KARINA'S HEART DID jumping jacks while chrysaor walked back and forth, inspecting them like prized cattle. a dozen of his dolphin-man warriors stayed in a ring around them, spears leveled at her and percy's chest, while dozens more ransacked 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!" karina warned. "it'll blow up both our ships."

"ha!" chrysaor said. "we all know 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 me met?"

"i haven't had the pleasure," chrysaor's golden gorgon mask snarled at him, though it was impossible to tell what his real expression might be underneath. "but i've heard all about you, percy jackson. oh, yes, the young man who saved olympus. and his faithful sidekick, annabeth chase." his eyes flicked the karina. "and you, karina ashwood. gaea's little puppet."

karina's jaw clenched. "how do you know about that?"

chrysaor laughed. "me? everyone knows about it! and we couldn't be any more excited to see what you're capable of with her powers shared with your own."

"i won't be doing anything for that monster," karina growled. "so you can take your little fantasy of gaea taking over the world and shove it right up your— "

"percy," annabeth interrupted, giving karina a warning look. "his accent sounds familiar because he sounds like his mother. we killed her in new jersey."

percy frowned. "i'm pretty sure that accent isn't jew jersey. who's his— oh."

it seemed to look like everything had fallen into place, and a look of realization fell onto percy's face.

"medusa is your mom?" he asked. "dude, that sucks for you."

"ew," karina said. "the snake lady?"

percy nodded, trying to stifle a chuckle at his girlfriend's blatant response.

judging from the sound in chrysaor's throat, he was now snarling under his mask, too.

"you are as arrogant as the first perseus," chrysaor said. "but, yes, percy jackson. poseidon is my mother. medusa was my mother. after medusa was changed into a monster by that so-called goddess of wisdom . . . " the golden mask turned on annabeth, who was standing beside piper and hazel. "that would be your mother, i believe . . . medusa's two children were trapped inside her, unable to be born. when the original perseus cut off medusa's head— "

"two children sprang out," annabeth remembered. "pegasus and you."

percy blinked. "do your brother is a winged horse. 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."

karina had learned years ago it was better not to dwell too much and who was related to who on the godly side of things.

"but if you're medusa's kid," percy said, "why haven't i ever heard of you?"

chrysaor sighed in exasperation. "when your brother is pegasus, you get used to being forgotten. oh, look, a winged horse! does anyone care about me? no!" he raised the tip of his blade to percy's eyes, and karina glared deathly at him, her hand clenching her necklace. "but don't underestimate me. my name means the 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 son of medusa, i would inspire terror. as a son of poseidon, i would rule the seas!"

"you became a pirate," karina summed up.

chrysaor spread his arms, which was fine with percy since it got the sword point away from his eyes.

"the best pirate," chrysaor said. "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 dolphin's breastplate and helmet, the coach had already made several attempts.

"ah, a satyr," chrysaor mused. "a little old and stringy, but cyclops 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 put a greasy wad of canvas in his mouth. soon the coach was trussed like a rodeo calf and dumped with the other loot— crates of food, extra weapons, even the magical ice chest from the mess hall.

"you can't do this!" annabeth shouted.

chrysaor's laughter reverberated inside his gold face mask. karina wondered if he was horribly disfigured under there, or if his gaze would petrify people the way his mother's could.

"i can do anything u want," chrysaor said. "my warriors have been trained to perfection. they are vicious, cutthroat— "

"dolphins," percy noted.

chrysaor shrugged. "yes. so? they had some bad luck a few millennia ago, kidnapped the wrong person. some of their crew got turned completely into dolphins. others went mad. but these . . . these survived as hybrid creatures. when i found them under the sea and offered them a jew life, they became my loyal crew. they fear nothing!"

one of the warriors chattered at him nervously.

"it seems your crew disagrees," karina mused.

