KARINA THOUGHT THAT after walking over hundreds of acres of a warehouse, she'd get some what of a break from it. but, of course, the amazon jail was at the top of a storage aisle, sixty feet in the air.

kinzie led her and hazel up three different ladders to a metal cat-walk, then tied their hands loosely behind their backs and pushed them along the past crates of jewelry, being somewhat gentler with karina for some reason.

a hundred feet ahead, under the harsh glow of fluorescent lights, a row of chain-link cages hung suspended from cables. percy and frank were in two of the cages, talking to each other in hushed tones. karina's mind immediately felt more at ease as she saw percy being perfectly intact and unharmed. she was worried that some of otrera's guards would do something to him. next to them on the catwalk, three bored-looking amazon guards leaned against their spears and gazed at little black tablets in their hands like they were reading.

"get moving, girl," she hears kinzie order to hazel from behind her, just now realizing that she wasn't in-line with karina. kinzie said that loud enough for the guards to hear. she prodded hazel with the back of her sword.

hazel and karina walked as slowly as they could, but their minds were both racing. she knew that they needed to come up with a brilliant rescue plan. so far she had nothing. kinzie had made sure they could break their bonds easily, but even then, she'd be the only one armed against three trained warriors, and she knew she couldn't defeat them all by herself. they had to act fast before they put both of them in a cage.

as they passed a pallet of crates marked 24-carat blue topaz rings, then another labeled silver friendship bracelets, karina saw hazel freeze on the spot.

karina furrowed her eyebrows, but then a feeling of realization washed over her. silver. topaz. hazel was standing next to a six-story tall mountain full of jewelry. this was basically her home planet.

"can you manipulate the ground from here, nina?" hazel rushed out in a whisper, keeping her voice low.

karina focused, and tried to feel how deep the cavern went until she could hit solid, raw, earth. she estimated about fifty miles down, and gave hazel a hesitant nod. "yes, but it would take me a minute, and a lot of focus."

"but can you do it?"

karina looked at her with a hard set stare "yes."

"what is it?" kinzie hissed. "keep moving! they'll get suspicious."

"make them come here," hazel muttered over her shoulder.

"why— "

"trust us." karina replied confidently.

the guards frowned in their direction.

"what are you staring at?" kinzie yelled at them. "there's the two other prisoners. come get them."

the nearest guard set down her reading tablet. "why can't you walk another thirty paces, kinzie?"

"um, because— "

"ooof!" hazel feel to her knees, dragging karina to the floor with her, and tried to put on her best seasick face. "i'm feeling nauseous! can't . . . walk. amazons . . . too . . . scary."

karina let out a fake moan as well, slightly puffing out her cheeks to sell the look. "yes . . . terrifying female warriors . . . too much . . . to handle."

"there you go," kinzie told the guards. "now, are you going to come take the prisoners, or should i tell queen hylla you're not doing your duty?"

the two nearest guards rolled their eyes and trudged over. karina began to focus on the ground below the cavern, and feel it's vibrations, matching her energy with the earth as to work as one.

each guard took ahold of hazel and karina's arms. "fine. we will take custody of the prisoners. but if i were you, kinzie, i wouldn't worry about about hylla. she won't be queen much longer."

"we'll see, doris." kinzie turned to leave. her and hazel waited until her steps receded down the catwalk.

the guard, doris, and karina's guard pulled on their arms impatiently. "well? come on."

karina looked over to see hazel begin to concentrate on the wall of jewelry next to her, and she too began to put her mind and body into focus, her main priority being to get her body in control of the earth that surrounded her.

"not . . . feeling so good." hazel muttered, and karina nodded weakly in agreement, hugging her stomach in false pain.

"you two are not throwing up on me," doris growled. she and the other guard tried to yank the two demigods to their feet, but karina went limp, like a kid throwing a fit in the store. to her right, the boxes began to tremble, and karina knew that their plan was working.

