【 𝓢𝓐𝓛𝓣 & 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓢𝓔𝓐 】

. . . . . ⌗ 023! ───── THINGS GO BOOM! 𖤐 ‧₊˚

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...        𝐂larisse La Rue wasn't a very accommodating tour guide. She was very snappy and stern when explaining why things were where they were and she was extremely boastful about the array of violent machinery and weaponry that adorned the CSS Birmingham. She had shown the four of them every little nook and cranny of the war ship, including the captain's quarters, the boiler room, the coalbunker and the pilothouse even though it was all entirely unwanted.

The whole tour was accompanied with a crowd of apparitional soldiers, who stared at the teenagers with their dead, soulless eyes with almost envy.

"You are in so much trouble." Clarisse sniggered at the end of it all when they had gathered for dinner.

The dinner served was very childish and it was easy to decipher that Clarisse had made special orders for a meal containing this: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, crisps in varying flavours and bottomless amounts of Dr Pepper.

"Tantalus expelled you for eternity," Clarisse told them smugly. "Mr. D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he'll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV."

"Did they give you this ship?" Percy asked, looking around at the dead soldiers who ate their food with disgusting looks.

"'Course not. My father did." Clarisse scoffed.

"Ares?" Percy said in a way that told everyone she didn't think Ares was capable of human kindness.

Clarisse sneered. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That's their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. Won't you, Captain?"

Said captain was not impressed, to say the least. His form was stiff and tense and his green eyes had a witching fire in them that burned with anger. "If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything. Destroy anyone."

Clarisse smiled. "Destroy anyone. I like that."

Tyson gulped.

"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "Luke might be after the Fleece, too. We saw him. He's got the coordinates and he's heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters—"

"Good! I'll blow him out of the water."

"You don't understand," Annabeth stressed, looking to Pandora for help with explanation. "We have to combine forces. Let us help you—"

"No!" Clarisse pounded the table. "This is my quest, smart girl! Finally I get to be the hero, and you two will not steal my chance."

"Where are your cabin mates?" Percy queried, glancing around at the dining room that was void of any other life forms. "You were allowed to take two friends with you, weren't you?"

"They didn't. . . I let them stay behind. To protect the camp." Clarisse fumbled around, looking for the right words.

"You mean even the people in your own cabin wouldn't help you?" Percy said with a hint of something in his voice; disgust or smugness, Pandora couldn't decipher.

"Shut up, Prissy! I don't need them! Or you!"

"Clarisse," Pandora tried, keeping her voice calm and quiet, "Tantalus is using you. He doesn't care about the camp. He'd love to see it destroyed. He's setting you up to fail."

"No! I don't care what the Oracle—" She stopped herself.

"What?" Percy's ears seemed to perk up. "What did the Oracle tell you?"

"Nothing." Clarisse's ears turned pink. "All you need to know is that I'm finishing this quest and you're not helping. On the other hand, I can't let you go. . ."

"So we're prisoners?" Annabeth mumbled distastefully.

"Guests. For now." Clarisse propped her feet up on the white linen tablecloth and opened another Dr Pepper as if she ran the place (which, to be fair, she did). "Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don't mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies."

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...        𝐓he next few hours were restless for Pandora. She tossed and turned in her sleeping hammock for what felt like an eternity before she finally drifted off to sleep, but even then it was light and dreamless. She woke at nearly every startling noise, which was really inconvenient considering she was at sea and there was a new noise erupting every hour.

The one noise that woke her and kept her awake was alarm bells. She heard the soldiers jostling about on deck and walking up and down the stairs. Annabeth burst into Pandora's 'room' and shook her fully awake.

"C'mon! We're here! We made it to the Sea of Monsters." Her voice was almost too enthusiastic.

Annabeth helped Pandora chuck her things into her duffel bag before they both raced upstairs onto the deck. It was a vast plain of dark blue water that sloshed against the side of the ship. A little up ahead were blurry, dark balls of some sort, but they were too far away to be able to figure out.

About ten minutes later, Percy joined the duo on deck, looking dazed and confused. Pandora placed her hand on his bicep silently, offering him a look of concern. He smiled appreciatively and placed his hand atop of hers, using his thumb to caress her knuckles lightly in a reassuring manner.

