Published: October 15, 2021
Edited: July 28, 2022
'•'

I'd finally found something I was really good at. The Queen Anne's Revenge responded to my every command. I knew which ropes to hoist, which sails to raise, which direction to steer.

We plowed through the waves at what I figured was about ten knots. I even understood how fast that was. For a sailing ship, pretty damn fast. It all felt perfect—the wind in my face, the waves breaking over the prow. But now that we were out of danger, all I could think about was how  worried I was about Grover.

We sailed through the night. Annabeth tried to help me and Percy keep lookout, but sailing didn't agree with her. After a few hours rocking back and forth, her face turned the color of guacamole and she went below to lie in a hammock. I watched the horizon while Percy took a turn steering. More than once I spotted monsters. A plume of water as tall as a skyscraper spewed into the moonlight. A row of green spines slithered across the waves—something maybe a hundred feet long, reptilian. I didn't really want to know.

Once I saw Nereids, the glowing lady spirits of the sea I was named after. I tried to wave at them, but they disappeared into the depths, leaving me unsure whether they'd seen me or not. We were just passing a smoking volcano island. The sea bubbled and steamed around the shore. 

"One of the forges of Hephaestus," I noted. "Where he makes his metal monsters." 

"Like the bronze bulls?" Percy asked. I figured he was talking about the Colchis Bulls so I nodded. 

"Go around. Far around." I warned,, just incase he was getting any ideas. Percy didn't need to be told twice. We steered clear of the island, and soon it was just a red patch of haze behind us.

Percy looked at me, his eyes eerie in the darkness. 

"The reason you hate Cyclopes so much... the story about how Thalia really died. What happened?" It was hard to see his face in the dark. 

"I guess you deserve to know," I decided finally. "The night Grover was escorting us to camp, he got confused, took some wrong turns. You remember he told you that once?" Percy nodded. "Well, the worst wrong turn was into a Cyclops's lair in Brooklyn." 

"They've got Cyclopes in Brooklyn?" Percy asked, bewildered. 

"You wouldn't believe how many, but that's not the point. This Cyclopes, he tricked us. He managed to split us up inside this maze of corridors in an old house in Flatbush. And he could sound like anyone, Percy. Just the way Tyson did aboard the Princess Andromeda. He lured us, one at time. Thalia thought she was running to save Luke and I. Luke thought he heard Annabeth scream for help. And me and Anna...we were alone in the dark, separated. I was seven years old. I couldn't even find the exit." I fiddled with the edge of my white dress. 

"I remember finding the main room. There were bones all over the floor. And there were Thalia and Luke and Grover, tied up and gagged, hanging from the ceiling like smoked hams. The Cyclops was starting a fire in the middle of the floor. Annabeth was just coming from another entrance. I drew my sword, but he heard me and I couldn't use Whirlpool yet anyway, it was almost as tall as I was. He turned and smiled. He spoke, and somehow he knew... Well I told you about my dreams of Gabe? Of you when I was little? He spoke in Gabe's voice. I guess he just plucked it out of my mind. He said, 'Now, Neridia, come here and stay quiet.'" My voice had dropped, almost to a whisper. Percy shivered, his eyes seemed haunted, like the memories of Gabe were getting to him. 

"What did you do?" 

"I went to him. You don't know how much those dreams terrified me as a kid. I guess I just expected him to hang me up with Thalia and the others, but instead he picked me up by my shoulders and he..." I motioned towards my torso, where the scar was hiding under my dress from Circe. "With nothing but his finger, I almost bled out but Annabeth stabbed him in the foot. He would've killed me and her. But she surprised him. It gave her just enough time to run to Thalia and cut the ropes on her hands. She took it from there." 

"Oh Neri..." Percy whispered, his eyes wide.

I shook my head.

"We barely got out alive. I still have nightmares, Percy. The way that Cyclops talked in Gabe's voice. It was his fault we took so long getting to camp. All the monsters who'd been chasing us had time to catch up. That's really why Thalia died. If it hadn't been for that Cyclops, she'd still be alive today." 

We sat on the deck, watching the Hercules constellation rise in the night sky. 

"Go below," Percy told me at last. "You need some rest." I nodded. My eyes were heavy. But when I got below and found a hammock, it took me along time to fall asleep. 

 I didn't dream about Grover. Instead I found myself back in Luke's stateroom aboard the Princess Andromeda. The curtains were open. It was night time outside. The air swirled with shadows. Voices whispered all around me—spirits of the dead. Beware, they whispered. Traps. Trickery.

