It took another two hours before we finally found land, and by that point, I'd pretty much thought myself into a depression. My fingers played with the locket around my neck nervously, and I couldn't shake the thought I was missing something.
So what was it? What was Apollo not telling me?
Oh, don't be so naïve Acacia! I snapped at myself. You knew he wasn't telling you the whole truth the moment you met him.
If anything, that only made me feel worse. By my feet, Sasha glanced up at me with a soft gaze, nudging my hand affectionately. I barely noticed.
The island looked like some sort of tropical paradise, which immediately made me agitated. I'd done this sort of thing long enough now to know that things that looked too good to be true, usually were. Dozens of ships and boats of all size were docked at the port, ranging from yachts to submarines and what looked strangely like a pirate ship. Our lifeboat drifted into dock, and with a twisted stomach, I followed Percy and Annabeth anxiously to shore, Sasha keeping close to my heels.
"Welcome!" a lady smiled brightly at us as we stepped onto the dock. She was dressed almost like a flight attendant, with the same fake, disconcerting smile that made my eyes roll wryly. She glanced between the three of us, as if seeing nothing wrong with three beaten and bruised thirteen year olds drifting to shore in the middle of nowhere. "Is this your first time with us?"
"How often do people come here twice?" I blurted before I could help it, and Annabeth elbowed me sharply.
The woman eyed my expression for a second, then glanced at Sasha. Immediately, the wolf's fur stuck on end and she growled in the back of her throat. Like so often before, the sound set me on edge and I knew if Sasha didn't trust this woman, then I was most likely going to end up threatening her in some way or another.
"So!" the lady suddenly smiled, turning away. "You're first time then. Let's see . . . um, yes, I'm sure there is something we can do for you all. Perhaps a massage? Ease up some of the tension." Her eyes flicked toward me at that, and I lifted an eyebrow dangerously.
Annabeth glanced sideways at me, and Percy shrugged. "Great! Follow me then please!" She spun around, and the three of us followed with Sasha guarding the rear.
A large mountain looked in front of us, with terraces jutting out all over its face. Swimming pools glittered in the sunlight, and fountains kept showering everyone with soft, welcoming sprays of cooling water. The further we walked, and more I felt my shoulders relax, though I had no idea why. A small voice in the back of my mind warned me not to trust this place, but it grew quieter and quieter as time passed.
The lady led the way straight into the centre of the resort and up a flight of white marble stairs. By this point, I'd almost forgotten why I'd been nervous, until Sasha halted behind me. I took another couple of steps before I realised, then twisted slowly with a curious frown. "Sasha?" I asked. The wolf had gone rigid halfway up the stairs, listening intently.
Behind me, the lady coughed. "How about you two on go ahead?" she asked Annabeth and Percy sweetly. "I'll bring Acacia up soon."
Percy and Annabeth exchanged a glance, slowly moving to do as they'd said. The lady moved back down to my level, watching Sasha in concern. "I'm sorry," I immediately apologised. "I don't know what's wrong with her, she's usually-" I cut off as the lady glanced at me, her smile gone. Sasha growled in warning, her ears pinning back as she shifted into a crouch.
"Oh, don't worry, Acacia dear," the lady said. "You'll be relaxed in a moment."
I paused, chest tightening. "I don't remember ever telling you my name," I pointed out quietly, immediately taking a step back, but I stumbled straight into someone else I hadn't seen earlier. The lady watched as I twisted in surprise, suddenly surrounded by at least six other women, all looking a lot stronger and more dangerous than the tour guide lady.
And still, it was her that stepped closer and jabbed something straight into the side of my neck. "Hush now," she said softly, as weariness suddenly shot into my head. I staggered, eyes blinking furiously. "Relax."
That was the last thing I remembered hearing, before my legs gave way beneath me and my eyelids shut.
It was the sunlight that brought me back around. It shone in softly from the open window in front of me, warming my skin, and my eyelids fluttered open with a small groan.
I was lay on my side in a low bed with white sheets. In front of me, glass doors opened out onto the terrace, where a swimming pool glistened. Flowers dotted the room, all elegantly displayed in vases on top of small white tables with one leg. Everything seemed calm and tranquil. I'd never felt more relaxed in my life.
Relax.
The tour guide's voice broke through my thoughts and I gasped, hurriedly sitting up and scanning the room. I was alone, but . . . something felt wrong. That's when I caught the sight of myself reflected in a large mirror stood on the opposite side of the room.
