Chapter Seven: Geometry and Pie
Upon entering, a set of glass doors blocked our advance as the outer doors reformed. The glass was so clear that I hadn't noticed it until I'd ran straight into it, much to the entertainment of Annabeth, Rachel and Thalia, though Thalia didn't laugh so much as shake her head and smirk. I could practically hear her thinking, Boys…
The water drained from our chamber as if we were inside some kind of giant bathtub, causing the girls' bubble to disappear with a pop! When the glass sliding doors retracted into the walls, we continued onward—more cautiously this time—and caught our breath at the sight of the room before us.
Life-sized statues of Poseidon and his wife Amphitrite dominated most of the floor, which was made up of tons of those phosphorescent pebbles you find at the bottom of fish tanks. Speaking of fish and what you find in their tanks, I've heard that they really appreciate some added décor every now and then. It can get pretty boring inside a Plexiglas prison, you know. I've also dissuaded a few goldfish from trying to get flushed down the toilet…All drains do not lead to the ocean—that Nemo movie is so wrong it's unbelievable.
Anyway, Annabeth and I went down a left-hand passageway, and Rachel and Thalia went down the opposite hall. Rachel had wanted to go with me for some reason, but when I saw Annabeth's baleful glare, I decided to decline. There's no need to be stabbed by Annabeth for whatever reason, after finally making amends.
We explored each room one after another. All the doors were identical, with silver door-handles and roughly painted wave designs. All the rooms held a jiggling water bed (salt-water, of course) and a simple driftwood nightstand. Eventually we found the room we were looking for. While the furniture inside was the same, the nightstand was slightly varied. On its surface the Greek letter Mu was carved. "Mu" was the Greek letter for the English "m", for Miletus, Thales's birthplace.
Annabeth and I approached the dresser studied it, though Annabeth was looking at it minutely while I was thinking more like, "I'm hungry. Can we hurry up and get this thing open so I can get a burger before McDonald's closes?"
Annabeth reached for the knob of the drawer and pulled gently. Then she pulled harder. Then harder still, only for it to remain obstinately shut. "My gods! We kill treacherous monsters and climb rock walls that spit out lava, and I can't even open a drawer! Ugh!" she sat on the bed angrily, causing it to bounce her so she had to hold onto the edge. I would've laughed if she hadn't been so furious.
"I'll try," I said, rather unnecessarily, as she could see what I was doing. I barely tugged on the drawer when it popped open. Annabeth started, surprised, then calmed.
"Must be some sort of defense—only an Atlantian or one of Poseidon's bloodline can open it," she said logically.
"Must be," I said absently, peering inside the dark drawer. I didn't see anything, so I yanked the entire drawer out and set it on the floor, angling it toward the light. I saw all the way to the back wall of the drawer, nothing but dust coating a faint label stuck to the inside of the drawer. Desperate, I reached inside, groping the walls, turning it upside down and shaking it violently, wishing that I hadn't been too late.
"I can't believe this!" I shouted, frustrated and disheartened. How could the Oracle have been wrong? "I thought that prophecies were always true…" I trailed off hopelessly. Annabeth rose from the waterbed and studied the drawer closely, using her hands to wipe of some of the grime lining the inside.
"Look at this," she said quietly, almost thinking aloud. I grew curious despite myself.
"What?"
"This marking on the inside…" I looked closely, only to see the label I'd noticed earlier. Except when I really paid attention, I could see that it was really a circle with a line going straight down the middle.
"I don't get it, what's that supposed to be? It's just like, the little 'Made in China' stickers that mortals put on everything, right?" I said.
Annabeth sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain, it's a depiction of the diameter of a circle. Diameter, the thing that splits a circle down its center, that you multiply by pi to get the circumference, you know…?"
"How can you multiply something by pie?" I said.
She stared at me in disbelief. "Do you ever read the books in the Big House? At all? Or even try to listen in school?"
I shrugged. "I've checked out Mr. D's library a couple times before, but I really don't think I would enjoy an Ancient Greek translation of The Grapes of Wrath. And now that I think of it, why does Mr. D even own that book? It doesn't even have anything to do with grapes!"
Annabeth just shook her head. "Never mind, Seaweed Brain, let's just get on with this." She lifted a finger, ready to reach in the drawer again, when she thought better of it. "Actually, I think you should do this part. I really doubt your dad would be too happy about a child of Athena scratching Atlantian furniture." She smiled.
"Okay…what do I do?" I asked.
"Just, run your finger down the line or something…I don't know." She seemed unsure, a rare quality in a child of Athena. But I knew better than to tease her about her doubts. I ran a finger down the narrow, chiseled rut in the center of the circle, almost like the Prime Meridian on a model globe (Pretty much one of the only things from school I can remember, since it has to do with latitude and longitude.). The wood cracked down the center, and crumbled away to reveal a hidden compartment.
"Whoa." I could feel Annabeth's light, lemony breath on the back of my neck, and it distracted me, causing goose bumps all down my spine. She stared intently at the pulsating object. All I could do was to stare at her out of the corner of my eye.
"It's a Mos Complector," she said, in obvious awe. I stared at it dumbly.
"A what?"
She looked at me sharply. "A Customer Compass, Seaweed Brain. Hermes created it decades ago so he could find a recipient, no matter where they were. This Compass would find someone whether they were underground or on another planet. It's kind of finicky though, because sometimes there are people who share a name. So you have to be really specific."
"So, if it's supposed to belong to Hermes…why did Thales have it then?"
She sighed. "That's it…it doesn't make any sense. Didn't the prophecy say he would be down here?"
I fidgeted. "Not exactly, I guess. I guess we just had to come here to find the way to find Thales."
She sighed again. "Why can't these quests ever just be straightforward; 'Go here, ask him a question, do what he says, complete the mission'?"
"Well, since when has either of our lives been simple?" She smiled wryly and I smirked.
"Come on," she breathed, "Let's go get Thalia and Rachel" —her mouth twisted around the name— "and give this compass a try."
***
"So we just say who we want to find and it'll show us where to go? Oh my gods, oh my gods, that's so cool!" Rachel's voice got higher as she grew more excited.
Meanwhile, Annabeth looked like she'd just licked a lemon. "That's a bit of a oversimplification, but yes, that's the theory." I didn't understand why she was so bitter. Rachel's idea seemed pretty correct to me. But whatever…maybe Annabeth would never be able to accept that we were getting help from a mortal (A/N: *Cough* Yeah, right, like that's the only reason!).
Thalia was all business. I was really getting sick of her whole Huntress attitude. "Well, let's get this show on the road. Annabeth, you can do the honors." She didn't even glance in my direction as she said this.
"Okay…" Annabeth said unsteadily. She blew out a gust of choppy air and lowered her face to the blazing bronze ball. "Thales of Miletus, first of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece, demigod son of Apollo; Customer's Compass, show us where he abides."
The compass clicked, and a lid appeared on the top, which opened, releasing what seemed like all the wind in the world. It gusted about us, lifting us off our feet and sucking us into the compass, defying the laws of science and transporting us to a world unknown.
A/N: Oooh, another cliffie. I know you just love these. Stay tuned for more of Percy's quest!