𝑨𝑪𝑻 𝑶𝑵𝑬 ━ 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑬𝑵

𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐃𝐌𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐓 but she was impressed. She'd never truly been more happy that somebody had saved them or maybe just interrupt the attack. She'd understood just like Annabeth, what was happening only seconds before Percy did, and to be honest he would have never thought about it until he saw the look on the girls faces.

Annabeth had yelled, "Hit the dirt!" and they all dove for the ground as an earth-shattering BOOM echoed from the river.

There was a flash of light, a column of smoke, and the Hydra exploded right in front of them, showering all of them with nasty green slime that vaporized as soon as it hit, the way monster guts tend to do.

"Gross!" screamed Annabeth.

"Shit! That's disgusting," mumbled Iris, a frown on her face as she looked around.

"Steamship!" yelled Tyson.

Percy stood, coughing from the cloud of gunpowder smoke that was rolling across the banks.

Chugging toward them down the river was the strangest ship Iris had ever seen.

It rode low in the water like a submarine, its deck plated with iron. In the middle was a trapezoid-shaped case mate with slats on each side for cannons. A flag waved from the top—a wild boar and spear on a bloodred field.

Lining the deck were zombies in grey uniforms—dead soldiers with shimmering faces that only partially covered their skulls, like the ghouls he'd seen in the Underworld guarding Hades's palace.

The ship was an ironclad. A Civil War battle cruiser. They could just make out the name along the prow in moss-covered letters: CSS Birmingham.

And standing next to the smoking cannon that had almost killed them, wearing full Greek battle
armour, was Clarisse. 

Iris smiled widen as she looked at Ares daughter, she'd never been so happy to her. Except that one time when she'd save Iris from almost drowning in the lake, Iris hadn't been watching where she was walking and almost walked straight into the lake if Clarisse wasn't there to push her away. They had laughed about it but of course the two hadn't told anyone about this incident.

"Losers," she sneered expecting only Percy, Annabeth and Tyson. "But I suppose I have to rescue you. Come aboard."

"Clarisse! I've never been so happy to see you!" yelled Iris as she ran towards the girl could not be happier.

"Iris! What are you— never mind, you guys are in so much trouble," Clarisse said. They'd all just finished a ship tour they didn't really want, through dark rooms overcrowded with dead sailors.

They'd seen the coal bunker, the boilers and engine, which huffed and groaned like it would explode any minute. Iris wouldn't be surprised though.

They'd seen the pilothouse and the powder magazine and gunnery deck, Iris could tell that this was Clarisse's favourite, with two Dahlgren smoothbore cannons on the port and starboard sides and a Brook nine-inch rifled gun fore and after all specially refitted to fire celestial bronze cannon balls.

Everywhere they went, dead Confederate sailors stared at them, their ghostly bearded faces,
shimmering over their skulls.

They approved of Annabeth and Iris, Annabeth told them she was from Virginia and Iris told them about her great great grandpa's ocean life. Yes, he was a sailor — a good one too. He'd been around the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic.

They were interested in Percy too, because his name was Jackson — like the Southern general—but then he ruined it by telling them he was from New York and they all just hissed and muttered curses about Yankees. Tyson was strangely terrified of them.

All through the tour, he insisted Iris held his hand, which she was glad to do so and told him that everything would be fine even though Percy had interrupted their conversation by stating that they were dead anyway which made Tyson even more scared. Which then made Iris hit him on the back of his head.

Finally, they were escorted to dinner, the CSS Birmingham captain's quarters were about the size of a walk-in closet, but still much bigger than any other room on board.

The table was set with white linen and china. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, and Dr Peppers were served by skeletal crewmen. For a ship like this, Iris was expecting a bit more culinary experience.

Percy didn't want to eat anything served by ghosts, but his hunger
overruled his fear.

"Tantalus expelled you for eternity," Clarisse told them smugly but frowned a bit as she looked at Iris.

"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.

"'Course not. My father did."

"Ares?"

Clarisse sneered. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power?"

Iris chuckled but quickly shut up as she saw the look of Percy and Annabeth faces. What that wasn't funny? Thought Iris as she rolled her eyes at the two.

