I walked up to Hazel's door calmly. I was almost a hundred percent sure I knew what was going on and I needed to be calm about this.

Lizzy was trying to keep Percy and Frank away from the door and from panicking.

"Nova!" Frank exclaimed.

"Yes?" I raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked and I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"If you calm down, both of you, then I can figure this out, alright?" I said with a small smile. Once the boys calmed down, I walked up to the door, knocked and gently said: "Hazel, sweetheart, it's Nova. Are you alright?"

I could hear sobs on the other side and I sighed softly. "Hazel, what happened?"

"I.. I don't know, Nova. There's so much blood, I'm s.. sorry." I heard her sob on the other side and I smiled softly.

"Sweetheart, there isn't anything you could have done. Can I come in so I can help?" I asked, pressing a hand against the door.

"Mhm."

"Lizzy, mind unlocking this for me?" She nodded and I stepped back with the boys. "She's okay. Just panicking, how about you two go finish your breakfasts?"

Frank shot me one last desperate look and Percy kissed the crown of my head before the two started their walk towards the mess hall. I looked at the door and found it wide open. Hazel stood in front of it, tears running down her face and blood soaking her pants.

"Oh sweetheart." I murmured and wrapped her in a hug. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"Piper, Annabeth, Lizzy, can I borrow you three for a couple of minutes?" I asked, poking my head into the mess hall after I got Hazel in the shower.

"Nova-" Jason tried but I gritted my teeth.

"Like now, please." I insisted as the girls all stood up.

"Is Hazel okay?" Frank and Percy both asked and I nodded.

"She's alright. Just didn't know what was happening." I smiled at the two before shutting the door behind me.

"What happened to Hazel?" Annabeth asked, the concern clear in her eyes.

"First period. You know how that goes." I murmured to them. "Which is why we are going to make this as easy on her as we can."

"I've got heating pads and pads in my room." Piper said and I grinned at her.

"Go grab those. Lizzy, mind explaining to Frank in case Hazel gets snappy with him? He seems like a pretty emotional guy. I wouldn't want anything to happen between them." I said to her and she nodded, slipping back inside the room. "Annabeth, you do whatever you want. I've gotta take Hazel's clothes and sheets to the underworld to have them washed. Just please make sure she's okay while I'm gone."

"Of course, Val." She said and I smiled at her.

"You're a lifesaver, Annie."

"Hazel, sweetheart, your clothes are on the counter and there's a towel on the toilet seat. I'm gonna take your laundry to the underworld but I'll be back. The girls are here if you need them, alright?" I called into the bathroom through the closed door.

"Okay, thank you Nova!" She called back and I smiled.

"Of course, you're my little sister. I would be a terrible sister if I didn't take care of you." I murmured, mostly to myself before walking away from the door. I grabbed the dirty clothes and bedding and started praying to my dad.

Dad! I need you.

What is it darling? My father's voice rang loud and clear in my ears.

Just bring me home please? It's important. Is Seffi around?

The next moment, darkness washed over me and I found myself standing in the underworld throne room. Seffi, Dad, Hecate and Thanatos were all there.

"Nova!" Persephone called, wrapping me in a hug. "What happened?"

"Hazel got her first period and we don't exactly have a washing machine there." I said with a huge grin. "So mind showing me the washing machine?"

"Let me take those." Hecate said, giving me a soft smile as she took them from my arms. "One of us will drop them off when they're washed and dried."

"You're a lifesaver, Cate." I said, giving her a hug. "Thank you so much. I should get back."

I went to step back into the shadows but Thanatos and Seffi grabbed my wrists. "Nuh uh." He said. "From what I heard, Annabeth, Lizzy and Piper have Hazel covered. I have sisters, I know what its like dealing with a bunch of pissed girls, so we're going to go get everyone little surprises because I bet you, your ship will all sink up."

I blushed beat red. "I.. yeah, probably true. I'm a week early. Let's go then."

