chapter XIII

🌊 Yeah... Percy was having a pretty terrible day. Thanks for asking, though. First his half-brother Tyson died trying to save them from being blown to smithereens - (wow, not a great starter) - then he was stuck on a boat for hours with nothing to drink and the sun beating down on him aggressively - (great! Now he was going to die from dehydration.) - and his friend was glaring at him like it was all his fault. (Okay, but seriously? Why was Daphne so angry? Sure, the mixup with the seasickness pills... but he was just trying to help! She was just grumpy for no reason.)

And just as things were starting to look up - when they'd found land in a utopia which promised them life - Percy was being treated as though he was too ugly to live there. And yeah, he didn't really like to think about his appearance much, but it still really hurt. He was an insecure teenage boy.

Once his only two companions had been whisked away to the promise of a spa day, C.C took his arm and guided him toward the mirrored wall. "You see, Percy... to unlock your potential, you'll need serious help. The first step is admitting that you're not happy the way you are."

Percy fidgeted in the front of the mirror, hating thinking about his appearance - like the first zit that had cropped up on his nose at the beginning of the school year, or the fact that his two front teeth weren't perfectly even, or even that his hair never stayed down straight.

C.C's voice brought all of these things to mind, as if she were passing him under a microscope. And his clothes were not cool. He knew that.

Who cares? Part of him thought. But standing in front of C.C.'s mirror, it was hard to see anything good in himself.

"There, there," C.C consoled. "How about we try... this."

She snapped her fingers and a sky-blue curtain rolled down over the mirror. It shimmered like the fabric on her loom.

"What do you see?" C.C whispered.

Percy looked at the blue cloth, not sure what she meant. "I don't-"

Then it changed colors. He saw himself - a reflection, but not a reflection. Shimmering there on the cloth was a cooler version of Percy Jackson with just the right clothes, a confident smile on his face. His teeth were straight. No zits. A perfect tan. More athletic. Maybe a couple of inches taller. It was Percy, without the faults.

"Whoa," he managed.

"Do you want that?" C.C asked, blinking her eyelashes innocently. "Or shall I try a different-"

"No," Percy said hurriedly. "That's... that's amazing. Can you really-"

"I can give you a full makeover," C.C promised.

"What's the catch?" Percy said. "I have to like... eat a special diet?"

"Oh, it's quite easy," C.C hummed. "Plenty of fresh fruit, a mild exercise program, and of course... this."

She stepped over to her wet bar and filled a glass with water. Then she ripped open a drink-mix packet and poured in some red powder. The mixture began to glow. When it faded, the drink looked just like a strawberry milkshake.

"One of these, substituted for a regular meal," C.C encouraged. "I guarantee you'll see results immediately."

"How is that possible?"

She laughed. "Why question it? I mean, don't you want the perfect you right away?"

Something nagged at the back of his mind. "Why are there no guys at this spa?"

"Oh, but there are," C.C assured him. "You'll meet them quite soon. Just try the mixture. You'll see."

Percy looked at the blue tapestry, at the reflection of him, but not him.

"Now, Percy," C.C. chided. "The hardest part of the makeover process is giving up control. You have to decide: do you want to trust your judgment about what you should be, or my judgment?"

His throat felt dry. He heard himself say, "Your judgment."

C.C smiled and handed Percy the glass. He lifted it to his lips.

It tasted just like it looked - like a strawberry milkshake. Almost immediately a warm feeling spread through his gut: pleasant at first, then painfully hot, searing, as if the mixture were coming to a boil inside of him.

Percy doubled over and dropped the cup. "What have you... what's happening?"

"Don't worry, Percy," C.C grinned. "The pain will pass. Look! As I promised. Immediate results."

Something was horribly wrong.

The curtain dropped away, and in the mirror Percy saw his hands shriveling, curling, growing long delicate claws. Fur sprouted on his face, under his shirt. His teeth felt too heavy in his mouth. His clothes were getting too big, or C.C was getting too tall - no, he was shrinking.

In one awful flash, Percy sank into a cavern of dark cloth. He was buried in his own shirt. He tried to run but hands grabbed at him - hands as big as he was. He tried to scream for help, but all that came out of his tiny mouth was, "Reeet, reeet, reeet!"

