The sun had long since set.

I continued piloting the Revenge, knowing instinctively what to do. The ship obeyed my every command. I could feel where it is we were, I could tell exactly which way to sail to reach our destination. I could sense every obstacle on our path. Sailing this ship was, for once, something I was good at.

As I continued to sail, my mind wandered. I thought about Tyson, my brother. I missed him terribly. I missed Grover as well. I was worried about him. We only had so much time before he became cyclops food.

And, of course, I thought about myself. More specifically, the changes from our brief visit to the spa. I remembered the image I had seen back in the mirrors in C C’s room. My hair had lengthened to my shoulders, although it was now very tangled. My face as well had softened slightly, and the little peach fuzz on my upper lip had vanished. I was also shorter. My jeans, while feeling slightly tighter, now touched the top of my feet. My shirt also reached farther down my legs. Before, Annabeth and I had been close in height, now she was a few inches taller. There was, of course, something missing from before, but I found that I did not care it was gone, on some level preferred it being gone. Just as I also preferred the extra weight I could feel on my chest.

Bras were uncomfortable though. Oh yeah, when I transformed back to human, along with all my old, now too large clothes, a bra had also somehow magically appeared on me. It was probably about the only thing I was wearing that even fit me now.

I honestly didn’t mind the changes. In fact, I welcomed them. Once I had gotten over my initial shock and had time to really think about it, I found that I really liked the fact that I was now a girl.

I told Annabeth as much when she came back up on deck.

“If you say so, Seaweed Brain.”

And that was that. I was now a girl.

We were passing a volcanic island, the sea bubbling and steaming near the shore.

“That’s one of Hephaestus’s forges,” Annabeth said, grimacing. “Where he makes his bronze monsters.”

“Like the bulls?” I asked.

She nodded. “Sail around. Far around.”

She didn’t need to tell me twice. I directed the ship around the island, and soon it was nothing more than some red haze behind us.

I turned to look at Annabeth. “The reason you hate Cyclopes so much… the story about how Thalia really died. What happened?”

It was too dark to see her expression.

Finally, she said, “I guess you deserve to know.” She took a breath. “The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. You remember that I told you that once before?”

I nodded.

“Well, the worst wrong turn was into a Cyclops’s lair in Brooklyn.”

“They have Cyclopes in Brooklyn?” I asked.

“You wouldn’t believe just how many, but that isn’t the point. This Cyclops, he tricked us, got us to split up inside this maze of hallways in an old house in Flatbush. And he could sound like anyone, Percy. Just like 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 screaming for help. And as for me… I was alone in the dark. I was seven years old. I couldn’t even find the exit.” She brushed her hair out of her face. “I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia and Luke and Grover, all tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling... The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. I drew my knife, but he heard me. He turned to me and smiled. He spoke, and somehow, he knew my dad’s voice. I don’t know how, I guess he just plucked it out of my head. He said…” she trailed off, wrapping a lock of her hair around her finger. “He said, ‘Now, Annabeth, don’t you worry. I love you. You can stay here with me. You can stay forever.”

I shivered. The way she told it – even 6 years later – it freaked me out more than any ghost story I had ever heard. “What did you do?”

“I stabbed him in the foot.”

I stared at her. “You… stabbed… are you kidding? You were literally seven, and you just stabbed a fully grown Cyclops in the foot?”

“Oh, he would have killed me. But I had surprised him. It gave me enough time to cut the ropes on Thalia, and she could take it from there.”

“Yeah, but still…. That was pretty brave, Annabeth.”

She shook her head. “We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares, Percy. The way that Cyclops just spoke in my father’s voice. It was his fault that we took so long getting to camp. All the monsters that had been chasing us had time to catch up. That’s really why Thalia died. If it hadn’t been for that Cyclops… she would still be alive today.”

We continued to sit in silence.

“You really mean it, when you say that you prefer being a girl?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I feel… I don’t know how to describe it, but it feels nice. Feels right.”

“I haven’t, you know, experienced what being a guy is like. But I think I would also prefer being a girl. There’s just… nothing appealing about being a guy.”

I nodded excitedly. “Exactly!”

We sat in silence a little while longer. I spotted Hercules in the sky.

“Go below,” Annabeth said at last. “You should probably get some rest.”

I couldn’t argue with that. I was exhausted. But when I went below and dropped down into a hammock, I had a hard time falling asleep. I kept thinking about Annabeth’s story. I wondered, if I was her, would I have enough courage to sail into the lair of another Cyclops?

