chapter  XII

🌷 Daphne groaned as she rose and almost instantly regretted it. Her head was throbbing and she wavered when she noticed the endless ocean around them, overcoming her senses with another batch of seasickness.

Good things about waking up: She was alive! Hurrah!

Bad things about waking up: The embarrassing memory of fainting in the middle of a life or death situation. Seriously, she hoped nobody remembered this part. She knew she couldn't handle the vast ocean, but Gods, she was so embarrassed! Daphne had tackled a pack of hellhounds when she was just twelve, fought off a Fury when she was just 10 with nothing but but water? No.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Annabeth hummed. Daphne noticed that she and Percy were also on the life raft, but the boy still hadn't awoken yet.

Daphne groaned again. "Did we live?"

"Barely," Annabeth answered, casting a glance at her. "Listen - it's not your fault-"

"Don't." Daphne interrupted her, looking off into the distance and trying not to cry. She was so pathetic. She could've - would've - should've died. Though she was safe on the boat, she felt like she was drowning. "Don't even try to make me feel good about this, Annabeth."

Annabeth chewed on her lip but knew better to say anything more. Suffice to say, the rocking of the seas was a lot more awkward in the silence.

Percy woke up, laying beside the makeshift sail stitched of gray uniform fabric. Annabeth sat next to him, still tacking into the wind as Daphne sat on the other side of the boat with her arms crossed miserably. Her eyes were closed, head falling down as she tried not to look out into the sea.

He tried to sit up and immediately felt woozy, just like Daphne had the entire trip.

"Rest," Annabeth commanded without looking back over to him. "You're going to need it."

"Tyson... ?" he trailed off.

She shook her head. "Percy, I'm really sorry."

They were silent while the waves tossed the liferaft up and down. Daphne remembered that the last she saw of him was when he disappeared into the lower deck.

"He may have survived," Annabeth said halfheartedly. "I mean, fire can't kill him."

Percy nodded, but Daphne knew they had no reason to feel hopeful. That explosion had ripped through solid iron. If Tyson had been down in the boiler room, there was no way he could've lived.

He'd given his life for them all, and Daphne was instantly ashamed about how awkward she had acted around him.

Waves lapped at the boat. Annabeth brought Daphnes attention back to them and showed her and Percy  some things she'd salvaged from the wreckage: Hermes's thermos (now empty), a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia, a couple of sailors' shirts and a bottle of Dr Pepper. But Daphne's bag was lost to sea. Luckily, her disposable camera was slipped into her hoodie pocket - and although soaked, Daphne had already snapped a picture of Percy drooling in his sleep to test if it still worked. Apparently, it did. But in the wreckage of the duffel bags there was also a small packet of tablets, probably paracetamol, which made Daphne blink in confusion.

She poked the packet of tablets. "What're these?"

Percy glanced up. "I didn't want to use them yet. Hermes said something... that they were going to be useful 'for your unclaimed friends journey'. It sounded important, but I didn't want to stress you out about them."

Annabeth stared at him in pity, realising something before either of the other two did. "Percy..."

"Yeah?"

"And you're telling me this now?" Daphne snapped. She sat forward and squinted at the packet, reading the fine lining at the bottom and scoffing, "Oh, great!"

"What's up?" Percy said defensively. "I didn't want to worry you-"

"Worry me with Hermes' anti Sea Illness pills?" Daphne scoffed. "Oh- you-"

She swore colourfully in Ancient Greek before taking one of the tablets. They must've been some sort of magic, because instantly, the haze in her vision cleared up as though she'd wiped her eyes after crying. The lump in her throat was a lot smaller and the swirling pit of nausea in her stomach had as good as disappeared.

After realising that Daphne could've been cured from her crippling seasickness a good few days ago, she really didn't seem to be in a talking mood. She sulked on the other side of the boat and glared at Percy whenever he tried to engage her in conversation. Already in a bad mood, he glared back at her.

Annabeth looked between the two of them nervously. She really didn't like having to sit in the middle of another one of their weird arguments - and being stuck on a small raft in the middle of the ocean with no escape wasn't the best place to be between them.

Annabeth explained to Percy that she'd fished him out of the water and found his knapsack, bitten in half by Scylla's teeth. She didn't mention how Daphne was passed out on the raft the whole time, which she was pretty grateful about. Most of his stuff had floated away, but he still had Hermes's bottle of multivitamins, and of course, his loyal Riptide. The ballpoint pen always appeared back in his pocket no matter where he lost it. Daphne checked the pocket to her now extremely ripped jeans and - yep - her lipgloss was tucked into the bottom.

