Rick Riordan
The Sea Monsters - 02
"Come on, Seaweed Brain," she said. "We have to get away while Circe's distracted."
We ran down the hillside through the terraces, past screaming spa workers and pirates
ransacking the resort. Blackbeard's men broke the tiki torches for the luau, threw herbal wraps into
the swimming pool, and kicked over tables of sauna towels.
I almost felt bad letting the unruly pirates out, but I guessed they deserved something more
entertaining than the exercise wheel after being cooped up in a cage for three centuries.
"Which ship?" Annabeth said as we reached the docks.
I looked around desperately. We couldn't very well take our rowboat. We had to get off the
island fast, but what else could we use? A sub? A fighter jet? I couldn't pilot any of those things. And
then I saw it.
"There," I said.
Annabeth blinked. "But—"
"I can make it work."
"How?"
I couldn't explain. I just somehow knew an old sailing vessel was the best bet for me. I
grabbed Annabeth's hand and pulled her toward the three-mast ship. Painted on its prow was the
name that I would only decipher later: Queen Anne's Revenge.
"Argggh!" Blackbeard yelled somewhere behind us. "Those scalawags are a-boarding me
vessel! Get 'em, lads!"
"We'll never get going in time!" Annabeth yelled as we climbed aboard.
I looked around at the hopeless maze of sail and ropes. The ship was in great condition for a
three-hundred-year-old vessel, but it would still take a crew of fifty several hours to get underway.
We didn't have several hours. I could see the pirates running down the stairs, waving tiki torches
and sticks of celery.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the waves lapping against the hull, the ocean
currents, the winds all around me. Suddenly, the right word appeared in my mind. "Mizzenmast!" I
yelled.
Annabeth looked at me like I was nuts, but in the next second, the air was filled with
whistling sounds of ropes being snapped taut, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking.
Annabeth ducked as a cable flew over her head and wrapped itself around the bowsprit.
"Percy, how ..."
I didn't have an answer, but I could feel the ship responding to me as if it were part of my
body. I willed the sails to rise as easily as if I were flexing my arm. I willed the rudder to turn.
The Queen Anne's Revenge lurched away from the dock, and by the time the pirates arrived
at the water's edge, we were already underway, sailing into the Sea of Monsters.
Chapter Thirteen
Annabeth Tries To Swim Home
I'd finally found something I was really good at.
The Queen Anne's Revenge responded to my every command. I knew which ropes to hoist,
which sails to raise, which direction to steer. We plowed through the waves at what I figured was
about ten knots. I even understood how fast that was. For a sailing ship, pretty darn fast.
It all felt perfect—the wind in my face, the waves breaking over the prow.
But now that we were out of danger, all I could think about was how much I missed Tyson,
and how worried I was about Grover.
I couldn't get over how badly I'd messed up on Circe's Island. If it hadn't been for Annabeth,
I'd still be a rodent, hiding in a hutch with a bunch of cute furry pirates. I thought about what Circe
had said: See, Percy? You've unlocked your true self!
I still felt changed. Not just because I had a sudden desire to eat lettuce. I felt jumpy, like the
instinct to be a scared little animal was now a part of me. Or maybe it had always been there. That's
what really worried me.
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