Y/n Pov:
As we sailed, I couldn't help but be happy.
I finally realized that I love myself. Being with makeup and glamour and all that beauty, I was put on Circe's island, didn't feel nice. As soon as I got on the boat, and we started sailing, I changed into my black jeans, grey QUEEN band T-shirt, grey converse and took away the braids/golden flower crown from my head and the makeup. I felt complete.
Yet part of my heart was empty. I'm not sure what happened back there, but Percy and I almost kissed. That was so weird. I don't even like Percy. Do I? No. No, I don't. Men are gross. Love is disgusting and...whatever happened back there, doesn't matter.
Somehow, some part of me wanted to believe it was true. That Percy and I did almost kiss. I don't know why. So, just like every time I have a question that doesn't have an answer, I went to Annabeth for help.
"You like him, Y/n," she told me. "You really do."
"Ew, Annabeth, no," I said, fake puking. "Gross."
Annabeth smirked at me and continued to sharpen her knife. I huffed and sat down on the floor. Then she gasped and looked at me.
"What?" I asked.
She smiled. "He's the one!"
"What?"
"The one from your prophecy."
"Hah! Yeah, right, and Grayson's the son of Persephone."
She waved her hand around dismissively. "No, listen. The Archer's daughter; And the child of water. They will cross paths; But land has other plans. She lies with a broken heart; The other gets a fresh start."
"Yes, that's my prophecy, so?"
"Percy's the child of the Sea God!"
"You just realized?"
"Stop. Listen, The Archer's daughter; And the child of water."
I nodded at her to continue.
"Oh, my gods," she groaned. "You're so oblivious! Poseidon, sea god, sea = water. Child of water. Percy's the kid from the prophecy!"
I gasped. "Impossible. There must be another child of water. And I am not oblivious."
"When did Apollo say the prophecy would most likely start?"
"When I got my first quest."
"See! He is!"
I sat back. Percy and I? Really?
Maybe that explains why I wanted that kiss to happen...
SNAP OUT OF IT, HUNTER! MEN ARE IDIOTS! YOU ARE NOT CRUSHING ON THIS BOY!
I shook my thoughts away, stood up and walked to where Percy was sailing.
~
It was now midnight and Percy kept on sailing. My eyes were begging me to go to sleep, but my heart just wasn't on it. I stood up, careful not to wake up Annabeth, and walked over to Percy. We were just passing a smoking volcano island. The sea bubbled and steamed around the shore.
"One of the forges of Hephaestus, I said. "Where he makes his metal monsters."
Percy turned to look at me. "Like the bronze bulls?"
I nodded. "Go around. Far around."
We steered clear of the island, and soon it was just a red patch of haze behind us.
Percy turned to look at me. "The reason you hate Cyclopes so much...the story about how Thaliareally died. What happened?"
I frowned and suddenly, the floor was fascinating.
OH, MY GODS! FIRST WITH THE DAMN PROPHECY, NOW WITH THALIA. BRING YOURSELF TOGETHER, WOMAN!
"I guess you deserve to know," I said finally. "The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. You remember he told you that once?"
Percy nodded.
"Well, the worst wrong turn was into a Cyclops's lair in Brooklyn."
"They've got Cyclopes in Brooklyn?" Percy asked.
"You wouldn't believe how many, but that's not the point. This Cyclops, he tricked us. He managed to split us up inside this maze of corridors in an old house in Flat Bush. And he could sound like anyone, Percy. Just the way Tyson did aboard the Princess Andromeda. He lured us, one at a time. Thalia thought she was running to save Luke. Luke thought he heard me scream for help. Annabeth thought she heard her father crying for a saviour. And me... I was alone in the dark. I was seven years old. Not only that, but I couldn't even find the exit."
I sighed. "I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia, Annabeth, Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling like smoked hams. The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. I drew a spear I had made from a broom, but he heard me. He turned and smiled. He spoke, in a voice, I knew so well, yet I didn't recognize. Only later did I realize it was my mother's, Artemis's voice. The Cyclopes said, 'Now, Y/n, don't you worry. I love you. You can stay here with me. You can stay forever.'"
