Chapter 13: Annabeth Tries to Swim Home
"Huh? Why would you try to swim home?" Thalia asked her friend. Annabeth groaned. She knew what this was. She had hoped the book would skip over this particular event. It wasn't important to anything but it was private. She knew that Percy had somehow seen the vision she had had. She didn't blame him, he hadn't intended to do anything but save her but still...it was something intensely private that was likely to be read out to a roomful of people. Annabeth really didn't know how Percy could deal with all of his thoughts being read out.
Percy shot her an apologetic look. He felt really bad. It was awful enough that every one of his thoughts was being read out but he didn't want his friend's privacy being invaded too. She gave him a smile that said she understood. It made him feel a bit better but not completely.
I'd finally found something I was really good at.
"You're good at loads of things." Rachel scoffed.
"Yeah, you can surf really well." Nico said with a smirk. Percy chuckled.
"You're awesome with a sword." Connor pointed out.
"Plus, you're really good at thinking on your feet. Coming up with plans that should kill you but somehow don't." Annabeth laughed.
"I'm not sure that counts as a good thing." He replied.
The Queen Anne's Revenge responded to my every command. I knew which ropes to hoist, which sails to raise, which direction to steer. We plowed through the waves at what I figured was about ten knots. I even understood how fast that was. For a sailing ship, pretty darn fast.
"Not bad." Poseidon nodded proudly. Percy smiled. He remembered how amazing it felt to control the ship. He had never found anything that made him feel as peaceful as sailing. And he hadn't even fully enjoyed it because he had still thought Tyson was missing. He really needed to go sailing again at some point.
It all felt perfect—the wind in my face, the waves breaking over the prow.
Annabeth didn't mention that she thought he had looked perfect too. He had been at peace, an expression not often seen in the life of a demigod, and he had been radiating power. In fact, he had looked almost Godly. He could have been mistaken for Poseidon himself if looked at in just the right light. Albeit a little small for a God at that point but she thought that if he did it again now, he would definitely look like his father.
But now that we were out of danger, all I could think about was how much I missed Tyson, and how worried I was about Grover.
"Yeah. That would ruin the mood." Thalia nodded.
"Thanks for the concern, Punk." Clarisse scowled.
"Well, I can't say I was missing you very much." Percy grinned. "But I was worried about what had happened to you too."
I couldn't get over how badly I'd messed up on Circe's Island.
"What? You didn't mess up." Annabeth told him.
"You were under a spell by a powerful sorceress. Even Gods can't break that spell, though it only lasts for a day or so on us." Apollo comforted him. To his delight, Percy did perk up at this knowledge.
"Yeah, Annabeth had to save you but it's not your fault you're male." Hermes stated.
"Besides, you had to save me right after this." Annabeth reminded him.
"Only because I messed up again." Percy muttered, thinking about how he had forgotten to disarm her.
"Neither of us thought about that." She argued, knowing where his mind had gone.
"How do you know her magic works on Gods?" Artemis asked while the demigods were talking. Apollo grinned.
"I know things."
"Don't tell me she turned you into an animal?" His sister guessed. A few people chuckled.
"Not me." He said. He refused to say anything more despite her constant badgering. Instead, he started reading again.
If it hadn't been for Annabeth, I'd still be a rodent, hiding in a hutch with a bunch of cute furry pirates. I thought about what Circe had said: See, Percy? You've unlocked your true self!
"Perc, your true self is not a guinea pig." Grover assured him. Percy felt an urge to bury his face in his dad's shoulder once more. He did not want his insecurities being read out to other people.
"That's not quite what I was worried about." He admitted, knowing the book was most likely going to go into even more details.
I still felt changed. Not just because I had a sudden desire to eat lettuce. I felt jumpy, like the instinct to be a scared little animal was now a part of me. Or maybe it had always been there. That's what really worried me.
"Given your general habit of rushing into life threatening situations without thinking, I definitely don't think you have it in you to be a scared little animal." Thalia told him. Percy shot her a grateful smile.
We sailed through the night. Annabeth tried to help me keep lookout, but sailing didn't agree with her. After a few hours rocking back and forth, her face turned the color of guacamole and she went below to lie in a hammock.
"I don't blame you." Hazel shuddered.
"Wouldn't the rocking motion of the hammock make it worse?" Gwen asked.
"It wasn't great but lying down helped." Annabeth shrugged.
I watched the horizon. More than once I spotted monsters. A plume of water as tall as a skyscraper spewed into the moonlight. A row of green spines slithered across the waves— something maybe a hundred feet long, reptilian. I didn't really want to know.
"I wouldn't want to know either." Leo said.
"That is one huge monster." Connor muttered.
"At least they aren't attacking." Travis said.
Once I saw Nereids, the glowing lady spirits of the sea. I tried to wave at them, but they disappeared into the depths, leaving me unsure whether they'd seen me or not.
"They probably did. The Nereids there are there as a punishment. They cannot leave the Sea of Monsters. Either it's a punishment for something in particular but in most cases, they support Oceanus." Poseidon explained. Percy nodded. As punishments went, it wasn't terrible. Especially when compared to what the Gods did to Calypso. At least the Nereids were still in the sea and had a large area in which to live. "They are unlikely to hurt you but wouldn't help you either." Percy nodded.
