Evangeline was skeptical of the woman who stood in front of them. She held a clipboard in hand and wore a blue business suit, a tight ponytail, and perfect makeup. She had a tight smile as she shook their hands and began asking them questions. "Is this your first time with us?" She asked with her pen ready to write down whatever they said.

They exchanged looks with one another. The lady began writing on her clipboard. "Mmm...a herbal wrap to start for the young ladies and the gentlemen a complete makeover."

"A what?" Percy asked stunned, Evangeline stifled a laugh.

"Well," the woman said as she put her clipboard to the side. "I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you, come please."

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Annabeth muttered as they followed the woman.

Everywhere they looked, there was white marble with swimming pools connected by water slides, waterfalls, and underwater tubes with fountains spraying water that formed impossible shapes.

The voice of a woman singing reached their ears as they slowly climbed the marble staircase. Her words were in some language other than Ancient Greek. Evangeline could understand what the woman sang about—moonlight in the olive groves, the colors of sunrise. And magic. Something about magic. Her voice seemed to lift them off the steps and carry them toward her.

They came into a big room where the whole front wall was windows. 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 the table in one corner was a large wire pet cage. The cage seemed out of place, but she didn't pay much attention to it, because she'd just seen the lady who had been singing.

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

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

The woman turned. She was even prettier than her fabric. Her long dark hair was braided withthreads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress with shapes thatseemed to move in the fabric: animal shadows, black upon black, like deer running through a forest atnight

"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" The woman asked.

"Oh, yes, ma'am!" The daughter of Athena said. "My mother is—"

She stopped herself. You can't just go around announcing that your mother was Athena, the goddess who invented the loom. Most people would try to burn you alive, Evangeline spoke from experience.

Their hostess smiled. "You have good taste, my dear. 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 soundof them.

The demigods introduced themselves to C.C. She looked at Percy with a twinge of disapproval, as if he'd failed some kind of test.

"Oh, dear," she sighed. "You do need my help."

"Ma'am?" Percy asked.

C.C. called a lady and a girl next to her. "Hylla, Reyna, take Annabeth and Evangeline on a tour, will you? Show them what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And the hair, 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 our hair?"

C.C. smiled benevolently. "My dear, you both are lovely. Really! But you're not showing off yourselves 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 and Reyna will show you what I mean. You, my dears, need to unlock your true selves!"

"What about Percy?" Evangeline asked.

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

The guinea pigs squealed like they were hungry.

"Well..." Annabeth said. "I guess..."

"Right this way," Hylla said, leading Annabeth away while the young girl who Evangeline guessed was Reyna led her out and into the waterfall-laced gardens of the spa.

Evangeline was shocked at how much Reyna had been able to change about her appearance.

Her hair had been put into waves and fell behind her back. Her clothes had been swapped out for a black chiton that fitted her perfectly, and her shoes had been replaced with golden sandals. A golden snake arm ring had been placed on her left bicep and a golden laurel wreath was in her hair.

"I don't know how I feel about this," She admitted looking at the piece of jewelry around her bicep.

"Do not worry," Reyna assured. "You look magnificent. Like a princess."

The daughter of Hades blushed and chuckled. "Thank you,"

"My pleasure," Reyna said.  "Come, let's get you to C.C."

Annabeth had been put in the same clothes except her chiton was white and her hair had been braided with gold. They entered the room. But there was no sign of the son of Poseidon, the brunette frowned. "Where's Percy?"

A guinea pig from the cage squealed but Evangeline didn't pay much attention to it.

C.C. smiled. "He's having one of our treatments, my dears. Not to worry. You both look wonderful! What did you think of your tour?"

Annabeth's eyes brightened. "Your library was amazing!"

"Yes, indeed," C.C. said, "The best knowledge of the past three millennia. Anything you want to study, anything you want to be my dear."

"An architect?"

"Pah!" C.C. said. "You two, my dears, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me."

They took a step back. "A sorceress?"

"Yes, my dears," C.C. held her hand up. A flame appeared in her palm and danced across her fingertips. "My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic. I know a daughter of Athena when I see one. And Evangeline the amount of fear and death that is radiating off of you is hard to miss. We are not so different. We all seek knowledge. We all admire greatness. None of us need to stay in the shadow of men."

"I—I don't understand." Annabeth stuttered and once again, the guinea pig squealed.

"Stay with me." She told them. "Study with me. You can join our staff, become a sorceress, and learn to bend others to your will. You will become immortal!"

"But—"

"You're too intelligent, my dears," The sorceress said. "You know better than to trust that silly camp for heroes. How many great female half-blood heroes can you name?"

The daughter of Hades started naming. "Amelia Earhart, Atlanta—"

"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're Circe?" Evangeline asked.