"We're back!" I called into the ship, Thanatos trailing behind me, carrying as many bags as he could. I had two in my arms, since he insisted I didn't carry them.

"Novalie! Young lady, you are supposed to be grounded." Coach Hedge demanded as soon as he caught sight of us on deck.

"Since when?" I snarked and he frowned at my grin.

"Since you snuck off with Mr. Sneaky Jackson last night."

"Jeez Valie." Thanatos teased from behind me and I kicked him in the shins.

"Thanatos! Watch yourself. I stabbed you once, I'm not afraid to do it again." I warned him and he blanked.

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that Valie!" He exclaimed and I smirked at him.

"Shouldn't have opened your mouth, Than." I started walking down towards the cabins, Thanatos trailing behind me.

"Nova, where do you think you're going?" Coach Hedge called after us and I flipped him off.

"I'm ignoring you in favor of my little sister!" I called back with a smirk.

"Hazel sweetheart, am I okay to come in?" I knocked on the door gently and it swung open. Annabeth grinned at me before glancing at the bags in my hand then the god behind me. "Annie! Is Hazel alright?"

"Better. Why's the god of death carrying your bags?" She asked, staring curiously at Thanatos and the bags he was carrying.

"Seffi insisted we go to the store and he insisted on coming along. Claimed he wanted to say hi to you guys and thank Frank, Hazel, and Percy for saving him." I said, stepping into Hazel's room. She sat on her bed, a few tears falling down her face. I set the bags in Thanatos's arms and walked over to the bed. I sat down and wrapped her in a hug.

"Nova?" She asked and I smiled.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" I asked.

"Please tell me you bought chocolate." I laughed and gestured towards the bags.

"I think the manager thought we were going to run them out of business with the pure amount of chocolate we bought." Thanatos and Annabeth joined us on the bed and we began to share stories in hopes of cheering the younger girl up.

Annabeth and I were telling Hazel our best of Percy's greatest Seaweed Brain moments, when Frank stumbled down the hall and burst into her cabin.

"Where's Leo?" he gasped. "Take off! Take off!"

We shot to our feet. Thanatos had left a couple of minutes before, saying Dad was calling for him.

"Where's Percy?" I demanded. "And the goat?"

Frank grabbed his knees, trying to breathe. His clothes were stiff and damp, like they'd been washed in pure starch. "On deck. They're fine. We're being followed!"

I pushed past him and took the stairs three at a time, Hazel and Annie right behind me and Frank trailing, still gasping for air. Percy and Hedge lay on the deck, looking exhausted. Hedge was missing his shoes. He grinned at the sky, muttering, "Awesome. Awesome." Percy was covered with nicks and scratches, like he'd jumped through a window. He didn't say anything, but he grasped my hand weakly as if to say, Be right with you, as soon as the world stops spinning.

Leo, Piper, and Jason, who'd been eating in the mess hall, came rushing up the stairs.

"What? What?" Leo cried, holding a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's wrong?"

"Followed!" Frank yelled again.

"Followed by what?" Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted. "Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky!"

I took a deep breath, knowing that someone was going have to be the calm one. Annabeth looked like she was about to kill the guy and nobody else was calm. "That makes absolutely no sense. Leo, you'd better get us out of here."

Leo put his sandwich between his teeth, pirate style, and ran for the helm.

Soon the Argo II was rising into the sky. I manned the aft crossbow. I saw no sign of pursuit by whales or otherwise, but Percy, Frank, and Hedge didn't start to recover until the Atlanta skyline was a hazy smudge in the distance.

"Charleston," Percy said, hobbling around the deck like an old man. He still sounded pretty shaken up. "Set course for Charleston."

"Charleston?" Jason said the name as if it brought back bad memories. "What exactly did you find in Atlanta?"

Frank unzipped his backpack and starting bringing out souvenirs. "Some peach preserves. A couple of T-shirts. A snow globe. And, um, these not-really-Chinese handcuffs."