"yes, yes," chrysaor growled. "they fear one thing, but it hardly matters. he's not here."

from the staircase, more dolphin warriors climbed up the stairs, hauling up the rest of her friends. jason was unconscious. judging from the new bruises on his face, he'd tried to fight. her heart lurched at the sight. hazel and piper were bound hand and foot. piper had a gag in her mouth, so apparently the dolphins had discovered she could charmspeak. frank was the only one missing, thought two of the dolphins had bees stings covering their faces. annabeth stood beside percy and karina, cornered by the dolphins as well.

could frank actually turned into a swarm of bees? karina hoped so. if he was free aboard the ship somewhere, that could be an advantage, assuming percy and karina could figure out how to communicate with him.

"excellent!" chrysaor gloated. he directed his warriors to dump jason by the crossbows. then he examined the girls like they were christmas presents, which made karina grit her teeth. chrysaor turned his head to karina, and she could've sworn she saw him lick his lips from under his mask, as if she were a treat to him.

she saw percy's jaw clench tightly as he noticed chrysaor hungry look directed at karina, and it took everything in his power to not deck the warrior. but, he couldn't let him know that karina was important to him— that would only make things worse.

"the boy is no use to me," chrysaor said. "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 karina."

karina recoiled. "you are not taking me anywhere."

percy's hand crept to his pocket. his pen had appeared back in his jeans. he only needed a moment's distraction to draw his sword. maybe if he could take down chrysaor quickly, his crew would panic.

karina wished she knew something about chrysaor's weaknesses. usually annabeth or reyna provided her with information like that, but apparently chrysaor didn't have any legends, so they were both in the dark.

the golden warrior tutted. "oh, sadly, karina, you will not be staying with me. i would love that. such a beautiful lady, you are. but you and your friend percy are spoken for. a certain goddess is paying a high bounty for your capture— alive, if possible, though she didn't say you had to be unharmed."

at that moment, piper caused the disturbance they needed. she wailed so loudly it could be heard through her gag. then she fainted against the nearest guard, knocking him over. hazel and annabeth got the idea and crumpled to the deck, kicking their legs and thrashing like they were having a fit.

percy drew riptide and lashed out. the blade should have gone straight through chrysaor's neck, but the golden warriors backed up, guarding the other captives while giving their captain room to battle. they chartered and squeaked, egging him on, and percy got the sinking suspicion the crew was used to this sort of entertainment. they didn't feel their leader was in any sort of danger.

percy hadn't crossed swords with an opponent like this since . . . well, since he'd battled the war god area. chrysaor was that good. many of percy's powers had gotten stronger over the years, but now, too late, percy realized that swordplay wasn't one of them.

he was rusty— at least against an adversary like crysaor.

they battled back and forth, thrusting and partying. the golden gorgon mask was too unnerving. the warm fog, the slick deck boards, the chattering of the warriors— none of it helped.

and in the corner of his eye, percy could see one of the dolphin-men holding a knife at karina's throat, and a trail of blood dripping down the side of her face and neck— showing indication that she had put up a fight before getting trapped. her jaw was clenched, and her chin was tilted upwards slightly from the sharp knife pressing against her skin.

percy feinted and thrust at chrysaor's gut, but chrysaor anticipated the move. he knocked percy's sword out of his hand again, and once more riptide flew into 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."

nothing like a total failure to generate great ideas.

seriously, as karina stood there, disarmed and outmatched, with a knife against her throat, she didn't have a single clue on how to proceed with this situation. she was used to annabeth providing greek legend information, and had gotten used to letting her formulate the plan.

and, of course, she couldn't do that either.

but, percy seemed to be deep in thought, hopefully formulating a plan that will get them out of this shit show they'd gotten stuck in.

karina glanced toward the stern and spotted frank, in human form peeking out from behind the ballistae, waiting. karina resisted the urge to smile.

"fine!" percy suddenly shouted, so loudly that he got everyone's attention. "take us away, if our captain will let you?"

karina gave him a confused look. "are you talking about leo— " she got cut off by him giving her a sharp glare, almost immediately shutting her up. he gave her a barely visible shake of his head, and she understood.

percy had a plan.

chrysaor turned his golden mask. "what captain? my men searched the ship. there is no one else."

percy raised his hands dramatically. "the god only appears when he wishes. but he is our leader. he runs our camp for demigods. doesn't he, karina?"

karina was quick. "yes!" she nodded enthusiastically. "bacch— dionysus! the great mr. d!"

a ripple of uneasiness passed through the dolphin-men. one dropped his sword.

