The way Tantalus saw it, the Stymphalian birds had simply been minding their own business in the woods and would not have attacked if Diedre hadn't disturbed them with his bad chariot driving. It was completely unfair but Diedre accepted it so that the others didn't need to do it then Nico and Percy told Tantalus to chase a burger and doughnut respectively which didn't help with his mood and all three of them were assigned to kitchen duties.

The harpies washed with lava instead of water, to get that extra-clean sparkle and kill ninety-nine point nine per cent of all germs, so all three had to wear asbestos gloves and aprons. Tantalus had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse's chariot victory-a full-course meal featuring country-fried Stymphalian death-bird.

At this point, he thought Tantalus had it out for him. Firstly, making him work with Percy and Nico bickering beside him and secondly, washing everything with lava.

He groaned as he finished up with the last of the plates and left quietly before Percy or Nico could notice him and then give him another considerable headache to deal with.

As soon as he reached his cabin, he passed out at the speed of light.

♬♬♬

That was what he shouldn't have done because that night was perhaps one of the worst he had experienced.

The whole night he was plagued with visions from his last night, all twisted and not as warm or soft as he remembered.

Like someone was purposefully making him imagine all those things.

He hated it. He hated that his brain was being manipulated so he did what he did best. He ignored his problems and jerked awake.

♬♬♬

Sometimes, he hated this life. Because the next time he woke up, it was dark and there was something wet on his forehead.

As he blinked out the drowsiness from his eyes, he saw the people who he was waiting for near the doorway of the cabin.

Percy, Annabeth and Tyson were there at his doorway and he knew where this would lead to.

♬♬♬

All four of them boarded the cruise ship of death, also known as Princess Andromeda. For the most of the journey, Diedre kept quiet in between the bickering of Percy and Annabeth and the small noises that Tyson would make sometimes.

"How do we get aboard?" Annabeth shouted over the noise of the waves, but the hippocampi seemed to know what we needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, riding easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.

"You first," Percy told Annabeth.

She slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once she'd hoisted herself onto the ladder, her hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove underwater. Annabeth began to climb. Percy let her get a few rungs up, then followed her with Diedre not too far behind.

Finally, it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to 360° aerials and backward ollies, and Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.

"Tyson, shhh!" Diedre said. "Come on, big guy!"

"Can't we take Rainbow?" he asked, his smile fading.

Diedre stared at him. "Rainbow?"

The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name.

"Um, we have to go," Percy said. "Rainbow ... well, he can't climb ladders."

Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus's mane. "I will miss you, Rainbow!"

The hippocampus made a neighing sound I could've sworn was crying.

"Maybe we'll see him again sometime," Diedre suggested.

"Oh, please!" Tyson said, perking up immediately. "Tomorrow!"

Diedre didn't make any promises, but Percy and he finally convinced Tyson to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a backflip and dove into the sea.

The ladder led to a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. There was a set of locked double doors, which Annabeth managed to pry open with her knife and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.

"It's a ghost ship," Percy murmured.

"No," Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. "Bad smell."

Annabeth frowned. "I don't smell anything."

"Cyclopes are like satyrs," Diedre said. "They can smell monsters. Isn't that right, Tyson?"

He nodded nervously. Now that we were away from Camp Half-Blood, the Mist had distorted his face again.

"Okay," Annabeth said. "So what exactly do you smell?"

"Something bad," Tyson answered.

"Great," Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up."

"We need a hiding place," Diedre said. "Somewhere safe to sleep."

"Sleep," Annabeth agreed wearily.

They explored a few more corridors until we found an empty suite on the ninth level. The door was open, which struck me as weird. There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a handwritten note that said: Enjoy your cruise!

All of them opened our duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything-extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, and a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He'd even managed to pack Tyson's oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Annabeth's cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.

"I'll be next door," Annabeth said. "You guys don't drink or eat anything."

"You think this place is enchanted?"

She frowned. "I don't know. Something isn't right. Just ... be careful."

They locked their doors.

Inside, Diedre wheezed, holding onto the doorknob, hoping that none of them hear him. The sea wasn't suitable for him and neither was the situation.

♬♬♬

Diedre woke to a ship's whistle and a voice on the intercom- some guy with an Australian accent who sounded way too happy.

"Good morning, passengers! We'll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don't forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o'clock, and for our special guests, disemboweling practice on the Promenade!"

Diedre sat up in bed. "What did he say?"

Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge that they were in the bathroom. "The happy man said ... bowling practice?"

 Annabeth stuck her head in-her blond hair in a rat's nest. "Disemboweling practice?"

Once we were all dressed, we ventured out into the ship and were surprised to see other people. A dozen senior citizens were heading to breakfast. A dad was taking his kids to the pool for a morning swim. Crew members in crisp white uniforms strolled the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers.

Nobody asked who they were. Nobody paid them much attention. But there was something wrong.

As the family of swimmers passed us, the dad told his kids: "We are on a cruise. We are having so much fun and now we are going to swim in the pool."

"Yes," his three kids said in unison, their expressions blank. "We are having a blast. We will swim in the pool."

They wandered off.

"Good morning," a crew member told them, his eyes glazed. "We are all enjoying ourselves aboard Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day." He drifted away.

"Percy, Diedre, this is weird," Annabeth whispered. "They're all in some kind of trance."

Then they passed a cafeteria and saw our first monster. It was a hellhound-a black mastiff with its front paws up on the buffet line and its muzzle buried in the scrambled eggs. It must've been young because it was small compared to most-no bigger a grizzly bear. 

The weird thing was: a middle-aged couple was standing in the buffet line right behind the devil dog, patiently waiting their turn for the eggs. They didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Not hungry anymore," Tyson murmured.

Before Annabeth or I could reply, a reptilian voice came from down the corridor, "Ssssix more joined yesssterday."

Annabeth dragged all of them into the girl's restroom and said, "We need to get out of here."

Before Percy could say anything dumb, Diedre said, "I agree, there's something gravely wrong with this ship."

"Smells bad," Tyson agreed. "And dogs eat all the eggs. Annabeth and Diedre are right. We must leave the restroom and ship."

Percy shuddered. If Annabeth, Diedre and Tyson were actually agreeing about something, I figured I'd better listen.

Then I heard another voice outside-one that chilled me worse than any monster.

"-only a matter of time. Don't push me, Agrius!"

It was Luke, beyond a doubt. I could never forget his voice.

"I'm not pushing you!" another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Luke's. "I'm just saying if this gamble doesn't pay off-"

"It'll pay off," Luke snapped. "They'll take the bait. Now, come, we've got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket."

Their voices receded down the corridor.

Tyson whimpered. "Leave now?"

Annabeth and I exchanged looks and came to a silent agreement.

"We can't," Percy told Tyson.

"We have to find out what Luke is up to," Annabeth agreed. "And if possible, we're going to beat him up, bind him in chains, and drag him to Mount Olympus."