Chapter 12

We Check In To C.C.'s Spa & Resort

I woke up in a rowboat with a makeshift sail stitched of gray uniform fabric. Anthony sat next to me, tacking into the wind.

I tried to sit up and immediately felt woozy.

"Rest," he said. "You're going to need it."

"Tyson…?"

He shook his head. "Perci, I'm really sorry."

We were silent while the waves tossed us up and down.

"He may have survived," he said halfheartedly. "I mean, fire can't kill him."

I nodded, but I had no reason to feel hopeful. I'd seen that explosion rip through solid iron. If Tyson he'd been down in the boiler room, there was no way he could've lived.

He'd given his life for us, and all I could think about were the times I'd felt embarrassed by him and had denied that the two of us were related.

Waves lapped at the boat. Anthony showed me some things he'd salvaged from the wreckage-Hermes's thermos (now empty), a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia, a couple of sailors' shirts, and a bottle of Dr Pepper. He'd fished me out of the water and found my knapsack, bitten in half by Scylla's teeth. Most of my stuff had floated away, but I still had Hermes's bottle of multivitamins (which I gave to Anthony), and of course I had Riptide. The ballpoint pen always appeared back in my pocket no matter where I lost it.

We sailed for hours. Now that we were in the Sea of Monsters, the water glittered a more brilliant green, like Hydra acid. The wind smelled fresh and salty, but it carried a strange metallic scent, too-as if a thunderstorm were coming. Or something even more dangerous. I knew what direction we needed to go. I knew we were exactly one hundred thirteen nautical miles west by northwest of our destination. But that didn't make me feel any less lost.

No matter which way we turned, the sun seemed to shine straight into my eyes. We took turns sipping from the Dr Pepper, shading ourselves with the sail as best we could. And we talked about my latest dream of Gretel.

By Anthony's estimate, we had less than twenty-four hours to find Gretel, assuming my dream was accurate, and assuming the Cyclops Polyphemus didn't change his mind and try to marry Gretel earlier.

"Yeah," I said bitterly. "You can never trust a Cyclops."

Anthony stared across the water. "I'm sorry, Perci. I was wrong about Tyson, okay? I wish I could tell him that."

I tried to stay mad at him, but it wasn't easy. We'd been through alot together. He'd saved my life plenty of times. It was stupid of me to resent him.

I looked down at our measly possessions-the empty wind thermos, the bottle of multivitamins. I thought about Luke's look of rage when I'd tried to talk to him about his dad.

"Anthony, what's Chiron's prophecy?"

He pursed his lips. "Perci, I shouldn't-"

"I know Chiron promised the gods he wouldn't tell me. But you didn't promise, did you?"

"Knowledge isn't always good for you."

"Your mom is the wisdom goddess!"

"I know! But every time heroes learn the future, they try to change it, and it never works."

"The gods are worried about something I'll do when I get older," I guessed. "Something when I turn sixteen."

Anthony twisted his Yankees cap in his hands. "Perci, I don't know the full prophecy, but it warns about a half-blood child of the Big Three-the next one who lives to the age of sixteen. That's the real reason Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swore a pact after World War II not to have any more kids. The next child of the Big Three who reaches sixteen will be a dangerous weapon."

"Why?"

"Because that hero will decide the fate of Olympus. He or she will make a decision that either saves the Age of the Gods, or destroys it."

I let that sink in. I don't get seasick, but suddenly I felt ill. "That's why Kronos didn't kill me last summer."

He nodded. "You could be very useful to him. If he can get you on his side, the gods will be in serious trouble."

"But if it's me in the prophecy-"

"We'll only know that if you survive three more years. That can be a long time for a half-blood. When Chiron first learned about Thalia, he assumed she was the one in the prophecy. That's why he was so desperate to get her safely to camp. Then she went down fighting and got turned into a pine tree and none of us knew what to think. Until you came along."

On our port side, a spiky green dorsal fin about fifteen feet long long called out of the water and disappeared.

"This kid in the prophecy...he or she couldn't be like a Cyclops?" I asked. "The Big Three have lots of monster children."

