old cobwebs and set her yellow duck on one of the musty old tables. She was sure it would've been safer up here, anyway. If she returned from her quest, knowing the Hermes cabin, it would've been stolen or sold.

(This definitely wasn't a donation. Just... a place for safe keeping.)

Daphne glanced around the dark, dusty attic and found the oracle lying there, untouched.

She squinted over at its form. "You got any predictions for me?"

It sat unmoving. Unspeaking.

"Probably for the best," Daphne muttered, swiping a few supplies she'd stocked behind a massive statue of a chimera head and climbing down the ladder, ultimately creeped out.

Now here's the thing: Daphne loved camp. She never wanted to leave! There was nothing which compelled her to feel unsafe or on edge. It was her home.

But her mind wouldn't let go to the past. She'd kept a duffel bag up in the one place nobody would go to look, with a few pairs of socks and cans of ambrosia. She kept a spare cardigan and a pouch of money, both Greek and mortal. Just in case.

She told herself she never needed to use it, which made her feel a lot less guilty about stuffing it up there. But Daphne always needed the confirmation of an escape plan. The affirmation of safety, no matter what.

She made it away, relatively unscathed ignoring the shiver down her spine. Daphne was sure that the ducky she'd become rather fond of would be safe up there.

Before her feet could stop her, she went over to Cabin 6. It was tall and regal, the architecture breathtaking. Greek columns depicting all sorts of animals - mainly owls - held the support of a grey stone roof, somehow beautiful still in the dark.

Instead of knocking, Daphne peeked her head over the windowsill. The cabin was a lot bigger than cabin 11, and filled out the space with all sorts of different furniture which weren't just bunks. There was a large mahogany table in the middle, with a map sprawled on it which depicted the Camp. There were tiny figurines of Greek warriors and monsters which stood in all sorts of formations.

Goddess of battle strategy, Daphne reminded herself. And gods, her kids took after her. There was a smart board where the Athena campers would usually be clambering around, various coloured markers which indicated a different thing sharp at use. There were maps scaling the walls, and the cabin was relatively messy for the Athena kids who usually had OCD as one of their Godly traits.

Every camper was fast asleep - all except one, of course. Annabeth stood over the table, a backpack thrown over her shoulder, looking deep in thought.

She looked so incredibly stressed. She was hunched in a way Annabeth never really was. Her grey eyes looked stormy as though she'd been crying, and her hands were clenched over one of the chairs.

Guilt washed through Daphne in an instant. She knew instantly that this was wrong. That them not speaking was just... incomprehensible. Especially at this time, they needed each other, and Daphne needed to look past her anger. She knew she was taking it out on her friend, and it wasn't fair.

She tapped on the glass. Annabeths head snapped toward hers as though she was on edge, but calmed down when she saw Daphne managing a smile. She held up the duffel bag and Annabeth got it. She crept out of her cabin with admirable stealth, switching off the light she'd been using behind her.

"Are we- oh!" Annabeth was interrupted when Daphne broke her speech with a strong hug. Caught off guard, it took her a few seconds to reciprocate - but when she did, she buried her head in Daphnes shoulder and scrunched up her eyes as though relishing she was still there.

"I'm sorry," Daphne murmured, not breaking away from her. "I've been a horrible friend-"

"What!" Annabeth spluttered. "No! You shouldn't - I'm the one who should be sorry. My judgement was so clouded, and..."

They clung to each other like a lifeline. Finally, Annabeth pulled away, wiping her wet cheeks. "I'm an idiot."

"We're both idiots," Daphne corrected her, laughing wetly. "No more arguing now, okay?"

Annabeth nodded determinedly, wiping away any last remnants of her sadness. The stressed girl was replaced with a confident and level-headed attitude in seconds.  "We have to get Percy." she said.

And just like that, they slipped back into their rightful places: beside each other. It was where they belonged.

Daphne nodded at her and followed in her determined footsteps over to Cabin 3.

Annabeth rapped on the door loudly and importantly. Quickly, it swung open, almost being ripped from the hinges. Tyson frowned he saw them. "You're not Percy."

Daphne's eyebrows furrowed as she craned her head to look inside the messy cabin. "He's not with you?"

Tyson looked like he was going to cry. "No. Hates me. Ashamed to be my brother."

Daphne and Annabeth exchanged a look. "Uuhh..."

She really didn't know what to say - Daphne was a terrible liar, and though Tyson seemed quite slow, she was completely sure he wouldve been able to tell.

