I apologize for the confusion centered around me taking down the chapter. Apparently, I somehow replicated a few paragraphs but I fixed it. If you people notice this happening somewhere else in this chap then let me know.
Percy Jackson
Percy appreciated that blowjob. He really did, especially because they really weren't Annabeth's favorite thing in the world. In fact, he had the distinct suspicion that the skull fuck she had received during the beginning had been more down her lane than her kneeling in front of him and having to try to get him off. Ever since the beginning of their ongoing pregnancy scare the amount of sex he had gotten had gone down to zero. It had been forced to stick to cuddles and the occasional groping.
So this was the first real consideration of this sort she had paid him after he complained about being horny and her flat-out telling him she had zero faith in his pullout game. The only risk with these considerations was that their impulse control would fail and they would take it all the way.
Percy bit back grunts as Annabeth worked, shifting between, sucking, jerking him off, and offering his balls attention as well. She had even pulled off her shirt, both to spare it any stains and to sweeten the view but as usual, her gray eyes kept his attention captivated. They were stunning. It turned out that despite her best efforts, it fell on him to him to finish it himself. In the last moments, she sucked hard on his length and took the load, partly because he really liked it when pretty women did that, and partly because it conveniently spared them the cleanup effort.
"Thanks," Percy replied.
"Anytime," Annabeth announced and rose to her feet, pulling on her shirt in the process.
"Good to know you were paying good attention," Annabeth remarked business-like manner and downed a few gulps of soda, and nodded at the surface radar. Just on the edge of the range, a landmass had appeared some while ago.
"Hey, if you were into women and had yourself kneeling in front of you with your tits out, navigation would be the last thing on your mind!"
"Well, can't fault you for that," Annabeth reasoned, looking rather pleased with herself. She had always been susceptible to flattery.
After sitting down on his lap she raised the binoculars to her eyes and stared out ahead. "So no dessert for me?" Percy asked jokingly as he discreetly felt Annabeth up.
"Oh cut it out. This is not the time, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth growled, pushing his hands away. "I already gave you things I promised myself years ago that in the name of feminism, I would never do..." Annabeth trailed off as she studied the horizon.
"What about that deep-throating during round one?" Percy asked curiously.
"That will never be talked about again. It was hot, it was sexy and really uncomfortable and we will never talk about it again," Annabeth explained mildly. "Ah there it is, it's bigger than last time," Annabeth remarked and held the binoculars out to Percy.
With one arm wrapped around Annabeth's waist, he accepted the optics and looked off into the distance.
There in the distance was an island, though through the haze it was hard to tell any more details.
"They can't see us this far out," Annabeth mused. "We should wait and attack at dawn."
"Looks like the island has a few mountains in the middle," Percy announced brightly. "We could sneak up to the spa from behind."
"Do you know what side Circe is supposed to be based on? If we can see them, we run risk of being discovered ourselves and I would rather not have them waiting for us," Annabeth argued calmly, leaning against him heavily. "Besides, we lack the numbers and our enemy likely lacks the readiness for a rear attack to make any actual differences."
"How about we make landfall shortly before dawn," Percy suggested and Annabeth kissed his cheek. "Ah, a dawn raid, just like during the Titian war?"
"Pretty much," Percy agreed. "We go in, find Circe, and knock a few heads together. Don't forget to pack those Multivitamins."
"Fine," she agreed.
"Let us at least back off a mile or two more in case someone just decides to take a hike, I would rather not face a prepared enemy," he decided.
When Annabeth nodded in agreement, he turned them around and they fell back to a sandbank and once again dropped the anchor.
That evening they kept their position and navigation lights and put their blankets in the pilot's house and set an early alarm. Neither of them slept that night. Despite their earlier bravado and confidence, suddenly neither of them felt overly confident. They were facing a goddess in her own right and her disciples. Seasoned warriors or not, that did not bode well for them.
By the time the alarm rang at half-past four in the morning, neither of them had slept much. They pulled on their armor, started the engine, and began to slow boat their way towards the island.
The Spa itself looked much like the old one, a number of straw umbrellas to shield from the sun surrounded by deckchairs with a hotel surrounded by a few larger buildings and what looked like beachside bars further up at the tree line.
So, that night they approached the pear dead slow ahead. Dressed in bronze armor, they jumped onto the pier and moored the Fero. Just as the horizon turned gray, they snuck up the beach, rushing from the palaces where shadows were the darkest. With swords in hand, they finally reached what looked like a makeshift beachfront changing rooms and looked around, doing their best to stay out of sight. Lights burned behind some of the windows.
Suddenly, wisps of distant voices reached their ears.
"There," Annabeth whispered, pointing out two figures in the shadows, huddling between the trees right off the main complex, a few hundred feet away.
With practiced ease, they approached, slipping from cover to cover, with their weapons hidden away so the glow wouldn't betray them. A hundred feet or so further left, they slipped into the cover of the trees and basically came around a hook until they could approach the figures from cover. Moving quietly through the underbrush was hard enough, but finally, they were able to sneak up on two girls, one brunette, and one blond. Neither of them where older than thirteen and shorter than either of them by at least a head's length.
"Why is this so hard?" the blond asked with frustration.
"I just did as Circe said. Let the energy flow through you and concentrate on what you want to do!" the girl explained, oblivious to the two hiding behind palm trees mere feet away in the shadows.
Percy glanced at Annabeth and marveled at how beautiful she was. Even in the darkness, he noted that her expression was hard and she was holding a softly glowing dagger in her right hand.
Percy feverishly shook his head. When he held her gaze she cocked her head and Percy imagined she was giving him an exasperated look. To his relief, she still put the dagger away. Before Percy could lose much thought over Annabeth's readiness to kill the brunette declared "Fotiá!"
A violet flame burst to life in Mandy's hand and they watched with mild concern as the other girl stared at it with admiration. "You will see, Circe is the way to true power. In a few years, no one will be able to match you either!" Mandy explained with sincerity ringing in her voice.
