Rick Riordan
The Sea Monsters - 02
quest. Your friends should be coming right about ... now."
I heard Annabeth's voice calling my name from the sand dunes. Tyson, too, was shouting
from a little bit farther away.
"I hope I packed well for you," Hermes said. "I do have some experience with travel."
He snapped his fingers and three yellow duffel bags appeared at my feet. "Waterproof, of
course. If you ask nicely, your father should be able to help you reach the ship."
"Ship?"
Hermes pointed. Sure enough, a big cruise ship was cutting across Long Island Sound, its
white-and-gold lights glowing against the dark water.
"Wait," I said. "I don't understand any of this. I haven't even agreed to go!"
"I'd make up your mind in the next five minutes, if I were you," Hermes advised. "That's when
the harpies will come to eat you. Now, good night, cousin, and dare I say it? May the gods go with
you."
He opened his hand and the caduceus flew into it.
Good luck, Martha told me.
Bring me back a rat, George said.
The caduceus changed into a cell phone and Hermes slipped it into his pocket.
He jogged off down the beach. Twenty paces away, he shimmered and vanished, leaving
me alone with a thermos, a bottle of chewable vitamins, and five minutes to make an impossible
decision.
Chapter Eight
We Board The Princess Andromeda
I was staring at the waves when Annabeth and Tyson found me.
"What's going on?" Annabeth asked. "I heard you calling for help!"
"Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"
"I didn't call you guys," I said. "I'm fine."
"But then who ..." Annabeth noticed the three yellow duffel bags, then the thermos and the
bottle of vitamins I was holding. "What—"
"Just listen," I said. "We don't have much time."
I told them about my conversation with Hermes. By the time I was finished, I could hear
screeching in the distance—patrol harpies picking up our scent.
"Percy," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."
"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."
"So? If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."
"Yeah, but you promised Chiron—"
"I promised I'd keep you from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay
behind and tell them—"
"I want to go," Tyson said.
"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded close to panic. "I mean ... Percy, come on. You know that's
impossible."
I wondered again why she had such a grudge against Cyclopes. There was something she
wasn't telling me.
She and Tyson both looked at me, waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was
getting farther and farther away.
The thing was, part of me didn't want Tyson along. I'd spent the last three days in close
quarters with the guy, getting razzed by the other campers and embarrassed a million times a day,
constantly reminded that I was related to him. I needed some space.
Plus, I didn't know how much help he'd be, or how I'd keep him safe. Sure, he was strong,
but Tyson was a little kid in Cyclops terms, maybe seven or eight years old, mentally. I could see
him freaking out and starting to cry while we were trying to sneak past a monster or something. He'd
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