"Do you know where he is?" Annabeth said instead, trying to clear out their awkward air.

Tyson shook his head no.

"Well, I'm sure we all know where to look first, right?" Daphne murmured. But to her surprise, both Annabeth and Tyson turned to her quizically.

"Where?" Annabeth asked.

"What? You haven't got it yet?"

Annabeth groaned."I'm tired, okay? Now where are we going?"

Daphne grinned."I'm smarter than you."

"Daphne!"

"Fine. Obviously it's the beach. He likes to hear his father," Daphne told them, feeling so proud of herself that she knew something valuable to the team. "Thanks, Tyson. We're going now-"

"Wait." Tyson frowned. "Where are you going?"

Annabeth paused. "Just to get Percy. Don't worry about it, you'll see him-"

"Can I come?"

"No!" Annabeth interrupted hurriedly.

Daphne gave her a second glance. "Annabeth, maybe it'll be best if we did..."

"Only three can take on a quest, Daphne!" Annabeth insisted. "It's a rule of threes in Greek mythology. Three furies, three main gods. It was different last year because we found you when you were there. But to intentionally start one with four-"

"Maybe it won't count," she reasoned. "Tyson isn't exactly a demigod. And maybe this doesn't even count as a quest, because the oracle didn't visit any of us!"

Annabeth was chewing on her lip. "It's risky, Daphne. Very risky."

"We're loosing time. We'll take him with us to find Percy and ask him. If he says no, well-" she glanced at Tyson. "He has the deciding vote. I mean, it is his brother after all."

Annabeth didn't look happy about it, but knew better than to argue when they were loosing time like an hourglass lost it's sand. They walked in awkward silence aside from Tysons lumbering footsteps to the beach, pausing when they heard a voice calling out.

"Is that Percy?" Annabeth tried to look through the darkness.

His voice got louder, and they all broke out into a run, following his shouts, hardly being able to make out what he was saying.

Percy was staring at the waves when they found him. Relatively untouched and unharmed, just looking pretty deep in his own thoughts.

His head snapped towards the sound of them barreling down the beach to meet him, frowning in confusion at their hurry.

"What's going on?" Daphne panted worriedly as they reached him, scanning his body for any cuts or wounds. "We heard you calling for help!"

"Me, too!" Tyson cried. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"

"I didn't call you guys," Percy frowned. "I'm fine."

"But then who..." Daphne trailed off as she noticed what was in Percy's arms. There were three yellow duffel bags, a strange looking thermos and a bottle of vitamins. Not the usual items somebody would be carrying around on a late night stroll. "What-"

"Just listen," he interrupted. "We don't have much time. I was visited by Hermes, and he basically gave-"

"Hermes?" Annabeth gaped. "Here?"

Daphne could hear screeching in the distance - patrol harpies were picking up on their scent.

"Percy," Daphne turned to him urgently, "remember what I told you last summer, before you left to go home?"

He did. "I won't go looking for trouble. I usually don't have to."

"When you get back next summer, we'll ask for a quest. We get approval and find Luke and his plans with Kronos. But if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Sound like a deal?"

"We'll get expelled, you know." he warned her."Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."

"So? If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to." Annabeth cut in.

"Yeah, but you promised Chiron-"

"I promised I'd keep you and Daphne from danger! I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them-"

"I want to go," Tyson butted in.

"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded close to panic. "I mean... Percy, come on. You know that's impossible."

Percy wondered again why she had such a grudge against Cyclopes. There was something she wasn't
telling him. She and Tyson both looked at Percy, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away. Percy couldn't choose. He turned to Daphne.

She knew that Annabeth had a lot of contempt for cyclopses after being forced to fight a fully grown one when she was only 7, but she didn't go into detail when she was telling her about it. Daphne could only guess it must've been horrifying to scar her. Just like how Daphne froze when she saw dogs on the street or heard a bark - it took her back to the Hellhounds.

When her eyes locked onto his, he saw guilt and sympathy. But she shrugged - your call.

"We can't leave him," Percy finally decided. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."

"Percy," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus's island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k ... a C-y-k . .." She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. They could've been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. "You know what I mean!"

"Tyson can go," he insisted, "if he wants to."

Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!"

Annabeth gave him the evil eye, but Daphne guessed she could tell he wasn't going to change his mind. Or maybe she just knew they didn't have time to argue.

"All right," she snapped. "Fine. How do we get to that ship?"

"Hermes said my father would help."