The giant hands squeezed him around the middle, lifting me into the air. Percy struggled and kicked with legs and arms that seemed much too stubby, and then he was staring, horrified, into the enormous face of C.C.

"Perfect!" her voice boomed. He squirmed in alarm, but she only tightened her grip around his furry belly. "See, Percy? You've unlocked your true self!"

She held him up to the mirror, and what Percy saw made him scream in terror, "Reeet, reeet, reeet!" There was C.C, beautiful and smiling, holding a fluffy, bucktoothed creature with tiny claws and white and black fur. When Percy twisted, so did the furry critter in the mirror. He was... he was ...

"A guinea pig," C.C beamed. "Lovely, aren't you? Men are pigs, Percy Jackson. I used to turn them into real pigs, but they were so smelly and large and difficult to keep. Not much different than they were before, really. Guinea pigs are much more convenient! Now come, and meet the other men."

"Reeet!" Percy protested, trying to scratch her, but C.C squeezed him so tight that he almost blacked out.

"None of that, little one," she scolded, "or I'll feed you to the owls. Go into the cage like a good little pet. Tomorrow, if you behave, you'll be on your way. There is always a classroom in need of a new guinea pig."

His mind was racing as fast as his tiny little heart. He needed to get back to his clothes, which were lying in a heap on the floor. If he could do that, he could get Riptide out of his pocket and... and then what? He couldn't uncap the pen. Even if he could, there was no way that he could hold the sword.

Percy squirmed helplessly as C.C. brought him over to the guinea pig cage and opened the wire door.

"Meet my discipline problems, Percy," she warned. "They'll never make good classroom pets, but they might teach you some manners. Most of them have been in this cage for three hundred years. If you don't want to stay with them permanently, I'd suggest you-"

"Hello? C.C?" Annabeth's voice interrupted from outside of the room, carrying loftily through the hall. The woman dropped a furiously quealing Percy into the cage, swearing in Ancient Greek and turning around to face Annabeth with an albeit forced smile.

Percy started screeching up a storm, scratching at the cage, begging for her attention. She only spared the cage one glance though.

"Yes, my dear?" C.C said as Annabeth came into focus. She looked unchanged, which Percy was confused about. Wasn't she supposed to be getting a makeover? And where was Daphne?

"I-" she squinted around the room suspiciously. "Where's Percy?"

One of C.C's eyes twitched. "He's in another room receiving his treatment, dear." The guinea pigs started squealing angrily. "Is there anything you need to-"

"We need to go. Me and my friends." she glanced around the room nervously like she was looking for any sign of Percy. "Thank you for everything, but-"

"But what?" her eyes glinted. "Was the tour not satisfactory? Did you not enjoy the library?"

Annabeths eyes went wide."Oh, I did! It was beautiful." she glanced back at the guinea pig cage and her enchantment was broken. "But - we have to go now."

C.C let out a sad sigh, and even Percy almost felt bad for her. (Almost.) "Oh, my dear. I was so excited to see where your potential may lead you."

"My - what?"

"No matter," C.C hummed to herself as though she was in thought. "Your wits are a credit to your mother. You have brought me the One, and so I can settle for just her."

Before Annabeth could open her mouth to argue, C.C was by her side, handing her the same smoothie potion thing that Percy had drank. Instantly, he started squealing up a storm and scratching at the cage bars trying to warn her. "Here, my dear. For the boat ride home."

Annabeth looked at Percy, and her eyes widened. She backed away from C.C, but before she could protest, the woman had pushed the glass close to her lips. It only took a few seconds for it to work, no matter how she tried to spit out the rest of the drink when she had let her go.

Annabeth looked up at her, horrified. "What did you do to me?"

A few seconds later, she was just the same as Percy. A guinea pig. A soft, white and ginger one with sharp front teeth that she tried to use to bite onto C.C's porcelain skin.

