Thank you guys so much!
By the way, in chapter one, when I said 'benevolent', I meant 'malevolent'. Just sayin'.
Alice the book girl, that's totally a great idea!
Sorry for the wait, I've been busy. Yes, it's a lame excuse, but it's true.
And, it is storytime! I'm trying to work on shorter ANs, because I know you guys like it that way.
Luke's Pov
Am I dead? Everybody thinks I am dead. With Kronos taking control of my body, what life is this? He does not believe I exist anymore.
But if I don't exist, why does pain plague my thoughts? They are the only things I have left. I think of my previous friends every single day. They probably hate me. I tried to give myself, to prevent Kronos, to repent and make up for the horrible things I had done. It didn't work, Kronos still rose, and I was stuck here, in nowhere. Forced to watch Kronos torture and kill my friends. The people I betrayed.
But I think of the ones that are still alive (and MIA) every single day. Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and Nico specifically. Especially Thalia and Annabeth. I hurt them the most, all for a cause I didn't even really believe in. Why did I hurt them? Because I was in too deep. If I hadn't let Kronos get to me, I wouldn't have fallen. But I was too frustrated. My best friend was dead, and I blamed my dad, for not helping us. I gave in to the anger, to the evil. When I poisoned Thalia, I knew that I had gone too far. Sure, she was already dead (or so I had thought), but that just made it worse. Annabeth never forgave me for that, even when Thalia still backed me. I was told that she refused to believe that I had betrayed her. She claimed that I never had, and never would, betray her.
She was wrong, and that alone is the worst part of my punishment. That she still believed, and I let her down. And now I will see her again. After all of the time that had passed, and I'm sure it has been a long time even though I don't keep track anymore, I will see her and the others. The last time I truly talked to her, she kicked me off of a fifty-foot cliff.
I lunged at Thalia, and she slammed me with her shield. My sword spun out of my hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to my throat.
For a moment, there was silence.
"Well?" I asked. I tried to hide it, but there was fear in my voice.
Thalia trembled with fury.
Behind her, Annabeth came scrambling, finally free from her bonds. Her face was bruised and streaked with dirt. "Don't kill him!"
"He's a traitor," Thalia said. "A traitor!"
"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He… he'll be useful."
"Is that what you want, Thalia?" I sneered. "To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"
Thalia hesitated, and I made a desperate grab for her spear.
"No!" Annabeth shouted. But it was too late. Without thinking, Thalia kicked me away. I lost my balance, terror on my face, and then I fell.
She didn't mean to kick me, I'm sure. It was pure instinct. But that was the last time I ever saw her close. And now I will see her again.
And I will be forced to watch, helpless, as each of my friends would be tortured and killed in front of me. Kronos would laugh horribly, as he always did. To make sure that the last thing they heard was him.
Percy and Thalia would, obviously, resist him, it was in their nature to be such experts at ticking people off, and therefore be killed first. Or kept until last to watch their friends die, depending on how cruel Kronos felt today.
But there was news of others that we running with Percy, Thalia, Nico, and Annabeth. Strong demigods and one was a Son of Zeus. The others were nonspecific, having kept hidden well. They were only spotted a few times with my prior friends. So, I would have a crowd of people to watch when they are tortured. My body will be riddled with laughter most of the time. I will try to rebel, again. Try to make myself noticed. I will fight back. After all, I am the only one who can kill Kronos from the inside. It's impossible. But it's still worth a try.
Jason's Pov
So, here we are. Frank's down, who knows where. Piper's hurt. All of us are mentally and physically exhausted. None of us are in any shape to fight anymore, let alone escape from the most highly guarded prison in 'America'. But who's to say we won't try?
"Soon!" roars the Cyclops in charge. "Soon you puny demigods will feel the fires of Hades. No longer will you live in a peaceful and prosperous era! It will be time for the Crooked One to take back his throne!"
"Pretty advanced for a Cyclops, aren't you?" I mutter under my breath.
Unfortunately, my comment is overheard. "What do you mean, advanced?" whines the short, pudgy, greenish Cyclops beside me. His breath is putrid, and his stubby, knotted legs seem as if they wouldn't hold his weight for much longer. He only wore a dirty loincloth, his bulging stomach drooping over it.
