Chapter Three: Tara. The Tlaloc Reps Repeat Their Spell

Here is Chapter Three of Unities: Myths Brought Together.

The Tlaloc Reps Repeat Their Spell
The Argo II was a massive Greek warship made from an old bronze dragon.

The New Level heroes - me, Natalie, Raymond, and Eddie - were the first to board. Then many of the campers (and Chiron the centaur) from Camp Half-Blood went onto the ship. Next the magicians - Carter and Sadie Kane from Brooklyn and their associates from the Twenty-First Nome. The legionnaires from Camp Jupiter (or at least the ones who were here) entered the ship. And finally, Phoenix and Cam - the only Aztec representatives in New York aside from the New Level heroes - came in.

"So here's the game plan," Eddie said. "We're going to start by heading south. We get to Aztlan where we can get some of the representatives, then we go across the Panama Canal to get to Camp Jupiter as quickly as we can. Natalie Rain, Phoenix Lane, and Percy Jackson, with your power of water bodies you can get us there faster. We've got to be able to get to Rome before the Other Four leave."

"Yes, Eddie Jaden," everyone on board said. Being a New Level hero with power from wisdom deities, Eddie was the one that absolutely everyone could look up to and obey without question.

"Alright, come on, Festus," Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus said. Festus was the name of the bronze dragon who became the ship after dying in a blizzard.

The boat started moving into the Atlantic. I could see Percy using his powers - inherited from his father Poseidon - to move the boat faster along the waters.

"Help," I heard someone say. Outside the boat, I saw a man in the water. He had pale skin and chin-length blonde hair, but at the distance I couldn't make out any more details.

I looked around. Nobody else had heard the man's cry for help. I did the only thing I could think of: jump into the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, my father, Hades, has always had a rivalry with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon. I've always had a natural fear of both the skies and the oceans, but I was choosing to ignore the latter to help this guy out.

The waves crashed against me, as though they sensed my heritage and were trying to drown me. "N... Natalie! Help!"

Natalie Rain, New Level daughter of Zeus/Jupiter, host of Set, and representative of Tlaloc looked into the water and saw me. She nudged Phoenix - a fellow rep of Tlaloc - and pointed at me. He nodded.

"By the power of Tlaloc, lord of rivers, we command the waves to leave the daughter of death in safety," the two said simultaneously. They'd done the same thing a few weeks ago when our Egyptian reed boat was being attacked by lamiae in Mexico.

The waves slowed around me and I grabbed the guy's arm in mine. With the other arm, I took hold of the side of the Argo II and started climbing. Anything to get out of Poseidon's territory.

Natalie, Phoenix, and Raymond helped us over the side. I coughed up some seawater and looked at the man.

"Thank you," he said, holding out his right hand. "My name is Mike."

I shook the outstretched hand. "Tara. This is the Argo II. Where'd you come from?"

"Just flying when there was a crash and we went down."

An aircraft crash survivor. I remembered Melanie - a Tlaloc rep who'd gone bad and was using storms to attack the New Level heroes - and wondered if she'd done this.

"I'm so sorry," Natalie said.

"There's no need to be," Mike responded. "The others... I don't know what happened to them."

We were silent for a moment. Then I noticed something - despite having been in the water, Mike was completely dry.