"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?"

The captain stood behind her looking stiff and angry. His glowing green eyes were fixed on Percy with a weird hungry stare. 

"If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything. Destroy anyone."

Clarisse smiled, a wicked smile would say Iris. "Destroy anyone. I like that."

Tyson gulped and looked at Iris for comfort, she reassured him by looking towards him with a smile, Percy noticed that she would always smile at him for comfort. It made him feel like he was somebody she wouldn't truly want to comfort because she'd never really smile at him a lot. He didn't like that. 

He didn't really understand why she acted this way towards him. Yes, he was a bit annoying to her when they first met but he truly didn't think she'd hate him. But either way, he hated her too and he wouldn't, no he couldn't do anything about that.

She was so perfect at everything she'd do, everyone loved her and that made him feel like she was just so lucky. She was so lucky that he'd want that luck.

"Clarisse," Annabeth said breaking Percy's stares towards Iris, "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 said. "We have to combine forces. Let us help you—"

"No!" Clarisse pounded the table making Iris looked up at her in worry.

"This is my quest, smart girl! Finally I get to be the hero, and you guys will not steal my chance."

"Where are your cabin mates?" Percy asked. "You were allowed to take three friends with you, weren't you?"

"They didn't...I let them stay behind. To protect the camp."

"You mean even the people in your own cabin wouldn't help you?"

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

"Clarisse," Percy said, "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 said. "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 asked raising her eyebrows.

"Guests. For now." Clarisse propped her feet up on the white linen tablecloth and opened another Dr Pepper, as she looked at Iris with a softer look.

"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."

𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐓, she had a bad feeling and that never ended well or it could be the humidity. The alarms that were going off around the ship made her suspicions stronger than ever. Iris would never admit it, but she was contemplating her whole decision of coming with Percy and Annabeth. 

The captain's gravelly and sickly voice could be heard: "All hands-on deck! Find Lady Clarisse! Where is that girl?"

Then, above Percy, a ghostly face materialized. "Get up, Yankee. Your friends are already above. We are approaching the entrance."

"The entrance to what?" asked Percy

He shows Percy a skeletal smile. "The Sea of Monsters, of course."

Percy stuffed his belongings that had survived the Hydra into a sailor's canvas knapsack and slung it over his shoulder. He had a sneaking suspicion that one way or another he would not be spending another night aboard the CSS Birmingham. He was on his way upstairs when something made Percy freeze.

A presence nearby — something familiar and unpleasant. For no particular reason, he felt like picking a fight. He wanted to punch a dead Confederate. Iris would have punched him instead. She was with Annabeth and Tyson, dark circles under her eyes, nothing a good concealer couldn't fix.

Percy made his way upstairs to join Iris, Annabeth and Tyson on the spar deck.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked him. "Another dream?"

He nodded but didn't say anything. Iris looked at him, and for the first time in a while, she felt bad for him. Percy might have been an idiot, annoying ass and a stupid mother-, she could go on and on, but Percy was pretty strong for a 14-year-old in a messed up Greek World. She couldn't deny that he went through a whole lot of shit but what could she do but give him a sad smile.

Percy's eyes unconsciously lit up to the sight of her smile, though it was a sad one, he accepted it giving her a smirk instead. She rolled her eyes instantly regretting giving him a smile, of course his ego was something that she hated, he'd always have a huge ego towards her as if winning anything would give him a price.

Clarisse came up the stairs right after Percy, who tried not to look at her. Iris noticed the look on Clarisse's face, something was wrong.

She grabbed a pair of binoculars from a zombie officer and peered toward the horizon. "Atlas. Captain, full steam ahead!"

The sky was overcast. The air was hazy and humid, like steam from an iron. If they squinted real hard, they could just make out a couple of dark fuzzy splotches in the distance.

Percy's nautical senses told him they were somewhere off the coast of northern Florida, so they'd come a long way overnight, farther than any mortal ship should've been able to travel. The engine groaned as they increased speed.

Tyson muttered nervously, "Too much strain on the pistons. Not meant for deep water."

