Reliving Adventures : Reading The Last Olympian
Yes, I know, I shouldn't be starting this when I've got other stories to update, but I had this chapter done already so I wanted to post it up. And I wanted to do them reading this story and The Lost Hero after, so I'll be writing both at the same time, instead of finishing this one then starting on TLH. That'll give me an incentive to keep working on them, seeing as these sort of stories are time-consuming and really frustrating at times.
I have no intention of abandoning either story, but I might go a while without updating much sometimes (especially when schoolwork is really loaded down on me), but I'll be working on these any time I get free time on the computer. Bear in mind though that I have other stories to work on, as well as school (duh) so this won't be my TOP priority. Though it'll come in close. ;D
So without further ado~ read on!
DISCLAIMER: Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own PJO, though I sure wish I do.
(Oh, and, to state the obvious – all bold belongs to the genius Rick Riordan. And – there's spoilers for those who haven't read/finished this book. So unless you don't mind them, turn back.)
Chapter One: I go cruising with explosives
Leo was heading back from Bunker 9, walking alongside Jason and Piper near the lake. The sun was almost nearing the horizon, and the sky glowed with brilliant shades of oranges and reds. Leo still couldn't get it around his head that Apollo pulled the sun with his chariot across the sky, even though Will Solace had explained that it wasn't actually the sun he was pulling.
Man, thinking about it gave him a head ache. He decided it'll be safer for his brain cells to just tune back to what Jason was saying.
"…was wondering what he did exactly."
"Yeah," Piper agreed, biting her lip. "I asked Annabeth once but she didn't seem too keen to talk about it. I don't blame her."
Leo frowned, confused. "Who're you guys talking about?"
"Percy Jackson," Jason told him.
Leo nodded comprehensively. "Oh, yeah, him. Popular dude. He sounds like you."
"Me?" Now it was Jason's time to looks confused.
"Yeah, y'know, the whole fulfilling prophecies and going on these world-saving, war-ending quests and everyone 'round here looking up to him and stuff…"
"I thought so too," Piper said. Jason looked sort of uncomfortable.
"Yeah, well… I'd seriously like to know some of the stuff he did." Jason paused, staring out over the lake with a troubled look in his eyes. "It'll be good to know if he's got what it takes to… well, survive at the Roman camp. Though I'm pretty sure he does."
"Bro, now you're just giving off pessimistic vibes," Leo groaned, though he felt sort of uneasy too at what Jason had said. It would be bad if the Romans didn't like Percy.
"That… doesn't sound good," grimaced Piper.
Leo reckoned Jason must've been a real pro at optimistic talks in his former life. The guy's words practically oozed cheerful stuff.
Somewhere in the distance, the conch horn blew.
"Well, on that happy thought, let's go to dinner," Leo grinned.
xXx
Rachel was up in her cozy cave, thinking over a few things – mainly the events that had taken place since the 'new trio' had come to camp – when a familiar voice came from outside her door-well, curtains.
"Anybody home?"
Rachel sat up expectantly as Apollo stepped in with his usual sunglasses and bright, cocky grin.
"Hi Apollo. What's up?" she asked curiously. The Sun God hardly visited – he had a lot on his plate usually anyway.
"Thought I'd drop by with a little… ah, gift," he said mysteriously, owning up to his mystifying, future-telling side. The red-headed oracle raised an eyebrow. He sighed. "Fine, I'll get to the point." He held out two big books for her to take, which she did, puzzled.
"You dropped by to give me… books?"
"I know, shocking, isn't it?" Apollo grinned. "But these aren't any books."
Rachel looked down and saw the title of the first one – "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian? So – these are –"
"Stories about Percy, yep! Courtesy to the Muses, of course."
"And… The Lost Hero? Is that the more recent events?" she guessed, checking the other book. Apollo nodded.
"Yeah. The new kids – Jason, Piper, Leo – wanted to know about the whole war and stuff. And, seeing as I'm so wise and All-Knowing, I got these for them!" The cocky grin grew even wider as Apollo inflated his own ego even more.
Rachel chuckled despite herself at the god's predictable behaviour. "Thanks for these. I guess I could get Annabeth too – it'll help to know what those three did on their quest."
"Right, then, I'll leave you to it," he nodded, making his way out again, before pausing. "Oh yeah, and, remember to mention how the ever-awesome Apollo got them." With a last laugh, he left in a flash of golden light – no doubt to return to whatever important duties he'd neglected for this – leaving an amused Rachel behind.
xXx
After they ate, the three friends were just meeting near the forest when a redheaded girl came up to them, a book in her hand.
Leo recognized her as the mist-spilling, future-telling Oracle girl. Rachel.