"lulu!" doris yelled to one of her comrades. "come help us with these lame little girls."

amazons named doris and lulu? karina thought. okay . . .

the third guard jogged over. karina figured this was their best chance. before they all could haul the two of them to their feet, they yelled in unison, "ooooh" and flattened against the catwalk.

doris started to say, "oh, give me a— "

and that's when they struck.

karina pushed the guard that was holding her back with such force that she stumbled into the crates of jewelry, which had exploded with a sound like a thousand slot machines hitting the jackpot. a tidal wave of silver friendship bracelets poured across the catwalk.

and at the same time, karina quickly ripped the necklace off of her neck and slammed the tip of it into the metal floor with a grunt of strength, which formed cracks that had spread into the floor of the warehouse, causing dozens of thick pillars of rock to explode from under the floor and shooting out into the open air, sending doris and lulu flying off the railing as two of the rock pillars were aimed perfectly below their feet, blasting them into the abyss.

they would've fallen to their deaths, but her and hazel weren't that mean. hazel summoned a few hundred bracelets, which leaped at the guards and lashed around their ankles, leaving them hanging outside down from the bottom of the catwalk, screaming like lame little girls.

karina and hazel turned to the final guard, who was somehow still standing. hazel broke her bonds, which were about as sturdy as toilet paper, and picked up one of the fallen guards' spears. she strided up to karina's side, who was gripping her gladius tightly in her hand as well, prepared to fight.

"should we kill you from here?" hazel snarled. "or are you going to make us come over there?"

the guard turned and ran.

"good choice," karina mumbled angrily, shooting the retreating guard the middle finger.

karina then turned and shouted over the side of doris and lulu. "amazons cards! pass them up, unless you want hazel to undo those friendship bracelets and let you drop!"

four and a half seconds later, hazel and karina each had an amazon card.

karina ran to percy's cage while hazel ran to frank's, and she stood in front of the cage with a teasing smile presented on her face.

"hm, should i let you out?" she said in a teasing tone, flipping the amazon card between her fingers.

percy gave her a fake glare. "do you really enjoy seeing me locked in a cage?"

"well . . . "

"oh, shut up, you dumbass," percy laughed out, and karina finally slid the card and the door popped open.

frank and percy both then stared at them in astonishment. "hazel, karina, that was . . . amazing."

percy nodded. "i will never wear jewelry again," he paused, turning to karina. " . . . or walk on the ground again."

she scoffed. "don't count on me doing that too much, that took a lot out of me."

she was starting to feel the side effects of overusing her powers, as she began to feel lightheaded and tired. she turned and leaned her body into percy. she wasn't too effected at the moment, and she knew it would go away soon, but she still wanted something to have comfort from. percy, who felt her lean into him, put his arm around her comfortingly, lightly squeezing her forearm. karina would never know how relieved percy felt to be back in her grasp.

she handed him his necklace as hazel began to speak. "our weapons and supplies are at the end of the catwalk. we should hurry. pretty soon— "

alarms began wailing throughout the cavern.

"yeah," karina said, "that'll happen. let's go!"

the first part of the escape was easy. they retrieved their things with no problem, then started climbing down the ladder. everytime amazons swarmed beneath them, demanding their surrender, hazel either made a crate of jewelry explode, burying their enemies, or karina launched them into the sky with a pillar of rocks. when they got to the bottom of the ladder, they found a scene that looked like mardi gras armageddon— amazons trapped up to their necks in head necklaces, several more upside down in a mountain of amethyst earrings, and a battle forklift buried in silver charm bracelets. and, not to mention the fact that their were large towers of rock everywhere, shooting up from different parts of the warehouse, and leaving thick cracks in the ground from where they sprouted from. karina couldn't help but feel slightly guilty at destroying the amazons home.

"you, karina ashwood," percy said. "are entirely freaking incredible."

she wanted to kiss him right there, and almost gave in to the temptation, but they had no time. they ran back to the throne room.

they stumbled across one amazon who must've been loyal to hylla. as soon as she saw the escapees, she turned away like they were invisible.

percy started to ask, "what the— "

"some of them want us to escape," hazel said. "karina and i will explain later."

the second amazon they met wasn't so friendly. she was dressed in full armor, blocking the throne-room entrance. she spun her spear with lightning speed, but this time percy was ready. he drew riptide and stepped into battle before karina had any time to react. as the amazon jabbed at him, he sidestepped, cut her spear in half, and slammed the hilt of his sword against her helmet.

the guard crumpled.

