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We were all silent for a few minutes until Annabeth spoke. "I'm sorry about your brother, Ainsley."

"Don't be," I said. "He's a traitor, and good riddance to him. My life is better off without him, anyway."

"I think you're being a bit over dramatic-" Percy began, but I cut him off.

"Don't tell me what I'm being, Jackson," I growled. "It's my life, not yours. And last time I checked, Aidan gave me a scar and betrayed me. So saying I'm better off without him isn't being a bit overdramatic."

"We should send Chiron an Iris message," Annabeth said hastily. "To let him know what's happened."

"I should send one to my dad," I said, standing up. "Agro, Zade; c'mon."

"Where are you going?" Annabeth asked, but I didn't answer.

Instead, I dived into the sea. A big bubble formed around my head, allowing me to breathe. I expanded the bubble so that Agro and Zade had air, and the water wasn't touching Zade, either.

I pulled a Drachma out of my backpack, and using the rainbow formed by sun and water, threw it into the rainbow.

"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Orion Theron with the Hunt!" I shouted, and an image of Dad appeared. He seemed to be in the middle of shoving a bunch of deer meat into his mouth.

"Kid!" he said, surprised. "What's going on?"

"We need to talk," I said firmly. "Now. And you've got some explaining to do."

"Okay," Dad said, swallowing his food. "What happened?"

I explained everything that had happened since I had left, meanwhile following the bottom of the lifeboat. When I finished, Dad was frowning; he looked both angry, sad, and worried all at the same time.

"You told your brother you would never forgive him?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, I did," I said. "And I'm not sorry for it. He deserved it."

"Well," Dad began fidgeting nervously with the golden bracelet on his wrist. "I'm sorry you're hurting, kid. I know how much his betrayal hurt you."

"It still hurts," I said. "And what about this prophecy?"

"I...Well..." Dad looked very anxious now.

"Well, what?" I prompted.

"The gods forbid me from repeating it, but I will tell you," Dad said slowly.

He took a deep breath. "Here goes. The-"

There was a sudden flash of lightning in the background and the Iris message was abruptly cut off.

"What was that?" I asked Agro.

Your father just broke an oath upon the River Styx, Agro barked, looking worried. Zeus is now furious with him because your father disobeyed his orders. He's lucky he hasn't been blasted to ash yet.

"Great," I muttered. "This on top of everything else. We should head back to the boat."

We swam back up to the surface and climbed back into the lifeboat.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around at the swampy area.

"Chesapeake Bay," said Annabeth.

"We traveled over 500 nautical miles," Percy explained.

"Jeez," I said.

Percy steered the lifeboat to the foot of a Cypress Tree, and we all got out.

Agro growled. I don't like this place.

"Bad smell," Tyson said.

I sniffed the air. "Hydra."

"What?" Annabeth said.

"I smell the Hydra," I said.

Annabeth shifted nervously. "I know a place where we can resupply."

We all followed Annabeth for a few minutes before she stopped.

"Here."

All I saw was a patch of brambles, but then Annabeth moved a patch of woven branches aside, and I realized we were looking at an entrance at an entrance to a camouflaged shelter. It was made of woven plant material that I recognized as marsh grass. It was big enough to fit all of us, including Zade and Agro. In the corner, several provisions, like an ice chest, a kerosene lamp, and an extra sword.

"Can you go grab some food or something, Tyson?" Percy asked. "Like powdered donuts?"

"Okay," said Tyson, walking out of the shelter.

"You're an idiot," I said to Percy. "You aren't going to find any donuts in the wilderness. I'm going with him."

I walked out of the shelter and to where Tyson was standing.

"What do you think, Tyson?" I asked him. "What do you we should grab?"

"Donuts," Tyson said.

"We're not going find any donuts out here," I said.

"Donuts," Tyson repeated, pointing. "In the store."

I looked to see where he was pointing and rubbed my eyes. There, where Tyson was pointing, was a convenience store in the middle of the wilderness, complete with a cashier reading and a little road leading out into the woods. The sign over the doors read Monster Donut.

"Why is there a store in the middle of the wilderness?" I asked Agro.

Oh, this shouldn't be here, Agro barked. This is bad.

"Why?" I asked.

Because Percy just asked Tyson to get the donuts, and the store just happened to be there, Agro barked. It could be a nest. What I mean by that is some magic places multiply so fast, since they are magically attached to the life force of a monster. Back in the 50s, some Hermes children figured out how to do it.

"I got donuts!" said Tyson. He was carrying a box of powdered donuts.

I jumped; I hadn't even realized that he had left. Tyson froze, looking behind me.

"Big snake!" he shouted.

"What-" I began, but then my nostrils flared, and I whirled around, pulling out my daggers. Behind me, the nine-headed Hydra stood. I hadn't seen it in 4 years, ever since I had fought it with Dad, Raiden, Aidan, and Zoë in the Children's Museum in Indiana.

"Agro! Zade!" I yelled, grabbing two sticks, lighting the tops on fire, and tossing them to Agro and Zade. "Deal with the heads on the left, while I take the the ones on the right! We'll do with the immortal head together!"

Then, we split up. Agro and Zade took their huge forms, while I summoned lightning, blasted it off my dagger, and incinerated one head of the Hydra.

One down, five to go, I thought.

"Bad snake!" Tyson charged the Hydra, his fists raised.

"Wait! Tyson!" I shouted. To stop the Hydra from incinerating him, I blasted it backward.

Just then, the other three came sprinting out of the shelter, weapons raised.

"αἴθω!" Raiden shouted, and a ring of fire sprang up around the Hydra, blocking its path.

"How did you do that?" Percy demanded.

"Magic!" Raiden shouted, running through the fire with a yell of, "προστασία!" and chopping off one of the Hydra's heads. She then burnt the stump with another cry of, "αἴθω!"

Just then, from behind us, a voice shouted, "Prepare to fire!"

"Great," I muttered, turning around, "Clarisse."

Behind me on the river, Clarisse stood on a steamship, barking orders at skeleton soldiers.

"They're too close!" a gravelly male voice shouted.

"Dam them!" Clarisse shouted. "Open fire!"

"Raiden, watch out!" I sprinted forward, ran through the fire, and tackled her and Agro to the ground, as Annabeth had done to Percy.

A huge BOOM! shook the Earth. There was a flash of light and smoke, and the Hydra was blasted into green slime.

"Ugh!" I shouted, shooting my hand up into the air. The marsh grass formed a plant shield in front of us, shielding us from the green slime.

I took a closer look at the steamship. It was really strange; it sat low in the water like a submarine, was clad in iron, and had a flag with a spear and wild boar on a blood-red field and a row of cannons on each side. Clarisse stood next to a smoking cannon she had just shot, clad in full Greek Armor.

"Get on, losers," Clarrise sneered at us. "And let's talk."