"Well then, Bubble Brain?" Daphne muttered. "What're you waiting for?"

Daphne knew he'd always had a hard time calling on his father, or praying, just like many of the other half bloods and their respective parents. But he still stepped into the waves.

"Erm, Dad?" He called. "How's it going?"

"Percy!" Annabeth hissed. "We're in a hurry!"

"We need your help," he called a little louder. "We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so ..."

At first, nothing happened. Waves crashed against the shore like normal. The harpies sounded like they were right behind the sand dunes. Then, about a hundred yards out to sea, four white lines appeared on the surface. They moved fast toward the shore, like claws ripping through the ocean.

As they neared the beach, the surf burst apart and the heads of three white stallions reared out of the waves.

Tyson caught his breath. "Fish ponies!"

He was right. As the creatures pulled themselves onto the sand, Daphne saw that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail fins.

"Hippocampi!" Annabeth said in awe, taken aback by the prettiness of their scales.

"They're beautiful," Daphne gasped in appreciation of their beautiful colours.

The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled her.

"We'll admire them later," Percy promised. "Come on!"

"There!" a voice screeched behind them. "Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!"

Five of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes-plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies. They reminded Daphne of miniature cafeteria ladies who'd been crossbred with dodo birds. They weren't very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious if they caught you.

"Tyson!" Percy commanded. "Grab a duffel bag!"

He was still staring at the hippocampi with his mouth hanging open, "Tyson!"

"Uh?"

"Come on!"

With Daphne's help, they got him moving. They gathered the bags and mounted their steeds. Poseidon
must've known Tyson was one of the passengers, because one hippocampus was much larger than the other three - just right for carrying a Cyclops.

"Giddyup!" Percy commanded. His hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves, paving the way for Daphne's, Annabeth's and Tyson's to follow right behind.

The harpies cursed at them, wailing for their snacks to come back, but the hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Jet Skis. The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge. Daphne tried not to let her mind linger on the thought that she might never see it again, deciding that right then she had other problems.

Such as staying on the hippocampus.

Daphne had a secret about the sea. She didn't want to tell anyone - it was too embarrassing! But... she couldn't swim. And if anything, the vast ocean terrified her. A lot. She clung to her hippocampus terrified, hoping that nobody would notice her anxiety spiking as they rocked with the waves.

Last year they were dropped into the middle of Santa Monica pier, which would've frightened her into a panic attack had she not been dazed from escaping death and the pain in her broken wrist.

As they got closer to the cruise ship, Daphne realized just how huge it was. She felt as though she were looking up at a building in Manhattan, a tiny kid wandering the streets. The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship's name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight. It took her a few seconds to decipher it: PRINCESS ANDROMEDA.

Attached to the bow was a huge masthead - a three story tall woman wearing a white Greek chiton, sculpted to look as if she were chained to the front of the ship. She was young and beautiful with flowing black hair, but her expression was one of absolute terror. Why anybody would want a screaming princess on the front of their vacation ship, Daphne had no idea, and it made her shiver.

Daphne had been doing a lot of reading the past year in camp, and remembered coming across the myth about Andromeda. She was a fair princess who it was prophecised that her parents kingdom would finally be free from the sea monster if they were to feed Andromeda to it. Her parents tried to argue, but the whims of the people in the kingdom were too strong, and soon she was tied to the rock, awaiting to be devoured.

But the Greek hero Perseus had saved her just in time and turned the sea monster to stone using the head of Medusa who he had previously slain.

Perseus always won. Daphne guessed that was why Percys mom had named him after the guy, even though he was a son of Zeus and Percy the son of Poseidon. The original Perseus was one of the only heroes in the Greek myths who got a happy ending and maintained his true loyalty and respect for his life. Honestly, he was about her favourite one she'd learned about so far.

"How do we get aboard?" Annabeth shouted over the noise of the waves, but the hippocampi seemed to know what they needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, riding easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.

"You first," Percy shouted to Daphne.

She was shaking pretty hard and wondered if he'd noticed. She took a terrified glance back at the ocean before she slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once she'd hoisted herself onto the ladder, her hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove underwater. Daphne began to climb as the others let her get a few rungs up, then followed her.

Finally it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to 360° aerials and backward ollies, and Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.

"Tyson, shhh!" Percy hissed. "Come on, big guy!"

"Can't we take Rainbow?" he asked, his smile fading.

Daphne looked at him in barely concealed disbelief. Was he serious? Take the sea creature onto a boat?

