The Sea of Monsters

Percy wakes in a rowboat with Annabeth. There’s no sign of Tyson. They’ve crossed into the Sea of Monsters, and while the sea is a healthy green and there’s plenty of sunshine, something about the place feels dangerous. They ride in silence for a while until Percy finally asks about the prophesy regarding his 16th birthday. Annabeth doesn’t know for sure it’s about him. The prophesy says the next child of the “big three” who reaches 16 will make a decision that either “saves the Age of the Gods, or destroys it” (167). Percy realizes this is why Kronos let him live the year before—in hopes he would reach his birthday and end the gods.

The boat pulls up to a luxurious-looking island. A pristinely dressed woman welcomes them to the CSS Spa & Resort and takes them inside to meet C.C., a beautiful woman with a loom and a cage full of guinea pigs. Annabeth goes off on a tour of the spa, and C.C. has a chat with Percy. The more C.C. talks, the worse Percy feels about himself and all his imperfections. C.C. shows Percy his ideal version of himself and promises he can achieve that version with the right diet and exercise, as well as a glass of water mixed with an unidentified red powder. C.C.’s too-good-to-be-true sales pitch puts Percy on edge, but he takes the beverage and drinks. The liquid burns “as if the mixture were coming to a boil inside of me” (176), and Percy transforms into a guinea pig.

Annabeth returns, clean and wearing a dress similar to C.C.’s. C.C. drops Percy into the cage with the rest of the guinea pigs and gives her sales pitch to Annabeth, telling her she can be anything she wants and that women don’t need to bow to men. Annabeth realizes C.C. stands for Circe (a legendary sorceress) and notices the cage of guinea pigs. Playing along with Circe’s game, Annabeth asks for a minute to say goodbye to Percy, and Circe leaves. The second she’s gone, Annabeth finds the bottle of multivitamins from Hermes in Percy’s clothes and takes one.

The vitamin makes Annabeth immune to magic, and she pours the rest of the bottle into the cage. Percy eats one and returns to human, as do the other guinea pigs, who transform back into pirates and go after Circe. Percy and Annabeth make a run for it and board a three-massed ship named the Queen Anne’s Revenge. After a moment of concentration, Percy unlocks the word “mizzenmast” from somewhere inside him. The ship responds, preparing itself to set sale, and Percy feels every rope and pully “as if it were part of my body” (185). They sale back into the Sea of Monsters.