So apparently, Hercules is a jerk. I was personally glad I didn't meet him. It helped Percy calm down a little about not meeting the most famous demigod in history. After we left the Pillars of Hercules- unscathed except for a few coconuts lodged in the hull's bronze plating-the trip had traveled by air for a few hundred miles.

It wasn't easy traveling through the Mediterranean. Several times an hour, something attacked the ship. A flock of flesh eating Stymphalian birds swooped out of the sky and Festus scorched them. Storm spirits swirled around the masts and Jason blasted them with lightning. While Coach Hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, stampeded over the coach's enchiladas, and flew off again, leaving cheesy hoof prints all over the deck.

"What was that for?" Coach demanded.

We had started to do rotations to keep an eye for anything coming our way. It was already midnight and the only ones awake were Jason, Percy, and I with Leo manning the helm. We've had nine aerial attacks since it hit midnight and it wasn't even one yet. I yawned, leaning against the mast.

"How about you two get some sleep?" Jason told us. He then turned his attention to Percy. "I'll keep blasting stuff from the sky as long as I can. Then we can go by sea for a while, and you can take point."

Percy nodded, wrapping an arm around my shoulder to prevent me from walking face first into the mast. I placed my head on his shoulder as we descended down the steps. My eyes were heavy and I wouldn't be surprised if I fell asleep on the stairs. Percy stopped at my cabin first.

"You think you can make it to bed?" Percy teased.

"Yeah." I gave him a tired smile. "Good night."

"Good night." Percy pecked my lips before we went out separate ways.

🍇

I stood in a corner of a dark place. A haunting voice echoed in the ancient looking tunnels surrounding me. I couldn't put my finger on who it was but it sent shivers down my spine. Two giants walked into view. They wore matching gold shirts. One had trembling hands by their side while the other had silver coins shaking in his hair.

The twins. These two had to be Ephialtes and Otis. I scowled at them. They appeared to be terrified of something. Maybe the haunting voice from earlier.

"We can do this, brother." One patted the other on the back as encouragement. "We just need the two demigods to be taken alive. We can kill the others as we destroy Rome."

"The Athena girl will be occupied by The Ladyship." The one with the trembling hands. Ladyship? Who's that? "We need to finish our spectacle so we can capture the two demigods and take them to the ancient stones."

"Yes, the daughter of Dionysus and the son of Poseidon will fall for our trap. They need to rescue the son of Hades."

My blood ran cold. Now they wanted Percy as well? The twins started talking more about their big show, but their voices started to muffle as I was waking up.

🍇

"Ives?" Someone whispered my name.

"Let me sleeeep." I grabbed my pillow and placed it over my head. Well, tried to. Someone grabbed it and chucked it over their shoulder. I turned and opened my eyes to see Percy. "Percy? What's-"

"Let's talk upstairs." Percy motioned me to get up. "It's my turn to take watch."

"Okay." I sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eye. The both of us left my cabin, closing the door softly behind me. "What's wrong?"

"I had a dream about the twin giants and this Lady-"

"Ladyship?" I finished.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Percy asked.

"I had a dream of the twins mentioning her."

"Well, they were talking about what Annabeth will be facing and then they brought you up." Percy's jaw clenched as his hands turned into fists.

"In my dream, they mentioned you as well." I frowned. Percy avoided my gaze. "Which you already knew."

"They talked about how the both of us were the preferred ones to be taken." Percy nodded grimly.

"Do you want to talk about it with Annabeth?" I asked, seeing how troubled he was by his dream.

"I feel like it's best if we do it now when no one else is awake." Percy said. "You've seen how she closes up about the Mark of Athena with the others."

I nodded in agreement. The both of us woke Annabeth up and went up to the deck. Leo was still manning the helm. He must have been shattered, but he refused to go to sleep.

"I don't want any more Shrimpzilla surprises." He insisted. We tried to convince Leo that the skolopendra attack hadn't been entirely his fault, but he wouldn't listen.

It was about four in the morning. Percy and I had gotten a little over 3 hours of sleep. The weather was miserable. The fog was so thick, I couldn't even see Festus at the end of the prow, and a warm drizzle hung in the air. As we sailed into the twenty foot swells, the sea heaving underneath them, I could hear poor Hazel down in her cabin dealing with her sea sickness.

Percy told Annabeth and I about his dream at the forward rail. Annabeth didn't seem surprised from what he told her. It's as if she knew it already.