"mars almighty," frank said. "how did you— that wasn't any roman technique!"

percy grinned. "the graecus has some moves, my friend. after you."

"damn right he does," karina mumbled, and percy shot her a smirk, taking her hand. she could not put into words how attractive percy looked fighting that amazon. and that made her want to kiss him even more.

they ran into the throne room. as promised, hylla and her guards had cleared out. hazel dashed over to arion's cage and swiped an amazons card across the lock. instantly, the stallion burst forth, tearing in triumph.

percy and frank stumbled backward.

"um . . . is that thing tame?" frank said.

the horse whinnied angrily.

"i don't think so," percy guessed. "he just said, 'i will trample you to death, silly chinese canadian baby man.'"

karina snickered into her palm.

"you speak horse?" hazel asked.

"'baby man'?" frank spluttered.

"speaking to horses is a poseidon thing," percy said. "uh, i mean a neptune thing."

"then you and arion should get along fine, you too karina," hazel said. "he's a son of neptune and ceres."

percy turned pale. "excuse me?"

karina cleared her throat. "long story,"

hazel nodded in agreement to karina's statement. "the point is, he's fast. he can get us out of here."

frank did not look thrilled. "four of us can't fit on one horse, can we? we'll all fall off, or slow him down, or— "

arion whinnied again.

"ouch," percy said. "frank, the horse says you're a— " karina quickly stopped him by squeezing his hand tighter. "— you know, actually, i'm not going to translate that. anyway he says there's a chariot in the warehouse, and he's willing to pull it."

"there!" someone yelled from the back of the throne room. a dozen amazons charged in, followed by males in orange jumpsuits. when they saw arion, they backed up quickly and headed for the battle forklifts.

hazel vaulted onto arion's back.

she grinned down at her friends. "i remember seeing that chariot. follow me, guys!"

she galloped into the larger cavern and scattered a crowd of males. karina got into a small sword fight with a rogue amazon, but quickly defeating her by swiping her spear out of her hands and knocking her unconscious with the hilt of her gladius. percy knocked out an amazon. frank swept two more off their feet with his spear.

karina, percy, and frank ran after hazel. finally they reached the chariot. arion stopped at the yoke, and percy set to work with the reins and harness.

"you've done this before?" frank asked.

percy didn't need to answer. his hands flew. in no time the chariot was ready. he jumped aboard and almost immediately reached down to haul karina up as well, grabbing her waist and lifting her into the chariot, catching her by surprise as a small blush presented itself onto her face.

"frank, come on!" he yelled. "hazel, go!"

a battle cry went up from behind them. a full army of amazons stormed into the warehouse. otrera herself stood astride a battle forklift, her silver hair flowing as she swung her mounted crossbow toward the chariot. "stop them!" she yelled.

hazel spurred arion. they raced across the cavern, weaving around pallets and forklifts. an arrow whizzed past karina's head, and would've hit her if it weren't for percy ducking her head to his chest just before it struck her. something exploded behind them, but none of them looked back.

"the stairs!" frank yelled. "no way this horse can pull a chariot up that many flights of— OH MY GODS!"

thankfully the stairs were wide enough for the chariot, because arion didn't even slow down. he shot up the steps with the chariot rattling and groaning. the only reason karina hadn't gone flying off the side of the chariot was because percy had pushed her to be in front of his body, and kept her back tight against his chest as the cart rattled and groaned.

finally they reached the lobby. arion crashed through the main doors into the plaza and scattered a bunch of guys in business suits.

"ella!" hazel shouted at the sky. "where are you? we have to leave!"

for a horrible second, karina was afraid the harpy might be too far away to hear. she might be lost, or captured by the amazons.

behind them a battle forklift clattered up the stairs and roared through the lobby, a mob of amazons behind it.

"surrender!" otrera screamed.

the forklift raised its razor-sharp knives.

"ella!" hazel cries desperately.

in a flash of red feathers, ella landed in the chariot. "ella is here. amazons are pointy. go now."

