Hey, readers! I'm back with the second-to-last chapter of Circe's Revenge!
I was going to post this tomorrow, but people had to post The Burning Maze spoilers, and I got so ticked I couldn't sleep. Well, I guess it works out for you guys, eh?
I'm too tired and mad to write anything else.
Goodnight, fellow fan people.
—Alex
(Malcolm's POV)
Irida and I were sitting at the table in the kitchen, talking and waiting for Will to come.
Then we heard a very loud, very feminine scream come from the direction of Will's room.
Irida and I sat up, shoving our chairs to the floor. Irida was the only girl here. Well, besides Annabeth, but she was a guinea pig.
We both started to the door, but Irida stopped me. "What if it is a trap?" She warned me. "I will go, and if I need you, I will shout. Deal?" I nodded. Her plan made sense.
She dashed out of the kitchen. I just sat there, waiting. Horrible for a demigod with ADHD. I was about to chase after her when Irida, Will, and a girl I'd never seen before walked in. But she looked vaguely familiar...
"Will—?" I began, but the blond boy held up his hand.
The girl was blushing, and Will took notice. "Why don't you go get some food?" He asked her gently, placing his hand on her shoulder. She just nodded slightly.
Irida went with her, and they started what looked like an awkward conversation.
When the girls were out earshot, Will turned to me. "You may want to sit down, Malcolm." He said.
"Will, what's going on?" I asked nervously. He just motioned for me to sit.
"That—" he began, but he stopped and cleared his throat. "That's not any girl, Malcolm." I stared at him intently, waiting for him to go on. "That—it's Percy."
"What do you mean, 'it's Percy'?" I whispered to him urgently. "Currently, Percy's a—oh. Oh, no." I remembered my dream. But I'll give them a special twist. In fact, I already have. "How did he—she turn back to normal?"
Will blushed. "Me, apparently. I don't really know. She said I smiled at her, and a bunch of memories came flooding back. Then she just—" he stopped, and his face paled. "Annabeth! Oh gods, I forgot about Annabeth!" We both sat up so quick our chairs hit the floor.
Percy and Irida whipped their heads around at the noise. Percy looked absolutely panicked, but Irida was giving us her signature "what did you do this time" look. Then she noticed the the terrified girl next to her, and she comforted her.
"Sorry," I said quietly, but Will dragged me to his cabin.
We opened the door to Will's cabin. We found Annabeth inside, shaking violently. I rushed over to her, and was even more worried when she didn't even flinch. She was so wrapped up in whatever she felt she didn't even get scared of me.
I picked her up and held her against me. "Oh, Annabeth, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I should've came and got you immediately, but with Percy, and everything, I forgot about you." I could see Will wince. No one wants to hear that they were forgotten. But Annabeth squeaked as if to say "it's okay".
Will and I started walking back to the kitchen, albeit slowly.
"So, what happened with Percy?" I asked Will as we closed the door.
"Like I said, I don't really know. I heard your kitchen bell, but when I tried to pick up Percy and Annabeth, Annabeth ran away, and Percy did, too, after like a second. Then I told them it was breakfast, and Percy started towards me. I smiled, I guess, then Percy closed his eyes, and he turned into a girl." Will finished. We then both ran into the kitchen door. Annabeth squeaked in protest.
"Sorry, Annabeth," I muttered. I was about to open the door when Irida pulled it open.
"Idiots," she murmured, just loud enough for us to hear, "I'm questing with idiots."
"Hey!" Will protested.
I opened my mouth to add to Will's protest, but I was cut off by a voice from inside the kitchen. "Irida?" The voice was unfamiliar, and then I realized it was Percy. "Everything alright out there?"
Irida scowled at us, but turned her head to respond. "Everything is all good. Just the boys being boys."
I heard her laugh inside. Irida motioned for us to come in.
We ate breakfast in relative silence. Percy was wearing what was most likely some of Irida's extra clothes, and she wolfed down the food in front of her. I smiled, it seemed she hadn't lost her appetite. She saw me and blushed.