Annabeth pointed first at herself and then at Mandy who was closer to her, and then at Percy and then the second girl.
Percy nodded, mildly surprised by Annabeth's open willingness to take on the more talented. Then she had taken the vitamines, so perhaps this provided her with the required confidence.
Percy missed what was said next but finally, Mandy said, "We should get back to the dormitories. Our lady is expecting a boat from Miami tomorrow with a few guests. Only women this time, so no magic will be required. Still, we need to look presentable!"
It was now or never, Percy realized. Annabeth did as well because she raised three fingers and began to count down. Three,...the first finger got folded. Two, the second finger fell. One, the time for thinking was just about over. Zero!
They rounded their cover and charged towards the two girls. They closed the distance in mere heartbeats.
"Whoa!" Mandy began, the flame in her hand spluttering and dying as the two girls stumbled back in shock. Then they were upon them.
Percy considered doing something fancy with Riptide but metal blades tended to leave lasting wounds. So instead he grabbed the blond by her shoulders and rammed his knee into her stomach, almost lifting her off her feet with the force of the impact, knocking all air from her lungs. Any scream she wished to utter in the process was cut short then and there. To finish her off Percy swung a right hook, his fist connecting with the girl's skill hard enough to make him wince in sympathy. Unless it was fair combat, he did not like hitting girls.
In the darkness, she did look a bit like Annabeth so the punch to the side of the face hard that delivered her into the realm of dreams was cast only reluctantly.
Annabeth was not so disadvantaged. The girl tried to summon her flame again but her hands were knocked aside by a slap from Annabeth. With two confident and swift steps, she outflanked Mandy, and a heartbeat later she had the girl locked in a chokehold, trapping any scream in her throat as she cut off the carotid artery with a surgeon's precision. He could empathize. When he and Annabeth had spared together without weapons for the first time he had ended up in the very same position after a few seconds and woken up on the arena's floor half a minute later.
For a few moments, Mandy struggled before she finally went limp. With barely any sound at all, Annabeth let Mandy's unconscious body glide down into the sand.
From her backpack, Annabeth produced two pairs lengths of paracord and handed one set to Percy before securing the girl's wrists and ankles while Percy forced a strip of cloth into the girl's mouth and secured it by wrapping duct tape around the girl's head.
Still requiring answers so Annabeth only covered Mandy's mouth with a hand and tapped her cheek a few times until she came around. As she did Annabeth produced her dagger again and held it to the girl's throats.
Mandy looked up into the daughter of Athena's with wide, fearful eyes. "Try to scream and I'll cut your throat," Annabeth warned in a surprisingly soft voice. Once again Percy was struck by the fact that either Annabeth was a very good actor or she was deadly serious about her threats. He very much hoped for the first option.
"Where is Circe?" she asked just as the second girl started to come around again forcing Percy to kneel down next to her.
Stay down, stay quiet! We are here to execute the will of Zeus, you need not come to harm," Percy warned and smiled apologetically down at his own charge, imagining that this might very well be a younger version of Reyna and Hylla. It would not do to traumatize them at all. The girl looked up at him, took in his armor and bulk, and hastily nodded as if understanding.
Once again Annabeth lacked his hesitance, for she pressed the top of her dagger harder against Mandy's throat when Mandy didn't answer. "Between the collage and the hotel is a path that leads up to a clearing. Lady Circe and the older girls are practicing magic there," Mandy coughed up.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You are lying," Annabeth announced grimly and increased the pressure from the dagger by just a fraction. Percy did not see it, but he took Annabeth's word for it. "I would not recommend lying again," the daughter of Athena warned ominously.
"She should be in her sweet,... main building" the girl finally hissed.
"Good girl," Annabeth replied.
"Though if I find out you are lying I will be back," she whispered. Then she also similarly gagged the girl to how he had.
"You do not want that," Annabeth added, for good measure. In a measured motion, she shifted into a sleeper hold and put Mandy out of commission once again.
"They can still move too much," Annabeth decided and they zip-tied the two girls together by their wrists and ankles, forcing them to lie on their sides with their backs to each other.
"Don't cause trouble," Annabeth warned, her voice cold as ice. "Letting you live goes against the grain as it is. However, Lord Perseus is a bit squeamish about sound doctrine."
As they left Percy glanced at Annabeth. "You scare me sometimes, Wise Girl."
"I know," Annabeth replied and grinned at him, looking awfully pleased with herself.
They snuck towards the hotel and across the deserted, moonlit, courtyard and into the hotel lobby. "Circe did rebuild quickly, I wanna know how she got the building permit on this short notice," Annabeth whispered and ate another multivitamin. "It would take me years to get those for this kind of prime real estate and I am the chief architect on Olympus. Not to mention the environmental impact studies with those pesky Satyrs trying to block me in every public hearing."
"Well, feel free to ask her once we have her locked up," Percy hissed back.
The hotel lobby was a grand hall, with a fountain in the middle complete with swans sitting in it. The carpet was purple, and the walls gray. Another teenage girl, sitting at the reception desk, was watching TV on a computer screen.
"Where do you think this Circe's room is," she asked.
"Fourth floor?" Percy suggested. It was the top floor and if Percy had to pick a place to put his own residence, it would be there. It offered a commanding view of the beach, and as a New Yorker, he always assumed the penthouses were on the top floors.
With the receptionist otherwise occupied they managed to slip through the lobby and reach the staircase unchallenged, bypassing the elevators entirely. "These stairs aren't up to code," Annabeth grumbled to herself.
"You're just upset Circe didn't hire you to design this place," Percy joked and earned a playful shove. "Magic can fail, solid construction and respecting the regulations can't," she defended herself before the two of them rushed up the stairs to the top floor and stepped out into a hallway lined with rooms and an imposing purple carpet.
Just as they walked, one of the rooms opened and four giggling women around their age burst out and froze as they saw the duo hurrying down the hall.
Percy almost groaned, as of this moment all bets were up.