Sometime after midnight, Annabeth came up on deck. We were just passing a smoking volcano island. The sea bubbled and steamed around the shore. "One of the forges of Hephaestus," Annabeth said. "Where he makes his metal monsters."
Nico glared at the floor.
"Like the bronze bulls?" She nodded. "Go around. Far around."
"Good idea." Hephaestus grunted. "Don't want to set off the security measures."
"Definitely not." Percy said warily. He could only imagine what those measures would be.
I didn't need to be told twice. We steered clear of the island, and soon it was just a red patch of haze behind us. I looked at Annabeth. "The reason you hate Cyclopes so much…the story about how Thalia really died. What happened?"
"That's something I want to know." Poseidon said grumpily. Zeus suddenly sat up straighter, ignoring his wife's deepening scowl. He wanted to know what happened to his daughter.
Jason looked towards his sister. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. It was bad enough hearing the story about giving her life for her friends, one of which had spat on her memory, he didn't particularly want to hear more in depth details.
It was hard to see her expression in the dark. "I guess you deserve to know," she said finally. "The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. You remember he told you that once?"
Grover grimaced while Zeus scowled angrily. Stupid Satyr.
I nodded. "Well, the worst wrong turn was into a Cyclops's lair in Brooklyn."
"You led my daughter into a Cyclops lair?" The sky God roared at Grover. The Satyr cowered.
"Father." Thalia snapped. He stopped yelling and looked at his daughter with a frown.
"I thought Satyrs could smell monsters." Beckendorf said.
"They can." Dionysus said.
"There were so many monsters chasing us that everything smelt like monsters." Grover explained quietly. Zeus glared furiously at Hades.
"They've got Cyclopes in Brooklyn?" I asked. "You wouldn't believe how many, but that's not the point. This Cyclops, he tricked us. He managed to split us up inside this maze of corridors in an old house in Flatbush. And he could sound like anyone, Percy. Just the way Tyson did aboard the Princess Andromeda. He lured us, one at time. Thalia thought she was running to save Luke. Luke thought he heard me scream for help. And me…I was alone in the dark. I was seven years old. I couldn't even find the exit."
Athena grimaced. Her daughter had had to go through so much and she was only seven years old at that point in time. Everyone was looking between Annabeth and Thalia. They wondered how on Olympus three demigods got out of that mess. Cyclopes were difficult to beat at the best of times, let alone when you were in their lair and separated from your backup.
She brushed the hair out of her face. "I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia and Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling like smoked hams.
Thalia scowled at how easily she had been caught. Everyone was now even more curious as to how they got out as the two best fighters were captured. Now all eyes were on Annabeth as they realized that she must have rescued them, at seven years old.
The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. I drew my knife, but he heard me. He turned and smiled. He spoke, and somehow, he knew my dad's voice. I guess he just plucked it out of my mind. He said, 'Now, Annabeth, don't you worry. I love you. You can stay here with me. You can stay forever.'" I shivered. The way she told it—even now, six years later—freaked me out worse than any ghost story I'd ever heard. "What did you do?" "I stabbed him in the foot."
"What?" Leo burst out laughing. "That is a very you thing to do." He remembered the ferocious expression on her face when she had picked them up at the Grand Canyon.
Athena smiled proudly at her daughter while everyone else was watching her in astonishment.
"That was very brave of you." Reyna nodded in Annabeth's direction.
I stared at her. "Are you kidding? You were seven years old and you stabbed a grown Cyclops in the foot?"
"It was pretty incredible to see." Thalia said with pride.
"It really was." Grover agreed.
"Oh, he would've killed me. But I surprised him. It gave me just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there."
Zeus nodded to his daughter.
"Yeah, but still…that was pretty brave, Annabeth."
"It was very brave." Athena smiled.
She shook her head. "We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares, Percy. The way that Cyclops talked in my father's voice. It was his fault we took so long getting to camp. All the monsters who'd been chasing us had time to catch up. That's really why Thalia died. If it hadn't been for that Cyclops, she'd still be alive today."
"Maybe but maybe not." Thalia said thoughtfully. "We were delayed in other places too. Obviously, that was the closest delay to camp but plenty of other stuff went wrong too. Maybe something else would have happened and I might have died later on, for real that time. Besides, it seems like the prophecy was supposed to be Percy's which means it was my fate not to reach sixteen."
We sat on the deck, watching the Hercules constellation rise in the night sky. "Go below," Annabeth told me at last. "You need some rest." I nodded. My eyes were heavy. But when I got below and found a hammock, it took me a long time to fall asleep. I kept thinking about Annabeth's story. I wondered, if I were her, would I have had enough courage to go on this quest, to sail straight toward the lair of another Cyclops?
"Yes. You would." Annabeth said without hesitation. "Especially with someone you care about in danger." Percy nodded. That was true. He would go anywhere or fight anyone to save the people he loved.