I saw Will check his watch, and then clear his throat. "Just saying, we're gonna arrive at Circe's Island in about ten hours."
Percy dropped her fork. "No!" We stared at her. "No, I'm not going there. Not again."
The three of us exchanged a look. Percy was more shaken up than we originally thought.
Percy started petting Annabeth, who was sitting contentedly on her lap.
"Look, Percy," Irida said, "we're just trying help you."
"We don't need to go to that horrible place to do that." She said adamantly.
"That may be true, but what about Annabeth? This could be her only chance." I said gently.
That did it for her. "Fine. But one thing," she said. "Why is this boat colored like a rainbow?"
Will and I started laughing. Hard. "It was a serious question!" Percy defended herself.
"Well…" Irida continued to tell the story of the SS Rainbow.
"Wow." Percy laughed. "I love Iris."
"Why?" Irida asked curiously.
"She saved my life one time, during my quest with the Romans. She has this weird little organic food store thing, I forget what it's called, near the Bay Area."
"Huh." Irida said. "Well, that is my mother for you."
"Mmhmm," Percy agreed, her mouth full of pancakes.
"What do we do for the next ten hours?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Irida said.
"I mean, four demigods on a boat for ten plus hours is a bad idea. Plus, you know, we're in the Sea of Monsters." I said.
"You mean, you're bored already." Percy said.
"And you aren't?" I retorted.
She shrugged. "Nope. But I've only been here, what, an hour? Less?"
"So, anyway," Irida cut in. "I'm going to go steer the boat. Malcolm, you will do chores until you need to make lunch, because you are probably the only competent chef here. And Will, you are going to be on monster watch with Percy. Alright?" We all nodded. "Good. Now hop to it!"
I spent the next hour and a half doing the one chore of the boat—cleaning up breakfast and the kitchen—when I had to start making lunch.
Then, the afternoon slugged by, with Will, Percy, and I alternating on watching and fighting the monsters attacking our boat. We fended off some Stymphalian birds, various sea monsters, and some crazed seagulls who thought we were attackable.
"Hey, Percy," I said, sitting down next to her after fighting off some more crazed seagulls. The rainbow color of the boat seemed to anger them.
"Yeah?" She replied.
"What'd you do with Annabeth after lunch?"
"I left her below to be safe. You know, crazed birds would love a good guinea pig."
"You have experience with that, too, Percy?" I joked.
"No," she said defensively, "I have a friend named Carter. He's a part-time falcon."
I gaped at her, and she laughed. "You're not kidding, huh?"
"Nope." She said, cheerfully. "He's an—" she stopped herself, like she almost said something she shouldn't. "—a, uh, child of Hecate. Learned to do some weird magic."
"I don't know him," I said, thinking of all the Hecate children. Plus, something was up with her. She stopped herself when she said "an".
"He lives at Camp Jupiter," she said quickly. Too quickly. But I decided to drop it.
"Oh." Was all I said. Just then, a flock of Stymphalian birds came at us. "Percy!" I called a warning, and we both jumped up to fight the birds.
"Darn birds," she muttered, but hopped up anyway.
Hours passed. Dinner passed. More hours passed. The sun started to set.
"Guys?" Percy asked unsteadily. "Didn't your prophecy say me and Annabeth only have til sundown?"
"Yeah—oh, crap. Don't worry about it. The sun shouldn't set completely for at least another hour."
Percy let out a breath. "Okay. So, we have a little over an hour to find and convince an evil immortal sorceress to turn the two kids who destroyed her home—for a good reason—back to normal, even though she cursed them in the first place. Great. Just great."
"Actually," Irida cut in from the steering platform, "we're here."
A huge island cut through the ominous fog. It looked like a large, formerly luxury spa, but it'd been nearly annihilated. Burnt rubble was strewn across the island.
"No, no, no!" Percy said, rubbing her temples. "You said we weren't coming here!"
