Daughter of Wine

Piper

The next morning, I wake up to a different ship's horn. A blast so loud it literally shakes me out of bed. 

I wonder if Leo is pulling another joke. Then the horn booms again. It sounds like it's coming from several hundred yards away, from another vessel. 

I rush to get dressed. By the time I get up on deck, most of the others have already gathered, all hastily dressed except for Coach Hedge, who pulled the night watch. 

Frank's Vancouver Olympics shirt is inside out. Percy wears pajama pants and a bronze breastplate, which is an interesting fashion statement. Hazel's hair is all blown to one side, and Leo had apparently accidentally set himself on fire. His T-shirt is in carred tatters. His arms are smoking. 

Calli bursts out on deck, wearing nothing but an oversized purple tee that reads Oh, sweet child of wine. Her hair is a curly mess around her head, like a lion's mane. There's a piece of it stuck to her face, and I think in her mouth. She's swinging her thyrsus wildly, a crazy look in her eyes. 

"What's going on?" She demands, looking around, waiting for an attack. 

Frank bursts into laughter at the sight of her, followed by Hazel, Leo, and everyone else. 

She spits the hair out of her mouth in frustration. Despite her mess, she still looks pretty. As ridiculous as it sounds, I'm jealous. I wish I looked cute when I first woke up. 

Calli looks past us over the port side, and runs her hand through her hair, her eyes wide. "Woah." 

About a hundred yards away, a massive cruise ship glides past. Tourists wave at us from their fifteen or sixteen rows of balconies. Some smile and take pictures. None of them look surprised to see an Ancient Greek trireme. Maybe the Mist makes it look like a fishing boat, or perhaps the cruisers think the Argo II is a tourist attraction. 

Coach Hedge plugs his ears. "Do they have to be so loud?"

"They're just saying hi." Frank speculates. 

"WHAT?" Hedge yells back. 

The ship edges past us, heading out to sea. The tourists keep waving. If they find it strange that the Argo II is populated by half-asleep kids in armor and pajamas and a man with goat legs, they don't let on.

Calli runs to the edge and waves, like a princess waving off her subjects.

"Bye!" Leo joins her, putting one arm around her waist, and waving with the other

"Can I man the ballistae?" Hedge asks. 

"No." Calli says through a forced smile. 

Hazel rubs her eyes and looks across the glittering water. "Where are-oh... Wow."

I follow her gaze and gasp. Without the cruise ship blocking our view, I see a mountain jutting from the sea less than half a mile to the north. I've seen impressive cliffs before. I'd driven Highway 1 along the California coast. I've even fallen down the Grand Canyon with Jason and flown back up. But neither is as amazing as this massive fist of blinding white rock. On one side, the limestone cliffs are almost completely sheer, dropping into the sea over a thousand feet below, as near as I can figure. On the other side, the mountain slopes in tiers, covered in green forest, so that the whole thing reminds me of a colossal sphinx, worn down over the millenia, with a massive white head and chest, and a green cloak over its back. 

"The rock of Gibraltar." Annabeth says in awe. "At the tip of Spain,"

"Spain?" Calli's eyes light up. "I'd like to go to Spain."

"Oooh!" Leo's eyes widen. "There's a great museum on Science and Technology in Madrid."

"And the Santiago Bernabeu soccer stadium is there!" Calli exclaims.  "That's where real Madrid plays! You know, Cristiano Ronaldo played for them for a while. Of course, he's no Messi, but-"