I smiled gently at him. "How about you start from the top—of the story, not the backpack."

We gathered on the quarterdeck so Leo could hear the conversation as he navigated. Percy and Frank took turns relating what had happened at the Georgia Aquarium, with Coach Hedge interjecting from time to time: "That was awesome!" or "Then I kicked her in the head!"

At least the coach seemed to have forgotten about Percy and I falling asleep in the stable the night before. But judging from Percy's story, I had worse problems to worry about than being grounded.

When Percy explained about the captive sea creatures in the aquarium, I understood why he seemed so upset.

"That's terrible," I said. "We need to help them."

"We will," Percy promised. "In time. But I have to figure out how. I wish..." He shook his head. "Never mind. First we have to deal with this bounty on our heads."

Coach Hedge had lost interest in the conversation—probably because it was no longer about him—and wandered toward the bow of the ship, practicing his roundhouse kicks and complimenting himself on his technique.

Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger. "A bounty on our heads...as if we didn't attract enough monsters already."

"Do we get WANTED posters?" Leo asked. "And do they have our bounties, like, broken down on a price list?"

Hazel wrinkled her nose. "What are you talking about?"

"Just curious how much I'm going for these days," Leo said. "I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Percy or Jason, maybe... but am I worth, like, two Franks, or three Franks?"

"Hey!" Frank complained.

"Knock it off," I ordered. "At least we know our next step is to go to Charleston, to find this map."

Piper leaned against the control panel. She'd done her braid with white feathers today, which looked good with her dark brown hair.

"A map," Piper said. "But a map to what?"

"The Mark of Athena." Percy looked cautiously at Annabeth, like he was afraid he'd overstepped. She was putting out a strong I don't want to talk about it vibe.

"Whatever that is," he continued. "We know it leads to something important in Rome, something that might heal the rift between the Romans and Greek."

"The giants' bane," Hazel added.

Percy nodded. "And in my dream, the twin giants said something about a statue."

"Um..." Frank rolled his not-exactly-Chinese handcuffs between his fingers. "According to Phorcys, we'd have to be insane to try to find it. But what is it?"

Everyone looked at Annabeth.

"I—I'm close to an answer," she said. "I'll know more if we find this map. Jason, the way you reacted to the name Charleston...have you been there before?"

Jason glanced uneasily at Piper, though I wasn't sure why.

"Yeah," he admitted. "Reyna and I did a quest there about a year ago. We were salvaging Imperial gold weapons from the C.S.S. Hunley."

"The what?" Piper asked.

"Whoa!" Leo said. "That's the first successful military submarine. From the Civil War. I always wanted to see that."

"It was designed by Roman demigods," Jason said. "It held a secret stash of Imperial gold torpedoes—until we rescued them and brought them back to Camp Jupiter."

Hazel crossed her arms. "So the Romans fought on the Confederate side? As a girl whose grandmother was a slave, can I just say...not cool?"

Jason put his hands in front of him, palms up. "I personally was not alive then. And it wasn't all Greeks on one side and all Romans on the other. But, yes. Not cool. Sometimes demigods make bad choices." He looked sheepishly at Hazel and I. "Like sometimes we're too suspicious. And we speak without thinking."

I glared at him. Slowly it dawned on me that he was apologizing.

Jason elbowed Leo.

"Ow!" Leo yelped. "I mean, yeah...bad choices. Like not trusting people's brothers who, you know, might need saving. Hypothetically speaking."

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes at their poor attempt and leaned against the control panel, next to Piper.

Hazel pursed her lips. "Fine. Back to Charleston. Are you saying we should check that submarine again?"

Jason shrugged. "Well... I can think of two places in Charleston we might search. The museum where they keep the Hunley—that's one of them. It has a lot of relics from the Civil War. A map could be hidden in one. I know the layout. I could lead a team inside."

"I'll go," Leo said. "That sounds cool."

