★ 𝟐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 ★ p. jackson

024

Esmeralda sat below deck, rocking back and forth in one of the hammocks. She'd spent the last half hour or so trying take all the gold accessories and braids out of her hair. Though she loved it and admired Reyna's work, it just wasn't her. She was able to tie her hair back into a pony tail but unfortunately there wasn't much she could do about her clothes. They had lost all of their supplies back in Virginia so she'd have to make do with her dress.

Annabeth chugged down the stairs looked ill as ever. Her face had turned to color of old guacamole and she swayed back and forth ever so slightly. Em quickly got up to grab ahold of her. She led her towards a hammock and helped her lie down. "Get some rest Annie, you need it."

Annabeth mumbled a very quiet 'thank you' before dosing off. Esme sighed figuring she should probably go keep Percy company. She headed up to the deck, surprised to see the sky had turned vivid shades of pink and orange as the sun began to set. Percy stood at the mast, he'd been controlling the ship ever since they stepped aboard. He seemed so confident and in control, especially since they were moving quite fast for an old ship.

She walked up to him, taking a stand beside him on the deck. "It's beautiful." She said, looking up at the sky in awe. She'd only ever seen the sunset from camp, of course it was amazing there too but this was a whole different level.

"It is," he responded, leaning against the old wooden ship.

Esme watched the murky green water as the ship pushed through the waves. A row of green spines slithered past them, Esmeralda didn't want to know what they belonged to, or what other creatures hid beneath the surface. Ahead of them, an island came into view. A smoking volcano stood in the center while the sea steamed around the shore line.

"One of the forges of Hephaestus," said Em, "where he makes all his metal monsters."

"Like those bronze bulls?"

She nodded, "go around it, very far around it."

Percy didn't need to be told twice. He lead them far away from the island before returning to his original course.

Percy looked at Esme, "the reason you hate cyclops' so much- the story of how Thalia died. What happened?" He asked gently. The sun had casted a subtle glow onto them, and in the light of the sunset Percy could tell her expression had dropped.

"I guess you deserve to know," said Em, "you know the first part of the story, how Grover led us to camp?"

Percy nodded.

"Right well, we got a little lost on the way and Grover took a few wrong turns. The worst one was into a Cyclops lair in Brooklyn."

"There are Cyclops lairs in Brooklyn?" Percy asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Em nodded, "that's beside the point. This cyclops tricked us, he'd managed to split us up in his maze of corridors in an abandoned old home. He lured us in, Percy. He could change his voice to mimic ours."

Percy remember their time aboard the Princess Andromeda when Tyson began speaking in Luke's voice. He remembered how disturbed Annabeth was by it and realized it had given her flashbacks.

"Thalia thought she was running to save Luke, Luke thought he heard me crying and Annabeth thought she'd heard Thalia scream for help. I was left by myself, alone in the dark. I somehow stumbled across the main room, I remember there were bones scattered all across the floor. I saw Luke, Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover tied up hanging from the ceiling. The cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the room. I didn't have a weapon at the time so I found the sharpest bone I could, but he heard me and turned. He used Charlie's voice, I don't know how, he must've pulled it straight from my mind. But he said: don't worry everything's ok, come stay with me."