Renee POV:

I woke up on the shore next to Annabeth. I found it hard to move my head. Percy was groaning next to me.

"Rest," Annabeth said. "You'll need it."

I looked around, expecting to see Clara beside me. And then I remembered. "Clara?"

"Tyson?" Percy echoed.

"I'm so sorry," Annabeth said, and I could tell she meant it. Then I blacked out.

An hour later, I was able to sit up without pain. I looked around, remembered again, and groaned.

"Where are we?"

"Cave. On an island somewhere. We'll go seek help soon," Annabeth told me.

I nodded. "Is there any way she could have….survived?"

Annabeth frowned. "I'm really sorry."

I looked at Percy, who seemed to be thinking about Tyson, and suddenly I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"This is all your fault! You were the one who encouraged them to go down there! 'He's a cyclops, he's immune to fire….' and then you didn't do anything when Clara volunteered herself!"

Before I knew what I was doing, my fist connected with her face.

"Renee!" She gasped.

I didn't care. I ran from the cave. She deserved it.

I heard them talking. "Annabeth, don't. Stay here. I'll go after her."

Then, there was running as Percy caught up to me. "Renee, you know it's not her fault."

"Come on, Percy. You should feel even angrier than I do. You lost two people you cared about. I lost one!"

"Renee….Wren, I am angry. But not at Annabeth. At the situation."

"I never said you could call me that, Jackson!"

"Sorry. Renee, I'm sorry. I know that Clara was your first light. I'm sorry."

"You weren't there last year! I already lost her twice!"

"Renee," he asked calmly, "what happened last year? At Hogwarts?"

I cried as I told him the whole story. He put his arm around me, but I shrugged him away. "That was less than a month ago, Percy. Twice, I've lost her, and now I'm totally convinced I'll never have her back. What cruel god did this to me? Why am I cursed this way?"

"Renee, stop. You can't think that way. I mean, your life isn't cursed! Trust me, you'll live."

"But you don't expect them to be alive."

We sat in silence for a few moments, the tears rolling down our cheeks. A few minutes later, Annabeth found us huddled together, and she joined us. It looked like she had taken some ambrosia or something, and there was nothing to show I had punched her. That was good.

"We should go. I think there's a resort on this island, I saw it, C.C.'s Resort and Spa," she said after a few minutes. "Just on the other side of the cave."

We nodded and followed her.


The CSS Birmingham: Clara POV:

The fire surged around us, and I knew I was going to die. But Tyson was brave. He held on to me as we jumped off the boat. He seemed confident that whatever would reach us at the bottom, it wasn't instant death.

I was surprised, to say the least, when we were met by a white horse swimming in the water. No, I realized, not a horse. A hippocampi. Rainbow!

"Did you know he was following us?" I asked Tyson.

"No, Just got lucky." He lifted me onto Rainbow's back and clambered on after. Surprisingly, he still had his duffel bag. "I would rest. We will try to find our friends."

I nodded, surprised at how tired I was. Rainbow didn't seem to mind the weight, which was good. I wasn't really ready to get off and sunbeam right yet.


Renee POV:

C.C. turned out to be a young, charismatic woman. She had an assistant as well. The assistant, whose name was Hylla, led Annabeth and me to the back. When we asked about Percy, C.C. said he needed the special treatment.

"Renee," Hylla told us. "Your glistening hair is almost perfect. But a nice evening gown couldn't do any harm, could it? And that face definitely needs a deep cleansing."

"Okay," I said, ready to be pampered and not really thinking about anything."

"Perfect. You can go over there, with my sister Reyna." She flashed a perfect smile at me.

I relaxed as Reyna rubbed the cream all over my face, and I hoped Percy was getting the same treatment. I could just see Hylla as she worked on Annabeth. Other workers bustled around, looking for things. One brought a midnight blue gown over to me. It was beautiful.

Annabeth was done first, and as soon as she left the chair, she got a concerned look on her face. "Where's Percy?" She asked Hylla.

"He's getting a special treatment with C.C., remember?" Hylla told her.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why did we agree to get separated, again?"

