| chapter nine |
in which nia has a vision

NIA OPENED HER EYES. Sitting right in front of her at a table was her mother, Diana Kamaria, typing on her computer with her glasses on.

"Oh, Nia. I miss you," she sighed, slight tears in her eyes. "Where the hell are you?"

Nia's eyes widened.

"You here, love?" A female voice called out.

"In the kitchen!" Her mother said back.

"Mama!" A young girl around the age of four with caramel skin and dark brown hair tied in a ponytail appeared and bounded towards Diana. The girl had dirt all over her and was wearing denim overalls with a light green shirt, scuffed sneakers, and a slightly big baseball cap. "We got dinner!"

Nia's eyes hardened at the young girl without her even realizing it. Who was this kid to call her mother 'Mama'?

"Oh, really?" Diana grinned at the young girl. "What'd you decide, Isabel?"

A boy with matching caramel skin and dark brown hair walked in right behind his sister. The two seemed to be twins. He was wearing a pink My Little Pony T-shirt and jeans and said with a bright smile, "We got pizza and garlic bread!"

"Isaac!" Isabel said, "I want the first pick!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

"Hey, you two," a Latina woman that looked exactly like the twins walked in and kissed Nia's mother on the cheek, "be nice. Ven ahora." She was carrying two boxes of pizza and a box of chicken wings in her arms and set it all down on the kitchen counter. Nia tried to focus on the order receipt name: Julia Cortez. ( Come on, now. )

Nia blinked. What was going on?

"Sorry, Amá," Isabel and Isaac said at the same time before racing to eat the food.

"Hi, love," Julia said to Diana with a smile. She glanced at the computer screen. "Nia?"

Diana sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah."

Julia kissed Diana on the cheek. "You'll find her — Sé que lo harás." ( I know you will. )

Diana smiled sadly. "I know. Now—" She stood and clapped her hands. "What should we watch for movie night?"

"KAMARIA? KAMARIA, WAKE UP. SHIT. . . NIA!"

Nia suddenly coughed and opened her eyes blearily. Clarisse was sitting in front of her in the CSS Birmingham lifeboat, face relaxing with subtle relief. "Fucking finally. I was beginning to think that you'd never wake up."

She groaned and rubbed her forehead. "What happened?"

Clarisse fiddled with her spear. "You got hit on the head by a piece of wood after we launched the lifeboats. I managed to drag you out of the water before anything else happened. Once we got away, you slept off. I didn't want you to sleep any longer than a couple of hours in case you had a concussion or something."

Nia sighed. She should've known. It's been too long since she's had a demigod dream. Then she stopped and grinned. "Wait. Clarisse, were you. . . Were you worried about me?"

Immediately, Clarisse snarled. "Hardly, Arrowhead. I just figured that letting the only daughter of Artemis die on my watch would lead to some pretty horrifying curses."

Nia smiled and started rifling through her always-present hunting bag ( that always appeared next to her, even if she lost it ). Clarisse could pretend all she wanted, but Nia knew that she cared about her, even if it was just a little bit. "Alright, La Rue, whatever you say. Anything else left from the wreckage?"

Clarisse scowled and shook her head. "Other than my own stuff and your bag, nothing else. The entire crew was demolished."

"And Percy, Annabeth, Tyson — ?"

"Them, too. . . Sorry."

Nia swallowed hard and blinked away her tears. "Not your fault. Thanks, though. . . for dragging me out of the water."

Clarisse shrugged. "No problem. Now. . . We're heading straight for the Sea of Monsters."

Nia's eyes widened. "Wait, you know the way? How?"

"I studied the maps a lot beforehand. If I'm right, and I always am, we should be there in a few hours or so in the direction we're going in. We also have some blessings from my dad — should help us out a bit."

Nia hated to admit it, but she was impressed. "Alright, then. Guess we can't do anything but wait."

