I felt useless. Annabeth, Coach Hedge and Buford the table rushed around repairing things so the that ship wouldn't sink. Percy, despite being exhausted, searched the ocean for our missing friends. Jason, also exhausted, flew around the rigging putting out fires from the second green explosion that had lit up the sky just above the mainmast. Piper was staring at her knife to try and locate Leo, Hazel, and Frank.

All I could do was keep look out and hand out water bottles. I felt like I was back at camp when I was younger, being limited on what I could do due to my father's fear of us being involved and getting hurt. It only worsened after Castor died. If it weren't for the need to help save Olympus and Dad finally realizing he couldn't keep Pollux and I from fighting, I would have still been at camp where I was safe. The Great Prophecy also forbid my dad from interfering and keeping me locked away somewhere safe.

By the time the sun rose, none of us had slept. Percy had scoured the sea floor and found nothing. The Argo II was no longer in danger of sinking, though without Leo, they couldn't do full repairs. The ship was capable of sailing, but no one suggested leaving the area-not without our missing friends. Annabeth had caught Percy up with her talk with Athena.

Piper, Annabeth, and I sent a dream vision to Camp Half-Blood, warning Chiron of what had happened with the Romans at Fort Sumter. Annabeth explained her exchange of words with Reyna. Piper relayed the vision from her knife about the SUVs racing north. Chiron's face seem to age 30 years during the course of conversation, but he assured us he would see to the defenses of the camp. Tyson, Mrs. O'Leary, had arrived safely. If necessary, Tyson could summon an army a cyclops to the camp, defense, and Ella and Rachel Dare we're already compare prophecies, learn more about what the future held. The job of the eight demigods aboard the Argo II, Chiron reminded us, was to finish the quest and come back safely.

After the Iris message, we paced the deck in silence, staring at the water and hoping for a miracle. We were too anxious to talk. Suddenly there was three giant pink bubbles, bursting at the surface of the starboard, bow and ejecting, Frank, Hazel, and Leo. Piper cried out with relief and dove straight into the water.

I rushed to go get the ladder and some towels to give to them. Once they got on board and change into dry clothes, the crew all gathered on the quarter deck for a celebratory breakfast in the floor– except for Coach Hedge, grumbled that the atmosphere was getting too cuddly for his tastes, and went below to hammer out some dents in the hull. We had the brownies that the fish-centaurs gave us and some toast with the peaches preserves for breakfast. Leo fussed over his helm controls, Hazel and Frank related the story of the fish-centaur in their training camp.

"Incredible." Jason said. "These are really good brownies."

"That's your only comment?" Piper demanded.

"What?" Jason looked surprised. "I heard the story. Fish-centaurs. Merpeople. Letter of introduction to the Tiber River god. Got it. But these brownies-"

"I know." Frank said, his mouth full. "Try them with Esther's peach preserves."

"Pass me the jar, man." Jason said.

Hazel and Piper exchanged a look of total exasperation. Boys. Talking about boys, Percy couldn't let the idea go that the fish-centaurs didn't really want to meet him. He wanted to hear every detail about the aquatic camp. He kept coming back to one point: "They didn't want to meet me?"

"Okay, that actually looks good." I eyed the brownies with the peach preserves. Thinking of all the food combinations I tried with my brothers back at camp. The boys looked at me. "I want to try one."

"You won't regret it!" Jason said with his mouth full.

Piper rolled her eyes as I grabbed a brownie and spread the peach preserve on it. Percy slouched beside me, his arms crossed. He was still upset. I decided to make him one too, knowing he would like it.

"Percy, it wasn't that." Hazel reassured him. I placed one of the brownies in front of my boyfriend. "Just...undersea politics, I guess. The merpeople are territorial. The good news is they're taking care of that aquarium in Atlanta. And they'll help protect the Argo II as we cross the Atlantic."

"But they didn't want to meet me?" Percy nodded absentmindedly, grabbing the brownie.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth reached over to smack his arm. "We've got other things to worry about."

I took a bite out of the brownie and my eyes widened. The flavors complemented each other. The boys awaited my criticism, I nodded and gave a thumbs up. They cheered, reaching over to high five me. Interested in trying it out for himself, Percy took a bite out of his brownie and gave an impressed nod. The girls gave us irritated looks.

"Uh, sorry." I sheepishly smiled.

"Anyway...After today, Nico has less than two days." Hazel said. "The fish-centaurs said we have to rescue him. He's essential to the quest somehow."

She looked around defensively, as if waiting for someone to argue. No one did. Which was good, because I would've fought them-or to put more nicely, a good smack to the head- if they did argue. My heart beat with worry for Nico. The poor guy was stuck in a jar depending on pomegranate seeds to keep him alive a little longer. I could only imagine the fear he's experiencing and the hope he has for someone to come rescue him. I hope he knows that we are on our way.

