Hey everyone! ***We are 5 reviews away from 50! :) The 50th reviewer will get an awesome shoutout!*** Thank you to: Goddess97, allen r, and Guest.

Guest- Sorry I have no idea if the USS Birmingham was sent by France or is in England... I kind of just picked a random ship name. Thanks for the review through!

allen r and Goddess97- Thanks for the reviews. I agree with both of you Luke, Drew, Octavian, and Hera stink!

Chapter 13

***I don't own anything...***

Previously: It made sense now, this ship was an ironclad. Used in the Civil War in 1859 sent to the Confederates by the French. It took me awhile with my dyslexia, but I finally deciphered the name, the ship was called The USS Birmingham.

On the stern of the ship was Clarisse, in full battle armor standing next to the smoking cannon that almost took our heads off.

"Losers! I suppose I should rescue you, come aboard." She sneered.

"You are in so much trouble!" Clarisse said laughing.

We had just finished our ship tour that none of us wanted. The ship was dark, dirty, and covered with dead sailors not exactly a luxury ship.

The dead Confederates were actually quite interested in me, being from Virginia and all. They asked about Percy too. His last name, Jackson, was the same as the Southern general, but then Seaweed Brain ruined it by saying that he's from New York. The dead Confederates left us after that, muttering curses about Yankees.

Tyson, being the incredibly childish Cyclops he is, insisted on holding my hand for the entire tour because he was scared of the Confederate ghosts.

Finally, it was time for dinner. We sat in the captain's quarter which was the size of a walk-in closet. It was still the biggest room on the ship through. Skeletal crewman served us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, and Dr. Pepper.

"My gods the Fates hate you." Clarisse said chugging her . "Mr.D said that if you ever go back to camp he will turn you into pinecones and run you over with in SUV."

"Did they give you the ship?" Percy asked in disgust.

"Of course not, my Dad did."

"Ares?" Percy asked more disgusted.

"You think your Dad is the only one with sea power? These ghosts owed my Dad a favor for being on the losing side of the war. That is their punishment for being defeated. I asked for naval transport and now I have it." She said gesturing to the ship. "These skeletons will do anything I tell them to, isn't that right Captain?"

The Captain of the ship was standing behind Clarisse looking stiff and angry. He also hated Ares. Join the hate club buddy. "If it means in end to this war, then yes. I'll destroy anyone."

Clarisse smiled evilly. "Destroy anyone, I like the sound of that."

Tyson next to me gulped loudly.

"Clarisse," I said. "Luke might also be after the Fleece. We ran into him... He has the coordinates and is heading south. He has a luxury cruise ship full of monsters-"

"Good! I'll blow him out of the water!"

"No, you don't understand. You need to let us help you."

"No!" Clarisse shouted pounding the table. "This is my quest smart girl! It's my turn to be the hero. You two will not steal my chance."

"Where are your cabin mates? You were allowed to take two weren't you?" Percy asked speaking up before I strangled Clarisse from across the table.

"I let them stay behind, they are safer that way. They need to protect camp anyway."

"You didn't even let people in your own cabin help you?"

"Shut up Prissy! I don't need them or you two!"

"Clarisse Tantalus is using you! He could care less about camp, he would love to see it destroyed. He wants you to fail!"

"No, I could care less what the Oracle-" she stopped herself just in time.

"What did the Oracle say?" Percy said softening his voice.

"Nothing at all." Clarisse said her ears turning pink. "The only thing you need to know is that I am finishing this quest without you two. That doesn't mean that you get to go."

"We are prisoners?" I snapped.

"Guests, for now." Clarisse put her feet on the table and reached for another . "Captain take them below give them hammock on the berth deck. If they are rude show them how we deal with enemies."

I feel asleep immediately. In my dream Percy and I were sailing on glittering green waters towards an island. The island had a mountain in the middle,with small white buildings, a beach with palm trees, and a harbor filled with at least one hundred boats (including the pirate ship.) It looked like tropical paradise.

For some reason on the island Percy and I were separated. A woman with dark hair with green eyes, she was wearing a black dress with shapes in the fabric that seemed to move. She was talking about my hair and wasted potential, insulting me then saying how she could fix it all. The woman made me sit in a chair and maids starting to work on me; brushing my hair, washing my face, and painting my nails. They were about to show me in the mirror what I looked after there makeover.