Anthony shook his head. "The Oracle said 'half-blood.' That always means half-human, half-God. There's really nobody alive who it could be, except for you."

"Then why do the gods even let me live? It would be safer to kill me."

"You're right."

"Thanks a lot."

"Perci, I don't know. I guess some of the gods would like to kill you, but they're probably afraid of offending Poseidon. Other gods...maybe they're still watching you, trying to decide what kind of hero you're going to be. You could be a weapon for their survival, after all. The real question is...what will you do in three years? What decision will you make?"

"Did the prophecy give any hints?"

Anthony hesitated.

Maybe he would've told me more, but just then a seagull swooped down out of nowhere and landed on our makeshift mast. Anthony looked startled as the bird dropped a small cluster of leaves into my lap.

"Land," he said. "There's land nearby!"

I sat up, dusting the leaves off. Sure enough, there was a line of blue and brown in the distance. Another minute and I could make out an island with a small mountain in the center, a dazzling white collection of buildings, a beach dotted with palm trees, and a harbor filled with a strange assortment of boats.

The current was pulling our rowboat toward what looked like a tropical paradise.

"Welcome!" said the lady with the clipboard.

She looked like a flight attendant-blue business suit, perfect makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail. She shook our hands as we stepped onto the dock. With the dazzling smile she gave us, you would've thought we'd just gotten off the Princess Andromeda rather than a banged-up rowboat.

Then again, our rowboat wasn't the weirdest ship in port. Along with a bunch of pleasure yachts, there was a U.S. Navy submarine, several dugout canoes, and an old-fashioned three-masted sailing ship. There was a helipad with a "Channel Five Fort Lauderdale" helicopter on it, and a short runway with a Learjet and a propeller plane that looked like a World War II fighter. Maybe they were replicas for tourists to look at or something.

"Is this your first time with us?" the clipboard lady inquired.

Anthony and I exchanged looks. Anthony said, "Umm…"

"First-time-at-spa," the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. "Let's see…"

She looked us up and down critically. "Mmm. An herbal wrap to start for the young lady. And of course, a complete makeover for the young gentleman."

"A what?" Anthony asked.

She was too busy jotting down notes to answer.

"Right!" She said with a breezy smile. "Well, I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please."

Now here's the thing. Anthony and I were used to traps, and usually those traps looked good at first. So I expected the clipboard lady to turn into a snake or a demon, or something, any minute. But on the other hand, we'd been floating in a rowboat for most of the day. I was hot, tired, and hungry, and when this lady mentioned a luau, my stomach sat up on its hind legs and begged like a dog.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Anthony muttered.

Of course it could, but we followed the lady anyway. I kept my hands in my pocket where I'd stashed my only magic defense-Riptide-but the farther we wandered into the resort, the more I forgot about them.

The place was amazing. There was white marble and blue water everywhere I looked. Terraces climbed up the side of the mountain, with swimming pools on every level, connected by waterslides and waterfalls and underwater tubes you could swim through. Fountains sprayed water into the air, forming impossible shapes, like flying eagles and galloping horses. Now, being the daughter of the Sea God, all those things blew me away.

Tyson loved horses, and I knew he'd love those fountains. I almost turned around to see the expression on his face before I remembered: Tyson was gone.

"You okay?" Anthony asked me. "You look pale."

"I'm okay," I lied. "Just...let's keep walking."

We passed all kinds of tame animals. A sea turtle napped in a stack of beach towels. A leopard stretched out asleep on the diving board. The resort guests-only young women, as far as I could see-lounged in deck chairs, drinking fruit smoothies or reading magazines while herbal gunk dried on their faces and manicurists in white uniforms did their nails.

As we headed up a staircase toward what looked like the main building, I heard a woman singing. Her voice drifted through the air like a lullaby. Her words were in some language other than Ancient Greek, but just as old-Minoan, maybe, or something like that. I could understand what she sang about-moonlight in the olive groves, the colors of the sunrise. And magic. Something about magic. Her voice seemed to lift Anthony off the steps and carried him toward her.

