𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Charybdis & Scylla

"What?" Percy said. "What did the Oracle tell you?" 

"Nothing." Clarisse's ears turned pink. "All you need to know is that I'm finishing this quest and you're not helping. On the other hand, I can't let you go..." 

"So we're prisoners?" Annabeth asked. 

"Guests. For now." Clarisse propped her feet up on the white linen tablecloth and opened another Dr Pepper. "Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don't mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies." 

~

I woke to alarm bells ringing throughout the ship. 

The captain's gravelly voice: "All hands on deck! Find Lady Clarisse! Where is that girl?" 

Then his ghostly face appeared above me. "Get up, brit. Your friends are already above. We are approaching the entrance." 

"The entrance to what?" 

He gave me a skeletal smile. "The Sea of Monsters, of course." 

I stuffed my few belongings that had survived the Hydra into a sailor's canvas knapsack and slung it over my shoulder. I had a sneaking suspicion that one way or another I would not be spending another night aboard the CSS Birmingham. 

I was on my way upstairs when something made me freeze. A presence nearby—something familiar and unpleasant. For no particular reason, I felt like picking a fight. I wanted to punch a dead Confederate. The last time I'd felt like that kind of anger... 

Instead of going up, I crept to the edge of the ventilation grate and peered down into the boiler deck. There I found Percy, who stopped me. He mouthed one word which could explain what I was feeling:

"Ares."

"I don't want excuses, little girl!" Ares growled. 

"Y-yes, father," Clarisse mumbled. 

"You don't want to see me mad, do you?" 

"No, father." 

"No, father," Ares mimicked. "You're pathetic. I should've let one of my sons take this quest." 

"I'll succeed!" Clarisse promised, her voice trembling. "I'll make you proud." 

"You'd better," he warned. "You asked me for this quest, girl. If you let that slimeballJackson kid steal it from you—" 

"But the Oracle said—" 

"I DON'T CARE WHAT IT SAID!" Ares bellowed with such force that his image shimmered. "You will succeed. And if you don't..." 

He raised his fist. Even though he was only a figure in the steam, Clarisse flinched. 

"Do we understand each other?" Ares growled. 

The alarm bells rang again. I heard voices coming toward Percy and me, officers yelling orders to ready the cannons. 

We crept back from the ventilation grate and made our way upstairs to join Annabeth and Tysonon the spar deck. 

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked us. 

We didn't say anything. I didn't know what to think about what I'd seen downstairs.

Clarisse came up the stairs right after me. I tried not to look at her. 

She grabbed a pair of binoculars from a zombie officer and peered toward the horizon. "At last. Captain, full steam ahead!"