My short hair wasn't short anymore. In fact, somehow, it felt to my elbows in loose curls and framed my face. My skin was unmarked and clean, looking freshly tanned and healthy for once. But I was wearing a silver sleeveless silk dress, like something out of an Ancient Greek movie, and natural shades of makeup highlighted my facial features. What was worse, where my locket once was, there was now a slim golden chain.
"You have got to be joking," I breathed in horror. If Aphrodite could see me now, she'd been loving this. I shook the thought away with a frown. I have to get out of here. My eyes rolled at the idea. "Why am I always trying to break out of somewhere?" I groaned to myself, carefully climbing out of the bed.
I searched the room quickly, desperate to find my own clothes or my locket, but they weren't that stupid. There was no sight of any of my things. "Damn it!" I cursed. Sasha!
My lady! The relief in her voice was evident. I have been trying to contact you for almost an hour now, my lady!
Where are you?
Outside, my lady. I managed to escape and began trying to track you, but they've changed your clothes.
My chest clenched. Can you find them? My clothes? Are the belts and locket there, too?
Yes, my lady.
I let out an audible sigh of relief and twisted to face the door. Go and get them back, I'm going to need my weapons. I'm going to find Annabeth and Percy.
Be careful, my lady, she said in her usual warning.
As ever, it was easy to break out of the room. Maybe they didn't expect me to try, or they thought I was drugged, or even didn't realise I was a daughter of Zeus. Either way, I sent a small shock through the handle and the door gave way with ease.
Slowly, I started down the corridor, trying to think where Annabeth and Percy could be. Would they have been drugged too? Or had it been Sasha that had given me away? I found myself gnawing my bottom lip anxiously, suddenly desperate for a weapon, any weapon. I ducked into a few rooms to search for one, but the best I came up with was a hunting knife. Annabeth had always been much better at close combat than I had, but I had no choice. A knife was better than nothing.
The third room I came to was occupied, just not by Annabeth or Percy.
"Hey!" the girl protested, and I started, my hand tightening around the knife in my hand. "You shouldn't …" She trailed off, scanning me. She was about my age, with long dark hair and dark piercing eyes, dressed entirely in purple. Shaking herself, she cleared her throat and straightened out. "You should be resting," she told me, and it seemed she had to force herself to be pleasant.
I lifted an eyebrow. "I think I've rested enough. Where are my friends? Annabeth and Percy?"
The girl eyed me for a moment. "Annabeth has just finished with her makeover. She looks much better for it. As do you."
I groaned before I could help it. "Well thank you, but I generally aim for something that isn't going to get me killed," I snapped. "Now where are my friends?"
"You don't have to stay at war, Acacia," she declared suddenly, and my face straightened. "My sister, Hylla and I came here for peace. Now we are immortal."
My mouth opened and closed a few times at the ridiculousness of it all. Why on Earth would I want immortality? With all the grief I got on a daily basis, I could barely stand the thought I had another two whole months of camp left. "Then I hope you and your sister are very happy," I grimaced tightly. "But right now, I'm trying to help my sister, and if you don't tell me where I can find my friends, I might start getting a little annoyed. Understand?"
The girl blinked, and I let lightning flicker across my knife in warning. She drew herself to her full height. "Annabeth Chase has returned to C.C, who is still dealing with Percy." I didn't like the way she said 'dealing with'.
Immediately, I took a step back and fumbled for the door handle. "Stay here," I warned the girl, and she shot me a cool look. Without waiting, I twisted and hurried down the hall, as fast as the ridiculous dress and sandals would allow. It took me a few more minutes than I would have liked to find my way back to the centre of the resort, and even then, I kept having to duck behind fountains and statues before an attendant caught sight of me. And then one of the other women here pulled me up to talk to me for five minutes about how beautiful my hair was and what she thought she should do with her nails.
Eventually, I reached the marble staircase again, pulling my hunting knife back out of the folds of my dress. Steeling myself, I took them two at a time and paused only a fraction of a second before shouldering the door open.
What I saw made my jaw hang. Annabeth had a woman in a green silk dress by the scruff of her neck, her knife to her throat, and attendees lingered in the background, all looking disgusted. Percy, on the other hand, was on the floor surrounded by at least five other thuggish looking men, all covered in sawdust and shaking like they'd just experienced something horrifically traumatic.
The second Percy caught sight of me, he choked. Annabeth gave a small squeal, dropping the woman in her hold like she'd suddenly caught fire. The other men stirred too, grumbling and scanning the room. Their eyes fell on the woman and her attendees. She gulped and shook her head. "No, no, I-"
Before she had any more time to explain, the men roared and bolted for them. Immediately, the women screamed and ran toward me, and I just about had time to gasp and duck to the side before all of them streamed past me, the men hot on their heels.