Kronos's golden sarcophagus glowed faintly—the only source of light in the room. A cold laugh startled me. It seemed to come from miles below the ship.

  You don't have the courage, young one. You can't stop me.

I knew what I had to do. I had to open that coffin. I uncapped Whirlpool. Ghosts whirled around me like a tornado.
Beware!

My heart pounded. I couldn't make my feet move, but I had to stop Kronos. I had to destroy whatever was in that box. Then a girl spoke right next to me: 

"Well, Guppy?" I looked over, but the girl wasn't Annabeth. She wore punk-style clothes with silver chains on her wrists. She had spiky black hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy blue eyes, and a spray of freckles across her nose. Thalia.

"Well?" she asked again. "Are we going to stop him or not?" I couldn't answer. I couldn't move. Thalia rolled her eyes. 

"Fine. Leave it to me and Aegis." She tapped her wrist and her silver chains transformed—flattening and expanding into the huge shield. It was silver and bronze, with the monstrous face of Medusa protruding from the center. It looked like a death mask, as if the gorgon's real head had been pressed into the metal. I knew it couldn't really petrify me, but I looked away. Just being near it made me cold with fear.

I knew that in a real fight, the bearer of that shield would be almost impossible to beat. Any sane enemy would turn and run. Thalia drew her spear and advanced on the sarcophagus. The shadowy ghosts parted for her, scattering before the terrible aura of her shield. 

"No," I tried to warn her. But she didn't listen. She marched straight up to the sarcophagus and pushed aside the golden lid. For a moment she stood there, gazing down at whatever was in the box. The coffin began to glow. 

"No." Her voice trembled. "It can't be." From the depths of the ocean, Kronos laughed so loudly the whole ship trembled. 

"No!" Thalia screamed as the sarcophagus engulfed her in a blast of a golden light. 

"Ah!" I sat bolt upright in my hammock. Annabeth was shaking me. "Dia, you were having a nightmare. You need to get up." 

"Wh—what is it?" I rubbed my eyes. "What's wrong?" 

"Land," she informed me grimly. "We're approaching the island of the Sirens." 

'•'

I could barely make out the island ahead of us—just a dark spot in the mist.

"I want you to do me a favor," Annabeth told Percy and I. "The Sirens...we'll be in range of their singing soon."

I remembered stories about the Sirens. They sang so sweetly their voices enchanted sailors and lured them to their death.

"No problem," I assured her. "We can just stop up our ears. There's a big tub of candle wax below deck—"

"I want to hear them." Annabeth cut me off, her eyes steely. Percy blinked. 

"Why?"

"They say the Sirens sing the truth about what you desire. They tell you things about yourself you didn't even realize. That's what's so enchanting. If you survive...you become wiser. I want to hear them. How often will I get that chance?"

Coming from most people, this would've made no sense. But Annabeth being who she was—well, if she could struggle through Ancient Greek architecture books and enjoy documentaries on the History Channel, I guessed the Sirens would appeal to her, too. She told us her plan.

Reluctantly, we helped her get ready. As soon as the rocky coastline of the island came into view, I ordered one of the ropes to wrap around Annabeth's waist, tying her to the foremast.

"Don't untie me," she demanded, "no matter what happens or how much I plead. I'll want to go straight over the edge and drown myself."

"Are you trying to tempt me?" Percy jested, his eyes twinkling.

"Ha-ha." 

We promised to keep her secure. Then I took two large wads of candle wax, kneaded them into earplugs, and stuffed my ears. Percy did the same. Annabeth nodded sarcastically, letting us know the earplugs were a real fashion statement. I made a face at her and turned to the pilot's wheel.

The silence was eerie. I couldn't hear anything but the rush of blood in my head. As we approached the island, jagged rocks loomed out of the fog. I willed the Queen Anne's Revenge to skirt around them. If we sailed any closer, those rocks would shred our hull like blender blades. I glanced back.

At first, Annabeth seemed totally normal. Then she got a puzzled look on her face. Her eyes widened. She strained against the ropes. She called my name and Percy's name—I could tell just from reading her lips.

Her expression was clear: She had to get out. This was life or death. I had to let her out of the ropes right now. She seemed so miserable it was hard not to cut her free. I forced myself to look away.

I urged the Queen Anne's Revenge to go faster. I still couldn't see much of the island—just mist and rocks—but floating in the water were pieces of wood and fiberglass, the wreckage of old ships, even some flotation cushions from airplanes.

