❛010❜
"YOU ARE IN so much trouble," clarisse said.
they'd just finished a ship tour they didn't want, through dark rooms overcrowded with dead sailors. they'd seen the coal bunker, the boilers and engine, which huffed and groaned like it would explode any minute. they'd seen the pilot house and the powder magazine and gunnery deck (clarisse's favorite) with two dahlgren smoothbore cannons on the port and starboard sides and a brooke nine-inch rifled gun fore and aft – all specially refitted to fire celestial bronze cannonballs.
everywhere they went, dead confederate sailors stared at them, their ghostly bearded faces shimmering over their skulls. they approved of annabeth because she told them she was from virginia. they straight up didn't like ivy, much less when percy let out that she was from san francisco. they were interested in percy for a second, because his name was jackson – like the southern general – but then he ruined it by telling them he was from new york. they all hissed and muttered curses about yankees.
tyson was terrified of them. all through the tour, he insisted annabeth hold his hand, which she didn't look too thrilled about.
finally, they were escorted to dinner. the css birmingham captain's quarters were about the size of a walk-in closet, but still much bigger than any other room on board. the table was set with white linen and china. peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips and dr peppers were served by skeletal crewmen. ivy didn't want to eat anything served by ghosts, but her hunger overruled her disgust.
"tantalus expelled you for eternity," clarisse told them smugly. "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."
percy blinked in disbelief. "ares?"
clarisse sneered. "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?"
the captain stood behind her looking stiff and angry. his glowing green eyes fixed percy with a hungry stare. "if it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything. destroy anyone."
clarisse smiled. "destroy anyone. i like that."
tyson gulped.
"clarisse," annabeth said, "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 won' be able to," ivy said. "we have to combine forces. let us help you –"
"no!" clarisse pounded the table. "this is my quest! finally i get to be the hero, and you three will not steal my chance."
"where are your cabin mates?" percy asked. "you were 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," the son of poseidon said, "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 –" She stopped herself.
"what?" ivy asked. "what about the oracle?"
"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."
the next morning, ivy woke up with a stiff neck. hammocks didn't make the most comfortable beds. she packed all her belongings that had survived the hydra into a sailor's canvas knapsack and slung it over her shoulder. she had a feeling that another night in the css birmingham was not on the table. joining tyson and annabeth in the spar deck, ivy realized percy wasn't awake yet.
alarm bells rang throughout the ship. all the undead soldiers bustled around the room, something was happening but ivy couldn't quite understand what.
the captain's gravelly voice said, "all hands on deck! find lady clarisse! where is that girl?"
then a ghostly face appeared next to her, "hold on tight, we are approaching the entrance."
"the entrance to what?"
he gave her a skeletal "the sea of monsters, of course."
a few minutes later, percy appeared from the berth deck. he looked so pale he could pass as a undead soldier.
"what's wrong?" ivy asked him. "another dream?"
he nodded, but didn't say anything. the brunette wasn't convinced, she could tell when percy was lying. before she could question him, annabeth and tyson approached them and clarisse came up the stairs.
the daughter of ares grabbed a pair of binoculars from a zombie officer and peered towards the horizon. "at last. captain, full steam ahead!"
ivy looked in the same direction as she was, but she couldn't see much. the sky was overcast. the air was hazy and humid, like steam from an iron. if she squinted real hard, ivy could just make out a couple of dark fuzzy splotches in the distance.
the engine groaned as they increased speed.
tyson muttered nervously, "too much strain on the pistons. not meant for deep water."
ivy tugged at the end of her hair discreetly, cyclops knew their stuff about mechanics. by the way percy twirled his pen of his hand, he didn't feel very relaxed either.
after a few more minutes, the dark splotches ahead of them came into focus. to the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea – an island with cliffs at least thirty meters tall. about half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a storm brewing. the sky and sea boiled together in a roaring mass.
"hurricane?" annabeth asked.
"no," clarisse said. "charybdis."
ivy paled. "are you absolutely fucking insane?"
"only way into the sea of monsters. straight between charybdis and her sister scylla." clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs.
"what do you mean the only way?" percy asked. "the sea is wide open! just sail around them."
clarisse 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?" annabeth said. "that's another gateway. jason used it."
"i can't blow apart rocks with my cannons," clarisse said. "monsters, on the other hand..."
annabeth looked at ivy. "she is crazy."
"watch and learn, wise girl." clarisse turned to the captain. "set course for charybdis!"
"aye, m'lady."
the engine groaned, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to pick up speed.