He hoped she wouldn't start oozing green mist now, but when she spoke, her voice was perfectly normal.
"Hey," Rachel smiled. "Can I talk to you guys? Something came in just now…"
"Um, sure," Jason replied, puzzled.
Rachel glanced at the book in her hands then looked back at them. "Well, I heard that you wanted to know about Percy and what he did in the war…"
"How'd you hear that? Is that like an oracle thing?"
"Seriously, Leo," Piper shook her head.
"What?" Leo shot her an innocent look. It was a perfectly reasonable question!
"Anyway," Rachel continued as though he hadn't interrupted. "I got this book – from Apollo, by the way –" (the sun seemed to brighten up a little, as though the sun god was acknowledging the credit) "and it's basically Percy's… last year here, leading up to the final battle against Kronos and his guys."
"Whoa, wait, so we get to know everything that happened?" Jason asked, a grin forming on his face.
"Pretty much. I haven't read it, so I'm not sure where it begins," she replied.
Piper asked, "So who will we be reading it—"
Then two voices from the trees behind them cried out, cutting her off.
"Ouch! That's my hand, you idiot!"
"I'm an idiot? You just gave us away, bro!"
They looked back to see the two Hermes brothers tripping out from behind the cover of the bushes.
"Connor, Travis," Rachel sighed. "What were you doing?"
"Duh, listening in," Connor stated the obvious, rolling his eyes and rubbing his hand.
"Sounds interesting," his brother added. "Can we read it too?"
Leo grinned. From the short time he'd been here (not counting the days he was on the quest), he'd deducted that the kids of Hermes were absolute clowns. Definitely his type of people.
Though his own siblings had a wicked sense of humor too, after the 'curse' started to seemingly lift and things were working better. Even Nyssa, who's sarcastically witty side showed more and more every time Leo spoke to her.
"There a party going on here?" a familiar voice said from ahead. Jake Mason was heading towards them, curious.
Rachel held up the book and told them what it was and why she got it.
"Okay, look, we'll go down to the river and read it there. Is that okay with everyone?" she asked. They all nodded.
As they walked down, Leo muttered to Jason and Piper, "I didn't know being the Oracle makes you psychic."
Jason chuckled and even Piper gave an amused smile.
When they got there, they saw Rachel was speaking to Annabeth, who nodded at something she said and looked at the book interestedly.
They got to the lake and settled down in a circle. Rachel spoke up.
"Annabeth decided to join us," she started, but Jason interrupted.
"Hey, wait, do you mind telling us the basics? What happened before?" he asked with a curious frown. Piper and Leo leaned in, eager to hear what happened.
Annabeth sighed and looked down at the ground, then back at the trio. "Well, I'd guess that this book starts off after the Labyrinth quest, so-"
"Labyrinth?" Leo piped up, interested. "What labyrinth?
"I was getting to that."
"Right, sorry."
"Okay, well… you know that the 'Big Three' – Zeus, Poseidon and Hades – made a pact after the Second World War, right?"
They nodded hesitantly, not knowing all the details.
"Well, basically, they swore on the River Styx not to sire any more children because the demigods of the Big Three turned out to be so powerful they often caused wars, and their scent was so powerful it led many monsters to them and anyone near them."
"But the pact was broken," Piper remembered.
Annabeth nodded. "Yes. Poseidon sired Percy, who he kept a secret. Hades had two children – Nico and Bianca – from years before, but he hid them in this hotel and casino-"
"The god of the dead hid his kids in a casino?" Leo said, raising an eyebrow.
Piper sent him an 'idiot' look. "Leo, let her continue."
"Alright, alright, sorry."
The others chuckled and Annabeth continued.
"It's a long story, but the casino works the same way as monster islands and all that; time goes past normally on the outside but if you're in there, then a day could be a week or two. So by the time Nico and Bianca got out, they were well over seventy years old, technically, but they were still pretty much the same age they used to be."
"Must've been a shock to them," Jason muttered.
"So, anyway, hardly anyone knew they were Hades' children. And, of course, Zeus sired Thalia."
"And Jason," added Leo unnecessarily.
"And Jason," agreed Annabeth. "But obviously we didn't know that until he came here. Well, Thalia actually sacrificed her life to save me and Grover and… Luke, when we were running from some monsters right before we got to Camp."
"She what?" Jason looked shocked. "Wait, is this when she got turned into a tree?"
Leo and Piper stared at him. "Your sister turned into a tree?" Piper said, eyebrows flying up. "But how-?"
"Zeus took pity on her," Annabeth explained. "He preserved her life in the tree on the border and it protected the camp's borders ever since. We got into camp safely. So the gods thought the problem of the whole breaking-the-oath thing was over. Then, the year Percy came, Zeus' master bolt was stolen."
