Gem didn't know who or what pulled her out of the water. All she knew was that it was a while before she woke up.

They didn't have much water, they definitely didn't have much sunscreen, and they had no help from the ocean.

Meaning, Percy wasn't there.

The people who were there were Clarisse and Ren. They told Gem that they didn't know what happened to everyone else.

Gem wasn't thrilled about having to work with two children of Ares to survive. She was a fan of peaceful cottage core fun times, not crazy warfare where nobody knew what was going on and excessive pranking occured by the hands of people who summoned lightning in Gem's backyard.

But Clarisse and Ren were who the Fates put her with, so Clarisse and Ren would be who she stayed with.

Mostly, she worried - worried about Percy and Annabeth, about Tyson, about the rest of the Hermits on board the C.S.S. Birmingham, and about Grian.

There wasn't much else to do.

Their little rowboat was kind of just floating aimlessly until Gem decided to be useful (despite still being kind of weak from almost drowning) and try to paddle with her hands. They didn't have any oars.

It didn't seem to do much.

Ren offered to take his shirt off to make a sail.

Neither of the girls wanted to see that, so they told him to keep his clothes on.

The sea was a brighter shade of green than the normal ocean, which led Gem to believe that they were in the Sea of Monsters. And they might not make it out, at the rate Ren was drinking the two water bottles that he and Clarisse had somehow managed to salvage.

Gem didn't know how long they were there. A few hours, maybe. She knew that her face, arms, and legs were sunburned, and they hurt, but there were bigger problems at hand.

Clarisse wasn't happy with Gem's story about stowing away. She had thought Tango was the only one.

Speaking of him... the last thing Gem remembered before the ship exploded was managing to get out onto the deck. Zedaph and Tango... she didn't know.

Look, I know you hate me, you don't have to tell me

Finally, Clarisse spotted a hazy dark spot on the horizon. "Land!"

"Land ho!" Ren cheered.

"Finally," Gem sighed.

As they got closer, the blur became a tropical island. Greek buildings dotted the landscape on terraces. A variety of boats were parked at the pristine docks. There was even a pirate ship.

It looked like paradise.

Reminded Gem of Joel's base - wait. Joel? Who was Joel? Gem didn't know a Joel. Definitely not.

"Should we approach?" Ren asked.

"Yeah," Clarisse said. "Go for it. We need supplies."

"It looks nice," Gem observed.

"I doubt it is," Clarisse said, sharpening her dagger. Where did she get a dagger? "Almost everything that looks nice is a trap. Plus, it's called the Sea of Monsters for a reason. Be ready for trouble."

Her sword thankfully hadn't fallen out of its sheath in the explosion and the hours after said explosion. Gem still had it, and she was ready to use it if necessary.

Hopefully she didn't use it on some nice person who was just a little strange.

As soon as they parked (parked? Was that the right word for a boat?) at the pier, a nice-looking lady immediately approached them.

"Hi!" she said. "Welcome. I've got your appointments all set up."

"You have the wrong people, Barbie," Clarisse said rudely. "We don't have an appointment."

Gem grabbed her arm. "Be nice," she whispered. "Maybe they won't kill us if we're nice."

"I doubt that," she replied, pulling away.

"If you would follow me," the lady said. If she was bothered by Clarisse, she didn't show it. "My name is Hylla. I'll be your guide here at the spa."

"Ooh, a spa," Gem said.

"No," Ren chided.

But not knowing what else to do, they followed Hylla into the... city? Gem didn't really know what to call it. It was more like a tourist town... but without the gift shops.

So, not a tourist town at all.

Everything was in an Ancient Greek style, which Gem found nice but it felt a little bit too much like Camp Half-blood, which made her homesick (campsick?).

Hylla led them past garden terraces, pools, hot tubs, and other nice things that Gem had only ever seen in Hermitcraft but were probably pretty common in this world. Exotic animals were everywhere - parrots, ocelots (or something that looked like ocelots), and a whole bunch of this-world animals that Gem didn't know the names of.

People tended the gardens, hung out in the hot tubs, and walked around between the buildings. It was very peaceful.

"There's no guys," Ren whispered to her.

Gem hadn't noticed it before, but now it was crystal clear: there were no male human beings here.

"They're probably inside playing video games," she whispered back.

