HEY! THIS IS GETTING INTO ACTUAL RICK DIALOGUE TERRITORY. I DO NOT OWN ANY OF RICK RIORDAN'S WORKS (DO YOU THINK BIANCA DI ANGELO WOULD BE DEAD IF I DID? SHE WOULDN'T. SHE'S STILL DYING HERE THOUGH, I'M SO SORRY BIANCA). I ONLY OWN MARI AND ANY OTHER OCS HAT I DECIDE DESERVE TO EXIST. THERE'S JUST ONE LEFT TO INTROUDCE BTW.

It was actually kind of anticlimactic at first.

Circe was all about creating an impression, regardless of the fact it was all bullshit. She made Mari rest on the couch as if she'd been asleep or something. Then she sat at the loom and began weaving. Mari could see the effect it would have on someone just coming in, but she hadn't realised Circe was over dramatic in things that didn't involve torture.

Circe briefly glanced over from her loom, where she was weaving the view of the island at night. "Now, my dear. I do not want you to talk unless you are spoken to, and your answers will be as succinct as possible. This cannot be like last time."

"What does 'succinct' mean?" Mari asked.

Circe glared at her and began to sing in Ancient Minoan.

The door opened a few minutes later, with Hylla leading the two children in. One was a boy Mari had never seen before, with dark hair and sea green eyes. The other was a girl with dark curly hair and stormy brown eyes. She looked familiar to Mari, somehow...

Camp. She'd been in the Athena cabin at camp. That explained intense look in her eyes.

"It's beautiful," the girl said.

It took Mari a second to realise that she was referring to the tapestry. And she had a point, it was really pretty. Mari wondered if she could find a way to sneak in and burn it.

"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" Circe asked.

"Oh, yes, ma'am! My mother is-" The girl stopped herself before she could say Athena, but it wouldn't do her much good. This entire island was Circe's domain. She knew everything about everyone who stepped onto the sand.

They talked for a few minutes about weaving, then Circe turned towards the boy.

"Oh dear, you really do need help." She eyes him critically.

"...Ma'am?" he asked.

"Hylla, why don't you and Marion take Annabeth on a tour?" Circe smiled warmly at the girl. "Show her 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."

That... that was unexpected. Circe never let Mari out of her sight at the best of times, let alone when she would be too busy to keep an eye on her and she'd nearly escaped last time. Why would she...? Maybe she thought Mari was finally too broken to give a fuck, and even if she did she wouldn't dare disobey. And maybe, Mari thought, Circe was right.

Plus, Hylla was bloody terrifying. Hylla nodded at Circe, before walking over to Mari and helping her up, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"But... what about Percy?" Annabeth asked.

So his name was Percy. Mari grimaced. She always felt worse when she knew the names.

Circe nodded, giving Percy a look of fake pity. "Oh, definitely. Percy requires my personal attention. He needs much more work than you."

Percy looked crushed, and the guinea pigs in the cage at the side of the room started squealing. One of them scratched at the glass like it wanted to eat Percy. Pirates were weird.

"Well... I suppose..." Annabeth muttered.

Hylla, with one arm still firm around Mari's shoulder, started to lead Annabeth away.

As they were leaving Mari snuck a glance at Percy and Circe. She was turned around, probably preparing her mirror. Percy was looking back at Annabeth with his eyes furrowed. Good. He should have been uneasy. Mari shook her head at him, and his eyes met hers. She did it again.

He looked like he was going to open his mouth to ask her what was going on, and Mari started panicking. Was he trying to get her caught?!

Then the door slammed behind her.

"So, Annabeth. What are your interests?" Hylla linked arms with both of them. She tightened her elbow around Mari's, though.

"Oh, I love architecture. This place is beautiful. Do you have any blueprints?" Annabeth asked, her brown eyes dancing at the perceived possibilities.

Hylla laughed. "I wouldn't know. But, I'm sure if you check the library, you can peruse blueprints and anything else to your heart's desire."

Annabeth lit up. "You have a library?"

Hylla nodded. "Oh, yes. C.C prides herself on her storage of Ancient knowledge thought lost to the world."

Annabeth gasped. "Do you have anything from the library of Alexandria?"

Hylla frowned in thought. "I think we have a few things. So much was lost, but I've heard that what was kept is incredibly enlightening."

Mari resisted the urge to snort. That was bullshit. She was fairly sure the Library of Alexandria had burned down in a fire at some point, but she might have been wrong. Either way, they definitely didn't have anything from said Library.

