The Mark of Athena,Heroes of Olympus, Book 3

Percy XVI


"Leo, get this thing as high into the air as possible!" screamed Annabeth. She obviously recognized the monster below them.

"What is it?" asked Percy.

"Well, everyone thought this thing was dead-forever. But that obviously isn't the case. There isn't a name for it, and if there is I haven't found it, but it's the sea monster the original Perseus defeated. In the myths the mortals read, Perseus killed it with one strike of his sword. In truth, Perseus nearly died defeating it."

Percy couldn't believe it. The monster that the Perseus could barely defeat was right below them.

"Wait, I thought Perseus turned the sea monster to stone," said Leo.

"No. It was too dangerous. For one thing, it wouldn't have affected it. For another, it would have killed Andromeda. She couldn't look away because she was chained to a rock." Annabeth stared out the window.

"Holy crap, we have to get out of here. There is no way to defeat this thing. Perseus had these flying shoes and could get out of the way. We're in a boat, with normal shoes and-"

"Would a bow work?" asked Frank.

"Maybe. Do you have good aim?" Annabeth looked at Frank.

"Maybe. Do you have good arrows?" Frank grinned.

"Heck, yeah, we do!" yelled Leo, obviously back to normal. "Right this way, please!" Frank shrugged and followed Leo. They went down to the lower decks. Percy stared anxiously at the sea monster. It seemed to be glaring at him. Percy shuddered and turned away. He found Frank with three quivers on his back.

"Leo doesn't even know what all of these do yet!" he exclaimed excitedly. "This is going to be fun." Frank climbed the stairs to the top deck. Percy and the others followed him.

"Let's try this out." Frank notched an arrow and shot at the sea monster. It roared in anger.

"Leo, fly this thing as fast as you can!" said Jason urgently.

"'Kay, but one of you better video tape this."

"I have my phone, but I don't feel like recording it." Annabeth shrugged and Percy laughed in spite of the situation. He was glad to see Annabeth back to normal.

There was a huge explosion behind them. Far behind them. From a mile away, Frank had hit the monster square in the eye. Unfortunately, the explosion hadn't killed the monster, and the monster was getting closer. That thing was fast.

Then, they got a lucky break. Leo had made it to land, leaving the angry sea monster behind.

From this height, Percy could see the shape of the land mass they were now flying over.

It was shaped like a high-heeled boot kicking a rock. Annabeth's eyes lit up when she saw it.

"We're here!" she shouted above the wind. The boat was now slowing down.

Percy sighed in relief.

But then, they got a nasty surprise.

The stupid sea monster had wings.

"Speed up! Speed up! Speed up!" yelled Jason.

"Gotcha!" replied Leo. The speed knocked them to the ground. A sonic boom was heard, combined with another explosion. Going hundreds of miles an hour, Frank had shot the sea monster again. It faltered, but continued flying. Frank threw the bow and quiver down and jumped over the edge of the boat. The boat slowed again.

Annabeth gasped. "Frank!"

"Wait for it..." Hazel grinned. An eagle flew much higher than the boat, carrying another arrow. Jason's jaw dropped.

The next explosion was much bigger than the rest. It seared the back of Percy's neck.

"Greek fire," murmured Annabeth.

"Frank? Are you okay?" yelled Piper. The eagle soared above them once more. Everyone sighed in relief. Then, the moment of relief was over when the monster flew right beside the boat.

The monster swung its tail and everyone but Annabeth ducked. She couldn't see the monster.

"Annabeth!" Percy knocked her to the deck as the tail swung right over their heads. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Annabeth said. "Everyone below deck!"

Without hesitation, everyone followed Annabeth into the control room.

"Guys, we're almost to Rome, but I don't know if I should land."

"Land. The monster can't get on the ground!" Annabeth craned to get a look at Frank fighting the monster.

"Right there. That's us-" Leo pointed to a large shape on the radar screen. "This is the monster-" Leo pointed to a huge shape on the screen. "And that's Frank." Leo pointed to the tiny shape quickly zooming around the screen.

"Land when I say land, okay?" ordered Annabeth. "One... two... three... LAND!"

Leo pressed the button as Frank threw his last arrow at the monster. The Argo II slammed into the ground just before the arrow pierced the monster's skin. Percy stared at the window as the monster froze-literally froze-in mid-air. Shards of ice broke off of the creature and dissolved in the wind. Frank began to fly back towards the boat, but was distracted by the figure that had appeared in the clearing. Frank changed back into a human and began talking to the person. Frank nodded and began walking back with the person.

Everyone ran downstairs to the middle deck to see who it was that Frank was leading to the Argo II. The door opened and Annabeth let out a strangled gasp. Percy couldn't even speak.

"Luke?"