She tutted. "Oh, Annabeth, please don't be so angry. After all, you did this to yourself. You know, I've never had to transform a woman before. Perhaps I wouldn't have if there wasn't so much at risk... if you hadn't brought your friend along. But her presence has made you somewhat expendable, I'm afraid. She was too important to risk. If you hadn't been so nosy, so curious... perhaps you could've lived here, with me. And now you will never see your friend again."

She dropped Annabeth into the cage beside Percy. He ran up to her and did his best to show her that he was him, and she noticed. They started screeching and clawing at the cage together, begging to see Daphne, to ask why she was so important.

C.C glared at them. "Do try to keep quiet, won't you? The screeching is an awful racket."

A few minutes passed, and Percy was loosing strength. Five... ten... fiveteen... and he'd almost given up, resigning himself to the fact that they'd never see Daphne again. Until finally, he and Annabeth heard her voice carrying up the marble staircase, soft and melodic.

"Miss C.C.?" she called sweetly.

C.C. closed a book she had been reading with Ancient Greek symbols along the front cover. Percy and Annabeth started to squeal and claw at the bars again, but it was no good.

"You may come in!" C.C hummed. And when Daphne did, Percy almost felt himself loose his voice again. It was her, undoubtedly - she looked no different. But... somehow, she looked so completely changed and enchanted that she was a different person.

The first thing that he noticed was how she really suited the style. Like, really suited it. Ancient Greek royalty wasn't an aesthetic that he'd heard much about, but Daphne wore it as though she was a princess. Maybe even a minor goddess, with the way her hair danced when she shuffled.

She was wearing a sleeveless silk dress like C.C's, only white. Her dark hair was newly washed and liberated from its usual pushed aside ponytail, tresses of curls tumbling down her back, trailing up her pale arms. Pearls had been braided into her curls, highlighting her ebony hair to look as though they were silvery wisps of stars against inky black night. Her eyelashes were dark and lush when she blinked, and - was that glitter on her lips? Percy didn't know anything about makeup, but he didn't think he'd ever understand.

Percy wasn't sure what to think. He knew she looked good. Really good. He probably would've been tongue-tied if he could've said anything except reet, reet, reet, but what was he supposed to say? As a friend you're supposed to compliment your friend. But was it different for a boy and a girl? Could he even get through complimenting her without stuttering?

Luckily for him, it didn't matter. He was a guinea pig. Beside him, Annabeth had fallen quiet too, but brought her wild screeching back.

Daphne looked around the room and frowned, a look which instantly didn't suit the outfit she wore. One of royalty and importance, where somebody would never have to worry a day in their life. But... that just wasn't Daphne. It was evident by the white scars trailing up her arms, her legs. She had red and angry ones too, but whatever the spa had done must've dulled them. Sure, she looked beautiful, but in an unnatural kind of way. "Where's Percy? And Annabeth?"

Percy squealed up a storm, but she didn't seem to hear him.

C.C. smiled. "He's having one of our treatments, my dear, and Annabeth is catching up on the one she missed. Not to worry. You look wonderful! What did you think of your tour?"

Daphne's eyes brightened. "Your animal sanctuary is amazing! And  - wow, the nature of this place... and your library is castles long! Annabeth would love i-"

"Yes, indeed," C.C interrupted her at the mention of Annabeth, "Well, we have the best knowledge of the past three millennia. Anything you want to study, anything you want to be, my dear."

"Um..." Daphne looked hesitant. "I don't really know yet. Maybe a writer."

"Pah!" C.C said unhappily. "Don't waste your potential on words. You, my dear, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me."

Daphne blinked as though she didn't hear her correctly, and then took a step back when C.C didn't reveal herself to be joking. "A sorceress?"

C.C smiled sweetly."You don't need to pretend with me anymore, dear. I know a demigod when I see one."

Daphnes mouth hung open. She was clueless. "So... you're magic?"

"Yes, my dear." C.C. held up her hand. A flame appeared in her palm and danced across her fingertips. "My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic. And I can feel a girl of divinely power when I see her, Daphne. We are not so different, you and I. Power is enriched into our blood. We hold great potential, a beautiful promise to the world to be something brilliant. Neither of us need to stand in the shadow of men."

"I-I don't understand. What divinely power? I don't have... I mean, I'm just normal!" Daphne spluttered desperately. "I'm even still unclaimed."