"Nico must have information about the Doors of Death." Percy stated. "We'll save him, Hazel. We can make it in time. Right, Leo?"

"What?" Leo tore his eyes away from the controls. I gave him a look. He straightened up and nodded. "Oh, yeah. We should reach the Mediterranean tomorrow morning. Then spend the rest of that day sailing to Rome, or flying, if I can get the stabilizer fixed by then..."

"Which will put us in the last possible day for Nico." Jason looked as if his brown with the peach preserves didn't taste good anymore. "Twenty-four hours to find him-at most."

I frowned. We're running short on time. We couldn't afford any other unexpected stops or attacks. Suddenly, my appetite was gone from the nerves chewing at my stomach. I placed my brownie on the napkin. Percy placed a hand on top of mine. I leaned closer to him, lacing our fingers together.

"And that's only part of the problem." Percy crossed his legs. "There's the Mark of Athena, too."

Annabeth didn't look happy with the change of subject. She rested her hand on her backpack, which, since we'd left Charleston, she seemed to always have with her. Annabeth opened her bag and brought out a thin bronze disk the size of a donut.

"This is the map that I found at Fort Sumter. It's..." Annabeth stopped abruptly, staring at the smooth bronze surface. "It's blank!"

"It isn't supposed to be?" I leaned closer to inspect it when Percy took it.

"It wasn't like this earlier?" Percy examined both sides.

"No! I was looking at it in my cabin and..." Annabeth muttered under her breath. "It must be like the Mark of Athena. I can only see it when I'm alone. It won't show itself to other demigods."

Frank scooted back like the disk might explode. He had an orange juice mustache and a brownie crumb bread. I slid a napkin to him so the others wouldn't see. He gave me an appreciative nod and grabbed the napkin.

"What did it have on it?" Frank said nervously, wiping his mouth. He crumbled the napkin and placed it beside him on the ground. "And what is the Mark of Athena? I still don't get it."

Annabeth took the disk from Percy. She turned it in the sunlight, but it remained blank.

"The map was hard to read, but it showed a spot on the Tiber River in Rome." Annabeth explained. "I think that's where my quest starts."

"Maybe that's where you meet the river god Tiberinus." Piper said. "But what is the mark?"

"The coin." Annabeth muttered.

"What coin?" Percy frowned.

"I've been carrying this," Annabeth dug into her pocket and brought out a silver drachma, "ever since I saw my mom at Grand Central. It's an Athenian coin."

She passed it over to me first. I inspected the coin. An owl was stamped onto the silver with a branch and three letters. AOE. What did that mean? Percy was eyeing it in my hand, leaning closer to see it. I held it up for him to take. Percy rubbed his thumb over the front of the coin. He then passed it on.

"An owl." Leo noted when it made it to him. "Well, that makes sense. I guess the branch is an olive branch? But what's this inscription, AOE-Area of Effect?"

"It's alpha, theta, epsilon." Annabeth informed. "In Greek it stands for Of The Athenians... or you could read it as the children of Athena. It's sort of the Athenian motto."

"Like SPQR for the Romans." Piper guessed.

"Anyway, the Mark of Athena is an owl, just like that one." Annabeth nodded. "It appears in fiery red. I've seen it in my dreams. Then twice at Fort Sumter."

Annabeth described what happened at the fort-the voice of Gaea, the spiders in the garrison, the Mark burning them away. It was obvious that it was hard for her to talk about it.

"You should've let me go and help you." I frowned. "You didn't have to go through that alone."

"But that's the point." Annabeth told me. "No one can be there for me. When I get to Rome, I'll have to strike out on my own. Otherwise, the Mark won't appear. I'll have to follow it to...to the source."

"The giants bane stands gold and pale, Won with pain from a woven jail." Frank took the coin from Leo. He stared at the owl then looked up at Annabeth. "What is it...this thing at the source?"

Before Annabeth could answer, Jason spoke.

"A statue." He said. "A statue or Athena. At least...that's my guess."

"You said you didn't know." Piper frowned.

"I don't. But the more I think about it...there's only one artifact that could fit the legend." Jason turned toward Annabeth. "I'm sorry. I should have told you everything I've heard earlier. But honestly, I was scared. If this legend is true-"

"I know." Annabeth told him. "I figured it out, Jason. I don't blame you. But if we manage to save the statue, Greek and Romans together...Don't you see? It could heal the rift."

"Hold on." Percy did a time out gesture. "What statue?"

"The Athena Parthenon." Annabeth took back the coin and put it in her pocket. "The most famous Greek statue of all time. It was forty feet tall, covered in ivory and gold. It stood in the middle of the Parthenon in Athens."

