Hello my lovelies, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I hope it's good enough for you guys-we get a taste here of Percy being badass and not willing to put up with anyone who threatens her loved ones. Also, she definitely still has Alabaster related issues and she hates magic with a passion, but all things considered, who wouldn't?
The next day dawned bright and early, they'd taken shifts to stay on watch but nothing new had really happened.
It was during Percy's shift-the last shift of the night when Annabeth woke up that she decided to bring up something that had been niggling at the back of her mind. "Annabeth. Do you know anything about this prophecy that people keep saying about?"
"I-" Annabeth hesitated, "Not much. Just that a Half-blood of the eldest Gods will reach sixteen and when the time comes..."
"Artemis said I'd have the fate of the world on my shoulders."
"Yeah. You'll be the deciding factor in if the Gods survive or fall-"
"Which is why Kronos didn't let Ares kill me."
"Yeah." Annabeth nodded, "If I knew anything more I'd tell you."
"Bet Kronos wishes there was an older kid of the Big Three." Percy gave a somewhat bitter smile, "I'm his best option, Nico's too young and from what Nico says his sister is a few months younger than me. He's gotta know I won't play along and join him."
"It might be better for us if he thinks you will-if Alabaster's still determined to get you to join them it means they need you alive."
"Ugh. Do you have to be reasonable?" Percy shoved her best friends shoulder lightly, and their conversation drew to a close as Luke made his way up from the cabin, yawning and stretching as he joined them around the table.
The day drew on as they relaxed and tried to come up with plans until an island came into sight.
It was Annabeth who spotted it first-she'd gotten up to wander around the deck to stretch her legs.
Percy and Luke had been joking together when she called out.
"You guys! There's land ahead."
"Oooh!" Percy was the first to her feet, leaping over the table and sprinting towards the front of the boat where Annabeth was stood, leaning slightly over the railings.
Luke came rushing after her and they stood at the railings staring into the distance at the island, which quickly turned from a line of blue and brown in the distance into 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.
It looked like a tropical paradise-but it was an island on the Sea of Monsters.
"Luke, your quest, should we check it out?"
"Yeah." Luke nodded, "We don't know where the Fleece is exactly so we explore every island until we find it I guess."
"Well I guess I should take us there." the boat moved at her will, and Luke shifted, "We go armed just in case-this is the Sea of Monsters. I'm gonna go grab my backpack with the vitamins and the thermos. Percy you get us ashore."
"Sir yes sir." Percy gave a playful salute, though she did as she was told, mentally pulling the boat into dock-and it came to a halt just so-and on the dock a woman was stood with a clipboard in hand.
She looked like a flight attendant—blue business suit, perfect makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail.
When Luke returned the trio made their way off the boat, and the woman was there with a dazzling smile and a firm handshake, which Luke accepted slowly with narrowed eyes as Percy and Annabeth looked down the docks-there were a lot of weird ships Percy had to admit.
There were a bunch of pleasure yachts kind of like theirs, along with 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.
Logic told Percy that they hadn't just shown up out of nowhere... she wondered what happened to them, but her thoughts were pulled away from that when the woman spoke.
"Is this your first time with us?"
"We don't actually know where we are." that was Luke, who grabbed Percy's arm and pulled her slightly closer, and Percy did the same to Annabeth as the woman nodded and wrote something on the clipboard.
"First—time—at—spa," the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. "Let's see …"
She looked the trio up and down critically. "Mmm. An herbal wrap to start for the young ladies I think. And of course, a complete makeover for the young gentleman."
"Uh-we're kind of on a tight schedule." Percy protested.
"Nonsense, you have time for a short break." the woman's smile was dazzling. "And I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please."
"We said we'd look around." Luke pointed out slowly as the woman started walking and they followed, "It could be here."
"True." Annabeth nodded, "It's beautiful."
And Annabeth wasn't wrong, there was white marble and blue water everywhere Percy looked, terraces climbed up the side of the mountain, with swimming pools on every level, connected by watersides and waterfalls and underwater tubes you could swim through. Fountains sprayed water into the air, forming impossible shapes, like flying eagles and galloping horses, and they 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 Percy 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.
That struck Percy as odd-but the thought was swiftly pushed from her mind as they headed towards a staircase toward what looked like the main building.
Percy could hear a woman singing, the voice drifting through the air like a lullaby.
It was a language Percy didn't recognize-not ancient Greek but something just as old and somehow she could understand what the woman was singing about moonlight in the olive groves, the colors of the sunrise. And magic. Something about magic. Her voice seemed to lift Percy off the steps and carry her onward-and she could see that Annabeth and Luke felt the same.