They sailed on for hours. Now that they were actually in the Sea of Monsters, the water glittered a more brilliant green, like Hydra acid. The wind smelled fresh and salty, but it carried a strange metallic scent, too - as if a thunderstorm of blood was coming. Or something even more dangerous, which Daphne couldn't even muster the imagination to think about right now.

Somehow, Percy knew what direction they needed to go. He told them that they were exactly one hundred thirteen nautical miles west by northwest of their destination, but that didn't make any of them feel any less lost.

No matter which way she turned, the sun seemed to shine straight into Daphne's eyes. They all took turns sipping from the Dr Pepper, Daphne grimacing because it was warm, and trying to shade themselves with the sail as best as they could.

Just to lighten the mood, Percy admitted that he'd had another dream about Grover. This time, the cyclops had caught him unweaving his wedding veil and given them a lot less time to rescue him.

By Annabeth's estimate, they had less than twenty-four hours to find Grover assuming his dream was accurate, and assuming the Cyclops Polyphemus didn't change his mind and try to marry Grover earlier.

"Yeah," Percy said bitterly. "You can never trust a Cyclops."

Annabeth stared across the water. "I'm sorry, Percy. I was wrong about Tyson, okay? I wish I could tell him that."

Daphne looked down at their measly possessions - the empty wind thermos, the bottle of multivitamins. She tried not to let herself think about Luke - how he looked exactly the same but something she just couldn't put her finger on had changed. About his look of rage when Percy tried to talk to him about his dad. But Daphne couldn't feel herself holding any contempt for Hermes - he cared enough to pack her some tablets for her seasickness, didn't he? Perhaps she was too forgiving for her own good.

She tried not to understand Luke's points about the gods being selfish and instead clung to their small good deeds. But did sparing a second thought to her truly make up for her mom who still refused to claim her? Despite Daphne's obvious show of livelihood and her prayers every night?

Maybe her mom was embarrassed of her. It made more sense than that she simply forgot her, considering the gods were very vocal about keeping a watch on her. She wondered if they were watching now.

"Annabeth, what's Chiron's prophecy?" Percy asked out of nowhere. Daphne turned. "And don't even pretend like you don't know. Daphne's in it too, isn't she? Or she has her own one? That's why Chiron told you to protect her."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Percy, I shouldn't-"

"What?" Daphne frowned. But now that she thought about it, it was starting to make sense. Chiron had always looked at her with a sort of nostalgic melancholy look in his eyes and acted like her training was life or death. "Annabeth, is this true?"

"I know Chiron promised the gods he wouldn't tell me." Percy carried on. "But you didn't promise, did you?"

"Knowledge isn't always good for you."

"Your mom is literally the wisdom goddess!"

"I know! But every time heroes learn the future, they try to change it, and it never works."

"The gods are worried about something he'll do when we get older," Daphne guessed. Annabeth turned, surprised and looking almost guilty when she realized Daphne was listening in. She didn't seem at all phased by Percy mentioning she might be part of the prophecy. "Something when he turns sixteen."

Annabeth twisted her Yankees cap in her hands. "I don't know the full prophecy, but... it warns about a half-blood child of the Big Three . That's you, Percy- you're the only one alive who might live to the age of sixteen. That's the real reason Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swore a pact after World War II not to have any more kids. The next child of the Big Three who reaches sixteen will be a dangerous weapon."

Honestly, Daphne was a little hurt that Annabeth hadn't told her. She knew that her friend was sworn to secrecy, but Daphne hated feeling left out on things. And she was left out of five years of her life, so it wasn't like that feeling was rare. The pit of her stomach stung with jealousy that she was telling Percy and hadn't thought to confide in her first.

"A dangerous weapon? Why?"

Annabeth chewed her lip. "Because... that hero will decide the fate of Olympus. They will make a decision that either saves the Age of the Gods, or destroys it."

Daphne let that sink in. Even with Hermes' magical tablet, she started to feel ill again. "That's why Kronos didn't kill me last summer." Percy whispered as the realisation shook him.

She nodded. "You could be very useful to him. If he can get you on his side, the gods will be in serious trouble."

"Then why do the gods even let me live? It would be safer to kill me."

"You're right."

"Wow. Thanks a lot. Remind me why Chiron chose you again?"

"Percy, I don't know. I guess some of the gods would like to kill you, but they're probably afraid of offending Poseidon. Other gods... maybe they're still watching you, trying to decide what kind of hero you're going be. You could be a weapon for their survival, after all."

Percy glanced at Daphne who had been pretty quiet since their meeting with Luke. "And Daphne? How does she fit into it all?"