Leo looked at her weirdly. "Um… how exactly do you steal a bolt of lightning…?"
"It's not just a bolt – it's his chief weapon. Colossal dynamite. I'll explain later on, it's not important now." Thunder rumbled in the distance. "I mean, it is important, but… yeah, anyway," Annabeth added hurriedly before Zeus got too offended. "That got Zeus and Poseidon arguing and fighting – Zeus held his brother in blame for stealing it, and of course Poseidon refused the claim. Then Percy came and got claimed."
"And all Hades broke loose," Travis added in helpfully.
Annabeth ignored him. "Well, that pretty much increased the fighting ten-fold. Not only did Poseidon break the oath too, but Zeus was convinced Percy had stolen his bolt for him. It was… disastrous, to say the least."
"But why was it such a big deal about the children of the Big Three?" Piper asked. "It sounds like there's more to the reason than what you said."
Annabeth grimaced, as did the other demigods. "There was… a Prophecy made, about the first child of the Big Three to turn sixteen. He or she would hold the responsibility of making a decision that would either send Olympus to ruins or save us all."
Leo let out a low whistle. "No pressure or anything."
"Yeah, well, that's why. Thalia would've been the child of the prophecy, but a day before she turned sixteen, she joined the Hunters of Artemis, so now she's immortally fifteen."
"And so, all the pressure goes to poor Percy's shoulders," Connor said with a heavy sigh.
Annabeth glared at him.
"Shutting up…"
"So, what happened about the master bolt?" Jason pressed. Annabeth outlined their quest, trying not to mention Luke too much, but Leo caught on after she was done with the trip to the Underworld.
"The shoes… that Luke guy gave them to Percy, right?" he said slowly. "So… he's a-"
"Yes, he was on Kronos' side," Annabeth confirmed, looking down.
"He was your brother?" Jason asked the Stoll brothers tentatively.
They scowled – an expression unfamiliar to their faces. "Brother… That's what we thought," muttered Travis bitterly.
Jason left the subject.
Annabeth went on to explain their other quests, the other campers (and Rachel) adding in details where she wasn't sure what happened. She mentioned a few times about a spy at camp who was reporting to Kronos, but she never named her. It was a painful topic to go in to. But something sparked in Piper's memory.
"The spy… it was Silena, wasn't it?" she said softly, Drew's words coming back to her, all those days ago.
The other campers looked at her in surprise.
"How…?" Annabeth started.
Piper grimaced. "Drew mentioned it, when I came to camp… but… Silena wasn't bad, was she?" she added, eyebrows creased.
They all shook their heads sadly. "Silena was a hero, as much as Beckendorf…" Jake trailed off.
Leo looked up at him; he hadn't thought about it, but Beckendorf's death might be in this book. He didn't know if he really wanted to hear it. But still…
"Well then, I think that's all the important things," Annabeth said.
"Alright, so the war's about to start, and Kronos… got a new body for himself… using Luke," clarified Jason, looking a bit sick at the thought. So did the others, judging by their grimaces.
"Okay, so," Rachel said, looking around, "Who wants to read first?"
"I'll read," Jason offered, getting the book from her. He glanced at the cover page. "Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian. Who's the last Olympian?"
"I guess you'll find out," Rachel shrugged.
"Alright then…"
I GO CRUISING WITH EXPLOSIVES
The end of the world began when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.
"Dramatic start much?" Travis grinned.
"That doesn't happen to all demigods, does it?" Leo asked in a serious voice. "'Cause that'll be a waste of a good car."
"Hey wait a sec…" Jake frowned, turning to Rachel and Annabeth. "Is this when…"
"Oh," Rachel bit her lip. "Yeah. It is."
Most of the demigods who knew what they were talking about frowned sadly.
"Whoa, wait, what's going on?" Leo asked, not liking their expressions. Jake shot his brother a grimace and said, "Beckendorf."
"Oh…" Already?
There was a bit of a silence then Jason decided it'll be better to read on.
Technically I wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't turn sixteen for another week, but my mom and step-dad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me
"You?" Connor asked, looking at Rachel.
"No, it's this other friend of Percy's called Rachel, duh," Travis smirked.
The others either rolled their eyes or grinned.
to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore, and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin.
"Ooh, there something going on between-" Travis started cheekily but shut up when both Rachel and Annabeth glared at him.
Rachel also looked quite anxiously at her friend, worried about her reaction to what was going to happen. Annabeth didn't seem to notice as she asked, "Did Percy have to go in the middle of your trip?"
Rachel nodded.
