Annabeth's POV

C.C.'s Island

C.C.'s Island

The lady led us inside the island, and I was distracted by the beautiful buildings there. The water fountains formed shapes like horses and eagles. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I turned to look back at Percy, thinking what he would be taking of this place. He looked shocked.

"You okay?" I asked. "You look pale."

"I'm okay." He said. "Just... keep walking." But I knew he was lying. What would be troubling him? Then I recalled, that maybe he missed Tyson.

We passed many sea animals. The looked domesticated. The guests, and I could see women only, lounged on the beach. Then I heard the singing voice of a woman coming from ahead. It had a soothing effect like a lullaby. The language wasn't English, nor was it ancient Greek. I think it was Minoan. Old Minoan. The voice was so comforting, I felt myself being pulled towards it. All I wanted to was get lost in the ambience of the singer.

We 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 a table in one corner was a large wire pet cage. The cage had small animals, like rodents, I guess they were guinea pigs.

There was the owner of the voice, she sat at a loom, her hands weaving colored thread back and forth with amazing skill. The tapestry shimmered like it was three dimensional-a waterfall scene so real I could see the water moving and clouds drifting across a fabric sky. It was so beautiful capturing the colors with perfection, it was almost as if it wanted to come to life. As the daughter of the goddess weaving, I complimented it. "It's beautiful."

The woman turned on hearing me. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her long dark hair was braided with gold, and it seemed smooth like silk. Her green eyes seemed to be regarding us. With her silk black dress and perfect hair, she made me conscious about my appearance. I wanted to be at my best in front of this woman.

"You like my weaving?" She asked me.

"Oh, yes ma'am." I replied. "My mother is-"

I stopped myself. I couldn't tell anyone that my mother was Athena. They would call me delusional and we didn't even know who that woman was.

She smiled anyways, "You have good taste, my dear." She said. "I'm so glad you came. My name is C.C."

The guinea pigs in the cage started squealing. I should know about her. Something, but my mind was to enraptured by C.C. Something was wrong. I wondered why no man was there. No answer came to me.

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

"Ma'am?" Percy asked. C.C. called to the lady in the business suit. "Hylla, take Annabeth on a tour, will you? Show her 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 ..." I asked. I felt hurt. "What's wrong with my hair?"

C.C. smiled benevolently. "My dear, you are lovely. Really! But you're not showing off yourself or your talents at all. So much wasted potential!"

"Wasted?" I wondered out aloud.

"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 will show you what I mean. You, my dear, need to unlock your true self!"

I wondered what she meant. I definitely looked gross after spending so much time at the sea, without any clean up. I was more worried about leaving Percy there.

"But ... what about Percy?"

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

What could that mean? Percy looked perfect to me. His sea green were so adorable and his face, gods, it defined perfection. There wasn't anything needed to be improvised in Percy. Well, maybe he needed a little more of brains, but still. The voice at the back of my head screamed to me to run away with Percy, but I ignored it.

"Well," I said. "I suppose..."

Before I could complete my sentence, Hylla said, "Right this way," she led, and I followed her suit, as if someone was controlling me.

Hylla led me into a dressing room, and many women dressed like her were there. The room had the intoxicating smell of lavender. The room had another door leading to somewhere. Rows and rows of dresses were filled in there, and many make-up tables were lined in one corner.

Hylla called one of the attendants, "Mia, would you help her in finding the perfect dress?" Then Hylla left me in that room.

The girl Mia, rummaged through the rows and rows of dresses and pulled out a silk white sleeveless dress, I couldn't imagine myself in that dress.

"Hmm," Mia said. "This one's just perfect! But..."

"But what?" I asked.

"A little clean-up is needed before you put that dress on." She decided. "Prepare a bath for the young lady, girls."

I didn't know how to react. I wasn't used to such treatment. But I was so enchanted by all this that I followed her orders. The other door in the room led to a bath. I stepped in the bath as one of the girls did my hair. The hot water was relaxing after spending a day on the sea.

Then the girl gave me a dress. I noticed that her name tag read 'Reyna'. She looked about my age. How did she end up working there? Something was wrong about this place. I couldn't place my finger on it.

Once I was dress, Reyna took me to one of the tables where she braided my hair with gold. How much would it cost? Another girl did my make-up. I tried to stop her, but she didn't.

After a while we were done, and I asked her to take me back to C.C. But they insisted on giving me a tour first. I wondered why they were doing all that.