[Y/N's POV]
It's good to know that I'm not always the least intelligent one of the group. Because Percy had very little common sense about this. If I could slap him as a guinea pig, I would.
But, even Annabeth went along with this whole thing, which was odd, seeing as she usually questioned EVERYTHING. Granted, 'C.C.' as she was apparently called now, usually treated girls better than us gents.
Let me tell you the story of how I got here.
When I woke up on the beach, which could have been a couple days ago for all I know, I scrambled to my feet and spun around, wiping clumps of wet sand off of my legs. After I had finished that, as well as shaken the sand free of my shoes, I started searching around on the island.
It didn't take long for me to realize that this place was inhabited. What struck me as weird though, was that that the place looked like a private resort. In fact, it basically was, since Hylla, the trickster with the clipboard, had explained that this place was a spa.
Now, normally, I like to be skeptical about these things, but the last 48 hours or so had somewhat shifted my perspective about myself. And that demon. And the world around. And my friends. Oh gods, my friends.
I was here without them. Hylla saw the frightened look on my face and put a hand on my shoulder, asking, "What's wrong?" I explained everything, and she gained wide eyes, and a grimace on her face. "I think I know someone who can help take the edge off." she said, guiding me further into the spa. "But I don't need the edge taken off!" I shouted. "I need to find my friends!"
"And miss C.C. can help you with that, only once you've calmed down." Eventually, we reached this, 'Miss C.C.' lady that Hylla was rattling on about. And let me tell you, I thought she was the second most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. At least until this whole thing happened. She's dropped substantially down on my rankings since.
Anyway.
C.C. looked me up and down with a glint of confusion, and then some form of genuine care. She frowned. "What's your name, young man?" she asked, a hint of worry in her voice. "Y/N." I replied, hazily, still trying to calm my breathing.
"Well, Y/N. You look troubled. What brings you here?" she asked, a gorgeous smile on her face, and clapping her hands on her knees.
C.C stood and stepped a few feet closer, leaning down to be only a couple inches from my face. Said face of mine burned a little bit as I tried to come up with words to say.
"I washed up on the shore.", I said, slowing my breathing, looking into her captivating eyes. "I... I'm looking for my friends. Our boat, it got into an accident, and we got separated. Maybe they came through here?"
C.C. shook her head. "Well, Y/N, I'm sorry, but you're our first customer in a while. If you'd like, we can get you treated for some things while you work on finding your friends? You need medical attention." She offered. That sounded like a really good idea, so I accepted.
C.C. waved Hylla out of the room and took me by the hand, pulling me into what I could only guess was her office, because there was a giant loom in here, with black fabric at the base. Not to mention the giant cage of squealing guinea pigs, rattling around.
"Ah, yes." C.C. said, noticing my eyes. "I adopted a few a while back, and they bred like mad. I can't sell them fast enough." she said, directing me to stand in front of a large blue cloth. "Here, Y/N. Look into this, and it'll tell me exactly what you need from us."
"What?" C.C. smiled sweetly at me for a moment, giving a look that read 'you can trust me.' I felt like I could, so I looked into the cloth, and saw my reflection for only a moment. Then, it shifted from the bruised, bloody, grimacing face that I was wearing right now, to my face without any of that. The cracks in my skin were gone, a small scar or two no longer there, my hair looked cleaner than I could ever make it, and silky smooth.
"Ah." She said softly. "Just a few simple fixes. That's better than most people your age." C.C. reached down into her cabinet and grabbed a bottle of water. I looked back into the cloth.
It changed. I looked entirely different. I was taller, older, less anxious looking, and most importantly, there was a wide smile on my face, displaying my perfectly straight, and shiny white teeth. "Miss C.C.?" I called out. "Yes, Y/N?" she replied, searching through the cabinets.
"The reflection changed again." C.C. smacked her head on the inside of the cabinet and hurried out of it to me, muttering something. The only thing that could be made out was, "That can't be right."
