A/N: All rights to Rick Riordan
Renee POV
Getting on the ship was the easy part.
I went up to the captain. "Hello, good sir. We are three girls on a trip to England to see our ailing mother. I'm Rain, that's Claire, and that's Laura. We lost our tickets, but we will pay you back when we get the money." I then pretended to cry. Clara and Clarisse copied me.
"Little girls, come here. You can get the ride for free, okay? If your mother is so bad that you must take a ship to England to go see her, then of course you will have free passage."
I gave a small smile. "Thank you." I whispered. I couldn't let the kind captain know what I was really feeling, but inside, I was grinning like a maniac. Clara and Clarisse echoed their thanks, and we boarded the Andromeda Jean.
The man called after us, "We have extra rooms on the deck. Feel free to take cabin 5710."
"Oh, thank you very much!" I grinned. "Thank you for your kindness."
Clara slipped her arm around me. "Mom's gonna be okay," she whispered. I giggled a little, then pretended to be sad.
When we got to cabin 5710, we stared. It looked as if it was a shrine to the gods, especially our parents. The door was painted with harps, cows, helmets, vultures, doves, and shells. The beds were the same. I glanced at the others and gulped.
It was a large ship, with a big deck, a game room, and a lounge. I shivered and wondered if Clara was feeling the way I was, utterly unsafe. I collapsed on one of the beds, the left one. Clara threw her bag onto the middle one, which I was grateful for because it meant I didn't need to be near Clarisse.
I fell asleep almost immediately. What a day!
"I cannot believe they fell for it," a voice growled. They actually took the Andromeda Jean. Good work, my faithful servant. Good job."
"It was easy, Master. I led them both ways. To Storybrooke and back out. To here. To us, Master."
"Such a shame they didn't realize. That would have been great fun, almost as much fun as watching Percy talk to a poodle."
"Yes, Master. And who was the captain?"
"Why, Oceanus, of course. We'll sail them right through the Bermuda Triangle!"
"Yes, sir. Shame, though, I do believe we could have used Clarissa and Renee. They're so….easy."
"Oh, Scylla and Charybdis won't kill them. And Oceanus will make sure they do the right procedure for the Sirens."
"I like how you think….ahead of time, Master."
What was it Silena had said about demigod dreams? That they told you something? Did they predict the future? I rolled over on the bed and tried not to think about it.
Wait a second! I had to think about it. And we needed to get off this ship. I threw a pillow at Clara, but I threw too hard and it hit Clarisse. Crap!
"Renee, what was that for?"
"Well, sorry. I had a dream, Clarisse. We need to abort ship!"
"What's all the yelling? Clarisse, please don't!"
I noticed then that Clarisse was about to throw something at me. "Renee," Clara continued, "tell us what happened."
I remembered that that was one thing I had always loved about Clara. She could always keep her head, even when the daughter of Aphrodite and the daughter of Ares were about to kill each other. Which was, on my count, always.
"I dreamed….somebody said that it had all been a setup for us to get on this ship! And think about it! The Andromeda Jean! The cabin decorations! Even the cabin number, our CHB cabins combined. I can't believe we missed all the clues! And….they were so willing to let us on. Like, I almost didn't have to use Charmspeak! Gods, we've been so stupid! Why didn't I see it?"
"Wren, you're not an Athena. It's not surprising that none of us saw it. Well, you're right. We need to get out."
"Wren?" I looked at Clara. "I thought it was Rennie!"
"Rennie sounds too….ten years old. Do you even know what day it is?"
"Oh my gods, it's May 2nd, isn't it? I'm eleven!" I hugged Clara, then remembered what I was there for. "But grab your bags, there's no time to waste!"
"Not even for a cupcake for the birthday girl?"
"Who….what! Oh, hi." I exclaimed. It was the captain. I grinned at him.
"We were just taking Rain here….to her birthday surprise! At the arcade!" Clarisse said aggressively-almost protectively. I was impressed.
"Well, get out there, then."
Once the captain was out of earshot, I groaned. "Clarisse, that was helpful."
"Quick thinking. If that blonde brat Annabeth had been here, she would've come up with something better."
"Ugh, whatever. I guess we need to go to the arcade now." I linked arms with Clara and Clarisse pretended to gag.