"clarisse," percy said, "charybdis sucks up the sea. isn't that the story?"
"and spits it back out again, yeah."
"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," the son of poseidon said. "everybody goes below deck and we chug right past."
"no!" clarisse insisted. "if scylla doesn't get her easy meat, she might pick up the whole ship. besides, she's too high to make a good target. my cannon can't shoot straight up. charybdis just sits there at the centre of her whirlpool. we're going to steam straight towards her, train our guns on her, and blow her to tartarus!"
she said it with such relish ivy almost wanted to believe her.
the engine hummed. the boilers were heating up so much she could feel the deck getting warm beneath her feet. the smokestacks billowed. the red ares flag whipped in the wind.
as they got closer to the monsters, the sound of charybdis got louder and louder – a horrible wet roar like the galaxy's biggest toilet being flushed. every time charybdis inhaled, the ship shuddered and lurched forward. every time she exhaled, they rose in the water and were buffeted by three-meter waves.
ivy tried to time the whirlpool. as near as she could figure, it took charybdis about three minutes to suck up and destroy everything within a half-mile radius. to avoid her, they would have to skirt right next to scylla's cliffs. and as bad as scylla might be, those cliffs were looking awfully good to her.
undead sailors calmly went about their business on the spar deck. ivy guessed they'd fought a losing cause before, so this didn't bother them. or maybe they didn't care about getting destroyed because they were already deceased. neither thought made her feel any better.
annabeth stood next to her, gripping the rail and asked percy, "you still have your flask full of wind?"
he nodded. "but it's too dangerous to use with a whirlpool like that. more wind might just make things worse."
"what about controlling the water?" ivy asked. "you're poseidon's son. you've done it before."
percy closed his eyes, his face set in concentration. with his eyebrows furrowed, eyes moving behind his eyelids, clenched jaw, and hands grasping on the railing– ivy blinked and looked away. trying to look anywhere but an apparently-now-hot-looking-percy, she accidentally locked eyes with annabeth. the blonde looked amused, as if she was about to burst out laughing.
"i-i can't," percy said miserably.
annabeth cleared her throat, subtly swallowing the laugh. "we need a backup plan. this isn't going to work."
ivy nodded, sending her best friend a glare. the daughter of athena was sending her a message with her eyes, we'll talk about this later.
"annabeth is right," tyson said. "engine's no good."
"what do you mean?" ivy asked.
"pressure. pistons need fixing."
before he could explain, the cosmic toilet flushed with a mighty roaaar! the ship lurched forward, percy and ivy were thrown to the deck. they were in the whirlpool.
"full reverse!" clarisse screamed above the noise. the sea churned around them, waves crashing over the deck. the iron plating was now so hot it steamed. "get us within firing range! make ready starboard cannons!"
dead confederates rushed back and forth. the propeller grinded into reverse, trying to slow the ship, but they kept sliding towards the centre of the vortex.
a zombie sailor burst out of the hold and ran to clarisse. his grey uniform was smoking. his beard was on fire. "boiler room overheating, ma'am! she's going to blow!"
"well, get down there and fix it!"
"can't!" the sailor yelled. "we're vaporizing in the heat."
clarisse pounded the side of the casemate. "all i need is a few more minutes! just enough to get in range!"
"we're going in too fast," the captain said grimly. "prepare yourself for death."
well, this is fucking splendid, ivy thought.
"no!" tyson bellowed. "i can fix it."
carisse looked at him incredulously. "you?"
"he's a cyclops," annabeth said. "he's immune to fire."
ivy nodded. "he also knows mechanics."
"go!" yelled clarisse.
"tyson, no!" percy grabbed his arm. "it's too dangerous!"
he patted his hand. "only way, brother." his expression was determined – confident, even. "i will fix it. be right back."
as they watched him follow the smoldering sailor down the hatch, ivy had a terrible feeling. before she could make out what it was– she saw charybdis.
she appeared only a few hundred meters away, through a swirl of mist and smoke and water. the first thing ivy noticed was the reef – a black crag of coral with a fig tree clinging to the top, an oddly peaceful thing in the middle of a maelstrom. all around it, water curved into a funnel, like light around a black hole. then she saw the horrible thing anchored to the reef just below the waterline – an enormous mouth with slimy lips and mossy teeth the size of rowboats. and worse, the teeth had braces, bands of corroded scummy metal with pieces of fish and driftwood and floating garbage stuck between them.
charybdis was an orthodontist's nightmare. she was nothing but a huge black maw with bad teeth alignment and a serious overbite, and she'd done nothing for centuries but eat without brushing after meals. as ivy watched, the entire sea around the monster was sucked into the void – sharks, schools of fish, a giant squid. and she realized that in a few seconds, the css birmingham would be next.