"Percy, Ivy, you two have to promise me something." Annabeth peered into the fog. "Don't tell the others about this dream."

"What? Why?"

"Don't what? Annabeth-"

"What you saw was about the Mark of Athena." She said. "It won't help the others to know. It'll only make them worry, and it'll make it harder for me to go off on my own."

"Annabeth, you can't be serious. That thing in the dark, the big chamber with the crumbling floor-"

"I know." Annabeth looked unnaturally pale and I knew it wasn't because of the dense fog. "But I have to do this alone."

"There has to be something we can do to help you." I swallowed thickly. "Maybe we can help-"

"Ivy." Annabeth shook her head.

"You know what's in that cavern." Percy guessed. "Does it have to do with spiders?"

"Yes." Annabeth said in a small voice.

"Then how can you even...?" Percy stopped himself.

I wrapped my hands on the rail and stared into the fog. This wasn't fair on Annabeth. She had to face her worst fear by herself and retrieve her mom's statue. There has to be a way for us to help her retrieve the statue after she found it because Annabeth is going to be the one to find it and bring it back to camp alive. She's Annabeth.

"We're not far from the Italian coast." Percy said, breaking the silence. "Maybe a hundred nautical miles to the mouth of the Tiber."

"Good." Annabeth said. "By daybreak, we should-"

"Stop." Percy suddenly cut her off. "We have to stop."

"Why?" Annabeth asked.

"What do you see?" I squinted my eyes, trying to spot anything in the fog that startled Percy. "I can't see a thing in this fog."

"Leo, stop!" Percy yelled.

A boat suddenly appeared out of the fog and rammed us head on. It was a trireme with black sails aligned with a gorgon's head. There were hulking warriors in board that were definitely not human crowding at the front of the boat in Greek armor, swords, and spears ready.

Annabeth, Percy, and I were almost thrown overboard from the impact. Festus shot fire, sending a dozen very surprised warriors screaming and diving into the sea, but more swarmed aboard the Argo II.

We didn't have much reaction time. They were too fast. I quickly plucked a grape and it turned into a sword. I tried to grow vines from the sea but it was as if something was preventing the vines to break through the water's surface. There was no way it was Percy preventing it. Who could it be that is controlling the waters?

It was hard to see in the fog and the dark, but the invaders seemed to be human like dolphins. Some had gray snouts. Others held their swords in stunted flippers. Some waddled in legs partially fused together, while others had flippers for feet.

Leo sounded the alarm bell. He made a dash for the nearest ballista but went down under a pile of chattering dolphin warriors. Percy, Annabeth, and I formed a triangle of sorts with our backs facing each other. Our weapons were drawn. I raised my sword to start fighting when several dozen warriors lowered their spears and made a ring around us. They were too far for me to slash at them and we were severely outnumbered.

The dolphin-men opened their snouts and made whistling, popping noises. Something about these dolphin warriors tugged at my mind. I know them from somewhere. My tired brain was still trying to wake up.

They made no move to attack us, just kept us contained. Their other comrades flooded belowdecks and secured the hull. I could hear them breaking down cabin doors, scuffling with our friends. Even if the other demigods hadn't been asleep, they wouldn't have stood a chance against so many.

Leo was dragged across the deck, half-conscious and groaning, and dumped on a pile of ropes. Below, the sounds of fighting tapered off. My heart raced in worry. Hopefully it was just our friends being subdued and not...no. They had to be subdued.

On one side of the ring of spears, the dolphin warriors parted to let someone through. He speared to be fully human and the leader of the crew. He was dressed in Greek combat armor and everything he wore was gold. Even his sword, a Greek blade, was gold instead of bronze. His helmet was a full face mask fashioned like a gorgon's head-curved tusks, horrible features pinched into a snarl, and golden snake hair curling around the face. I turned so I was shoulder to shoulder with Percy to get a better look at the leader.

"Who are you?" Percy demanded. "What do you want?"

The golden warrior chuckled. With a flick of his blade, he smacked Riptide out of Percy's hand and sent it flying into the sea. I held back the shock. Percy has never been disarmed that easily before. Who was this guy?

"Hello, brother." The golden warrior's voice was rich and velvety, with an exotic accent-Middle Eastern, maybe. "Always happy to rob a fellow son of Poseidon. I am Chrysaor, the Golden Sword. As for what I want..." He turned his metal mask toward me. I glared back at him, my grip tightening on the hilt of my sword. "Well, that's easy. I want everything you have."