Again, Percy and Annabeth started to squealed their best, trying to get Daphne's attention, but she either couldn't hear them or didn't think the noises were important. Meanwhile, the other guinea pigs were emerging from their hutch to check Percy and Annabeth out. He didn't think it was possible for guinea pigs to look mean, but these did. There were half a dozen, with dirty fur and cracked teeth and beady red eyes. They were covered with shavings and smelled like they really had been in there for three hundred years without getting their cage cleaned.

"Stay with me," C.C tried to convince her. "I will show you what I mean... show you your true purpose. Trust me, my dear, I know about power, about how to harness it. Your connection to the earth... it cannot go unspoken. Your blood speaks to mine in unison. Study with me. You can join our staff, become a sorceress, learn to bend others to your will, learn to control yourself, reveal what you truly are and what you could be. You will become immortal!"

"But-"

Percy was sure that by becoming a guinea pig, his brain had shrunk too. Because everything C.C was saying about harnessing Daphnes 'inner-self' was truly going over his head. He had no idea what she was talking about, and by the desperately afraid look on Daphnes face, neither did she.

"You are too powerful, my dear," C.C coaxed. "You know better than to trust that silly camp for heroes. How many great female half-blood heroes can you name?"

"Um... me, Atalanta, Mary Seacole, Marilyn Monroe, Amelia Earhart, Thalia Gra-"

"Bah! Men get all the glory." C.C. closed her fist and extinguished the magic flame. "The only way to power for women is sorcery. Medea, Calypso, now there were powerful women! And me, of course. The greatest of all."

"You..." Daphne's mind was whirring around a good few thousand miles an hour. She was sure she had ADHD. It wasn't allowing her to focus on one distinct fact. "But C.C must mean... Circe!"

"Yes, my dear."

Daphne backed up, obviously frightened, igniting a fresh laugh from Circe. "My lovely flower. You need not worry, I mean you no harm."

"Where are my friends?" Daphne ignored the pounding of her heart in her chest. "Are they okay? What did you do to Percy?"

"Only helped him realize his true form." Circe hummed. "And, well I'm afraid your friend... she denied our offer. And we couldn't really have her trying to tempt you, could we?"

Daphne looked up at her defensively. "Why are you telling me this? Why not hide it so I'd be more willing to join you?"

"Because, my dear," Circe said with pity laced into her tone like honey. "When was the last chance you were given to make an informed choice? Allowed to understand yourself, knowing all of the factors to not be mislead? I would never keep anything from you."

Daphne faltered. She was... right. Daphne had been kept in the dark about all of her decisions since she was old enough to make them. Circe was the first woman who had ever spoken to her as though she was an equal and hadn't tried to lie to convince her.

Percy understood her. He truly did. Everything in his life had turned out to be a lie. Honestly, he wasn't too sure that if they had switched places, he could say no to Circe's persuasion.

Daphne scanned the room. Finally she saw the cage, and little Percy and Annabeth scratching at the bars, all the other guinea pigs crowding around them. Her lovely almond eyes went wide.

"Forget them," Circe persuaded. "Join me and learn the ways of sorcery. The ways of yourself. It is much more than they could ever offer you."

"But..." Daphne trailed off.

"Your friends will be well cared for. They'll be shipped to a wonderful new home on the mainland. The kindergartners will adore him, and a lovely family would adopt her. Meanwhile, you will be wise and powerful. You will have all you ever wanted."

Daphne was still staring at Percy, but she had a dreamy expression on her face. She looked the same way he had when Circe enchanted him into drinking the guinea pig milk shake. Percy squealed and scratched, trying to warn her to snap out of it, but he absolutely powerless.

"...could I have a moment to say goodbye to my friends?" Daphne ventured. "For... closure."

"Of course, my dear," Circe cooed. "One minute. Oh... and so you have absolute privacy..." She waved her hand and iron bars slammed down over the windows. She swept out of the room and Percy heard the locks on the door click shut behind her.

The dreamy look melted off Daphne's face almost instantly, instead replaced with one of violent manic panic and a fierce sense of determination. She muttered to herself as she rushed over to the cage. "Okay, gods, this is gonna be tricky. Annabeth? Percy? Where are you?"

