The merman studied us one by one until he spotted Percy,
"Perceus Jackson! What a pleasure! I've heard many legends of you, your quite famous here in the sea" he spread his arms "Imagine how famous I'll be when I killed you!"
Percy readied his sword "What do you want?"
The merman made a tsk-tsk sound "I'm afraid you asked the wrong question. Who are you is so much more dramatic! As for your question, I want to be friends!"
I tilt my head "Your mermen or whatever, are flipping our ship over..."
He nods "Only to get your attention"
"What are you?" Leo demanded
"Karkinospolupus. Our ancestors couldn't pick a better name. I'm Aclybeisne thanks for asking." he said, "And this my crew the terrifying thirty!" he says with a proud smile as he gestures to his crew
"Terrifying thirty? I have never heard of them. And doesn't Karkinospolupus mean crab + octopus?" Annabeth asks
The offended captain waves his hands in dismissal "We're on page 76 of the Daily Waters, you wouldn't know about it! And while humanity is developing, so are we. There are so many monsters you don't know!"
I catch a movement in my peripheral view, I turn to see Leo shake with silent laughter as he mutters
"Page 76?"
The captain scowls "Atleast we're on it!"
Ashley cowered behind Percy and I and asked, "What exactly do you mean by friends?"
"As in please step aside while we take your stuff and sink your vessel! Maybe even drown you a little!"
"That's not what friends do!" Frank yells from behind as the Terrifying Thirty begin to loot the ship, I spot an opening as the captain turns and decide to give him a wonkie right in his slimy misshapen face. As soon as I did that, I instantly regreted it, and cried out in disgust as I began to furiously wipe the slime off my hands and onto my tattered jeans.
"Ugh! Gross dude! You live in the frickin' water, how are you so slimy?!" he gasps
"That's a personal question! You're a daughter of Poseidon, you should know better than to ask a fish why he is slimy! We can't be friends anymore; I don't like being friends with meanies! The Terrifying Thirty ATTACK!"
His crew looked almost as offended as he did as they scrambled to get ahold of their weapons, slimy disgusting tentacles flailing around to get a steady grip on the knives and swords they struggled to pull out of their sheathes. I involuntarily laugh before catching myself and forcing the laughter to die down in my throat.
"What's so funny!?" asks Aclybeisne
"Nothing!" I reply with an innocent smile as I pull out my swords "DIE!"
Me, Leo, Percy, and Ash flanked Annabeth's right and the others her left, she attacked Aclybeisne with more force than I expected. And I thought to myself we probably look really cool right now! And that's when the attack began.
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"Why are you guys so bad at this?!"
I yell as I killed a Karkinospolupus, another ran to me waving his sword all over the place, shouting in Latin 'Die'. I duck as a javelin flew over my head and impaled the monster, somewhere in the crowd, I heard one of its friends shout "Sorry!"
The one in front of me teared up, "No! MARC DON'T DIE! ICARUS HOW COULD YOU?!" he drops his weapon and runs towards his slowly fading friend, totally forgetting me, he carried him and jumped of the ship.
"Ghastly!" Aclybeisne shouted while dodging Annabeth's attacks, until finally she stabbed his thigh. He yelps and pulls away
"AH! The pain, the agony! That's not what friends do!" he made a desperate attempt to stab her back with his spear, but she sidesteps and slashes his tentacles cutting them into halves
"NO! My babies! The nerve of you heroes!" he backs away shouting curse words that I would rather not translate "Just you wait, half-bloods! We aren't friends anymore! WE ARE FRENEMIES!"
Annabeth tilts her head "What?"
He tried grabbing the rails with his claws but accidently broke them, he turns to see us advancing around him, his army gone, his own veins started popping out of his skin (I cannot unsee that)
"You will regret ever messing with The Terrifying Thirty!" his body melted revealing an unpleasant sight. His insides popped out; his skeleton body grew so big his intestines fell out and dropped at our feet. Frank and I gag at the same time
"What the heck are you?!" we uttered, his skeleton face shook its head
"I told you, didn't I? WE ARE KARKINOSPOCULUS- KARKI- Karkinospolicus? Oh, wait I got it! KARKINOSPOLUPUS! Aced that." around him, more monsters boarded the ship and climbed onto Aclybeisne, merging into his body becoming his skin, (most revolting thing I have ever witnessed). We stood paralyzed as he looked down on us smiling
"What do you think? My right side is a full-on crab body! And my left is an octopus! Aren't I beautiful? Isn't this cool?" I shake my head before I could say anything Frank retched
"THAT! Was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen!" he cried.