"hold on!" hazel warned, and karina leaned further into percy's chest, his arm tightening around her. "arion, run!"

the world seemed to elongate. sunlight bent around them. arion shot away from the amazons and sped through downtown seattle. karina glanced back and saw a line of smoking pavement where arion's hooves had touched the ground. he thundered toward the docks, leaping over cars, barreling through intersections. arion reached the water and leaped straight off the docks.

karina let out a scream, but not a scream of fear— a scream of delight. she felt so free, so alive.

she looked behind her to see percy staring at her in delight as well, and she smiled at him, reaching her face up to where it was just beside his, their breaths mingling to where karina could smell his mint gum, and she pressed a small kiss on his cheek. it didn't last very long, but it wasn't too short, either. it was almost perfect if asked her— or percy.

she didn't know what had spurred her to do that in the moment, or what sudden confidence had washed over her, but all she knew was that she wanted to do it again.

and again. and again, again, again.

and percy was feeling even more than her, he honestly didn't know what to feel. he wanted to feel her lips on his, and he wanted her to kiss him again. and as many times as she felt needed.

he wanted her.

he wanted every part of her. her eyes, her hands, her lips, her hair, everything. he wanted her only hold his hand in hers, to only kiss his lips, to be held in only his arms. he just wanted to be hers.

karina released her lips from his cheek with a smile, and tint of pink flushed across her face, and she saw percy's face with a blush as well. she knew that even though the action was small, it meant millions. and it showed that whatever percy was feeling toward her, she felt the same.

they didn't say anything else to each other as they continued to travel across the ocean— but they knew exactly what the other was thinking.

they somehow always did.

and after a while of sitting in the back of a chattering chariot, karina was almost relieved when the wheels fell off.

frank had already thrown up twice from the back of the chariot, which only made karina feel sick. the horse seemed to bend time and space as he ran, blurring the landscape and making karina feel like she'd just rode a rollercoaster seven times in a row. ella didn't help matters either. she kept muttering: "seven hundred and fifty miles per hour. eight hundred. eight hundred and three. very fast."

the horse sped north across puget sound, zooming past islands and fishing boats and very surprised pods of whales.

they soon began to see the coast of crescent beach, in boundary bay. frank had told her about how he had gone sailing here once. they'd crossed into canada.

the horse rocketed into dry land. he followed highway 99 north, running so fast, the cars seemed to be standing still.

finally, just as they were getting into vancouver, the chariot wheels began to smoke.

"hazel!" frank yelled. "we're breaking up!"

"but you aren't even dating yet!" karina yelled back, a smile tugging at her lips.

frank blushed, and hazel just ignored them as she she got the message and pulled the reins. the horse didn't seem happy about it, but he slowed to subsonic as they zipped through the city streets. they crossed the ironworkers bridge into north vancouver, and the chariot started to rattle dangerously. at last arion stopped at the top of a wooded hill. he snorted with satisfaction, as if to say, that's how we run, fools. the smoking chariot collapsed, spilling karina, percy, frank, and ella into the wet, mossy ground.

percy landed on top of karina with a thump! and karina groaned in surprise at the heavy weight hat was suddenly slammed on top of her.

"percy," karina mumbled, pushing his face off of her chest. "can't . . . breathe . . . "

he chuckled to himself and put his arms to the sides of her head, leaning over her, his hair flopping down over his face, covering the top part of it. karina blushed at the position they were in, but tried to play it off by raising a sarcastic brow at him, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"why are you still on top of me, perc'?" she asked, and percy dipped his head down in laughter, slowly pushing himself up into a standing position, and reached his hand down to help her up.

as he grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet, he suddenly pulled her body closer to his, and whispered,"couldn't resist the opportunity,"and he flashed her a wide smirk as karina's cheeks got redder in color. finally pulling away from his body and clearing her throat, karina looked over to frank to see him stumbling to his feet— grateful that he didn't see the little scene that had just happened between her and percy.

percy then walked over to arion and started to unhitch him from the ruined chariot. ella fluttered around in dizzy circles, bonking into the trees and muttering, "tree. tree. tree."

only hazel seemed unaffected by the ride. grinning with pleasure, she slid off the horse's back. "that was fun!"

"yeah." frank swallowed. "so much fun."

"at least you threw up over the side," karina added helpfully, shooting frank an amused smile, to which he glared at her, seemingly swallowing down his nausea.

arion whinnied.