Now I know what you're thinking, wow, that was really irresponsible of him, blah, blah, blah,but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding schools buildings,
"Wow," Piper said. "Is that an ordinary occurrence for him?"
"Which one? The slicing up demons or the exploding buildings?" Travis asked innocently.
"That's actually pretty normal for Percy," Annabeth smiled reminiscently, ignoring Travis. "He ran into trouble everywhere."
"You can say that again," the others who knew Percy muttered, then exchanged grins.
so he probably figured taking a car a few hundred yards wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done.
"I'm guessing he won't be too pleased when he gets it back," Leo chuckled.
Anyway, Rachel and I were driving along. It was a hot August day. Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered jeans before, and she looked like a million golden drachmas.
The Stoll brothers smirked but were smart enough not to say anything. Annabeth raised an eyebrow at her friend, whose cheeks were pink.
"He just thought of me as a friend, you know," she told her. "And besides, it's already happened…"
Annabeth sighed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right."
"Oh, pull up right there." She told me. We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is always one of my favorite places, but today it was especially nice-glittery green and smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us.
My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Annabeth grinned, looking around then, realizing Percy wasn't there, let out a breath in annoyance – probably at herself for letting her guard down.
"So." Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."
"Oh… right." I tried to sound excited.
"He didn't succeed in that very well," Rachel smiled.
"Percy was a bad actor," Travis said, shaking his head disappointedly. "He could've used some of our lessons."
Annabeth glared at him darkly.
"What?"
"Is, not was," she hissed.
Travis smartly shut his mouth.
I mean, she'd asked me to her family's vacation house on St. Thomas for three days. I didn't get a lot of offers like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.
"That sounds nice," Piper smiled, albeit a little sadly, thinking of her own dad and the trips they used to take.
Rachel shrugged. "They wouldn't have cared either way."
Piper sent her a questioning look, but Jason read on.
Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting.
"He's lucky he got one," Jake muttered, thinking about all the preparing and the tense atmosphere at camp.
"He needed it, though," Annabeth said softly. "Percy did a lot to help, he deserved a break." She sent Rachel a look while she said this; she still felt pretty bad about the way she acted towards her.
Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was "on call" for a mission. Even worse, next week was my birthday. There was this prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.
"Ooh, harsh," Leo winced.
"Percy," she said, "I know the timing is bad.But it'salwaysbad for you, right?" She had a point.
"I really want to go," I promised. "It's just-"
"The war."
I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the Mist-the magic veil that distorts human vision.
"Oh, that makes sense," Piper said comprehensively. "I wondered how you could see everything. I thought it was because you're the oracle…"
"No, the oracle thing came to me only recently," Rachel explained. "I could always see through the Mist."
"Some mortals are born like that," Annabeth added to them.
She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. She'd even been there last summer when the chopped-up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earned my permanent respect by nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic hair brush.
There was a silence. Then they all (minus Annabeth, who'd been there) burst out laughing.
"You- you chucked a hairbrush-" choked out Travis between laughs.
"At Kronos' EYE?" Connor snickered.
"I wish I could've seen that!" Leo laughed.
After they settled down, Jason continued, the grin still on his face.
She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad…"her voice faltered.
"Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked. Rachel shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to beniceto me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies Academy in the fall."
"You don't get on with your dad?" Piper asked her.
Rachel half-shrugged. "Not really. He's… well, he's a rich guy, and he thinks buying me things and all that will make me like him more. No luck." She made a face.
"Oh." Piper wouldn't have guessed she had something in common with the redheaded girl. She was just glad that, in comparison, her dad actually did love her, despite his fame…
"The school where your mom went?"
"It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in finishing school?"
A lot of snorts resounded between the campers and a lot of people said "No" in skeptical tones.
I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to "Save the Endangered Yellow-bellied Sapsucker" and stuff like that.I'd never even seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite.
"Well, just so you know, it pretty much sucks," Rachel said lightly, making a disgusted face.
She sighed. "He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in."
"Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?"
"Yes… but Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favor. It would besomuch better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk-" She stopped abruptly.
"Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean… so serious we'd have to go to St. Thomas to talk about it?"
Annabeth raised an eyebrow and was tempted to ask Rachel what exactly that something was, but she thought better of it.
She pursed her lips. "Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together."
"Normal," Connor said disbelievingly, staring at her. "You're telling Percy to pretend he's normal."
"Dude," Travis said, shaking his head. "Those words don't even work in a sentence together!"
"Idiots," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes.
I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire.
We'd spent a lot of time this summer together.
Annabeth mumbled something under her breath. That was exactly why she'd been jealous. Though, admittedly, that was rather unfair. Percy had to have some time away from everything.
I hadn't planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room.