How could music cause so many lives to veer off course? I mean, sure, there were some Top Forty songs that made me want to take a fiery nosedive, but still...What could the Sirens possibly sing about? For one dangerous moment, I understood Annabeth's curiosity. I was tempted to take out the earplugs, just to get a taste of the song. I could feel the Sirens' voices vibrating in the timbers of the ship, pulsing along with the roar of blood in my ears.

Annabeth was pleading with us. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She strained against the ropes, as if they were holding her back from everything she cared about. How could you be so cruel? She seemed to be asking me. I thought you were my friends.

I glared at the misty island. I wanted to uncap my sword, but there was nothing to fight. How do you fight a song?

I tried hard not to look at Annabeth. I managed it for about five minutes, Percy must have as well. That was our big mistake. When I couldn't stand it any longer, I looked back and found...a heap of cut ropes. An empty mast. Annabeth's bronze knife lay on the deck.

Somehow, she'd managed to wriggle it into her hand. We'd totally forgotten to disarm her. I grabbed Percy's arm and rushed to the side of the boat and saw her, paddling madly for the island, the waves carrying her straight toward the jagged rocks.

I screamed her name, but if she heard me, it didn't do any good. She was entranced, swimming toward her death. Percy looked back at the pilot's wheel and I saw him mouth, 

"Stay!"

Then we jumped over the side. I sliced into the water and willed the currents to bend around me, making a jet stream that shot me forward. I came to the surface and spotted Annabeth, but a wave caught her, sweeping her between two razor-sharp fangs of rock.

I had no choice.

I plunged after her. I dove under the wrecked hull of a yacht, wove through a collection of floating metal balls on chains that I realized afterward were mines. I had to use all my power over water to avoid getting smashed against the rocks or tangled in the nets of barbed wire strung just below the surface. I jetted between the two rock fangs and found myself in a half-moon-shaped bay. The water was choked with more rocks and ship wreckage and floating mines. The beach was black volcanic sand. I looked around desperately for Annabeth.

There she was.

Luckily or unluckily, she was a strong swimmer. She'd made it past the mines and the rocks. She was almost to the black beach.

Then the mist cleared and I saw them—the Sirens. Imagine a flock of vultures the size of people—with dirty black plumage, gray talons, and wrinkled pink necks. Now imagine human heads on top of those necks, but the human heads keep changing. I couldn't hear them, but I could see they were singing. As their mouths moved, their faces morphed into people I knew—my mom, Poseidon, Grover, Percy, Annabeth, Luke, Thalia, Chiron. All the people I most wanted to see.

They smiled reassuringly, inviting me forward. But no matter what shape they took, their mouths were greasy and caked with the remnants of old meals. Like vultures, they'd been eating with their faces, and it didn't look like they'd been feasting on Monster Donuts.

Annabeth swam toward them. I knew I couldn't let her get out of the water. The sea was my only advantage. It had always protected me one way or another. Percy propelled himself forward, his arms wrapping around my waist and dragging me along as he grabbed Annabeth's ankle.

The moment he touched her, a shock went through my body, and I saw the Sirens the way Annabeth must've been seeing them. Five people sat on a picnic blanket in Central Park. A feast was spread out before them. I recognized Annabeth's dad — an athletic-looking, sandy-haired guy in his forties. He was holding hands with a beautiful woman who looked a lot like Annabeth. She was dressed casually—in blue jeans and a denim shirt and hiking boots—but something about the woman radiated power. I knew that I was looking at the goddess Athena. Next to them sat a young man...Luke. I saw myself, which was insanely weird. I was sitting next to Thalia, a Thalia that hadn't died, she looked around 19. The whole scene glowed in a warm, buttery light. The five of them were talking  and laughing, and when they saw Annabeth, their faces lit up with delight. Annabeth's mom and dad held out their arms invitingly. Luke grinned and gestured for Annabeth to sit next to him—as if he'd never betrayed her, as if he were still her friend. Behind the trees of Central Park, a city skyline rose. I caught my breath, because it was Manhattan, but not Manhattan. It had been totally rebuilt from dazzling white marble, bigger and grander than ever—with golden windows and rooftop gardens. It was better than New York. Better than Mount Olympus.

I knew immediately that Annabeth had designed it all. She was the architect for a whole new world. She had reunited her parents. She had saved Luke. She had saved Thalia which by effect had helped me. She had done everything she'd ever wanted. I blinked hard. 