A large, partially burnt sign hung crookedly on a piece of rubble. It read: "C.C.'s Spa and Resort".
Percy slumped on the deck. She was breathing heavily. "Will!" I called. "Help!"
Will dashed over. He held Percy's face in his hands. "Look at me, Percy. Look at me. Breathe. It's fake. All fake. Just a remake. Nothing bad will happen to you here." Percy's chest was still heaving. "Percy, look at me, man. You just gotta breathe. Breathe." Percy's breaths slowed down.
"One thing," she breathed, holding up a finger.
"What?" Will asked curiously.
"Please don't call me 'man'. Just makes things awkward."
Will laughed. "Done." He offered Percy a hand, and pulled her up. The island was a lot closer. The ruins of the old spa looked almost sinister in the fading light.
The hull ground ashore. "Percy," I said in a low tone. The island was one of those places that made you want to whisper. "go below deck."
"Malcolm—" Percy began, but Irida held up her hand.
"Malcolm is right, Percy," She said, putting her hand on the other girl's shoulder, despite that fact she was older and taller. "Someone needs to watch over Annabeth, protect her if needed, and Circe could easily turn you against yourself." Percy opened her mouth again. "Also, I have a feeling she wasn't counting on you turning back to human. For one: we have got that element of surprise. Two: any comment Circe makes about you or Annabeth will make you mad. You will probably attack her then, and that is her endgame." Percy sighed.
"Fine. I'll be below." She turned to walk away, but Will stopped her.
"Take this," he said, and threw her a radio. "I got one so we could communicate."
"Won't that attract monsters?"
"We're in the Sea of Monsters. And I think we've killed all the monsters in a hundred mile radius (about 161 kilometers for you metric people. *cough* anyone but Americans *cough)."
She laughed. "Most likely. Be safe, guys."
Irida mock saluted. "Yes, ma'am,"
And with that, our questing quartet became a trio once more. We hopped onto the beach.
We trudged down a little path to a clearing. We could see the boat with Percy's face pressed in the window.
"Where is she, guys?" Percy's voice crackled over the radio. "Are you sure she'll be there?"
"We're sure, Percy," Will replied. The radio went to static, the only noise breaking through the nervous silence.
I stepped out from between Will and Irida.
"Circe!" I called in my loudest voice. I hoped to every god and goddess I could think of that it didn't quiver. "We're here! Come out from wherever you're hiding!"
A large bird flew down from a piece of rubble, and morphed into a woman with long brown hair. It was an eagle, I realized belatedly.
"Ahh, the little heroes." The woman, who I assumed was Circe, cooed. "I wondered when you'd come. You're cutting it quite close, eh?" The woman's voice was smooth and comforting. I shook my head.
"You know what we've come for, Circe." I said in a hard tone.
"Ah, heroes these days. Back in the years of Ancient Greece, I could sit and have a chat. Come, sit with me." Circe beckoned to the ground next to her.
Will and Irida jerked forward like marionettes on strings. I felt a pulling sensation in my gut, too, but I dug my heels in the sand. I grabbed my friends' arms. "Will, Irida, stop. It's a trap. She's charmspeaking you." They stopped the forward motion, and slid back diagonally behind me.
"Ahhh, you're a smart one, hero. A son of the great Athena, yes?" Circe nearly growled at me. Her nice smile was gone, replaced with a snarl.
"How—?" Will began, but was shushed.
"Shh, son of Apollo. Don't hide. Come out with your little friend, the daughter of Iris."
I stepped back to stand between my friends. Will's face was twisted in concentration, but Irida's was as hard as stone. She wasn't giving in to this lady, charmspeaking immortal sorceress or not.
"Circe, you know what we want and why we came here." I said firmly.
"Why of course, you want me to turn your friends back to normal."
"Yes."
"Well, how do I know as soon as I fix your friends, who I can only assume are hiding in that hideous boat over there, you won't attack me?" Circe said cooly.
"You have my word that neither me, nor Will, nor Irida, will attack you if you abide by our terms."