"lady clarisse," the captain shouted. "starboard and forward guns are in range!"
"fire!" clarisse ordered.
three rounds were blasted into the monster's maw. one blew off the edge of an incisor. another disappeared into her gullet. the third hit one of charybdis's retaining bands and shot back at them, snapping the ares flag off its pole.
"again!" clarisse ordered. the gunners reloaded, but ivy knew it was hopeless. they would have to pound the monster a hundred more times to do any real damage, and they didn't have that long. they were being sucked in too fast.
then the vibrations in the deck changed. the hum of the engine got stronger and steadier. the ship shuddered and they started pulling away from the mouth.
"tyson did it!" annabeth said.
"wait!" clarisse said. "we need to stay close!"
"that's suicide!" ivy said. "we have to move away."
she gripped the rail as the ship fought against the suction. the broken ares flag raced past them and lodged in charybdis's braces. they weren't making much progress, but at least they were holding their own. tyson had somehow given them just enough juice to keep the ship from being sucked in.
suddenly, the mouth snapped shut. the sea died to absolute calm. water washed over charybdis.
then, just as quickly as it had closed, the mouth exploded open, spitting out a wall of water, ejecting everything inedible, including their cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the css birmingham with a ding like the bell on a carnival game.
they were thrown backwards on a wave that must've been fifteen meters high. they were spinning out of control, hurtling towards the cliffs on the opposite side of the strait.
another smoldering sailor burst out of the hold. he stumbled into clarisse, almost knocking them both overboard. "the engine is about to blow!"
"where's tyson?" percy demanded.
"still down there," the sailor said. "holding it together somehow, though i don't know for how much longer."
the captain said, "we have to abandon ship."
"no!" clarisse yelled.
"we have no choice, m'lady. the hull is already cracking apart! she can't –"
he never finished his sentence. quick as lightning, something brown and green shot from the sky, snatched up the captain, and lifted him away. all that was left were his leather boots.
"scylla!" a sailor yelled, as another column of reptilian flesh shot from the cliffs and snapped him up. it happened so fast it was like watching a laser beam rather than a monster. ivy couldn't even make out the thing's face, just a flash of teeth and scales.
ivy tugged at her keychain, kapsoura sprung out in her hand. she notched an arrow and tried to find something to aim at as it carried off another deckhand, but she couldn't find a clear shot.
"everyone get below!" percy yelled, he had riptide held up in his hand.
"we can't!" clarisse drew her own sword. "below deck is in flames."
"lifeboats!" annabeth said. "quick!"
"they'll never get clear of the cliffs," clarisse said. "we'll all be eaten."
"we have to try," ivy insisted. "percy, the flask."
"i can't leave tyson!"
"we have to get the boats ready!" annabeth ordered.
clarisse took annabeth's command. she and a few of her undead sailors uncovered one of the two emergency rowboats while scylla's heads rained from the sky like a meteor shower with teeth, picking off confederate sailors one after another.
"get the other boat." percy threw ivy the flask, pushing her towards annabeth. "i'll get tyson."
"you can't!" ivy said. "you're not fireproof!"
percy didn't listen. he ran for the boiler room hatch, when suddenly he was standing in the deck. he was flying straight up, the side of the cliff only inches from him.
scylla had somehow caught percy by the knapsack, and was lifting him up towards her lair.
without thinking, or more like with much thinking of percy. ivy stepped out of the lifeboat, ignoring annabeth protests. the brunette notched two arrows and aiming right into the monster's beady yellow eyes. she grunted and dropped the boy.
the fall would've been bad enough, considering he was thirty meters in the air. ivy stayed at the railing, trying to rapidly figure out a way to soften his fall. but the css birmingham exploded.
karoom!
the engine room blew, sending chunks of ironclad flying in either direction like a fiery set of wings.
"fitzy!" percy yelled.
the lifeboats had managed to get away from the ship, but not very far. flaming wreckage was raining down. clarisse and annabeth would either be smashed or burned or pulled to the bottom by the force of the sinking hull, and that was thinking optimistically, assuming they got away from scylla.
as ivy flew through the air, she got clonked on the head by something hard. then there was a different kind of explosion, with white sheets of wind blasted all around. the last thing she remembered was how she didn't hit the water.