 

I did eventually manage to fall asleep, fortunately. When I did, I found myself once again back in the cave with Grover. He was focused on his weaving.

“Hey, Grover?”

He yelped and looked up from his weaving. “Percy?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“What are you… I didn’t call you here.”

I shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to tell you something. Subconsciously. So uh… I ended up bringing myself here.”

Grover nodded. “That can happen, the link does go both ways. Does this have anything to do with the feeling I felt from you earlier? You felt… almost relieved, sort of?”

I nodded. “Probably, yeah. I uh… I turned into a girl.”

“Oh.”

“And uh… I kinda like it?” I was feeling kind of awkward now.

Grover nodded. “Oh, that would make sense then.”

“It does?”

“Well if you like it, then maybe it’s better this way.”

“This is better,” I said. “I don’t wanna go back.”

Grover nodded thoughtfully. “And no one is gonna make you go back.”

“Good.” I looked around the cave awkwardly. “Uh, how do I-“

I was about to ask how I ended the dream vision, but I was interrupted by the dream vision ending. Only to be replaced by a different scene.

Now I was back abroad the Princess Andromeda, back in the stateroom where Kronos’ sarcophagus was.

The room was empty. It was night out, and the curtains were open. All around me, voices whispered. The spirits of the dead.

Beware. Traps. Trickery!

The sarcophagus glowed, the only source of light in the room.

A cold laugh. You don’t have the courage, young one. You cannot stop me. The voice seemed to come from miles under the ship. It made the hairs on my arms stand on end.

I knew that I had to open that coffin, destroy whatever thing was inside it.

I uncapped Riptide.

But I couldn’t move.

“Well, Seaweed Brain?” a voice said from my left.

I looked over, expecting to see Annabeth, but the girl standing there wasn’t Annabeth. She wore punk style clothes, silver chains on her wrists, and a LOT of eyeliner. She had spiky black hair, stormy blue eyes, and a sprinkling of freckles over her nose. I couldn’t help but think she looked familiar.

“Well, are we gonna stop him or not?”

I couldn’t answer, and I couldn’t move.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, leave it to me and Aegis.”

She tapped the chains on her wrist, and they transformed, flattening and expanding into a large round disc – a shield. It was silver and bronze, and had the terrifying face of Medusa on the front, as if her actual head had been pressed into the metal. I didn’t know if the was the case, or if the shield could actually petrify me, but I averted my eyes anyway. I knew, somehow, that in battle, whoever possessed this shield would be nearly unbeatable. Anyone sane would turn and run away.

The girl pulled something out of her pocket, and it expanded until she was holding a long spear. She advanced on the sarcophagus, the shades parted in front of her, scattering out of her way.

I tried to warn her. “No, don’t.”

But she didn’t listen. She marched right up to the sarcophagus, and shoved the lid off.

She stood, transfixed by what she saw.

“No. No, it can’t be!”

From the depths below, Kronos’ voice laughed. So loud, the whole ship shook.

“No!”

The sarcophagus engulfed the girl in a golden light as she screamed.

I sat upright, waking up… then immediately fell out of the hammock I was sleeping in.

“Ow.”

I felt hands grabbing me to help me up.

“You ok, Percy? It seemed like you were having a nightmare.”

I nodded.

“You should come up on deck. There’s land,” she said. “We’re approaching the island of the sirens.”

I had heard stories about the sirens. How their singing was so enchanting it had lured many sailors to their deaths.

“I want you to do me a favour. Were gonna be in range of their singing soon…”

“Not a problem. There’s a big tub of candle wax. We can just plug up our ears-“

“I want to hear them,” Annabeth said.

I blinked. “What? Why?”

“The legends say the sirens sing about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you never even realized. That’s why their singing is so enchanting. If you survive… it’s said you would become wiser. I want to hear them, and I don’t think I’ll get another chance.”

Coming from out anyone else, this would have seemed completely nuts. Coming from Annabeth… well, she could get through big ancient Greek architecture books or long documentaries. I figured the sirens would appeal a lot to her as well.

She told me her plan. Reluctantly, I agreed to help her.

As we approached the island, I ordered a rope to wrap around her waist, tying her to the foremost.

“Don’t untie me. Whatever happens, no matter how much I beg or plead, do not untie me. I will want to go right over the edge and drown myself.”

“Are you trying to tempt me?”

“Oh, ha-ha.”

