Breathtaking

Sure enough, there was a line of blue and brown in the distance. Another minute and they could make out an island with a small mountain in the center, a dazzling white collection of buildings, a beach dotted with palm trees, and a harbor filled with a strange assortment of boats. The current was pulling their rowboat toward what looked like a tropical paradise.

"Welcome!" said the lady with the clipboard. She looked like a flight attendant-blue business suit, perfect makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail. She shook their hands as they stepped onto the dock.

With the dazzling smile she gave them, anyone would've thought they'd just gotten off the Princess Andromeda rather than a banged-up rowboat.

"This feels weird guys," Y/N muttered.

Then again, their rowboat wasn't the weirdest ship in port. Along with a bunch of pleasure yachts, there was a U.S. Navy submarine, several dugout canoes, and an old-fashioned three-masted sailing ship. There was a helipad with a "Channel Five Fort Lauderdale" helicopter on it, and a short runway with a Learjet and a propeller plane that looked like a World War II fighter. Maybe they were replicas for tourists to look at or something.

"Is this your first time with us?" the clipboard lady inquired.

The half-bloods exchanged looks. Annabeth said, "Umm..."

"First-time-at-spa," the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. "Let's see..."

She looked them up and down critically. "Mmm. An herbal wrap to start for the young ladies. And of course, a complete makeover for the young gentleman."

"A what?" Percy asked.

She was too busy jotting down notes to answer.

"Right!" She said with a breezy smile. "Well, I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please."

Now here's the thing. They were used to traps, and usually those traps looked good at first. So it was expected that the clipboard lady would turn into a snake or a demon, or something, any minute. But on the other hand, they'd been floating in a rowboat for most of the day. They were hot, tired, and hungry, and when this lady mentioned a luau, their stomach sat up on its hind legs and begged like a dog.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Annabeth muttered.

"What are you-" Y/N stopped talking and noticed her star struck friends. Of course it was dangerous, but they followed the lady anyway.

They 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. They saw a lady who'd been singing.

She sat at a loom the size of a big screen TV, her hands weaving colored thread back and forth with amazing skill.

Annabeth caught her breath. "It's beautiful."

The woman turned. She was even prettier than her fabric. Her long dark hair was braided with threads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress with shapes that seemed to move in the fabric: animal shadows, black upon black, like deer running through a forest at night.

"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" the woman asked.

"Oh, yes, ma'am!" Annabeth said. "My mother is-"

She stopped herself. You couldn't just go around announcing that your mom was Athena, the goddess who invented the loom.

The hostess just smiled. "You have good taste, my dear. I'm so glad you've come. My name is C.C."

The animals in the corner cage started squealing. They must've been guinea pigs, from the sound of them.

They introduced themselves to C.C. "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 and Y/N on a tour, will you? Show them 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..." Annabeth's voice sounded hurt. "What's wrong with my hair?"

Y/N though, found this lady extremely suspicious. She couldn't understand how both of her friends were believing her in the first place. She thought, it might've been the effect of her song. Did her music do something to them?

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

"Wasted?"

"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!"

Annabeth's eyes glowed with longing. Y/N tried her best to control the frown on her face. Yes, somehow she felt like she should believe her words...but this was just plain rude. Annabeth was by far, the prettiest girl she met, even without any makeup or skincare routine. She didn't need someone unknown to tell her that she has to unlock her true self. But she decided to observe them. She needed to know the kind of plan the lady had under her sleeves.

"But...what about Percy?" Annabeth asked.

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

"Well..." Annabeth said. "I suppose..."

"Right this way, dear," Hylla said. And the girls allowed themselves to be led away into the waterfall-laced gardens of the spa.

Y/N turned back to look at Percy, hoping that he would just look at her for once but...his eyes were glued on the lady.

[ TIME SKIP ]

The place was lovely, no doubt in it. It makes you feel like you need a makeover and look better. Y/N didn't want to participate in anything until one of them suggested a relaxing bath. Well, she did feel the need to relax and wanted to get energized as soon as possible. She had a fair idea that it was wrong but...it was tempting.

