―✧―

𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐅𝐔𝐍.

all morning frank and i had scoured the port of pylos. frank allowed only me to come with him, thinking my charmspeak might be useful if we ran into his shape-shifting relatives.

piper would've came too, but her dad's face was plastered everywhere (thanks to his new movie) and i knew some people would recognize her. people might recognize me too (thanks dad), but at least i could make myself invisible if i really had to.

as it turned out, my dagger was more useful than my charmspeak so far. we'd battled a laistrygonian giant, slain a giant warthog in the town square, and defeated a flock of stymphalian birds using our bows and arrows.

i was glad for the work. it kept me from thinking about dad, and life back in new york. 

we still had the malibu plot, but dad decided that he was just gonna put it in my name and not rebuild yet. the avengers were out and about, stopping by the tower occasionally. i didn't get to talk to them much, but nat had dropped in on one of mine and dad's iris-messages, and even steve was there once. 

i missed them all.

it was around one in the afternoon, when i finally put my charmspeak to work. i spoke with an ancient greek ghost in a laundromat (on a one-to-ten scale for weird conversations, definitely an eleven) and got directions to an ancient stronghold where the shape-shifting descendants of periclymenus supposedly hung out.

after trudging across the island in the afternoon heat, we found the cave perched halfway up a beachside cliff. frank insisted that i wait for him at the bottom while he checked it out.

i nodded, squinting up at the cave entrance and hoping i hadn't guided him into a death trap.

behind me, a stretch of white sand hugged the foot of the hills. sunbathers sprawled on blankets. little kids splashed in the waves. the blue sea glittered invitingly.

i thought back to when i was twelve, and me and my dad had took a trip to hawaii. we spent the entire time surfing and having splash wars, even though my dad was a horrible surfer.

i missed him.

i glanced up at the cliff's summit. the ruins of an old castle clung to the ridge. i wasn't sure if that was part of the shape-changers' hideout or not. nothing moved on the parapets. the entrance of the cave sat about seventy feet down the cliff face — a circle of black in the chalky yellow rock like the hole of a giant pencil sharpener.

nestor's cave, the laundromat ghost had called it. supposedly the ancient king of pylos had stashed his treasure there in times of crisis. the ghost also claimed that hermes had once hidden the stolen cattle of apollo in that cave.

cows. i still shuddered at the thought of them.

after i'd managed to piss off her royal majesty, hera, she'd been adamant on sending cows and peacocks after me. she'd continued her little game right up until the argo ii finally set sail. but sometimes, i could still swear i heard the moo of a cow in the distant.

stop it, i told myself. there're no cows here.

i was just starting to think that frank's been gone too long — when he appeared at the cave entrance. next to him stood a tall grey-haired man in a white linen suit and a pale yellow tie. the older man pressed a small shiny object — like a stone or a piece of glass — into frank's hands. he and frank exchanged a few words. frank nodded gravely. then the man turned into a seagull and flew away.

frank picked his way down the trail until he reached me.

"i found them," he said.

"yeah, i noticed," i motioned to the seagull. "you okay?"

"my, uh... cousins, i guess you'd call them..." he began, "they've been living here for generations, all descended from periclymenus the argonaut. i told them my story, how the zhang family had gone from greece to rome to china to canada. i told them about the legionnaire ghost i saw in the house of hades, urging me to come to pylos. they... they didn't seem surprised. they said it's happened before, long-lost relatives coming home."

even if i wasn't able to read emotions, i could still hear the wistfulness in his voice. "you were expecting something different."

he shrugged. "a bigger welcome. some party balloons. i'm not sure. my grandmother told me i would close the circle — bring our family honour and all that. but my cousins here... they acted kind of cold and distant, like they didn't want me around. i don't think they liked that i'm a son of mars. honestly, i don't think they liked that i'm chinese, either."

i glared into the sky. the seagull was long gone, which was probably a good thing. i would've shot it out the air, no mercy.