The two took drank water and ate the food that Nia could scavenge from Moonbeam, but other than that, they didn't talk much, wanting to preserve their strength. Nia decided not to think about Percy, Annabeth, or Tyson. If she did, she would probably start crying, and crying while in the company of other people was a huge 'no' in the Nia Kamaria Handbook.

Instead, Nia focused on the dream she had ( or was it a vision? ) Who were those people to her mother? The answer was pretty clear, but she didn't want to believe it.

And what was up with her mother saying that she missed her?

None of it made sense in her befuddled state. It was exactly the kind of thing that she would've talked to Annabeth and Percy about.

Her heart panged. Focus on Grover. Focus on saving Grover.

She turned to the open sea.

EVENTUALLY, THEIR SMALL LIFEBOAT REACHED LAND — a saddle-shaped island with forested hills and white beaches and green meadows. The home of the Cyclops.

Nia's jaw dropped slightly. The place looked like a Caribbean postcard, like someplace rich people had multiple homes in.

Clarisse jumped up, stepped out of the lifeboat, and glanced at Nia. "Well, dumbass? come on!"

Nia quickly got out of the lifeboat as well and helped Clarisse run the boat aground. The daughter of Artemis grabbed her hunting bag and slung it over her shoulders. She channeled her inner-Annabeth. "Alright, so let's think. How do we — ?"

"No more thinking — let's do this!"

"Wait, no, Clarisse, we have to think about this. We have to make a plan."

"Charge!" Clarisse raised her spear and barreled towards the cliffs to start climbing.

"No, no, no, Clarisse, wait—," Nia sighed, ". . .And she's already gone. Wonderful." Trudging after her, Nia carefully started climbing.

It was long and hard with multiple curses from both girls. Nia came close to dying every ten minutes. But eventually, the two of them made it up to the entrance of the cave. Clarisse made it up first, immediately ready to go into battle.

Three guesses where she ended up.

About fifteen minutes after Clarisse made her brave ( and stupid ) stand, she was tied up, hanging upside down over a pot of boiling water. Grover was still in his white wedding dress and the giant Cyclops Polyphemus was chuckling madly. Nia was hiding right inside the cave behind a rising rock, praying to the gods that she wouldn't be seen by the Cyclops.

"Challenge me!" Clarisse shouted. "Give me back my sword and I'll fight you!"

Polyphemus roared with laughter. "Hmm," he pondered. "Eat loudmouth girl now or wait for wedding feast?"

He turned to Grover, who backed up and almost tripped over his now-completed bridal train. "Oh, um, I'm not hungry right now, dear. Perhaps—"

"Did you say bride?" demanded Clarisse. "Who — Grover?"

Nia's eyes widened. She muttered, "No, Clarisse, no, no, no—"

"What 'Grover'?" Polyphemus glowered at her.

"The satyr!" yelled Clarisse.

Nia groaned. "Damn it, Clarisse. . ."

"Oh!" Grover yelped. "The poor thing's brain is boiling from that hot water. Pull her down, dear!"

Polyphemus's eyelids narrowed over his milky eye. Dressed in a kilt and shoulder wrap, he asked, "What Satyr? Satyrs are good eating. You bring me a satyr?"

"No, you imbecile!" bellowed Clarisse. "That satyr! Grover! The one in the wedding dress!"

With that, Nia was determined: if Polyphemus didn't end up killing Clarisse, she was going to murder her herself.

But all she could do was watch as Polyphemus turned and ripped off Grover's wedding veil — revealing his curly hair, scruffy beard, and tiny horns.

Polyphemus breathed heavily and growled, "I don't see very well. Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in eye. But YOU'RE — NO — LADY — CYCLOPS!" He grabbed Grover's dress and tore it away, where Grover stood with his jeans and T-shirt.

Grover yelped and ducked as Polyphemus swiped over his head. "Stop!" he pleaded. "Don't eat me raw! I-I have a good recipe!"

Polyphemus hesitated with a boulder in his hand. "Recipe?"