"Because he couldn't see your beautification process! That would make you both impure!"

"I don't believe you. Renee, pull on the gown. We're leaving."

"Wha-what? But I haven't even started," I mumbled sleepily. "And where's Clara? She should be getting this too."

Annabeth sighed sadly, and I looked around as everything came rushing back to me. "Annabeth, where are we? And where's Percy? And Clara?"

"Hylla," Annabeth asked suddenly, "What was in that face cream?"

"Oh, just a little de-stressor. Stress causes wrinkles, you know."

"Renee, come on!" She pulled me up and handed me the gown. It was really pretty. But now I knew we had to get out of there.

We ran through the corridor and found a room with the label C.C. on the door. We burst in, and C.C. looked shocked.

"Done already, are we? Are you sure that face cream had enough time to sink in?"

"Where's Percy?" Annabeth demanded.

"He's getting one of our special treatments, didn't Hylla tell you?"

I heard an annoying squealing, but I figured it was nothing. "What did you think of your tour," C.C. continued.

Tour? We hadn't had any tour. But Annabeth played along. "Your library is amazing!"

"Ah yes. The best knowledge of the last three millennia. Anything you want to study, my dear, anything you want to be."

"An architect," Annabeth said.

"An architect? Pah! You, my dear, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me. And like Renee."

"I'm a witch, not a sorceress! Much less evil!" I screamed. "Now where's Percy?"

"Mind your temper, my dear. It will get you into trouble one day." C.C. laughed, something that sounded like bells. "My mother is Hecate, goddess of magic. I know a daughter of Athena when I see one. We are not so different, you and I. We both seek knowledge. We both admire greatness. Neither of us needs to stand in the shadows of men. And you, Renee, you've already learned magic. You could be my assistant."

"Huh?"

"That's right." Annabeth was getting a glazed look over her eyes. "Come closer. I don't mean any harm."

Annabeth seemed to be falling for it, but I wasn't. I had finally looked around the room and seen the guinea pig cage. And then I understood something.

"C.C….Circe!"

"Very good, my dear." I had hoped that the realization would bring Annabeth back to her senses, and she did back up a bit.

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

Circe ignored me. "You could be great, Annabeth. Stay with me. Study with me. You'll be great. How many great women have you heard of, Annabeth? The men get all the glory."

Her eyes glazed over like mine had when I had the facial cream, but she held her ground as she said, "Atalanta. Amelia Earhart-"

"Bah! Men get all the glory! Now Medea and Calypso, they were powerful women. The only way to power for women is sorcery. Isn't that right, Renee?"

"No! There was Coco Chanel, and Harriet Tubman, and Jane Goodall, and Margaret Thatcher, and-"

"No! The only way to power is sorcery!"

"Where's Percy?" Annabeth and I screamed together, and then we finally noticed the guinea pig cage for what it really was. "What have you done to him?" She continued.

"Only helped him realize his true form. Men are pigs, you should know that. What about all those boyfriends you had in elementary school, Renee?"

"Shut up!"

"What about Potter, who's never going to love you, who hasn't even written to you. And your dear Gill Bellis, who doesn't really care for you at all."

Annabeth grabbed me before I could do anything rash. One look told me she had a plan.

"Can we just have a minute to say goodbye?" Annabeth asked innocently.

"Of course, my dears. Just one minute. I'll close the windows so you'll have total privacy."

She walked out of the room, and Annabeth immediately said, "Okay, go to Percy's bag and find Hermes' multivitamins. I'll try to figure out which one is Percy."

I nodded. There had been fifteen, Percy had showed us. Three for each of us. But now Tyson and Clara were gone. "Take one, and throw the bottle to me," Annabeth whisper-yelled. I popped a pink hydra shaped one in my mouth and tossed the bottle to her.

"Good catch."

"Thanks. I can't figure out-"

The door burst open, and Circe walked back in, along with two of her business attendants.

"Well," Circe sighed. "What's your answer?"