Percy nodded in response to Annabeth's question : "Another dream?" but it didn't seem full-hearted, plus, he ignored Clarisse as she appeared beside them all, and he usually shot her a nasty glare.

The engine made a groaning noise as the ship increased speed and it reminded Pandora of Mr D when any camper would come to him for help.

Tyson muttered nervously, glancing from dead soldier to dead soldier as if judging their work, "Too much strain on the pistons. Not meant for deep water."

After a few more minutes, the dark splotches ahead of us came into focus. To the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea — an island with sharp, staggering cliffs at least a hundred feet tall. About half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a miserable storm brewing. The sky and sea boiled together to form a monster-looking mass that roared like a thunderstorm.

"Hurricane?" Annabeth asked, her brows furrowed in focus and confusion

"No," Clarisse said. "Charybdis."

Annabeth paled. "Are you crazy?"

"Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis and her sister Scylla." Clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs, but still Pandora was clueless.

"Am I the only one who's confused?" She spoke up.

"Of course you are." Clarisse huffed, making Pandora's cheeks burn.

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed defensively.

"Charybdis is a massive whirlpool that will literally devour anything. Scylla is her sister, a sea creature and she lives on the side of that cliff there. She eats sailors and anyone on a boat that crosses her paths." Clarisse explained, using her hands to point and gesture.

"What do you mean that that's the only way?" Percy asked with growing concern. "The sea is wide open! Just sail around them."

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Don't you know anything? If I tried to sail around them, they would just appear in my path again. If you want to get into the Sea of Monsters, you have to sail through them."

"What about the Clashing Rocks?" Annabeth put in. "That's another gateway. Jason used it."

"I can't blow apart rocks with my cannons," Clarisse argued. "Monsters, on the other hand. . ."

"You are crazy." Annabeth decided.

"Watch and learn, Wise Girl." Clarisse turned to the captain. "Set course for Charybdis!"

"Aye, m'lady." The captain nodded and got to work.

The engine groaned, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to pick up speed.

"If we used mythological common sense, shouldn't you go for Scylla? At least we have a chance at making it past her if we all stay below deck. Charybdis would just suck us up—" Pandora tried to reason.

"No! Hades, Pandora, please stop trying to be smart, it's not a good look on you." Clarisse insisted. "If Scylla doesn't get her easy meat, she might pick up the whole ship. Besides, she's too high to make a good target. My cannons can't shoot straight up. Charybdis just sits there at the centre of her whirlwind. We're going to steam straight toward her, train our guns on her, and blow her to Tartarus!"

Pandora didn't even focus on the rest of what Clarisse said. In fact, she removed herself from the girls vicinity as a whole. She trudged along the deck until she was on the opposite side of it and kept her back on the breathing occupants of the ship.

The engine hummed and the floor of the deck physically began to warm up to the point where Pandora could feel it through her shoes — she figured that the boilers were overworking. The red Ares flag whipped in the wind. As we got closer to the monsters, the sound of Charybdis got louder and louder — a horrible wet roar that made Pandora need a wee nearly immediately.

Each salty inhale Charybdis gave out to the world made the ship shuddered and lurched forward. Every time she exhaled, it rose in the water and ten-foot waves slapped against the side of the boat and dribbled onto the deck. Undead sailors calmly went about their business on the spar deck.

Annabeth gripped the railing with a firm fist and looked at Percy, "You still have your thermos full of wind?"

Percy nodded. "But it's too dangerous to use with a whirl-pool like that. More wind might just make things worse."

"What about controlling the water?" Annabeth inquired. "You're Poseidon's son. You've done it before."

Percy's eyes fluttered shut with a heavy sigh and his eyebrows pinched together in the middle as he focused all his attention on controlling the waves.

"I— I can't," He huffed in miserable defeat.

"We need a backup plan," Annabeth said. "This isn't going to work."

"Annabeth is right," Tyson agreed. "Engine's no good."

"What do you mean?" She frowned.

"Pressure. Pistons need fixing."

Before he could continue explain, the Charybdis made a loud, earth-shaking roar which caused the ship to violently jolt forwards and everyone was knocked back onto the deck. Pandora crawled towards the edge of the boat, gripping the safety bars tightly as she peered over and saw that they were in fact stuck in the rushing, circling whirlpool.

