“Ah, Andrea,” Circe said as her daughter approached her. “Are you ready dear?”
“Ready for what?” Andrea blinked in confusion.
“I fear our guest might need a little—persuasion.”
Andrea noticed the other two girls behind her mother. “Oh.” C.C. tapped the floor impatiently for a minute, before flinging the door open with an overly dramatic flourish. Andrea seriously resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother was always one for impressions.
“My, my,” said woman cooed. “How fast a minute passes. And what is your answer, my dear?”
For a moment, Andrea was afraid Annabeth would choose to stay. Not that she wouldn’t be entirely unhappy if she did hang about, but she had spirit; and spirit needed to remain free to survive.
Then the half-blood replied. “This,” she stated boldly, drawing a long bronze knife. Circe was startled for only a moment before recovering, quickly—to her credit.
“Really, little girl?” she sneered. “A knife against our magic?” Circe gestured behind her to the two loyal attendants behind her and her daughter at her side, not noticing that one of them was watching the exchange uncertainly.
Whose side was she on anyway? Was she with Annabeth, who had given her her first glimpse of true freedom? Or was it her own mother, who had ignored her for years?
“Who are you?” Annabeth asked.
C.C. looked at her with a pout, “You know, I thought you were smarter than that, Child of Athena. I assumed you would have figured it out by now.”
Child of Athena. Of course!
Annabeth pondered that for a moment, mulling it over. “C.C. . . . Circe!” she exclaimed after a brief pause.
Circe clapped over-enthusiastically, “Yay! Give the girl a round of applause. She finally figured it out.” Then she became serious again. “What should Annabeth’s makeover be? Something small and ill-tempered. Hmm—I know! A shrew!” Blue fire curled off her mother’s hands and sped toward Annabeth. Thinking quickly, Andrea sent a spark of her own magic that hit the blue fire and made it veer off course, shrouding the loom in black smoke. Once it cleared, there was nothing left of the fantastic masterpiece but a small pile of ash.
“How dare you defend this—this abomination of the gods! Against me! ME! Your own mother!” Circe screeched. She let another bolt of blue flames loose that crashed into Andrea with the force of an oncoming train, throwing her backwards into the mirror that shattered and pelted her with tiny shards of glass.
Turning back to her target with no distractions or challengers, Circe thrust her magic toward Annabeth once more. When the black smoke cleared, Annabeth was still . . . Annabeth. But now she looked furious.
She leapt forward and put the blade against Circe’s neck, “How about turning me into a panther instead?” she hissed. “One that has her claws against your throat.”
C.C. eyed the blade warily, but her voice cracked, “How?” she choked out. Annabeth shook a bottle of vitamins in front of her. Vision blurry, all Andrea could she was her mother held at sword point by Annabeth, both furious in their own way. The sight was so ludicrous, Andrea chuckled under her breath before shakily getting to her feet.
“How did you--? That should have killed you,” Annabeth stammered, worry etched across her face.
“Yeah,” Andrea cracked her neck. “Well, you can’t get rid of me that easily,” she brushed her clothes, carefully removing the shards of glass. Annabeth turned her attention back to Circe.
“Turn Percy back into a human or else—“ she threatened.
“Or else what?” Circe scoffed. “Even if I could, there would be nothing you could—what the Hades are you doing?!” her voice rose in pitch as Annabeth dashed to the guinea pig cage, her hand prepared to empty the rest of the multivitamins into the cage. The squealing rose to a frenzy, the guinea pigs inside excited that their freedom and revenge might be at hand.
“Change him back!” Annabeth stated firmly.
“I—I can’t!” Circe wailed.
“Fine,” Annabeth said coldly. “You asked for it.” And she poured the multivitamins into the cage.
YOU ARE READING
The Witch's Daughter: Book 1| The Sea of Stone
Fiksi PenggemarCirce. Supposedly cold, heartless, tries to kill anyone and everyone that happens to land on her "perfect" island, right? Wrong. Several thousand years ago, someone landed on Circe's island. She fell in love, but his heart already belonged to anothe...