Ren frowned. "Guys like jacuzzis too," he said. "Especially diamond ones."

"You've been in a diamond jacuzzi?" Gem asked.

"Yeah," Ren said smugly.

Gem wasn't sure she believed him.

Clarisse, meanwhile, was glaring around at the peaceful scene with her hand on her sword. "It's too nice," she muttered.

They got to a building on top of the hill and Hylla led them inside.

It was very nice inside. There were a lot of potted plants, which Gem liked. There were also lot of tapestries, but they were so much more realistic than anything evena the Athena cabin could weave.

In the center of the room was a lady at a loom. Gem didn't know a lot of Earth machines, but she did know that this was a loom. They had those in Hermitcraft.

She was weaving a tapestry of a waterfall. The silver thread made the water look like it was moving.

"That's so pretty!" Gem said.

The lady looked up. "Thank you!" she beamed.

She was very pretty, wearing a white sleeveless dress with gold trim and gold armbands. She wasn't wearing a ton of jewelry, but there was just enough to get attention for it. The same went for her makeup.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. She sounded friendly, but Clarisse didn't seem convinced.

"We just want food and water," Clarisse said threateningly. "Then we'll be on our way. Don't make us take out the weapons."

"Clarisse," Gem protested.

The lady laughed. "We mean no harm to you. Welcome to C.C.'s Resort and Spa! I'm C.C."

Ren narrowed his eyes. "Where are all the dudes?"

"You'll see them soon enough. How about..." C.C. looked over the three demigods, which made Gem a little uncomfortable. "Just the usual makeovers for the girls. Ren, you'll need special treatment."

"What did I do?" Ren asked, looking wounded.

Gem didn't process that C.C. somehow knew his name. She just let a Hylla cheerfully steer her out of the room.

"You're not just going to-" Clarisse stammered. "You know what? Fine! Have it your way!" She stomped after Gem and Hylla.

The "makeover," as C.C. put it, went by almost in a blur. Gem didn't really know what they were doing - she had never worn makeup before (other than a lesson from the Aphrodite girls that had been a little bit disheartening, but at least they were trying to be helpful), she had definitely never had gold hair extensions, and she had never really done her hair besides some brushing and other things. She had never had a manicure or a pedicure (they gave her both), she had never been in a hot tub (other than Scar's idea of one from last season), she had never done a face mask with... sea pickles? No, these were edible. But she didn't know what they were.

I just realized that I really want a pointless beach episode of Hermitcraft with Scar building a sand castle for Jellie, Grian bringing a crap ton of fireworks to blow everyone up/have a show, and Bdubs yelling at the top of his lungs for everyone to shut up and enjoy the bbq

Don't mind me, just writing fanfiction in an author's note of another fanfiction

But when Reyna, the hairdresser, stood her in front of a mirror, suddenly Gem could see all the differences.

All of her acne was gone, which was a miracle in the teenage world, but they had somehow managed to keep her freckles. Her hair was combed and probably the nicest she had ever seen it. Part of it was braided back into a simple ponytail along with some unbraided hair, and the rest was just down with golden extensions. Her skin seemed to glow under the treatment that the attendants had given her.

In all honesty, she had never seen herself look prettier.

After that, the attendants left her alone to explore.

Gem went to one of the gardens first and sampled some of the fruit that she didn't know the name of, but it was delicious.

Something tugged at the back of Gem's mind, though. Their mission. They needed to find the Fleece.

Gem remembered that they had only come here for food and water. They had gotten both, or at least, Gem had. But she had no idea where Ren and Clarisse were, and they only had so much time before Thalia's tree died. It was time to leave.

It wasn't like the Lotus Casino, where Gem could barely remember anything for a few terrifying moments. The only reason she had any temptation to stay was because it was incredibly nice here.

Hermitcraft was far better, though.

Gem went to the building at the top of the hill to see if Ren was still there.

C.C. was still at her loom.

"Um... hi," Gem said nervously. "It's really nice here. But I think it's time for us to go. We have this quest, see..."

Something in a cage in the corner - a pet, maybe - started squeaking madly.

C.C. looked genuinely disappointed. "Won't you stay longer?" she asked. "I can see something inside of you... a magic, of sorts. I can teach you to use it. You would make an excellent sorceress."

Gem thought about that - or tried, as whatever was in the corner was screaming like Ursula was going to take its voice tomorrow.

