Chapter 16
June 31, later that night
Clarisse returned a few minutes later and ready to select her team.
"So, has our champion choose who will accompany her?" asked Tantalus
"Yes, I'll have" replied Clarisse, "I am taking Silena and Naruto."
This surprised everyone as Naruto would be the last person Clarisse would ask for help.
"What?" asked Naruto as Melinoe stopped dragging him.
July 1st
The next morning the group of three gathered at the camp entrance to go over the plan and discuss over how they're getting into the Sea of Monsters. They gathered their luggage, or just the girl's luggage as Naruto had everything he needed on him, and put it into the van.
"So, how far are we going?" asked Naruto
"Long Beach" answered Clarisse, "Once we get there we should have a clear passage to the Sea of Monsters."
"Sounds like a plan," said Silena, a daughter of Aphrodite and head of the cabin.
"Are we going to charter a boat to Florida or do you have something in mind?" asked Naruto
"We'll use the gift I got from my Father," replied Clarisse as she presented a coin
"So, chartering a boat it is," said Naruto
"No, you owl head!" yelled Clarisse, "this coin will allow me to summon our ride."
"Oh, I thought naval travel belonged to water bearer?' asked Silena
"There have been many wars at sea," said Clarisse, "and as long as there was war involved my father as jurisdiction."
"Makes sense," said Naruto, "although these loopholes must make hard to decide when someone crossed the line or not."
"You have no idea," said Mr. D as he bathed in the sun
"Argus are you ready in the front?" asked Naruto and in reply, he got a thumbs up, "We're ready to go."
"Then let's get the lead out." said Clarisse as they boarded the van.
'We really do need to get a new van' thought Naruto as it took a few turns of the key to start it.
The first half-hour of the trip went smoothly, but you can only listen to the latest pop songs for so long. They couldn't change it either as the radio knob was broken and stuck on the pop station. The music stopped when Clarisse smashed the radio with her fist.
"Finally, I thought I would need to sew my ears shut," said Naruto as Argus agreed
"I agree with you and I usually like the pop songs," commented Silena
"Well only forty-eight minutes until we reach our destination." said Naruto, "by the way what was the prophecy you were given?"
"It when something like this; You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone, you shall find what you seek and make it your own, but despair for your life entombed within the stone, and fail without friends, to fly home alone. She then warned me to keep the fleece away from the spider" said Clarisse
"What a weird thing to add," said Silena, "and what spider is she talking about?"
"I don't have a clue," said Naruto
Later that day
"Well we made it," said Naruto, "I just wish we didn't have back and leg cramps afterward."
"Same here" commented Silena as she readjusted her brown ponytail.
"No complaining!" yelled Clarisse, "we are warriors and warriors don't complain!"
"When was the last time she went outside the camp?" whispered Naruto to Silena
"I believe this is her first quest," replied Silena
"Let's get to the coastline before sun down." said Clarisse as she gathered her stuff, "I want to get this quest going."
"She's excited," said Naruto, "I was too on my quest."
"Your first quest consisted of you going to the supermarket to get Mr. D some bread for a sandwich," commented Silena
"But he did entrust the task to me and he is a god so it was quest" commented Naruto
"Whatever," said Silena as she followed Clarisse
The two managed to catch up to Clarisse as she was walking towards the coast;
"So, what's the plan?" asked Naruto, "are we just going to cruise down to Florida or do you know a shortcut because we are on a time limit."
"With the vessel, I was given we will be there within two days," answered Clarisse
"Well, we shall see as we're nearing our destination," said Naruto as he pointed towards the coast line.
'Here goes nothing' thought Clarisse
"Oh Lord Ares, Master of War and Master of all things Manly, I ask you to gift us a boat to conquer our enemies and smite them." chanted Clarisse as she held the coin in the air, then threw it into the water. The water began to bubble and the shadow of a large craft appeared underneath the surface. Up came a steel-lined steamed boat from the sea;
"Welcome the CSS Birmingham." announced Clarisse, "and the crew that sank with it."
"There's a joke there, but I'm not touching it," said Naruto
"Just get on." said Clarisse as she and Silena boarded the ship, "we don't have all day."
Once they were on the, their baggage was put away the ship began to move. As the crew was working, the group of three began to explore the ship. After looking it over the three saw the bunking quarters, steel bunk beds that were welded to the wall for added support.
"I'll take the bunk across the hall while you two take this room." said Naruto as he picked up his stuff and moved across the hall.
