XXV

Jason forces himself out of sickbay as the Argo II is nearly capsized by a colossal storm. Above deck he sees Leo lashed to the controls, Piper and Annabeth fighting the rigging, Frank as a gorilla untangling oars, Festus breathing fire, and Percy stabilizing the ship with seawater. Nike screams encouragement from below, while Hazel is too seasick to help.

Recognizing Percy is keeping the ship afloat, Jason joins him. Percy indicates something beneath them is causing the storm and dives overboard. Jason asserts control over a ventus, forms an air cyclone around himself, and follows into the deep.

They descend toward intermittent beams of green light. The seafloor reveals luminous algae fields and the shattered remains of a vast palace with a cracked golden dome. Trading barbs about myths, they enter the ruin, where the green light erupts from below and knocks Jason to the floor.

In the central chamber, a twenty-foot-tall luminous woman in a green dress stands over a bronze tripod supporting a polished green metal disk. Turning it like a wheel, she sends the green beam skyward, roiling the waters and sustaining the storm.

When Jason demands answers, the woman serenely confirms she is causing the tempest. To Percy, she declares herself his sister and says she wanted to meet him before he dies, raising the stakes and revealing a personal threat behind the assault on the Argo II.