As one Percy and Annabeth raised their blades and rushed forward.
The girl's eyes widened but they were not to be as easily overcome as their two younger peers were.
The three girls hastily backed off, their hands raised, and began to chant furiously, their voices overlapping, making each voice indistinguishable.
Two of the girls summoned fire to their hands, while a third squares of glowing black lightning.
The fourth one, arguably choosing the less flashy approach, became the first real threat.
As the first two girls lobbed their fireballs at them the carpets suddenly flicked up in their direction like a wave or rolling whip, absorbing the fireball but knocking both of them clean off their feet.
They crash-landed back in front of the door they had entered the hallway from just moments earlier and with groans and curses, they struggled to their feet.
"Now would be the time for some godly stuff, you know," Annabeth announced.
The girl with the lightning raised her hands and sent an arc of energy toward Annabeth. The daughter of Athena boldly raised her blade in defense and by the grace of the gods she somehow managed to catch the lightning on her blade. Perhaps it was the Multivitamins or the arcane properties of celestial bronze. But the blade absorbed the blast and when Annabeth flourished it at the original caster the lightning jumped back and smacked the young woman dead in the stomach.
She froze, quite literally as if struck by lightning before collapsing in a heap, her skin smoking and her body curling from uncontrolled spasms.
Just as Percy was about to finally offer a proper reckoning of himself in this fight the large double doors at the back of the hall flew open revealing a tall and all too familiar beautiful woman with long dark hair braided with threads of gold, warm complexion, and piercing green eyes. If he had to guess she looked like she was in her mid to late thirties. Perhaps even early forties, though she still looked attractive. Just as last time she wore an elegant black dress.
"Bravo!" she cried out, slowly clapping as she approached. "Bravo, a display worthy of a daughter of Athena!"
Circe slowly strolled forward, beaming at them warmly. He might be obtuse at times, but even he could see the malice burning in her eyes.
The goddess looked at him like those teachers that pretended to be nice but the moment no other authority figure was close by suddenly turned into a psychotic lunatic. Authority figures, there weren't any. Or was he supposed to be it?
"Now, drop your silly little toys if you know what is good for you," the goddess offered, her voice as sweet as caramel.
"Are you going to try to recruit me again?" Annabeth inquired doubtfully and demonstratively, tossed up another vitamin, and caught it in her mouth.
"Pah!" Circe exclaimed. "I offered you a glorious future at my side. You could have had everything!"
"I am literally a hero of Olympus," Annabeth countered. "Didn't need your little self-help group after all. You are like the hunt, just less cool."
Whatever warmth there was in Circe's smile melted away. "You will curse that day you came to my island. Five years, and my aides and I still haven't finished rebuilding. I heard your friend here keeps another woman at his home. I am sure Chrysaor can help me find a similar arrangement for you somewhere! And you Perseus, I might not be able to kill you, but I can still send your essence back to that upstart father of yours after I cut you into pieces and then burn you into ashes!"
"Yeah right," Annabeth snorted.
"Scoff all you want. Zeus was a fool to send you alone, did he really believe us renegade gods would just quietly submit to his will?"
Suddenly Percy had an idea. It was certainly stupid, but Circe clearly hated their guts for burning down her last Spa and men in general, so with any luck she double hated him.
"Are you on your period or why are you being so bitchy?" Percy asked bluntly, thinking feverishly to keep it his train of insults unbroken. "Now how about you shut up, or I am going to put you down across my lap and teach you some proper manners."
"You will regret that," Circe snarled at them. Suddenly all anger melted from the goddess's face.
"You assume your vitamins will protect you. We've had weeks to prepare for your return, did you really believe we wouldn't be ready for you?" she asked.
Annabeth shrugged. "It has been working out for us so far. To be honest, you have jet to impress me."
Circe clapped once and as one every single door in the hallway opened and teenage girls started filing out. There were dozens of them and every one of them was glaring at them.
Circe raised a hand and suddenly a loud tearing sound filled the room and the carpet came to life, wrapping itself around Annabeth's ankles and then legs before swiftly ensnaring torso and arms.
"What the fuck!" Annabeth hissed and slashed at the carpet.
The celestial bronze blade cut through the fabric but soon her elbows and arms were trapped at her sides and she was unable to wield the sword clutched in her hand.
"Now Perseus, you are all alone. Your little sidekick can not help you now," Circe announced.
"Why do you people keep insisting on trying this?" Percy asked in exasperation.
"Girls, seize him!" Circe cries out.
Annabeth had given up struggling and was looking at him with shining hard eyes.
The first overconfident teen jumped at him, a girl maybe seventeen years old, with short curly brown hair. Percy downed her quick quick jab with his freehand. He could feel her nose breaking under his fist and her head being knocked back.
Girl one went down like a sack and rolled on the ground, groaning as she clutched her broken nose.
"Now, here are the rules," Percy announced, his deep voice ringing out over the higher-register screams of the crowd. "No scratching, no biting, and no running off and crying to mommy and daddy when I'm done with you."
On the bright side, it worked beautifully. The small army of sorceresses and screamed in rage. On the downside, he was surrounded by two dozen angry girls and one minor goddess, and Annabeth was incapacitated. Make of that what you will.
Heartbeats later Percy was swarmed by a sea of nails, makeup, and enraged hissing noises. He only had time to turn and bring Riptide around in one, ferocious and deadly arc. The enchanted metal cut through the flesh of two of his attackers and a spray of blood filled the air. A moment later he was brought down by countless small hands, slowly subduing his superior strength by their sheer weight. Painstakingly manicured fingernails scratched over his face, his head was pulled around as girls yanked on fistfuls of his and Percy tried to swing again but even more, girls happily grabbed hold of his sword arm and weighed it down.
In his earlier years, he had sometimes imagined what it would be like to be overpowered by an army of girls, not in control of their passions. As he could once again attest to, the reality once again turned out to be less appealing than the realm of fantasy promised.
Despite his best efforts, Percy fell to his knees just as the girls began to produce an impressive amounts of swords and daggers from their rooms.