Percy shivered. "What did you do?"
"I stabbed him in the foot."
He stared at me in awe. "Are you kidding? You were seven years old, and you stabbed a grown Cyclops in the foot?"
"Oh, he would've killed me. But I surprised him. It gave me just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there."
"Yeah, but still...that was pretty brave, Y/n."
I shook my head. "We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares, Percy. The way that Cyclops talked in my mother's voice. It was his fault we took so long to get to camp. All the monsters who'd been chasing us had time to catch up. That's really why Thalia died. If it hadn't been for that Cyclops, she'd still be alive today."
We sat on the deck, watching the Orion constellation rise in the night sky. I remembered the stories Zoë used to tell me about Orion. She said he was a kind man if mother thought so. She also said that mother found him worthy and 'not too bad for a man'. Zoë told me Orion's story every single night when the campers stayed at Camp, and the fight he had with Scorpion. That was also the story of my own Zodiac sign, Scorpio.
"Go below," I told Percy at last. "You need some rest."
He did as told, and I steered the boat, smiling at the stars.
~
Sirens.
Annabeth had woken up about fifteen minutes before I spotted the island.
"Go wake up your boyfriend," she told me. "I'll steer the boat."
"Oh my freaking gods, Annabeth!" I said. "He's not my boyfriend!"
"Mmm-hmm," she hummed. "Go wake him, please."
I sighed and did as told.
"No!" Percy said, still sleeping. "No!"
I shook him. "Wake up, Percy!"
"Ah!" he sat bolt upright in the hammock.
"Percy, you were having a nightmare. You need to get up."
"Wh—what is it?" He rubbed his eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Land," I said grimly. "We're approaching the island of the Sirens."
~
I could barely make out the island ahead of us—just a dark spot in the mist.
"I want you to do me a favour," Annabeth told us. "The Sirens...we'll be in the range of their singing soon."
"No problem," Percy assured her. "We can just stop up our ears. There's a big tub of candle wax below deck—"
"I want to hear them."
I blinked. "Why?"
"They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn't even realize. That's what's so enchanting. If you survive...you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?"
Coming from most people, this would've made no sense. But Annabeth being who she was—well, if she could struggle through Ancient Greek architecture books and enjoy documentaries on the History Channel, I guessed the Sirens would appeal to her, too.
"Alright," I said. "But I'm doing it with you."
"What? No!" argued Annabeth. "What if something goes wrong?"
"Then we'll have each other," I reassured. "Now come on."
As soon as the rocky coastline of the island came into view, Percy ordered one of the ropes to wrap around my waist, and another around Annabeth's waist, tying us to the foremast.
"Don't untie me," I said, "no matter what happens or how much I plead. I'll want to go straight over the edge and drown myself."
"Are you trying to tempt me?"
"Ha-ha."
Percy promised he'd keep us secure. Then he took two large wads of candle wax, kneaded them into earplugs, and stuffed his ears.
I nodded sarcastically, letting him know the earplugs were a real fashion statement. He made a face at me and turned to the pilot's wheel.
The silence was eerie. I couldn't hear anything but the rush of blood in my head. As we approached the island, jagged rocks loomed out of the fog. The Queen Anne's Revenge skirted around them. If we sailed any closer, those rocks would shred our hull like blender blades.
Everything was fine until I heard them. The song was soft, from a voice, I felt familiar with. I had heard my mother, Artemis, humming to the melody once, but never asked what the song was. Nevertheless, the song was addicting. I wanted to run over there to where the Sirens were just to be able to hear it better. The song felt so ancient, yet so young.
I made the mistake to look at the Sirens. They weren't sirens anymore. It was in a park, and there were many people there. Most of the people I recognized—Lee, Will, Kyle, Michael, Artemis, Apollo, Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Luke, Grayson—yet I didn't recognize one person.