"You two are close friends?" Piper asked her curiously. Rachel nodded.
I needed to remind myself that the mortal world was still out there, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.
"Yeah, tell those monsters to get their own punching bags!" Travis chuckled. "Just because Percy comes free…"
"No, he comes at a heavy price," Jake corrected him in a serious voice. "The monsters are pretty much dead if they use Percy as a punching bag."
Their friends chuckled.
"Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."
"Great, now you've delusioned Percy into thinking that too!" Connor groaned dramatically.
"Connor, stop interrupting," Annabeth huffed. "And it's deluded, not delusioned."
"Sure it is."
She nodded. "And so… hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"
Most of them stared at Rachel, who shot Annabeth an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry," Rachel said quietly to her friend. "That was when I thought I liked him… but – you know – it didn't last long anyway."
Annabeth shook away any unwanted thoughts from her head – it was all in the past, and everything had turned out right in the end anyway. Not everything… She scowled at the unbidden thought and looked at Jason so fiercely to start reading that he didn't even wait a heartbeat.
"Oh. . ." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows-slow, dumb, and bright read. "Um. . ."
"Well, that's not nice," Travis huffed. "There's no need for him to compare himself with the cows…"
"Yeah, it's a bad insult to them!" Connor agreed, making them grin amusedly.
I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than . . . well, some other girls I knew. I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.
I'm not sure what I would have done next-but I was so distracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed in the hood of the Prius with a WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!
"There goes the car," Leo piped in.
Hey, boss,said a voice in my head.Nice car!
"Um… what?" Piper said slowly, looking confused. So did Jason and Leo.
"Horses were created by Poseidon," Annabeth explained, glad to have something to distract her. "Percy can talk to them and they talk back."
"Wow, that's so cool!" Leo grinned.
Blackjack the Pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put in my hood; but I didn't think my stepdad Paul would be real stoked.
"Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you-?"
Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get way more complicated.
"'Sup Percy."
They all looked down sadly, knowing who it was.
Charles Beckendorf,senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin would make monsters cry for their mommies. He was huge, with ripped muscles from working on the forges every summer, two years older than me, and one of the camps best armorsmiths.
"More like the best armorsmith," Jake mumbled, looking down.
"He sounds awesome," Leo noted with a sigh. Jake nodded.
He made some seriously ingenious stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was carrying a bunch of monsters across the country. The explosion took out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy wentflush.
A few of them gave weak chuckles.
"He was definitely awesome," Travis grinned.
Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and a war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.
"Time?" I asked.
He nodded grimly.
A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning for it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen.
Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. "Hi."
"I love how you're all cool about that," Connor snorted.
Rachel shrugged. "You get used to it."
"Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me… uh, I mean he mentioned you."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."
"Pretty much." Beckendorf agreed.
I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom –?"
"I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."
I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his car.
"You think so?" Leo muttered sarcastically, trying to lift the mood a little. Which didn't really have that effect, since he wasn't exactly cheerful himself.
"Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react.
Rachel flinched at the sudden glare Annabeth gave her (she couldn't help it if she got subconsciously defensive).
Though before she could say anything, the Stoll brothers (who seemed to have a death wish) wolf-whistled. "Ohemgee you kissed him!" Connor said in a falsetto, acting all shocked and horror-struck. He regretted it a second later when Annabeth punched his arm.
"Shut up," she hissed, then shot Jason a sharp look to continue. He gladly obliged, making a mental note not to ever get on her bad side.
"Sorry about that," Rachel murmured to her friend.
"Now get going half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."
My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what she wanted to talk to me about, and whether or not I would live long enough to find out.
"So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth?"
"Oh gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."
The others heard Annabeth mumble distinctly under her breath about "stupid Seaweed Brain…"
Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared over the Atlantic.
It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. ThePrincess Andromedaglowed on the horizon – a huge cruise ship light up yellow and white. From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord. Then as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead – a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.
Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on thePrincess Andromeda.
"Must be nice to see it again," Travis commented.
"Funny, I was thinking the exact opposite," Connor said to him innocently.
Now it was heading straight for New York.
"You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind.
I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets.
I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.
"Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern point.
Gotcha, boss,he said.Man, I hate seeing that boat.
Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on thePrincess Andromedauntil he'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd rather have his man braided like My Little Pony then be back there again.
A few of them snickered at the mental image, especially the ones who knew Blackjack.
"Don't wait for us," I told him.
But boss –
"Trust me," I said. "We'll get out by ourselves."
Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks on the ship –dracaena,snake- women, hellhounds, giants and the humanoid sea-demons known as telkhines – but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm. We shot down the stern of the boat; Blackjack folded his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.