They arrived at the salon and Mari opened the glass doors. She was barely allowed in here, since most of her time was spent either in lessons or recovering from said lessons.

The salon itself was a wide room of marble walls. One wall was made entirely of glass, facing out to the ocean. The other walls had vines growing along them, from pots embedded in the marble. There were several massage tables and chairs, and five make-up tables. Usually, it was maintained by around five girls, but today it was Reyna, Calista and a few Mari didn't know. In each corner of the room, a fountain bubbled.

"Right. Let's get started. How about that seaweed wrap?" Hylla led Annabeth over to a massage table.

Annabeth looked a little nervous, but lay there nonetheless, and Reyna came over with a few girls and started applying seaweed to Annabeth's bare arms.

"So... do I just wait here with it?" Annabeth asked once it was over.

One of the girls nodded, even though Mari didn't imagine that Annabeth saw the nod, considering she was lying down. "Yes. For ten minutes, since C.C will probably want you back soon."

The girls left to prepare the makeup table, with Hylla watching both Annabeth and Mari from a few metres away whilst pretending to organise bottles of something.

"Is it true that they have knowledge from the Library of Alexandria here? Hylla sounded unsure."

Mari sighed. If she answered 'no', Circe would probably remove one of her kidneys. "I don't know."

Hylla was still watching, so Mari leaned closer and whispered to Annabeth, "Dont trust her. She's lying to you."

Annabeth looked like she wanted to say more, but Hylla marched over. "What did you say to her?" Her voice was light, but Mari didn't miss the shake of anger. From her narrowed eyes, Annabeth didn't, either.

"I-I-uh..."

"-She was asking me how I liked the seaweed wrap. Is there a problem?" Annabeth batted her eyes innocently.

Hylla shook her head. "No! Marion just tends to get a little rambly sometimes, I wanted to make sure she wasn't boring you."

Well that was a fucking lie. Not the rambling part, that was true. Everyone at her old primary school said so. But Mari had no idea how Hylla knew about that. Maybe Circe complained about it.

Once Hylla was out of earshot again, Annabeth whispered, "Who can't be trusted? Who? C.C? Hylla?"

Before Mari could answer, another one of the girls came over.

"That should be enough time! Now, we have to get you changed into something better and do your hair and make-up!" She clapped her hands excitedly. Mari vaguely knew this one. She'd come on her own, after her godly parent refused to claim her. At least she was responsible enough to not get anyone else roped up in her choices.

Annabeth was led to a makeup table, and Mari zoned out while they did her make-up. The beauty routine was cool and all, but it made her think of Drew, which made her miss camp a whole lot more.

She wondered if anyone even thought about her anymore. Disappearing from camp seemed to be a common thing. Her siblings had probably forgotten her name. Maybe Lee, Mason or Sammy would remember, but she'd never really spoken as much to others like Viti, and Sean was too young for her to pick up a conversation with anyway. Wait, was Sean even that young anymore?!

"Okay, we're done! There's a white chiton hanging up for you, then we'll add bracelets," one of the girls said.

Annabeth nodded, and walked past Mari. As she went, Mari caught a muttered question. "What is going on?"

She wished she could answer but they were surrounded by Circe's attendants. All she could whisper was, "Guinea pigs."

Oh, great. Now Annabeth probably thought she was playing some kind of practical joke. Because, seriously, who would take someone seriously when the 'super-secretive-message' they were trying to pass was Guinea pigs?! Could her mouth not just wait a few seconds for further instructions from her brain?

Annabeth was changed and Reyna and another girl started showing her how to clasp and unclasp the bracelets, before a bell in the corner of the room rang.

"That would be C.C! She'll want to talk to you now, about your future here. Marion and I will take you back up," Hylla told Annabeth.

Mari walked alongside Annabeth as they followed Hylla back to Circe's weaving room, exchanging glances as they went. Annabeth looked like she wanted to quiz Mari more about whatever was going on, but was refraining. Probably because of Hylla.

Hylla arrived first, holding the double doors open for them both.

Annabeth gave Mari one more look, with her eyes narrowed, before stepping inside. Mari followed her.

"Miss C.C?" she called.

Circe was holding a thrashing guinea pig who could only be Percy in her hands. She cursed and dropped him at Annabeth's voice.

Annabeth looked around, frowning. "Where's Percy?"

