RED ¹ / Percy Jackson !

43

"WELCOME!" said the lady with the clipboard.

She looked like a flight attendant-blue business suit, perfect makeup, hair pulled back in aponytail. She shook their hands as they stepped onto the dock. With the dazzling smile she gave them, you would've thought they'd just gotten off the Princess Andromeda rather than a banged-up rowboat.

Then again, their rowboat wasn't the weirdest ship in port. Along with a bunch of pleasure yachts, there was a U.S. Navy submarine, several dugout canoes, and an old-fashioned three-masted sailing ship. There was a helipad with a "Channel Five Fort Lauderdale" helicopter on it, and a short runway with a Learjet and a propeller plane that looked like a World War II fighter. Maybe they were replicas for tourists to look at or something.

"Is this your first time with us?" the clipboard lady inquired.

Annabeth, Viviene and Percy exchanged looks. Annabeth said, "Umm ..."

"First-time-at-spa," the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. "Let's see ..."

She looked them up and down critically. "Mmm. An herbal wrap to start for the young ladies. And of course, a complete makeover for the young gentleman."

"A what?" Percy asked.

She was too busy jotting down notes to answer.

"Right!" She said with a breezy smile. "Well, I'm sure C.C. will want to speak with you personally before the luau. Come, please."

Now here's the thing. Annabeth , Viviene and Percy were used to traps, and usually those traps looked good at first. So Viviene expected the clipboard lady to turn into a snake or a demon, or something, any minute. But on the other hand, they'd been floating in a rowboat for most of the day. She was hot, tired, and hungry, and when this lady mentioned a luau, her stomach sat up on its hind legs and begged like a dog.

"I guess it couldn't hurt," Annabeth muttered.

Of course it could, but they followed the lady anyway. Percy kept his hands in his pockets where he'd stashed his only magic defenses-Hermes's multivitamins and Riptide- but the farther they wandered into the resort, the more he forgot about them.

The place was amazing. There was white marble and blue water everywhere they looked. Terraces climbed up the side of the mountain, with swimming pools on every level, connected by watersides and waterfalls and underwater tubes you could swim through. Fountains sprayed water into the air, forming impossible shapes, like flying eagles and galloping horses.

"You okay?" Viviene asked Percy. "You look pale."

"I'm okay," He lied. "Just ... let's keep walking."

They passed all kinds of tame animals. A sea turtle napped in a stack of beach towels. A leopard stretched out asleep on the diving board. The resort guests-only young women, as far as Viviene could see- lounged in deck chairs, drinking fruit smoothies or reading magazines while herbal gunk dried on their faces and manicurists in white uniforms did their nails.

As they headed up a staircase toward what looked like the main building, Viviene heard a woman singing. Her voice drifted through the air like a lullaby. Her words were in some language other than Ancient Greek, but just as old-Minoan, maybe, or something like that. She could understand what she sang about- moonlight in the olive groves, the colors of the sunrise. And magic. Something about magic. Her voice seemed to lift Viviene off the steps and carry her toward the woman.

They came into a big room where the whole front wall was windows. The back wall was coveredin mirrors, so the room seemed to go on forever. There was a bunch of expensive-looking white furniture, and on a table in one corner was a large wire pet cage. The cage seemed out of place, but Viviene didn't think about it too much, because just then she saw the lady who'd been singing ... 

and whoa.

She sat at a loom the size of a big screen TV, her hands weaving colored thread back and forthwith amazing skill. The tapestry shimmered like it was three dimensional-a waterfall scene so real Viviene could see the water moving and clouds drifting across a fabric sky.

Annabeth caught her breath. "It's beautiful."

The woman turned. She was even prettier than her fabric. Her long dark hair was braided withthreads of gold. She had piercing green eyes and she wore a silky black dress with shapes that seemed to move in the fabric: animal shadows, black upon black, like deer running through a forest at night.

"You appreciate weaving, my dear?" the woman asked.

"Oh, yes, ma'am!" Annabeth said. "My mother is-"

She stopped herself. You couldn't just go around announcing that your mom was Athena, the goddess who invented the loom. Most people would lock you in a rubber room.

Their hostess just smiled. "You have good taste, my dear. I'm so glad you've come. My name is C.C."

The animals in the corner cage started squealing. They must've been guinea pigs, from the sound of them.They introduced themselves to C.C. She looked Percy over with a twinge of disapproval, as if he'd failed some kind of test. Immediately, he felt bad. For some reason, he really wanted to please this lady.

"Oh, dear," she sighed. "You do need my help."

"Ma'am?"  Percy  asked.

C.C. called to the lady in the business suit. "Hylla, take Annabeth and Viviene on a tour, will you? Show them what we have available. The clothing will need to change. And the hair, my goodness. We will do a full image consultation after I've spoken with this young gentleman." Then she turned to Viviene. "Oh dear... too muscular. We should change that..."

The comment made something in Viviene snap.

"But ..." Annabeth's voice sounded hurt. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"And what's wrong with the way my body is built?" Viviene asked, glaring at the woman. She was offically feeling like herself and snapped out of C.C's trance.

C.C. smiled benevolently. "My dears, you are lovely. Really! But  the two of you are not showing off yoursel for your talents at all. So much wasted potential!"

"Wasted?"

"Well, surely you're not happy the way you are! My goodness, there's not a single person who is.But don't worry. We can improve anyone here at the spa. Hylla will show you what I mean. You, my dears, need to unlock your true self!"

Annabeth's eyes glowed with longing. Viviene had never seen her so much at a loss for words. "But ...what about Percy?"

"Oh, definitely," C.C. said, giving me a sad look. "Percy requires my personal attention. He needs much more work than you."

Normally if somebody had told Percy that, he would've gotten angry, but when C.C. said it, he felt sad.He'd disappointed her. He had to figure out how to do better .

The guinea pigs squealed like they were hungry.

"Well ..." Annabeth said. "I suppose ..."

"Right this way, dears," Hylla said. And Annabeth allowed herself to be led away into thewaterfall-laced gardens of the spa, Viviene following after her