Magic.

The concept was somewhat... familiar to her.

Memories flashed through Gem's head of the last time she had used magic.

"No." She shook her head. "I've done magic before. It's never there when you need it the most."

haha i did a thing

"Oh," C.C. said. "I am truly disappointed to see you go. Your friend Clarisse is... I believe she is in the pool on Jaguar Terrace."

"Where's Ren?"

"He's in getting his makeover, of course!"

The thing in the cage started squeaking again. Gem hadn't realized it had gone quiet.

She glanced around the room and saw a pile of familiar clothes and a Celestial Bronze axe on the floor, that Circe immediately tried to push behind the loom with her high heel.

"C.C," Gem said, taking out her sword that the attendants thankfully didn't take away from her. "Where's Ren?"

She tried to look intimidating. It probably wasn't working very well when she was in a dress.

C.C. looked at her coolly. "He is fine," she said. "The kindergartners will love him."

Gem went and got a closer look at the cage. Inside were a bunch of adorable guinea pigs. One of them was making a racket, scratching at the bars and squeaking. The others looked mean, if guinea pigs could look mean.

Gem was almost scared to ask.

"Ren?"

The noisy rodent paused, then did something like a nod and started squeaking again.

"You're kind of adorable," Gem said.

Ren the guinea pig squeaked angrily and scratched at a much larger, meaner rodent that had gotten a little too close.

"What did you do?" Gem demanded.

"Men are pigs," C.C. hissed. "I used to turn them into real pigs, as this son of Ares said. But guinea pigs are much more convenient. And cute."

"Well, yeah," Gem had to agree. "Wait... C.C."

She went through the names in her head. Sea of Monsters... C.C... pigs... men are pigs... C.C... Circe.

"You're Circe," Gem realized.

"Yes. What about it?"

But what if I take him and then we leave?"

"Perhaps a deal could be made," Circe said. "You stay here and learn the art of sorcery. He and his sister leave. It's two wins for you, really."

Gem's mind was racing too much to register the squeaks of protest from Ren, or how Circe had somehow known that Ren and Clarisse were children of Ares.

Gem really didn't want to get back into the magic business. Last time she had done that... well, it didn't end well.

But if Ren and Clarisse could continue the quest...

Gem thought about what any of the others would have done. Percy would have taken the offer without hesitation (if he wouldn't have been turned into a guinea pig). Any of the children of Ares would have tried to fight their way out, and probably failed. Grian, Zedaph, Annabeth, and Tango would have made a plan of some sort to distract everyone while they left.

But what would Gem do?

She didn't really know.

"Well? What's it going to be?"

Gem turned away from the cage and tried to tune everything out while she thought. "Uh-"

"I KNEW IT WAS A TRAP!" Clarisse yelled, running into the room with her sword out. "DIE, WITCH!"

Circe waved her hand almost lazily and Clarisse flew back and hit the wall. Hard. When she fell to the floor, she let out a groan that sounded... actually kind of sad.

"You do realize that that makes me want to stay here less?" Gem asked, horrified.

"Do you have any other choice?" Circe asked in a sweet voice.

And suddenly, Gem had an idea.

"Fine," she said.

Ren started squeaking louder, if that was possible.

"Swear it on the Styx," Circe purred.

Gem pursed her lips. "I swear on the Styx not to leave this island without permission from Circe, but the deal is off if she harms any of my friends in any way. There. Now let them go."

Circe narrowed her eyes, probably trying to figure out if Gem had created any loopholes for herself. Looking satisfied, she opened the cage.

"They're free to go whenever they want to," Circe said, letting out the guinea pig that Gem had assumed was Ren. "I swear that on the Styx."

Ren squirmed, escaped, and ran over to Gem, squeaking angrily at Circe and giving adorable guinea pig eyes at Gem.

"I can't take it back, idiot," Gem said.

Clarisse, who appeared to have recovered quickly (she had a thick sull physically as well as mentally) picked up Ren despite his frantic squeaks of stupid loyalty, and stuffed him in her pocket. Then she exchanged a glance with Gem that said something like, we'll come back for you.

Sweet, but they both knew she couldn't break the oath.

Then Clarisse and the equally murderous creature in her pocket ran out of the room, leaving Gem to relearn what she had given up months ago, when fWhip destroyed the world.