The chaos that erupted at the senate after the voting was continued onto the city streets, Christina had almost beaten Dreamwalker's mask off of her. It took William and Keaton to get her off, but even I knew Dreamwalker let it happen. Had she wanted to, she could've pierced Christina's heart with a simple sand bolt. Why she had held back I had no idea, but that was hours away from now. Now I sat on a beach with my closest friends, Leonidas and Andromeda, waiting for the quest crew to appear over the horizon. Hades loomed over my shoulder like a vulture, his torn suit mismatched his demeanor.
I often believed Hades and Apollo should switch formal wear, mainly just to watch Lady Artemis' reaction if nothing else. Hades looked down at me, his opal eyes soft and kind with a divine harshness.
"I'm sorry about my brother, he truly is a good man. My Nephew as well, they both take on a lot from their fathers. My brother a brute, dying to be understood while carrying the weight of Oceanus on his back. While my nephew has the unpredictability of a lightning storm, waiting to strike those on the highest pedestal when they least expect it. I hope you won't hold it against them, Sara Pearl," Hades had said in a kind yet firm voice, I studied his face but nothing had changed in his expression.
"They're here!" Andromeda hopped to her feet and ran off with Leonidas.
"I don't hold grudges, Lord Hades. I'm a soldier who's been programmed to do a job, against all odds I will," I said, standing straight just like Christina taught me.
Hades had stepped to my side, his stance straightening as well. "If you seek Tiresias, seek out Circe. She's the only one who knows where, She, has hidden the path."
"Wait, who?" I asked turning to face the same direction as him, seeing Hermes board the now docked ship.
"A name all of Olympus has vowed not to say lightly, especially not this close to the shore," Hades looked out at the water like the mere thought of this specter could get him attacked.
"Lord Hades, who is she? Why do you fear her so?" I asked, practically pleading for an answer.
"A goddess long forgotten, one forsaken by Olympus. Ithaka was once her jail cell, now she's the warden. You'll know her when you see her and when you do, sail away. Until the sails rip, until the oars break, until the ship takes water. Sail through Charybdis, and out of the realm, she won't follow you," Hades began to walk towards the ship as Hermes vanished.
I followed shortly as a shadow passed the sun with the speed of a fighter jet but the size of a small car. Suddenly, what can only be described as a feathered Volkswagen, swooped down and grabbed one of the questing group. I couldn't quite make them out, but from Hades' reaction I assumed that was his daughter, and Hades only has the one daughter, Mary Riley.
"Fuck you! You oversized feather duster! Do I look like an Aquarius!" I heard Mary yell as I watched her feet kick around wildly. The funniest part of the entire exchange to me was that, if I remember correctly, she was an Aquarius.
Hades sighed deeply and watched with me as his daughter was carried away by Aquila, rubbing the bridge of his nose, he whispered just loud enough for me to hear him, "I'm gonna kill him."
A kid with Hades' black hair and graphite grey eyes stepped off the ship, the resemblance between him and Hades was unmistakable. That was Seth Riley, Mary's twin brother, son of Hades and another adventurer. I was starting to wonder how many adventurers Mary was given if I was given two people to bring along.
I looked on board and saw my sister, Olivia, stepping off ship playing with her necklace the entire way down the ramp. I continued looking at the crew, there was three more demigods on board the ship. Adam, Theseus, and another girl I didn't know but she looked like a daughter of Athena. I could make the distinction of those dull, storm cloud grey, eyes that were like two orbs in her skull put on high beam mode.
Why was this expedition given six demigods and mine only three? It felt like the answer was right in front of me, yet so far away, that's when I overheard Seth talking to Hades. He mentioned The Shield of Aegis before Hades shushed him, and walked away with him. I finally boarded the ship as the rest of the crew stepped off, I looked at Jason who stood there in pretty normal honestly. The simple Greek bronze chestplate and cloth that dropped just short of his knee, all complimented by a bronze sword with a gold handle. If i hadn't known the full story of Argonaut Jason I'd be surprised, but this half of a man would have to do.
Andromeda moved about the deck of the ship, estimating how many men it'd take to crew this ship while Leonidas was taking inventory on weapons. Jason stepped to the captain's position where I joined him shortly after, looking out over the deck.
"Argonaut Jason, Captain of The Argo, at your service," Jason smiled.
"Tribunus Sara Pearl, Daughter of Poseidon," I started, stating my titles. "You seem chipper, i thought you retired bitterly, well before the ship killed you."
"Eager to get home, plus you're on an adventure! Following the path of Odysseus! I'm excited, Sara Pearl," Jason shouted, I drew ever closer to the answer of why Mary Riley had six demigods in her group.
"Andromeda!" I called down the deck. "How many ships and hands do we need?"
"An expedition of this size? Hm, I'd say one battleship if you can manage it. Maybe an ironclad, but we could also do a regular convoy. Maybe some 18th century ships, preferably Spanish," Andromeda looked back at me.
I nodded, holding my arms out, my limbs tensed as my blood flow seemingly tripled. A weight pressed on my arms and chest as I sought out ships lost in the waters. My wrists tensed as I felt about four wooden ships, and a metal one at the sea floor. I slowly lifted ships around us out of the water, the weight increasing more and more as water poured from the husks of wood and metal.
"Andromeda!" I shouted, it felt like my wrists and neck were about to snap.
"On it!" I heard magic swirl around me and could feel Andromeda's presence on the water.
Little by little the weight on my wrists lifted, and bit by bit the ships were turned sea worthy. Magic filled the holes and repaired the damages to what the ships were, I was finally able to look up where I saw four large ships belonging to the Spanish Armada. However, a little past the four frigates, there was an Iron Clad flying The Confederate States of America flag. Oh great, I raised five ships that all eventually lost to America.
"Leonidas! Can you call upon your dad to crew our ships!" Andromeda yelled out to Leonidas who was below decks.
I was finally able to stop using my powers as the last bit of weight was lifted off my shoulders. I breathed deeply and looked out at our full fleet, it felt empowering to have ships backing us now.
"I can see, what are we dealing with?" Leonidas asked, poking his head above the deck. A smile grew on his face that was impossibly wide "oh yeah, he's gonna love that iron clad."
"Your dad likes The Confederacy?" I asked, looking at him from the captain's spot.
Leo looked over at me "No, just torturing them. Despite being the patron god of Sparta-"
"Lakonia," I corrected.
"Same thing, still he hates slavery and everything to do with it. So he's gonna enjoy bringing that crew back, not sure what I can do about Spainards though. Did they lose a war?" Leonidas asked, as much as I loved him some of the lights were just decoration.
"Just….just get on it," I sighed as Andromeda held back a laugh.
We drew ever so close, yet so far from The Prophet. Would this all be worth it? Yes; it had to be. I needed to find out the entire truth of Zeno Neptune.