After a few more minutes, the dark splotches ahead of them came into focus. To the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea—an island with cliffs at least a hundred feet tall. About half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a storm brewing. The sky and sea boiled together in a roaring mass.

"Hurricane?" Annabeth asked. "No," Clarisse said. "Charybdis."

Annabeth and Iris paled. "Are you crazy?". They both exclaimed looking at Clarisse in a concern yet surprised face.

"Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis and her sister Scylla."

Clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs, and Percy got the feeling something lived up there that he did not want to meet.

"What do you mean the only way?" He asked. "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 said. 

"That's another gateway. Jason used it."

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

"You are crazy," Annabeth decided, Iris looked at her with a frown on her face.

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

"Aye, m'lady."

The engine groaned, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to pick up speed. "Clarisse," Percy said, "Charybdis sucks up the sea. Isn't that the story?"

"And spits it back out again, yeah."

"What about Scylla?"

"She lives in a cave, up on those cliffs. If we get too close, her snaky heads will come down and start plucking sailors off the ship."

"Choose Scylla then," Percy said. "Everybody goes below deck and we chug right past."

"No!" 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!"

The engine hummed. The boilers were heating up so much he could feel the deck getting warm beneath my feet. The smokestacks billowed. The red Ares flag whipped in the wind. As they got closer to the monsters, the sound of Charybdis got louder and louder—a horrible wet roar like the galaxy's biggest toilet being flushed. Every time Charybdis inhaled, the ship shuddered and lurched forward. Every time she exhaled, they rose in the water and were buffeted by ten-foot waves.

Annabeth and Iris stood next to Percy, as they gripping the rail. "You still have your thermos full of wind?" He nodded. "But it's too dangerous to use with a whirlpool like that. More wind might just make things worse."

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

She was right. He closed his eyes and tried to calm the sea, but he couldn't concentrate. Charybdis was too loud and powerful. The waves wouldn't respond. "I—I can't," Percy said miserably. "We need a backup plan," Iris said, her eyes wide. "This isn't going to work."

"Iris is right," Tyson said. "Engine's no good."

"What do you mean?" she asked her eyes even wider than before.

"Pressure. Pistons need fixing."

Before he could explain, the cosmic toilet flushed with a mighty roaaar! The ship lurchedforward and Percy was thrown to the deck. They were in the whirlpool. "Full reverse!" Clarisse screamed above the noise. The sea churned around them, waves crashing over the deck. The iron plating was now so hot it steamed. "Get us within firing range! Make ready starboard cannons!"

A zombie sailor burst out of the hold and ran to Clarisse. His gray uniform was smoking. Hisbeard was on fire. "Boiler room overheating, ma'am! She's going to blow!"

"Well, get down there and fix it!"

"Can't!" the sailor yelled. "We're vaporizing in the heat."

Clarisse pounded the side of the casemate. "All I need is a few more minutes! Just enough toget in range!"

"We're going in too fast," the captain said grimly. "Prepare yourself for death."

"No!" Tyson bellowed. "I can fix it."

Clarisse looked at him incredulously. "You?"

"He's a Cyclops," Iris said, her face full of realisation. "He's immune to fire. And he knows mechanics."

"Go!" yelled Clarisse, nodding to the Elliott girl.

"Tyson, no!" Percy grabbed his arm. "It's too dangerous!"

He patted his hand. "Only way, brother." His expression was determined—confident, even.He'd never seen him look like this before. "I will fix it. Be right back."

As Percy watched him follow the smouldering sailor down the hatch, he had a terrible feeling. Percy wanted to run after him, but the ship lurched again—and then he saw Charybdis.

She appeared only a few hundred yards away, through a swirl of mist and smoke and water. The first thing he noticed was the reef—a black crag of coral with a fig tree clinging to the top, an oddly peaceful thing in the middle of a maelstrom. All around it, water curved into a funnel, like light around a black hole. 

Then he saw the horrible thing anchored to the reef just below the waterline—an enormous mouth with slimy lips and mossy teeth the size of rowboats. And worse, the teeth had braces, bands of corroded scummy metal with pieces of fish and driftwood and floating garbage stuck between them.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐁𝐃𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄, she was nothing but a huge black maw with bad teeth alignment and a serious overbite, and she'd done nothing for centuries but kill and eat, blood and bones could be seen everywhere.

