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chapter twenty-nine. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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SINCE THE LIFEBOAT we had sailed into Circe's island with was a little dingy and unreliable, we decided to commandeer the pirate ship that I had seen when we first arrived. It wasn't the best idea, seeing as the owner of said pirate ship was Blackbeard, and I had just freed him with Hermes's vitamins, so he would need his ship back soon, but Percy took control of the ship. He steered it flawlessly. I was a little bit wonderstruck at his casual expertise.
Annabeth felt crazy guilty. She kept apologizing to me and Percy like the entire thing was her fault. Percy and I kept telling her it was okay, that Circe had basically brainwashed her; but when the sun went down, Annabeth slumped off to belowdecks miserably. I wanted to go after her, but I decided to just give her some space instead. I know that's what I would want if I were in her shoes.
We sailed through the night. As it turned out, my aptness for getting seasick must have had something to do with the combination between the Scylla claw machine and the Charybdis whirlpool we'd been in the middle of, because I was just fine on the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Even though it was well into the night, I wasn't tired. My mind was bursting with questions. I must have shown my concentrated anxiety on my face, because Percy asked me what was wrong. I blinked and looked up.
"Oh," I said. I shook my head. "Nothing. Just thinking."
"You're thinking about what Circe said," he guessed.
I pursed my lips. He took that as my reply.
"Don't worry about it," Percy told me. "She was trying to brainwash you. She said a lot of things that weren't true so you would side with her. She's a phony, and frankly, your hair looked really tacky with the gold strands in it."
I managed a smile. "But the baby blue nails suit my complexion, don't you think?"
He laughed. "Definitely."
I gazed at the ocean, resting my chin on my palm. "She did say something that got to me, though," I admitted. I felt Percy's eyes on me. "When she said Annabeth is smarter than I am."
Immediately, Percy began to object, but I shook my head. "It's true, Aquaman. You'd have to have seaweed for brains to think otherwise. But, truth is, I've never wanted to be smarter than her. When Circe said.." I drew in a deep breath and tilted my head down. Even thinking this made me feel ashamed. I didn't want to say it out loud, but something told me Percy would understand. "When Circe said I could be better than her.. Gods, I hate myself for it, but I almost accepted just because of that."
Percy was silent for a moment. I wanted to know what he was thinking. Finally, he said, "But you rejected her in the end. That's what matters."
I pursed my lips and shook my head. "I've been kicking myself ever since. I was so close to accepting, just so I could be better than her at something. I don't know what stopped me from saying yes—"
"You did," he said. "You stopped yourself, 'cause you knew it would be wrong."
I fell silent. He was right, I guess. I thought I'd stopped myself only because Percy was in the room, but looking back on it, she offered me sorcery before I even knew Percy was a guinea pig. So.. he was right, I did stop myself. I didn't even realize it.
"You should get some sleep," I told him after a while. "We're going to be passing through the island of the Sirens."
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
PERCY STOPPED UP his and Annabeth's ears with candle wax they'd found belowdeck, but since I was asleep when we entered the range of the Sirens' singing, Percy and Annabeth decided together that I would be alright.
Gods, were they wrong.
The singing is what woke me up, I'm pretty sure. It was beyond alluring. I heard everything I'd ever wished for, all that I'd ever laid awake and thought about in the middle of the night.
They sang of a loving home, of which I had never, ever had. As their music reverberated through my mind, I could clearly picture the image they were singing. My mom was there. My aunt was in a good mood. Even my father was with us, sitting next to my mom, laughing with her and casually strumming a lyre. They were all beckoning me forward.
Faintly, I registered climbing the ladder of the ship. In hindsight, Annabeth and Percy hadn't exactly planned on me waking up anytime soon, so they didn't take any extra precautions to block out the Sirens' song. But in the moment, all I could think was I need to get to my family.
When I reached the deck of the ship, I took no moment of hesitation before jumping overboard. Indistinctly, I felt someone shout something—my name—but the pull of the Sirens was much stronger than anybody else's. All I wanted to do was reach the scene they had set up for me.
So I swam. I swam fast and hard. I didn't even know I could swim so quickly. At one point, the current tried to pull me back, but I just strained against it. Nothing was going to stop me from reaching them.
As I grew closed to it, the scene changed. The Sirens were now singing of a desire I had buried so down so deeply—power. They sang of my craving for greatness, a wish that I didn't even know had been so strong. I saw myself, overcome with confidence, glowing in fame. And it was all I'd ever wanted in life: Strength. Glory. Control.
When Percy finally reached me, he says I put up a hard fight. I don't remember it. From what he told me afterwards, I kicked him just about everywhere I could. I punched. I thrashed around in his arms. I screamed.
Percy ordered a wave to come over us, and we went under. I came back to myself immediately. When we resurfaced, the Sirens' song reached my ears again. Percy says he caught on quickly, but knowing him, it probably took him a few tries before he realized what was going on. He wrapped his arms around my waist and we shot down. A huge bubble of air formed around us. I gasped and choked and shuddered.