I didn't dream about Grover. Instead I found myself back in Luke's stateroom aboard the Princess Andromeda. The curtains were open. It was nighttime outside. The air swirled with shadows. Voices whispered all around me—spirits of the dead. Beware, they whispered. Traps. Trickery.
"The dead really do seem to keep helping you out in dreams." Hermes noted.
"They would. With father coming back he would cause chaos in the underworld. Plus, they are close to Tartarus so they would know about him rising quicker than anyone else." Hades explained.
"So, you would know about him rising once more." Zeus turned to glare at his brother.
"So, would you if you weren't so thick." Hades rolled his eyes. "At this point, the clues are all there plus you've been outright told he's stirring." Zeus' glare intensified but he had no answer for his brother. It really was quite evident that their father was rising once more.
Kronos's golden sarcophagus glowed faintly—the only source of light in the room. A cold laugh startled me. It seemed to come from miles below the ship. You don't have the courage, young one. You can't stop me. I knew what I had to do. I had to open that coffin.
"No. There is a reason his nickname is the crooked one." Poseidon told his son. "Manipulation is his specialty. You think you're doing the right thing or he makes you want to prove yourself and then you're actually doing exactly what he wants."
"Yep." Chris nodded. He could definitely vouch for that.
I uncapped Riptide. Ghosts whirled around me like a tornado. Beware! My heart pounded. I couldn't make my feet move, but I had to stop Kronos. I had to destroy whatever was in that box. Then a girl spoke right next to me: "Well, Seaweed Brain?" I looked over, expecting to see Annabeth, but the girl wasn't Annabeth. She wore punk-style clothes with silver chains on her wrists. She had spiky black hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy blue eyes, and a spray of freckles across her nose. She looked familiar, but I wasn't sure why.
"Seriously! Why do you keep dreaming about me?" Thalia asked.
"Hey, he got the eye colour right this time." Jason said. "Mostly. Not quite the right shade of blue but close."
"That's even freakier." Thalia muttered.
"I suspect that either someone is sending Percy a dream to warn him about what's coming or subconsciously he already has an idea that you might come back." Apollo said thoughtfully.
"Well?" she asked. "Are we going to stop him or not?" I couldn't answer. I couldn't move. The girl rolled her eyes. "Fine. Leave it to me and Aegis."
"You definitely got the attitude right." Grover laughed.
"That's also the second time that you've dreamt about Thalia and been unable to move. In this one you're frozen and in the last dream you had a straight-jacket on." Hermes recalled.
"So, Percy isn't the one in control of the dreams?" Apollo frowned. "Then I guess Kronos could well be doing this. Obviously, he knows what the fleece will do but why warn Percy?"
"How do you know all of this?" Athena asked.
"Well, as God of prophecy, prophetic dreams are my business. Also a few centuries ago I spent a while hanging out with Morpheus." Apollo shrugged.
"You have Aegis?" Zeus asked his daughter with interest.
"A copy but yes." She nodded.
She tapped her wrist and her silver chains transformed—flattening and expanding into a huge shield. It was silver and bronze, with the monstrous face of Medusa protruding from the center. It looked like a death mask, as if the gorgon's real head had been pressed into the metal. I didn't know if that was true, or if the shield could really petrify me, but I looked away. Just being near it made me cold with fear. I got a feeling that in a real fight, the bearer of that shield would be almost impossible to beat. Any sane enemy would turn and run.
"Exactly." Athena smirked smugly. "Although it cannot petrify you."
"I know that now." Percy said.
The girl drew her sword and advanced on the sarcophagus. The shadowy ghosts parted for her, scattering before the terrible aura of her shield. "No," I tried to warn her. But she didn't listen.
"Yep. Definitely Thalia." Percy grinned.
"Oh, because you're so much better." She retorted.
"Listen to the boy." Zeus urged. He did not want his daughter within a hundred miles of his father, even in a dream.
She marched straight up to the sarcophagus and pushed aside the golden lid. For a moment she stood there, gazing down at whatever was in the box. The coffin began to glow. "No." The girl's voice trembled. "It can't be." From the depths of the ocean, Kronos laughed so loudly the whole ship trembled. "No!" The girl screamed as the sarcophagus engulfed her in a blast of a golden light.
"Thalia!" Zeus cried.
"I'm fine, father." She said. "It was just a dream."
"No. It was a dream possibly sent by Kronos." Apollo corrected. "While the person in the dream may not have physically been you, I suspect it was intended to be prophetic.
"How can he have intended it to be prophetic?" Annabeth asked in confusion.
"That is what he expects the future to hold. He obviously knew the fleece would bring Thalia back making her the most likely option for being the child of the prophecy due to her being older than Percy. That would mean that she would make the choice, in the dream the choice to open the sarcophagus, which would then cause her to release him. Thalia managed to divert this option by becoming a Hunter of Arty which he likely didn't take into consideration."
"Do not call me Arty." Artemis hissed at her brother. He shot her a smirk. Everybody else was staring at Apollo in shock. Given his goofy nature they often thought he was a bit stupid when he was actually the God of logic and reason as well as prophecy.