"Interesting," she pondered, "what are these terms you speak of?"
"A), You will turn Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase back to their normal teenage selves. No tricks. And B), You'll come with us, willingly, to Olympus."
"Now, why would I be foolish enough to do that?" She mocked.
I fidgeted. My hand was getting tired of holding down the call button on the radio. Percy could hear every word.
"Because you want to be recognized," I bluffed. "The Camp didn't just send us here to rescue Percy and Annabeth, they sent us for you, too." Gods, I hope I'm right about her fatal flaw, I thought. "The goddesses of Olympus want to honor you for the work you've done, ridding the world of all the troublesome males that washed up on your shores. I heard a rumor that they want to make you a proper major Olympian goddess."
A slow smile crept across her face. "A proper Olympian goddess," she repeated.
"Although, they're only rumors. You'll never know if you don't come with us." I added, trying to rid any doubts she might've had. "Or if you don't turn our friends back to normal. They're quite favorable on Olympus."
I had caught her, hook, line, and sinker.
I saw the sun, nearly dipped below the horizon.
"Your friends, of course." She snapped her fingers, and a reddish glow emitted from the boat's window. "Do you swear by the Styx?" She asked uncertainly.
"Of course," I said confidently. "I swear by the River Styx that Will, Irida, and I will not harm you in any way if you abide by our terms."
Thunder boomed.
(Percy's POV)
Over the radio, I could hear who I assumed was Circe snap her fingers. A reddish light filled the cabin. I could feel a weight being lifted off my shoulders. My nails and teeth, which had started to lengthen as sunset creeped closer, shrunk to normal size.
I saw Annabeth collapsed on the floor. There was something different…I didn't care. She was back, and safe. "Annabeth!" I cried, hugging her.
She grunted. "Who—?" I dropped her immediately.
"Annabeth?" I asked, tentatively. "Are you alright? Do you remember anything?"
"Who are you?" She asked again. Tears threatened the back of my eyes. I brushed a long lock of black hair out of my face. Oh, crap. I looked down. Gods dang it, I was still a girl. Oh, no, no, no. That meant…
I took my first, good look at Annabeth. It was what I feared: she was a guy. Rage boiled inside of me. But I kept my cool, for Annabeth's sake.
"Annabeth, it's me, Percy. You're—"
"Percy?!" She—well, he now—yelled. He quieted his voice. "Wait, why—?"
"I don't know what happened. It might be a side effect of Circe's magic." I grabbed his hands. "But, Annabeth, listen to me. She screwed with our genders—"
Annabeth bolted up. "No! No, you don't mean—" He ran into the bathroom.
"Annabeth!" I yelled, and followed him.
In the bathroom, Annabeth was pacing and running his hands through his hair. "No, no, no, no, no,"
"Annabeth," I said. He looked like he was hyperventilating. I grabbed his hands. "Annabeth, look at me. I'm here. I'm here. You're not alone. Breathe. Just breathe."
Annabeth's breaths calmed. "Percy?" He asked unsteadily.
"Yeah?"
He hugged me. "Thanks."
I hugged him back, but the hopelessness and worry in his voice made the rage in me boil over. I let go of Annabeth and strode to the other room. I grabbed my pen, Riptide, uncapped it, and ran out from under the boat.
(Will's POV)
It was hard resisting Circe's magic. Harder than I could've expected. But, as Malcolm talked, the charmspeak in Circe's voice lessened. Circe was stepping closer. But then, I heard a loud yell. I turned around, and Percy came barreling past, her face red with anger.
When I whirled back around, Percy was steps away from the sorceress. This is bad, I thought, Percy's the best swordsman in camp. Circe just looked annoyed. Percy swung. Circe tried to dodge, but the sword slash that would've normally chopped off the sorceress's head only cut her arm.
I reddish flash glowed from the boat. A loud wail broke through the night. Annabeth.
