Backbiter by Annabeth Chase

Chapter Eight: Circe's Island

(The Sea of Monsters pg 169- 173)

The island we had stumbled upon didn't look obviously monstrous. That wasn't necessarily a good sign but even an island with active volcanoes and demigod eating monsters would have been preferable to drifting aimlessly. If we'd been drifting in the lifeboat much longer, we would have started to have problems with dehydration and heatstroke. It wasn't long before we were sailing into the little harbor of an island resort and a cheerful woman met us with a clipboard at the ready.

"Welcome, is this your first time with us?" the woman asked. It seemed like the wrong thing to be asking two sunburnt teenagers drifting in a lifeboat. The island might have looked like a resort but after exchanging a glance with Percy I knew we were both thinking the same thing, trap.

"First - time - at - spa," she said as she wrote on her clipboard. If we had another option I would have taken it but it was either this or drifting in a lifeboat with dwindling supplies.

"Let's see ..." the woman said looking us over, "Mmmm. An herbal wrap to start for the young lady. And of course, a complete makeover for the gentleman." Percy seemed to take offense at this but I was racking my brain trying to determine where we were and which dangers we should expect. Any island within the Sea of Monsters was a threat. Even if the explosion had managed to blow us out of the Sea, a mortal resort would never be so welcoming and calm.

The woman finished writing on her clip board and said, "Right, well, I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please."

I looked at Percy with uncertainty but couldn't place the island or C.C. in any of the stories I knew. I didn't want to offend the woman with the clipboard, and it usually worked better to just ride the wave, gather information and hope for the best. Then of course make a plan and escape once things went south. 

I shrugged and said, "I guess it couldn't hurt," before we climbed out of our boat and followed the woman through the resort.

Everything was gorgeous and luxurious but I was mostly just thinking about escape routes, trying to make a mental map of the island and where we would need to go in order to get out once something attacked. At one point I noticed Percy looked pale and about to cry but he said he was fine. I knew he was still upset about Tyson and everything else so I didn't push it. 

I was feeling like I had a pretty good idea of how to get off this island should things go poorly until I heard the singing and completely lost track of what I was supposed to be thinking about.

The song was beautiful and captivating. When we got to the building our guide was leading us to, we found the singer and she was weaving a tapestry far more intricate and beautiful than any I had ever seen. Some of my siblings were amazing weavers but their work felt shallow and lifeless compared to this.

"It's beautiful," I blurted out.

"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" the woman asked, she glanced at me before turning her attention to Percy with a slight grimace. Even if she was unhappy about whatever she saw in Percy, I was unhappy she wasn't paying attention to me. I wanted to get her attention and I wanted to make her like me.

"Oh yes, ma'am, my mother is –" I stopped myself from blurting out Athena. I was having a hard time processing everything that was happening but something told me it probably wouldn't be good to tell these women that my mother was the goddess of wisdom and weaving (although it would lend credibility to my analysis).

"You have good taste, my dear. I'm so glad you have come. My name is C.C." the woman said as she stood and walked towards us. I felt like there was something I should be picking up on. This C.C. was familiar, weaving and singing, I should know who she was but my thoughts remained muddled.