She turned and smiled at me, brightly. "Look again, Y/N." I did. The image was different yet again. I wasn't just smiling anymore. I looked like a grown adult. My hair was longer, my face was covered in even, thick, trimmed facial hair, my hand intertwined with someone else's. She had curly blonde hair and-
"What is going on with this thing?" C.C. asked, putting her hands on the cloth, shaking it. With a deep breath, she dropped the curtain. "Never mind that, Y/N. Just... drink this."
She poured a packet of sugar into the water, stirring, mixing the powder and the liquid. "It'll fix your little... infestation problem." She smirked questionably, and I raised a brow at the word 'infestation'
"What? Why?" I asked. C.C.'s shoulders slumped. "Because it's a special drink that'll help you." she said. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Just drink it!" She shouted. I drank the entire thing in one go. It felt tingly. C.C. smiled sinisterly.
Suddenly, my whole body felt wrong. I grabbed my stomach, and felt like hurling. Somehow, I held it in, instead, collapsing to my knees in pain. C.C. ran her hand through the top of my (H/C) hair and tsked.
"Poor, innocent, Y/N. You're still just a gullible little boy." She said, "Although, you have given me an idea."
While I was doubled over in pain, C.C. grabbed a few spools of thread from a cabinet and stuck them on her loom. While she did that, I felt like my insides were growing immensely. Turns out, nothing was growing. I was shrinking.
My armor slipped off my arms, clattering to the floor, and my clothes slid right off of my back. C.C. stomped right up to me, and lifted me with one hand. I could only guess what had happened. But when she stuck me in the cage with the other guinea pigs, I got a definite answer.
I screeched at the top of my lungs, but C.C. rattled the cage and said, "Hush now, Y/N. You'll never make a classroom pet like that. So behave, would you?" She asked, returning to her loom, starting to spin the thread into what it was currently, with a bronze sky dotted with stars of silver.
Wonder where she got that idea from.
While she weaved, she muttered a few things. She turned to me and sneered, "Oh, poor Y/N. Your perfect self. You could never make it happen. But I could. It's a pretty simple spell to help with that little monster issue of yours. Simple for me at least." The witch chuckled evilly and launched into a multi hour explanation of the painful sounding magic she'd use to 'fix' me.
Then, however long later, Percy and Annabeth showed up. So I tried to get their attention. I kept slamming my head into the cage door, squealing as loudly as my guinea pig lungs would allow me to. Needless to say, my head hurt. It did nothing though, as Hylla dragged Annabeth off, and C.C. turned Percy into one of us.
I bit him when he got in here, but still, he didn't seem to put two and two together. Guinea pigs don't have eyes like these!
Now, when Annabeth came in, my tiny guinea pig jaw dropped. "Miss C.C.?" she called. C.C. swore, and hastily kicked Percy's clothes out of sight, right near mine. She had placed my armor on the top of the cage. New plan. Maybe, with enough force, I could knock them off and make quite a clatter.
Anyway, about Annabeth. She was wearing a solid white silk dress, with her hair combed through, no curls whatsoever, which looked really out of place. But what looked even weirder was that she had a full face of makeup on. As far as I knew, Annabeth and makeup were about as likely to team up as Annabeth and Tyson.
But she looked beautiful. Definitely even more than C.C. Though, my opinion on both of them isn't exactly unbiased at the moment. I'd sooner put a seagull in a wig higher than C.C. at this point. I made up my mind about trying to get her attention. If anyone could figure this out, it would be her. So I slammed my face into the bars, screeching again. I inched closer to my goal.
[Annabeth's POV]
It felt a little odd, being all dressed up like this. Makeup wasn't exactly my biggest area of knowledge. But Hylla said I was fine, so she let me go and told me to go see C.C. So I did. "Miss C.C.?" I called, coming through the curtain. I heard her swear something, and kick something else. Not sure what that was.
But I looked around the room and frowned. "Where's Percy?" Two of the guinea pigs started screaming even louder than earlier. One of them slammed their faces into the cage, shaking it. C.C. looked back on it with mirth, before turning back to me and smiling. "He's having one of our treatments, my dear. Not to worry. You look wonderful! What did you think of your tour?"