Annabeth shuffled uncomfortably. "Percy, I'm not supposed to say-"

She looked up at her, affronted. "So what? I'm just gonna accept that I'm part of some big prophecy which nobody's allowed to tell me about?"

Annabeth looked so guilty, Daphne almost felt bad about snapping at her. Almost. The heat was starting to get to her - usually, sunshine rejuvenated her, but she was so dehydrated it was like the sun was drying her out.

"I'm sorry, Daphne. I really am, but Chiron wouldn't even tell me that part himself."

"Just my luck," Daphne muttered, resting her head inbetween her knees. "I don't get to know anything about my own life. Again."

"Join the club." Percy grumbled back.

"Please, let's not talk about this anymore," Annabeth begged. "I wish I could, but I don't know anything more, especially about you, Daph. He didn't tell me anything apart from the fact that... well, he wasn't too surprised to see you alive."

A shrill squawk from above brought Daphne's attention away from glaring at her friends just in time for her to see a seagull flying overhead. Though her reactions were delayed, she pushed herself up and stared as it swooped down out of nowhere and landed on their makeshift mast. Annabeth looked startled as the bird dropped a small cluster of leaves into her lap.

"Land," she breathed. "There's land nearby!"

Daphne squinted past the sun to look into the horizon. Sure enough, there was a line of blue and brown in the distance. Another minute and she could make out an island with a small mountain in the center, a dazzling white collection of buildings, a beach dotted with palm trees, and a harbor filled with a strange assortment of boats. The current was pulling their rowboat toward what looked like a tropical paradise, and Daphne was staring at it with her mouth agape in a sense of awe.

"Welcome!" beamed a lady with a clipboard. She looked like a flight attendant-blue business suit, perfect makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail. She shook each of their hands in turn as they stepped onto the dock, no matter how wet or dirty they were. With the dazzling smile she gave them, Daphne felt almost respected - treated as though she'd stepped off the Princess Andromeda instead of their knocked up fisherman's boat.

Then again, the rowboat wasn't the weirdest ship in port by a long shot. Along with a bunch of pleasure yachts, there was a U.S. Navy submarine, several dugout canoes, and an old-fashioned three-masted sailing ship. There was a helipad with a "Channel Five Fort Lauderdale" helicopter on it, and a short runway with a Learjet and a propeller plane that looked like a World War II fighter. Maybe they were replicas for tourists to look at, or something.

"Is this your first time with us?" the clipboard lady inquired.

All three of them exchanged a series of looks which sounded like:

You say something, Percy.

Me? Why me?

You're the one who likes talking so much, duh!

Stop it, Daphne! Since when was asking Percy to talk a good idea?

Hey, I'm still here you know!

Just shut up, both of you! I'll say something.

Instead of something intelligent, Annabeth said, "Uuhhh..."

"First-time-at-spa," the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. "Let's see ..."

She looked them up and down critically, seeming to take a deep displeasure at Percy's appearance. "Mmm. A couple of herbal wraps to start for the young ladies. The true spa treatment for their curly hairs. And of course, a complete makeover for the young gentleman."

"A what?" Percy asked cluelessly. Daphne wanted to tell him to shut up. A spa treatment sounded like heaven right now, and gods, her hair could use one. She adored her hair. It was naturally curly, but only if she had enough time to take care of them. Right now, it was matted and dirty and hung around her face like seaweed was draped over her head. She was surprised the clipboard lady wasn't sneering at her.

She was too busy jotting down notes to answer Percy. After a couple of seconds of the pen scratching on paper and a few more exchanged glances, she smiled up at them.

"Right!" She said with a breezy smile. "Well, I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please."

A luau? Daphne wanted to cry. It sounded amazing right now. She searched in her usually ever present worries to see if there was any reason to be afraid of the clipboard lady, but her mind was so dazed from the heat that she told herself to just ignore it for the time being.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Annabeth muttered.

Of course it could, but Daphne followed the lady anyway. Now Daphne wasn't entirely stupid- she had her hands slipped into her pocket the the entire walk, making sure to hold onto her magical lipgloss. But the farther she wandered into the resort, the more her grip loosened and she forgot about it.

The place was absolutely beautiful. There was white marble and blue water everywhere Daphne turned. Terraces climbed up the side of the mountain, with swimming pools on every level, connected by watersides and waterfalls and underwater tubes you could swim through. Fountains sprayed water into the air, forming impossible shapes, like flying eagles and galloping horses. If the mirage of water mist animals weren't enough, they walked past an abundance of what seemed to be tame animals just inhabiting the paradise.

