A 1

“Basically,” Leo explained, “I activated a hydraulic screw with the Archimedes device—which is
going to be awesome once I install it in the ship, by the way. Hazel sensed the easiest path to drill to
the surface. We made a tunnel big enough for a weasel, and Frank climbed up with a simple
transmitter that I slapped together. After that, it was just a matter of hacking into Coach Hedge’s
favorite satellite channels and telling him to bring the ship around to rescue us. After he got us,
finding you was easy, thanks to that godly light show at the Colosseum.”
Percy understood about ten percent of Leo’s story, but he decided it was enough since he had a
more pressing question. “Where’s Annabeth?”
Leo winced. “Yeah, about that…she’s still in trouble, we think. Hurt, broken leg, maybe—at least
according to this vision Gaea shown us. Rescuing her is our next stop.”
Two seconds before, Percy had been ready to collapse. Now another surge of adrenaline coursed
through his body. He wanted to strangle Leo and demand why the Argo II hadn’t sailed off to rescue
Annabeth first, but he thought that might sound a little ungrateful.
“Tell me about the vision,” he said. “Tell me everything.”
The floor shook. The wooden planks began to disappear, spilling sand into the pits of the
hypogeum below.
“Let’s talk on board,” Hazel suggested. “We’d better take off while we still can.”
They sailed out of the Colosseum and veered south over the rooftops of Rome.
All around the Piazza del Colosseo, traffic had come to a standstill. A crowd of mortals had
gathered, probably wondering about the strange lights and sounds that had come from the ruins. As
far as Percy could see, none of the giants’ spectacular plans for destruction had come off successfully.
The city looked the same as before. No one seemed to notice the huge Greek trireme rising into the
sky.