I really did enjoy it. This place was beautiful. My eyebrows raised in delight. "Your library is amazing!" I exclaimed. It really was amazing. She had books from what felt like before they even wrote books. Yet, she still had them.
"Yes, indeed," C.C. said. "The best knowledge of the past three millennia. Anything you want to study, anything you want to be, my dear."
"An architect?" I asked, smiling. "Pah!" C.C. said. "You, my dear, have the makings of a sorceress. Like me." What? I took a cautious step back. The guinea pig slammed into the cage again. "A sorceress?"
"Yes, my dear." C.C. held up her hand. A flame appeared in her palm and danced across her fingertips. "My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic. I know a daughter of Athena when I see one. We are not so different, you and I. We both seek knowledge. We both admire greatness. Neither of us needs to stand in the shadow of men."
"I- I don't understand." That guinea pig slammed into the cage again, making something on top of it rattle. There was a second guinea pig that was squealing with them. One of the guinea pigs had black fur, and sea green eyes. The other had (H/C) fur with eyes that looked like-
My breath caught in my throat.
No. I must have been seeing things. That's not how Guinea Pigs work after all.
"Stay with me," C.C. was trying to convince me. "Study with me. You can join our staff, become a sorceress, learn to bend others to your will. You will become immortal!"
"But-" I stuttered, thinking about the giant wall of guinea pigs behind her. Those could only be-
"You are too intelligent, my dear," C.C. said. "You know better than to trust that silly camp for heroes. How many great female half-blood heroes can you name?"
"Um, Atalanta, Amelia Earhart-"
"Bah! Men get all the glory." C.C. closed her fist and extinguished the magic flame. "The only way to power for women is sorcery. Medea, Calypso, now there were powerful women! And me, of course. The greatest of all."
Oh no. I guess I figured it out. "You... C.C... Circe!"
"Yes, my dear." She cackled as I kept backing up. "You need not worry. I mean you no harm." she said.
"What have you done to Percy?"
"Only helped him realize his true form." she said, sinisterly. I looked around the room and saw that same pair of guinea pigs. The black and (H/C) ones. They slammed into the side of the cage again, and a set of armor clattered off the top of the cage. A pair of bronze bracers. The ones that belonged to...
"What have you done with them?" I asked, panicked. Circe's brow raised. "Them?" she asked. "I just told you. Percy is becoming his true self." I clenched my fists. "No... Y/N. He's here too isn't he?!" I shouted, making Circe stagger a few steps back.
She rolled her eyes. "Y/N?... hm. I don't know of any Y/N." She mused. "Liar! Those belong to him!" I shouted, pointing to the armor. Circe groaned in annoyance.
"Don't worry about those boys dear." Circe said. "Join me and learn the ways of sorcery."
"But-"
"Your friends will be well cared for. They'll be shipped to wonderful new homes on the mainland. The kindergartners will adore them. Meanwhile, you will be wise and powerful. You will have all you ever wanted."
I stared at the guinea pigs, putting a hazy expression on, to convince Circe I was considering it. The rodents screamed and banged against the cages. I looked down at the armor on the floor, and saw some of Percy's clothes sticking out from under a table. I tried to keep my composure, realizing that my friends were still in the room with me.
"Let me think about it," I murmured. "Just... give me a minute alone. To say goodbye."
"Of course, my dear," Circe cooed. "One minute. Oh... and so you have absolute privacy... "
She waved her hand and iron bars slammed down over the windows. She swept out of the room and I heard the locks on the door click shut behind her.
I dropped the hazy expression and rushed over to the cages, moving quickly. There was no telling how long Circe would let me stay in here alone. My acting wasn't the most convincing thing in the world. I put my hands up on the bar, peering in, looking for them.
"Alright, which ones of you are my friends?"
The guinea pigs all squealed desperately, and it was difficult to really find either of them in this wave of fur spilling around. All I could do was scan the room. I spotted Percy's jeans sticking out and dropped to the ground, searching around in them. Yes! The vitamins were still there. I struggled with the cap for a while, trying to ignore the manic squealing of the guinea pigs.