"Ah!" I sat bolt upright in my hammock. Annabeth was shaking me. "Percy, you were having a nightmare. You need to get up." "Wh—what is it?" I rubbed my eyes. "What's wrong?" "Land," she said grimly. "We're approaching the island of the Sirens."
"Well, as long as you sail out of range of their singing you should be fine. Or find something to put in your ears." Hephaestus shrugged. Athena watched a sheepish expression cross her daughter's face and groaned.
I could barely make out the island ahead of us—just a dark spot in the mist. "I want you to do me a favor," Annabeth said. "The Sirens…we'll be in range of their singing soon."
"That's a very bad idea." Chiron stated sternly.
"Sorry?" Annabeth said sheepishly.
I remembered stories about the Sirens. They sang so sweetly their voices enchanted sailors and lured them to their death. "No problem," I assured her. "We can just stop up our ears. There's a big tub of candle wax below deck—"
"Yes. Go with Perseus' idea." Athena nodded. Then she blinked as if she could not believe she had just said that. Poseidon and Percy both stared at her in astonishment.
"I want to hear them." I blinked. "Why?" "They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn't even realize. That's what's so enchanting. If you survive…you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?"
"No. Knowledge by itself is not wisdom. It is how you apply that knowledge. You should know that." Athena told her daughter sternly.
"I do know that. However, I did learn my fatal flaw from listening to the sirens." Annabeth told her mother. The wisdom Goddess nodded. She understood her daughter's reasoning and knew that turning down the opportunity to gain knowledge was difficult for her children but that didn't mean she wished for Annabeth to put herself in unnecessary danger.
Coming from most people, this would've made no sense. But Annabeth being who she was— well, if she could struggle through Ancient Greek architecture books and enjoy documentaries on the History Channel, I guessed the Sirens would appeal to her, too.
"Did you just compare sirens with documentaries?" Piper asked, giving Percy a weird look.
"I guess so." He said sheepishly.
She told me her plan. Reluctantly, I helped her get ready. As soon as the rocky coastline of the island came into view, I ordered one of the ropes to wrap around Annabeth's waist, tying her to the foremast. "Don't untie me," she said, "no matter what happens or how much I plead. I'll want to go straight over the edge and drown myself."
"This is extremely dangerous." Athena stated, concern in her voice. It was almost impossible to escape the lure of the sirens once you heard it.
"I know mother." Annabeth sighed.
"Are you trying to tempt me?"
A few people chuckled at that.
"Ha-ha." I promised I'd keep her secure. Then I took two large wads of candle wax, kneaded them into earplugs, and stuffed my ears. Annabeth nodded sarcastically, letting me know the earplugs were a real fashion statement. I made a face at her and turned to the pilot's wheel. The silence was eerie. I couldn't hear anything but the rush of blood in my head. As we approached the island, jagged rocks loomed out of the fog. I willed the Queen Anne's Revenge to skirt around them. If we sailed any closer, those rocks would shred our hull like blender blades.
"You want to be as far away as possible. That way, if something happens you have more time to fix it." Jason said. Percy grimaced.
I glanced back. At first, Annabeth seemed totally normal. Then she got a puzzled look on her face. Her eyes widened. She strained against the ropes. She called my name—I could tell just from reading her lips. Her expression was clear: She had to get out. This was life or death. I had to let her out of the ropes right now.
"Do not let her out of those ropes or out of your sight." Athena glared at Percy. He grimaced again. Annabeth shot him a look, trying to tell him it wasn't his fault.
She seemed so miserable it was hard not to cut her free. I forced myself to look away. I urged the Queen Anne's Revenge to go faster.
"Yes, go faster." Poseidon nodded. He wanted his son away from there. "You can still be dangerously tempted, even if you can't hear them.
"Yeah. Found that one out." Percy admitted.
I still couldn't see much of the island—just mist and rocks—but floating in the water were pieces of wood and fiberglass, the wreckage of old ships, even some flotation cushions from airplanes. How could music cause so many lives to veer off course? I mean, sure, there were some Top Forty songs that made me want to take a fiery nosedive,
There was another round of laughter.
but still…What could the Sirens possibly sing about? For one dangerous moment, I understood Annabeth's curiosity. I was tempted to take out the earplugs, just to get a taste of the song. I could feel the Sirens' voices vibrating in the timbers of the ship, pulsing along with the roar of blood in my ears.
"Do not unplug your ears." Thalia said.
"I didn't." Percy assured her.
"This seems like a good example of the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'." Piper pointed out.
"Except I'm not dead." Annabeth reminded her. "Besides, the saying also includes the part 'and satisfaction brought it back'."
"True but satisfaction couldn't actually bring you back if the sirens had killed you." Jason said.
Annabeth was pleading with me. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She strained against the ropes, as if they were holding her back from everything she cared about. How could you be so cruel? She seemed to be asking me. I thought you were my friend. I glared at the misty island. I wanted to uncap my sword, but there was nothing to fight. How do you fight a song?
"You put wax in your ears." Grover said, staring at Annabeth. She stuck her tongue out at him.