I promised that I would not let her go until we were well out of range of the singing. Then I grabbed two globs of wax, shaped them into ear plugs, and stuck them in my ears.

Annabeth nodded sarcastically, letting me know that the ear plugs were a wonderful fashion statement.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

The silence was disturbing. I could hear nothing but the sound of my own blood rushing through my head. As we approached the rocks, I told the boat to skirt around them.

I looked back at Annabeth. At first, she seemed normal. Then she looked confused. Her eyes widened.

She started struggling against the ropes. She called my name – I could tell by reading her lips. The look on her face made it clear – for her, this was life or death. It was so hard to not cut her free.

She looked so miserable, I couldn’t help but look away. It was making me feel almost heartbroken in sympathy. How could I do this to her. She’s my friend.

I knew, of course, that this was still loads better than her being eaten.

I could see now, among the rocks around the island, fragments of wood and fiberglass and other materials, remnants of ships that had veered well off course and whose crews and passengers had fallen victim to the sirens.

How could music cause so many people to willingly go to their deaths? I mean, don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of songs that would immediately pull my attention, but still… what was it that the sirens were singing about?

I was almost tempted to pull out the ear plugs, just take a brief listen. Only my self-preservation instincts (and strong grip on the pilot’s wheel, my knuckles were white) kept me from doing so. I could feel the voices vibrating the hull of the Revenge.

I looked back to Annabeth. She was really straining against the ropes now. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. It hurt so damn much to look at her like this.

How could you? Her expression asked. I thought we were friends!

I glared at the island. I wanted to take out Riptide, but… how do you fight a song?

I tried not to look at Annabeth.

When I did look back, it was to see an empty mast. The ropes were cut and in a heap on the deck, her dagger next to them.

How could I be so stupid so as to not disarm her.

I saw her preparing to leap over the side.

“No!” I dove at her, bringing her down to the deck, but she fought back.

Her foot slammed into my shin, and she elbowed me in the head. Dazed, my grip loosened. She managed to slip free and climb over the rail.

I lunged at her again, but I was too late. She had jumped over the side.

I didn’t even hesitate; I followed.

Annabeth was a strong swimmer. In the seconds it took me to shake off my dazed state and follow her, she had already made it almost to the rocks.

Fortunately, she was a strong swimmer. The waves should have swept her up and dashed her to pieces against one of the rocks, but she slipped right between them. I hurried to follow, using my powers over water to propel myself forward.

The water was littered with barbed wire next and mines. One wrong move and I would be blown to bits. Or maybe I could protect myself, I wasn’t willing to test that.

I grabbed Annabeth's ankle.

Immediately, I was caught in a vision. I saw what Annabeth must have seen.

I saw Manhattan, but it wasn’t exactly Manhattan. The city was much grander than I had ever seen it. Immediately, I understood that Annabeth had designed it. We were in Central Park. Three people sat on a picnic blanket. I saw Annabeth’s dad, a woman who, even in this illusion, radiated power – she must have been Athena – and… Luke.

As I watched, they all perked up upon seeing Annabeth. Luke patted the blanket next to him, as if inviting Annabeth.

I knew what I was seeing. Manhattan, redesigned, entirely by Annabeth. Luke, good again. Her parents, together (never-mind how impossible that was). This was everything Annabeth had ever wanted.

I noticed other parts of the vision too. I saw the girl from my dream the night before. Thalia. I saw myself, as I am now (that is, as a girl, thankfully). I saw Grover. But they weren’t the focus of the vision. Thalia came close though.

I blinked and the vision was gone. But I still had a hold of Annabeth. I tightened my grip.

I pulled her back. She kicked and thrashed, but I held firm, the water enhancing my strength. I couldn’t hear, but I could tell she was screaming at me.

I willed the currents to pull us back out to the ship, boat she failed so much we nearly hit a mine. We’d never get back if she kept struggling, I had no idea what to do.

And then we went under.

Immediately, a confused look appeared on Annabeth’s face. She stopped fighting. Then our heads broke above the waves, and she went back to fighting me.

The water, I thought, sound doesn’t travel well underwater.

I willed us to be pushed down. Down down down. I had to be careful. I could withstand the pressure, but Annabeth could not. She struggled to breath, bubbles  rising around us.

Bubbles. I had to keep her alive, and she had to breathe. I imagined the bubbles, always rising. I willed the all towards us, collecting and forming them into a larger bubble, encompassing us so Annabeth could breathe.

My vision cleared and I saw a large bubble around us, our feet sticking out into the water.