"stand fast!" chrysaor bellowed. "there is no god on this ship. they are trying to scare you."

"you should be scared!" percy looked at the pirate crew with sympathy. "dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. he will punish all of us. didnt you notice the girls falling into the wine god's madness?"

hazel, piper, and annabeth 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 fish. the dolphin-men fell over themselves trying to get away from their captives.

"fakes!" chrysaor roared. "shut up, percy jackson. 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."

percy gestured at the golden warrior like he'd just betrayed himself. "you see? 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 though the ice. he was rewarded with a silver-and-red can of soda. 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 the edge of retreat. karina could feel it.

"the god will take your ship," percy warned. "he will finish for 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 or his own crew.

"save yourselves!" percy warned. "it is too late for us!"

then he gasped and pointed to the spot where frank was hiding. "oh, no! frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!"

nothing happened.

"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," he said, like he was reading from a teleprompter. "i am turning into a crazy dolphin."

he 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.

the pirate crew disbanded in terror, chattering and clicking as they dropped their weapons, forgot their captives, ignored chrysaor's orders, and jumped overboard. in the confusion, annabeth moved quickly to cut the bonds on hazel, piper, and coach hedge, after karina had cut her's.

within seconds, chrysaor was alone and surrounded. karina and her friends had no weapons except for karina's concealed gladius, annabeth's knife, and coach hedge's hooves, but the murderous looks on their faces evidently convinced the golden warrior he was doomed.

he backed to the edge of the rail.

"this isn't over jackson," chrysaor growled. "i will have my revenge— "

his words were cut short by frank, who had changed form again. an eight-hundred-pound grizzly bear can definitely break up a conversation. he sideswiped chrysaor and raked the golden mask off his helmet. chrysaor screamed, instantly covering his face with his arms and tumbling into the water.

they ran to the rail. chrysaor had disappeared.

"that was brilliant!" karina kissed percy, which made him feel a little better.

"it was desperate," percy corrected. "and we need to get rid of this pirate trireme."

"burn it?" annabeth asked.

percy looked at the diet coke in his hand. "no. i've got a better idea."

IT TOOK THEM LONGER than karina had wanted. as they worked, she noticed percy keep glancing at the sea, waiting for chrysaor and his pirate dolphins to return, but they didn't.

percy had gone into mother hen mode when he saw the bleeding gash above her eyebrow, and immediately tended to it, even thought karina had reassured him multiple times that she could do it herself.

"but i can do it better," percy kept repeating, claiming that he had a better view of the injury than she did.

leo had gotten back to his feet, thanks to a little nectar. piper tended to jason's wounds, but he wasn't as badly hurt as he looked. mostly he was just ashamed that he'd gotten over-powered again.

karina checked over leo to make sure he didn't have any injuries, scanning over his face and arms, poking and prodding her fingers into his hair and cheeks.

leo scrunched his nose and batted her hand away. "i'm fine, chica. i only got knocked out, you can dial it down a bit."

karina flicked his forehead, narrowing her eyes at him as she tilted his head around, inspecting each part of his head. "most people don't even know their injured until someone tells them," karina said in a motherly tone.

leo rolled his eyes. "thank you for the wise words, doctor."

"your sarcasm is unneeded, visage de flamme (flame face)," karina said, and leo's jaw dropped slightly.

"did you just call me flame face?" he asked imploringly, backing away from her with an offended look on his face.

karina smiled at him. "yeah, and what about it? your hair catches on fire every day— it makes sense."

"i— " leo tried to defend himself, but couldn't, because she was right. "flame you, plant bitch."

karina's green and gold eyes flashed at him daringly as she narrowed them. "i'll keep that name in mind the next time you need someone to get free weed from."

leo's eyes widened, and a look of regret flashed upon his face as he dashed toward her, his hands gripping her forearms tightly. "no, stop! i'm sorry, i'm sorry— i'm super, duper sorry. i didn't mean it— i PROMISE."

karina crossed her arms, a steely look on her face. "oh, so now you're sorry?"