Jason nodded. He turned to Frank, who was trying to pull his fingers out of the Chinese handcuffs. "You should come too, Frank. We might need you."

Frank looked surprised. "Why? Not like I was much good at that aquarium."

"You did fine," Percy assured him. "It took all three of us to break that glass."

"Besides, you're a child of Mars," Jason said. "The ghosts of defeated causes are bound to serve you. And the museum in Charleston has plenty of Confederate ghosts. We'll need you to keep them in line."

Frank gulped. I remembered Percy's comment about Frank turning into a giant goldfish, and she resisted the urge to smile. I would never be able to look at the big guy again without seeing him as a koi.

"Okay." Frank relented. "Sure." He frowned at his fingers, trying to pull them out of the trap. "Uh, how do you—?"

Leo chuckled. "Man, you've never seen those before? There's a simple trick to getting out."

Frank tugged again with no luck. Even Hazel was trying not to laugh.

Frank grimaced with concentration. Suddenly, he disappeared. On the deck where he'd been standing, a green iguana crouched next to an empty set of Chinese handcuffs.

"Well done, Frank Zhang," Leo said dryly, doing his impression of Chiron. "That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas."

Everybody busted out laughing while I stood there, arms crossed and smiling softly. Frank turned back to human, picked up the handcuffs, and shoved them in his backpack. He managed an embarrassed smile.

"Anyway," Frank said, clearly anxious to change the subject. "The museum is one place to search. But, uh, Jason, you said there were two?"

Jason's smile faded. Whatever he was thinking about, I could tell it wasn't pleasant.

"Yeah," he said. "The other place is called the Battery—it's a park right by the harbor. The last time I was there... with Reyna..." He glanced at Piper, then rushed on. "We saw something in the park. A ghost or some sort of spirit, like a Southern belle from the Civil War, glowing and floating along. We tried to approach it, but it disappeared whenever we got close. Then Reyna had this feeling—she said she should try it alone. Like maybe it would only talk to a girl. She went up to the spirit by herself, and sure enough, it spoke to her."

Everyone waited.

"What did it say?" Annabeth asked.

"Reyna wouldn't tell me," Jason admitted. "But it must have been important. She seemed...shaken up. Maybe she got a prophecy or some bad news. Reyna never acted the same around me after that."

I considered that. After our experience with the eidolons, I didn't like the idea of approaching a ghost, especially one that changed people with bad news or prophecies.

"A girls' adventure, then," Annabeth said. "Piper, Lizzy, Nova and Hazel can come with me."

We all nodded, though Hazel looked nervous. No doubt her time in the Underworld had given her enough ghost experiences for two lifetimes. Piper's eyes flashed defiantly, like anything Reyna could do, she could do.

I grinned mischievously, anything to do with ghosts, I could definitely handle. Lizzy gave me a fist bump.

I realized that if eight of them went on these two quests, it would leave Percy alone on the ship with Coach Hedge, which was maybe not a situation a caring girlfriend should put him in. Nor was I eager to let Percy out of my sight again—not after we'd been apart for so many months. On the other hand, Percy looked so troubled by his experience with those imprisoned sea creatures, I thought maybe he could use a rest. I met his eyes, asking him a silent question. He nodded as if to say, Yeah. It'll be fine.

"So that's settled." I turned to Leo, who was studying his console, listening to Festus creak and click over the intercom. "Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?"

"Good question," he muttered. "Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us—long-range radar, still not in sight."

Piper leaned over the console. "Are you sure they're Roman?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "No, Pipes. It could be a random group of giant eagles flying in perfect formation. Of course they're Roman! I suppose we could turn the ship around and fight—"

"Which would be a very bad idea," Jason said, "and remove any doubt that we're enemies of Rome."

"Or I've got another idea," Leo said. "If we went straight to Charleston, we could be there in a few hours. But the eagles would overtake us, and things would get complicated. Instead, we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston, and get there tomorrow morning—"

Hazel and I started to protest, but Leo raised his hand. "I know, I know. Nico and Caelan are in trouble and we have to hurry."