As Percy watched, the entire sea around her was sucked into the void—sharks, schools of fish, a giant squid. And he realized that in a few seconds, the CSS Birmingham would be next.

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

"Again!" Clarisse ordered. Iris's heart dropped so quickly she was sure she felt it in her stomach. 

The gunners reloaded, but they knew it was hopeless. They would have to pound the monster a hundred more times to do any real damage, and they didn't have that long. They were being sucked in too fast. Then the vibrations in the deck changed. The hum of the engine got stronger and steadier. The ship shuddered and they started pulling away from the mouth. 

"Tyson did it!" Annabeth said. "Iris he did!" Iris smiled, "I told you! He could do it!"

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

"We'll die!" Percy said. "We have to move away."

Percy gripped the rail as the ship fought against the suction. The broken Ares flag raced past them and lodged in Charybdis' braces. They weren't making much progress, but at least they were holding their own. 

Tyson had somehow given them just enough juice to keep the ship from being sucked in.

Suddenly, the mouth snapped shut. The sea died to absolute calm and the water washed over Charybdis. Then, just as quickly as it had closed, the mouth exploded open, spitting out a wall of water,  ejecting everything inedible, including our cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the CSS Birmingham with a ding like the bell on a carnival game.

They were thrown backward on a wave that must've been forty feet high. Percy used all of his willpower to keep the ship from capsizing, but they were still spinning out of control, hurtling toward the cliffs on the opposite side of the strait.

Another smouldering sailor burst out of the hold. He stumbled into Clarisse, almost knocking them both overboard. "The engine is about to blow!"

"Where's Tyson?" Percy demanded.

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

The captain said, "We have to abandon ship."

"No!" Clarisse yelled.

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

He never finished his sentence. Quick as lightning, something brown and green shot from thesky, snatched up the captain, and lifted him away. 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. It happened so fast it was like watching a laser beam rather than a monster. He couldn't even make out the thing's face, just a flash of teeth and scales.

Percy uncapped Riptide and tried to swipe at the monster as it carried off another deckhand, but he was way too slow.

"Everyone get below!" He yelled. "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."

"We have to try. Percy, the thermos." 

"I can't leave Tyson!"

"We have to get the boats ready! "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 Annabeth the thermos. "I'll get Tyson."

 "You can't!" Iris said, she didn't think he was this dumb, her frown made him stop for a split moment. "The heat will kill you!"

But he didn't listen and ran for the boiler room hatch, when suddenly his feet weren't touching the deck anymore. He was flying straight up, Scylla had somehow caught him by the knapsack, and was lifting him up toward her lair. 

Without thinking, He swung his sword behind me and managed to jab the thing in her beady yellow eye. She grunted and dropped him.

The fall would've been bad enough, considering he was a hundred feet in the air. But as he fell, the CSS Birmingham exploded below him. The engine room blew, sending chunks of ironclad flying in either direction like a fiery set of wings.

"Tyson!" He yelled. The lifeboats had managed to get away from the ship, but not very far. Flaming wreckage was raining down. Clarisse, Iris and Annabeth would either be smashed or burned or pulled to the bottom by the force of the sinking hull, and that was thinking optimistically, assuming they got away from Scylla.

Then he heard a different kind of explosion — the sound of Hermes's magic thermos being opened a little too far. White sheets of wind blasted in every direction, scattering the lifeboats, lifting him out of his free fall and propelling me across the ocean. Percy spun in the air, got clonked on the head by something hard, and hit the water with a crash that would've broken every bone in his body if he hadn't been the son of the Sea God. 

The last thing Percy remembered was sinking in a burning sea, knowing that Tyson was gone forever...

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❪ ៸ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 ━━━━━ ! ﹆◞ ❫
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━━━━━ . . .
❪ . . . the tenth chapter finallyyy!! 3.83k words but enjoy!!! ❫
❪ . . . I haven't updated in three months but enjoy this chapter and I hope you enjoy it <3 ❫
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