"You see," Circe said, suddenly appearing in the crowd in front of him. "All men end up on their knees, now it is time you pay for the pain you have brought me and my adepts at the hands of those pirates."
"I am sure them making you airtight improved you considerably," Percy grunted, trying to shove off the girls.
It clearly wasn't the smartest thing to say and he wasn't surprised when Circe slapped him across the face.
"Still insolent?" Circe asked. "We'll see how long your attitude will hold while we make your little bitch scream!"
Percy caught sight of Annabeth, ensnared by strips of heavy purple carpets while two of three girls were pulling at her long blond hair. Another was wildly waving a short knife around in her face.
"Abigail! Serena! Chrysaor will pay well for her, so do not scar her face too much!" Circe chided her adepts and smiled sweetly at him. "Forgive me for getting sidetracked. I underestimated your little whore once, it will not happen again."
Annabeth Chase
Annabeth hated losing. Especially being outplayed and then overpowered by people who she would have wiped the floor in a straight-up fight.
However hard she had struggled against the carpet all her resistance seemed to accomplish was to ensnare her further. So she had fought the urge to further struggle and ceded the fight, choosing instead to stay still and hope that no one would notice that she was still holding her sword, even if she was currently in no position to use it. Percy, for whatever reason had chosen to antagonize Circe and her cronies to the best of his abilities. Why? Annabeth did not know, but it seemed to be his go-to solution for any dicey situation they found themselves in, and in the past, it had paid off.
Even when those pesky little brats started hazing her she stayed cool and watched in dismay as Percy, one of the most accomplished warriors of the millennia, was brought to his knees by sheer numbers. Her mind raced as it went through countless scenarios as she sought out a solution to their problems so she barely noticed some brunette fooling around with a knife.
Suddenly she realized that Circe and Percy were looking at her. The cocky grin had disappeared from Percy's face. Circe stared at her with malicious glee, and Percy with concern.
"Hey!" Annabeth complained when one of the girls grabbed her long hair and pulled it back while the girl with the knife stepped behind her.
"Let her go!" Percy yelled.
Why he bothered, she did not know. Annabeth could not imagine a single scenario where Circe would have complied with his demands.
The girl tugged on her ponytail and did something with the knife.
It took her a moment until she realized what they were up to and when she did, rage bubbled up in her stomach. She might have many flaws, but vanity had never been among them. She could count down the number of times she had worn makeup on a single hand, and all of those situations had involved dates with Percy. The first time had been for those fireworks. It hadn't been very much, and she doubted Percy had noticed Silena's handiwork. However, she had always felt that her hair in its natural state had always been among her best features so when a foot-long bundle of her golden blond curls fell to the floor next to her feet there was a genuine sense of loss.
Annabeth roared in rage and struggled against the bonds holding her, the laughter of her captors ringing in her ear.
Fortunately, where her rage was marred by its sheer impotence, Percy's wasn't so disadvantaged.
And while the other brats were too angry to notice the faint glow emanating from Percy's body, she did.
Annabeth closed her eyes just moments before a flash of blinding light lit up the hallway. The air filled with the scent of the sea and ozone. A moment later she was drowned in the wett cold.
Annabeth looked around and the salt stung in her eyes. Percy stood where he had been earlier, glowing with an ominous blue aura.
The army of girls was thrashing around in panic, storms of bubbles escaping their mouths as their screams were drowned out. To her delight, Circe didn't look very confident anymore. Her armor was weighing her down, which served her well enough at that moment. Luckily the distraction had broken whatever spell let the carpet play BDSM with her had failed for her restraints loosened and fell away. The lights flickered and swiftly died.
This surreal aquarium moment lasted for only a moment or two because just then the weight of the water broke down every single window and doorway in the hallway and water began to rush out.
Annabeth stayed calm and after a few seconds had reseeded down to their ankles, leaving only her and Percy standing and dozens of teens and Circe spluttering on the floor.
Now it was her turn. First Annabeth made a point to kick the girl who had cut her hair in the face hard, punched a second in the face, and broke a third girl's jaw with the pommel of her sword.
Simultaneously Percy moved into action as well, knocking a dozen or so back down onto the ground with a violent spray of water.
Annabeth hastily hurried the few steps over to Percy and fought at his side, covering his back, and soon found herself trading blows with those of their enemies who were quick on their feet.
One girl came at her with a sword. Annabeth swiftly disarmed her and knocked the flat of her naked blade across her head before cutting the hamstrings of another who was attempting some mischief with magic.
"You dare!" Circe screeched behind her and another flash of red light lit the dripping wet hallway. "I will cut pieces of you!" Circe suddenly screeched. Annabeth was beyond curious to see what was happening behind her, but she was quickly coming under more pressure.
"Do you have any idea how long it takes to renovate a hotel like this!" Circe roared and then suddenly screeched.
Annabeth risked a glance at her lover a moment later and found Percy rolling around on the floor to find Percy grappling with Circe and two other girls on the floor.
The goddess was quite literally sparking from rage, an aura of golden light spreading out around her.
The rest on her side of things were just watching in stunned silence at the grotesque display or gathering themselves up from the floor.
Annabeth spun around and charged, spotting two girls from the initial scuffle lying dead on the floor as she did.
Just before she could turn another teenager into a shish kebab another flash of brilliant red light.
She risked another glance behind her just to see Circe setting the tapestry ablaze with a jet fire that Percy had clearly just dodged.
Being soaked down to the concrete, nothing in that hallway should have been flammable. To her surprise, however, the arcane flames swiftly spread, even burning on the surface of the water. Percy knocked the girl clutching his leg aside and closed on Circe, delivering a rather impressive uppercut and sending her down onto the wet carpet.
Before Percy could follow up, Circe raised a hand and blasted him, Annabeth, and a handful of maidens off their feet.
"We need to get out of here," Percy yelled as they scrambled back to their feet.
"Hell no!" Annabeth hissed. "Not without Circe!"
