(Ella's POV)
As soon as Annie left, C.C turned her attention to me & said.
"Why don’t you head over to that room dear. My assistant will be with you soon."
I was hesitant to leave Percy by himself but then I did & walked off but not before looking back at him.
(Percy's POV)
C.C. took my arm & guided me toward the mirrored wall. “You see, Percy...to unlock your potential, you’ll need serious help. The first step is admitting that you’re not happy the way you are.”
I fidgeted in the front of the mirror. I hated thinking about my appearance- like the first zit that had cropped up on my nose at the beginning of the school year, or the fact that my two front teeth weren’t perfectly even, or that my hair never stayed down straight.
C.C.’s voice brought all of these things to mind, as if she were passing me under a microscope. And my clothes were not cool.
I knew that.
Who cares? Part of me thought. But standing in front of C.C.’s mirror, it was hard to see anything good in myself.
“There, there,” C.C. consoled. “How about we try...this.”
She snapped her fingers & a sky-blue curtain rolled down over the mirror.
It shimmered like the fabric on her loom.
“What do you see?” C.C. asked.
I looked at the blue cloth, not sure what she meant. “I don’t-“
Then it changed colors. I saw myself-a reflection, but not a reflection.
Shimmering there on the cloth was a cooler version of Percy Jackson-with just the right clothes, a confident smile on my face. My teeth were straight. No zits. A perfect tan. More athletic. Maybe a couple of inches taller. It was me, without the faults.
“Whoa,” I managed.
“Do you want that?” C.C. asked. “Or shall I try a different-“
“No,” I said. “That’s...that’s amazing. Can you really-“
“I can give you a full makeover,” C.C. promised.
“What’s the catch?” I said. “I have to like... eat a special diet?”
“Oh, it’s quite easy,” C.C. said. “Plenty of fresh fruit, a mild exercise program, & of course...this.”
She stepped over to her wet bar & filled a glass with water. Then she ripped open a drink-mix packet & poured in some red powder. The mixture began to glow.
When it faded, the drink looked just like a strawberry milk shake.
“One of these, substituted for a regular meal,” C.C. said. “I guarantee you’ll see results immediately.”
“How is that possible?”
She laughed. “Why question it? I mean, don’t you want the perfect you right away?”
Something nagged at the back of my mind.
“Why are there no guys at this spa?”
“Oh, but there are,” C.C. assured me. “You’ll meet them quite soon. Just try the mixture. You’ll see.”
I looked at the blue tapestry, at the reflection of me, but not me.
“Now, Percy,” C.C. chided. “The hardest part of the makeover is giving up control. You have to decide:do you want to trust your judgment about what you should be, or my judgment?”
My throat felt dry. I heard myself say, “Your judgment.”
C.C. smiled & handed me the glass. I lifted it to my lips.
It tasted just as it looked-like a strawberry milk shake. Almost immediately a warm feeling spread through my gut: pleasant at first, then painfully hot, searing, as if the mixture were coming to a boil inside of me.
I doubled over & dropped the cup.
“What have you...what’s happening?”
“Don’t worry, Percy,” C.C. said. “The pain will pass. Look! As I promised. Immediate results.”
Something was horribly wrong.
The curtain dropped away, & in the mirror I saw my hands shriveling, curling, growing long delicate claws.
Fur sprouted on my face, under my shirt, in every uncomfortable place you can imagine. My teeth felt too heavy in my mouth. My clothes were getting too big, or C.C. was getting too tall-no, I was shrinking.
In one awful flash, I sank into a cavern of dark cloth. I was buried in my own shirt. I tried to run but hands grabbed me-hands as big as I was. I tried to scream for help, but all that came out of my mouth was, “Reeet, reeet, reeet!”
The giant hands squeezed me around the middle, lifting me into the air. I struggled & kicked with legs & arms that seemed much too stubby, & then I was staring, horrified, into the enormous face of C.C.
“Perfect!” her voice boomed. I squirmed in alarm, but she only tightened her grip around my furry belly. “See, Percy? You’ve unlocked your true self!”
She held me up to the mirror, & what I saw made me scream, “Reeet, reeet, reeet!”
There was C.C., beautiful & smiling, holding a fluffy, bucktoothed creature with tiny claws & white & orange fur. When I twisted, so did the furry critter in the mirror. I was...I was...
“A guinea pig,” C.C. said. “Lovely, aren’t you? Men are pigs, Percy Jackson. I used to turn them into real pigs, but they were so smelly, large & difficult to keep. Not much different than they were before, really. Guinea pigs are much more convenient! Now come, & meet the other men.”
“Reeet!” I protested, trying to scratch her, but C.C. squeezed me so tight I almost blacked out.
“None of that, little one,” she scolded, “or I’ll feed you to the owls. Go into the cage like a good little pet. Tomorrow, if you behave, you’ll be on your way. There is always a classroom in need of a new guinea pig.”
My mind was racing as fast as my tiny little heart. I needed to get back to my clothes, which were lying in a heap on the floor. If I could do that, I could get Riptide out of my pocket &...And what? I couldn’t uncap the pen. Even if I did, I couldn’t hold the sword.
I squirmed helplessly as C.C. brought me over to the guinea pig cage & opened the wire door.
“Meet my discipline problems, Percy,” she warned. “They’ll never make good classroom pets, but they might teach you some manners. Most of them have been in this cage for three hundred years. If you don’t want to stay with them permanently, I’d suggest you-“
Annabeth’s voice called: “Miss C.C.?”
C.C. cursed in Ancient Greek. She plopped me into the cage & closed the door. I squealed & clawed at the bars, but it was no good. I watched as C.C. hurriedly kicked my clothes under the loom just as Annabeth came in.
Cliffhanger!!😉
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Take care my lovely readers.❤️
Alice signing off.
XOXO.
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