My heart raced as Chrysaor walked back and forth, inspecting us like prized cattle. A dozen dolphin warriors stayed in a ring around us, spears leveled at our chests. Others were ransacking the ship, banging and crashing around belowdecks. One carried a box of ambrosia up the stairs. Another carried an armful of ballista bolts and a crate of Greek fire.

"Careful with that!" Annabeth warned. "It'll blow up both our ships."

"Ha!" Chrysaor said. "We know all about Greek fire, girl. Don't worry. We've been looting and pillaging ships on the Mare Nostrum for eons."

"Your accent sounds familiar." Percy said. "Have we met?"

"I haven't had the pleasure." Chrysaor's gold mask snarled at him. "But I've heard all about you, Percy Jackson. Oh, yes, the young man who saved Olympus with his soulmate, Ivy Pittaluga. And their faithful sidekick, Annabeth Chase."

I bit back a frown. If he knows Percy and I are soulmates, who else knows? Gaea most likely already knows, but does that mean she's passing the information down to her minions?

"I'm nobody's sidekick." Annabeth growled. "And, Percy, his accent sounds familiar because he sounds like his mother. We killed her in New Jersey."

"I'm pretty sure that accent isn't New Jersey. Who's his-? Oh." Percy frowned in realization. "Medusa is your mom? Dude, that sucks for you."

"Percy." I jabbed his ribs to shut up.

Judging from the sound in Chrysaor's throat, he wasn't happy for the comment my boyfriend made.

"You are as arrogant as the first Perseus." Chrysaor said. "But, yes, Percy Jackson. Poseidon was my father. Medusa was my mother. After Medusa was changed into a monster by that so-called goddess of wisdom..." He turned to Annabeth. "That would be your mother, I believe...Medusa's two children were trapped inside her, unable to be burned when the original Perseus cut off Medusa's head-"

"Two children sprang out." Annabeth remembered. "Pegasus and you."

"So your brother is a winged horse." Percy blinked. I waited for him to come to the conclusion of his extended family. "But you're also my half brother, which means all the flying horses in the world are my...You know what? Let's forget it. But if you're Medusa's kid, why haven't I ever heard of you?"

"When your brother is Pegasus, you get used to being forgotten." Chrysaor sighed in exasperation. "Oh, look, a winged horse! Does anyone care about me? No!" He raised the tip of his blade to Percy's eyes. "But don't underestimate me. My name means Golden Sword for a reason."

"Imperial gold?" Percy guessed.

"Bah! Enchanted gold, yes. Later on, the Romans called it Imperial gold, but I was the first to ever wield such a blade: I should have been the most famous hero of all time! Since the legend-tellers decided to ignore me, I became a villain instead. I resolved to put my heritage to use. As the song of Medusa, I would inspire terror. As the son of Poseidon, I would rule the seas!"

"You became a pirate." Annabeth summed up.

"The best pirate." Chrysaor spread his arms, moving the sword point away from Percy. Relief fill my lungs when he no longer had it pointed at him. "I've sailed these waters for centuries, waylaying any demigods foolish enough to explore the Mare Nostrum. This is my territory now. And all you have is mine."

One of the dolphin warriors dragged Coach Hedge up from below.

"Let me go, you tuna fish!" Hedge bellowed. He tried to kick the warrior, but his hoof clanged off his captor's armor. Judging from the hoof-shaped prints in the breastplate and helmet, the coach had already made several attempts.

"Ah, a satyr." Chrysaor mused. "A little old and stringy, but Cyclopes will pay well for a morsel like him. Chain him up."

"I'm nobody's goat meat!" Hedge protested.

"Gag him as well." Chrysaor decided.

"Why you gilded little-" Hedge's insult was cut short when the dolphin out a greasy wad of canvas in his mouth. Soon the coach was trussed like a rodeo calf and dunked with the other loot-crates of food, extra weapons, even the magical ice chest from the mess hall. I frowned. Not the ice chest with my Diet Cokes.

"You can't do this!" Annabeth shouted.

Chrysaor's laughter reverberated inside his gold face mask.

"I can do anything I want." He said. "My warriors have been trained to perfection. They are vicious, cutthroat-"

"Dolphins." Percy noted.

