The whole time Percy spent with Rachel driving his step-dad's Prius the more he felt uneasy. At first he thought it was just because he was alone in New York with a pretty girl and thought nothing of it. Now, after an hour, he felt sweaty, nervous, and paranoid. The feeling only got worse when Charles Beckendorf arrived and Percy suddenly felt a sense of dread, like his friend shouldn't be there. It was strange, he thought, because they were going to bomb the Princess Andromeda and get rid of Kronos once and for all. So, why did he feel like someone was going to die?

Percy looked over at Beckendorf when they were on the ship and noticed him staring at a photograph of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite and his girlfriend. He had a look of longing as he gazed at her face, gently touching it, and Percy's stomach flip-flopped with the same feeling of unease.

"We'll make it back to camp," Percy promised but it felt like a lie, stale and nasty against his tongue. When he said that, he felt anger at himself, even a bit of revulsion. Why? Because he lied? No, it wasn't that but Percy couldn't place what it was.

For a second, worry flashed in Beckendorf's eyes as he regarded Percy before he put on his old confident smile, "You bet. Let's go blow Kronos back into a million pieces."

Beckendorf would be lying if he said that Percy wasn't worrying him. When he had picked him up, the kid was pale and sweating, nearly shaking where he stood. At first, he thought that he was scared- Hades, Beckendorf was scared- but he soon realized that it wasn't the case at all. Sure, Percy was scared but he wasn't scared for himself. He was scared for Beckendorf and he wasn't sure why. He kept looking at the son of Hephaestus as if he knew something about him that he didn't and it made Beckendorf a bit uneasy.

Beckendorf led the way. They followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like they had practiced, but froze when they heard voices above them.

"I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice.

"A telkhine," Percy murmured to Charles, eyes looking up in focus. While Beckendorf may have been at camp longer than the son of Poseidon, PErcy had definitely fought more monsters than him, giving that he had a more powerful aura/scent.

"The last time you smelled a half-blood," The telkhine continued. "It turned out to be a meat loaf sandwich!"

"Meat loaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled, "But this is a half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!"

"Bah, your brain isn't on board!"

As they continued to argue, Beckendorf pointed downstairs and they descended as quietly as they could. Finally, they came to a metal hatch and Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room".

It was locked but Beckendorf pulled out some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter. Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console but he was so involved in his work, he didn't notice the two demigods. He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard.

Beckendorf watched as Percy stepped forward and the telkhine tense, as if finally realizing that something was wrong. The monster leapt sideways toward a big red alarm button but Percy blocked his path. The son of Poseidon seemed to glide in front of the telkhine effortlessly, like he was walking on air, and his posture seemed different, relaxed but dangerous. He seemed like a completely different person for a moment.

The telkhine hissed and lunged at Percy and he nearly screamed the words, "I won't go!" but one slice of Riptide and he was just golden dust.

"One down," Beckendorf said and watched as Percy shook of some dust from his sword, looking completely offended for some reason. Percy sure was acting strange. "About five thousand more to go," He grinned when the son of Poseidon gave a put-upon sigh and tossed him a jar of thick green liquid- Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world. Then he riffled through his bag again and pulled out duct tape and threw it to Percy as well.

"Oh, this is wonderful," Percy muttered as they set to work. "Hand one of the most clumsy- according to Annabeth- demigods a highly dangerous liquid." It was all said in good nature and Beckendorf smacked him on the back, both completely drenched in sweat.

"When do you say this ship'll get to New York Harbor?" Beckendorf asked, looking at his watch.

"We'll get there by dawn," Percy said as he looked out at the ocean before turning towards the other. "How much longer?"

"Too long," Beckendorf tapped his watch, which was the remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least."

Percy looked towards the door as the sound of footsteps could be heard, looking as if he was contemplating his next action. "I'll distract them," He decided after a moment of silence. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."

"Percy-"

The son of Poseidon gave him a half smirk, half smile but there was a strange emotion playing in his sea-green eyes, "Wish me luck."

Beckendorf wanted to argue but the son of Poseidon was already gone and he could only mutter a small, "Luck."

Beckendorf could hear Percy make his way up and the sounds of screaming and disintegrating monsters. For a moment, the son of Hephaestus felt as if he was worried for nothing.

Percy gripped Riptide tightly as he exited the room, looking up at the stairwell. He could see many monsters making their way down and he grinned viciously. For a second, it felt like his sword thrummed with an familiar power but he would swear up and down that he never felt it before. He swung his sword fast, barely visible to the naked eye, and he cut down monsters left and right. He left one monster live, partly because he liked his Lil' Demons lunch box, so he could press the alarm. He knew that the monster was going to die anyway.

He burst through a door onto deck six and kept running, jumping over bits of slime and trying not to trip over the claw marks in the once-plush carpets. He reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and stopped cold. He stared blankly in front of him at the large crab that loomed over him, hissing and snapping it's pincers.

"Hey, crabby," Percy spoke, looking up at the creature. He felt slightly offended when it snapped his pincers at it and a thought flashed in his head before he could stop it, How dare this lowly creature think it could kill me. Pathetic. Percy paused for a moment, wondering where it came from, before deciding to finish the crab off quickly. He sprinted toward it, sliding baseball-style under the creature and jabbed Riptide into the chink in it's armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed himself out of the backside. The monster shuddered and hissed and it's eyes dissolved, it's shell turned bright red as it's insides evaporated, and the empty shell clattered to the ground.

"Well," Percy calmly grabbed his sword, trying to pretend like there wasn't an army of monsters after his hide, and shook of some of the foam from the crab. "That was different."

"Indeed it was," A male's voice said, floating through the air in an eerie fashion. "But nothing you could not handle. Your work is not done. You must finish the job."

Percy swung his head around, looking for the source of the voice, but didn't have time to deal with it as the monsters caught up.

As Percy stared at Beckendorf, taking in his friend's beaten and bloody face, the words from the mysterious man rung in his head, "Your work is not done. You must finish the job."

Oh, Percy thought as he watched the son of Hephaestus reach for his watch. Beckendorf, you're going to die.