The arcade was amazing, and if I hadn't been fearing for my life, I probably would have loved it. It was called the Lotus Casino Cruise Branch, and it was like a whole new ship. I decided that while we were here, we should check out the games.
And for an eleven-year-old, they were paradise. Just when we started to realize we had no money on us, the security guards came up to us. "Do you three have your all-access unlimited passes?"
"No," I said, worried that they would kick us out.
"Well then, here! Take some!"
Clara was given a golden-yellow pass. I had a pink and green one, and Clarisse's was red and black. "The color of your blood when I beat you at inflatable fencing," she added.
Clara shook her head, but I used a little Charmspeak to convince her. "Clarissa Jeanne, please. It'll be fun."
"Two on one, not that you losers will have a chance."
We fenced. And fenced. And fenced some more, losing track of the time. And then I had an idea. I whispered something to Clara, and she nodded. She raised her sword and I ran behind Clarisse, trying to make it look like Clara would be the one to knock her sword from her hand. In reality, I was sneaking behind Clarisse, just in time to knock the sword from her hand at the right moment.
So basically, ClaRenee, 1; Clarisse, 0. I grinned, ready to lay on the charmspeak when Clarisse accused us of cheating. "No way, Clarisse, we won, fair and square!"
"Cheaters!"
"There's always power in numbers, Clarisse."
"But-but…." the older girl was flabbergasted.
"Let's go get something to eat. I need energy to take you guys on at the bouncy house extreme challenge," Clara piped up, pointing at an inflatable attraction that looked like everything combined. We walked over to one of the restaurants.
"Can I get a burger?" I asked.
"With onions and tomatoes and eggplant?"
Wow, this lady knew my exact preference. Except….
"And with lightly melted cheddar cheese, correct?"
I gulped, remembering my dream. "No. No onions, no tomatoes, no eggplant, and no cheese. With lettuce and peppers and mushrooms, no cheese."
"Are you sure?"
"Very."
"Okay then, coming right up. And for you two lovely ladies?"
"I'll take pizza."
"All meat, extra pepperoni and anchovies, Laura?"
"How do you know my name?" Clarisse grumbled. I was sure I was going to get yelled at about that name choice soon.
"Laura Nathaniels, yes? All meats, extra pepperoni and anchovies?"
"No, just cheese. Maybe with eggplant."
"If you're sure."
"Well, of course I'm sure. I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't, ma'am."
Clara held back her laughter.
"And you, my dear Claire, what would you like?"
"I'll have a milkshake. Raspberry and chocolate."
"But, my dear Claire Nathaniels, you like blueberry with vanilla."
"Nope. Raspberry and chocolate."
"Okay, then, may I see your all-access unlimited passes?"
We handed them over. I wasn't looking forward to eating my hamburger without the lightly melted cheddar, but hey, that was better than giving into the waitress's predictions.
"Ugh, why did I say eggplant? I hate eggplant!"
"Just wipe it off. I'll split my burger so you can have some of the meat."
"Thanks, Rain, you're so sweet. You can have my eggplant, too." We exchanged a smile, the first we'd had in….ever.
Clarisse made sure to leave just enough cheese touching the eggplant so that I could feel like I had that, too. "I know it's mozzarella, not cheddar, but I hope it'll do." I smiled gratefully. Maybe we really could be friends.
After we finished eating, we did the inflatable thing, went down waterslides, played arcade games, and fenced until we were tired out. Even then, we felt like we had to keep playing. It was very late, definitely, but we couldn't know exactly what time because there were no clocks, a fact I hadn't even thought about. There were also no windows.
After a while, I realized that I was actually tired. Like, really tired. "Clara, Clarisse, shouldn't we go back to our cabin?"
"My name's Laura. And hers is Claire," Clarisse said as a security guard passed by. "And yes, I'm so tired."
But we were about to find that being tired was the least of our worries.
A/N:
Well, I bet you can guess what happened next. After all, it was the Lotus Casino.
Also, don't expect this often. I don't post during the week much, but I finally knew where to take this part of the story, so I had to write it.
Names: Clara is Claire and Renee is Rain, obviously. Clarisse is Laura because of LaRue, her last name. Nathaniels is their last name because it is, there is no rhyme or reason for it.