"Yes. So?" Chrysaor shrugged. "They had some bad luck a few millennia ago, kidnapped the wrong person. Some of their crew got turned into dolphins. Others went mad. But these...these survived as hybrid creatures. When I found them under the sea and offered them a new life, they became my loyal crew. They fear nothing!"

My mind went reeling and I finally remembered. My dad was the one who turned them into dolphins. I tried to rack my brain for the full story. One of the warriors chattered at him nervously.

"Yes, yes." Chrysaor growled. "They fear one thing, but it hardly matters. He's not here."

"My dad-"

"Ah, ah, ah." Chrysaor tsked, placing the tip of his sword against my neck. It was pressed to my skin. One wrong move and he would slash my throat and I didn't plan on risking it by how fast his reflexes are. From the corner of my eye, I saw Percy's jaw clench so tightly, I thought he was going to break some of his teeth. "You may be his daughter, but you're not powerful like him."

I felt anger flash through me. I gave him a nasty glare, my hand turning into a fist. There was tug in my stomach and splashing came from the waters. The vines were desperately trying to break through the surface. Some of the dolphin warriors nearby chattered nervously. Some eyed me, fiddling with their spears. Before an idea could fully form in my head, more dolphins climbed the stairs carrying the rest of my friends.

Jason was unconscious. Judging from the new bruises on his faced he'd tried to fight. Hazel and Piper were tied hand and foot. Piper had a gag in her mouth, they probably figured out her charmspeak. Frank was the only one missing. However, two dolphin warriors had bee stings covering their faces. Did Frank turn to a bee or a swarm of bees? If so, that meant he was free and could help us.

"Excellent!" Chrysaor gloated. He directed his warriors to dump Jason by the crossbows. He then examined the girls. "The boy is no use to me. But we have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women-either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill. But not you, lovely Ivy."

"You're not taking me anywhere." I recoiled away from him, putting a little distance between the blade and my throat.

"Oh, sadly, Ivy, you will not be staying with me." The golden warrior tutted. "I would love that. But you and your friend Percy are spoken for. A certain goddess is laying a high bounty for your capture-alive, if possible, though she didn't say you had to be unharmed."

Piper caused a disturbance. She wailed so loudly it could be heard through her gag. Then she fainted against the nearest guard, knocking him over. Hazel got the idea and crumpled to the deck, kicking her legs and thrashing like she was having a fit.

Percy drew Riptide and lashed out. The blade should have gone straight through Chrysaor's neck, but he was unbelievably fast. He dodged and parried as the dolphin warriors backed up, guarding the rest of us while giving their captain room to battle. They chattered and squawked, egging him on.

I went to raise my sword to kill one of the dolphins, but one saw me. He pointed the spear at my chest, a few around him did the same. One even had a knife at the base of my throat.

Percy feinted and thrust at Chrysaor's gut, but he anticipated the move. He knocked Percy's sword out of his hand again, and once more Riptide took a swim in the sea. Chrysaor laughed easily. He wasn't even winded. He pressed the tip of his golden sword against Percy's sternum.

"A good try." Said the pirate. "But now you'll be chained and transported to Gaea's minions. They are quite eager to spill your blood and wake the goddess."

The vines thrashed in the waters. Some of the sea spray would land on the deck. The dolphins looked even more nervous. One tried to shuffle away from be but a look from Chrysaor scared him to higher his spear at my neck. My hands clenched tighter and I could feel an all too familiar tug in my chest. Percy locked eyes with me and I knew right away he had a plan. I had to bite back a smirk. He gave me a look to follow along. I give him a slight nod.

"Fine!" Percy shouted, so loudly that he got everyone's attention. "Take us away, if our captain will let you."

"What captain?" Chrysaor turned his golden mask back to Percy. "My men searched the ship. There is no one else."

"The god appears only when he wishes." Percy raised his hands dramatically. "But he is our leader. And he's not going to be happy with you pointing those weapons at his daughter."

"You are all so screwed." I grinned, feeling a better control of the vines slowly breaking through the water's surface.

"He runs our camp for demigods. Doesn't he, Annabeth?" Percy glanced at her to help.

"Yes!" Annabeth nodded enthusiastically. "Mr. D! The great Dionysus!"

A ripple of uneasiness passed through the dolphin-men. One dropped his sword. The ones pointing their weapons at me took a few steps back.

