Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Sea of Monsters

| Chapter XI || Island Paradise |

*August 26 XXXX*

*Percy's Point of View*

I woke at a sudden jolt of our boat. My eyes snapped open to see Annabeth standing shakily, holding onto a makeshift mast to steady herself. Her eyes were locked on something behind me.

My eyebrows furrowed. What could she possibly be looking at? What could we have hit? How'd she make a mast?

Deciding to at least get the answer to one of my many questions, I turned. My jaw dropped.

We'd washed up on an island. Not one of those abandoned tropical islands you see in the movies. No. Our boat didn't run ashore on sand and we didn't immediately jump out and kiss the dry earth. That didn't happen.

That didn't happen because we didn't wash ashore on an abandoned island. We didn't wash ashore on a sandy beach.

No.

Our boat was brushing up against a dock - wooden, elegant, and obviously freshly cleaned, as it was free of barnacles and algae. Past the dock, there was a resort. There was a sandy beach, and then tall palm trees, but in between the trees, there were glistening white marble buildings. There were white marble fountains, the water spewing up to form animals - horses, fish, birds.

I scrambled to stand, spinning my body around to get a better look at the paradise. It all seemed to sparkle with a special glow, almost as if it was alive with magic.

Were we dead? Was this the legendary Isles of Blest?

I shook my head as if the movement would help me to clear my head. No. Uncle Hades had told me that when mortals die, they'd have to first get a ride from Charon, then they would go through the gates and be judged and placed into the area they deserved.

I knew that to be true. I'd seen it just last year.

Maybe I was hallucinating? But then...how could Annabeth see it, too?

I turned back around to look at her, but she was gone. My heart rate accelerated once more, but then I felt the boat rock slightly and turned to see her in front of me, now, stepping up onto the dock with the help of a girl.

Who was she? The girl seemed to be a little older than Annabeth and me. She was wearing the outfit that I'd stick to a flight attendant, but I wouldn't know since I'd never been on a plane. She was also holding a clipboard, which was tucked under her left arm as she helped Annabeth up onto the dock with her right.

I moved to get off the boat as well, but the girl didn't reach out for me. Instead, Annabeth held out her hand, grasped mine, and pulled me up with surprising strength. That was how I deduced that I'd been asleep for quite awhile because it seemed that Annabeth had had enough time to replenish her strength. And maybe take a body-building class.

As soon as I was steady on my feet, Annabeth marched off to follow the girl. I gave one last look at our boat, seeing a few granola bar wrappers and an empty water pouch. So Annabeth had eaten something.

Mentally checking that off, I left the boat, following Annabeth, who was now next to the girl and at the base of the dock. The two of them were already talking as I arrived, but neither acknowledged my existence as I stepped up.

"-So, have you ever been at the spa before?" the girl was asking.

Annabeth smiled, but she still seemed confused. "Um...spa?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting upwards.

The girl merely smiled, and looked down at her clipboard, writing down. I could hear her muttering under her breath as she wrote the words, "First - time - at - spa."