ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɪɪ : 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 | 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚢 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Chapter 9

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."