Perhaps it was hubris, but after getting roughed up and her hair cut, Annabeth was very reluctant to depart empty-handed.
What they were going to do they needed to choose soon. Circe's magical fire was swiftly spreading.
Perhaps realizing that things were going very wrong, some of the girls screamed "Fire" and began to run away. One of them even pulled a fire alarm, filling the building with the shrill sound of klaxons wailing. Others raised their hands and tried to extinguish the flames, but whatever they tried, they were clearly failing. At that point, they too routed and fled towards the fire escape.
Circe too rose and looked around and seemed to realize she was suddenly on her own, save for a few still unconscious or dead followers. She was shaking with fury and if looks could kill, they would have perished there and then.
"You two,-" Circe spat, her voice shaking with wrath and summoning spheres of arcane energies in her hands. "Wherever you go...!"
Annabeth did not want to find out what those dodgeballs of flickering light could do so she did the first thing that came to mind and threw her sword. The blade turned over once in the air before impaling Circe through the abdomen.
Silena Beauregard
There were a few advantages of having a friendly hellhound in the house. Aside from excelling at scaring away salesmen providing a very convenient if admittedly hairdo-unfriendly transport method was among them.
So after making herself transportable again she walked up to the suburban home's doorway with the Hellhound lying on the driveway next to the considerably smaller Notchback Sedan and was looking up at her with bog, loving, dog eyes.
"Silena," Theodore Beauregard cried out when the door finally opened. "You came!"
"I said I would," Silena replied gently and embraced him.
"Did you bring your,...friend?" he asked, looking around suspiciously, his eyes lingering on Mrs. O'Leary for a moment.
"No, he got sent off on some quest to capture Circe," Silena explained lightly.
"Circe?" her father asked doubtfully after releasing her from the embrace.
"You know, the sorceress from the Odyssey. She was up to her usual mischief and after three millennia Zeus finally managed to pull his head out of his ass."
In her experience, when confronting parents of demigods being as blunt as possible and so far this doctrine had served her well. No one could accuse you of lying afterward while offering the false impression that these sorts of activities were perfectly normal. Be it explaining that their children were off on some dangerous quest, or talking to her own father about her owner. Add a positive note to it and voilà, you achieved the sort of blend of half-truths and deception that made demigods like herself feel all warm and fuzzy.
At her words, thunder rolled in the distance, and Silena smiled lightly.
"I see," her father replied, and then beamed at her enthusiastically. "Well, come in. I made Spaghetti Bolognese!"
"Sweet!" she replied and let herself be ushered into familiar surroundings. After pulling her shoes off they headed deeper into the house.
"So, are you doing alright?" he asked, suddenly a lot more nervous. "That Percy guy treating you alright?"
She shrugged. "All things considered, yes. He's back with that Annabeth girl I told you about. You know, that adorable blond I introduced you to when you picked me up from camp a few years ago."
"You mean the rude girl in armor and the knife?" Theodor asked Silena.
"Yes, exactly that one," she confirmed. "Anyway, all this means is she is taking part in some of the babysitting duties of my hands. He might be the greatest Hero since the age of heroes, but he is really good at getting himself in trouble."
"Oh," her father said, looking rather disappointed.
"Why?" she followed up.
"Don't know, you seemed to like him last time we came by," her father explained, and they began filling the spaghetti onto plates. Silena suppressed a grin. What he did not know was that she had just started sleeping with Percy and his observation was dead on. It hadn't been easy, maintaining the amount of distance that decency demanded.
"And he seemed like a good guy. I was kind of hoping the two of you..."
"Ah yes," Silena replied dramatically. "Nah, he and Annabeth are soulmates. I've spent years trying to get them together. It's actually a pretty epic love story. If you want, I can tell it to you while we eat...gods it smells good."
She knew her father was a hopeless romantic and would be hard-pressed to resist a good old-fashioned love story, especially one advertised as she just had.
Once they had settled down Annabeth summarized the tale of Percy and Annabeth, beginning from Annabeth's depressing origin story and how Percy had eventually turned up and all the quests they had gone on. How Percy had snuck away from camp to save her and gone above and beyond so on. Her father was a good listener and this was right up his alley.
"So, they slipped off to this quest together, already getting all warm and chummy before they left, and as of a few days ago they are now officially a couple again," she finished.
Her father whistled. "Okay, you did not exaggerate when you called this an epic love story."
"So yes, no way I am getting in between there," she finished. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, dad. I am alive, and every day is a gift I never deserved."
"So, are you allowed to...you know...date?" her father asked awkwardly. She smiled, understanding. While being thrilled that she was back, she knew it was dawning on her father that he would never get to the hook of any of the major milestones of having an adult daughter. Grilling her boyfriends, or walking her down the aisle one day.
"Percy would definitely allow me to if I asked. But I made a pact with Hades that I would be Percy's, and I intend to honor it in spirit and letter. No love life is worth getting sent back to Asphodel over," she said softly. "I am getting a second chance, and so far it's a life worth living. I already have mother mixing everything up, don't need you getting yourself involved?"
"She is?" her father asked surprised and she silently cursed herself. Her father and mother rarely talked as it was so her parent's relationship was strained at the very least.
"Forget it," she said softly.
"What do you mean?" her father pressed.
"It's nothing," she assured him and awkwardly pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"It is clearly something pumpkin, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned it," she explained.
"You have to promise not to tell anyone, nor get involved. I am handling it!" she pressed. "This is quite sensitive,...and could cause a headache..."
Her father hesitated but then nodded. "I promise," he finally conceded. She still hesitated. She had never been overly tight-lipped about topics like sex and while she had her father both tried hard, they hadn't spent enough time together to really have that sort of report. However, leaving him hanging there now seemed cruel. Finally, she sighed and caved.
"Well, when I was brought to life I had nothing but like a simple chiton so Percy took me shopping to get the necessities," she started and her father nodded as if this made sense to him. "Well, at the time the entire being a sex slave thing was something I still obsessed over so I headed out again to buy something,...you know nice. Just in case Percy,..well you know wanted anything from me," she began, trying hard to find the right words.