We came into a big room where the whole front wall was windows. The back wall was covered in mirrors, so the room seemed to go on forever. There was a bunch of expensive-looking white furniture, and on a table in one corner was a large wire pet cage. The cage seemed out of place, but I didn't think about it too much, because just then I saw the lady who'd been singing.

She sat at a loom the size of a big screen TV, her hands weaving colored thread back and forth with amazing skill. The tapestry shimmered like it was three dimensional-a waterfall scene so real I could see the water moving and clouds drifting across a fabric sky.

I caught my breath. "It's beautiful."

The woman turned. She was prettier than her fabric. Her long dark hair was braided with threads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress with shapes that seemed to move in the fabric: animal shadows, black upon black, like deer running through the forest at night.

"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" the woman asked.

"Well...not weaving, but what you just weaved." I stuttered. "My father is-"

I stopped myself. I couldn't just go around announcing that my dad was Poseidon, the god who controls the seas. Most people would lock you in a rubber room. Now Anthony's mom, Athena, was the goddess who invented the loom.

Our hostess just smiled. "You have good taste, my dear. I'm so glad you've come. My name is C.C."

The animals in the corner sage started squealing. They must've been guinea pigs, from the sound of them.

We introduced ourselves to C.C. She looked Anthony over with a twinge of disapproval, as if he'd failed some kind of test, which would be surprising because of how smart he is. Immediately, he felt bad like for some reason he really wanted to please this lady.

"Oh, dear," she sighed. "You do need my help."

"Ma'am?" Anthony asked.

C.C. called to the lady in the business suit. "Hylla, take Perci on a tour, will you? Show her what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And the habit, my goodness. We will do a full image consultation after I've spoken with this young gentleman."

"But…" I said, sounding hurt, as I played with my blue hair streak. "What's wrong with my hair?"

C.C. smiled benevolently. "My dear, you are lovely. Really! And your blue hair really catches your beauty! But you're not showing off yourself or your talents at all. So much wasted potential!"

"Wasted?"

"Well, surely you're not happy the way you are! My goodness, there's not a single person who is. But don't worry. We can improve anyone here at the spa. Hylla will show you what I mean. You, my dear, need to unlock your true self!"

My eyes glowed with longing. I'm just at a loss for words on how she looks at me. "But...what about Anthony?"

"Oh, definitely," C.C. said, giving him a sad look. "Anthony requires my personal attention. He needs much more work than you."

Normally, if somebody had told Anthony that, he would've gotten angry, but when C.C. said it, he looked sad. He's disappointed her and he had to figure out how to do better.

The guinea pigs squealed like they were hungry.

"Well…" I said. "I suppose…"

"Right this way, dear," Hylla said. And I allowed myself to be led away into the waterfall-laced gardens of the spa, leaving Anthony with C.C.

I looked around at the fountains spraying horse and eagle shapes and the swimming pools as the ladies looked up from their magazines and looked at me, and they looked...I don't know, interested in me or something. I followed Hylla to another large building and I found a buffet with blue foods!

I mean, blue foods my mother never managed to make, like blue cheeseburgers, blue french fries, and multiple other blue food. I didn't know how they did it, but I felt dumbfounded.

"How did you make these?" I asked Hylla.

She stopped and turned to me. "Well, nothing's impossible, Perci. Follow me, and you'll get your hair, makeup, and get a change of dresses."

"But...I don't wear dresses and makeup, I would be caught dead wearing those." I never liked makeup or dress. I liked wearing T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers, because they were more comfortable on me, so I found myself as more of a tomboy than a girly girl.

Hylla only scoffed. "This is what C.C. meant: you need to unlock your true self! You just have to try and it won't be so bad." She gestured to a mirror and made look at my reflection.

I looked at my ruffled shoulder-length hair that were mostly frizzed out since my past Charybdis incident. I also looked at my crumbled and torn T-shirt and tattered jeans, like she was telling me this isn't what I'm supposed to look like.

"So I had a nasty battle with Charybdis, this is nothing." I said.