A sea turtle napped in a stack of beach towels. A leopard stretched out asleep on the diving board. The resort guests - only young women, as far as Daphne could see - lounged in deck chairs, drinking fruit smoothies or reading magazines while herbal gunk dried on their faces as manicurists in white uniforms did their nails.

As they headed up a pure white, marble staircase toward what looked like the main building, Daphne heard a woman singing. Her voice drifted through the air like a lullaby. Her words were in some language other than Ancient Greek, but just as old - Minoan. Daphne didn't understand how she recognised it so quickly and perfectly, but gave less thought to it as her words drank over her like a beautiful serenade. The woman was singing about beauty - moonlight in the olive groves, the colors of the sunrise. And magic. Something about magic. Her voice seemed to lift Daphne off the steps and carry her closer, and she didn't seem to mind. Daphne was enchanted.

They came into a big room where the whole front wall was windows. Some pure and polished, some stained glass depicting serene landscapes. The back wall was covered in mirrors, so the room seemed to go on forever. There was a bunch of expensive-looking white furniture, and on a table in one corner was a large wire pet cage. The cage seemed out of place, but Daphne didn't think about it too much, because her glance turned towards the woman who was singing, and her mind numbed.

She sat at a loom the size of a harp, her hands weaving colored thread back and forth with amazing skill. The tapestry shimmered like it was three dimensional - a waterfall scene so real Daphne could see the water moving and clouds drifting across a fabric sky.

Annabeth caught her breath. "It's beautiful."

"I know," Daphne agreed with a same sense of awe.

The woman turned. She was even prettier than her fabric, and the thought almost made Daphne blush. Her long dark hair was braided with threads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress with shapes that seemed to move in the fabric: animal shadows, black upon black, like deer running through a forest at night.

"You appreciate weaving, my dears?" the woman asked. She smiled at the two of them like a proud mentor, and Daphne blushed beneath the look as though she was happy to please her.

"Oh, yes, ma'am!" Annabeth said hurriedly. "My mother is-"

She stopped herself. You couldn't just go around announcing that your mom was Athena, the goddess who invented the loom. Most people would lock you in a rubber room. It was impossible to think that the beautiful woman hadn't heard, but Daphne tried to cover Annabeths slip anyway.

"It's enchanting," Daphne didn't hide the awe in her tone. "Your work, this place - all of it."

Their hostess just smiled. "You have good taste, my dears. I'm so glad you've come. My name is C.C."

The animals in the corner cage started squealing. They must've been guinea pigs from the sound of them, but Daphne didn't spare a glance away from the beautiful woman.

They introduced themselves to C.C hastily, as though afraid to disappoint her in any way. Daphne didn't know what to do with herself. It would've been weird to bow, right? But she didn't want to stare at her so brazenly.

"I'm Daphne Everlark, C.C," she said shyly. "Thank you for letting us into your island. It's truly beautiful."

She must've said something which worked, however, as one of C.C's perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose as a blooming smile took her lips. "Everlark, you say, dear?"

"Y-yes."

"Hmm," she looked impressed already. "What a beautiful name. And you?" she turned to Annabeth and Percy, who introduced themselves in turn.

However, her budding smile was quickly wilted as she looked Percy over with a twinge of disapproval, as if he'd failed some kind of test. "Oh, dear," she sighed. "You do need my help."

"Um... ma'am?" he asked.

C.C. called to the lady in the business suit. "Hylla, take Annabeth on a tour, will you? Show her what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And the eyebrows - my goodness! We will do a full image consultation after I've spoken with this young gentleman."

"But ..." Annabeth's voice sounded hurt. "What's wrong with my eyebrows?"

C.C. smiled benevolently. "My dear, you are lovely. Really! But you're not showing off yourself or your talents at all. So much wasted potential!"

"Wasted?"

"Well, surely you're not happy the way you are! My goodness, there's not a single person who is. But don't worry. We can improve anyone here at the spa. Hylla will show you what I mean. Now before you leave, could you fetch Reyna to give Daphne her own tour? The full spa treatment, if you will, my dear - her poor skin looks so damaged under that dirt and grime. The same change of clothes as Annabeth would suffice perfectly. And we cannot let her hair sit like that now, can we?"

Daphne thought about being offended but realised that her prayers had been answered. She decided to take the makeover as a gift from Aphrodite.

C.C stared at Daphne. "So much we could change... so much to improve. Dear, don't you want to look your absolute best?"

Daphne blinked. Really, she just wanted the free makeover. "Uhh... maybe?"