They squealed, but so did all the other guinea pigs. Daphne looked desperate. She scanned the room
and spotted the cuff of Percy's jeans sticking out from under the loom. Yes!

She rushed over and rummaged through his pockets.
But instead of bringing out Riptide, she found the bottle of Hermes multivitamins and started struggling with the parent-locked cap. Annabeth pawed at the sand in disbelief, whereas Percy wanted to scream at her that this wasn't the time for taking supplements - she had to draw the sword!

Daphne had just enough time to pop a cherry chewable in her mouth just as the door flew open and Circe came back in, flanked by two of her business-suited attendants. They were acting like the bodyguards for the most important celebrity at the met gala, or something. Percy didn't understand why Daphne was so important, but she looked desperate to never find out.

"Well," Circe sighed, "how fast a minute passes. What is your answer, my dear?"

"This," Daphne said bravely as she drew the bronze knife which had toppled to the floor as Annabeth turned into a guinea pig.

The sorceress stepped back, but her surprise quickly passed. She sneered. "Really, little girl, a knife against my magic? Is that wise? I'll give you one last chance to reconsider."

"You called me powerful, didn't you?" Daphne argued back, happy to hear that her voice wasn't wavering as it probably should've been since she was absolutely terrified. Of Circe, of the other attendants - even of herself, after everything she said about her. "Well, maybe I've unlocked my 'full potential' myself."

Circe laughed, although she looked a little nervous. "Your hidden talent is wasted on you, foolish girl.

Circe looked back at her attendants, who smiled. They raised their hands as if preparing to cast a spell.

Run! Percy implored inwardly and wanted to shout out to Daphne, but all he could make were rodent noises. The other guinea pigs squealed in terror and scuttled around the cage. Percy had the urge to panic and hide, too, but fought through it - he had to think of something! He couldn't stand to lose Daphne the way he'd lost Tyson. Annabeth was rooted beside him, still clawing at the cage. They hadn't given up on their friend, not yet.

"Perhaps we'll have to cast a simple memory spell on you?" Circe mused. "Something powerful... oh, I know! How about we erase it all, hmm? That way we can start from the beginning. Why would we risk loosing you?"

And suddenly, blue fire coiled from her fingers, curling like serpents around Daphne, engulfing her.

Percy watched horror-struck, but as the smoke disappeared, it showed him that nothing had happened. Daphne was still Daphne, only angrier. She lunged forward and pointed the knife against her neck challengingly. "How about you erase your own memory when we escape from here, huh? It might spare you the embarrassment!"

"But- how!" Circe spluttered, sounding like a mentor who had been betrayed by their best protege.

Daphne grinned and held up Percy's bottle of vitamins for the sorceress to see.

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

Well, she begged to differ.

"Turn my friends back to being humans right now!" Daphne threatened. "Or else I'll show everyone here how a swordsman fights and not a sorceress."

"I can't!" Circe cried. "Foolish prophecies!"

What? That seemed like a pretty random thing to shout... Daphne elected to ignore her. She'd had enough of prophecies for one millennia already.

"Then you asked for it." she snarled and pressed her knife deeper.

Circe's attendants stepped forward, but their mistress said, "Get back! She's immune to magic until that cursed vitamin wears off."

Daphne dragged Circe over to the guinea pig cage, knocked the top off, and poured the rest of the vitamins inside. It was like a rainbow waterfall of delicious gummies.

"No!" Circe screamed.

Annabeth was the first to get a vitamin, lemon flavoured, but all the other guinea pigs scuttled out, too, and checked out the new food. She transformed perhaps a split second before Percy did. His was blue raspberry.

The first nibble, and he felt all fiery inside. He gnawed at the vitamin until it stopped looking so huge, and the cage got smaller, and then suddenly, bang! The cage exploded. He was sitting on the floor, a human again - somehow back in his regular clothes, thank the gods - with Annabeth massaging her back and six other guys who all looked disoriented, blinking and shaking wood shavings out of their hair.

"No!" Circe screamed. "You don't understand! Those are the worst!"