Hylla only giggled and told me to follow her deeper into the room. She took me into a white spa room and gestured me to take a seat in the center, and I did. Another woman, who looked a little like Hylla, came out from another door with a hairbrush and hairspray, prepared to fix my hair. Hylla took her seat and read a magazine as the woman brushed my hair to get the knots out, and seemed to put it in a braid. Then, she did my makeup, and I tried to protest, but she wouldn't take no for an answer and rubbed some lipstick and eyeshadow on my face.

"I love this streak," the woman said, as she brushed it. "You dyed it?"

"No," I said. "I was born with it."

After she was done, Hylla closed her magazine and sat up as she told me to follow her again. Then, she showed me a beautiful blue, long dress, that was in a similar design as C.C.'s and like I just said, I would be caught dead wearing a dress. I also never liked how I would trip on them from their lengths, but...I just couldn't refuse. After I got done changing, she took me back to the mirror and I looked at my hair. It was braided and with my blue streak, my hair looked like dark chocolate mixed with a narrow blue. My eyelids were a greenish-blue and my lips looked redder than my natural lips, and my new blue-green dress really went well with them. It was all like...too perfect.

"Whoa," I said, totally speechless. "I...I don't know what to say."

I looked at the buffet table. Right now, I was hungry as I went to it and pigged out a little. It tasted amazing like how it would be if my mother made it.

"What did you say your father is?" Hylla asked curiously.

After I swallowed a part of my blue cheeseburger, I said, "Poseidon."

She made a look of surprise. "Are you really?" Her surprise turned to a grin as she came up and grabbed my greasy hand. "You don't know what an honor it is to have a Daughter of Poseidon here! She is so going to be honored to have you here! We never had a Daughter of the sea god here in years!"

I looked startled and weirded out by her reaction. Then, I remembered someone I came here with. How the women were caring for me by brushing my hair and giving me a buffet, I almost forgot about my friend, Anthony.

"Can I see C.C. again?" I requested.

Hylla nodded and ushered me out to the garden again. The women were looking at me again, possibly because I'm the first daughter of Poseidon to come here, not to mention born.

I walked back to the main building and called out, "Miss C.C.?"

I could hear someone cursing in Ancient Greek and I as I walked in as she kicked something under a loom. I didn't have time to know what it was or why she hurried.

I looked around and frowned at C.C. "Where's Anthony?" I asked.

C.C. smiled as the guinea pigs squealed up a storm. "He's having one of our treatments, my dear. Not to worry. You look wonderful! What did you think of our tour?"

My eyes brightened. "You blue food buffet is amazing, I didn't know it was possible to make blue foods like that!"

"Yes, indeed," C.C. said. "The best kind in the past three millennia. Anything you want to be, my dear, other than hungry?"

I honestly didn't know what I wanted to be. I knew Anthony wanted to be an architect when he grew up, but I didn't know where he was, and I didn't know what my future would be like. I mean, I wanted to be a professional swimmer, before I even knew I was a demigoddess.

"A professional swimmer?" I know it sounded obvious, coming from me, but I always wanted to be a professional swimmer before I knew I was a demigoddess, but as the daughter of the sea god...it would be cheating, but I plan on joining a swim team anyway.

"Pah!" C.C. said. "You, my dear, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me."

That set off my nerves. I took a step back. "A sorceress?"

"Yes, my dear." C.C. held up her hand. A flame appeared in her palm and danced across her fingertips. "My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic. I know a daughter of Poseidon when I see one, and you don't know how long I've waited for someone like you to arrive in my presence. We are not so different, you and I. We both seek to help others. We both admire greatness. We both hold great powers beyond anyone's talents. Neither of us needs to stand in the shadow of men."

Shadow of men? Sorceress? I thought. Now I was really confused. "I-I don't understand."

Again, the guinea pigs were squealing like crazy, and I didn't know what was up with them, but it was like they were trying to warn me and speak with words. I could only understand horses and fish, not rodents. I didn't think it was possibly for guinea pigs to look mean, but those did. There were half a dozen, with dirty fur and cracked teeth and beady red eyes. They were covered with shavings and I could smell them like they really had been in there for three hundred years, without getting their cage cleaned.