Everyone went silent as we thought it over. The only sound was from the waves lapping against the hull.

"Okay, I'll bite." Leo said. "What happened to it?"

"It disappeared." Annabeth simply said.

"How does a forty foot tall statue in the middle of the Parthenon just disappear?"

"That's a good question." Annabeth told him. "It's one of the biggest mysteries in history. Some people thought the statue was melted down for its gold, or destroyed by invaders. Athens was sacked a number of times. Some thought the statue was carried off-"

"By Romans." Jason finished. "At least, that's one theory, and it's the legend I heard at Camp Jupiter. To break the Greeks' spirit, the Romans carted off the Athena Parthenos when they took over the city of Athens. They hid it in an underground shrine in Rome. The Roman demigods swore it would never see the light of day. They literally stole Athena, so she could no longer be the symbol of Greek military power. She became Minerva, a much tamer goddess."

"And the children of Athena have been searching for the statue ever since." Annabeth said. "Most don't know about the legend, but in each generation,a few are chosen by the goddess. They're give a coin like mine. They follow the Mark of Athena...a kind of magical trail that links them to the statue...hoping to find the resting place of the Athena Parthenos and get the statue back."

The way Annabeth and Jason spoke like a team amazed me. There was no hostility or blame, just the two talking about what they knew. If they could discuss a huge problem so calmly-the ultimate Greek/Roman hatred-maybe there was hope for both camps after all.

"So if we-I mean you-find the statue...what do we do with it?" Percy asked, a surprised expression on his face see how Annabeth and Jason worked together. "Could we even move it?"

"I'm not sure." Annabeth admitted. "But if we could save it somehow, it could unite the two camps. It could heal my mother's hatred she's got, tearing her two aspects apart. And maybe...maybe the statue has some power that could help us against the giants."

"Maybe its power can even help stop the arguing between the two camps." I suggested.

"This could change everything." Piper agreed. "It could thousands of years of hostility. It might be the key to defeating Gaea. But if we can't help you..."

How can Annabeth do it all by herself? I'm not doubting her, but how can she carry a forty foot statue by herself? None of her previous siblings were able to. Annabeth squared her shoulders, pushing back her fear so no one can see. Percy and I momentarily glanced at each other, knowing our best friend too well.

"I have to succeed." Annabeth said. "The risk is worth it."

"I don't like the idea of risking your life alone, but you're right." Hazel twirled her hair pensively. "We saw what recovering the golden eagle standard did for the Roman legion. If this statue is the most powerful symbol of Athena ever created-"

"It could kick some serious booty." Leo offered.

"That wasn't the way I'd put it, but yes." Hazel frowned.

"Except..." Percy faced Annabeth. "No child of Athena has ever found it."

"Or maybe they did find it and just couldn't bring it up." I furrowed my brows, thinking of all the possibilities to have caused the previous children of Athena to not succeed. "Something had to had stop them from succeeding, but what?"

"Annabeth, what's down there?" Percy asked. "What's guarding it? If it's got to do with spiders-"

"Won through pain from a woven jail." Frank recalled. "Woven, like webs?"

Annabeth paled dramatically. She knew what was down there awaiting her...or at least had an idea. She was trying to hold down the wave of panic and terror. Piper must've noticed too.

"We'll deal with that when we get to Rome." Piper suggested, her charmspeak soothing everyone else's nerves. Annabeth's shoulder relaxed slightly. "It's going to work out. Annabeth is going to kick some serious booty, too. You'll see."

"I'm already Team Annabeth." I gave her a playful grin. She rolled her eyes at me, but some color started to return to her face. "You've got this."

"Yeah." Percy added. "I learned a long time ago: Never bet against Annabeth."

Annabeth looked at the three of us gratefully. There was still food left in front of us. We didn't fully eat our breakfast due to the nerves. Leo pressed a button and a loud blast of steam exploded from Festsus' mouth, making all of us jump. I sent him a glare, my heart racing from fright.

"Well!" Leo grinned. "Good pep rally, but there's still a ton of things to fix on this ship before we get to the Mediterranean. Please report to Supreme Commander Leo for your super fun list of chores."

I rolled my eyes and tossed my brownie at him. Everyone was standing to their feet, hiding me. The brownie stuck to his cheek, the peach preserves slowly causing the brownie to slide down his face. He frowned and peel it off. Percy grinned, lacing our hands together.

"Who did that?" Leo squinted at each of us individually. Once he made eye contact with me I shot him a grin and bolted, taking Percy with me. The both of us laughed as Leo shook his fist at me. "Ivy! I'm so going to get you back! Sleep with one eye open!"

I had to end it on a fun note. This chapter was kind of sad