Leo nodded "I wish I could unsee that"
Aclybeisne glared at them, a tentacle slapped them sending them flying towards the upper deck onto a post
"You have no right to say that! I don't care about your opinions!"
"But you asked." Percy noted, another tentacle swung to his direction, but he cut it. About 10 monsters fell off the arm and disintegrated.
"Hey! That's rude!" Aclybeisne shouted,
Frank turned into a bear and charged, Leo took out a ball and started messing with it, Annabeth, Ashley, and Nico joined Frank, this is the part when we fight in a cool way like in the movies with the dramatic music and everything.
As they hacked through Aclybeisne's tentacles Percy and I willed the water to rise, two hands (Water hands to be exact) grabbed Aclybeisne's neck. Aclybeisne screamed and extended his crab claw, snapping it towards our direction, we swerved, Percy grabbed the side of the claw and shouted
"Grab on!"
I jumped and grabbed his hand, we climbed onto Aclybeisne's claw and ran towards his neck. If only Aclybeisne was stupid! He spotted us and shook his hand left and right
"Get off me!" I glance down to see the others advancing around Aclybeisne slashing his remaining tentacles, Aclybeisne was too focused on us, I hear Leo shout
"Finally!" he held a sphere and shouted "Behold! THE SPHERE!"
Silence.
"Oh, come on guys! I was getting into it!" His sphere hummed in a dangerous red color
"Oh time's up! STEP AWAY FROM THE SQUID!" He threw the ball at Aclybeisne and covered his ears. Percy and I jumped off Aclybeisne and ran away following Leo's example, the sphere exploded with such power it blasted Percy and I overboard.
"Oops! My bad." Leo said, we watched as Aclybeisne slowly turned to his original form all beat up and I would say bloody but…ew
"Now I know what this looks like-" he says, Hazel threw her sword at his direction, he squeaks and jumps off the boat
"Catch me!" He squeaks to his minions "CATCH ME!" of course they ignored him and swam away, watching as Aclybeisne fell face first into the water and sunk.
"That was kinda easy" Nico said
"Too easy" Ashley corrected
"A trap?" Annabeth guessed
Percy helped me out of the water,
"A warning?" he asked as he pulled me up (Ah the damsel in distress)
"Pretend nothing happened" I suggested and walked away, Leo went to work fixing the now broken engines and oars.
Percy forced me to help him clean the decks (I'm starting to get tired of him helping me and ordering me around), Annabeth and Hazel went to clean the cabins, putting back our things, Frank and Ashley tried to help Leo, but he refused so they joined us. Nico did the most unexpected thing, he made lunch...
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"I didn't know you could cook." I said as I cleaned the dishes
"Now you know"
"Whatcha cooking?"
"Lunch" This is how to irritate me, do this. I grit my teeth,
"What's for lunch?"
"Pizza"
"Cool" Percy ran to the kitchen grinning like an evil maniac
"I knew it! You can cook!" Nico rolls his eyes
"Oh, how shocking, of course I can cook! Can you not?" Percy went silent
"What's cooking?" he laughs nervously and walks away
I wash my hands and dry them, "You and Percy close friends? How'd you meet?"
Nico shook his head "I don't like talking about personal subjects" I slowly nodded.
Ashley and Frank passed by the kitchen when they spotted us, Ash asked
"Do you know where Leo is? He ran off somewhere we need him for technical difficulties." we shake our head, they leave.
I tried to scan my brain for anything to talk about with Nico, but nothing came out, my mind was a blank page.
"What's on your mind?" I ask
"A lot" Wow that sums up everything, he puts the dough in the oven and walks away
"Wait! What are you doing?" he stares at me as if I was some kind of psychopath,
"What else? I'm waiting, but not here" he leaves the kitchen, leaving me with a ton of dishes and no company, yay.
-------------
"She needs more...." Leo stood manning the ship while complaining about fuel and extra oars,
"Ho-Where do we get more?" Ash said as she cleansed the floor with rain (cheater).
"Oh, we just need to ask Poseidon to give us some oars and fuel. Where do you think?!"
"WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN!" she shouted back, Leo gasped dramatically
"She talked back at me in my own ship! The audacity of some people!" Festus creaked its head in morse code, and Leo nodded in agreement "So disrespectful"
Ashley's jaw fell "Wha- I cannot BELIEVE you agree with him!"
"I have an idea! Why don't ya'll quiet down?" I suggested
"No!" they said in unison along with a creak from Festus, I'm guessing he said the same, I heard a mutter from Percy "Yes please..."
"That guy, Aclybeisne he said, 'While humanity is developing, so are we' doesn't that mean there are more monsters that we don't know about?" Annabeth said,
"Percy why don't we go start checking the Daily water newspaper stuff? In order to expect the unexpe- I mean the expected…" I suggested, Annabeth slightly nodded "That might work but we're leaving the water soon, I doubt the newspapers in the water have land monsters in them."
I sighed "Ugh, thinking hurts my brain, I'mma go get some newspapers, Ashley wanna going me?"
Ash jumped up and down "I thought you'd never ask!"
"Wait, I don't think that-" Annabeth said as Ashley and I jumped in the water, I could hear Annabeth sigh in frustration and say "I swear those two-"
As we swam across the ocean, Ash complained about my magic bubble being too small "I mean like come on, I thought if I tagged along, it wouldn't be that bad, but this is outrageous! Is this how you'll treat me for the rest of the trip?!" I looked back at her
"Are you done?" she gasps dramatically
"Are you do- wha-!"
I laugh "Why are you so surprised?"
She turns and says "Idiot" with a small smile, we swam in silence until Ashley says,
"Is that it?" I peer across the ocean, a sign appeared across the horizon read 'Daily News' and an arrow under it showed west
"Its west, let's go"
We turn to follow the arrow, but someone jumped up in front of us and said, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
I can't with these monsters' sense of style... he had blueish hair, a muscular body, a tan, wore only beach shorts and held a surfboard shaped club. Oh no it's a beach monster, the worst kind!
I tilt my head "Uh why?" he scoffs
"Well because I said so duh" he raised his hands into an attempted shrug, "What are you?" I ask, he gasps
"You don't know me?! I'm legendary! HOW COME YOU NEVER HEARD OF ME?! I'm the Great Jerold Fisher protector of Daily News and slayer of the famous Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus! HAHAHAHA!"
Ash and I roll our eyes "Uhuh, so you slayed Leo who is currently repairing our ship?" I asked, Jerold shook his head
"No, it can't be I'm sure I killed him! You're messing with me!" he bangs the ground in denial "It can't be! That son of a biscuit! Where is he?! TELL ME!"
Ashley laughs "The Great Jerold who currently protects the newspaper centre doesn't know about Leo?"
I cross my arms "What's your connection with Leo?"
He smiles in a dreamy way making me regret I even asked
"Ohh it was beautiful! I think he was on his way to Camp Half-blood at the time, he was far though. He had such a beautiful woman with him and a frickin dragon head on the tip of his ship! But that beauty, oh my evilness, she was HOT! Like a princess" he stopped his eyebrows crunched up as if he just remembered something unsightly,
"But that half-blood had the nerve to kiss her in front of me! AUGH! Well... he didn't see me, but you know what I mean! I had to save her from that horrible future! So, I fought him, a victorious battle…for me of course. But that beauty and his body disappeared in 2 seconds! I assumed he died cause his body was just a lifeless flesh bag HAHAHA! Oh, but how I wish I could see her again..." I waited for him to stop tearing, he brushed his hair up
"How can he cry underwat- never mind" Ahsley raised her hands and said "Beautiful story, really. But we must go, its urgent"
He shook his head "No, you said Leo is alive. Take me to him! The beauty must be with him!"
I laugh "If he's with her, don't you think she doesn't want you?"
"Hah! Don't mock me! No one can resist my beauty! Now take me to him!"
I look up and study his muscular body and said "She's not with him, ya know? She's not here, if we are talking about the same person. I doubt she would ever come if she saw..." I gestured to him "this creep"
I tell Ashley, she smiles and nods "Nobody would love a dirtbag, like him"
He raged forward "You..you MOCKED ME!"