I opened my eyes to find a different view. I knew immediately that this was how Percy would have seen the sirens. It was a small Manhattan apartment, Tyson was there, sitting happily with Grover who was not in a wedding dress, but instead had a huge grin on his face as he talked to me. I sat with my head in my mom's lap. Annabeth had a book in her hand but it was forgotten as she was blushing as red as a tomato. In front of it all was a huge, see through shield. Percy was protecting all of us with his power. The shield rippled and bent but held strong, we were all happy and safe. Whatever happened outside that shield didn't matter because everyone Percy cared about was safe and happy. I blinked hard, trying to snap myself out of this weird vision.

When I opened my eyes,  Annabeth, Percy and I had a huge bubble of air around us and we were underwater, maybe four feet from a floating mine. Only our legs stuck into the water. We were twenty feet below the surface of the water. Annabeth gasped and coughed as Percy released my waist to hold her tight.

Her whole body shuddered, but when she looked at me, I knew the spell had been broken. She started to sob—I mean horrible, heartbroken sobbing. She put her head on Percy's  shoulder and he held her. Fish gathered to look at us—a school of barracudas, some curious marlins.

Scram! I told them. They swam off, but I could tell they went reluctantly. I swear I understood their intentions. They were about to start rumors flying around the sea about the son of Poseidon and some girl at the bottom of Siren Bay.

"I'll get us back to the ship," I told them. "It's okay. Just hang on." Annabeth nodded to let me know she was better now, then she murmured something I couldn't hear because of the wax in my ears.

Percy continued holding Annabeth tightly as I made the current steer our weird little air submarine through the rocks and barbed wire and back toward the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge, which was maintaining a slow and steady course away from the island.

We stayed underwater, following the ship, until I judged we had moved out of earshot of the Sirens. Then I surfaced and our air bubble popped. Percy ordered a rope ladder to drop over the side of the ship, and we climbed a board. I kept my earplugs in, just to be sure.

We sailed until the island was completely out of sight. Annabeth sat huddled in a blanket on the forward deck. Finally she looked up, dazed and sad, and mouthed, safe.

 I took out the earplugs. No singing. The afternoon was quiet except for the sound of the waves against the hull. The fog had burned away to a blue sky, as if the island of the Sirens had never existed.

"You okay?" Percy asked softly. The moment he said it, he seemed to realize how lame that sounded. Of course she wasn't okay.

"I didn't realize," she murmured.

"What?"

"How powerful the temptation would be."

I didn't want to admit that I'd seen what the Sirens had promised her. What they had tried to show Percy too. I felt like a trespasser, invading their privacy.

"I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan," Percy told her softly, which made me feel better that it wasn't only me. "And Luke, Thalia, Neri and your parents."

Annabeth blushed. "You saw that?"

"What Luke told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch...that really got to you, huh?" She pulled her blanket around her and sat down. I pulled my knees to my chest. 

"My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris." Annabeth said.

Percy blinked. 

"That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?" He asked bemusedly. She rolled her eyes. 

"No, Seaweed Brain. That's hummus. Hubris is worse."

"What could be worse than hummus?"

"Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else...even the gods."

"You feel that way?" Percy seemed shocked. Annabeth looked down in shame. 

"Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework."

"I'm listening."

"I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did—that's why the fire is still burning. That's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?"

"Um...no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare."

"Then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw."

"What is?"

"I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it...well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing."

"It's loyalty." I said quietly. They both looked at me, seemingly having forgotten I was there. "W-when you touched Annabeth's ankle, I saw everything. I saw how Annabeth saw them and I saw Percy protecting all of us, Grover and Tyson and Mom." I sniffled. "Percy's fatal flaw is deadly loyalty, sacrificing the world and himself for the people he loves" 

"So was it worth it?" I asked Annabeth, the words sounding harsher than I meant them to. "Do you feel wiser?"

She gazed into the distance. "I'm not sure. But we have to save the camp. If we don't stop Luke..." 

She didn't need to finish. If Luke's way of thinking could even tempt Annabeth, there was no telling how many other half-bloods might join him. I thought about my dream of Thalia and the golden sarcophagus. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I got the feeling I was missing something. Something terrible that Kronos was planning. What had Thalia seen when she opened that coffin lid? Suddenly Annabeth's eyes widened. 

"Guys..."

I turned. Up ahead was another blotch of land—a saddle-shaped island with forested hills and white beaches and green meadows—just like I'd seen in my dreams. My nautical senses confirmed it. 30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. We had reached the home of the Cyclops.

'•'
Word Count: 3854