"Full reverse!" Clarisse screamed above the noise. "Get us within firing range! Make ready starboard cannons!"

The sea churned around them, waves crashing over the deck, soaking everyone except Percy. The iron plating was now so hot it steamed and Pandora winced as she put her hand on a particularly hot piece of deck. She brought her hand tight to her body, clutching it to her chest as her hand stung and shook.

Pandora let out a cry of pain as she glanced at her hand where some of the skin had become red raw, like a ruby. A layer of skin had began to flake and peel and she could've sworn her hand was steaming. She didn't even notice the tear that dropped from her eye before it landed on the wound. The salty liquid caused even more pain and she let out a strangled sob. Her hand quickly fell numb and she wondered how many of her nerve endings had been singed away.

She watched through blurred vision as Clarisse barked orders at the dead confederates and the captain yelled at her back:

"We're going in too fast. . . prepare yourself for death."

"No!" Tyson bellowed, storming forwards. "I can fix it."

Clarisse looked at him incredulously. "You?"

"He's a Cyclops," Annabeth said. "He's immune to fire. And he knows mechanics."

"Go!" yelled Clarisse without a second thought. "And someone get Pandora some medical help!"

Percy looked between his half-brother and the girl in pain before rushing over to his tall, one-eyed friend. "Tyson, no!" Percy grabbed his arm. "It's too dangerous!"

He patted my hand. "Only way, brother." His expression was determined — confident, even. "I will fix it. Be right back. Look after your girlfriend." Everyone watched as Tyson followed the smouldering sailor down the hatch.

Percy was desperate to run after him but knew that if anyone had a chance of fixing the boiler and surviving at the same time, it was Tyson. He also knew that the cyclops was right; he needed to look after Pandora.

"Oh my Gods, oh my Gods, oh my Gods." Pandora panicked as she really observed her hand and the scalded skin on it.

"It's okay. You're fine." Percy murmured as he held her hand in his delicately, facing the sky.

Annabeth took the dagger from her belt and sliced a line of her shirt off before wrapping it around Pandora's hand. The contact from the rough fabric caused a pained whimper to leave her mouth. "This'll protect it for now." Annabeth explained in a rush.

Suddenly, Charybdis appeared. She was a couple hundred yards away and barely visible through the misty salt water and swirling of Poseidon's domain, but she was there. Just beneath the oddly peaceful scene of coral reef was the repulsive slimy lips and sea-moss-covered teeth of Charybdis. Each tooth was the size of a rowboat and had. . . braces? There were fish guts and floating garbage stuck between each bracket. Her teeth were scrambled and messy, it almost looked liked the Stonehenge in New Hampshire that Pandora's dad had taken her to see a few times.

Upon further observation, the CSS Birmingham wasn't the only thing being sucked into the dark blue, swirling void. Sharks and schools of fish were desperately swimming in the opposite direction to try and escape, but their efforts were futile.

"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' retaining bands and shot back at us, snapping the Ares flag off its pole.

"Again!" Clarisse screeched again.

The gunners reloaded, but it was hopeless. The canons would have to pound the monster a hundred more times to do any real damage, and time wasn't really on their side. Then the vibrations in the deck changed. The hum of the engine got stronger and steadier. The ship shuddered and it started pulling away from the swirl of death.

"Tyson did it!" Annabeth cheered, a gleam of hope shining in her eyes.

"Wait!" Clarisse said. "We need to stay close!"

"We'll die!" Percy yelled adamantly, "We have to move away." He left Pandora's side and gripped the rail as the ship fought against the suction of Charybdis' insane lung capacity.

The broken Ares flag flew past their heads and got lodged in Charybdis' braces. There wasn't any progress being made, but there was no further difficulties. Tyson had somehow given the CSS Birmingham just enough juice to keep the ship from being sucked up and Pandora was no longer disturbed by the cyclopes' presence. She was also no longer disturbed by the burning of her hand, as the skin had flaked and her entire right hand had gone numb, including her wrist.

With the skin that was uncovered by the piece of Annabeth's shirt, Pandora could see that it was shiny and red raw, but there was no feeling to it, almost as if it had never even been there. A swift panic washed over her as her mind began to overthink. 'What if I have to get it amputated?! I don't want to look like Captain Hook!'