Percy seemed to be very eager to make his presence known, but it wasn't really working out the way he probably wanted it to. He squealed up a storm and was promptly ignored by everyone but Mari, who sent him a sympathetic (or what she hoped was sympathetic) smile, which he didn't see.

"He's having one of our treatments, my dear," Circe assured her. Mari resisted the urge to scoff. Some treatment. Circe continued, "Not to worry. You look wonderful! What did you think of your tour?"

Annabeth beamed. "Your library sounds amazing!"

Circe preened. Annabeth might have been doing it on purpose (Mari hoped she was) but regardless, Circe loved any kind of ego boost. "The best knowledge of the past three millennia. Anything you want to study, anything you want to be, my dear."

"An architect?" Annabeth asked.

Mari almost facepalmed. If Annabeth stayed on Aeaea for any length of time, Circe would probably remove her memories of any interest of architecture. For all she preached about helping people achieve her best selves or whatever the fuck she was always going on about, Circe really hated individuality.

"Pah! You, my dear, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me."

Oh no. Oh, absolutely not.

Circe thought Mari had that, too. And Mari ended up coughing up blood for the better part of... however long. She couldn't let that happen again. Not to someone else.

Annabeth stepped away from Circe. "A sorceress?"

Circe held her hand up and summoned a flame. "Yes, my dear. My mother is Hekate, the goddess of magic. I know a daughter of Athena when I see one. Just like I knew Marion here is a daughter of Apollo." Circe probably expected Mari to look away, given that she was supposed to be broken and all, but Mari was preoccupied.

Hekate. That name set off something inside her. It was her instincts again. She didn't know how, but someone connected to Hekate... someone who would matter...

"Pay attention!" Circe said, her voice stern. Mari nodded hastily.

"We are not so different, you and I. We both seek knowledge. We both admire greatness. Neither of us needs to stand in the shadow of men." Circe sounded like she was crooning to a baby. Maybe Mari had been around her charmspeak for too long, and it was starting to wear off. Or maybe Circe was losing her touch.

"I-I don't understand," Annabeth said. Percy squealed again, and was ignored.

"Stay with me. Study with me. You can join our staff, become a sorceress, learn to bend others to your will. You will become immortal!"

It actually was a pretty decent sales pitch. Mainly because Circe was deliberately leaving out the whole, 'Boys get turned into guinea pigs and have their lives ruined' thing. And the 'Learning sorcery under me can cause severe pain and probably death, ask Mari' thing.

Annabeth seemed to find it suspicious too, thank the gods. "But-"

"You are too intelligent, my dear. You know better than to trust a silly camp for heroes. How many female half-blood heroes can you name?" Circe asked.

Mari frowned. Something about Circe was definitely off. She normally would have known better than to ask a child of Athena a question like that.

"Um, Atalanta, Amelia Earhart-" Annabeth probably could have listed off more, if Circe hadn't hastily interrupted her.

"Bah! Men get all the glory. The only way to power for women is through sorcery. Medea, Calypso, now they were powerful women! And me, of course. The greatest of all."

Evidently, Circe's ego was in check, even if she was off her game. Mari hated to burst her bubble (that was a lie), but she was pretty sure that Medea was very dead. And Calypso lived on an island she could never leave because of the gods. That didn't sound like an incredible amount of power to Mari. But she didn't exactly need case studies to know that Circe was a horrible teacher.

"You... C.C. ... Circe!" Annabeth pointed around her with her mouth hanging open.

Then her eyes zeroed in on the guinea pig cage. Her eyes widened, her lips moved, silently forming the name Percy. She looked sick. Mari was familiar with the feeling. She glanced up briefly to look at Mari, who nodded.

"Forget him. Join me and learn the ways of sorcery."

"But-" Annabeth started to protest, and Circe turned the charmspeak on fully. "Your friend will be well cared for. He'll be shipped to a wonderful home on the mainland, the kindergarteners will adore him. Meanwhile, you will be wise and powerful. You will have all you ever wanted."

Annabeth's eyes glazed over. Mari's heart sped up, and she acted without thinking.

"Snap out of it!" she hissed, stomping on Annabeth's sandal.

That was a bad idea.

Circe looked genuinely shocked that Mari could still rebel, but she was only thrown for an instant. With barely a pause, she waved her hand and tossed Mari across the room. If Annabeth was officially charmspoken, Circe didn't have to worry about pretending to be nice anymore. "I will deal with you later," she hissed.