"Yes, my dear."

They backed up, and Circe laughed. "You need not worry. I mean you no harm."

"Where's Percy?" Evangeline demanded. "What have you done with him?"

"Only helped him realize his true form."

Then it clicked, Perseus Jackson had been turned into a fucking guinea pig. "Forget him," Circe said. "Join me and learn the ways of sorcery."

"But—"

"Your friend will be well cared for. He'll be shipped to a wonderful new home on the mainland. The kindergartners will adore him. Meanwhile, you two will be wise and powerful. You will have all you ever wanted.

The brunette was tempted by the offer and then Annabeth spoke. "Let us think about it," she murmured. "Just...give us a minute alone. To say goodbye."

"Of course, my dears," 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 Evangeline heard the locks on the door click shut behind her.

Annabeth rushed over to the cage while Evangeline followed behind. "All right, which one are you?"

A guinea pig squealed, but so did the others. Evangeline picked one of the guinea pigs up and gently scratched the head while Annabeth pulled out the bottle of Hermes' multivitamins from Percy's jeans.

She popped a lemon chewable in her mouth and handed a pomegranate one to Evangeline, the brunette swallowed it just as the door flew open and Circe came back in, flanked by two of her business-suited attendants.

"Well," Circe sighed, "how fast a minute passes. What are your answers, my dears?"

"This," Annabeth said, and she drew her bronze knife.

The sorceress stepped back, but her surprise quickly passed. She sneered. "Really, little girl, a knife against my magic? Is that wise? And from what I'm seeing, Evangeline is going to join us, isn't that right my dear?" She turned to Evangeline.

The daughter of Hades sighed. "As much as I like the sound of that offer, we kinda need the idiot." She clenched her fists. "So, my answer is no."

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

"What will Annabeth and Evangeline's makeovers be?" Circe mused. "Something small and ill-tempered. I know... a shrew!"

Blue fire coiled from her fingers curling like serpents around them.

But nothing happened. Evangeline was still herself, only angrier. She raised her hand, and spikes of shadows erupted from the ground and shot at Circe, barely missing her by inches, the two spikes under her arms stuck her to the wall.

The brunette raised her other hand for good measure and another spike appeared right underneath Circe's neck moving closer and closer very slowly.

"How!" Circe yelped.

Annabeth held up the bottle of multivitamins for the sorceress to see.

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

"If you don't turn Percy back to human or I'm going to give you a piercing on your neck." Evangeline lifted her hand and the spike near Circe's neck inched closer.

"I can't!"

"Then you asked for it," Annabeth said.

Circe's attendants stepped forward, but their mistress said, "Get back! They're immune to magic until the cursed vitamins wear off."

Evangeline exchanged a look with the blonde, and Annabeth went over to the cage, knocked the top off, and poured the rest of the vitamins inside.

"No!"

BANG! The cage exploded. Percy was sitting on the floor, a human again and in his regular clothes, with 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!" 

Evangeline retracted her hand and the spikes disappeared into her shadow. One of the men stood up, a huge man 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 breaches and stained white shirts. All of them were barefoot.

"No!" Circe moaned.

Annabeth gasped. "I recognize you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?"

"Aye, lassies," the man growled. "Though most call me Blackbeard! And there's the sorceresswhat 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 being chased by pirates.

Evangeline turned back toward Percy who was staring at her while Annabeth was hugging him. "What?" she demanded as Annabeth pulled away from the hug.

"Thanks," he said. "I'm really sorry—"

"Yeah, it's fine." She said as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

He blushed as he started staring at her even more. "I'm glad you're not a guinea pig," Evangeline told him.

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

"Come on," The blonde said. "We have to get away while Circe's distracted."

The three of them reached the dock filled with different kinds of ships all around. "Which one?" Annabeth asked, their breaths heaving together from their sprint.

"There," the son of Poseidon said, pointing at an open old sailing vessel.

Annabeth frowned. "But—"

"I can make it work." He said.

Queen Anne's Revenge was the boat he had chosen. "Those scalawags are a boarding me vessel!" Blackbeard yelled as they ran up the plank. "Get 'em, lads!"

Percy got to work on making the boat move while Evangeline and Annabeth dealt with the sailors, knocking them off the ship and into the water until he finally managed to make the ship move a few knots out.

After they made it further into the open sea, the brunette watched the ocean as she sat on the ledge of the ship, she was surprised she wasn't feeling seasick.

She turned her head and met glances with Percy, who gave her an awkward smile. "Hey,"

"Hi," she spoke.

"I guess I owe you a thank you, for saving my butt today."

"No problem," She quickly turned away.

He arched a brow as he sat down next to her.

It was quiet between the two as Evangeline stared at the sky and Percy shot glances at the brunette every now and then. "So," he started. "How's Hades?"