I looked back at C.C. "Stay with me," she said, "study with me. You can join our staff, become a sorceress, learn to bend others to your will. With my magic mix with your incredible water power, you will become immortal!"

"But-"

"You are too naive, my dear," C.C. said. "You know better than to trust that silly camp for heroes. How many great female half-blood heroes can you name?"

I tried to rack my mind into remembering Chiron's studies when he taught me Latin. "Um, Atalanta, uh…" I said. That was the only female hero from Greek mythology I know.

"Bah! Men get all the glory." C.C. closed her fist and extinguished the magic flame. "The only way to power for women is sorcery. Medea, Calypso, now they were powerful women! And me, of course. The greatest of all!"

I suddenly began to think about those names she said, and the fact that she said that her mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic, that she was the greatest of her daughters, and I've been think about her name C.C. as if it was just some anagram of an ancient name from mythology. Trust me, I've had plenty of experiences with that.

"You...C.C….Circe!" I said.

I remembered that Circe's story was that she used her magic to turn men who displeased her into animals and they would try everything to make her happy, but she only ends up turning them into animals and leaves girls in the clear. I had a terrible feeling that she did the same thing to Anthony.

I backed up, and Circe laughed. "You need not worry. I mean you no harm."

"What have you done to Anthony?" I demanded.

"Only helped him realize his true form."

I scanned the room. I finally saw the cage and I saw one scratching on the bars, but there was tons of them. Surely, Circe has turned Anthony into a guinea pig and doomed him to live the rest of his life as a rodent, and my eyes went wide.

"Forget him," Circe said. "Join me and learn the ways of sorcery, and learn your full potential."

"But-"

"Your friend will be well cared for. He'll be shipped to a wonderful new home on the mainland. The kindergarteners will adore him. Meanwhile, you will be powerful beyond of what your father can offer you. You will have all you ever wanted."

That was tempting. It's like she's trying to put me in a trace or something, as I could feel her voice fluttering around me. I staring at the guinea pigs but I pretended that I was being put under a spell, so I gave myself a dreamy expression as the guinea pigs squealed louder.

"Let me think about it," I murmured. "Just...give me a minute alone. To say good-bye."

"Of course, my dear," Circe cooed. "One minute. Oh...and so you have absolute privacy…" She waved her hand and iron bars slammed down over the windows. She swept out of the room and I heard the locks on the door click shut behind her.

I would guess she didn't want me to escape. She would want to use me and my power because I'm a daughter of one of the Big Three. I don't know if she was fooled by my false dreamy state.

I quickly rushed over to the cage. "Alright, which one is you?" I said.

They were all squeaking, and I couldn't tell which one was Anthony. Right now, I really wished Poseidon had created rodents from the crest of the ponds. I scanned the room and spotted a cuff of jeans sticking out from under the loom.

Anthony's jeans!

I rushed over and rummaged through his pockets.

I found his celestial bronze knife and invisibility cap, but I kept looking until I found the bottle of Hermes multivitamins. I remembered that Hermes said that I could feel like my old self again, so what if it could turn not only Anthony, but all the other men Circe has turned.

I struggled with the cap and managed to pop a lemon chewable in my mouth, which tasted a little sour, just as the door flew open and Crice came back in, flanked by two of her business-suited attendants.

"Well," Circe sighed, "how fast a minute passes. What is your answer, my dear?"

"This," I said, and I took out my pen and uncapped Riptide.

The sorceress stepped back, but her surprise quickly passed. She sneered. "Really, little girl, a sword against my magic? Is that wise?"

I held out Riptide, ready to fight. "My father's Poseidon, god of the sea, so you should know better than to mess with his children."

Circe looked back at her attendants, who smiled. They raised their hands as if preparing to cast a spell.

I don't know what good the vitamin I ate would do for me, but I couldn't stand to lose Anthony the way I'd lost Tyson.

"What will Perci's makeover be?" Circe mused. "Something small and ill-tempered. I know...A shrew!"

Blue fire coiled from her fingers curling like serpents around me, but nothing happen. The vitamin I ate made me immune to Circe's magic. I made an angrier face and I leaped forward and stuck the point of Riptide against Circe's neck.