Percy was frozen in place by magic.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Circe mocked. "You shouldn't have done that, little heroine. You've only made things worse for you and your little friend." All the red rage disappeared from Percy's face, replaced by a mask of pale fear. "That's right, girl. You should've listened to you friends and stayed in the boat, hiding."
"Why didn't you turn them fully back to normal, Circe?" I called, somewhat bravely.
"Because gender is a delicate curse," Circe said, her voice cool with rage. "it's not like a light switch. You can't turn it back and forth." She was clutching her shoulder now. "If you'd waited two, three days, maybe a week, if I was grumpy, then your friends would be back to normal. The right gender, normal. But Percy here got mad and thought she could be a hero. Well, a heroine." Circe laughed cruelly, and put her face in Percy's. "But you came and attacked me, so here we are. You've only made things worse for yourself, Perseus Jackson. Oh, and your friend, what's her name? Annie Bell? Oh, whatever. See you next time, little girl." Circe disappeared in a golden flash. In her place was an eagle, soaring high in the air. The golden aura surrounded Percy for a few moments, then disappeared. Percy collapsed on the spot.
Malcolm looked conflicted. I could see he wanted to run to his older sister, but he didn't want to leave us alone. "Go!" I yelled. "Go get Annabeth!" Irida looked at me. "You, too!" She dashed towards the boat.
I grabbed Percy and slung her over my back like a sack of potatoes, then sprinted towards our boat.
On the boat, Irida helped me get the unconscious Percy over the rail. I laid her down on my cabin's bed, then called out: "Malcolm?"
"I'm in the extra cabin." Came the muffled reply.
When I raced in the extra cabin, my eyes did a double-take. Irida was sitting next to Malcolm, her arm around his shoulder. Malcolm's face was solemn, talking to a…a…a little boy. A mere baby.
"Malcolm…?" I asked slowly. "Who's…" he mouthed the answer the exact time the pieces in my brain clicked together. Annabeth. I sat down on the other side of Malcolm and put my arm on his shoulder, too.
Annabeth the baby shrunk away. "Hey there, Annabeth," I said in a gentle tone. "Do you remember me?"
He nodded slowly. "Where Percy?" Of course, I thought, he'd trust her more than anyone.
"She's over here." I said softly. I cocked my head at Malcolm as a sort of May I? Malcolm nodded, almost imperceptibly. "C'mon, I'll take you to her." Annabeth held out his hands, and I picked him up.
"I'll be back, Malcolm, alright?" I said softly, then walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.
When I entered my cabin, Percy was sitting up, looking around. She looked dazed.
"Hey, Will!" She said cheerfully. I could see her note the child in my arms. "Have you seen—" she stopped suddenly and buried her head in her hands. "This is my fault." She muttered.
I sat down next to her. "No, it's not your fault, Percy." I said. "Not even the tiniest bit. It was in the prophecy, and you know you couldn't have done anything but fulfill it. You cannot fight prophecies. It just makes everything worse."
"I know, I know. I've been dealing with these for years." She said, looking miserable.
"I sense a but coming."
"But, it was my actions that caused this. If I just stayed put, Annabeth and I could've been back to normal tomorrow, or the next day."
"Percy, you can't—"
She cut me off. "Can I hold him? Annabeth, I mean."
I transferred the baby from my arms to hers. She held the baby tight, hugging him fiercely. Percy yawned.
"Are you gonna go to bed?" I asked, halfway out the door.
"Yeah, probably. See you in the morning, Will."
"See ya, Percy."
I walked into my cabin, ready for sleep. As I crashed on the bed, a small, alert part of my brain wondered about the golden aura that surrounded Percy before she collapsed. Whatever, the rest of my brain thought, she's fine. Nothing to worry about.
And with that, I closed my eyes to sleep.
3,600! I told you peeps that there was gonna be an extra extra long chapter soon. I think this is my record.
But is Percy really okay? Hmmm...
Next chaired is the last, but it's less than 400 words. Sorry. ️
Peace out,
—Alex
Next time on Circe's Revenge:
Then the world went black.