Percy stared at him. "Rainbow?"

The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name. Daphne decided to call hers Glitter.

"Um, we have to go, Tyson," Daphne started nervously. "Rainbow... well, he can't climb ladders."

Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus's mane. "I will miss you, Rainbow!"

The hippocampus made a neighing sound she could've sworn was crying.

"Maybe we'll see him again sometime," Percy suggested.

"Oh, please!" Tyson said, perking up immediately. "Tomorrow!"

Thankfully, he didn't make any promises, but instead finally convinced Tyson to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a back-flip and dove into the sea.

The ladder led to a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. There was a set of locked double doors, which Annabeth managed to pry open with her knife and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.

Daphne figured they'd have to sneak around, being stowaways and all, but after checking a few corridors and peering over a balcony into a huge central promenade lined with closed shops, she began to realize there was nobody to hide from. Sure it was the middle of the night, but they had walked half the length of the boat and met nobody, passing forty or fifty cabin doors with  no sound behind any of them.

The eery quiet was worrying, and the rocking of the boat made her start to feel nauseous.

"It's a ghost ship," Percy murmured.

"You can say that again." Daphne agreed. The quietness was starting to freak her out a little and she was glad somebody had started to speak.

"No," Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. "Bad smell."

Annabeth frowned. "I don't smell anything."

"Cyclopes are like satyrs," Percy murmured. "They can smell monsters. Isn't that right, Tyson?"

He nodded nervously. Now that they were away from Camp Half-Blood, the Mist had distorted his face again. Unless Daphne concentrated very hard (and concentration was never one of her strong suits), it seemed like he had two eyes instead of one. "Okay,"

Annabeth side-eyed him warily. "So, what exactly do you smell?"

"Something bad," Tyson nodded.

"Great," Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up."

They came outside on the swimming pool level. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water in the pool glowed eerily, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship. Daphne couldn't stare at it for too long before getting a strange sense of vertigo at the motion.

Above them fore and aft were more levels - a climbing wall, a putt-putt golf course, a revolving restaurant. But no sign of life anywhere.

And yet... Daphne still sensed something familiar. Something dangerous. She had the feeling that if she wasn't so tired and burned out on adrenaline from their long night, she might be able to put a name to what was wrong.

"We need a hiding place," Daphne blurted. "Somewhere safe to sleep. It... wasn't a good idea leaving in the middle of the night."

"Sleep," Annabeth agreed wearily.

They explored a few more corridors until they found an empty suite on the ninth level. The door was open, which struck Daphne as weird. There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a handwritten note that said: Enjoy your cruise!

They zipped open the yellow duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything - extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. It made Daphne feel intensely guilty about the stash of supplies that she'd brought along, but told herself it would be worth it for what they were bound to come across. He'd even managed to pack Tyson's oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Annabeth's cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.

Daphne peered closer. "Hey, my sword!" she cried and brandished a tube of lip gloss from the bottom.

Percy, afraid that sleep deprivation was getting to her, started, "Uhm, I don't think..."

But sure enough, as she twisted the cap off, what should've been a tube of gloss morphed into the sword that she'd become very enamored with. "It was with the Hepheastus cabin, getting it'd last touches." she beamed. "Hermes is the best."

"We'll be next door," Annabeth whispered tersely, which Daphne agreed to but didn't mention how splitting up was probably the worst idea yet. But she got it - Annabeth was keeping her calm being beside Tyson, but you couldn't expect her to sleep next to him. "You guys don't drink or eat anything."

"You think this place is enchanted?"

She frowned. "I don't know. Something isn't right. Just... be careful."

They locked their doors behind them. The next room was decidely exactly the same.

Daphne and Annabeth fell onto the bed, crashing instantly. They'd cuddled in worse circumstances before, so it wasn't awkward for either of them. But where Annabeth fell into slumber straight away, Daphnes mind wouldn't let her.

She laid on the bed and stared out the porthole. Something nagging told her that she heard voices out in the hallway, like whispering. But she knew that couldn't be. They'd walked all over the ship and had seen nobody.

But the voices kept her awake. They reminded her of their trip to the Underworld - the way the spirits of the dead sounded as they drifted past. The way she was supposed to walk among them. The ghost girl. The dead girl walking. The unbelonging to life, the rejected from death.

Finally her weariness got the best of her and she fell asleep, wondering what nightmares it would hold.

౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹ 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆
🌷🪷🌊

ʚɞ jumping RIGHT into the quest 🤑🤑
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