"I don't actually remember any of this." Annabeth admitted. "I can't recall pretty much anything past first hearing the song to...later."
I tried hard not to look at Annabeth. I managed it for about five minutes. That was my big mistake. When I couldn't stand it any longer, I looked back and found…a heap of cut ropes. An empty mast. Annabeth's bronze knife lay on the deck. Somehow, she'd managed to wriggle it into her hand. I'd totally forgotten to disarm her.
"How could you forget something like that, sea spawn!?" Athena yelled angrily. "Why were you not watching her properly?"
"Do not insult my son." Poseidon said icily. "Your daughter is the one who put them in this mess. Nor did she think to get rid of her weapon before she was tied up." He glared at the wisdom Goddess.
I rushed to the side of the boat and saw her, paddling madly for the island, the waves carrying her straight toward the jagged rocks.
Annabeth's eyes widened. She hadn't even noticed the rocks, too busy in her vision.
I screamed her name, but if she heard me, it didn't do any good. She was entranced, swimming toward her death. I looked back at the pilot's wheel and yelled, "Stay!"
"I didn't know your ship had turned into a dog." Connor laughed.
"Hey, it worked." Percy shrugged.
"That is pretty useful." Leo said. Again, he wondered how much control Percy would have over the Argo II.
Then I jumped over the side. I sliced into the water and willed the currents to bend around me, making a jet stream that shot me forward. I came to the surface and spotted Annabeth, but a wave caught her, sweeping her between two razor-sharp fangs of rock.
Despite knowing they lived, everyone was quite worried. For once Athena was grateful that her daughter was with the son of Poseidon. Despite the fact that he had forgotten to disarm Annabeth, he was the only one who had a hope of catching up with her and saving her daughter.
I had no choice. I plunged after her. I dove under the wrecked hull of a yacht, wove through a collection of floating metal balls on chains that I realized afterward were mines.
"Mines?" Grover asked, his voice a little more high pitched than usual.
"How did Annabeth avoid the mines?" Nico asked.
"I have no idea." Percy said honestly.
I had to use all my power over water to avoid getting smashed against the rocks or tangled in the nets of barbed wire strung just below the surface. I jetted between the two rock fangs and found myself in a half-moon-shaped bay. The water was choked with more rocks and ship wreckage and floating mines. The beach was black volcanic sand.
"If you get to the beach then the sirens will descend." Demeter warned.
I looked around desperately for Annabeth. There she was. Luckily or unluckily, she was a strong swimmer. She'd made it past the mines and the rocks. She was almost to the black beach. Then the mist cleared and I saw them—the Sirens. Imagine a flock of vultures the size of people—with dirty black plumage, gray talons, and wrinkled pink necks. Now imagine human heads on top of those necks, but the human heads keep changing.
"The heads keep changing?" Connor frowned.
"Yeah. It's like how when you look at mom you see who you like or who you think is beautiful. Except the sirens look like the people you want to see the most, those who make you feel safe." Silena explained.
"It's how they hunt. Look like someone who makes you feel safe to draw you in and give you a false sense of security, then they eat you." Will added.
"Wonderful." Rachel grimaced.
I couldn't hear them, but I could see they were singing. As their mouths moved, their faces morphed into people I knew—my mom, Poseidon, Grover, Tyson, Chiron.
Chiron and Poseidon both smiled happily. Chiron was touched and pleased that he was someone who made Percy feel safe. Especially given his general experience with adults, especially teachers.
Poseidon was also delighted. Given that his only real interaction with his son so far had been to accidentally call him a mistake and generally make a mess of things, it was good to know that his son still felt safe with him.
Annabeth wondered if Percy didn't feel safe with her. She wasn't sure whether it could be because she was already there with him. He would know that she wasn't on the beach so it wouldn't make him feel safe. She hoped that was it because it would hurt to know that after everything they had been through, Percy still didn't feel safe with her.
All the people I most wanted to see. They smiled reassuringly, inviting me forward. But no matter what shape they took, their mouths were greasy and caked with the remnants of old meals. Like vultures, they'd been eating with their faces, and it didn't look like they'd been feasting on Monster Donuts.
Poseidon, Grover and Chiron all grimaced at that description.
Annabeth swam toward them. I knew I couldn't let her get out of the water. The sea was my only advantage. It had always protected me one way or another. I propelled myself forward and grabbed her ankle. The moment I touched her, a shock went through my body, and I saw the Sirens the way Annabeth must've been seeing them.
Annabeth sighed. She knew what was now coming. Of course, the book couldn't skip over this and go straight to them back on the boat.
Three people sat on a picnic blanket in Central Park. A feast was spread out before them. I recognized Annabeth's dad from photos she'd shown me—an athletic-looking, sandy-haired guy in his forties. He was holding hands with a beautiful woman who looked a lot like Annabeth. She was dressed casually—in blue jeans and a denim shirt and hiking boots—but something about the woman radiated power. I knew that I was looking at the goddess Athena.