"yes," leo pleaded. "please, i swear to every god in the history of olympus that i didn't mean it. it— it was a joke? you know— laugh, funny." he laughed nervously, a strangled excuse for a laugh coming out of his mouth, which made karina almost lose her composer.

"i didn't find it very funny," karina said, raising an eyebrow.

"well— how am i supposed to know your sense of humor?" leo asked desperately. "look— i'll do anything you want. water your plants for you?"

"percy does that already,"

"install another greenhouse?"

"tempting, but there's no room."

"shit. shopping spree in europe?"

"already have enough clothes,"

"no chores for a month?"

"deal."

leo grinned like a madman, and jumped into karina, squeezing her in a very uncomfortable, tight hug. "YES! thank you, thank you, thank you!" leo squealed like a school girl, rocking them back and forth.

karina struggled to keep a straight face as she detached leo from her body. "get the hell off of me, you leech." she said in a disgusted tone, but it held no seriousness.

"sorry, sorry," leo said, but his face still held a wide grin. "i'll go shower. love you, rina!" his voice trailed off as he ran away from her, and down to his cabin, and karina couldn't help but let out a comical laugh at leo's behavior.

after that, everyone returned all their own supplies to their proper places and tidied up from the invasion while coach hedge had a field day on the enemy ship, breaking everything he could find with his baseball bat.

when he was done, percy loaded the enemie's weapons back on the pirate ship. their storeroom was full of treasure, but percy insisted that they touch none of it.

"i can sense about six million dollars' worth of gold abroad," hazel said. "plus diamonds, rubies— "

"six m-million?" frank stammered. "canadian or american?"

karina pouted. "can we at least take like, five-hundred-thousand? i've been really wanting to invest in some imperial gold jewelry— "

"no," percy chided, like he was talking to a child. he kissed her pouted lips. "we have to leave it. it's part of the tribute."

"tribute?" hazel asked.

"oh." piper nodded. "kansas."

karina groaned. "why do you have to think of these things? i could've been rich!"

jason grinned. he'd been there too when they'd met the wine god. "crazy. but i like it."

finally percy went aboard the pirate ship and opened the flood valves. he asked leo to drill a few extra holes in the bottom of the hull with his power tools, and leo was happy to oblige.

the crew of the argo II assembled at the rail and cut the grappling lines. piper brought out her new horn of plenty and, on percy's direction, willed it to spew diet coke, which came out with the strength of a fire hose, dousing the enemy deck. karina thought it would take hours, but the ship sank remarkably fast, filling with diet coke and seawater.

"dionysus," percy called, holding up chrysaor's golden mask. "or bacchus— whatever. you made this victory possible, even if you weren't here. your enemies trembled are your name . . . or your diet coke, or something. so, yeah, thank you."

the words were hard to get out, but percy managed not to gag. "we give this ship to you as tribute. we hope you like it."

"six million in gold," leo muttered. "he'd better like it."

"shh," hazel scolded. "precious metal isn't all that great. believe me."

percy threw the golden mask aboard the vessel, which was now sinking even faster, brown fizzy liquid spewing out the trireme's oar slots and bubbling from the cargo hold, turning the sea frothy brown.

percy summoned a wave, and the enemy ship was swamped. leo steered the argo II away as the pirate vessel disappeared underwater.

"isn't that polluting?" piper asked.

"i wouldn't worry," jason told her. "if bacchus likes it, the ship should vanish."

karina didn't know if that would happen, but she felt like they'd done all they could. she had no faith thag bacchus would hear them or care, much less help them in their battle against the twin giants, but she had to try.

after their bout with the pirates, they decided to fly the rest of the way to rome. jason insisted he was well enough to take sentry duty, along with coach hedge, who was still so charged with adrenaline that every time the ship hit turbulence, he swung his bat and yelled, "die!"

they had a couple of hours before daybreak, so jason suggested percy and karina try to get a few more hours of sleep.