Annabeth pulled out her knife, and I followed suit with my wand. "Really, little girls? You think that would be wise, to try to fight me with the knife and the wand? Renee, you've had one year in training, that will be no way to rival me. What should I turn you girls into? Something small and ill-tempered for Annabeth….hmm, I know….a shrew! And for Renee, something beautiful and annoying….a macaw!"

"What about a panther that has her claws at your throat?" Annabeth asked as Circe's flame did absolutely nothing.

"How?" Circe stammered.

She held up the multivitamins for the sorceress to see. She howled in frustration. "Curse Hermes and his multivitamins! Those are such a fad! They do absolutely nothing for you!"

Her attendants rushed forward, but Circe held them back. "They're immune to our magic until the vitamins wear off!"

"Change Percy back!" I yelled, injecting charmspeak and venom into every word.

"I can't," she said simply. "It's his true form."

Annabeth snarled. "Then you leave us no choice." She held the bottle of vitamins over the cage, and the guinea pigs squealed loudly.

"No! You don't understand! Those are the worst-"

"You asked for it," she said, smirking just a little.

She dumped the vitamins into the cage, and Circe wailed. Percy was the first to turn back, thank the gods. But then there were the others.

"Argggh!" Bellowed the largest of the men. "What's the witch done to me?"

Annabeth gasped. "I recognize you!" Now that I thought about it, he did seem a little familiar. "You're Edward Teach, son of Ares, right?"

"Aye, lass. Though most call me Blackbeard! And there's the sorceress that captured us, lads! Run her through! And then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Argggh!"

I couldn't help chuckling. Annabeth helped pull Percy to his feet, glowering at him.

"Annabeth," he stammered, "I don't know what to say….I'm sorry." He looked at me helplessly, but Annabeth pulled him into a fierce hug. "I'm glad you're not a guinea pig, Seaweed Brain."

"Me too."

They embraced for a while more before I said, "Come on, guys. She's distracted now. Let's go!"

They looked sheepishly at me and mumbled, "sorry," but I was so happy I hadn't lost either of them. Then I remembered something.

"Annabeth, I'm really sorry for the way I treated you this morning."

"Don't worry about it. I would've done the same if it was my best friend. That is, if I had one."

Percy glared at her, and then we all burst out laughing.


Percy scanned the ships, but I had no idea what he was looking for. We passed subs and fighter jets, but Percy shook his head. "This one," he said, pointing at one. "This, I can drive."

"But…." Annabeth looked shocked.

"I can make it work. And Renee can use charmspeak if she needs to, but I don't think it will come to that."

"Okay, whatever you say." We clambered aboard the stepladder and Percy ran to the wheel with us quick on his heels.

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

"We'll never escape in time!" Annabeth yelled.

But Percy said a word that didn't make any sense to either of us. "Mizzenmast!"

We ducked as the cabled flew past our heads. Suddenly, we were speeding along, and Percy was controlling the boat. I clapped and cheered. "Percy, you're amazing!" I laughed, forgetting about Clara for just a moment, forgetting we were on this wretched and precarious journey that we probably wouldn't live to tell about, forgetting that I'd have to face Clara's parents soon.


Clara POV:

A few hours later, we reached an island. "Clara, there is destruction here. There has been some sort of fight."

"What does that mean?"

"I think it means that Percy is nearby, or that he was here earlier."

"Really?"

"We will find him." He patted my back and I laughed.

"Is Rainbow okay to carry us any longer?"

Tyson patted the hippocampus. "He will be fine. Can you go on?"

I flashed him the thumbs up sign. "Let's get going," I said happily.


A/N: I know you might be surprised about this quick of an update, but I'm off school now, and I'm happy to write as much as possible. If you see in the next few days that I've deleted Love Letters to my Roommate, please know that it is because I'm working on the redone version, which I hope will turn out more to my liking. I don't plan to abandon that one like some of my older ones.

Also, I hope this chapter satisfies B00kFan and chocolate-writing-perfection more, they're some of my best readers and I hate to put cliffhangers as much as they hate to read them. (Well, they hate me for it. It's kind of fun to do, but also heartbreaking. After all, I'm not Rick Riordan….)

Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review. Thanks.

~Hufflepufferfish