"Stand fast!" Chrysaor bellowed. "There is no god on this ship. They're trying to scare you."

"You should be scared!" Percy looked at the pirate crew with sympathy. "Dionysus will be severely crank with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girls falling into the wine god's madness?"

Hazel and Piper had stopped the shaking fits. They were sitting on the deck, staring at Percy, but when he glared at them pointedly, they started hamming it up again, trembling and flopping around like a fish. The dolphins fell over themselves trying to get away from their captives.

"Fakes!" Chrysaor roared. "Shut up, Percy Jackson."

Just to add to the brewing nerves of the dolphins, I spread some madness to those nearby me. A few started to chatter, tossing their weapons into the waters. Some ran tinto the rails of the ship and flipped into the water below. One of them ran in circles, thrashing their flippers before falling onto their face and not moving. I think the poor guy fainted.

"Stop that, Ivy Pittaluga!" Chrysaor raised his sword at me, looking between Percy and I. I innocently shrugged. "Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge."

"So you admit Dionysus is our director!" Percy said.

"He was," Chrysaor corrected, "everyone knows that."

"You see?" Percy gestured at the gold warrior like he'd just betrayed himself. "We are doomed. If you don't believe me, let's check the ice chest."

Percy stormed over to the magical cooler. No one tried to stop him. He knocked open the lid and rummaged through the ice. He brandished it at the dolphin warriors as if spraying them with bug repellent.

"Behold!" Percy shouted. "The god's chosen beverage. Tremble before the horror of Diet Coke!"

The dolphin men began to panic. They were on edge of retreat. The vines slowly raised to be at the edge of the ship. I was waiting until the right time to use them. Percy must of seen the grape leaves. He looked at me and silently told me to wait.

"The god will take your ship." Percy warned. "He will finish your transformation into dolphins, or make you insane, or transform you into insane dolphins! Your only hope is to swim away now, quickly!"

"Ridiculous!" Chrysaor's voice turned shrill. He didn't seem sure where to level his sword-at Percy, his crew or at me.

"Save yourselves! It's too late for us!" Percy gasped and pointed to a spot where I saw nothing. "Oh, no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!"

Nothing happened. Percy gave me a quick thumbs up. A grin grew on my face as the vines started to crawl onto the deck.

"I said," Percy repeated, "Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!"

Frank stumbled out of nowhere, making a big show of grabbing his throat.

"Oh, no." Frank said as if he were reading from a teleprompter. Vines started to shoot up from the waters, startling the crew. "I am turning into a crazy dolphin."

Frank began to change, his nose elongating into a snout, his skin becoming sleek and gray. He fell to the deck as a dolphin, his tail thumping against the boards.

Vines started to grab the dolphins and throw them overboard. The pirate crew disbanded in terror, chattering and clicking as they dropped their weapons, forgot their captives, ignored Chrysaor's orders and jumped overboard before the vines did it for them. In the confusion, Annabeth and I moved quickly to cut the bonds on Hazel, Piper and Coach Hedge. I concentrated hard to will the vines as I broke my friends free.

Within seconds, Chrysaor was alone and surrounded. Percy and the others had no weapons except for Annabeth and I-and of course Hedge's hooves. The nude round looks on our faces evidently convinced the golden warrior he was doomed. He backed to the edge of the rail.

"This isn't over, Jackson." Chrysaor growled. A vine grew behind him, the tendrils pointing menacingly at him. "I will have my revenge-"

His words were cut short by Frank, who had changed into a grizzly bear. Franks sideswiped Chrysaor and raked the golden mask off his helmet. Chrysaor screamed, covering his face instantly with his arms. The vine wrapped around his waist and yanked him up. He was thrown far into the waters.

We rushed to the rail to see where he went once he splashed into the sea. There was no sign of him. The waters were still and the vines vanished.

"Great plan." I kissed Percy.

"It was desperate." Percy corrected. "You bringing up your dad helped me get the idea. You helped made it better."

"I tried to do it earlier." I grumbled. "But the water wouldn't let me."

"I had issues with the water, too." Percy frowned. "Chrysaor probably had control over it."

"Most likely." I nodded, staring at the empty trireme.

A sudden thought came to mind and I faced my boyfriend. Percy stared at the Diet Coke in his hand. He looked at me with interest.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Super long chapter but so much went on!

I've been waiting to write this chapter for freaking ever!