Evangeline turned her head to him, brow raised. "He's fine," She tried not to laugh.

"You talked to him recently?"

"No, just saw him last when he came to camp." She said casually.

"Oh," Her words finally registered in his head. "Wait what? What do you mean he came to camp? When?"

"The day we fought, he wanted to ask me about something."

"About what?" Percy raised his eyebrows.

"Family stuff," She shrugged. "Then he told me that I should kill you because it would help solve half my problems."

Percy's eyes widened. "He told you to kill me?"

"More like obliterate, but you get the point." She turned her attention back to the sky.

The son of Poseidon swallowed harshly. "Oh," his voice cracking. "What did you say?"

"I told him, that it wouldn't be very helpful since you are slightly less insufferable at times."

Percy didn't know if he should take it as a compliment or an insult. "Okay, cool."

They sat in silence before Percy broke it again. "You, um, look nice." He awkwardly motioned towards the black chiton she still bore.

"Thanks," She sighed as she got up.

Percy chuckled softly. "Yeah,"

"I'll go check up on Annabeth," She stood up and bid him goodbye before she hurried below deck.

It was sometime after midnight. Evangeline was able to make out a smoking volcano in the background from where she stood with the other two, the sea bubbling along the island shore.

"A forge of Hephaestus," the brunette said. "It's where he makes his monsters."

"Like the bronze bull?" Percy asked.

"Go around, " Annabeth claimed. "Far around."

The son of Poseidon steered the ship clear of the island, leaving it just a patch of bronze and red behind the trio.

"So," he looked at the blonde. "The reason you hate Cyclops so much. That's how Thalia died, what happened?"

"I guess you deserve to know," Annabeth finally spoke after a moment. "The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused and took some wrong turns. You remember he told you that once?"

Percy nodded.

"Well, the worst wrong turn was into a Cyclops lair in Brooklyn."

"They've got a cyclops in Brooklyn?" The boy asked.

"You wouldn't believe how many, but that's not the point. This Cyclops, he tricked us. He managed to split us up inside this maze of corridors in an old house in Flatbush. And he could sound like anyone. Just the way Tyson did aboard the Princess Andromeda. He lured us, one at a time. Thalia thought she was running to save Luke. Luke thought he heard me scream for help. And me ... I was alone in the dark. I was seven years old. I couldn't even find the exit."

"I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia and Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling like smoked hams." Annabeth said.

"The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. I drew my knife, but he heard me. He turned and smiled. He spoke, and somehow he knew my dad's voice. I guess he just plucked it out of my mind. He said, 'Now, Annabeth, don't you worry. I love you. You can stay here with me. You can stay forever.' "

"What did you do ?" Percy asked.

"I stabbed him in the foot," Annabeth answered.

"Seven? You were seven?!"

"But I surprised him. It gave me just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there."

"Yeah, but still ..." said Percy. "That was brave, Annabeth. Really Brave."

She shook her head. "We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares, Percy. The way that Cyclops talked in my father's voice. It was his fault we took so long getting to camp. All the monsters who'd been chasing us had time to catch up. That's why Thalia died."

It was quiet between the three until Percy spoke. "Go below," he said. "You need some rest." The blonde nodded before making her way below.

Evangeline let out a sigh and turned to look at the night sky.

"I'm sorry," Percy said suddenly.

"For what?"

"I'm sorry for what I said back at camp and I shouldn't have said those things about you."

"I'm sorry too. Tyson... he was sweet, a little weird in his own way, but still. I shouldn't have said that about him."

A smile twitched on the corner of his lips as he looked at her, "He was,"

"He was also a very talkative guy,"

Percy chuckled. "Tell me about it,"

"I mean the things he told me when we were at Virginia Beach." Evangeline shook her head.

"What did he tell you?"

"That you keep a picture of me in your notebook," She turned her head towards him with a smirk on her face.

Percy froze in shock. "He what?"

She nodded. "I didn't know you missed me that much, Jackson."

"I didn't," He shook his head, "That was... just a keepsake."

"Yeah, right." She mumbled, rolling her eyes. "Whatever you say."

Evangeline stood between a stunned Percy and Annabeth who wanted to hear the sirens.

"They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn't even realize. That's what's so enchanting. If you survive ... you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?"

"You want more chances to be eaten by sirens?" Evangeline asked. "Be our guest."

Annabeth sighed and said, "it'll be fine, just trust me, Eve."

The brunette shared a look with Percy before she nodded. "Fine, let's feed you to fishes."

After getting Annabeth ready for the swim of her doom, they two tied her up to the foremast with the rope.

"Don't untie me," she reminded the two, "no matter what happens or how much I plead. I'll want to go straight over the edge and drown myself."

