Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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I wanted to scream at her that this wasn ' t the time for taking supplements! She had to draw the sword!
She popped a lemon chewable in her mouth just as the door flew open and Circe came back in, flanked by two of her business-suited attendants. " Well," Circe sighed, " how fast a minute passes. What is your answer, my dear?" " This," Annabeth said, and she drew her bronze knife. The sorceress stepped back, but her surprise quickly passed. She sneered. " Really, little girl, a knife against my magic? Is that wise?" Circe looked back at her attendants, who smiled. They raised their hands as if preparing to cast a spell.
Run! I wanted to tell Annabeth, but all I could make were rodent noises. The other guinea pigs squealed in terror and scuttled around the cage. I had the urge to panic and hide, too, but I had to think of something! I couldn ' t stand to lose Annabeth the way I ' d lost Tyson.
" What will Annabeth ' s makeover be?" Circe mused. " Something small and ill-tempered. I know... a shrew!" Blue fire coiled from her fingers curling like serpents around Annabeth. I watched, horror-struck, but nothing happened. Annabeth was still Annabeth, only angrier. She leaped forward and stuck the point of her knife against Circe ' s neck. " How about turning me into a panther instead? One that has her claws at your throat!" " How!" Circe yelped. Annabeth held up my bottle of vitamins for the sorceress to see. Circe howled in frustration. " Curse Hermes and his multivitamins! Those are such a fad!
They do nothing for you." " Turn Percy back to a human or else!" Annabeth said. " I can ' t!" " Then you asked for it." Circe ' s attendants stepped forward, but their mistress said, " Get back! She ' s immune to magic until that cursed vitamin wears off." Annabeth dragged Circe over to the guinea pig cage, knocked the top off, and poured the rest of the vitamins inside. " No!" Circe screamed. I was the first to get a vitamin, but all the other guinea pigs scuttled out, too, and checked out this new food.
The first nibble, and I felt all fiery inside. I gnawed at the vitamin until it stopped looking so huge, and the cage got smaller, and then suddenly, bang! The cage exploded. I was sitting on the floor, a human again— somehow back in my regular clothes, thank the gods— with six other guys who all looked disoriented, blinking and shaking wood shavings out of their hair. " No!" Circe screamed. " You don ' t understand! Those are the worst!" One of the men stood up— a huge guy with a long tangled pitch-black beard and teeth the same color. He wore mismatched clothes of wool and leather, knee-length boots, and a floppy felt hat. The other men were dressed more simply— in breeches and stained white shirts. All of them were barefoot. " Argggh!" bellowed the big man. " What ' s the witch done t ' me!" " No!" Circe moaned. Annabeth gasped. " I recognize you! Edward Teach, son of Ares?" " Aye, lass," the big man growled. " Though most call me Blackbeard! And there ' s the sorceress what captured us, lads. Run her through, and then I mean to find me a big bowl of celery! Arggggh!" Circe screamed. She and her attendants ran from the room, chased by the pirates. Annabeth sheathed her knife and glared at me. " Thanks..." I faltered. " I ' m really sorry—" Before I could figure out how to apologize for being such an idiot, she tackled me with a hug, then pulled away just as quickly. " I ' m glad you ' re not a guinea pig." " Me, too." I hoped my face wasn ' t as red as it felt. She undid the golden braids in her hair.