"I mean," I started, stretching out the word, "Most of you…are…"
"What? We're what?" the Cyclops demanded in his high-pitched, whiny voice.
"…deprived? Of a proper education?" I cringe, expecting the brute to lash out. I couldn't drop Piper if I needed to fight back.
"…deprived…" he pondered. "…of a proper education…"
"What's the holdup!? We need to get moving!" bellowed the leader.
"Nothing!" I piped up quickly before the stout Cyclops could chime in, and started shuffling my feet forward.
Leo kept his eyes downward, utterly fatigued and hopeless. Piper had slipped back into unconsciousness. I sighed, adjusted Piper slightly, and trudged on to certain doom.
Reyna's Pov
I snuck a look behind me. Jason was dejected. I hoped he had formulated a plan, but by his expression, I knew he hadn't. I am one of the only real Romans left, including Hazel, and possibly Frank. If Frank is still alive. Jason would be considered a Roman, but his attitude had changed since he has gotten back from the Greek Camp.
It's my fault. I sent him out when I heard of other demigods roaming around in America. He found the Camp somehow, all the way in New York, and didn't come back the same. His thinking became Greek-ish, his attitude more adverse able to Roman ideas.
Hazel stands beside me still, her aging secret safe with me and her brother Nico, whom I cannot trust. Nico has been siding with both Greeks and Romans. While both groups set aside our differences to fight the Titans, Nico had been associating with our previous enemy. That is a deed that is unacceptable in Roman eyes.
I look up for the first time, and find myself in front of a large fortress. It was built like an old-fashioned, medieval castle. Stone walls surrounded a city in which is surely a living nightmare. The name 'Kronos' was embedded in the gray wall above the steel double-doors with a white-hot fire. I noticed some of the others intake short gasps of air, fear alight in their flashing eyes. Others' expressions hardened, their eyes darkening.
"Now," the large Cyclops licked his mangled lips, "We feast on half-bloods!"
Thalia's Pov
My eyes were glued to the horrid name placed above the doors leading to the worst place on Earth.
As I turned slowly to face the Cyclops planning to eat my friends, a flash of wild blond hair darted at the monster. Too fast for a reaction, the Cyclops watched, surprised, as he slowly disintegrated into a pile of dust. But the second Cyclops wasn't as slow as the rest of us who still hadn't moved. The monster pulled out a sword, a rare weapon for a Cyclops, and swung the razor sharp blade at a shocked Annabeth. This Cyclops must've taken sword lessons or something, because he demonstrated expert speed and force into the blow. I was actually impressed with the brute, and was distracted (as usual).
"Annabeth!" Percy screamed, jumping into the heat of the moment.
That definitely captured my attention. I had to stop him before Percy did anything stupid.
Maybe it wasn't Percy I should've been worried about. The Cyclops was completely focused on Annabeth, and rammed his blade into her fragile torso. Annabeth gasped and fell.
Percy disintegrated the Cyclops with Riptide before it could turn and gloat. With an angry cry, he took the rest of the horrible monsters by surprise, destroying each and every one of them with his preserved strength. A cleaved head here, a mangled throat there. I didn't watch, but I heard the cries of the cruel beats.
I rushed to Annabeth, slowly bleeding out through her side. "Annie…" I trailed off.
She trembled as she inhaled a shaky breath. "I…should have been…faster…"
I shook my head, not able to accept the fact that she was dying.
"They were…the best years…our family…" I nodded. I could feel her struggle for each breath. She refocused on someone over my shoulder. Percy. "Don't do…anything…stupid Seaweed Brains…" Percy knelt beside me, setting a hand on her shoulder.
"Try not…to get yourself killed."
"I won't." He kissed her, as if saying goodbye for the last time.
"Love you…"
"I love you, too."
Annabeth's eyes, gray and stormy, reflected her fear.
"Remember what Luke said, Annabeth." I told her. "We'll always be a family."
She nodded slightly, and the tiniest of smiles crossed her dirt-streaked face. A vacant look captured her intelligent eyes.
Percy shut the lids, tears falling from his sea green eyes.
I shut my eyes, trying to block out the world.
Okay, so I'm very sorry to pull this tragedy on you on Valentine's Day. By the way, Happy Single Awareness Day!
I will update WAAAY faster next time, I promise.