One of the men stood up - a huge guy with a long tangled pitch-black beard and teeth the same color. He wore mismatched clothes of wool and leather, knee-length boots, and a floppy felt hat. The other men were dressed more simply-in breeches and stained white shirts. All of them were barefoot.

"Argggh!" bellowed the big man. "What's the witch done t'me!"

"No!" Circe moaned. She looked at Daphne desperately. "We could've had it all! The power! The presence! The-"

Annabeth gasped, pushing herself up from the floor. The first words she spoke from being a guinea pig were: "I recognize you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?"

"Aye, lass," the big man growled. "Though most call me Blackbeard! And there's the sorceress what captured us, lads. Run her through, and then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Arggggh!"

Circe screamed. She and her attendants ran from the room, yelling curses as they were chased by the pirates.

Daphne turned. Among the wreckage of the dirty pirates and the explosion of the guinea pig cage, she looked completely unaffected and ethereal. Not a curl had bounced out of place, not a piece of dirt had marred her face.

"Thanks ..." Percy faltered. "Um, I'm really sorry-"

Daphne, sweet and oblivious, pushed Annabeths knife into her hands before wrapping both of her arms around Percy and Annabeth, pulling them into a tight hug which would've strangled them.

"You... you guinea pigs!" Daphne breathed, and it took her releasing them for them to see that her eyes had become glassy and misted over. "I was so worried that you - well, you know!"

She released them so quickly that Percy wondered if it had even happened. But no, it definitely did. He probably wouldn't ever forget it.

"Me, too." Percy murmured, hoping his face wasn't as red as it felt.

"Come on, guys!" Annabeth interrupted them quickly, sheathing her knife with a small smile on her face. "Now's our chance. We have to get away while Circe's distracted."

They ran down the hillside through the terraces, past screaming spa workers and pirates ransacking
the resort. Blackbeard's men broke the tiki torches for the luau, threw herbal wraps into the swimming pool, and kicked over tables of sauna towels.

Daphne almost felt bad letting the unruly pirates out, but she guessed they deserved something more entertaining than the exercise wheel after being cooped up in a cage for three centuries.

"Which ship?" Daphne shouted as they reached the docks.

Percy looked around desperately. They couldn't very well take the old rowboat again. They had to get off the island fast, but what else could they use? A submarine? A fighter jet? He couldn't pilot any of those things. And then he saw it.

"There," he said.

Annabeth blinked. "But-"

"I can make it work."

"How?" Daphne said in awe.

Percy couldn't explain. He just somehow knew an old sailing vessel was the best bet for him. Percy grabbed Daphne's hand as she grabbed Annabeths and pulled her toward the three-mast ship. Painted on its prow was the name: Queen Anne's Revenge.

"Argggh!" Blackbeard yelled somewhere behind them. "Those scalawags are a-boarding me vessel! Get 'em, lads!"

"We'll never get going in time!" Annabeth yelled as they climbed aboard.

Percy looked around at the hopeless maze of sail and ropes. The ship was in great condition for a three-hundred-year-old vessel, but it would still take a crew of fifty several hours to get underway. They didn't have several hours. Daphne could see the pirates running down the stairs, waving tiki torches and sticks of celery.

She turned to help and saw Percy with his eyes closed, deep in thought. He concentrated on the waves lapping against the hull, the ocean currents, the winds all around them. Suddenly, the right word appeared in his mind. "Mizzenmast!" he yelled.

Annabeth and Daphne looked at him like he was nuts, but in the next second, the air was filled with whistling sounds of ropes being snapped taut, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking.

Annabeth ducked as a cable flew over her head and wrapped itself around the bowsprit. "Percy, how ..."

He didn't have an answer, but he could feel the ship responding to him as if it were part of his body. He willed the sails to rise as easily as if he were flexing his arm. He willed the rudder to turn.

"Amazing!" Daphne whispered in utter awe. "Percy's a pirate!"

The Queen Anne's Revenge lurched away from the dock, and by the time the pirates arrived at the water's edge, they were already underway, finally sailing into the Sea of Monsters.

౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆
🌷🪷🌊

ʚɞ pookie pookie pookie they're absolutely pookies