Her father only nodded and kept his eyes locked on hers. "Anyway, I was in this store and suddenly mom turns up and kinda gets me to buy a lot more than I originally intended, also things that went way further than I originally planned," Silena continued. "Anyway, at the time I just put it down to her trying to be overly helpful but since then Aphrodite also kinda started to bug into my own love-life."
"What do you mean, bug into your love life?"
Silena sealed her lips tightly, realizing she had reached a topic that she really didn't want to touch around her father.
"Continue," Theodore said softly. "You were always beautiful, and it was fairly obvious since Tom Anderson that you liked boys. These aspects of your life were bound to come up eventually. I am only happy that I am getting the chance to suffer through them with you."
Silena grinned at him sheepishly. "For this next part to make sense I have to mention that Percy and I kind of rebounded with each other shortly before we came by to visit. We were both lonely and vulnerable and completely mutual," she began and her father lowered his gaze as her cheeks heated up. "Anyway, recently mother approached me and began to bug me over cutting off any fun I was having with Percy the moment Annabeth was back in the picture rather than keep him for myself. She said she was only looking out for me but I am not sure what angle she is pushing..."
Her father stayed silent for a long moment and scratched the back of his head. "What do you think she could want?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know. Perhaps influence Percy through me. Raise her own prestige by association, or even derail Annabeth's dreams? Perhaps she is only trying to help in her own, really screwed-up way. What do you think?"
Her father looked out of the window thoughtfully. "It's never straight lines with you, is it," he asked.
"When your mom and I were together I did not know she was a goddess. I only learned that fact when she dropped you off at my doorstep." Her father looked at her and smiled. "For the record, that was the most terrifying and best moment of my life. The point is, I won't even pretend to understand her motivations. I think you should really tell Percy about this. You are already starting to dig yourself into a hole and at some point you will find yourself in too deep again."
"You really think so?" she asked. "I don't know how to touch this. Hey Percy! Aphrodite made be buy a drawer's worth of lingerie. I think planning on getting me to steal you away from Annabeth!" With every passing word, her voice became more shrill.
"If Percy is as nice as you described him he will understand," Theodor insisted. "If you are technically his slave then you are also his responsibility and as his dependent, I expect him to look out for you."
This time her father held her gaze and it was her who looked back. "You sure?"
Her father shrugged. "Well, nothing good can come of you keeping it silent."
After a long moment, Silena sighed. "You are probably right. I will bring this up with Percy's mom, maybe she knows how to best approach this. I just don't want to torpedo the trust Percy and also Annabeth have shown me..."
"Percy's mom?" Theodor asked confused.
"Oh yeah," she replied. "She's awesome. She's a huge fan of Annabeth's but still accepted me into her life with nothing but kindness."
"Do that, if you think it will help. Just don't procrastinate it, otherwise, you will one day find yourself in a bad situation again that you can't escape from."
"I will," she promised him and smiled.
After a moment of silence, he cleared his voice. "Is there any chance I can get in contact with that mother of his?"
Silena laughed, "Gods, this is going to get awkward. But yeah, I'll ask her."
Percy Jackson
Pandamonium was one was to describe the scene. The entire hotel stood ablaze, and hungry flames reached out into the sky. With a steady oceanic breeze, the fire quickly spread to the other building next to it, and then to the smaller ones around it, and before long much of the Spa was burning. Forty or so of Circe's aides were either huddling together or running around in panic, many probably not even realizing what was going on.
Their escape from the hotel had been a strange mixture of hunting and simultaneous being hunted by Circe. Getting impaled in the leg, as it turned out, was no more than a minor inconvenience.
Unfortunately in the confusion he and Annabeth had gotten separated so Percy used the confusion to engage small groups of Circe's crew and remove them from the equation. Fortunately, most of them lacked any close-quarter combat abilities, and by the time they realized what was going on it was way too late to cast any spells. By now dawn had truly broken and it was doubtful they could keep up this level of confusion for very long.
Finally, he spotted Annabeth, sprinting across the sand. Her armor and scavenged sword glinted in the firelight as she dodged spells and curses cast by Circe and two of her aides. It was only thanks to her agility that she escaped the worst of it. For a moment he watched in awe as Annabeth, without breaking pace, shoved over one of Circe's aides, and continued. However, as he watched things began to unravel before his very eyes.
A narrow miss from Circe set Annabeth's jeans ablaze and the daughter of Athena cried out in pain, collapsing into the sand and rolling around to smother the claims. "Forget capturing you, Chase. I am going to immolate you!" Circe screeched and summoned new flames into her hands. Her dress was covered in golden ichor and what had been a carefully crafted hairdo and makeup now resembled some sort of war crimes.
"Hey!" Percy yelled, tearing himself loose from his momentary stooper and rushing over to Annabeth's aid.
"And of course the Seaspawn comes rushing to his whores aid," Circe cried out in mock delight. "You will pay for this. You will pay for all you've done. In half a decade the two of you have caused more trouble than anyone has in over two thousand years so it will be my very great pleasure to finally end you!"
"Bugger," Percy muttered and raised Riptide. "Bring the action!"
Circe threw her first fireball though not at him.
Annabeth cried out and somehow managed to dive away at the very last moment. Suddenly the beach around Annabeth began to boil and the sand rose up around her as if to swallow her.
It was at that moment Percy noticed, how every close they were standing to the waterfront. Only maybe fifty feet, and then nothing but ocean as far as the eye could see.
"My turn," Percy declared boldly, a savage grin appearing on his face. He was only vaguely aware that he had started to glow again with that mysterious blue aura that both freaked him out but probably looked really cool at the same time.
In spite of his righteous fury, Percy felt amazing. With the sea close by and it was almost as if he had saltwater running in his veins and he could feel every current in his bones, the wind piling up small waves at the coast. So after sidestepping the fireball Percy reached deep inside himself.