"How about turning me into a panther instead? One that has her claws at your throat!" I said.

"How!" Circe yelped.

I held up my bottle of vitamins for the sorceress to see.

Circe howled in frustration. "Curse Hermes and his multivitamins! Those are such a fad! They do nothing for you."

"Turn Anthony back to a human or else!" I demanded.

"I can't!"

"Then you asked for it."

Circe's attendants stepped forward, but their mistress said, "Get back! She's immune to magic until that cursed vitamin wears off."

I dragged Crice over to the guinea pig cage, knocked the top off, and poured the rest of the vitamins inside.

"No!" Circe screamed.

The guinea pigs scuttled out to eat the vitamins as I backed away. I watched them all nibble their food until their was nothing left, until suddenly, bang! The cage exploded. I found Anthony sitting of the floor, a human again-somehow back in his regular clothes, thank the gods-with six other guys who all looked disoriented, blinking and shaking wood shavings out of their hair.

"No!" Circe screamed. "You don't understand! Those are the worst!"

One of the men stood up-a huge guy with a long tangled pitch-black beard and teeth the same color. He wore mismatched clothes of wool and leather, knee-length boots, and a floppy felt hat. The other men were dressed more simply-in breeches and stained white shirts. All of them were barefoot.

"Argggh!" bellowed the big man. "What's the witch done t'me!"

"No!" Circe moaned.

Anthony gasped. "I recognize you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?"

"Aye, lad," the big man growled. "Though most call me Blackbeard! And there's the sorceress what captured us, lads. Run her through, and then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Arggggh!"

Circe screamed. She and her attendants ran from the room, chased by the pirates.

I recapped Riptide and glared at Anthony.

"Thanks…" He faltered. "I'm really sorry-"

I didn't let him finish apologizing for being an idiot for the first time, because I tackled him with a hug, and then pulled away just as quickly. "I'm glad you're not a guinea pig."

"Me, too." His face was blushing red.

I undid my braids in my hair.

"Come on, Owl Head," I said. "We have to get away while Circe's distracted."

We ran down the hillside through the terraces, past screaming spa workers and pirates ransacking the resort. Blackbeard's men broke the tiki torches for the luau, threw herbal wraps into the swimming pool, and kicked over tables of sauna towels.

I almost felt bad letting the unruly pirates out, but I guessed they deserved something more entertaining than the exercise wheel after being cooped up in a cage for three centuries.

"Which ship?" Anthony said as we reached the docks.

I looked around desperately. We couldn't very well take out rowboat. We had to get off the island fast, but what else could we use? A sub? A fighter jet? I couldn't pilot any of those things. And then I saw it.

"There," I said.

Anthony blinked. "But-"

"I can make it work."

"How?"

I couldn't explain. I just somehow knew an old sailing vessel was the best bet for me. I grabbed Anthony's hand and pulled him toward the three-mast ship. Painted on its prow was the name that I would only decipher later: Queen Anne's Revenge.

"Argggh!" Blackbeard yelled somewhere behind us. "Those scalawags are a-boarding me vessel! Get 'em, lads!"

"We'll never get going in time!" Anthony yelled as we climbed aboard.

I looked around at the hopeless maze of sail and ropes. The ship was in great condition for a three-hundred-year-old vessel, but it would still take a crew of fifty several hours to get underway. We didn't have several hours. I could see the pirates running down the stairs, waving tiki torches and sticks of celery.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the waves lapping against the hull, the ocean currents, the winds all around me. Suddenly, the right word appeared in my mind. "Mizzenmast!" I yelled.

Anthony looked at me like I was nuts, but in the next second, the air was filled with whistling sounds of ropes being snapped that, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking.

Anthony ducked as a cable flew over his head and wrapped itself around the bowsprit. "Perci, how…"

I didn't have an answer, but I could feel the ship responding to me as if it were part of my body. I willed the rudder to turn.

The Queen Anne's Revenge lurched away from the dock, and by the time the pirates arrived at the water's edge, we were already underway, sailing into the Sea of Monsters.