When she was done, and dried up, she got dressed with what the ladies kept for her. She came out of the bathroom and realized that the whole room was empty.

Annabeth.

Her heart sank thinking about it. Ofcourse, she should've resisted the temptation. Annabeth already looked a bit out of it and they took the opportunity to take her god knows where. She knew she had to keep her act together, and so she did. She stepped out with her bag, wishing to get just a glance of that golden hair. Deciding that it would be better to team up, she went towards the room she last saw Percy. A sense of fear and guilt took over her.

Because if they did something to him as well...then that's it. She'd have to search for them alone, knowing the whole time that she had a faint idea of what was going on.

When she almost reached, C.C and her attendants ran past her from the room, chased by some pirates. But strangely no one paid attention to her. Her heart raced as she took out her bow and arrow, and slowly approached the room. She quietly knelt outside the door and drew an arrow, trying to get a glance of the people or even monsters in the room that she has to tackle. But to her relief she heard familiar voices speaking.

"Thanks...I'm really sorry-"

"I'm glad you're not a guinea pig."

"Me, too."

Y/N kept her bow and arrow back and entered the room. Annabeth and Percy were hugging, and she pulled away quickly. She undid the golden braids.

"Oh uh sorry, wrong timing," Y/N muttered, avoiding the stinging feeling in her heart.

"No, you are here on the right time. Looks like you got saved...from the excessive makeup that I had to endure." Annabeth said.

It made Percy finally take in her appearance. Y/N was standing wearing a dress, her hair open and her face ofcourse. There was...something different. He couldn't understand what it was but it would be a lie if he didn't admit that she looked....breathtaking. As he stared at her longer, he noticed a faint blush covering her cheeks. Her hair tickled her face, that she quickly tried to put behind her ears.

Y/N first of all felt like an animal in a zoo with the way Percy was staring. It felt like she did something really wrong and he was just being decent enough to keep quiet about it. She cleared her throat and got out of the room. Her mind went back when she interrupted them. Well, that was it. She decided that he was staring because he was pissed about her interrupting them.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, "We have to get away while Circe's distracted."

They ran down the hillside through the terraces, past screaming spa workers and pirates ransacking the resort. Blackbeard's men broke the tiki torches for the luau, threw herbal wraps into the swimming pool, and kicked over tables of sauna towels.

"Which ship?" Annabeth said as they reached the docks.

Percy looked around desperately. They couldn't very well take the rowboat again.

"There," he said.

Annabeth blinked. "But-"

"I can make it work."

"How?"

"Because he's the Son of Poseidon. Now come on!" They rushed towards the three-mast ship. Painted on its prow was the name that they would only decipher later: Queen Anne's Revenge.

"Argggh!" Blackbeard yelled somewhere behind, "Those scalawags are aboarding me vessel! Get 'em, lads!"

"We'll never get going in time!" Annabeth yelled as they climbed aboard.

Percy looked around at the hopeless maze of sail and ropes. The ship was in great condition for a three-hundred-year-old vessel, but it would still take a crew of fifty several hours to get underway. They didn't have several hours. He could see the pirates running down the stairs, waving tiki torches and sticks of celery.

He felt Y/N's hand clutch his own as she said in a calm tone, "You know what to do." He sighed and looked at the water. Ofcourse.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the waves lapping against the hull, the ocean currents, the winds all around him. Suddenly, the right word appeared in his mind. "Mizzenmast!" he yelled.

In the next second, the air was filled with whistling sounds of ropes being snapped taut, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking. Annabeth ducked as a cable flew over her head and wrapped itself around the bowsprit. "Percy, how..."

He didn't have an answer, but he felt the ship responding to him as if it was a part of his body. He willed the sails to rise as easily as if he was flexing my arm. He willed the rudder to turn.

The Queen Anne's Revenge lurched away from the dock, and by the time the pirates arrived at the water's edge, they were already underway, sailing into the Sea of Monsters.

With a relieved smile on his face he turned to look at Y/N, who was looking at the pirates. She turned towards him and gave him a small smile, and returned her gaze back to the sea. He didn't realize how long his eyes stayed on the girl.

But Annabeth did.