I woke up to alarm bells. Quickly grabbing my clothes I got dressed and ran up to the main deck. The Captain was shouting commands to skeletons walking the hallways. I weaved my way around the dead Confederates to the main deck. Once I got to the main deck I saw Tyson waiting for me. I walked over and he started to freak out, muttering things to himself. Percy walked up a few minutes later, he looked like he had just been told someone died.

"What's wrong? Another dream?" I asked.

Percy nodded and looked out to sea. Clarisse walked up a minute later, she grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked out to the horizon.

"Finally, full speed ahead Captain." she shouted.

I tried to look out a see where we were, but the fog was too thick to see anything.

"Too much force on the pistons, not for deep water." Tyson muttered anxiously.

I was trying to figure out what he was trying to say when huge masses of rock started to appear. It looked like we were about to sail through a storm, the sky looked to be battling with the sea.

"Hurricane?" I asked Percy.

"No," Clarisse said from behind me. "Charybdis."

I could feel my eyebrows raise. "What? Are you crazy?"

"There is only one way into the Sea of Monsters. Right between Charybdis and Scylla." she said pointing the cliffs.

"What do you mean the only way? The sea is wide open! Sail around!" Percy said. He obviously didn't know the story about Charybdis and Scylla.

"Do you know anything? If we tried to get around them they would reappear in my path again. It's the only way." she said. I thought about that, how did Jason do it again? Something about rocks chasing each other? Clashing rocks!

"What about the Clashing rocks?" I asked. "That's a different gateway, Jason used it."

"I can't blow apart rocks with my cannons, monsters on the other hand..." Clarisse explained. Great, I thought. We had a trigger-happy captain.

"You are crazy." I decided.

"Just watch and learn Wise Girl." Clarisse said turning towards the captain. "Set the course for Charybdis!"

"Aye, aye m'lady."

Beneath us the engine groaned and roared, the iron siding rattled, the ship started moving faster.

"Clarisse, Charybdis sucks up the sea. Isn't that the story?" Percy asked.

"And spits it back out again, yes." Clarisse answered.

"What about her sister Scylla?"

"She lives up there." she said pointing up at the cliffs. "If we get too close she will start picking up sailors."

"What if we all went below deck?"

"She would pick up the entire ship, she lives too far up in the cliffs anyway. Not a good target. Charybdis sits in the middle of her whirlwind, we can shoot her and send her to Tartarus!"

She sounded so confident I wanted to believe her.

The engine hummed louder, the boilers were so warm you could feel it beneath your feet. The smokestacks blowed out more and more steam, the red Ares flagged blew around in the wind.

As we got closer to the monster Charybdis got louder and louder. She roared at us, it sounded like the biggest toilet on the planet. Every time she breathed in the ship shot forward, every time she exhaled we rode away on ten foot waves.

I gripped the rail of the ship determined to stay on board.

"Do you still have your thermos?" I asked.

"Yes, but it's too dangerous to use with whirlpools like that." Percy explained.

"How about controlling the water? You've done it before."

I took a deep breath in closed his eyes and concentrated.

"I-I can't." he said finally.

"We need a back up plan. This one isn't going to work."

"Annabeth's right." Tyson said coming out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The pressure, the pistons need fixing."

The huge toilet sound made a giant roar and the ship lurched forward knocking everyone down. We had just entered the whirlpool.

"Full reverse!" Clarisse yelled over the wind. "Get ready the cannons!"

A dead Confederate rushed over to Clarisse and yelled. "Boiler room is overheating ma'am! She's going to blow!"

"Get down there and fix it!"

"Can't' we are vaporizing in the heat."

"Prepare yourselves for death!" the captain yelled.

"I can fix it!" Tyson yelled.

"He's immune to fire and know mechanics." I explained to a confused Clarisse.

Tyson was about to descend the stairs when Percy grabbed him. After a few minutes Tyson persuaded Percy to let him.

Then I saw Charybdis.

***Review Question: Who is your favorite god/ goddess?***

Mine would be a tie between Athena and Poseidon ( Don't tell either one I said that. They would fight about it constantly!) Athena is smart and wise and Poseidon has awesome water powers and a hot son. :)