𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐓𝐇, Clarisse la Rue

𝐯𝐢𝐢. sea creatures with bad teeth, yikes...

STRENGTH
━━ act two, chapter seven.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

   NABI WOKE UP TO THE SOUND OF ALARMS. She almost fell out of the hammock with a yelp. There were voices of undead soldiers, officers shouting orders to ready the cannons.

"What's happening?" Nabi grumbled.

   It seemed like the other three in the hammocks were still stirring, though Nabi wanted to check out how important the situation was first—she opened the door and rushed upstairs.

When she got to the top, the sky was overcast. The air was hazy and humid, like steam from an iron. Nabi could just barely make out a couple of dark fuzzy splotches in the distance.

   Annabeth and Tyson came up, followed by Percy. He seemed out of it, and Nabi guessed it didn't have to do with any motion sickness. It'd be pretty embarrassing if a child of Poseidon couldn't handle boat rides.

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

   Percy nodded, but didn't say anything. Clarisse came up the stairs right after him. Nabi could tell she wasn't feeling great either, but one look from the Ares girl told her that she was more focused on the matter at hand. Clarisse grabbed a pair of binoculars from a zombie officer, and peered toward the horizon. "At last... Captain, full steam ahead!"

Nabi turned to the direction she was facing, but couldn't see much. It was way too stormy, but she could sense that they'd travelled far. The engine groaned as they increased in speed. Tyson muttered nervously, "Too much strain on the pistons... not meant for deep water."

His murmurs made them all feel uneasy.

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 in the 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 paled. "Are you crazy?"

   "Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis, and her sister Scylla," Clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs.

   Percy asked, "What do you mean the only way? The sea is wide open! Just sail around them."

   "Don't you know anything?" Clarisse rolled her eyes.

   Nabi said, "They'd just pop right back up. You can't escape them. Sailing through is the only way to get to the Sea of Monsters."

   "What about the Clashing Rocks?" Annabeth said, "That's another gateway. Jason used it."

   "I can't blow apart rocks with my cannons," Clarisse shook her head, "monsters, on the other hand..."

   "You are crazy." Annabeth decided.

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

   "Aye, m'lady!"

   The engine groaned once more, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to accelerate.

"Clarisse," Percy recalled, "Charybdis sucks up the sea. Isn't that the story?"

"And spits it back out again," She answered, "yeah."