"he says he needs to eat," percy translated. "no wonder. he probably burned about six million calories."

hazel studied the ground at her feet and frowned. "i'm not sensing any gold around here . . . don't worry, arion. i'll find you some. in the meantime, why don't you go graze? we'll meet you— "

the horse zipped off, leaving a trail of steam in his wake.

karina tutted and shook her head. "didn't even say goodbye."

hazel knit her eyebrows. "do you think he'll come back?"

"i don't know," percy said. "he seems kind of . . . spirited."

after that, karina joined hazel and percy in salvaging supplies from the chariot wreckage. there had been a few boxes of random amazon merchandise in the front, and ella shrieked with delight when she found a shipment of books. she snatched up a copy of birds of north america, fluttered to the nearest branch, and began scratching through the pages so fast, karina wasn't sure if she was reading or shredding.

after scavenging for any other supplied they had, karina turned to observe her surroundings.

to the south, across vancouver harbor, the downtown skyline gleamed red in the sunset. to the north, the hills and rainforests of lynn canyon park snaked between the subdivisions of north vancouver until they gave way to the wilderness.

karina's gaze became set on the setting sun, watching and admiring the sky as the colors of deed red and burnt orange faded down on to the horizon, the final lights of day slowly slipping down until there was nothing but darkness.

"i'm practically home," frank said, snapping her out of her daze. "my grandmother's house is right over there."

hazel squinted. "how far?"

"just over the river and through the woods."

percy raised an eyebrow. "seriously? to grandmother's house we go?"

karina grinned. "awesome! i've always wanted to meet grandma zhang."

frank cleared his throat. "yeah, anyway."

hazel clasped her hands in prayer. "frank, please tell me she'll let us spend the night. i know we're on a deadline, but we've got to rest, right? and arion saved us some time. maybe we could get an actual cooked meal?"

"and a hot shower?" percy pleaded.

"and a bed with, like, sheets and a pillow?" karina added.

percy scoffed sarcastically. "is my shoulder not good enough for you?"

"no," she replied flatly. "it's boney."

percy gasped in mock offense and looked at her in shock. she just laughed in reply and bumped her shoulder with his, reaching down to connect their hands together.

frank seemed to think about their pleads for a moment, before saying, "it's worth a try. to grandmothers house we go."

after that, they began to walk into the forest and in the direction frank had said the house was.

after a while, it seemed frank had gotten distracted, seemingly being lost in his own thoughts, because when they reached an ogres' camp, he kept walking,

and he would've walked straight into their camp if percy hadn't pulled him back just in time.

they crouched next to hazel and ella behind a fallen log and peered into the clearing.

"bad," ella murmured. "this is bad for harpies."

"this is bad for all of us," karina whispered back nervously.

it was fully dark now. around a blazing campfire sat half a dozen shaggy-haired humanoids. standing up, they probably would've been eight feet tall— tiny compared to the giant polybotes or even the cyclopes they'd seen in california, but that didn't make them any less scary. they wore only knee-length surfer shorts. their skin was sunstroke red— covered with tattoos of dragons, hearts, and bikini-clad women. hanging from a spit over the fire was a skinned animal, maybe a boar, and the ogres were tearing off chunks of meat with their clawlike fingernails, laughing and talking as they ate, baring pointy teeth. next to the ogres sat several mesh bags filled with bronze spheres like cannonballs. the spheres must have been hot, because they steamed in the cool evening air.

two hundred yards beyond the clearing, the lights of the zhang mansion glowed through the trees. so close, karina thought. she wondered if they could sneak around the monsters, but when she looked left and right, she saw more campfires in either direction, as if the ogres had surrounded the property.

"what are these guys?" frank whispered.

"canadians," percy said.

frank leaned away from him. "excuse me?"

"uh, no offense," percy said. "that's what annabeth called them," he glanced at karina when he said her name, only to see her listening intently, not the slightest hint of jealousy showing in her features. he wasn't sure what annabeth was to him yet, so when he saw that she wasn't upset, he continued. "when i fought them before. she said they live in the north, in canada."