I gawped, glancing sideways at Annabeth and Percy. "What in the name of the gods . . ."
Percy scoffed, staring at me in shock. "I could say the same to you!" he said, and I glowered.
"We need to leave," I insisted irritably. "Now."
"Agreed," Annabeth nodded, hauling Percy to his feet and dragging him toward me.
We took the stairs as quickly as possible, but by the time we reached the bottom, the men had already destroyed the place. Statues were being pushed over, and tapestries were being set on fire. Women screamed and ran in every direction, and part of me felt we should do something to help them, when I realised that we were on a time limit and if monsters overran camp, we were all in serious trouble.
Thalia, I told myself. I have to help Thalia.
We raced down the path and back toward the dock. For a second, Percy skidded to a halt, trying to catch his breath as he scanned the ships and boats critically. Clutching a stitch in my side, I shouted out for Sasha, and heard the howl as she bolted out of the trees along the beach, an old dustbin bag in her mouth. My eyes rolled, but in the same second, Percy snatched my wrist and hauled me forward.
"Oh no!" Annabeth moaned. "Not that ship! Anything but that one!" Percy ignored her, but behind us, someone yelled in fury. She shot a panicked look over her shoulder. "Percy, we won't make it in time!"
"Yes, we will!" he insisted. "Get on!"
Sasha leapt ahead of us, jumping onto the ship as Annabeth and I followed. Immediately, Sasha lay down behind one of the walls, already uncomfortable about being back on board a ship. I glanced back the way we'd come, my chest tightening at the sight of the men closing in. Annabeth was right. We weren't going to make it.
Then Percy yelled, "Mizzenmast!", and I just about had time to shoot him a stunned, concerned look when ropes suddenly shot through the air. Gasping, I dropped to the ground, covering my head, and the ship suddenly lurched forward. Back on shore, the men yelled, but it was too late. We were already too far away for them to do any more than yell abuse.
I straightened out, breathing hard, and clutching the side of the ship as though my life depended on it. "Percy Jackson," I started unsteadily. "Do not ever let me sail again. Especially not with you."
"Hey!" he complained, his lips twitching in amusement.
"I thought he did rather well," another voice came, and the three of us spun. Poseidon smiled softly at the astonished looks on our faces, leaning casually against the side of the ship, still dressed in a horrifically patterned shirt, shorts and sandals.
Percy blinked at him. "Erm, thanks," he said uncertainly.
"No need to thank me," Poseidon shrugged easily. "You managed perfectly fine on your own. However, if you don't mind, I'd like a word with Acacia? Can't be seen to be interfering with your quest. Though I suppose it wasn't really yours now, was it?" He gave Percy a knowing look, and the boy flushed slightly.
"I couldn't sit back and do nothing," he defended.
"Um, and quite a good job you didn't, by the looks of things," his father smiled. Annabeth blinked, then shook herself and grabbed Percy's arm.
"We'll … let you talk with Acacia, Lord Poseidon," she said uncertainly, and the god smiled, nodding once.
He waited until they'd moved to the other side of the ship before looking back at me. "Well, Acacia, you've been quite busy since our last chat. It's been very difficult for me to find a minute to talk."
I shrank slightly, leaning heavily against the wood rail behind me. "Please don't remind me," I groaned quietly. "We haven't even found the Fleece yet! And we still have to get back!"
Poseidon held up a hand. "Relax, Acacia, you're doing great. In fact, I'm here to tell you that you've passed."
I hesitated, almost too scared to believe it. "Seriously?" I blinked.
"Yes," he chuckled. "Seriously. You had faith in me even when it seemed like a lost cause. And then, of course, you walked away from a way out of all it without a second thought. I don't even think you realised you did it." I frowned at him, confused, before I realised he was right. The girl back there at the spa, the one who said I didn't have to be at war. I stared at the floor, speechless.
Poseidon laid a hand on my shoulder heavily. "You're far too hard on yourself. You've done much better than most of us could have hoped." He let his hand fall and straightened out. "Though I will say, it seems very strange to see you in a dress."
I shuddered, but he only smiled and began to simmer out of sight. Automatically, I shut my eyes tightly and waited for it to go.
Sasha glanced up at me. Your clothes and weapons are in the bag, my lady.
"Thank you," I sighed, snatching up the bag and moving to find somewhere to change.