CHAPTER LXIV:Hoist The Colours, And Man The Cannons!

Below me was a fight that demigods could only dream of, a real life ship battle. The rain was picking up around us, which meant that there was a dark spell on the ship. For every demigod killed and skeleton dispersed, the storm would get worse. It had stalled for a bit which meant that someone else, probably Owl Eyes, realized that there was a spell on the ship. Meanwhile in front of me was a fight that seemed impossible to win. I flourished my weapon and advanced. My weapon met Sean's and we locked the blades.

"Where is Seth? I was hoping to fight him instead. Mainly because this height would paralyze as I chopped him down." Sean said through a plain smile.

"Like hell you would, my brother would've sent you to Tartarus before you pulled your blade out." I said.

I retreated back and continued fighting. Our blades slid off of each other in the rain, and both of us surprisingly kept our footing. It felt like a really dangerous dance that you needed to focus on completely. If you didn't focus on the sword fight in front of you you would be impaled, and if you didn't keep an eye on your footing you would fall to your death. Sean and I kept up our fight as the ship shifted with a symphony of explosions. Sean kept his balance while I leaned against the main section of the mast. I looked down briefly to see the cannons had fired off on both sides of the ship into the city.

"I knew they would work!" Sean said, clearly excited that his new toy was showing promise.

I couldn't see anyone injured, thank gods, but a few demigods were rushing to buildings. Suddenly, Sean had resumed the fight and cut my hand making me drop my sword. I winced and drew my dagger. I swung and stabbed ferociously in his direction, careful of every swing. I had gained ground, and I was going to need it.

I switched to the defensive and dodged and blocked incoming swings and stabs. I needed to brace myself for what was coming, I couldn't freeze up. It's just pain, you've been through worse, I thought to myself as I braced for it. I stepped forward and held my hand out. Sean's Raiper went through my hand, now was the fun part. I stabbed Sean multiple times in the stomach quickly and kicked him away when he lost grip on his sword.

Sean held his arm over multiple wound with blood slipping through his fingers. He slowly stood as I sheathed my dagger and took the Raiper out of my hand. I clenched my teeth and held the steel sword up. The wound hurt, the pain burned through my body far more than it should've. Sean ran towards me threw a punch. I moved into it a let him hit me, it had no strength behind it since he was weakened.

"Your father took me for a flight!" I yelled out of pure anger, "Time to send you on one!"

I pulled Sean towards me and threw him over my back off the mast. I watched as his weakened body fell to the deck. Sean landed on the ships railing, probably snapping his spine in half, and practically bounced into the bay. I sat near the main part of the mast and clung to it as I recovered. My hand bled profusely and the Raiper was covered in blood and a strange liquid, but the rain was washing it away. I sheathed the Raiper as I stood up and grabbed the rigging and slowly climbed down careful of my hand. I was about to step onto the deck when the ship shifted again. I fell into the water and passed out immediately, what came next was deeply unsettling.

I came to in a dark open room. In front of me was a set of dark marble columns and the same black sand and ash that I had grown used to in my trips to my dads palace. I was exhausted and weakened, my physical body was giving out more than it should be from wounds so small. Something was wrong with Sean's Raiper, but I didn't know what.

"It hurts, huh? Death I mean. I wouldn't exactly know, Keaton was rather merciful when he killed me," A familiar voice called from behind.

I turned around and saw Deonna with a hole in her leg but no hole in her head, similar to when Khaos closed the one in her head. She stood next to Sean Parker.

"I'm not dying, not yet." I said.

"Yeah you are! My blade was coated in Sun Bane, the only reason you're still alive is because it gets fidgety in water. You'll be lucky If you make it to tonight when it wears off." Sean laughed.

My heart dropped, Sun Bane was not a poison to laugh at. It was made from a mix of Ambrosia, Phoenix Feathers, and Ichor. It made you weak in the sunlight in small doses, but in larger doses it burned you up if you got caught in sunlight. It's counter part, Moon Bane, killed you the same way but in the moonlight. It was made similarly as well, but instead of Phoenix Feathers you used Shadow Mist.

I came to quickly and I was able to breathe, but I could feel that I was still in water. A woman was in front of me in Roman armor with a mark of Poseidon, a trident welded on the side, on her helmet which had a sea green plume. She had golden blonde hair and the same trademark blue-ish green eyes the Children of Poseidon had. Under her armor she wore dark blue clothes, and she was showing off a Medal of Mars. I was certain that the woman in front of me was Christina Bell, Legatus Legionis of Neptune's Blessed. In her hand she carried a celestial bronze trident, with the middle spike made from steel.

"Hey kiddo, are you ok?" Christina asked hooking up a rebreather to a small tank she had placed on my leg.

I signaled I was ok, and pointed to my rebreather as I signaled 'Thank you' in Atlantian fashion. That was pointing to your heart, then pointing at the person.

"Ah, I remember you. You trained with us back before your hair and eyes changed. Now let's get you back to the surface." Christina said.

I shook my head quickly. I didn't know if there was a sign for Sun Bane poisoning. I pointed to the sun and drew my finger across my neck hoping Christina would get it.

"Improvised Atlantian signing. Huh? What could keep you from the surface.." Christina asked, "Sun Bane or are you targeted by Apollo."

I held out my hand and stuck out my index and pinky finger. The translation for that was literally 'First one'.

"Don't worry about that kid. Far as we can tell the storm'll get worse when the ships gone, and it's sinking fast." Christina smiled.

I looked past her and saw she was right, the Royal Fortune was being claimed by Tartarus once more. More of Neptune's blessed were escorting my friends to shore.

Sara swam up to us smiling. "Hey Mary! You dropped this." Sara said handing me my sword.

I took my sword and signed 'Thank you' again. Christina smiled and took me to the shore. Khaos' plan was foiled, my guess was that she could keep Pluto's Guard busy with mortals while someone dealt with the ship. Soon after getting to the shore, I realized that I very wrong. Smoke rose from buildings to the skies and screams pierced through the air. Christina stood me up and helped me take the Atlantian diving equipment off, the storm had worsened. I would've hated it, but currently it was the only thing keeping me alive. I took a deep breath and heard a loud crash behind me.

"What the hell is that?!" Sara yelled.

I turned around and saw a large sea serpent rise from the bay. It spit out fire and scolding water. It had sharp fangs, and as it raised up from the water I saw its dark blue and shimmering green scales. It roared to life as it looked around at the city as it continued to rise. Two more heads came up and roared as more fire and scalding water came from their mouths.

"That's a Leviathan...and it's one that should've died a long time ago." Penny said walking up to us.