Annabeth gasped and coughed, sucking in as much air as she could get. She shook, and when I looked in her eyes, I knew the spell had been broken.

She started to sob. Horrible, heartbroken sobbing. A part of me wanted to join her. She rested her head on my shoulder, and I held her.

Some fish gathered to look at us. A whole school of them.

Shoo, I told them. They fled, but I could feel their intentions. They were going to spread the word about the daughter of Poseidon and some crying girl at the bottom of Siren Bay.

“I’ll take us back to the ship,” I said to Annabeth. “Just hang on, it’ll be ok.”

Annabeth nodded, letting me know she was feeling better, and I willed the currents to carry us back to the Revenge.

The ship was maintained a course directly away from the island, thankfully. We climbed back aboard.

To be safe, I kept my earplugs in. Eventually, Annabeth looked at me and mouthed, safe. I took the earplugs out.

No singing. The afternoon was quiet, and I relaxed.

“You ok?” I felt stupid for asking.

She shook her head. “I didn’t realize just how strong the temptation would be….”

I didn’t want to admit what I saw, it felt… personal. But I felt I owed it to her to be honest.

“I saw how you rebuilt Manhattan.”

She flushed. “You did?”

I nodded. “When I grabbed you, I got pulled into your vision. I saw your parents, I saw…”

“You saw Luke?”

I nodded.

“What he said, back on the Princess Andromeda… that really got to you, huh? That whole thing about rebuilding the world from scratch.”

She pulled the blanket I had given her closer around herself. “It’s my fatal flaw.”

“What?”

“What the sirens showed me. My fatal flaw. It’s Hubris.”

I blinked. “That gross brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?”

She laughed, but the sound was still miserable sounding. “No, Seaweed Brain. That’s hummus. Hubris is much worse.”

“What could possibly be worse than hummus?” I made a face.

“Hubris means excessive pride. Deadly, even. You feel like you can do things better than anyone else… even the gods.”

“You feel like that?”

She nodded and looked down, tucking her chin into her chest. “You ever feel like, what if… what if the world really is fucked up? What if we could do it over again from scratch. No more war, no more disease, no more summer homework. That sort of thing.

I nodded. “The world is pretty fucked up, yeah.”

“Don’t get me wrong, The West represents the best things mankind has ever done-“

“Doesn’t it represent everything mankind has ever done?”

“-point is, that’s why the fire is still burning, why Olympus is still around. But sometimes… you just see only the bad stuff.”

“I get that way, yeah.”

“Right, and then you start thinking, ‘what if I could start again? What if I could tear it all down and start over?’ And then you start thinking about how much better it would be if you ran the world. You get that?”

I blanched. “Uh… no. Me running the world would be a total disaster, much more fucked up than it is already.”

“Then you’re lucky. Hubris isn’t your fatal flaw.”

“Then what is?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, Percy. I just know… every hero has one. If you can’t find it and control it… well, it isn’t called ‘fatal’ for no reason.”

I thought about that. Not exactly a cheery thought.

I noticed Annabeth didn’t mention any of the more personal things she wanted to change. But, they were just that – personal. It was none of my business.

I understood, really. I can’t count how many times I’d idly thought about my own parents getting back together, even after realizing just how impossible it was.

I pictured my mom, alone in our apartment. I realized that she didn’t yet know about what had happened to me.

“Got any drachmas?”

“What?”

“I need to call my mom.”

She felt in her pockets. I did the same. She shook her head.

“Hopefully Grover has some.”

“What do you need to call your mom for.”

I gestured at my own body. “All of this.”

“Right.”

“So…”

“Yeah?”

“Was it worth it?” I asked. “Do you feel any wiser?”

She gazed out at the horizon. “I don’t know, Percy. But we need to save the camp. If we can’t stop Luke…”

She didn’t need to finish. If Luke’s way of thinking could even come close to tempting Annabeth, there’s no telling just how many other half-bloods would join him.

I thought about my dream. The one of the sarcophagus, not of Grover. I realized now that the girl was Thalia. I got the feeling I was missing something. Some crucial part of Kronos’ plan. Something horrible. What exactly had Thalia seen when she opened the lid?

“Percy,” Annabeth called.

I looked up. Ahead of us was another splotch of land – a saddle shaped island cleaved in two down the middle with lush green forests and meadows, and beautiful sandy beaches – exactly as I’d seen in my dreams.

My senses confirmed it: 30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west.

We had arrived at the lair of Polyphemus.