"It's June twenty-seventh," Hazel said. "After today, four more days. Then they die."

"I know! But this might throw the Romans off our trail. We still should have enough time to reach Rome."

I scowled. "When you say should have enough..."

Leo shrugged. "How do you feel about barely enough?"

I looked up at the sky for a count of ten, exhaled deeply before looking at the rest of them. "Sounds about typical for us."

Annabeth decided to take that as a green light. "Okay, Leo. What kind of decoy are we talking about?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" He punched a few buttons on the console, rotated the turntable, and repeatedly pressed the A button on his Wii controller really, really fast. He called into the intercom, "Buford? Report for duty, please."

Frank took a step back. "There's somebody else on the ship? Who is Buford?"

A puff of steam shot from the stairwell, and Leo's automatic table climbed on deck.

I hadn't seen much of Buford during the trip. He mostly stayed in the engine room. (Leo insisted that Buford had a secret crush on the engine.) He was a three-legged table with a mahogany top. His bronze base had several drawers, spinning gears, and a set of steam vents. Buford was toting a bag like a mail sack tied to one of his legs. He clattered to the helm and made a sound like a train whistle.

"This is Buford," Leo announced.

"You name your furniture?" Frank asked.

Leo snorted. "Man, you just wish you had furniture this cool. Buford, are you ready for Operation End Table?"

Buford spewed steam. He stepped to the railing. His mahogany top split into four pie slices, which elongated into wooden blades. The blades spun, and Buford took off.

"A helicopter table," Percy muttered. "Gotta admit, that's cool. What's in the bag?"

"Dirty demigod laundry," Leo said. "I hope you don't mind, Frank."

Frank choked. "What?"

"It'll throw the eagles off our scent."

"Those were my only extra pants!"

Leo shrugged. "I asked Buford to get them laundered and folded while he's out. Hopefully he will." He rubbed his hands and grinned. "Well! I call that a good day's work. I'm gonna calculate our detour route now. See you all at dinner!"

Percy passed out early, which left me with nothing to do but stare at my wall, worrying about my brothers. I didn't want to sleep, I didn't want to go back through that torture.

A knock on her door made me jump.

I hoped it might be Percy, but instead Piper poked his head in.

"Um, sorry," she said. "Could I-?"

I was so startled to see him, it took me a moment to realize she wanted to come in.

"Yeah of course," I said. "Come in."

She stepped inside, looking around the cabin. There wasn't much to see. On my desk sat a stack of books, a journal and pen, and pictures of my family. Dad and Seffi sat closest to the window, both on their separate thrones but staring at Caelan and I with equally appalled and amused expressions. I remembered that day. It was the first day that Caelan and I were left alone in the palace with nobody but the guards, who mostly ignored us. We were young, about seven. We had just discovered social media and decided to try a not to cringe challenge. It ended with Caelan getting grounded, Dad on the ground laughing. Thanatos almost got fired, Hecate about had a heart attack, Seffi cried from the second hand embarrassment. It was my favorite photo.

Hanging from a hook on the wall was my whip and sword necklace. I left it there when I was in my room, mostly alone or sleeping since I wouldn't need them there. Every once in a while I would go attack the mast with the sword when I was feeling particularly restless.

Otherwise, my cabin was bare. I kept it clean and simple, which helped me to think. Percy didn't believe it because I always made excellent grades, but like most demigods, I was ADHD. When there were too many distractions in my personal space, I was never able to focus.

"So," I said, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Annabeth wanted me to check on you, make sure that you're okay with all that's been happening today, the boys included." She said nervously.

"I'm fine, just worried." I smiled at her, trying to cover up just how worried I was.

"Oh alright, I

I'll just go now." She started but I called after her. "How's Hazel?"

Her eyes softened. "She's doing a lot better."

"Good." Piper walked out again, leaving me with my horrible thoughts.