What's up, people? May I present the sequel to The Black Dawn. I hope that my updating for this one will be more regular than the old one.

I do not own Percy Jackson in any way.

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"Get up." The look in her eyes was less than respectful, as though I were scum beneath her feet. I groaned, sitting on the ground while her mouth jammed together in irritation. She crossed the space between us, hauling me roughly to my feet where I had sprawled against the throne Kronos would sit upon.

"I can get up myself," I snapped. Rowan stared at me with doubtful eyes but released my arm as though it burned. Humiliated, angry and beaten, I pushed myself from the floor. Blood fell from the wound she'd inflicted on my arm, falling to the ground. I panted while she crossed her arms, not even noticing the scratches and bruises I'd managed to make on her face.

"You've improved since you first come here," She said, as though it were a critique. "Though you're still slow. I suppose it's only to be expected, after all." She sniffed in distain, her hatred toward me not having lessened since the three months I'd been here.

"Thanks." I said sourly, hating that I still couldn't manage to beat her. She nodded curtly to me and bowed from the waist up, clearly hating that fact that she had to bow to me. It made me uncomfortable, the way monsters bowed when I walked in even though it was clear that they hated me. I watched Rowan walk away, her hair running down her back like a black waterfall. Not once did she look my way. The door opened and closed before I could blink, not that I minded.

I hated sparring with Rowan. Even though she was forbidden from using her whip against me, it didn't make that much better when she used a regular sword like me. Of cours, she used this time to get her revenge at me. At first, she beat me every single day, whipping me until I was black and blue. My desperation to stay alive and my anger and frusteratio at the entire thing made me fight back, and it wasn't long before we were on even footing.

Even then, I still couldn't manage to win against her. Every time I saw her, saw the monsters bow to me, saw the shirts of dead halfbloods they brought back with them, it made my heart feel heavy. I hadn't forgotten my friends I'd left behind. Whenever I thought of them , my heart twisted and tears stung at my eyes. Kronos didn't like it when I mentioned them, so I didn't.

After the first week, I'd learned to stay on my guard and do what Kronos had asked me to do. I battled Rowan, I practiced the ability to freeze time with Luke and Kronos. And after a while, it felt natural to do so. It was something that had to be done, and any desire to run away had long since left me. Even if I were to go back to Camp Half Blood, they campers would think that I was the enemy and kill me.

So despite the aching hole in my heart, I forgot about Nico. He was the reason I was here, and the reason that I didn't want to leave...I tried to convince myself that I'd done the right thing. But was it right if it hurt him? I swallowed thickly, leaning against the throne just as the door opened again.

I sat up straight. Luke entered the room, hands shoved in his pockets. He scowled at me as a way of greeting and sat down next to me. As surprising as it was, he was my only comfort these past few months. he was surprisingly easy to talk about, and on those rare occasions I managed to warm him up enough, he would tell me outrageous stories that made me laugh until my sides were aching.

"Hey, Luke," I greeted. He nodded, not answering me. I frowned at his silence. "Luke, what's the matter?"

"None of your business." He snapped, his tone as clipped and icy as the first time I'd spoken to him. "Leave me alone."

"You came here," I pointed out. "Anyway, what's going on?" It wasn't just him that had started to act like this. The monsters had grown in numbers and the demigods had started acting somewhat fearful about it. More than once, I'd caught Rowan staring after Luke with an unreadable expression on her face.

"None of your business." He repeated, though he lowered his arms from his face so I could see him. His eyes were cloudy, his hair waving down to his forehead and down his back. Sweat matted them against his forehead. His cheeks were red, his arms trembled.

Distracted, I reached a hand out. "Luke, are you okay? You look really pale." He waved my arm away, causing me to frown. I couldn't pretend like it didn't hurt me, because it did. "What is it, don't want me to touch you?"

"I'm fine," He snapped, though even his tone lacked its usual malice. Now, it just sounded dejected and lifeless. He stood, towering over me with his lanky stature. "Now, are you ready?"

"Sure," I said. I stood up as well, brushing stray hair away from my face. Luke stood before me, rubbing at his eyes as though he had just woken up and drew out his sword. I backed away nervously. Even though I knew he would never actually hit me, it was still hard to stand before him, defenseless while he took a swing at me with his sword.

"Ready...go." He threw his sword at me instead of lunging forward himself. I was so scared, I couldn't think properly. "JAIME!" Luke shouted to me. His angered cry was enough for me to come to my senses. I cringed away from the knife, wishing it would go awy. It clattered to the floor as I ducked, imbedding itself in the marble floor as though it were butter."You tried to kill me," I gasped. I stared at his sword with anger and numb shock. I repeated with growing anger. "You just tried to kill me!" While I panicked, Luke walked past me calmly and drew his sword away from the broken floor.

"No, I didn't," He said calmly. "I told you to get ready. Why didn't you freeze it?" The way he spoke about it made me flush angrily. He spoke to me like a child, though he was only a little older than me.

"I-I didn't know that you would throw it at me," I defended myself."You usually attack me head one, not just with a sword. Excuse me for thinking you were trying to behead me." He turned a disbelieving eye at me, and I flushed angrily. In one of his better moods, he'd once teased that I was like a little kid to him, pouting when things didn't go my way.