Good luck, boss,Blackjack said.Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!
This time they did laugh.
"Man, I already love this pegasus," Leo grinned.
With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket and uncapped it;
"A… pen?" Leo said unsurely, eyebrows rising.
"It must be a weapon," mused Jason. "Like my coin."
"Oh."
Riptide sprang to full size – three feet of deadly Celestial bronze glowing in the dusk.
"Awesome!"
Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light – the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite.
The older campers looked down again, grimaces covering their faces. Piper tensed slightly. She wanted to know about her half-sister so much… she hoped this book would have the answers.
They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions Beckendorf had been happier this summer then I had ever seen him.
"At least there's that," murmured Annabeth. "He enjoyed his time here, before… everything happened." The others nodded.
"We'll make it back at camp." I promised.
They flinched slightly. They'd all experienced promises in battles and dangerous times that couldn't be carried out…Promises that left a lot of people guilty…
For a second I say worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.
"You bet," He said. "Let's blow Kronos back into a million pieces."
Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.
"I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice – a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it was a meatloaf sandwich!"
"Meatloaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled.
"Typical monsters," Travis said. "They're all idiots."
"Which is actually a good thing, for us," his brother pointed out.
"But this is half-blood, I swear. They are on board!"
"Bah, yourbrainisn't on board."
"See what I mean," Connor said smugly.
"Yeah, but thing is, no-one argued with you," Travis told him, rolling his eyes.
Some of the others smiled weakly, though it was short-lived as they knew what was to come.
They continued to argue and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines began to fade.
Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room".
It was locked, but as Beckendorf pulled some chains cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.
Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on .
I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something was wrong. He leaped sideways towards a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust.
"One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go."
"Yep, keep up the optimism…"
He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid – Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world. Then he threw me another essential tool to demigod heroes – duct tape.
"Yeah, it's right up there with the magical weapons and stuff," Leo said at an attempt at a joke.
"Slap that one of the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines."
We went to work, the room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat.
The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have a perfect bearing at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at 40.19 degrees north, 71.90 degrees west, making eighteen knots, which would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn.
"It's good that they know things like that," Piper commented.
This would be our only chance to stop it.
I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard pounding feet on metal steps – so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign. I locked eyes with Beckendorf, "How much longer?"
"Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least."
Judging from the sounds of footsteps, we had about ten seconds.
Everyone tensed.
"I'll distract them." I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."
"Percy –"
"Wish me luck."
He looked like he wanted to argue.
The whole idea had been to get in and get out without being spotted. But we had to improvise.
"Good luck." He said.
I charged out the door.
A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. T cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing – past another telkhine, who was so startled he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I kept him alive – partly because his lunch box was cool,
"Seaweed Brain," muttered Annabeth with a half-smile.
partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room.
I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall was once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom doors had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience.)
The trio looked at Annabeth at that, eyebrows raised.
"Do we want to know what happened there?" Jason asked unsurely.
Annabeth grimaced at the memory of that quest. "I'm not actually sure of all the details… you'll have to ask Thalia, she was there."
Jason nodded and read on, knowing they weren't going to get anything else from her.
Back on my first visit to thePrincess Andromeda,my old enemy Lukehad kept some dazed tourists on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. I hated to think of what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd be allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.
"I really doubt that," Rachel grimaced, trying not to think of what might have happened to those poor mortals.
I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab.
"Giant, as in, king-crab-size, or giant as in bigger-than-me-size?" asked Travis.
Jason grinned as he read the next part.
I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat-Alaskan king crab. I'm talkinggiantlike bigger than the fountain.
"Creepy…" Travis muttered, widening his eyes.
"Dude, Percy can hear you!" Connor exclaimed.
The monster rose ten feet out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, and its pincers larger than my body.
If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size. Its beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see intelligence in them – and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr. Crabby.
"Wow," Leo said. "How the hell does he get out of that?"
"No idea."
"FFFfffff," it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off him was like garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week.
"Sounds pleasant," Connor mumbled, wrinkling his nose.
Annabeth shot him a brief evil grin. "Really? Then I know what to get you for your birthday."
"I was kidding!"
Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving.
"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so–"
Snorts.
"Right. That'll work."
The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. I dove into a gift shop, plowing through a rack of t-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr. Crabby turned and followed.
"There!" a voice said from a balcony above me. "Intruder!"
"Oh crap."
If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ship, I was crab chow.
The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.
I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab – something about Hercules crushing it under his foot?
"Well, unless he magically gets some shoe-enhancing thing, that's not an option," Piper deliberated.
That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks.
"Only slightly."
To our cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of things he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armor, right in the middle of their ugly bellies.
