•as the world caves in•

•we enter the sea of monsters•

After a long and unwanted ship tour, with dead Confederate sailors watching us, Clarisse grinned. "Tantalus expelled you for eternity. Mr. D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he'll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV."

"Did they give you this ship?" Percy asked.

"Course not, my father did."

"Ares?"

Clarisse sneered at him. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That's their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them, won't you, Captain?"

He stood behind her, looking annoyed. "If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything, destroy anyone."

She smiled. "I like that."

I knew I had to try to reason with her. "Luke might be after the Fleece too, we saw him. He's got the coordinates and he's heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters..."

"Good! I'll blow him out of the water!"

"You don't understand!" I pleaded. "We have to combine forces. Let us help you!"

"No!" She slammed her fist down. "This is my quest, Love Girl! Finally I get to be the hero and you will not steal my chance!"

"Where are your cabin mates?" Percy asked. "You we're allowed to take two friends with you, weren't you?"

"They didn't... I let them stay behind. To protect the camp."

"You mean even the people in your own cabin wouldn't help you?"

"Shut up, Prissy! I don't need them, or you!"

"Clarisse," Percy began. "Tantalus is using you. He doesn't care about the camp, he'd love to see it destroyed. He's setting you up to fail."

"No! I don't care what the Oracle..."

"What?" Annabeth snapped suddenly. "What did the Oracle tell you?"

"Nothing!" Her ears turned pink. "All you need to know is that I'm finishing this quest and you're not helping! Captain, take them down below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don't mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies."

•.•.•.•

When Percy came up to us the next day on the spar deck, he looked widely concerned. I frowned. "Another dream?"

He only nodded and when Clarisse came up and tried to avoid looking at her, making my suspicions raise about what was actually wrong.

I ignored it, watching as Clarisse grabbed binoculars and look towards the horizon. "At last. Captain, full steam ahead!"

I tried to squint out and see, but it was hazy and all I could make out were blotches. I assumed we were off the coast of Florida, but that didn't help much. I looked at Clarisse. "Hurricane?"

"No," she shook her head. "Charybdis."

Annabeth paled. "Are you crazy?"

"Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis and her sister Scylla."

"What do you mean the only way?" Percy asked. "The sea is wide open, just sail around them."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't you know anything? If I tried to sail around them, they would just appear in my path again. If you want to get into the Sea of Monsters, you have to sail through them."

"What about the Clashing Rocks?" I asked, knowing it had to be another way.

"That's another gateway," Annabeth nodded. "Jason used it."

"I can't blow apart rocks with my cannons," Clarisse said, almost like she'd rather take that route. "Monsters, on the other hand..."

"You are crazy," I decided looking at her with wide eyes. I knew she was the daughter of Ares, so she was more inclined to battle, but even this felt over the top.

"Watch and learn, Love Girl." She grinned, then turned to the Captain. "Set course for Charybdis!"

"Aye, m'lady."

The engines groaned as we sped up, but Percy still seemed to want another way in the Sea of Monsters. "Clarisse, Charybdis sucks up the sea, isn't that the story?"

"And spits it back out, yeah."

"What about Scylla?"

"She lives in a cave, up on those cliffs. If we get too close, her snaky heads will come down and start plucking sailors off the ship."

"Choose Scylla then," Percy suggested. "Everybody goes below deck and we chug right past."

"No!" Clarisse insisted. "If she doesn't get her easy meat, she might pick the whole ship up. Besides, she's too high to make a good target, my cannons can't shoot straight up. Charybdis just sits there at the center of her whirlwind. We're going to steam right towards her, train our guns on her, and blow her to Tartarus!"

She said it with some much confidence I wanted to believe her, but with the luck Percy, Annabeth and I had, it would probably get messed up somehow.

I gripped the rail next to Percy and looked towards him. "Still got that thermos of wind?"

He nodded. "It's too dangerous. More wind might make it worse."

I have an uneasy smile. "What about controlling the water? You're Poseidon's son, you've done it before."

He closed his eyes and it looked like he was straining to do something, but he looked miserable. "I can't."

"We need a backup plan, this won't work."

"Coriane is right," Tyson said. "Engine's no good."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

"Pressure, pistons need fixing."

Suddenly, after the whirlpool made a large noise, I was thrown onto the deck and watched the dead Confederates rush back and forth.

"I can fix it!" Tyson yelled.

Clarisse looked at him in shock. "You!"

"He's a Cyclops!" Annabeth shouted. "He's immune to fire and knows his mechanics!"

"Go!" Clarisse yelled at Tyson, and he rushed below deck.

I grabbed Percy's arm to stop him from going after him. "He'll be okay, Percy! You have to stay here!"

Percy looked like he wanted to argue, but only nodded. I watched as the soldiers fired the guns into the mouth and as Tyson worked on the engine, it hummed stronger and we started to pull away.

Then, it closed.

The sea went back as though there was never a whirlpool in the first place.

Then it blasted out a wave that had to be fifty feet high. I was tossed around the deck and I gripped onto the railing to try and stay on until the waves died down.

"Where's Tyson?" Percy demanded.

"Still down there," a sailor said. "Holding it together somehow."

"We have to abandon ship!" The Captain shouted.

"No!" Clarisse yelled.

Suddenly, the Captain was snatched up by something green, and a sailor shouted, "Scylla!"

Percy tossed me the thermos of air as we uncovered a lifeboat. "Get the other boat, I'll get Tyson."

"You can't!" I yelled at him. "The heat will kill you!"

He didn't listen and went after, but was grabbed by Scylla. I went to go help, but Annabeth grabbed me and shoved me onto a lifeboat with her.

I watched as he fell, then the ship explode. Annabeth took the thermos and opened it, but just a little too far and scattering out lifeboat away from the ship.