"yeah, well," frank grumbled. "we're in canada. i'm canadian. but i've never seen those things before."

ella plucked a feather from her wings and turned it in her fingers. "laistrygonians," she said. "cannibals. northern giants. sasquatch legend. yep, yep. they're not birds. not birds of north america."

"that's what they're called," percy agreed. "laistry— uh, whatever ella said."

frank scowled at the dudes in the clearing. "they could be mistaken for bigfoot. maybe that's where the legend came from. ella, you're pretty smart."

"ella is smart," she agreed. she shyly offered frank her feather.

"oh . . . thanks." he stuck the feather in this pocket, then noticed hazel was glaring at him. "what?" he asked.

karina snickered into percy's shoulder, finding enjoyment at how jealous hazel got from just that small interaction. percy also sported a small grin at hazel's antics.

"nothing," hazel turned to percy. "so your memory is coming back? do you remember how you beat these guys?"

"sort of," percy said. "it's still fuzzy. i think i had help. we killed them with celestial bronze, but that was before . . . you know."

"before death got kidnapped," hazel said. "so now, they might not die at all."

percy nodded. "those bronze cannonballs . . . those are bad news. i think we used them against the giants, they catch fire and blow up."

karina hummed in fake interest, flicking her eyebrows up in exaggeration.

"if we cause anything explosions," percy continued. "the ogres at the other camps will come running. i think they've surrounded the house, which means there could be fifty or sixty of these guys in the woods."

"so it's a trap." hazel looked at frank in concern. "what about your grandmother? we've got to help her."

"we need a distraction," frank decided. "if we can draw this group into the woods, we might sneak through without alerting the others."

"i wish arion was here," hazel said. "i could get the ogres to chase me."

"what if i— " karina began.

"no." percy immediately said, cutting her off before she could even say anything else.

karina rolled her eyes and glared at percy, and he just gripped her hand tighter. he wasn't going to let her do anything that could get her into danger.

frank slipped his spear off his back. "i've got another idea."

"frank, you can't charge out there!" hazel said. "that's suicide!"

"i'm not charging," frank said. "i've got a friend. just . . . nobody scream, okay?"

"uhm, no, not okay," karina replied, but it didn't matter.

he jabbed the spear into the ground, and the point broke off.

"oops," ella said. "no spear point. nope, nope."

the ground trembled, and karina felt a presence lifting up from the earth. a skeletal hand broke the surface. percy fumbled for his sword, and karina scattered back in fear. hazel made a sound like a cat with a hairball. ella disappeared and rematerialized at the top of the nearest tree.

"it's okay," frank promised. "he's under control!"

"since when did you turn into nico?" karina asked in a high pitcher whisper, her eyes wider than saucers,

the skeleton crawled out of the ground. he was wearing a camouflage uniform and combat boots, translucent gray flesh covering his bones like glowing jell-o. he turned his ghostly eyes toward frank, as if waiting for orders.

"frank, that's a spartus," percy said. "a skeleton warrior. they're evil. they're killers. they're— "

"i know," frank said bitterly. "but it's a gift from mars. right now that's all i've got. okay, gray. your orders: attack that group of ogres. lead them off to the west, causing a diversion so we can— "

unfortunately, gray lost interest after the word "ogres." maybe he only understood simple sentences. he charged toward the ogres' campfire.

"wait!" frank said, but it was too late. gray pulled two of his own ribs from his shirt and ran around the fire, stabbing ogres in the back with such blinding speed they didn't even have time to yell. six extremely surprised-looking laistrygonians fell sideways like a circle of dominoes and crumpled to dust.

gray stomped around, kicking their ashes apart as they tried to re-form. when he seemed satisfied that they weren't coming back, gray stood at attention, saluted smartly in frank's direction, and sank into the forest floor.

percy stared at frank. "how— "

no laistrygonians." ella fluttered down and landed next to them. "six minus six is zero. spears are good for subtraction. yep."

hazel looked at frank as if he'd turned into a zombie skeleton himself. and karina just had a blank look on her face, seemingly getting over the fact that frank had just summoned a skeleton out of the ground to attack a bunch of sunburnt ogres.

frank glared down at the broken tip of his spear. "let's go," he said. "my grandmother might be in trouble."

5064 words

here's me giving y'all your daily meal of percina👐👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