TERRIFIED . . . annabeth chase

thirty six.

VAL WAS ON deck, taking guard.

She'd charmspoken Leo behind her to sleep and left the ship on autopilot while she and Jason fought a lot of monsters. Sure, she'd gone on a lot of missions lately, but she'd had an intake of too much coffee tonight, and here she was now. Still suffering through the effects of caffeine.

Val hummed as she attempted to figure out how to steer the ship. Jason hadn't protested, and neither had Percy and Annabeth when they came up. Val ignored them in favor for attempting to make the ship fly. It did not work, but a smoothie came out, so she started sipping it. She'd regret that later. The only girl's bathroom on the ship was occupied by Hazel, who was throwing up twenty four seven when on water, and Val wasn't keen on going to the boys bathroom.

So here she was now, tinkering with buttons and levers, humming notes to herself that she'd play on her piano later in the hopes of making a decent tune.

Suddenly, she felt herself reeling as another boat rammed them head-on. In that split second, Val registered random details: another trireme; black sails painted with a gorgon's head; hulking warriors, not quite human, crowded at the front of the boat in Greek armor, swords and spears ready; and a bronze ram at water level, slamming against the hull of the Argo II.

Val was almost thrown overboard. She'd panicked and shadow traveled to be next to Annabeth and Percy.

Festus blew fire, sending a dozen very surprised warriors screaming and diving into the sea, but more swarmed aboard the Argo II. Grappling lines wrapped around the rails and the mast, digging iron claws into the hull's planks.

By the time Val's brain had slightly recovered, the enemy was everywhere. She couldn't see well through the fog and the dark, but the invaders seemed to be humanlike dolphins, or dolphinlike humans. Some had gray snouts. Others held their swords in stunted flippers. Some waddled on legs partially fused together, while others had flippers for feet, which reminded Val of clown shoes.

The alarm bell rang. Val must've hit it when she'd nearly collapsed overboard. Leo, who was awake now, made a dash for the nearest ballista but went down under a pile of chattering dolphin warriors.

Val drew her knives and stood in a defensive stance, hoping that she looked intimidating because she was screaming inside. She was horrible with fighting, especially with weapons. Just because she had knives doesn't mean she knew how to use them well.

She was hopelessly outnumbered anyway. Several dozen warriors lowered their spears and made a ring around them, wisely keeping out of striking distance of her knives. The dolphin-men opened their snouts and made whistling, popping noises. Val had never considered just how vicious dolphin teeth looked.

She tried to think. Maybe she could do her death wave thing, but how many dolphins would it kill? She was still exhausted. Thanks, caffeine addiction.

At least the warriors didn't seem interested in killing them immediately. They kept Val, Percy, and Annabeth contained while more of their comrades flooded belowdecks and secured the hull. Val could hear them breaking down the cabin doors, scuffling with her friends. She hoped that her room wasn't that destroyed. Even if the other demigods hadn't been fast asleep, they wouldn't have stood a chance against so many.

Leo was dragged across the deck, half-conscious and groaning, and dumped on a pile of ropes. Below, the sounds of fighting tapered off. The others had been subdued. Val knew that much.

On one side of the ring of spears, the dolphin warriors parted to let someone through. He appeared to be fully human, but from the way the dolphins fell back before him, he was clearly the leader. He was dressed in Greek combat armor — sandals, kilt, and greaves, a breastplate decorated with elaborate sea monster designs — and everything he wore was gold. Even his sword was gold instead of bronze.