"it's fine, man," jason said. "give somebody else a chance to save the ship, huh?" he then turned to karina. "and, you haven't slept in days. you need to at least try and rest, okay?"

karina nodded hesitantly, though she doubted that she would get a wink of genuine sleep. percy agreed as well, and they walked to percy's room together, both of them plopping down onto the bed exhaustedly.

karina laid her head on percy's chest, while he wrapped his arms around her body snuggly, making sure she was comfortable against his body before relaxing into her's, and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, letting his gaze stay on the bronze lantern swaying from the ceiling.

karina knew that percy was deep in thought, and decided to stay silent, letting her eyes rest as she listened to the slow rhythm of percy's heartbeat play against her ear, trying to coax her body to sleep.

she hoped that since she was with percy, maybe her nightmares would be more bearable, because she felt safer with him rather than alone in her cabin. but, even with that small sliver of reassurance, she still felt nervous in trying to fall asleep, because she didn't truly know if it would work or not.

she felt percy begin to softly run his fingers through her hair, his fingers twirling small strands of her hair around them, and she peeked her eyes open slightly, seeing percy's face still focused on the ceiling, and she knew that he probably didn't even realize that he had begun to do this.

it was a reoccurring thing that happened between them— whenever percy was lost in thought, somehow his hands always hand their way to some part of karina's body. not in a sexual way, but in a way that he would mess with her fingers, or play with her hair, and he wouldn't even realize he was doing it until karina snapped him back into reality.

she found herself feeling more and more drowsy as percy's fingers continued to mess with her hair, and it was beginning to get harder to fight off the urge to sleep.

maybe just this once, karina thought. maybe it'll be different. it can't hurt to try?

yes i can, she also thought, remembering the dream she had just a few days ago, where gaea had tortured her for permission to possess her.

gods, gaea was a bitch.

eventually, exhaustion finally overtook her. she fell asleep, and not to her surprise— she had a nightmare. the rumble of thunder became the laughter of the earth goddess gaea.

karina dreamed she was standing at the stairs of the principia, at camp jupiter. the sleeping face of gaea appeared on the side of a rolling hill that concealed the camp— her massive features formed from shadows on the grassy slopes. her lips didn't move, but her voice echoed across the valley.

so this is your home, gaea murmured. take a last look, karina ashwood, because after camp half-blood is turned to ashes, your camp is next. you should have returned here. at least then you could have survived with your roman comrades as they invaded. now your blood will be spilled far from home, on the ancient stones, and i will rise.

the ground shook. disruption rolled across the valley— grass turning to sand, forest crumbling to dust. the little tiber dried up. the barracks and principia burned to ashes. when the tremor stopped, camp jupiter looked like a wasteland after an atomic blast. the only thing left was the single stair where karina stood.

next to him, the dust swirled and solidified into the figure of a woman. her eyes were closed, as if she were sleepwalking. her robes were forest green, dappled with gold and white like sunlight shifting through branches. her hair was as black as tilled soil. her face was beautiful, but even with a dreamy smile on her lips she seemed cold and distant. karina got the feeling she could watch demigods die or cities grin, and that smile wouldn't waver.

"when i reclaim the earth," gaea said, "i will leave this spot barren forever, along with camp half-blood, to remind me of your kind and how utterly powerless they were to stop me— especially when they will have to battle you, as well. it doesn't matter when you fall, my sweet little pawn— to your own family, or to me? you will fall, and i will be there to devour your power. your only choice now . . . will you fall alone? come to me willingly; bring the boy. perhaps i will spare your soul, to it rather being entwined in mine as it is as we speak. otherwise . . . "

gaea opened her eyes. they swirled in green and black, as deep as the crust of the earth. gaea saw everything. her patience was infinite. she was slow to wake, but once she arose, her power was unstoppable.

"enjoy my wrath, my little pawn," gaea purred, and karina's stomach dropped as she saw the womanly form of the earth goddess swirl into a mesh of green and gold, hurling straight into her heart and chest.

she felt her lungs and stomach burn with searing pain, her whole body igniting in a pain so unbearable she could hardly process anything her brain was producing.

a feeling of tight hands shaking her shoulders jolted her out of her dream, and when her eyes shot open, she saw jason and percy both standing over her with looks of fear masked on their faces, their worried pleas for her to awake halting abruptly.

when karina's eyes shot open, percy saw them glow bright gold, and her hands that were gripping the bedsheet tightly now gripped his forearms with a deadly grip— an inhuman type of strength. he looked down to her hands to see her veins glowing with a gold hue, the color brightening as her grip grew stronger, and he began to feel his arms lose circulation.