Mari looked back at Annabeth. Her eyes weren't glazed over! She was pretending! She was looking around the room, probably for windows or somewhere to escape from. Her eyes zeroed in on a pair of jeans by the mirror. When Circe turned to look back, she put on the fake expression again.

"Let me think about it. Just... give me a minute alone. To say goodbye."

Annabeth was a bloody good actress. Mari hoped she'd interpreted her expression correctly.

"Of course, my dear. One minute. Oh... and so you have absolute privacy..." Circe waved her hand and the windows were covered by bars. If Annabeth was ever even partially considering the offer now, Circe had probably blown up any chance of co-operation. What said 'prison' more than prison bars? Shackles? Circe probably had those, too, actually.

The sorceress marched over and dragged Mari out of the room, the doors slamming shut behind her.

"What did you say to her during the tour?!" Circe hissed in her ear.

Mari didn't talk. She just glared at Circe, who turned to her favourite attendant. "Hylla, my dear?" she asked.

"They were talking during Annabeth's treatments. I stayed a distance away, as asked, so I didn't hear anything. But they did not look like they were talking about spa treatments."

Circe looked like a caring mother as she gently scolded Hylla. "My dear, you should have told me this immediately. You know better."

Hylla's eyes lingered on Mari as she replied. "I'm sorry, Lady Circe. I have been feeling sick today."

Lie. That was a lie. Why would Hylla lie?

"Well, there's nothing to be done about it now. The situation is under control. We shall welcome our newest attendant, and then I will deal with the problems." She glared at Mari as she said that.

"Both of you, with me. Now."

Hylla stepped into line behind Circe, and Mari behind Hylla.

Annabeth was crouching over the jeans still, and hastily shoved something behind her back. Mari hoped she was the only one who noticed.

"Well. How fast a minute passes. What is your answer, my dear?" Circe smiled at Annabeth, clearly expecting her to agree to stay.

"This," Annabeth deadpanned, before drawing a Celestial Bronze knife.

Circe looked like she'd been slapped in the face, and stepped back. Mari tried to suppress her shit-eating grin, and failed miserably. She'd never seen anyone reject Circe before. It was amazing.

"Really, little girl, a knife against my magic? Is that wise?"

Circe glanced at Hylla, who smiled back and both of them raised their hands, to cast something.

"No!" Mari elbowed Hylla our of the way and darted past Circe, to stand in front of Annabeth. "Leave her alone, just let her go!" She turned to look at Annabeth. "Run."

"Does your betrayal never cease, Marion Carter?! I have given you everything!" Circe began to raise her hand separately, probably to cast a spell and subdue her, before Mari froze.

Annabeth had a knife at her throat.

What the Hades?! She'd been trying to help!

"She's important to you. She's made you angry, and she's still alive. I know the stories, you kill for less." Annabeth told Circe.

The sorceress in question lowered her hands, and glared.

"Uh, I feel like this anger is a little misplaced-" Mari tried to reason with Annabeth, but the other girl clamped a hand over her mouth.

She tried to fight. She even made little squeaking sounds, which she was fairly certain was a perfect imitation of the guinea pigs. Maybe she and that Percy guy could form a choir. Annabeth pressed her hand tighter. Then Mari felt something strange.

A pill.

Annabeth was holding a pill in the hand she had over Mari's mouth.

Hesitantly, Mari opened her lips, and Annabeth dropped the pill in. She'd always heard in school that it was a horrible idea to dry swallow any kind of medication, but that wasn't exactly high on her list of priorities. She swallowed the pill.

The world became clearer.

She hadn't realised her brain had been foggy. Maybe Circe had done it gradually, so she wouldn't notice. But she could think, clearly.

And she thought that she should have just burned Circe's whole island down. Seriously?! She had walked by hundreds of torches filled with Greek fire every day, and she'd never thought of burning the place down and stealing a boat?! What had Circe done to her brain?

"You're going to let Percy and I go, or I'm going to kill her. Those are your two options."

Mari really hoped she was bluffing.

Circe laughed. "You're not going to kill her, idiotic girl. She's helped you. I have encountered thousands of heroes in my time. You're too noble."

Annabeth kept holding Mari and Circe waved her hand, dragging Mari closer to her with magic.

Mari didn't feel any kind of pull.

Annabeth let go and shoved Mari towards Circe, her face full of false horror. Mari caught on, and pretended to fight the air as she stumbled towards the sorceress.