It was such a beautiful sound.
They reached a 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 Percy didn't think about it too much, because just then she saw the woman who had 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 Percy could see the water moving and clouds drifting across a fabric sky.
Annabeth caught her breath. "It's beautiful."
And then the woman turned-and she was beautiful as Percy had first thought. 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 a forest at night.
Percy stared at the woman, a strange stirring of fear in her gut as she looked at the woman's eyes while the woman focused on Annabeth.
"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" the woman asked.
"Oh, yes, ma'am!" Annabeth said. "My mother is—" she stopped herself at the nudge from Luke-she couldn't tell just anyone who her mother was after all.
The woman smiled in response, "You have good taste, my dear. I'm so glad you've come. My name is C.C."
The animals in the corner cage started squealing. They must've been guinea pigs, from the sound of them.
"I'm Annabeth." Annabeth spoke up, a slightly proud look on her face, "And these are my friends Percy and Luke."
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
C.C's eyes focused on Luke and she looked disappointed.
"Oh, dear," she sighed. "You do need my help."
Percy wanted to protest at that-there was nothing wrong with Luke-there was something strange about the lady-but she was being so nice. Why was Percy so ill at ease every time she looked at those green eyes?
"I do?" Luke's voice was confused, "But-"
"Hylla, take Annabeth and Percy on a tour, will you? Show them what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And the hair, my goodness. We will do a full image consultation after I've spoken with this young gentleman."
"But …" Annabeth's voice sounded hurt. "What's wrong with my hair?"
C.C. smiled benevolently. "My dear, you are lovely. Really! 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!"
Percy's mouth felt dry as she tried to fight whatever it was trying to lull them all into a false sense of security.
Her brain felt fuzzy as Hylla grabbed her and Annabeth's arms and pulled them out of the room-the door shutting behind them.
They were led to a room with racks and racks of clothes, and another girl-perhaps the same age as Percy and Annabeth with long dark hair held in a braid came to help.
Percy found herself dressed in a sleeveless sea foam blue gown, it looked like the gowns she imagined they'd wore back in ancient Greece, and it had a beautiful golden clasped belt around the waist, and Annabeth was dressed much the same but her dress was white. It was strange but she couldn't really focus on anything-it was a terrifying feeling.
Both of them had had their hair done, Annabeth's had been combed and braided with gold that made it sparkle, and Percy's had also been combed and threaded with gold-though hers was piled onto the top of her head.
Whatever magic was lulling them into this sense of security was stopping her from being able to voice her concerns, Percy hadn't spoken once since they'd been pulled away from C.C though thankfully it had let her pull her pen from her jeans pocket and she'd tucked it into the updo.
Before long they were being led back to C.C, who turned to smile at the two girls as they made their way into the room.
The first thing Percy noticed was that Luke was missing.
That was what broke through the magic keeping her from speaking up and her eyes went wide, "Where's my brother?" she didn't care how rude she sounded-she didn't care about the disapproving look on the womans face or the way Annabeth grabbed her arm. C.C. smiled.
"He's having one of our treatments, my dear. Not to worry. You look wonderful, both of you. What do you-"
"Where is he?" Percy interrupted, stepping forward quickly, pulling Riptide from her hair. "Who are you?"
"Percy-"
"Her eyes. Annabeth." because she knew those eyes. She'd seen them before. And Gods no wonder she'd felt so uneasy-the woman's magic must be powerful to have kept her from making the connection right away.
"What about her eyes?" Annabeth demanded quickly, "Percy-"
"Emerald green and shining with magic. Just like her little brothers. She's a child of Hecate-"
"C.C-" Annabeth's eyes widened, "Circe! Where's Luke?"
"Ah-you've met one of my Half-blood brothers then." Circe shook her head, "Clearly he made a poor first impression. I am very sorr-"
"What did you do with my brother?" Percy snarled the words, her eyes glowing-and outside there was the sound of a storm brewing.
"Now now child.. I simply sho-" Percy was moving, uncapping Riptide and thrusting the still forming blade through the woman's chest.
Circe let out a shocked gasp, her eyes going wide, and Annabeth was moving towards the cage with the guinea pigs in.
"I'm a Goddess-" the woman pushed her hard and Percy flew backwards, hitting the wall hard, "You cannot kill me."
"Maybe not." Percy grimaced and staggered to her feet, rage pounding through her blood as she stared at the woman, and the storm outside seemed to get fiercer. "But I am the daughter of Poseidon. And I will drag your Island under the sea and kill you all if you don't give me back my brother."