I finally pulled the top off and tossed a lemon chewable into my mouth. Just as I did, Circe burst through and was flanked by two spa attendants.
"Well," Circe sighed, "how fast a minute passes. What is your answer, my dear?" My plan was half baked, but it was still in the oven for a bit. "This," I said, drawing my bronze dagger.
Circe stepped back, shocked, but she didn't stay like that for long, sneering at me. "Really, little girl, a knife against my magic? Is that wise?"
Circe looked back at her attendants, who smiled. They raised their hands as if preparing to cast a spell. The guinea pigs behind me started freaking out even more, running in circles around the cage, squealing twice as loud as before.
"What will Annabeth's makeover be?" Circe mused. "Something small and ill-tempered. I know... a shrew!" Blue fire flowed from her fingers, circling around me like a boa constrictor. Time to see if Hermes' medicine was as good as advertised.
I slammed my eyes shut, and nothing happened. Now I was just angry. First she turns my friends into guinea pigs and now she's threatening me. I leapt at Circe, trying to drive the point of my dagger into her neck.
She held her arms up and kept the blade just shy of her jugular. I snarled at her. "How about turning me into a panther instead? One that has her claws at your throat!" I shouted. I have no clue where that line came from, but it sounded pretty cool.
"How!" Circe yelped. I held up my bottle of vitamins for the sorceress to see. She howled in frustration. "Curse Hermes and his multivitamins! Those are such a fad! They do nothing for you."
"Turn Y/N and Percy back to humans or else!" Annabeth said.
"I can't!"
"Then you asked for it."
Circe's attendants stepped forward, but their mistress said, "Get back! She's immune to magic until that cursed vitamin wears off." I dragged Circe over to the guinea pig cage, knocked the top off, and poured the rest of the vitamins inside.
"No!" the sorceress screamed.
The guinea pigs swarmed the vitamins. Then. BANG! The cage exploded. Guinea pigs and vitamins went flying around the whole room.
Percy was sitting on the ground, fully clothed, thankfully, blinking and touching his chest, his legs, and his hair, realizing he was human again. Then, others appeared, with six other guys shaking wood shavings out of their hair.
I was worried for a moment, since the only other person I was expecting to see, hadn't returned to human yet. In that moment, I was greatly concerned I really was just seeing what I wanted to.
But then, a thud and a very loud "OW!" in his voice filled my ears. I looked over and saw Y/N sitting under Circe's loom, rubbing the top of his head. My heart stopped for a moment, seeing all of the bruises and gashes still on his body.
[Y/N's POV]
"I never want to be that hairy again!" I exclaimed, scratching my legs and just about anywhere my fingernails could reach. "It's so itchy! That sucked..." I heard a gasp and looked over to see Annabeth and Percy staring at me with wide, hopeful eyes. "You're alive!" Percy shouted, sounding completely surprised.
I guess he didn't figure out that guinea pigs don't usually have bronze eyes. But, we were both human again, and that vitamin was a very fun grape flavor, so there was that. Percy tackle hugged me, knocking over Circe's loom. The witch shouted in anger, as Percy got back to his feet, dusted himself off, standing and pulling me up to my feet again.
I took a few, careful steps toward Annabeth. She looked like the wrong syllable would make her attack me. To put it simply, she seemed upset. For obvious reasons of course. I looked at her, catching my breath, needing to after my rodent sized lungs expanded so dramatically. I swallowed a lump in my throat.
"So... um... I'm not dead. I told you..." I muttered, smirking. Annabeth wasn't amused. Her face took on a more angered expression, and she smacked me, open handed across the face, and before giving me any time to process this, enveloped me in a tight hug, squeezing for a second before letting go, and glaring a hole through my soul.
"You're giving me mixed signals here, Annabeth." I muttered, rubbing the spot on my face where she slapped me. Suddenly, there was a gruff staggered breath.
"No!" Circe screamed. "You don't understand! Those are the worst!"