Athena sighed softly. She understood where her daughter was coming from. Despite coming from the most messed up family ever, she knew that every child wanted their parents to be together. Plus, it seemed like all demigod children desperately wanted the immortal parents around more. If the wistful and longing looks on the other demigod's faces was anything to go by, this dream was a common one. Still, she knew those dreams were simply not possible.
Next to them sat a young man…Luke.
All of the wistful expressions suddenly turned into surprise or disgust.
"You still liked Luke?" Leo asked without thinking. He regretted it when Annabeth glared at him ferociously.
"I hoped he could be saved." She said through gritted teeth.
The whole scene glowed in a warm, buttery light. The three of them were talking and laughing, and when they saw Annabeth, their faces lit up with delight. Annabeth's mom and dad held out their arms invitingly. Luke grinned and gestured for Annabeth to sit next to him—as if he'd never betrayed her, as if he were still her friend.
Hermes wished that could be true. He would do anything to hear that his son gave up this madness and came back to them. Or even better, that he could use this information to make sure his son never turned on them in the first place.
Behind the trees of Central Park, a city skyline rose. I caught my breath, because it was Manhattan, but not Manhattan. It had been totally rebuilt from dazzling white marble, bigger and grander than ever—with golden windows and rooftop gardens. It was better than New York. Better than Mount Olympus. I knew immediately that Annabeth had designed it all. She was the architect for a whole new world. She had reunited her parents. She had saved Luke. She had done everything she'd ever wanted.
"That does sound pretty awesome." Thalia smiled slightly.
Percy frowned. It still stung that he wasn't part of Annabeth's perfect future. She would rather get Luke back. He supposed it might be to do with her fatal flaw. He didn't need 'fixing' the way Luke did so she didn't need to do anything with him. Maybe. Or maybe he was not required in her future. Maybe he was always going to be her second choice.
I blinked hard. When I opened my eyes, all I saw were the Sirens—ragged vultures with human faces, ready to feed on another victim. I pulled Annabeth back into the surf. I couldn't hear her, but I could tell she was screaming. She kicked me in the face, but I held on.
"Sorry." Annabeth said but she was clearly holding back laughter. Other people weren't so restrained.
I willed the currents to carry us out into the bay. Annabeth pummeled and kicked me, making it hard to concentrate. She thrashed so much we almost collided with a floating mine.
Poseidon and Athena both cringed.
"Get her underwater." Poseidon suggested. "She won't be able to hear them."
"Yeah, you should know that Percy. That's how you shut Annabeth up on your last quest." Travis snickered.
I didn't know what to do. I'd never get back to the ship alive if she kept fighting. We went under and Annabeth stopped struggling. Her expression became confused. Then our heads broke the surface and she started to fight again. The water! Sound didn't travel well underwater. If I could submerge her long enough, I could break the spell of the music. Of course, Annabeth wouldn't be able to breathe, but at the moment, that seemed like a minor problem.
"A minor problem?" Athena yelled. "My daughter not being able to breathe is more than a minor problem."
"So is being blown up because she made us hit a mine." Percy pointed out.
"Besides, Percy can allow others to breathe underwater as he can create an air bubble around them." Poseidon added.
I grabbed her around the waist and ordered the waves to push us down. We shot into the depths—ten feet, twenty feet. I knew I had to be careful because I could withstand a lot more pressure than Annabeth.
"At least you know that much." Athena allowed grudgingly.
She fought and struggled for breath as bubbles rose around us. Bubbles. I was desperate. I had to keep Annabeth alive. I imagined all the bubbles in the sea—always churning, rising. I imagined them coming together, being pulled toward me.
"Well that's certainly one way of doing it." Poseidon smiled.
"I love the way your brain works." Leo chuckled.
The sea obeyed. There was a flurry of white, a tickling sensation all around me, and when my vision cleared, Annabeth and I had a huge bubble of air around us. Only our legs stuck into the water.
"Making a bubble out of bubbles. Nice." Jason said admiringly. Poseidon gave his son a proud smile. It seemed he was picking up on his powers very easily. His mind was certainly a bit strange but he always got there in the end and mastered all of his abilities with ease.
"You have such cool powers." Leo noted. Percy grinned proudly.
She gasped and coughed. Her whole body shuddered, but when she looked at me, I knew the spell had been broken. She started to sob—I mean horrible, heartbroken sobbing. She put her head on my shoulder and I held her.
All of the teenage males looked slightly horrified and many of them shot Percy sympathetic looks. The females all glared at them.
Fish gathered to look at us—a school of barracudas, some curious marlins. Scram! I told them.
"Fish are such gossips. News of the two of you will be all over the sea very shortly." Poseidon chuckled.
"Fish gossip?" Piper asked. Poseidon and Percy both nodded.
"A lot of sea creatures are big gossips." Percy said with a slight frown.
"I sort of wish I could talk to animals." Piper mused. While she wasn't really into gossip, it would be quite fun. She had always loved animals.
They swam off, but I could tell they went reluctantly. I swear I understood their intentions. They were about to start rumors flying around the sea about the son of Poseidon and some girl at the bottom of Siren Bay.
Athena scowled.
"Did that actually happen?" Annabeth asked.