"Score one for Percy," Travis grinned.
The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.
"Minus that score if he doesn't know how to do it," he muttered.
I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks.
I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming. "AHHHHHHH!"
Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slide on the wet marble floor straight under the creature. It was like sliding under a seven ton vehicle. All the crab had to do was sit and squash me,
"That would've been a nice end to the story," remarked Jake dryly.
but before it realized what was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out backside.
"Nice one!" A lot of them noted appraisingly.
The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red and its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap.
I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed. Riptide, being magical, would appear in my pocket sooner or later,
"Now that," Leo said in awe. "Is useful. Your weapon can't do that man!" He added, turning to Jason.
Jason said mock-indignantly, "My weapon's cool enough, thanks!"
but for now it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.
In the elevator foyer of deck eight, a couple ofdracaenaslithered across my path. From the waist up, they were woman with green scaly skin, yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs.
"They sound nasty," Piper said, making a face.
"They are really nasty," nodded Annabeth. "But not that hard to fight. Sometimes."
They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.
"What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss?"
I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snakes, but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a "you are here display." I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the firstdracaena.The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship. I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung it around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship.
"Get him!" she screamed.
Hellhounds bayed. An arrow somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.
"Ooh, close."
I didn't care – as long as I got the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.
As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve – about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.
"That's just sad," frowned Jason. "Twelve year olds being convinced to join Kronos…"
"It was, but there wasn't really anything we could do about it," sighed Annabeth. A lot of demigods died in the war, good and bad.
That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed – trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.
Piper shuddered at the thought. It was… wretched. Sick.
No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.
Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.
"Of course, Percy has to do something stupid," Travis said.
"I seriously wouldn't be talking, Travis," Annabeth glared at him.
"If you want to live," I told him, "get off this shipnow.Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next floor.
I kept climbing.
Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit.
I burst outside the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.
All I had to do was cross the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad – our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges a quarter of a mile away.
"If only…" muttered Jake under his breath.
I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "You're late, Percy."
Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-age guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.
Everyone shuddered – mostly the older campers. They couldn't help but feel a bit bad about Luke (the ones who knew him well, anyway) and what happened, though it was his decision to start off with.
"Are they gold because he's…" Jason trailed off, looking ill at the thought.
Annabeth nodded glumly. "Yes. Kronos."
"We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful – the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words scrapped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me."
"Creep…"
"These bad guys need new phrases," mumbled Connor.
"Seriously," Leo agreed. "'Bow to me's a bit old."
"Cliché."
Jason caught Annabeth's eye and she sent him a 'continue reading so we can get this over with' look.
"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.
Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for the cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so fast unless they'd known I was coming.
"Great."
I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed… or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him.
Annabeth had to work to keep her expression neutral, but it was hard as all those previous thoughts and doubts and feelings came back, now with some regret too, as she remembered Luke's last moments.
Jason continued reading so she forced herself to focus on the story.
A new voice in my head said:I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?
"Seriously?" About half of them said.
"I never knew he tried to take him on so soon," Rachel exclaimed.
"It's a good thing he didn't have a full-on battle then," Annabeth frowned, going cold at the thought of Percy fighting Kronos properly before he'd become immortal.
According to that big prophecy, I was supposed to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days away.
"Oh yeah. Wow, poor guy," Leo said, shaking his head. That had to be tough.
"It's weird hearing that now," Rachel muttered to Annabeth. "Now that we know who the prophecy was actually referring to, I mean."
Annabeth nodded, still frowning.
Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.
"Ego, much?" Connor grinned briefly.
"It's Percy, what d'you expect," Travis commented lightly.
As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he wasKronos.I had to remember that.
"Come forward," he said. "If you dare."
The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword.
Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands – a six-foot-long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steal. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged.
Time slowed down. I meanliterallyslowed down, because Kronos had that power.
"That seriously sucks," Jake scowled.
"And it's unfair," Piper pointed out, frowning.
I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy; I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.
I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me – the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the years, but now nothing seemed to happen.
I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered.Dracaenahissed with laughter.
Hey, ocean,I pleaded.Any day now would be good.
"Only Percy could get away with speaking to the ocean and not being claimed insane," Annabeth said fondly, shaking her head.
Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the dock. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.
"Whoa, wait, he actually broke Kronos's spell?" Jake said, looking shocked.
"Damn. He really is good," Connor gaped.
"Did you seriously doubt that, though?" Rachel asked him.
"…Nah."
I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake at looking at his face -Luke's face –a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him.
Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting in the deck right between my feet.
I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.
"Yeah man, lose some weight already!" Connor snickered.
Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only reflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain. I remembered what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe:Careful, fool. One touch and that blade will sever your soul from your body.Now I understood what he meant.