"karina," percy said urgently, gently trying to pry her fingers off of him as her breathing came out short and heavy, her eyes still glowing faintly gold. "hey, hey, it's okay." he said soothingly, trying to get her body to calm down.

jason noticed his struggle to get out of her death lock grip, and took it into his own power to get her hands off of his arms, trying to get his fingers beneath her's to pry them off percy's body.

but, they wouldn't move. and karina's stare stayed on percy's face hardly as her breathing stayed ragged and uneven, her eyes not returning to their usual color as they usually did.

"what's wrong with her?" percy panicked. "why isn't she going back to normal?"

jason shook his head frantically. "i— i don't know! this has never happened before."

percy looked around worriedly, trying to ignore the tight pain that was pulsating from his arms, and desperately tried to think of a way to get karina out of this trance.

the only thing he could think of was on the spot, and he leaned in to press his lips hardly against her's, producing as much passion into it as he could, hoping that this would break the nightmare she was still stuck in.

after a few seconds, percy heard karina gasp, and pulled away stutterdly, her eyes blinking frantically as they returned back to their normal green, with a small ring of gold lining her pupil. her hands immediately released themselves from percy's arms, and the immediate feeling of relief spread through percy's body.

he let out a deep sigh of relief, and immediately brought her into his chest, his heart beating erratically from how frightened he had been. his eyes closed as he stuffed his face in her hair, and he felt her relax her body into his, her head resting against the base of his neck

"wh— what happened?" karina asked, pulling away with a frightened look as she stared at the scared boys in front of her. "di— did i hurt any of you?"

percy glanced at jason, and shook his head in the smallest of gestures, and jason gave a slight of his head, both of them agreeing to not mention how she almost made percy lose all of the blood flow to his arms. jason looked just as relieved as percy felt, and he sat down next to karina, looking at her with glistening eyes.

percy shook his head, taking karina's shaking hands into his own. "no, rina. you didn't hurt anybody, i promise."

"i— " her voice faltered, and her eyes flitting in between percy and jason. "what happened to me?"

jason swallowed as he rubbed his hand softly across her back, trying to calm her down. "uhm— well, i came in here to tell percy we landed, and when i came in, you started screaming— a lot, and well, we were just trying to wake you up, and when you did— you sort of . . . well, didn't. you were in a trance, of sorts."

"trance?" she asked quietly, more so to herself than to jason.

he nodded. "your eyes were glowing gold, a— and the veins in your hand were, too. we didn't know what to do."

karina's eyes moved from jason's face to the bed, her lips quivering slightly from the scene she had caused. her line of sight slowly moved from her lap, to percy's arms, to which she saw faint red and purple marks dancing across his skin— in the shape of fingerprints.

karina swallowed thickly, a knot forming in her stomach and in the base of her throat as she ghosted the pads of her fingertips over the bruising skin.

percy looked at her guiltily, not knowing what to say she saw looked at the marks with a look of devastation.

"i did this to you, didn't i?" she asked quietly, her voice shaking.

percy swallowed and shook his head. "no." he said softly, but firm. "it wasn't you. it was gaea."

karina's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "it was still my doing," she said quietly. "it was still my own hands that caused it."

jason took one of her hands into his own, making her look at him with expectation. "but it wasn't your own thoughts and intentions. it was her's."

karina still looked like she was about to breakdown on the spot, but she managed to hold herself together, and nodded her head. "okay," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly, and percy moved his hand from her's to around her waist, leaning in to press a kiss to her head.

"it's okay, rina," he whispered softly into her ear, rubbing his hand over her waist soothingly as she closed her eyes, placing her free hand on her forehead in exhaustion.