One of the men stood up. A huge guy with a long tangled pitch black beard and teeth the same color. He wore mismatched clothes of wool and leather, knee-length boots, and a floppy felt hat. The other men were dressed more simply. In breeches and stained white shirts. All of them were barefoot.
"Argggh!" bellowed the big man. "What's the witch done t'me!"
"No!" Circe moaned.
Annabeth gasped. "I recognize you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?"
"Aye, lass," the big man growled. "Though most call me Blackbeard! And there's the sorceress what captured us, lads. Run her through, and then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Arggggh!"
Circe screamed. She and her attendants ran from the room, chased by the pirates. Annabeth sheathed her knife and glared at me again.
"Hey... " I faltered. "I uh... I'm sorry-"
She hugged me again, almost knocking me off my feet. But I managed to wrap my arms around her, stabilizing my footing before I hit the deck. She buried her face into the crook of my neck. "You need to stop apologizing." She said, muffled. "I'll stop apologizing when it's not my fault." I said. Annabeth sniffed and looked up at me. "I'm glad you're not dead... Or a guinea pig." I was really hoping my face wasn't as vibrantly red as hers.
Because I felt it burning. "Yeah, I'm glad too." Percy cleared his throat. "Yep we're glad you're okay too, Percy." I chuckled, wrapping him in a friendly embrace. He returned it, laughing. "How'd you survive?" He asked, shocked.
"Better question is how'd you figure out I was here?" I asked Annabeth. She wiped off some of the makeup on her face. "Because I'm a genius. That's why." she said, smirking. "Good point." I huffed. "But how did you survive Scylla?!" Percy asked, again. This time he sounded more aggravated for an answer.
"We'll worry about that later, Seaweed brain." Annabeth said, undoing the golden braids in her hair. "We have to get away while Circe's distracted." I grabbed my sword and my armor, strapping them on, before we bailed.
We took off down the hill where the resort was resting. As we sprinted along, we spotted Blackbeard's men tearing the place apart. Towels and tables went flying. Herbal wraps were tying up spa attendants, and tiki torches were being snapped and thrown at the wrapped up attendants.
All they could do was hop around. I would have felt bad for them, besides the fact that they had let me and all these others be turned into hairy little rats.
I gave the pirates a salute and a cheer as we ran past, and they cheered jovially, returning it. Might be one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me, but in time, we reached the docks, now having an entirely different issue to worry about.
"Which ship?" Annabeth asked, looking at Percy. I surveyed the available options. Speed boats, submarines, there was even a fighter jet. I don't know how we'd drive those things, but we'd figure it out. We needed to move fast anyway.
Then Percy gasped and pointed. "There," he said. I blinked in surprise, looking at Annabeth to confirm that we were looking at the same thing. Apparently we were. Annabeth tried to argue. "But-"
"I can make it work," he said. "And how are you going to do that?" I asked him, skeptically. He never bothered to explain how he knew how to steer a dang pirate ship, but we hurried behind him to the so-called, 'Queen Anne's revenge.' The name was painted on the side of the ship, and we were about to find out who this belonged to.
"Argggh!" Blackbeard yelled somewhere behind us. "Those scalawags are a-boarding me vessel! Get 'em, lads!"
"How are we supposed to get this old piece moving in time?!" I shouted. Percy shook his head, looking around the mess of rope that covered the ship. We could see the pirates headed towards us with their swords, and broken Tiki torches. Percy scrunched up his face, and randomly shouted, "Mizzenmast!"
We looked at him like he was nuts, because it certainly felt like he was. But then the ropes and sails all snapped taut, the old wood creaking as the ship lurched, pulling out of the dock.
Annabeth ducked as a cable flew over her head and wrapped itself around the bowsprit. "Percy, how... "
I looked at him, with no clue how this worked, and he clearly didn't know either, shrugging, and sending the ship out of port. The Queen Anne's revenge pulled away, fleeing from the chasing pirates. As they shouted obscenities that no child should have to hear, we were already off, sailing back into the Sea of Monsters.