Everyone winced.
"Ouch."
"How did he get out of that?" Jason asked, disconcerted.
"Water heals him," Annabeth said shortly.
I wasn't just losing blood; I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.
"Gods, that is terrifying."
I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.
"What? How?" Piper queried.
"I can't say," Annabeth said. "You'll have to read on."
"Can't we just get the answer?" Leo pleaded, eyes widening.
"Nope."
"Damn."
Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."
My vision started to blur. I knew it didn't have much time. "Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it washishead."
"True," a few murmured in agreement.
"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."
"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.
"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face – Luke's face – seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"
They winced, bracing themselves.
He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!"
A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crows. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life.
"Idiot," Annabeth and Rachel both muttered, having both been there.
"Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."
He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between the, my heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.
Jake couldn't hold back a shudder. Beckendorf was always the toughest one. They hardly ever saw him beaten or down… hearing this was tough. Leo (who was sitting next to him) placed a hand on his shoulder silently.
"No!" I yelled.
Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something.His watch.They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives where still armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.
"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"
"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"
"He was goingtowardthe engine room, my lord."
"He tricked them," Leo mumbled, feeling some awe that he could think of something that quick under the danger.
"How do you know that?"
"Err…" Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."
Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.
"Couldn't they have set it off then fought their way off the ship?" Piper asked, biting her lip.
IT was Leo who shook his head. "Doubt it. In this situation, the best thing to do would be to prime the detonator to a minimum – probably a second, or immediate set-off. Am I right?" he asked Jake, who nodded numbly.
Kronos hesitated.
Buy the story,I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand.
"Open his bag," Kronos ordered.
"Crap."
One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.
I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.
"Did you, perhaps," he said. "Capture this demigod near the galley?"
Ethan turned pale. "Um –"
"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"
"They're all idiots," Travis said quietly, rolling his eyes.
Ethan scrambled back in terror then turned on his heels and ran.
I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand:How long?
He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle.Zero.
There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both.
Kronos turned towards me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."
"No need to gloat about it," Connor muttered.
He held out his hand and dangled a little sliver bracelet with a scythe charm – the Titan lord's symbol.
The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think.
I muttered, "Communication device... spy at camp."
A sigh went through the group.
Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on your friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way.
Annabeth scowled at those words – those false words. They hadn't let him down, it had been the complete opposite.
Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."
I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.
Beckendorf mouthed one word:Go.
Jake shook his head, closing his eyes. If only they hadn't been caught like that…
I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.
The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly – toward the watch on his wrist.
I wanted to scream,NO!
Everyone caught their breath. The clearing was eerily quiet, with only Jason's voice sounding as he read.
Then down at the swimming pool, one of thedracaenahissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"
Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought down his hand up to his watch.
Leo swore softly, gripping Jake's shoulder hard. He couldn't think of the courage it would take to do that… or what it would feel like to watch…
Jake had his head in his hands, trying not to imagine that… The others shut their eyes too, or looked down sadly, trying not to think about it too much.
I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through the crowed of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship – toward the water a hundred feet below.
I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierce my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away – a hundred yards, two hundred yards.
Even from a distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. ThePrincess Andromedablew up from both sides, massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.
Beckendorf, I thought.
Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.
"That's the end of the chapter," Jason said quietly, letting out a breath.
They all sat there silently for a minute.
"That was…" Leo started, voice tight, but realised he couldn't get any words to describe it.
"Yeah," muttered Jake, unclenching his fists and taking a breath. "He was… an awesome fighter. A real hero."
"It was definitely a loss to our side," Annabeth said softly.
"Should we continue now, or later?" Piper asked quietly after a moment, sending the Hephaestus boys a concerned glance.
"Just continue," Jake said, and Leo nodded once.
"This is depressing stuff. I need a laugh." He claimed, trying to sound normal-ish.
Piper sent him a smile, then took the book from Jason. "I guess I'll read."
xXx
So? Apollo is very awesome, don't you think? :P I don't know whether I'll update the next chapter of this story first, or the first chapter of TLH. Depends what I finish first. (And, to be honest, chapter two of TLO isn't one of my favourites – it's getting on hard to write, but I'll do my best).
Also, if you know anyone who beta's these types of stories (you know – the whole 'characters reading the series' stories) I'd be really grateful if you could refer them to me. :) I've searched a few times, but I'm not sure whether the ones I've seen would beta something like this, and I don't usually get on the computer long enough to 'research' this too far. :P
Um, yeah, think that's it. *off to work on next chapters* Haha, well, I hope you enjoyed this, and criticism is always welcome! :D
Cheers!
~izzy x