"Are you trying to tempt me?" Percy joked, earning a look from Evangeline, and no reaction from Annabeth.

Evangeline gave her a nod as the two stuffed large wads of wax in her ears.

As they approached the island, jagged rocks loomed out of the fog. The Queen Anne's Revenge skirted around the rocks just enough. If they sailed any closer, those rocks would shred the hull like blender blades. Evangeline saw Annabeth's face break out into excruciating pain and discomfort as she pleaded and screamed.

Evangeline watched as the blonde looked overboard and squinted hard at something in particular, tears streaming down her face, and it was just enough to make the brunette, feel a little bad.

She turned her head around only to see a barren island covered in lush greenery.

Shaking her head, she turned back around only to find a big heap of rope, Annabeth's bronze knife lying on the deck. They had forgotten to disarm her.

"Annabeth!" Evangeline yelled. She turned to Percy who was completely clueless she smacked him in the back of his head.

He spun his head toward her, then at where she was looking. "Shit!"

They rushed to the side of the boat and saw her paddling away madly for the island, the waves carrying her straight through the jagged rocks.

Evangeline screamed her name, but it didn't do anything since she was entranced and swimming to her death.

She hopped over the railing and dove into the water. She heard Percy yell something but the wax in her ear blocked him out. She swam after the blonde for a while, every time she'd get close enough Annabeth would kick back at her.

Evangeline managed to grab the blonde's ankle after multiple tries and yanked the girl underwater. She grabbed Annabeth's shoulders and shook the girl, trying to snap her back to reality.

Annabeth jerked away and swam back up, Evangeline followed after the girl. When her head popped up above the surface she couldn't see the blonde anywhere, only mist.

She tried to catch her breath but the air was getting heavier. It was getting harder to breathe. She heard someone yell her name. When she glanced over at the sirens all she saw was a woman. Her mother.

Her mother was watching her with a calculated gaze. Like she'd done something wrong again. Evangeline felt like the same little girl who would spend nights in her room wondering what she'd done to disappoint her mother.

She found herself swimming toward the woman, only one question on her mind; why was her mother not happy with her?

She would've reached if it hadn't been for something yanking her down roughly underneath the surface. Instinctively, she raised her elbow to hit whatever had grabbed her, but she was met with Percy's face.

He had formed a bubble around them.

"Hey, listen to me," He said. "Don't listen to the sirens, listen to me."

She swallowed harshly as she felt like her throat had needles in it. "What are you—"

"It wasn't real, that woman wasn't real."

She stared at him looking into his eyes for even the slightest of slip up saying that he was lying, but she knew he wasn't. She knew that it wasn't her mother, it couldn't have been, Mary Merlyn was dead.

"Where's—" she panted. "Where's Annabeth?"

"On the boat, I grabbed her and brought her back. But you didn't come back so...I just, you know. Came to find you."

She blinked. "Oh." That was all she could say.

Percy nodded, "we should head back up before Annabeth dives back into the water again."

"Good idea," she agreed, he spared her a glance before undoing the Hubble and swimming them back to the surface.

After that, they sailed until the island was completely out of sight. The fog had turned back into the blue fog as if the sirens weren't there. Evangeline sat on the bench staring at the ocean as she thought about what had happened.

Percy wordlessly sat down next to her and looked at her.

"When you grabbed me, did you see what I saw?" She asked.

The raven-haired boy scowled. "I didn't see it properly but I did see glimpses of that woman."

"That was my mom," The brunette spoke, her voice barely over a whisper. "That's who you saw."

"Do you ever miss her?" He asked, "I mean, I know you're all 'I don't need anybody's help' or whatever, but do you ever miss living with her?"

She was taken aback by the question, for the first time in her life Evangeline didn't have an answer. "I dont know," she said. "I didn't swim toward her because I missed her or that I wanted to see her. I went there because she looked like she was mad at me. I just wanted to know why."

She didn't like the silence he'd given her as his response. "I guess I should thank you, for saving my life this time, friend."

His scowl turned into a small smile. "I'm your friend now?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "I might consider you one."

Percy's smile widened. "So I've been promoted from 'next on my murder list' to 'best friend?"

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Jackson." She shot him a look. "We never know, you might just leave."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Merlyn. Even if you were in Tartarus I would be there with you, just to annoy you. I won't ever leave you alone."

She raised a brow. "If I was in Tartarus?"

"Yeah, but that seems unlikely to happen because I'll make sure you're not anywhere near that place. That's a promise."

"Thank you, Perseus."

He smiled, glancing at her. "You're welcome, princess."

------✧------

A/N: Lots of angst going on in this chapter. I know this chapter is short but you know whatever. Our king Grover is about to return so I'm excited to write about that.