I am celebrating my longest chapter at a little over 3,000 words. YAY!:) Thank you Lorelai Sofia Petrova for your review. Don't forget to send them in with any questions you have about the story or any songs or other stuff you might want me to add. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Thirty Three: Zombies and Circe
There was a hydra standing right in front of us! Now, normally I can keep a pretty cool head, but this thing had five of them. I gulped and pulled Mov from its sheath. Percy had pulled out Riptide and Annabeth had her knife. She glared at me like this was all my fault. I turned to see Tyson holding a rather large branch. I thought back to how Heracles had beaten the thing. "Fire!" I shouted.
"Where?" Percy yelled back.
"No, we need fire to kill it. Tyson I'm going to light your branch on fire. When we cut off a head, burn the wound so that no more grow back!" My brother nodded. I pulled out my wand, "Incendio." The branch caught on fire and Tyson began brandishing it. We all ran forward to try and kill it. I managed to stab one head but not cut it off. Finally, Percy chopped one off. Tyson ran forwards and burned it. We continued this until only one head was left, the one that couldn't be cut off.
"Move aside," I heard from behind me. I flipped around to see a civil war vessel with its cannons aimed at the hydra. Tyson grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to safety while Percy did the same with Annabeth. "Fire!' came the voice who had spoken earlier. I recognized it. It was definitely a girl's voice. Wait a minute, warship, girl, gruff voice. It could only be...
"Clarisse, is that you?" I called out.
My friends head popped out over the edge of the boat. "You miss me Jacksons?"
I grinned up at her and she tossed a rope down for us. I was the first one up followed by everyone else. I gave my friend a tight hug just as Annabeth popped up. She glared at me again. "This is all your fault, Jackson!"
"How is a hydra my fault?"
Clarisse glared at the girl. Annabeth continued, "If you hadn't been playing that stupid guitar of yours, the hydra never would have found us!" Clarisse and my brothers were watching us like we were a tennis match.
"I'll have you know, I had wards set up so only you, me, Percy, and Tyson could hear anything going on inside there!"
"Ugh, you're such a freak!"
I blinked back tears as Clarisse rounded on Annabeth. "Don't you dare call her a freak Miss Princess. Nina is amazing! Now, let's get you a tour of the C.S.S. Birmingham."
On the tour there were zombie Confederates everywhere. I guess when you lose a war you have to pay a debt to Ares since he's the god of war. Clarisse showed us the mess hall, the hammocks we would be sleeping in, and where she stayed in the captain's cabin. It wasn't much bigger, it just had privacy. I put the duffel bag Lord Hermes had given me on an empty hammock and skipped out after everyone else.
Clarisse also introduced us to the captain. He was very grumpy and I didn't like him at all. He kept glaring at us. Apparently, Confederates don't like northerners. We're still Yankees to them. Stinks for them.
This ship was traveling faster than normal ships could and it was straining the hull. I could tell with my sea powers, whatever it is they're called. Very soon, we were at the coast of Florida. I was a little nervous since this wasn't a sea faring boat, but it did alright, at first. It was all fine and dandy until we reached the entrance to the Sea of Monsters. We had to get past the two demons Charybdis and Scylla.
Charybdis is a huge head at the bottom of the sea who sucks in and takes the surrounding sea and anything in it into her mouth. She then blows out, releasing the water, but not anything else. Scylla was her sister. She stood at the top of a cliff and waited for ships to pass close enough to her. The monster had six heads and was always ready for a new meal.
I was below deck when the warning bells went off. I started to run to the upper deck but stopped when I saw Clarisse arguing with a mist image of Ares. He was threatening her. How dare he! Isn't it bad enough that idiota dio ruined my life. Now he's trying to make his daughter miserable! Ergh, I hate him. I ran up so Clarisse wouldn't know I had seen.
A few seconds later, Clarisse was by my side. Percy suggested we go around the monsters. I rolled my eyes and Clarisse explained that they would just keep appearing in our path. Then he suggested, "Choose Scylla than. Everybody goes below deck and we chug right past."
"No!" Clarisse yelled at him. "If Scylla doesn't get her easy meat, she might pick up the whole ship. Besides, she's too high to make a good target. My cannons don't shoot straight up. Charybdis just sits at the center of her whirlwind. We just steam straight towards her, train our guns on her, and blow her straight to Tartarus!" I didn't think that would work. They wouldn't be able to shoot guns at Charybdis fast enough.