"No need to-" said Clarisse only to be interrupted by Silena
"Thank you," said Silena as she dragged Clarisse into the room and closed the door
"She may try and not be like her sisters but she does have her moments," said Naruto as he closed his door.
July 2nd
The ship continued on as the group slept and was now nearing Jacksonville, FL when the questing group has woken up as Clarisse scream woke Naruto up, apparently Silena has a nighttime ritual that includes a face mask which scared Clarisse when she woke up. After the morning scare and Silena washing her mask off the group gathered on the deck to discuss how they're going to get past Scylla and Charybdis.
"We could cruise by Charybdis so we're not eaten by Scylla," said Clarisse
"And get sucked in, no way," said Silena, "I say we just go by Scylla and hide under the deck."
"No, that won't work" replied Clarisse, "She'll tear the boat apart looking for her meal."
"So, either way, we're doomed," said Silena
"We could go for the third option," said Naruto
"And what is that?" asked Clarisse
"Climbing the cliff and going from there" replied Naruto
"If we do that then what would happen to the boat and the crew?" asked Silena
"I could just bring them with us," answered Naruto
"How?!" said Clarisse only to see Naruto waving a piece of 'paper', "Oh."
"But I thought you couldn't flatten living things," said Silena
"The crew's dead so I can fold them," said Naruto, "I tried it last night on one of the crew members."
"Still, if we go with your option then we'll still have to climb a fifty-foot cliff."
"Compared to the climbing all back at camp, it will be easy and probably safer," said Naruto
"Good point," said Silena only to stop and stare at the coast, "Did you hear that?"
"Yeah, it sounds like a roar." said Naruto as he looked around, "and I think I see some movement in the distance."
As they viewed the Florida coastline a multi-headed Hydra suddenly spring up from the tree line and seem to be attacking something. They suspected that a fellow demigod, or demigods, were being attacked and decided to help. The beast had at least five heads and for some reason wore a bib that had a donut on it. This struck as weird in Naruto's book as most monsters prefer fresh meat to deep-fried dough with glazed sugar.
"Clarisse, you go and man the cannons, while Silena and I go keep a look out for the victim/victims," said Naruto
"Awesome!" said Clarisse, she always wanted to slay a monster with a cannon.
"Should we be worried about Clarisse?" asked Naruto
"Why? She seems fine to me" said Silena
"She seemed a bit too excited about shooting the cannon," said Naruto
"Nah, she's fine" replied Silena, "but just in case we should get the first-aid kit."
The crew scattered as they prepared the cannons for battle and align the boat to fire at the hydra. They loaded a celestial bronze cannonball into the chamber and pointed it towards the hydra and waited for Clarisse's orders, but as soon as it was ready Clarisse took over a cannon and lowered the burning rope in the black powder.
"Fire in the hole!" yelled Clarisse as she lit the fuse.
The sound of air accelerating resonated throughout the air as the cannon ball left the barrel and flew towards the hydra, hitting it and reducing it to gold dust.
"Bullseye!" shouted Clarisse
"Well that's a first," said Naruto, "destroying a monster via cannon ball."
"Clarisse always did like doing firsts," said Silena as she got the gangplank ready.
As the ship got closer to the shore the demigods in danger became clearer. Turns out that it was Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson trying to save Grover on their own. This infuriated Clarisse as Percy was basically trying to rob her of glory and once again become the hero. She was the daughter of an almighty War god, so taking her chance for glory was a big no-no, so when Percy decided to do the rescue mission even though she was already given it would be considered an insult.
"What in the name of the Tartarus are you doing here?!" yelled an angry Clarisse
"Grover is my friend, I should be on the rescue team" answered Percy
Clarisse then stormed off into the galley while she was cruising in Greek.
"Percy, you do realize that by coming here you jeopardized the whole camp by leaving them defenseless." said Naruto, "you're also saying that we're incompetent."
"What?" asked Tyson and Percy as Annabeth slapped her face
"In layman's terms, you think we're too stupid to rescue Grover and get the Golden Fleece." said Naruto, "I'm surprised that Annabeth even came with you."
"I just came to make sure Percy doesn't kill himself," answered Annabeth
"I have to agree with Naruto on this one," said Silena, "you're saying we can't do this without your help."
"We can't change things now, so you're unfortunately coming with us, but Clarisse is the leader so you have to listen to her." said Naruto as Silena left to calm Clarisse down, "you can't go rogue on this mission."
"I promise I won't," said Percy
"I'll hold you to it," said Naruto, "Now come with to the captain's quarters so you can give me more precise coordinates."
'This is going to be a long trip.' thought Naruto as he guided Percy through the boat.