cacoethes |PERCY JACKSON| [book 2]

XVI

SHE APPEARED ONLY A FEW HUNDRED YARDS away, through a swirl of mist and smoke and water.

The first thing Selena noticed was the reef—a black crag of coral with a fig tree clinging to the top, an oddly peaceful thing in the middle of a maelstrom. All around it, water curved into a funnel, like light around a black hole. Then she saw the horrible thing anchored to the reef just below the waterline—an enormous mouth with slimy lips and mossy teeth the size of rowboats. And worse, the teeth had braces, bands of corroded scummy metal with pieces of fish and driftwood and floating garbage stuck between them.

Charybdis was an orthodontist's nightmare. She was nothing but a huge black maw with bad teeth alignment and a serious overbite, and she'd done nothing for centuries but eat without brushing after meals. As Selena watched, the entire sea around Charybdis was sucked into the void—sharks, schools of fish, a giant squid. And Selena realized that in a few seconds, the CSS Birmingham would be next.

"Lady Clarisse," the captain shouted. "Starboard and forward guns are in range!"

"Fire!" Clarisse ordered.

Three rounds were blasted into the monster's maw. One blew off the edge of an incisor. Another disappeared into her gullet. The third hit one of Charybdis's retaining bands and shot back at them, snapping the Ares flag off its pole.

"Again!" Clarisse ordered. The gunners reloaded, but Selena knew it was hopeless. They would have to pound the monster a hundred more times to do any real damage, but they didn't have that long. They were being sucked in too fast.

Then the vibrations in the deck changed. The hum of the engine got stronger and steadier. The ship shuddered and they started pulling away from the mouth.

"Tyson did it!" Selena smiled,

"Wait!" Clarisse called out, "We need to stay close!"

"We'll die!" Percy told her, "We have to move away."

They gripped the rail as the ship fought against the suction. The broken Ares flag raced past the group and lodged in Charybdis's braces. They weren't making much progress, but at least they were holding their own. Tyson had somehow given them just enough juice to keep the ship from being sucked in.

Suddenly, the mouth snapped shut. The sea died to absolute calm. Water washed over Charybdis.

Then, just as quickly as it had closed, the mouth exploded open, spitting out a wall of water, ejecting everything inedible, including Clarisse's cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the CSS Birmingham with a ding like a bell on a carnival game.

They were thrown backward on a wave that must've been forty feet high. Percy used all of his willpower to keep the ship from capsizing, but they were still spinning out of control, hurtling toward the cliffs on the opposite side of the strait.

Another smoldering sailor burst out of the hold. He stumbled into Clarisse, almost knocking them both overboard. "The engine is about to blow!"

"Where's Tyson?" Percy demanded.

"Still down there," the sailor answered, "Holding it together somehow, though I don't know for how much longer."

"We have to abandon ship." The captain told them,

"No!" Clarisse refused,

"We have no choice, m'lady. The hull is already cracking apart! She can't—" He never finished his sentence. Quick as lightning, something brown and green shot from the sky, snatched up the captain, and lifted him away. All that was left were his leather boots.

"Scylla!" a sailor yelled, as another column of reptilian flesh shot from the cliffs and snapped him up. It happened so fast it was like watching a laser beam rather than a monster. Selena couldn't even make out the thing's face, just a flash of teeth and scales.

Percy uncapped Riptide and tried to swipe at the monster as it carried off another deckhand, but he was way too slow, "Everyone get below!" He yelled.

"We can't!" Clarisse drew her own sword. "Below deck is in flames."

"Lifeboats!" Annabeth said. "Quick!"

"They'll never get clear of the cliffs," Clarisse replied, "We'll all be eaten."

"We have to try." Annabeth turned towards Percy, "Percy, the thermos."

"I can't leave Tyson!" Percy argued,

"We have to get the boats ready!"

Clarisse took Annabeth's command. She and a few of her undead sailors uncovered one of the two emergency rowboats while Scylla's heads rained from the sky like a meteor shower with teeth, picking off Confederate sailors one after another.

"Get the other boat." Percy tossed Selena the thermos. "I'll get Tyson."

"Hurry." Annabeth told him, 

"You can't!" Selena argued as Annabeth dragged her towards the boats, "The heat will kill you!"

But he didn't listen. Selena watched as he ran for the boiler room hatch before he was flying straight up. Scylla had caught him by the knapsack and was lifting him up towards her lair.

"Percy!" Selena screamed but Annabeth held her back,

"He'll be fine. He always is. We need to get to the boats before the ship explodes!" Annabeth told her,

The two got on the lifeboat along with Clarisse and other soldiers. They hit the water just as the ship exploded and Annabeth took the thermos from Selena's hands and opened the cap, scattering the lifeboats.

Selena stared out across the ocean, hoping to see Tyson or Percy burst out from the water. She spotted something in the air. It was Percy. He was fall towards the water, fast.

"Annabeth!" She pointed towards Percy's falling body, "We need to get him!"

Using the thermos, they quickly found Percy floating on top of the water. They dragged him onto the lifeboat and Selena quickly gave him some nectar, hoping he would soon wake.