Within seconds the pail pink sky turned dark as thick clouds seemingly appeared from nowhere and began to rapidly spread until they reached from horizon to horizon. Quickly the sky became almost black and Ozon lay thick in the air.
The first gut-wrenching thunderclap assaulted their ears and moments later it began to rain. At first, only a few every drops but within moments it escalated into a torrential downpour of the likes he had rarely seen. Everything more than a hundred feet or so away was soon hidden from sight behind what almost felt like a wall of water.
Circe and her aides lowered their hands and glared at him and for the first time he saw something truly satisfying, there was concern in Circe's eyes. The look on Annabeth's eyes was priceless though. A look of dumbstruck awe, even despite the pain he was sure to be in..
Just then the first round of wind struck them, almost knocking everyone but him from their feet. It didn't stop there, and soon he stood at the center of winds that rivaled any hurricane.
However, Circe was not finished and she too raised her hands and hurled a javelin of glistening emerald light at him that Percy sidestepped before charging at Circe and her three remaining aides. Two of them tried to redo the fire trick but his hurricane swiftly smothered any flames they might summon.
The third was smarter though, casting a storm of furious bright red lightning at him. A few months ago this might have hurt or even killed him, but now it merrily hurt and enraged him even further.
It was Circe who cast the first spell of any reasonable effect.
Braced against the wind and her long hair whipping around her hands were raised at Percy she too started to glow. Suppressed lightning lit up the surrounding storm and thunder continuously rolled over the island. The beach around him exploded and he was pelted with rocks, mud, and pieces of coral, breaking his charge mid-stride. Mere moments later the commotion around him died and he found himself buried in the sand up to his waist. Then Circe followed up with a blast of brilliant white energy, striking him square in the chest.
If he had still been mortal he would have been torn to shreds, but instead, Percy was blasted free from his sandy prison and was flung fifty feet back until he landed hard in the sand.
"Fuck!" Percy grunted, realizing he had lost his sword and was standing for all he could tell alone on the beach with no one left in sight.
Percy squinted through the storm and tried hard to find his enemies and it took a while for him to sense the small group and Annabeth on all fours not much further away.
Percy marshaled his righteous fury and called upon the sea. A wall of water, ten-foot-high, rushed up the beach and around him and at Circe. He imaged that over the roar of the wind and thunder, he could hear Circe's servants scream as the sheer weight of the water washed them away like a pile of leaves behind a jet engine. Annabeth too got carried away but some part of him was certain she would be fine. Annabeth had weathered a lot worse in the past.
Only Circe was left standing. It would have been too much to ask for.
Suddenly Percy spotted Riptide sticking in the sand mere feet away, gently glowing as always. When Percy pulled it free it lit up as brightly as the setting sun itself, its bronze glow lighting the darkness and it was as if this ancient blade yearning to spill golden ichor.
Percy charged through the storm back in the direction of Circe and this time when Circe tried to blast him away he raised Riptide and absorbed the blast of energy.
For a moment they stared at each other and he could just make out the goddess chanting though what she was saying was beyond him. The receding water from his last attack was almost knee-deep but it grew less by the second.
Almost instinctively Percy swung his sword and the retreating water exploded behind Circe and knocked her off her feet, negating any spell she had tried to cast.
Without breaking pace, Percy further charged towards Circe and closed the distance as she rose to her feet and would have run her over if she hadn't turned into vapor just moments before he touched her.
Percy roared in fury and spun around looking for the goddess. A few moments later she reappeared only a few feet away and stagged backward two or three steps in what looked to Percy like exhaustion.
"I curse you, Perseus!" she screamed as she panted. "May you never sire a son and may your daughters judge you harshly! Of all the men to disgrace the surface of this world you are among the worst, even turning you into a swine was too good for you!"
Percy faltered and the storm around him died as the human side of him returned, trying to empathize with Circe's quite precarious situation. It had been hard to tell but now that he looked at Circe he realized that he and Annabeth might have overestimated her might. If he wasn't mistaken or she was faking, it looked like she had just about spent her strength. Her dress was dripping wet and torn, her makeup was smeared across her face, and her hair was a complete mess. They had crossed paths twice and both times her realm had burned and her aides had come to harm. He remembered Reyna's reaction to seeing him for the first time.
The wind suddenly calmed and the rain died and moments later the first rays of sunshine lit up the almost black cloud cover as the overcast evaporated in front of their eyes and before he knew it the first rays of sunshine kissed the sand.
It was then that he spotted the daughter of Athena rushing up towards Circe from behind. Even after everything that happened, she wore her backpack but apart from that she was empty-handed. With her hair cut and in a mess, her clothes burned and torn, and numerous cuts and bruises on her face and arms Annabeth looked like some fierce warrior princess from ancient lore. She was beyond beautiful at that moment.
Glaring at him tiredly Circe conjured up a sputtering golden fire into her hands just as Annabeth reached her and wrapped her arm around Circe's neck from behind. The muscles in her arm flexed and cut the goddess of midscream. The golden flames died as Circe clawed at the daughter of Athena's arms. Annabeth took a step back, dragging past the point where Circe would be able to stand on her own.
Percy rushed forward to help but it quickly became apparent that Circe was not a martial artist. As Annabeth dragged Circe down her dress tore and one of her breasts became visible. On another day he might have appreciated this but his concern for Annabeth somewhat negated his enthusiasm. Soon Annabeth was kneeling on the sand as she forced the goddess into submission. For a few more moments she seemed to be content to leave Circe to kick and flail however she wanted as Annabeth controlled the neck and spine.
Finally, with a feeble twitch of the legs, Circe went limp and Annabeth let herself collapse down onto the sand, panting heavily.
"Fuck," she grunted. "We definitely aren't doing that again!"
"Ops," she then said not sounding overly concerned when she noticed the wardrobe malfunction. The front of the dress had torn open during the scuffle.