The ship began to speed up even more. They were putting too much stress on the engine. Tyson was the only other person who seemed to notice. A man came up and said that the crew members were disintegrating in the heat and they needed help holding the engine together. Tyson offered to go down and help since he was basically fire proof and really good with machines. I told him to be careful.
Soon, we were in the whirlpool. Clarisse had us going in full reverse. If I was terrified before, I was frozen stiff now. The ship lurched but didn't move much. Charybdis was too powerful. I stumbled to the rail and held onto it with one hand. I raised the other in front of me. I focused on the water. It was hard with all the noise but I managed. I slowed it down as much as I could and we started to move backwards. The cannons and guns started to fire at her. She swallowed the cannonballs and then her mouth closed. She opened it and the cannonballs came flying out. The hit the ship with a ding and I focused all my magic on keeping us upright. I was draining all of my magic and soon I would be too weak to move until I got a little rest. Hopefully we would be out of here soon.
While concentrating on keeping us upright, I failed to notice us getting dangerously close to Scylla's cliff. A head shot down and would have grabbed me if Percy hadn't pushed me out of the way. Everywhere I looked, zombies were being snatched up by the monster. I tried to get up, but the magical exhaust was too great and I collapsed back onto my stomach. I rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a head. I saw Percy heading towards the door that led to the engine room. He couldn't get within five feet of it. There was too much heat radiating off of it.
Percy ran back to me and carried me to a lifeboat. He had tears streaming down his face. It dawned on me, Tyson wasn't going to make it. I grabbed onto the front of my brother's shirt and silently sobbed. I felt a bump as Percy leaped into a lifeboat. Annabeth was right behind him. I looked up in time to see Clarisse jump into another boat and Annabeth cut the ropes keeping the lifeboat attached to the ship. I clung to my brother as we plummeted to the ocean below us. I looked back to see the CSS Birmingham explode, with Tyson in it. My baby brother was gone forever. Percy and I held each other as we mourned for our fratellino. He never got to build amazing things like he had told me he wanted to. He never even met his father. I missed him already. Annabeth pulled out the thermos full of the winds and untwisted it a little too far. We were blasted away from the falling debris. I hoped Clarisse made it out alright. I looked into my brother's sorrow filled eyes one more time before passing out.
When I woke up, Annabeth and Percy were talking about the Great Prophecy. Annabeth was talking at the moment. "Percy, I don't know the full prophecy, but it warns about two half-blood children of the Big Three-the next two to live to the age of 15. That's the real reason Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swore a pact after World War II not to have any more kids. The next two children of the Big Three who reach 15 will be dangerous weapons."
"Why," I asked sitting up and yawning. Percy gave me some ambrosia to help me heal faster.
"Because those heros will decide the fate of Olympus. They will make a decision that either saves the age of the Gods, or destroys it." Percy and I let that sink in. We were twins. We would reach 15 at the same time. We were most likely the heroes of the prophecy.
"That's why Kronos didn't kill us last summer," my brother said.
Annabeth nodded. "You could be very useful to him. If he can get you two on his side, the gods will be in serious trouble."
"But if it's us in the prophecy-" my brother prompted.
"We'll only kno if you both survive 3 more years. That can be a long time for a half-blood. When Chiron first learned about Thalia, he assumed there was another child of the Big Three out there. He assumed she was the one in the prophecy along with another half-blood. That's why he was so desperate to get her to camp safely and why he sent out so many satyrs. To search for another child of one of the Big Three. Then, she went down fighting and got turned into a pine tree and none of us knew what to think. Until you came along."
Percy and I tried to think of ways where we wouldn't be the prophecy children, but none of them worked. I sighed. I didn't want this. I never wanted any of this. Lav and Vati were probably worried sick about me. I had disappeared over night. I could die out here and my best friends would be none the wiser.
Even worse, I now had two prophecies hanging over my head. One about marrying my ex best-friend and one about my brother and me saving Olympus. Why is it always me? I have some of the worst luck. Why couldn't I have the original Perseus' luck. Nothing bad ever happened to him. But then, I realized something. Maybe awful events are there to make way for a better future. I crossed my fingers that that was the case.
I fell forward as we bumped into something. "Land," shouted my brother.
"A little late for the warning, fratello." The idiot just grinned at me sheepishly. I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the boat, the other two right behind me. We had landed in paradise. At the docks, where we landed, there was an assortment of ships, from yachts to old dugout canoes. A lady with a clipboard met us at the beach. She smiled and asked us if this was our first time at the spa. We nodded and she jotted that down on her clipboard. She led us inside to meet a woman named C.C. She was taking us all for make overs. I was a little nervous. Usually things like this turn into traps. Percy and Annabeth didn't seem to notice my uneasiness.