"Oh y-yes! You don't want to eat me raw! You'll get E coli and botulism and all sorts of horrible things. I'll taste much better grilled over a slow fire. With mango chutney! You could go get some mangos right now, down there in the woods. I'll just wait here."

Polyphemus thought for a moment. "Grilled satyr with mango chutney," he mused. He looked back at Clarisse, still hanging over the boiling water. "You a satyr, too?"

"No, you overgrown pile of dung!" she yelled. "I'm a girl! The daughter of Ares! Now untie me so I can rip your arms off!"

"Rip my arms off," repeated Polyphemus.

"And stuff them down your throat!"

"You got spunk."

"Let me down, asshole!"

Polyphemus snatched up Grover as if he were a wayward puppy. "Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we'll eat satyr for the main course!"

"But. . . you're still getting married?" Grover sounded a bit hurt, which made Nia furrow her brows a bit. "Who's the bride?"

Polyphemus looked toward the boiling pot. Nia's jaw dropped open. This was like one of those telenovelas that her old babysitter at her and her mom's old apartment complex used to watch. Oh my gods. . .

Clarisse made a strangled sound. "Oh, no! You can't be serious. I'm not—"

Polyphemus plucked her off the rope like she was a ripe apple, and tossed her and Grover deep into the cave. "Make yourself comfortable! I come back at sundown for big event!"

Then Polyphemus whistled, going out of the cave, and rolling the boulder back as he left.

As soon as he was gone, Nia pushed through the herds of sheep and goats and ran over to Grover and Clarisse. The daughter of Ares growled at Nia, "Some help you were."

"Hey," Nia said, glaring at Clarisse. "I'm not the one who decided to charge without thinking of a plan. Besides, you shouldn't have outed Grover."

"Stop telling me what I've literally done and get me out of these!" Clarisse yelled at her.

Rolling her eyes, Nia quickly hugged Grover. "Hey!"

"Nia! You came!"

"'Course I did," Nia smiled, "but we can catch up later." She pulled out Thalia's dagger and cut the ropes off of Clarisse. As soon as they got back to camp, she was stocking up on weapons.

Clarisse rubbed her wrists and stood stiffly. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Nia rolled her eyes. Then all three of them saw Percy.

Nia felt the wind get knocked out of her. "P-Percy?"

"Percy?" Clarisse said. "You're supposed to be blown up!"

"Good to see you, too, Clarisse."

"Perrrrcy!" Grover bleated and tackled Percy with a goat hug. "You heard me! You came!"

"Yeah, buddy," Percy said. "Of course I—"

Nia snapped out of her daze and flew at Percy. She hugged him tightly, almost knocking him off his feet. "I'm glad you're not dead."

"Me too," Percy grinned, surprised. "Nia, I—"

Then Nia pulled away, wiped her eyes, then punched Percy in the stomach. He doubled over in pain. "What the shit?"

"That was for letting me think that you were dead," Nia's eyes hardened and she turned away from him.

Grover smiled a little, then asked, "Where's Annabeth?"

"Outside," Percy said, still gasping from Nia's punch. "But there's no time to talk. Clarisse, Nia, was anyone else onboard your lifeboat?"

Clarisse looked surprised. "No. Just me and Nia. Everybody else aboard the Birmingham. . . Well, we didn't even know you two made it out."

Percy looked down, crestfallen.

"I'm really sorry about Tyson," Nia said softly.

Percy swallowed. "Thanks. But we've got other things to worry about. Come on, then. We have to help—"

An explosion echoed through the cave, followed by a scream. Nia's blood turned cold — it was Annabeth, crying out in fear.

hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing okay ( mentally, emotionally, and physically ). remember to drink some water and stay healthy!

now i used google translate for the spanish bits ( which isn't the most accurate source in the world ) so if anyone reading speaks spanish and sees something wrong, feel free to correct me!

talk soon!

—icedcoffeemug

EDIT: welp, here i am again, disrupting your day. this chapter felt so weird to revise, but i mean i got it done, didn't i?