C.C tutted. "Oh, you lovely young girls. But so naïve! Daphne, my dear, you have a blessing. One that structures your being to look perfectly Grecian like me and my sisters, and not so entirely American - a side of yourself you have not been given any chance to explore! You, my dear, need to unlock your true self!"

C.C said 'American' like it was a slur.

But Daphne's eyes still glowed with longing. Percy had never seen her so much at a loss for words, and Annabeth was starting to glance at her warily, as though she wasn't as enchanted by C.C as they had truly hoped.

"But... what about Percy? Where will he be?" Daphne asked hesitantly, looking at Percy with worry.

"Oh, definitely," C.C. said, giving him a sad look. "Percy requires my personal attention. He needs much more work than you."

The guinea pigs squealed like they were hungry.

"Well..." Daphne hummed. "I suppose ..."

"Hang on now-" Annabeth started. C.C must've noticed, considering the deep glare she was sending her way.

"Right this way, dear," Hylla said sweetly. With those words, Daphne and Annabeth allowed themselves to be led away into the waterfall-laced gardens of the spa.

Daphne was giddy as they walked. Hylla seemed to take a lot of pride over her home, and so she responded to Daphnes questions with energy and enthusiasm. They toured around the main island for a while, but each step was making Annabeth more and more antsy. Just as they were about to enter the spa, she froze.

Daphne frowned behind her. "Annabeth? Aren't you coming in?"

"Yes, hun," Hylla tried to persuade her. "This is where your transformation will begin."

"I-" Annabeth started, her eyes flickering around nervously. "I think I want to go back and- and speak to C.C."

Hylla raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid you can't do that. She's in the middle of an appointment now, and-"

"I'll be fast," Annabeth blurted. "I promise."

In a split second, she disappeared with a flash of her locs. Daphne supposed it was a good thing that she wasn't getting her hair done on C.C's island too, considering it usually took hours just to unbraid them.  And they were on a tight schedule!

But... for what again, exactly? Daphne couldn't really remember. The island was so enchanting, so luring that it was hard for her mind to grapple onto any thought it tried.

Hylla disappeared as Annabeth did, but a few more resort attendants appeared in her place. Beaming ladies with healthy hair and soft skin all guided Daphne to the heart of the resort. She felt as though she was whisked from the coral springs which softened her skin to the sauna in a sort of mermaid cove which - somehow - loosened the knots in her curly hair. Instead of the girls taking a brush to her hair after, they meticulously untangled the dark curls and applied some sort of moisturising cream which kept her hair coily and smooth.

"What is that?" Daphne asked in awe as the ladies started to decorate her hair, adorning it with... pearls, maybe? Daphne couldn't really see. Her head was to be held still as they decorated her hair into a traditional Minoan style.

"Our very own concoction," the girl who was filing her nails, Reyna, explained quietly. She was quite shy, but Daphne saw that she was still pretty. "Made from cocoa butter and hibiscus extract, especially for curly hair."

Daphne wanted to ask if she could take some home with her, but felt like that would be a bit rude considering they were giving her a completely free makeover. She sipped on a fruity smoothie as they decorated her and left the room to give her a moment to slip into a sleeveless dress, just like C.C's but only white.

From going years without properly bathing, this was the most clean Daphne had ever felt in her entire life. Gold bangles were trailing up her arms and she finally got the chance to brush her teeth.

Daphne peered over at Reyna who was doing the finishing touches on her face - just applying some tinted lipgloss, a little blush on her cheeks. Daphne's mind lingered on the word lipgloss for a while, but she couldn't seem to realize why it seemed to nagging and important...

Lipgloss? Daphne didn't own any lipgloss. She had all the lipgloss she needed right here...

"Did you get a spa treatment?" Daphne mumbled to Reyna. The other girl blushed when they locked eyes.

"Yes, I did," she whispered, trying to pull her face away from being in such close proximity.

Daphne sighed happily. "Well, it feels great. Got any more smoothies?"

Hylla stepped back into the room with a melodic laugh, but she sounded a bit more tense than usual. "Not for now, hun. C.C wants to see you again, to bask upon her expertise."

"Oh, alright," Daphne smiled. But then it faded. "Um, have you seen my friends anywhere? It's been a while, and-"

"Only an hour," Hylla laughed tersely. "Now come along. We cannot keep her waiting."

"Yeah, you're right," Daphne said, but a bit more half-heartedly this time. "I'm coming. Thanks for everything, Reyna!"

Before Reyna could reply, the door was closed on her face, and Daphne never thought about her again.

౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹ 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆
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