She had y/h/c hair in a braid, y/e/c, soft eyes and was wearing a grey hoodie, black pants and grey chunky boots. Whomever she was, she looked a lot like me. The woman and Artemis were laughing about something as the woman made a silly face. She lifted her hand, and I saw my ring—well, her ring.
That woman was my mother. She was alive, and we were a big, happy family.
I had to get to her. I begged and pleaded at Percy to let me go, but he wouldn't listen. I had to go to my mother, I had to hug her.
My mother turned to look at me. "I'm so proud of you, Y/n," she spoke in a soothing voice. "I love you so much."
I wanted to cry. I needed to get to her. Seeing that Percy wouldn't listen, I did the extreme. I cut the ropes with my hunting knife and threw myself overboard. I swam as quickly as I could, determined to hug my mother. I needed to hug my mother. The water was cold, but it didn't matter. I was so close.
Then something tugged me from behind. I screamed and punched the force which was pulling me into the bay. The force pulled me underwater, and I saw Percy, but when he pulled me back up, I saw my mother again, and I swam away.
He grabbed my waist and pulled me down underwater. I was drowning, for sure. Then a bubble surrounded us and I was able to breathe again. I looked into Percy's eyes. They seemed greener now that we were underwater and they glowed a homely glow.
I sobbed. How could I have been so stupid? I risked both my life and his. I felt worthless. Percy held me so we were cuddling. I felt warm against his arms and held him closer.
"I'll get us back to the ship," he told me. "It's okay. Just hang on."
I nodded and mumbled, "thanks."
Percy made the current steer our weird little air submarine through the rocks and barbed wire and back toward the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was maintaining a slow and steady course away from the island.
We stayed underwater, following the ship, until we had moved out of earshot of the Sirens. Then Percy surfaced and our air bubble popped.
He ordered a rope ladder to drop over the side of the ship, and we climbed aboard.
Percy kept my earplugs in, just to be sure. We sailed until the island was completely out of sight. I sat huddled in a blanket on the forward deck. Finally, I looked up, dazed and sad, and mouthed, safe.
Percy and Annabeth took out the earplugs. The afternoon was quiet except for the sound of the waves against the hull. The fog had burned away to a blue sky as if the island of the Sirens had never existed.
"You okay?" Annabeth asked.
"I didn't realize," she murmured.
"What?"
"How powerful the temptation would be."
"I saw your mom," Percy told me. "And Luke and your family."
My face felt hot. "You saw that?"
"What Luke told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about your mom...that really got to you, huh?"
I pulled my blanket around me. "My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. I'm altruistic."
"Autistic?"
"Altruistic," I corrected. "It means that you act to promote someone else's welfare, even at a risk or cost to yourself."
"You feel that way?"
I looked down. "I want to make the world a better place, and I would give my life away if it meant someone else would get to live theirs. For example, I would give my food - no, not my food I'm very protective over that, I would give my homework to someone if they haven't done theirs, even though it would mean I would get into trouble."
Percy motioned me to go on.
"It's just, I want to save everyone, and I know I could be able to save someone if I die instead. That person would probably be able to live a fuller life than I ever will so they might as well enjoy it. Don't you feel like that? Like you wished you could die instead of another person?"
"No, not really."
"Then you're lucky. Altruistic isn't your fatal flaw."
"What is?"
"I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it...well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing."
Percy sat next to me, in silence. Annabeth winked at me and left to steer the ship.
"So was it worth it?" Percy asked Annabeth. "Do you feel...wiser?"
She gazed into the distance. "I'm not sure. But we have to save the camp. If we don't stopLuke..."
She didn't need to finish. If Luke's way of thinking could even tempt Annabeth, there was no telling how many other half-bloods might join him.
Suddenly Annabeth's eyes widened. "Percy."
He turned.
Up ahead was another blotch of land—a saddle-shaped island with forested hills and white beaches and green meadows.
"30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west," mumbled Percy.
I gasped. We had reached the home of the Cyclops.