"What will Annabeth's makeover be? Something small, and ill-tempered. Hmm. I know... A shrew!" Circe had a maniacal smile on her face as she and Hylla raised their hands at Annabeth.

The Percy-guinea pig was squeaking madly, scratching at the bars of the cage.

Blue fire formed around Circe's fingers and made its away towards Annabeth, coiling around her like snakes. Mari shuddered.

Nothing happened.

Well, something happened.

Annabeth got angrier.

She jumped at Circe, pressing her dagger against Circe's neck this time. Hylla went to try and help, but Mari did something she hadn't done in what felt like years (it probably was).

Mari drew Drys.

She wasn't very good, but she had a weapon, which was more than could be said for Hylla. "Stay back," Mari warned.

Hylla scowled her, but where Mari expected to be tackled to the ground, she was given a nod.

"How about turning me into a panther instead?" Annabeth asked. "One that has her claws at your throat!"

"How?" Circe tried to step back from the dagger. Annabeth followed her. With her free hand, she held up a bottle of multivitamins. That must have been what Annabeth had given her!

Circe howled. "Curse Hermes and his multivitamins! They are such a fad! They do nothing for you!"

Mari scoffed. "Oh, I think they do plenty."

Circe turned towards her with wide eyes. "You?" Her voice sounded hollow.

Annabeth pressed the blade deeper into Circe's neck, drawing her attention again. "Turn Percy back into a human, or else!"

"I can't!"

"Then you asked for it."

Hylla attempted to step forward again, but Mari waved her sword in her face.

"Get back! They're immune to magic until those cursed vitamins wear off!" Circe warned her.

Annabeth jerked her head towards the guinea pig cage, and Mari lowered Drys and followed Annabeth over as she dragged Circe. Circe glanced at her as they went, and Mari smiled, holding up her middle finger.

Mari pushed Annabeth's hands out of the way as she struggled with the latch, and undid it by pressing the right button, opening the lid.

Annabeth nodded towards her, before dumping the rest of the vitamins in.

Mari turned away and covered her eyes with her hands as the cage exploded.

The boy Annabeth had arrived with was sprawled on the floor, with his clothes on (if there was a goddess of clothes, Mari would be making a plentiful offering if whatever was going on went well).

There were also a bunch of men in old-timey clothes and knives, with bloody disgusting beards. Mari was pretty sure she saw something moving in one.

"No! You don't understand, they're the worst!" Circe screamed.

"Can't be any worse than you." Mari glared at her.

"Argh! What's the witch done t'me!" one roared. Circe seemed to be trying to hide behind a sofa, but was failing horribly.

Annabeth gasped. "I recognise you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?"

"Aye, lass. Though most call me Blackbeard! And there's the sorceress what captured us, lads!" Mari resisted the urge to snort at the fact that a pirate just called his crew lads. She wondered what some of the people at her old primary school would have to say about that.

"Run her through, and then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Argghh!"

Circe screamed and ran out of the room, following Hylla who had disappeared when the cage exploded.

Annabeth sheathed her sword and advanced on Percy, glaring.

"Thanks..." he faltered, his face going red as he looked at Annabeth. "I'm really sorry-"

Annabeth crushed him into a hug. "I'm glad you're not a guinea pig," she murmured.

"Me too," he agreed.

She undid her gold-threaded braids and glanced at Mari, before turning her attention on him again.

"Come on, Seaweed brain. We have to get away while Circe's distracted."

"I know a shortcut to the docks," Mari volunteered.

Percy glared at her. "Who are you?!" he asked, taking a pen from his pocket.

"I-I'm Mari."

"She's not with Circe, Percy," Annabeth said.

Percy narrowed his eyes at her but put the pen away. "Fine. Lead the way."

Mari grabbed both of their elbows and ran.

She wasn't allowed around much of the resort usually, but she'd helped once with the Ambrosia shipments to the island and Reyna had shown her the way to the docks.

They passed three doors and then reached a statue of Hekate. There was a button next to one of the goddesses' feet, which opened a nearby door.

Mari leaned down and pressed the button, dragging Percy and Annabeth through the door. She heard voices approaching, and shut it behind them, as silently as she could.

"Okay, we just have to run down to-"

"What in Jupiter's name are you doing?!" Reyna stepped out from behind a shadowy vase.

