Sorry, if I don't write in awhile sometimes. School sometimes gets the best of me. Also, thanks for the reviews and views. I'm really enjoying writing this and I hope you enjoy reading it!

Chapter 7

Deal

"Prince Perseus, son of Poseidon, welcome to MY domain." The voice of Circe insane laugh ringed in his ears. Percy had a pounding headache for some reason and his throat was extremely dry in the misty watery air. His vision was skewed and hazy but he could see a red glob lying in front of him and that was probably Rachel. They were still underwater and Percy wondered if Rachel could breathe underwater while unconscious and the thought frightened him because she probably couldn't.

"Percy!" another voice yelped but all Percy could see of the other voice was an orange blob swimming around hysterically above him that could be the source of the voice but he wasn't sure.

"Silence!" Circe barked "Anyways, Perseus, I can give you what you desire but for a price."

Percy spat, ready for a fight and quick remarks. He wanted to tell Circe off but no words can out of his mouth. His dryness of his throat gave him only little croaks, nothing more but he should've been able to speak something.

Circe laughed at his struggle "Having trouble Sea Prince? I told you to be quiet but you refused so I gave you a mute charm for a while, it'll help me convey my deal with no interruptions."

Percy focused hard to see Circe and his vision began to clear. The true Circe was standing right before him, gracing him with her presence. Percy noticed they actually weren't underwater but in a damp cavern that probably rested upon on the sea but he was in a bubble of water that served as his cage, never before water has restricted him. Rachel was lying on the hard rocks, enwrapped in gold chains that glowed with power and sorcery. The other voice that cried out was none other than Grover, cast in a bubble prison that he could easily swim around in but if Percy even moved a fin in his, it would constrain him even more.

They were alone. Circe was keeping them company. The whole cavern was decorated like it was a house in the surface world. Percy had seen pictures drawn in wet books showing how a cottage would look like in the human world. There were some cushioned seats placed in a circle for meetings, all of them laced in shimmering gold. There were furry rugs placed all over and paintings of women. Nothing much was in the cavern but want terrified Percy the most was the orange light that came from some sort of stone structure, the exact same light that came from the ship, only much smaller. It made a crackling sound every time it hit a piece of wood underneath it and Percy cringed every time that happened.

"Now, let's get to business, I want to seal this deal as quick as possible." Circe crossed her arms impatiently. Her piercing green eyes stared intently at Percy; her black hair was braided down her side laced with gold like the furniture and her silk robe shimmered like shadows were running through it. She was seriously glowing with power.

"You see, I can let you see your mother in the human world, Hecate does not possess such magic to transfer creatures into another but I do. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to deals such as this because it is mere child's play for me to perform the spell but everything good comes with a price. There is only one thing I want, Perseus, and you will help me for you have no one else to turn to. I have been banished from land in which Hecate, my mother, rules which is mostly everything but I tire of living day to day in this damp cavern near Poseidon's domain, I want to create my own island. I want a place of solitude bigger than this, nothing more.

Perhaps you can help me, Sea Prince. You want to see your mother and I want an island, the deal is that simple. Where your mother lives is a place called Athens, I hope you know that. You do? Good. Then you should be familiar with the queen, Athena. Athena and Poseidon are very well known enemies but in secret. Her people do not even know that merpeople exist, she made some witch erase their memories of their knowledge but your mother defiantly knows about her merman son and Athena's closest advisers do too. Athena stole an artifact, a conch, from Poseidon, it's the very first one that was made and molted by the sea. The conch has special powers, it was known to create the first sea creatures, merpeople, and especially islands by just blowing into it. I want you to steal the stolen item back." Circe smiled in satisfaction that she was done explaining. She snapped her fingers.

Percy's voice returned "That item's my father's, not yours."

"I know, I know." Circe put "I'll just be using it once and you can return it to your Daddy if you like. It can actually be an excuse why you were gone so long."

"What if I refuse?" Percy asked.

He regretted even asking the stupid question. Circe's green eyes flared at him and his water prison grew tighter, choking him once again. He noticed he wasn't the only one getting tortured, Rachel was screaming in her sleep and Grover was being chased by a glowing shark cast by magic.

"You die, simple as that," Circe was still torturing everyone.

"Okay… get it…" Percy choked.

Circe smiled once again and everything turned back to normal, well, back to being imprisoned with no extra dish of pain. Circe grabbed Rachel's magical chains and hoisted her up.

"Rachel will be my captive until you steal the conch." Circe said "That should increase your motivation."

"What does it look like? How can even get to it?" Percy wanted to get this quest over with. Rachel was in danger because of him. If only if he didn't save Annabeth, he wouldn't know his mom was still alive and possibly they wouldn't be in this scenario. Why was Circe so forceful anyways? Why not give Percy a fairer choice then life or death? He guessed Circe knew Percy would never assist her if she made things fair. He could hear his father's words of not making deals with witches pounding in his ears.

"That's not my problem Prince Perseus but I have you know, you have a seven day time limit. If you ask me that is plenty of time to retrieve the conch. If you don't get it in time, Rachel is my servant for life with only you to blame. So what will it be Sea Prince? Die a slow death drowning in water or fulfill my task and live on with your life after?"

"What about my mom?"

"You can probably spent one day to give her a half-hearted reunion. You are free to choose what to do on the surface world but remember the consequences of those actions."

"That's it? You turn me into a human, I get the conch, met my mom and get Rachel out of your clutches, nothing else?"

Circe laughed "What? Did you expect me to take your voice or something?"

Percy gulped "What? Why my voice? Why would I think you would take that?"

"Never mind that. Deal?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

Circe's smiled grew wider as she accepted his remark as an agreement "Just one more thing to seal the deal. Usually you have to sacrifice something to change something so I need your voice."

Percy's eyes widened but even a flinch made the water choke him more. Before he could get out of it, Circe started mumbling a spell. Percy felt a warm sensation in his throat that climbed like a spider from his throat to his mouth to the outside. His voice was right in front of him. His voice, a tiny ball of light, echoed his name as if it yearned to crawl back into its proper place.

"There," Circe grabbed his voice and stuffed it into a pot and sealed the lid. "I'll keep it safe for now. Perseus, it is only necessary that I do this because something must be given up from the thing being changed. Look at it on the bright side, I could've taken an arm, a kidney or a rib but losing limbs will only slow your progress in stealing the conch. Also, when you rescued Athena's daughter, you did sing to her so she has your voice memorized, trust me. If Athena gets word you saved her from drowning in a sea where no one else from her crew could save her, she will make the connection that you are a merman. Athena will kill you."

Percy couldn't respond but he absorbed the information quite well. If Annabeth hears her savior's voice and he did recall talking around her, it won't take long for Athena or Annabeth to figure it out who he really is.

"Now, for the real magic!" Circe murmured some more spell words. Another whirlpool whipped around Percy. His water prison was lifted and the transformation started. It was quite painful.