Let me just say that so far all the sea monsters that we fought have issues "You need therapy" Ashley blurted
"AUGH!" he stormed forward "DIE!" he slashed his club at our direction, I grab Ashley and deflect his attack with my sword, he used his free hand to punch my stomach, Ashley held out her hand, electricity sprang out in the shape of a ball, she aimed the ball at Fisher's hand, when they collided Fisher's eyes widened as her electric ball cut of his arm.
He watched in horror as his green blood filled the blue ocean, he screamed in agony letting go of his club giving me a chance to strike his stomach, but he jumped up and backed up, eyeing Ashley warily, looking back and forth between her and his club.
Bro isn't paying me any attention, annoyed, I willed the water to tie him up, shock washed over his face as he desperately tried to free himself
"A weakling like you could never even touch Valdez" he shrieked as the water tightened its grip around him, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder
"We should go" Ashley said, I nod. we pass by the sign to the direction of the news centre. Ashley nudges me
"We make a surprisingly good team. Did you see the look on his face? Hah! Priceless!"
I turn to her "What was that lightning?"
She smiles deviously "A new power I developed with my dad's power! Cool right? Definitely didn't ask my dad for help"
"Really?" I ask sarcastically, she frowns "I didn't!"
"Sure buddy"
"I'm serious!"
As she continued to argue, the centre appears in the distance
"Look it's the centre" Ashley turns to the direction I'm pointing at
"Oh cool, we made it"
All around the centre fish people and monsters swam around passing papers and shouting orders
"Uh, can I get the latest newspaper?" I ask, everybody stops and turns to us, they all bow.
Ashley brushes hair of her face "Wow, who knew the ocean has such good customer service. Ya'll can stand up, please just give my good friend here a newspaper."
They didn't move, she cleared her throat
"Hellooo?"
The middle fish person stood up and said "Miss Hill, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to Daily News?"
Ashley gasped, clearly flabbergasted by their behavior towards her, meaning they totally ignored her, I step forward
"You know my name?" he smiles "Now who wouldn't know our lord's daughter?"
Ashley grunts,
"Oh come on, she's nothing compared to me! I can kill her right now!" she whispers to my ear "Sorry bro, no offense" the crowd stirred
"How dare you speak to Miss Hill like that!" the crowd stood and unsheathed their weapons, the middle scowled at Ashley
"You shall be executed immediately!"
I step forward and held my hand in front of Ashley, "Stand down, she's just kidding. We all know I'm stronger. Am I right?"
Ashley nods furiously "Yeah, yeah, just kidding haha… please don't kill me" the crowd still stared daggers at Ashley but lowered their weapons.
"So, introductions. This is Ashley, you already know who I am, and you?" the middle fish person reluctantly looked away from Ashley and smiled at me
"Please, excuse my rudeness. I am Pheastus, manager of this centre." He bows and shoos the crowd away from the entrance gesturing us to come in.
Ashley stayed close, the crowd kept eyeing her, she smiled nervously and muttered "Get the newspaper then we escape, ok?" we follow Pheastus to the entrance and watched him fiddle with some papers
"What brings you to Daily News?" he asked,
"The latest newspaper about monsters please." Ashley says.
He tilts his head and scratches his chin
"Sorry for asking Miss Hill, but why do you need to know about monsters? I thought you are not allowed on quests?"
I smiled and waved my hands "Dad said it was ok this time, since the world is at stake… again." Pheastus bowed
"Well that is good news, Miss Hill. Congratulations! Here you are" he handed me a thick newspaper, the title read 'Daily News New Age of Monsters!'
"New age of monsters? So, it's true…there are new monsters other than the ones we know?" I said, Pheastus nodded gravely "I'm afraid this is why your father couldn't let you go on a quest. That paper has the monsters' information and what you need to do to defeat them, unfortunately it doesn't have every monster, some are still unknown. I am sorry for not being much help, Miss Hill." He lowered his head, making me feel horrible
"Hey, you've been a great help. I might survive this crazy world because of you! Ashley though…she's stupid, so she needs all the help she can get."
"Hey!" Ashley stomped her foot on the ground making sand particles wrap around her shoes, "Anyway thank you for your help Pheastus."
I turn to the direction of the ship and start swimming
"Miss Hill!"
I look back at Pheastus "Please do be careful!" I smile and wave
"Thank you for your concern Pheastus, but don't worry, I've got Percy!" the name Percy must have relieved him, he waved back and shouted,
"Good luck Miss Hill!"