"Yep. Even dad ended up hearing some stories. I had to correct quite a few of them." Percy admitted. Poseidon blinked. He wondered how he had reacted to hearing these stories about his son with a girl. He hoped he had taken the news with a pinch of salt, after all he did know what the fish were like.
"I'll get us back to the ship," I told her. "It's okay. Just hang on." Annabeth nodded to let me know she was better now, then she murmured something I couldn't hear because of the wax in my ears. I made the current steer our weird little air submarine through the rocks and barbed wire and back toward the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was maintaining a slow and steady course away from the island.
"Nice. I assume you were controlling the ship too or was it disobeying you?" Nico asked. "I mean, we saw how good you were with Cerberus."
"I was controlling it." Percy said, sticking his tongue out at Nico.
We stayed underwater, following the ship, until I judged we had moved out of earshot of the Sirens. Then I surfaced and our air bubble popped. I ordered a rope ladder to drop over the side of the ship, and we climbed aboard. I kept my earplugs in, just to be sure.
"Good idea." Apollo nodded. "Better safe than sorry. If you get put under the siren spell Annabeth would never be able to save you given your advantage in the water." Chris agreed.
We sailed until the island was completely out of sight. Annabeth sat huddled in a blanket on the forward deck. Finally, she looked up, dazed and sad, and mouthed, safe. I took out the earplugs. No singing. The afternoon was quiet except for the sound of the waves against the hull. The fog had burned away to a blue sky, as if the island of the Sirens had never existed. "You okay?" I asked. The moment I said it, I realized how lame that sounded. Of course, she wasn't okay. "I didn't realize," she murmured. "What?" Her eyes were the same color as the mist over the Sirens' island. "How powerful the temptation would be."
Annabeth shivered slightly. Despite the fact she remembered very little of the entire event, she could still recall the completely overwhelming need to get to the sirens.
I didn't want to admit that I'd seen what the Sirens had promised her. I felt like a trespasser. But I figured I owed it to Annabeth.
"Thanks." She said. While she wasn't happy that Percy had seen her vision, she was glad that he had admitted it.
"I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan," I told her. "And Luke and your parents."
"That city was amazing." Percy told her. Annabeth smiled.
She blushed. "You saw that?" "What Luke told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch…that really got to you, huh?" She pulled her blanket around her. "My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."
"That is a horrible flaw to have." Hermes grimaced.
"But quite a common one with children of Athena. The same way ambition or desire for power is a common one for children of Zeus." Apollo said. Thalia grimaced. Then she studied Jason. She wondered what his flaw was.
"They are all horrible in their way, hence why they are fatal." Athena pointed out.
I blinked. "That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?"
There was a stunned silence before the room erupting into laughter. All of the Gods were shaking their heads in exasperation.
"Wow." Thalia said. "Really kelp head?"
"Hummus...hubris. Almost the same thing." Percy grinned sheepishly.
"No. Absolutely not." Will managed to say through his laughter. It took a little while for the room to regain control so Apollo could keep reading.
She rolled her eyes. "No, Seaweed Brain. That's hummus. Hubris is worse."
"That's debatable." Leo said. Piper rolled her eyes.
"What could be worse than hummus?"
"Nothing." Will said.
"You don't like hummus?" Nico asked. Will shook his head violently.
"It's wrong. Just plain wrong." Nico laughed at the vehement reaction.
"Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else… even the gods." "You feel that way?" She looked down. "Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework." "I'm listening."
"Of course, you'd be listening to no homework." Chiron sighed, giving Percy an amused look.
"Who wouldn't want no homework?" Percy asked. All the demigods except Annabeth nodded their agreement. Even Apollo and Hermes nodded despite never having actually done homework. Chiron and Athena both shook their heads in exasperation.
"I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did—that's why the fire is still burning. That's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?" "Um…no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare."
A few of the Gods let out sighs of relief at this declaration.
"That is true." Will said.
"It would be chaos if Percy ruled the world." Clarisse agreed.
"Feeling the love guys." Percy complained. It might be true but they didn't have to agree with him. He would never want to rule the world. It was far too much responsibility and far too much work. It was bad enough it sounded like he was going to be responsible for saving the world.
"I think running the world would be too much responsibility for one person. Plus, too much of a burden." Jason said. It was why they had two Praetors for Camp Jupiter and that was just a camp, not even close to the world.
"It is a burden. That's why everything was divided into domains." Hestia explained. "And why we have the Olympian Council."
"I thought that was to keep him in check." Poseidon gestured towards Zeus who immediately started protesting. Then they started arguing about how mature they were and how they didn't need anyone keeping an eye on them, eventually dragging Hades into the argument as well.
"It was to make sure none of us gets too much power and upsets the balance." Hestia cut in, stopping the argument.
"Then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw." "What is?" "I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it… well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing."
"That is true." Athena nodded.
"So, you two know your flaws. Hubris and excessive personal loyalty. What about Thalia and Nico?" Hermes asked. Poseidon smiled slightly. Loyalty was a very rare flaw to have. His children were usually reckless and impulsive. Athena and Apollo looked thoughtful.