The lady, who introduced herself as Hylla, led us into a room where I heard a lady singing. She had a beautiful voice, but it wasn't as nice as Apollo's or even Artemis'. I need to stop comparing things to Apollo. It can't be good for my health. Hylla led us to a room that was all windows. The woman who was singing sat in there. She was gorgeous. She made me feel disgusting and fat just by looking at her. I looked down as the lady looked up. She tutted disapprovingly as she looked my brother, Annabeth, and me over. I instantly felt bad about making her unhappy. Deep in my mind a voice that sounded strangely like Professor Snape was telling me to focus and ignore the magic. I pushed the thought away. How could I have doubts about such a nice lady.
C.C. called Hylla over. "Hylla, take Annabeth and Christina on a tour, will you? Show them what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And their hair, my goodness. We will do a full image consultation after I've spoken with this young gentleman."
A ran a finger through my waist-length hair. Sure it was a little knotsy from not being brushed, but I liked it. "But...What's wrong with my hair?"
C.C. smiled at me. "My dear, you are lovely. Really! But you're not showing off your talents at all. So much wasted potential!"
"Wasted?" Annabeth asked.
"Well, surely you two aren't 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 dears, need to unlock your true selves!"
Annabeth's eyes glowed with longing. I knew mine were too. Hylla rushed us out of the room. First, she had us each take a shower. The soap, body wash, shampoo, and conditioner were all lilac flavored. Mmm... Then, we had herbal masks with cucumbers and everything. I hated that part. I had a really bad itch on my nose and couldn't scratch it. Next, Hylla had some other people do our make up. They put on soft pink blush, soft cherry lipstick, and a grey eyeshadow that made my green eyes pop. After that, Hylla brought out two white dresses that looked like they were from Ancient Greece. Like the type princesses would wear. I went behind a screen and donned the dress. I looked in a mirror. I was beautiful. The dress brought out my slim waist because of the golden string being used as a belt. It was sleeveless and showed off my slightly muscular arms. The bright white made them seem even tanner than they really were, and I'm pretty tan. We moved onto hair afterwards. Hylla herself did mine. She pulled the top half back and braided silver strands into it. Then, she pulled it into a bun at the nape of my neck. The bottom half hung loosely in gentle waves. More silver was braided into that.
Annabeth had the same dress as me and the same make up except her eyeshadow was a light pink. Her hair had strands of gold braided into it. It hung in curls down to just below her shoulder blades. She looked beautiful. I looked in the mirror to my right. I was just as beautiful. Hylla led us back to the room that had C.C. and Percy in it. I wonder what she did to Percy? When we got in there, C.C. was alone. She complimented us on how we looked and when I asked where Percy was, she just shrugged. I got a little suspicious. I searched for my brother through our mind link. Percy, where are you?
I'm in the cage! She changed me into a guinea pig with some weird, pink potion. Get the vitamins from my pants pocket! It's under the loom.
I nodded my head and skirted around Annabeth and C.C. who were having a conversation. I looked over at Hylla who was watching me. I bent down and got the vitamins. C.C. still hadn't noticed me. I walked over to the cage and dumped the vitamins in, knocking the cage to the floor in the process. C.C. flipped around. She growled and lunged at me.
"How dare you! I am Circe, the Queen of Sorcery. You dare betray your own kind!'
"Only when they turn my brother into a guinea pig," I snarled back as I slashed at her with Mov. Percy was now standing next to me. A bunch of pirates were on my other side. Hey that's Blackbeard. He was a son of Ares. Holy Hephaestus that's Blackbeard! I grabbed Percy and Annabeth's arms and started running.
"Wait, take me and my sister with you!" It was Hylla. I nodded my head and she took the lead. I ran after her, Percy and Annabeth following behind. She led us to a small house near the docks. She ran in and rushed to a bedroom. "Reyna! Reyna, wake up, child. We need to leave!" The young girl who was lying in the bed sat up and jumped out of the bed. She looked to be a year younger than me. Hylla grabbed her hand and pulled her along with us to the docks. We jumped on the Queen Anne's Revenge. The pirates were after us. Oh yeah, this was Blackbeard's ship. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Percy and I used our Mage magic to make the ship set off.
When we were a few miles out to sea, Hylla thanked us all and told us it was time to part ways. She and her sister were not part of our quest. We smiled and nodded. The two girls jumped into the lifeboat. A few minutes later, they were off. I watched the progress of their boat until it was out of sight. I hope they are okay.