"We'll fix it later, hurry," Percy said, looking around. For now, Circe's aides were still battered by the freak storm, looking around in confusion. Most of the sun shields set up across the beach had been torn away. Much of the fires had been doused, but already he could see fire licking out scorched windows.
Annabeth slipped her bag off and hastily pulled out a bronze collar, similar to the one Khione wore, and fastened it around Circe's throat, and cuffed her wrists and ankles with celestial bronze manacles. Circe finally came around as Annabeth gagged her the same way they had done with Mandy and her friend earlier and immediately started squirming and trying to scream through her gag.
"Come on, let's take her and get out of here," Annabeth said. "You carry her."
Percy sighed but when Percy tried to scoop the goddess up in her arms she started to thrash around violently. Annabeth put an end to it with a quick, well-placed punch to the side of Circe's head, causing Percy to wince in sympathy.
"Chill girl," Percy said.
"No chill," Annabeth replied and pointed further up the beach where Circe's servants were beginning to catch on to the fact that their enemies were still out in the open. "Or do you want to fight them as well?"
Percy sighed tiredly and with Annabeth's help he pulled Circe over his shoulder and got up and together they hurried towards the pear.
The Fero had torn itself loose from its mooring and had drifted away from the dock.
"Fuck!" Annabeth growled.
"Come on," Percy wheezed and they began to jog over to the pear.
"Hey, they are taking the mistress!" someone screamed behind them. "Stop them!"
"Come on!" Percy complained. "Can't we get a break?"
He willed the currents to push the Fero back to the dock. By the time they finally set foot on the Fero's deck the first of their pursuers were already halfway down the beach.
"I'll get us going!" Percy announced and dropped Circe down on the top deck and hurried into the pilot's house and started the engine. Annabeth grabbed her bow and loosed an arrow in the direction of the approaching crowd, but that did little to slow them down. Circe chose that moment to wake up again because even as Percy pushed the throttle forward Circe began to squirm again.
As the girls approached they marshaled their own magical abilities. Realizing that her arrows weren't accomplishing the things she had hoped for she dropped the bow, knelt down, and grabbed a fistful of Circe's hair, and roughly yanked it back to expose her neck. With her free hand, she pulled a dagger from her belt and held the tip to Circe's throat.
"Stop," she yelled. Hesitantly they did as she said, despite Circe's protesting moans. "You do anything to stop us from leaving, we will find out how much a goddess can bleed. You try to follow us, she will suffer the consequences for your foolishness!" Annabeth threatened.
Then she glanced up at Percy with a look that clearly meant to say, "Hurry up!"
Percy did not have to be told twice and pushed the throttle into the flank speed position and they accelerated out of the bay just as the fires engulfed the main hotel again. By the time they had left the island well behind them a thick pillar of black and gray smoke rose up into the sky behind them and Percy guessed the fire had spread to the forest behind the hotel.
Unfortunately, they were not yet free to relax. By now Circe was putting up a proper fuss so Percy took her shoulders, and Annabeth her ankles, and together they dragged the kicking and screaming goddess under deck and into their brig. Finally, they forced Circe to sit down on the bench in the very bow and opened her handcuffs only to force her arms up above her head and secure her wrists in the manacles hanging from the wall.
Next Annabeth unceremoniously tore the duct tape holding her gag off, and pulled the strop of cloth in Circe's mouth out.
"Release me!" Circe immediately screamed. "I will not be dragged off like some slave!
"Oh shut up," Annabeth replied tiredly. "You should have thought of that a long time ago."
"I wish you hadn't taken the gag off," Percy grunted wearily.
Annabeth cracked a smile. "We can silence her when it comes to bedtime."
They stepped out of the small cell and closed the door behind her and carefully locked the door.
Then she winced down at her legs and Percy noticed that the fireball she had almost taken burned holes right through her years and left second and even third-degree burns.
"Fuck, that looks painful!" Percy announced.
"I'm fine," Annabeth grunted over the continuous stream of insults and curses from their prisoner.
"Come on!" Percy said and led Annabeth into the galley and had her try to strip her jeans off. When she tried to move the cloth over her burns Annabeth whimpered and stopped.
"This really hurts," she finally grunted.
Percy sighed and pulled out their first aid kids and handed her a canteen with nectar and used the scissors in the back to cut her jeans right off.
"Ouch," Percy said sympathetically.
After cleaning and treating her legs Percy checked the rest of her numerous small injuries, taking great pleasure in putting a Hello Kitty band-aid on Annabeth's forehead.
After Annabeth had finished she limped over to the mirror in the bathroom and whimpered. "Oh no, it's really bad!" she complained, holding the depressingly short remains of what had once been one of Annabeth's most striking assets.
He had never seen Annabeth so concerned about anything related to his looks and this made her almost seem normal. "This is a disaster, it looks even worse than Piper's..." she replied mournfully. "It'll take me years to grow them back!"
Percy gently touched her arm. "You look gorgeous," Percy replied. "And short hair suits you just as well as long hair. When we get back we can ask Silena to see what she can salvage."
Annabeth looked at him sadly, the moment somewhat ruined by the goddess still screaming in her cell. "You think so?" she asked. "Not sure what she can do there..."
"We'll see," Percy assured her. "Don't worry about it!"
Annabeth sighed. "Well, that was a lot hairier than I thought it would be," she admitted.
Percy snorted. "Hey, we plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose," he joked and laughed.
"We'll clean up properly later when your wounds have healed a bit," Percy announced and they left the screaming goddess behind and retreated to the serenity of the pilot's house.
As they did Annabeth kept muttering something about her being too light with so much hair missing.
Here you go. I trust you've enjoyed yourselves. This turned out to be a very long chapter, longer than I expected and probably needs more editing than I can do right now. As usual, I eventually come around to editing shit when I finally actually read the chapter and hate everything.
Feel free to pop by on Discord, got my Circe Fanart entering the later production phases. The code is 9kT6Qbn. You can also ping me under the pen name Henry James Locker#2531 with any suggestions you might have.
Henry Locker over and out.