"R-Reyna?! What are you doing here?" Mari asked, panicking. She was closer than ever before to escaping. She couldn't lose now, she just couldn't.

"I'm hiding. From the pirates. Now you answer."

"Well- I was just- Uh... I'm sorry," Mari spluttered.

Reyna narrowed her eyes, and then they settled on Percy. "You- You set the pirates free?!" she hissed at Mari. Her eyes were blazing.

"Let us through, now!" Annabeth brandished her dagger again.

"I can't! Anyone who sees you is supposed to bring you to Circe!" she cried.

Mari's heart stopped. "No-no. You can't. Reyna, please, you know what happens when I disobey her! You've been the one to patch me up! I know you never believed me but please, just let us go."

Reyna glanced at her, then Annabeth. Then at Percy. "Circe told us to bring you in. I can't disobey her." But her voice was weak.

Percy brought out his pen again (he needed to work on his weapon of choice).

Reyna continued speaking. "I can't. I need to alert Circe to your presence." Her eyes were glazed over, and Mari realised that Circe had charmspoken her.

"I am going to warn her," Reyna said, "but I am going to go the long away around." As if fighting herself, she choked out the words, "Hurry. Good luck." And then Reyna Avila Remírez-Arellano was gone.

"Run!" Annabeth ordered.

Mari led the way, since she was the only one who knew where they were even going. In less than a minute, they were at a gaping cave entrance, right in front of the docks. They sprinted at full pelt, skidding onto the docks.

"Which ship?" Annabeth asked.

Mari noticed an old Greek trireme from camp. Without quite knowing why - her instincts again - she scooped up a faded book as she ran past. A Beginners Guide to Greek Mythology, just like the ones she remembered they had at camp. She checked the name of the book's owner, scrawled hastily in the corner. Blaze Morrigan.

"There," Percy said, pointing to what had to be Mari's last choice.

"I can make it work," Percy assured them both.

"How?!" Annabeth asked.

Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand and helped her into the ship. Then he climbed on, and held a hand down for Mari. She hitched up the bottom of her chiton and both of them pulled her up. "How the Hades are you going to sail this?" she asked.

Percy ignored her.

"Argggh! Those scalawags are a-boarding me vessel! Get 'em, lads!" Blackbeard and his crew were sprinting towards the ship, brandishing torches, knives, celery sticks, whatever they'd been able to steal from Aeaea. One of them was even holding a ring light by the circular end, swinging the unplugged cord around like a lasso.

"We'll never get going in time!" Annabeth yelled, drawing her knife again. Mari drew Drys alongside her but it was hopeless. No matter how good Annabeth probably was, they were still hugely outnumbered.

Percy closed just eyes and relaxed, his posture slumping slightly.

"Are you serious? Now is not the time to take up meditation as a hobby!" Mari hissed.

"Mizzenmast!" he yelled.

The ship sprang to life. Sails unfolded, ropes wizzed past them and pulleys started to creak. Annabeth ducked under a rope, and Mari's instincts flared up. With no time she dived onto the floor, bumping her head in the process as the offending rope whizzed over where she'd just been standing.

"Ow!" she groaned.

Annabeth looked awed.

The ship lurched, and Mari rolled over. She wondered if this was a good time to mention that she couldn't swim.

The pirates reached the end of the dock, but Percy, Annabeth and Mari were already too far out to be caught. The pirates waved their makeshift weapons around menacingly, screaming insults. Mari hoped Reyna had found her sister and gotten out safe...

"We're really sorry!" she called, trying to be polite. They yelled profanities at her. It was probably hard to be polite after just stealing someone's ship. At least there were more in the docks for the pirates to choose from. She could imagine them settling in on a nice yacht...

Mari's stomach flipflopped as she felt something lift over her. Like, when someone turns a shower off and the water stops, but lighter. They'd left the barriers of Aeaea.

She'd done it. She was free.

She was free!

She let out some kind of squeak of joy, and her heart summersaulted along with her stomach. Only, it was a good summersault. She felt warm tears streak down her face and wiped at her eyes. Circe's island was slowly disappearing over the horizon. It didn't matter if Circe knew she was gone or not, she couldn't get to her now. She was only powerful within her own borders, or she probably would have tried to take over the world. She never had to see Circe's face again. She never had to watch innocent kids be turned into guinea pigs. She could have a life. She turned to Percy and Annabeth.

"Thanky- ah."

They both had their swords raised in her direction.

"Tell us who you are. Now." Percy demanded.