"You're excused," He said in answer to my comment. I stared at him in disbelief as a small, coy smile took place around his face. My smile was just as timid and I took a small breath before standing back up.

"Okay, I think I'm ready now." When Luke hitched an eyebrow at me, I made a face. "I'm fine. Now, come on." He sighed, but he threw his sword at me anyway.

"Never mind. I lied; I'm not ready." I said, panicked. But the sword was already in motion, arching toward me. I groaned internally, but tried to tap into that...something inside me that made it possible for me to freeze things.

It's kind of hard to explain it but, it feels like there's pressure inside my stomach, building up. When I release it, it's like being punched in the gut by a boxer. And the bigger the something is that I'm trying to freeze, the more pressure it is for me, and the longer I have to hold it, the more toll it takes on me. I don't even need direct eye contact anymore. But, there are some things that are impossible for me to do.

For example, if I tried to freeze a Titan, I would burn myself up. Fun.

When I manage to tear my eyes away from a spot on the ground, the sword froze in front of me. I breathed in a sigh of relief, then I sat down without bothering to unfreeze it. Luke snorted, then sarcastically clapped his hands. I bowed from the waist up.

"Very good," He said mockingly, "It only took you three months to do it right." I scowled at him.

"You try controlling something you can't hold on to, and then try to make it do what you want," I complained, "Then, you try to make it hold something without freezing anything. When you can do that, then you can try-,"

"I get it," Luke said, cutting off my words lazily, "You complain a lot, you know that?"

I glared at him before snarling out, "Thanks so much, I wonder exactly what I have to complain about."

His smile faded slightly as he realized what I was talking about. He, of all the people here, knew about how scared I was to be here. The monsters and some of the Titans resentd me because they had to follow my orders. The demigods were frightened by me, and none of them spoke to me freely. My life here was miserable. There was nothing about this place that I wouldn't be willing to trade away.

The corridors were always dimly lit, the dark walls and dark expressions of everyone a constant thorn at my side. It was obvious that nobody liked me, but out of fear and respect for Kronos, they listened to me. In battle, I knew none of them would hesitate to strike me in the back if they thought they could get away from it. As it was, one man had tried to kill me, two weeks into my stay here.

Rowan had killed him, under orders of Kronos. The rest of the demigods had been forced to watch, and since then, they've kept their space from me. No doubt may of them were cursing me under their breath.

The only person who made my stay here bearable was Luke, but his days were numbered. In a short while, I knew, Kronos would take over so he could begin the invasion. The idea of Luke turning into my father scared me to death. I didn't want to lose my only friend, the only one I could talk to, the only one who made me laugh here.

It would be as painful as losing Nico.

Nico...

"Hey, are you okay?" Luke started forward, gripping my arms. I gasped, sagging against him. The pain in my chest lashed out at me, screaming for this man to release me so I could go find Nico and beg for him to come back. It had been a mistake to think about him. Even thinking his name released all the pent up emotions I'd pushed in the back of my mind, held together lock and key.

I gasped, stuffing my knuckles into my mouth so I wouldn't full out start to cry. I didn't want anyone to see me about to cry. I wouldn't give anyone here that satisfation. It would mark me as a weakling, and as a disgrace to Kronos. It was only through his protection that I was alive.

I took a deep breath, a shuddering whimper and pulled away from Luke. "I'm fine, just...just lost in thought."

He frowned but nodded his agreement. A shadow crossed his face at something, passing so quickly I couldn't be sure that I'd seen it clearly. It was over in a second, then he was laughing. I stared at him, perplexed by his mood swings.

"Have you unfrozen the sword yet?" He asked. He didn't touch it, knowing that if it unfroze, it would go back into the same motion it had been thrown in and imbed against the wall, taking him with it.

Startled, I glanced back. "No, I don't think I have to...," I broke off as the door opened. I lost my concentration and the sword flew against the open door. The slim figure ducked, not seeming to be particularly surprised. I gave a huff of relief.

Last week, I'd accidentily impaled one of the Titans with it and found myself the subject to many deadly glares. And demigods were a lot more breakable than Titans...

My heart rolled back as I realized just who the person was. Her long black hair was windswept, curly down to her back. Brown eyes shone with suppressed emotion beneath a fringe of winglike eyelashes, dark and long. Upswept eyebrows pulled back as though in pain, lips bitten until they were raw.

Rowan Cresta looked as though she were drowning in something, her entire frame shaking. She took a deep breath, as though steeling herself. Next to me, Luke had frozen into a statue. Totally unmoving, his eyes fixed on Rowan.

"Luke, before the rebirth, I need to talk to you," She said, her voice smooth though it cracked on the last fe syllables. Her beautiful face fixed on me, unwillingly, brokenly. "Alone."

Her tone was heartbroken, her expression torn. My stomach dropped to my feet because I'd seen that look before one somebody's face. Nico's, before I'd betrayed him. And the way she spoke...as though she would never see Luke again...

My stomach rolled, nearly causing me to gasp.

Something bad had happened. Something really bad.

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A/N: I should let you know, the first couple of chapter will be set before the Last Olympian. Just to get a few details added in, you know. I've put up the first couple chapters so there's more reading material.