"why don't you go change, and then meet us upstairs, okay?" jason suggested gently, knowing that karina wasn't fully in a good stage of mind.

karina nodded silently, and began to get up and walk to her cabin, not sparing a glance at either of them as she padded out of the room, leaving a trail of devastation in her wake.

neither of them followed her.

they both knew that when karina got like this, she needed to be left alone, and have her space. percy still wanted nothing more than to follow right after her and comfort her in his arms, but he had to resist. so, they both made their way up to the deck, where the others were already.

karina felt nothing but a heavy weight of guilt as she changed into regular clothes in the security of her own cabin.

she couldn't even begin to process that she had actually harmed percy. her boyfriend. the one who had been with her from the start of this quest— the person who'd always put himself before her.

and she hurt him.

as she slipped on an old, washed out sage green tank top, and a pair of comfortable, flowy, hippie-style pants, she felt herself start to grow more into herself again. ever since she'd broken out of her . . . trance, she'd felt as if it were someone else that was occupying her body— and not her. she felt gross, and uncomfortable with the feeling, but she had also come to grow sort of familiar with the foreign entity. ever since the moment she'd stepped foot on the argo II, she'd felt gaea with her every time she made interaction with her, and it'd almost become a new normal for her at this point. so now, feeling her inside herself didn't feel as taboo as it used to.

she slipped on her usual gladius encased imperial gold necklace, and along with it she put on another necklace that had a pendant of her zodiac constellation engraved in the metal. it was the constellation of taurus. her sun sign.

she also put on her mother's wedding ring, along with a few other of her favorite ones, and made sure her matching bracelet she had with jason was wrapped around her wrist, before making her way up to the main deck, where right in front of her eyes was the birthplace of her ancestors.

the sky was a brilliant blue, as if the stormy weather had never happened. the sun rose over the distant hills, so everything below them shone and sparkled like the entire city of rome had just come out of the car wash.

karina had seen big cities before. she lived in california, after all. but the sheer vastness of rome grabbed her by the throat and made it hard to breathe. the city seemed to have no regard for the limits of geography. it spread through hills and valleys, jumped over the tiber with dozens of bridges, and just kept sprawling to the horizon, streets and alleys zigzagged with no rhyme or reason through quilts of neighborhoods. glass office buildings stood next to excavation sites. a cathedral stood next to a line of roman columns, which stood next to a modern soccer stadium. in some neighborhoods, old stucco villas with red-tiled roofs crowded the cobblestone streets, so that if karina concentrated just on those areas, she could imagine she was back in ancient times. everywhere she looked, there were wide piazzas and traffic-clogged streets.

parks cut across the city with a crazy collection of palm trees, pines, junipers, and olive trees, as if rome couldn't decide what part of the world it belonged to— or maybe it just believed all the world still belonged to rome.

but the one thing that stood out to karina, was the sudden spark of energy she had gotten just as she breathed in the air of rome. it was as if her senses had dialed to a hundred, and her powers were almost itching to be released.

she knew it was gaea. she could feel her energy swarming around her body like a cloud, and she felt all of gaea's power flooding into her own, making her feel as if she could dent the shape of the earth either just a single punch.

the mermaid was right, karina realized. rome was messing with her. even more that it had before.

"we're setting down in that park," leo announced, pointing to a wide green space dotted with palm trees. "let's hope the mist makes us look like a large pigeon or something."

it seemed to work. karina didn't notice any cars veering off the road or romans pointing to the sky and screaming, "aliens!" the argo II set down in the grassy field and the oars retracted.

the noise of traffic was all around them, but the park itself was peaceful and deserted. to their left, a green lawn sloped toward a line of woods. an old villa nestled in the shade of some weird-looking pine trees with thing curvy trunks that shot up thirty or forty feet, then sprouted into puffy canopies. they reminded karina of trees in those dr. seuss books her dad used to read her when she was little.

to the north, about a mile away through the folds of the city, the top of the colosseum rose above the rooftops, looking just like it did in travel photos. that's when karina's legs started shaking. she was actually here. she'd thought her trip to alaska had been pretty exotic, but now she was in the heart of the old roman empire.

jason pointed to the base of the archer's wall, where steps led down into some kind of tunnel.

"i think i know where we are," he said. "that's the tomb of the scipios."

percy frowned. "scipio . . . reyna's pegasus?"