"if your cousins feel that way, they're idiots. they don't know how great you are," i insisted.

frank shuffled from foot to foot. "they got a little more friendly when i told them i was just passing through. they gave me a going-away present"

he opened his hand. In his palm gleamed a metallic vial no bigger than an eyedropper.

i resisted the urge to step away. "is that the poison?"

frank nodded. "they call it pylosian mint. apparently the plant sprang from the blood of a nymph who died on a mountain near here, back in ancient times. i didn't ask for details."

the vial was so tiny... i was worried there wouldn't be enough. normally i didn't wish for more deadly poison. nor was i sure how it would help us make the so-called physician's cure that nike had mentioned. but, if the cure could really cheat death, i wanted to brew an eight-pack — one dose for each of the others.

frank rolled the vial around in his palm. "i wish vitellius reticulus were here."

i stared, unsure if i'd heard him right. "ridiculous who?"

a smile flickered across his mouth. "gaius vitellius reticulus, although we did call him ridiculous sometimes. he was one of the lares of the fifth cohort. kind of a goofball, but he was the son of aesculapius, the healing god. if anybody knew about this physician's cure... he might."

"a healing god would be nice," i agreed. "better than having a screaming, tied-up victory goddess on board. what were you guys thinking with that?!"

"hey, you're lucky. my cabin is closest to the stables. i can hear her yelling all night: first place or death! an a-minus is a failing grade! leo really needs to design a gag that's better than my old sock," frank shook his head. "speaking of leo, it was his idea to bring her on board."

"figures," i muttered. "but the dirty sock, dude seriously?"

frank laughed, scaring a nearby pigeon, "you know, percy said that the exact same thing. besides, she was trying to curse us. it was the only way we could get her to shut up."

i still didn't like taking the goddess captive. mainly because she was annoying. the general idea of tying a god and chucking them in the stables was fine by me. the sooner we got rid of nike, the better. 

"so your cousins," i asked, "did they have any advice about what comes next? this chained god we're supposed to find in sparta?"

frank's expression darkened. "yeah. i'm afraid they had some thoughts on that. let's get back to the ship and i'll tell you about it."

the two of us made our way to the docks, smiling at a scraggly old fisherman who asked if he could take us for a boat ride. i pointed in the direction of the argo ii, which was anchored a quarter mile to the sea. the man looked didn't even blink, taking us along.

i pressed a wad of euros into the captain's hands once we arrived.

"thank you nice american tourists!" the man called.

"i'm canadian," frank grumbled.

i laughed, the two of us making it to the the deck.

frank smiled awkwardly, "well... nice killing giant warthogs with you."

"you too, dude," i grinned. "come on, let's call a meeting."

the crew gathered for a hurried meeting on the foredeck — mostly because percy was keeping an eye on a giant red sea serpent swimming off the port side.

"that thing is really red," percy muttered. "i wonder if it's cherry-flavoured."

"why don't you swim over and find out?" i asked.

"how about no."

"anyway," frank said, "according to my pylos cousins, the chained god we're looking for in sparta is my dad... uh, i mean ares, not mars. apparently the spartans kept a statue of him chained up in their city so the spirit of war would never leave them."

"oo-kay," leo said. "the spartans were freaks. of course... we've got victory tied up downstairs, so i guess we can't talk."

jason leaned against the forward ballista. "on to sparta, then. but how does a chained god's heartbeat help us find a cure for dying?"

from the tightness in his face, i could tell he was still in pain. 

"piper was telling me about some visions she'd seen in her dagger," theo said.

"oh, right," piper said, unsheathing her dagger. "i don't see anything right now. but one vision kept popping up. riley, and i are exploring some ruins—"

"ruins!" leo rubbed his hands. "now we're talking. how many ruins can there be in greece?"

"quiet, leo," annabeth scolded. "piper, do you think it was sparta?"

"maybe," piper said. "anyway... suddenly we're in this dark place like a cave. we're staring at this bronze warrior statue. in the vision riley touches the statue's face and flames start swirling around us. that's all I saw."

"why am i touching the dude's face?" i muttered.

theo shook his head. "i don't like that vision."

"me neither." percy kept one eye on the red sea serpent, which was still slithering through the waves about a hundred yards to port. "if the statue engulfs people in fire, we should send leo."

