The Forbidden Daughter | PJO Book One

eight

MONSTER DOUGHNUT

"Flask!" Percy screamed as they hurtled towards the water.

"What?" Annabeth must've thought he had lost his mind. She was holding on to the boat straps for dear life, her hair flying straight up like a torch.

Ariana held onto her. Screaming, "PLEASE DONT KILL ME POSEIDON!"

But Tyson understood. He managed to open his duffel bag and take out Hermes's magical flask without losing his grip on it or the boat.

Arrows and javelins whistled past them.

He grabbed the Flask and hoped he was doing the right thing. "Hang on!"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Ariana screamed.

"I am hanging on!" Annabeth yelled.

"Tighter!" He hooked his feet under the boat's inflatable bench, and, as Tyson grabbed Ariana, Annabeth and Percy by the backs of their shirts, he gave the Flask cap a quarter turn.

Instantly, a white sheet of wind jetted out of the flask and propelled them sideways, turning their downward plummet into a forty-five-degree crash landing.

The wind seemed to laugh as it shot from the flask, like it was glad to be free. As they hit the ocean, they bumped once, twice, skipping like a stone, then they were whizzing along like a speed boat, salt spray in their faces and nothing but sea ahead.

Ariana kept screaming.

She heard a wail of outrage from the ship behind them, but they were already out of weapon range.

The Princess Andromeda faded to the size of a white toy boat in the distance, and then it was gone.

As they raced over the sea, Annabeth and Percy tried to send an Iris-message to Chiron. They figured it was important they let somebody know what Luke was doing, and they didn't know who else to trust.

The wind from the Flask stirred up a nice sea spray that made a rainbow in the sunlight - perfect for an Iris-message - but their connection was still poor.

When Annabeth threw a gold drachma into the mist and prayed for the rainbow goddess to show them Chiron, his face appeared all right, but there was some kind of weird strobe light flashing in the background and rock music blaring, like he was at a dance club.

"CHIRON THEY ARE TRYING TO FUCKING MURDER ME!"

They told him about sneaking away from camp, and Luke and the Princess Andromeda and the golden box for Kronos's remains, but between the noise on his end and the rushing wind and water on our end, Ariana was not sure how much he heard.

"Ariana," Chiron yelled, "you have to watch out for-"

His voice was drowned out by loud shouting behind him - a bunch of voices whooping it up like Comanche warriors.

"What?" She yelled.

"Curse my relatives!" Chiron ducked as a plate flew over his head and shattered somewhere out of sight. "Annabeth, you shouldn't have let Percy or Ariana  leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece -"

"Yeah, baby!" somebody behind Chiron yelled. "Woo-hoooooo!"

The music got cranked up, subwoofers so loud it made their boat vibrate.

"- Miami." Chiron was yelling. "I'll try to keep watch -"

Their misty screen smashed apart like someone on the other side had thrown a bottle at it, and Chiron was gone.

An hour later they spotted land - a long stretch of beach lined with high-rise hotels. The water became crowded with fishing boats and tankers.

A coastguard cruiser passed on their starboard side, then turned like it wanted a second look. Ariana guessed it isn't every day they see a yellow lifeboat with no engine going a hundred knots an hour, manned by four kids.