"no," karina put in, startling everyone since they didn't know she had arrived. "they were a noble roman family."

jason nodded, giving karina a small smile, glad she was feeling better. "i've studied maps of rome before. i've always wanted to come here, but . . . "

nobody bothered finishing that sentence. looking at her friends' faces, karina could tell they were just as much in awe as she was. they'd made it. they'd landed in rome— the rome.

"plans?" hazel asked. "nico has until sunset— at best. and this entire city is supposedly getting destroyed today."

"you're right," percy said from beside her, which startled her slightly, not knowing he'd moved there. "annabeth . . . did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?"

her gray eyes turned extra thunderstorm dark, and karina knew that she was sending a warning to percy.

"yes," she said carefully. "it's on the tiber river. i think i can find it, but i should— "

"take me along," percy finished. "yeah, you're right."

annabeth glared daggers at him. "that's not— "

"safe," he supplied. "one demigod walking through rome alone. i'll go with you as far as the tiber. we can use that letter of introduction, hopefully meet the river god tiberinus. maybe he can give you some help or advice. then you can go on alone from there."

they had a silent staring contest, but percy didn't back down.

"fine," annabeth muttered. "hazel, now that we're in rome, do you think you can pinpoint nico's location?"

hazel blinked, as if coming out of a trance from watching the percy/annabeth show. "um . . . hopefully, if i get close enough. i'll have to walk around the city. frank, would you come with me?"

frank beamed. "absolutely."

"and, uh . . . leo," hazel added. "it might be a good idea if you came along too. the fish-centaurs said we'd need your help with something mechanical."

"yeah," leo said, "no problem."

frank's smile turned into something more like chrysaor's mask.

karina was quite a genius when it came to relationships (obviously), but even if she wasn't, she could still feel the tension among these three. ever since they'd gotten knocked into the atlantic, they hadn't acted quite the same. it wasn't just the two guys competing for hazel. it was like the three of them were locked together, acting out some kind of murder mystery, but they hadn't yet discovered which of them was the victim.

piper drew her knife and set it on the rail. "karina, and jason, and i can watch the ship for now. i'll see what katoptris can show me. but, hazel, if you guys get a fix on nico's location, don't go in there by yourselves. come back and get us. it'll take all of us to fight the giants."

she didn't say the obvious: even all of them together wouldn't be enough, unless they had a god on their side. karina decided not to bring that up.

"good idea," percy said. "how about we plan to meet back here at . . . what?"

"three this afternoon?" jason suggested. "that's probably the latest we could rendezvous and still hope to fight the giants and save nico. if something happens to change the plan, try to send an iris message."

the others nodded in agreement, but karina noticed several of them glancing at annabeth. another thing no one wanted to say: annabeth would be on a different schedule. she might be back at three, or much later, or never. but she would be on her own, searching for the athena parthenos.

coach hedge grunted. "that'll give me time to eat the coconuts— i mean did the coconuts out of our hill. percy, annabeth . . . you know what i'm about to say. i know you two can be trouble makers. just remember: behave. if i hear about any funny business, i will goring your until the styx freezes over."

"we'll be back soon," percy said. he looked around at his friends. "good luck, everyone."

their friends began to disperse, and that left karina to stare at percy with a look that he couldn't quite decipher.

"what's going on in that pretty head of yours?" percy asked playfully, tracing his finger along the side of her face.

karina tried for a smile, but it was weak. "i . . . i just— be safe. please."

percy smiled at her, and cupped the side of her face in his hand, and press a long, and slow kiss to her lips, trying to take in the soft feeling of her lips against his before he left.

he pulled away, and gave her a reassuring smile. "don't worry, rina. i'll come back to you. promise."

"pinky promise?" she held out her pinky finger with a small, playful smile on her lips.

percy chuckled lightly, and linked his pinky finger with hers. "pinky promise."

she nodded, and leaned in to give him one last kiss, before leo lowered the gangplank, and percy and annabeth were first off the ship."

7358 words

i just think that karina being a taurus makes so much sense

also that makes her older than percy so yah #girl boss