"i love you too, man."

"you know what i mean. you're immune. or, heck, give me some of those nice water grenades and i'll go. ares and i have tangled before."

i stared at the coastline of pylos, now retreating in the distance. "no, if piper saw me with her, going after the statue, then that's who should go. we'll be all right. there's always a way to survive."

"not always," hazel warned.

since she was the only one in the group who had actually died and come back to life, her observation sort of killed the mood.

frank held out the vial of pylosian mint. "what about this stuff? after the house of hades, i kind of hoped we were done drinking poison."

"store it securely in the hold," annabeth said. "for now, that's all we can do. once we figure out this chained god situation, we'll head to the island of delos"

"the curse of delos," hazel remembered. "that sounds fun."

"hopefully apollo will be there," i tried to remain optimistic. "delos was his home island. he's the god of medicine. he should be able to advise us."

off the port bow, the cherry-flavoured sea serpent spewed steam.

"yeah, it's definitely checking us out," percy decided. "maybe we should take to the air for awhile."

"airborne it is!" leo said. "festus, do the honours!"

the bronze dragon figurehead creaked and clacked. the ship's engine hummed. the oars lifted, expanding into aerial blades with a sound like ninety umbrellas opening at once, and the argo ii rose into the sky.

"we should reach sparta by morning," leo announced. "and remember to come by the mess hall tonight, folks, 'cause chef leo is making his famous three-alarm tofu tacos!"

piper's dream did not make me feel good.

apparently, the giant king was in greece, along with the other giants and even more ugly monsters. there was a messenger giant — aware of the exact route we were taking. the messenger giant was worried in case we release something called the makhai, but the king, porphyrion wasn't fazed.

something named mimas was waiting for us at sparta, ready to take one male and one female to wake the earth mother.

while i managed to keep my feelings to myself, percy didn't.

the toilets actually exploded.

"if only clarisse were here," annabeth sighed, remembering percy's first time at camp.

"no way are you two going down there alone," percy said, ignoring annabeth's commentary.

leo ran down the hall waving a wrench. "man, did you have to destroy the plumbing?"

percy didn't answer. water ran down the gangway. the hull rumbled as more pipes burst and sinks overflowed. i knew percy didn't mean to cause all this damage, but he could at least try and control his glower.

"we'll be all right," i told him, squeezing his hand quickly. "piper foresaw the two of us going down there, so that's what needs to happen."

percy glared at piper like it was all her fault. i flicked him. he continued, "and this mimas dude? i'm guessing he's a giant?"

"probably," piper said. "porphyrion called him our brother."

"and a bronze statue surrounded by fire," percy said. "and those... other things you mentioned. mackies?"

"makhai," piper said. 

"percy mispronouncing another greek work," annabeth held a spoon like it was a microphone. "what else is new?"

"i think the word means battles in greek," i put in. "but i don't understand how that applies here, exactly."

"that's my point!" percy said. "we don't know what's down there. i'm going with you."

"no," i put a hand on his arm. "if the giants want our blood, the last thing we need is a boy and a girl going down there together. remember? they want one of each for their big sacrifice."

"then i'll get jason," percy said. "and the two of us—"

"honey, are you implying that two boys can handle this better than two girls?"

"no. i mean... no. but—"

"he said while being held at gunpoint," annabeth muttered, continuing her commentary.

i kissed him in assurance. then once again, just because. 

his gaze fell to the small ring i wore, with pieces of my arc reactor, and i knew he was thinking of everything i had to go through without him. i slipped it off, placing it on his smallest finger. a silent promise: i'm coming back.

"we'll be fine. you two," i motioned to him and annabeth, "be nice. no fighting. if i hear any complaints about one of you, i'm spending the night in the other's cabin."

"what if you hear complaints about both of us?" annabeth asked.

"then i'm sleeping in piper's cabin."

i made my way upstairs, piper following me, before the whole lower deck could flood with toilet water.

REY WRITES!

thanks for reading!!

thoughts?

comments?

questions?

headcanons?

theories?