"Mine is ambition." Thalia admitted.
"Mine is holding grudges." Nico said after a lot of prompting. Hades nodded. That was a common flaw of his children.
"Thinking about it, either Percy's flaw is not loyalty or he has a very good handle on his flaw without even realizing." Apollo stated. Percy frowned at the God.
"What do you mean? Percy is ridiculously loyal." Grover said.
"Hmm." Athena made a non-committal noise. "I think I'm with Apollo."
"Obviously Percy is very loyal by the sounds of it but thinking about the last book, a twelve-year-old with a flaw of loyalty should never have been able to leave his mother in the underworld or have left her to take care of that thing by herself." Apollo reasoned.
"However, it would seem that the boy is very reckless, which is a common flaw of children of Uncle Poseidon." Athena added. "His recklessness could also translate into loyalty in some situations. Such as going to the Underworld in the first place to get his mother back. That could be loyalty or recklessness. There was also the occasion when he chose not to leave my daughter and the Satyr on the bus when the Furies attacked. It could be loyalty but his actions to protect them were incredibly reckless, something he even noted in his thoughts. So far Perseus has shown loyalty but not an excessively dangerous amount. However, he has certainly been shown to be reckless even when it could get him vaporized by one or more of us. Such as sending Medusa's head." Zeus scowled furiously at the reminder. "And according to your own accounts, he continues to behave in such a way, particularly to us Gods."
Everyone looked at the wisdom Goddess in surprise. It was well known that Percy was loyal to a fault so they had thought that was definitely his flaw.
"It was you who told me my flaw was loyalty Lady Athena." Percy pointed out.
"That may be but I'm sure the future me has not had the same insight into your doings as I have." Athena reminded him. Percy considered this. Recklessness being his fatal flaw would sort of make sense. Maybe he was just unlucky enough to have two fatal flaws. That would certainly fit with the way his life had gone so far.
"It is possible to have more than one fatal flaw?" He asked. Athena considered.
"Yes. There will always be one flaw that is the most prominent and most likely to be fatal in the end however you can have others."
I thought about that. It didn't exactly cheer me up. I also noticed Annabeth hadn't said much about the personal things she would change—like getting her parents back together, or saving Luke. I understood. I didn't want to admit how many times I'd dreamed of getting my own parents back together.
Poseidon smiled sadly while Percy sighed. He knew it would never happen, his father was married for goodness sake and that wasn't even the biggest obstacle, but still…
I pictured my mom, alone in our little apartment on the Upper East Side. I tried to remember the smell of her blue waffles in the kitchen. It seemed so far away.
"Do blue waffles smell different to regular waffles?" Leo asked curiously. The awkwardness around the room was palpable and it was the first question that popped into his head. Percy grinned, happy to have a distraction.
"Yes. Yes, they do." He nodded. "They smell much better."
"I think you're biased." Thalia said with a laugh.
"Maybe but it's still true." Percy shrugged.
"So, was it worth it?" I asked Annabeth. "Do you feel…wiser?" She gazed into the distance. "I'm not sure. But we have to save the camp. If we don't stop Luke…" She didn't need to finish. If Luke's way of thinking could even tempt Annabeth, there was no telling how many other half-bloods might join him.
The Gods exchanged worried glances. That was a good point. It was well known that Hubris was one of the most common flaws in a demigod along with ambition. Both of those flaws could be easily used by Kronos to manipulate their children into joining him.
"Far too many." Chris sighed. Zeus glared at him as he was reminded the son of Hermes had originally betrayed them.
"H-how many?" Aphrodite asked nervously.
"We don't know." Annabeth answered honestly. "Enough to make him rise again through pledges. Quite a few left camp to join him but there are also many demigods who never even make it to camp." All of the Olympians were wondering how many, if any, of their children had joined Kronos.
"Plus, it's already been mentioned that there are spies at camp." Will added with a sigh. It was a shame Chris didn't know any of the more recent spies. Both the people he had named were either dead or had left camp.
I thought about my dream of the girl and the golden sarcophagus. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I got the feeling I was missing something. Something terrible that Kronos was planning. What had the girl seen when she opened that coffin lid?
"I mean, father isn't exactly pretty." Poseidon shrugged. Then he paused. Zeus had cut their father into pieces. He did not have a body to return to, the pledges would only bring back his essence. He would need a body to take over temporarily until he had enough power to recreate his own original body. He figured he wouldn't mention that part quite yet.
Suddenly Annabeth's eyes widened. "Percy." I turned. Up ahead was another blotch of land—a saddle-shaped island with forested hills and white beaches and green meadows—just like I'd seen in my dreams. My nautical senses confirmed it. 30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. We had reached the home of the Cyclops.
"About time too." Dionysus said. He wanted to hear that they had rescued the Satyr and had the fleece. While he obviously knew they had done it, he still didn't like hearing about Satyrs in danger.
"Indeed." Grover bleated.
"I like cutting it close." Percy grinned.
"Don't I know it." Grover complained.
"The chapter is done." Apollo announced.
"My turn." Hermes said, taking the book from his friend.