Suddenly, the Charybis' deadly mouth snapped shut. The sea went flat and transformed to absolute calm — but only for a short while. As quickly as it had closed, the mouth exploded open, spitting out a tsunami of water that was littered with everything Charybdis found inedible, including the cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the CSS Birmingham with a heavy, metallic thud.

Pandora saw the concentration and effort on Percy's face as he worked to keep control of the ocean and stop the ship from capsizing but they were spinning out of control and being thrown left, right and centre, straight towards the looming, black cliffs.

A sailor burst out of the deck, the top of his head steaming from the heat, and he stumbled into Clarisse, almost knocking them both over-board, "The engine is about to blow!"

"Where's Tyson?" Percy demanded to know.

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

"We have to abandon ship." The captain gravely informed everyone.

"No!" Clarisse yelled, adamant to save her ship. Her quest.

"We have no choice, m'lady. The hull is already cracking apart! She can't—"

Before the captain could even finish his sentence, he was snatched away into the sky, disappearing from plain sight. 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.

The term 'monster' seemed too amateur for a creature as great and speedy as Scylla. A word like 'beast' or 'behemoth' sounded way more fitting. Her face (if she even had one) was hidden away in the cave she resided in with the rest of her main body. The only thing visible were her scaly tentacles and threateningly pointy teeth that lined each tentacle.

Percy attempted to swing at Scylla as she ripped another sailor from the ship, with Riptide but he was much too slow for the titan.

"Everyone get below!" He commanded.

"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 said. "We'll all be eaten."

"It seems like the safest option! We have to try!" Pandora suddenly got a surge of courage as she stopped hunching over and grew accustomed to the numbness of her hand.

"I can't leave Tyson!" Percy argued, looking at the girl for sympathy.

"We have to get the boats ready!" Annabeth agreed with Pandora.

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 threw the thermos to Annabeth. "I'll get Tyson."

"You can't!" She said, shaking her head. "The heat will kill you!"

He didn't listen — of course. Percy charged for the boiler room hatch before being swiped off the deck like every other dead soldier. Scylla's long tentacle waved Percy around in the air, dragging him dangerously close the cliff face.

"No!" Pandora screeched as the raven-haired boy disappeared from sight. She notched an arrow and let it fly through the air, loading another and releasing it.

She couldn't see much from where she was but she did see a small figure hurtling towards the ocean. She could only pray that it was Percy and not a broken piece of rock.

The CSS Birmingham began to rumble suspiciously loud, in a way that made everyone that was left feel extremely uncomfortable. They all rushed towards the lifeboats, clambering to get a seat. It was like watching the Titanic all over again.

Just as Pandora locked eyes with Annabeth, she was yanked back.

"Get off of me!" She yelled, thrashing in the slimy, wet tentacle of Scylla. She grabbed an arrow and began stabbing the tentacle profusely, letting out yells with each one.

Just as she was released from the monsters grip, the CSS Birmingham exploded. It wasn't a small blow up on the back of the boat, it was the whole, metal chunk turned into a big orange ball of flames and black smog.

Percy was already in the water when he witnessed the devastation, but he could also see Pandora's brunette hair rushing around in the wind. The force of the explosion's wind had pushed back onto Scylla's tentacle, knocking it back into the cliff face. Pandora's head thudded against the precipice and Scylla screeched in pain of the jagged rocks, releasing the daughter of Aphrodite from her grip.

Her body tumbled down, though it wasn't too big of a fall, with the tenebrous cliff face on one side of her, looming above as a taunting reminder of her knockout and the flaming wreckage of the CSS Birmingham on her other, her back made contact with the Poseidon's deep ocean.

She sunk for a while before he pushed her back up, leaving for body floating on its back.

— 𝒋𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔

this book barely gets any reads
anymore but idc cuz i like my plot.

i've been away for a while because
i've had no motivation to write but
i'm trying to get back on the grind
because i'm not at school for six
weeks now🥳🥳

also when i do go back to school
there will be very minimal updates
because it's my last year so it's very
content heavy and i have my exams
to prepare for and sit.

love you all x