A/N : Sorry for the wait! I got sick...so it took me awhile! SO SORRY!
It was just starting to get dark and all three teens were exhausted from travel by the time they reached the house of Luke's contact. Annabeth and Grover had both been hesitant to trust Luke, but so far nothing he had done aside from blackmail his way into coming along had been too awful. He had advised them to take the head of Medusa so that they would be able to destroy the others, and he was currently leading them to a tracker.
"Alright, so who is this guy anyways?" Grover asked, huffing a little as they climbed a hill, moving towards a cottage in the highlands.
"She," Luke corrected. "We're going to see Cayleigh, daughter of Artemis."
"That's impossible." Annabeth stopped short. "Artemis is an adamant virgin, Luke, where are you taking us?" Her words were tipped with anger and she folded her arms across her chest, instantly suspecting the young man of wasting their time.
"She is a virgin," Luke insisted. "Haven't you heard of parthenogenesis?"
"Not being successful," Annabeth stated. "I mean even Hera failed to successfully and asexually produce a decent child."
"Yeah, but since Hephaestus, Artemis has had a lot of time to practice, hasn't she?" Luke rolled his eyes. "Cayleigh is one of three children Artemis has managed to produce on her own, and she's the only girl. She's also the only one I know, so if you want a decent tracker, you're just going to have to trust me."
"Why should we do that?" Grover asked. "You've betrayed us before."
"Because what better tracker could you ever get than the daughter of Artemis?" he asked. "Think about it for a second and then follow me." He turned away from his colleagues, heading towards the cottage.
By the time he had reached the door, Annabeth and Grover had caught up to him, deciding that, if they were going to save Percy, they needed all of the help they could get. Luke smirked, as though to silently say 'I knew you would follow' before raising his fist and knocking on the door.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Luke Castellan." A female voice rang out as the door opened and a second later, a tall girl came into view. She couldn't be more than 21 years old and she had long, wavy blond hair with heather woven in it. She had piercing green eyes and a striking figure emphasized by a sly smile. "I had heard you were imprisoned for stealing the bolt."
"Yeah, well, a friend is in trouble, so I had to make a little jail break." Luke sighed. "Can we come in?"
"Who are your friends?" Cayleigh asked as she opened the door, eyeing Grover and Annabeth as they answered.
"This is Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and Grover, he's a protector."
"Who is he supposed to be protecting?" Cayleigh asked, tilting her head to the side. "Your friend, I assume? The one in trouble?"
"Yes." Luke nodded. "Percy, he's the son of Poseidon and we believe that he's been kidnapped by Stheno and Euryale." He bit his lip. "I know you left camp half blood because you disagree with the gods raising children to be their earth armies, but we really need your help, Cayleigh."
"He's the one who killed Medusa, then?" Cayleigh asked, grabbing a sweatshirt and pulling it on, zipping it up halfway.
"Yeah." Luke nodded. "Look, they're going to kill him."
"He's probably dead already, Luke. If he's with the gorgons, it's a safe bet that he's already a statue."
"No." Annabeth cut in. "He's alive, I can feel it, and you have to help us find him. Please." She gulped. "They're not going to kill him right away, they want him to pay for what he did to their sister, I'm sure of it."
"And you are his girlfriend?"
"Oh, no." Annabeth shook her head, ears flushing red slightly. "I'm just his friend."
"Alright." Cayleigh nodded, smiling slightly at Annabeth. "So I'm guessing you need help tracking these gorgons all over?"
"Yes." Luke reached out, taking Cayleigh's hand. "Come on, say you'll help us."
"Hmm…" Cayleigh let out a deep sigh, pulling her hands away from Luke. She went to the corner of the room and grabbed a longbow and a quiver of arrows as well as a crossbow. "Where do we start?"
"Thank you!" Annabeth and Grover both let out deep, relieved sighs as Cayleigh declared her intentions to help them.
"You're welcome." Cayleigh offered Annabeth another smile, ignoring Grover entirely.
"Alright, well we need to get to Siberia, that's where we have to search for the first hint." He sighed.
"We can get halfway there tonight," Cayleigh stated. "We'll drive to the airport and go from there. We can sleep on the plane." She tucked her crossbow under her arm, reaching for her car keys. "You three look exhausted."
"We haven't slept in over 24 hours," Luke admitted. "Sometimes you just don't get that chance."
"I know what you mean." Cayleigh nodded, leading them towards her car. They all piled in, and two hours later, they were on a plane to Siberia. Annabeth was passed out in a seat next to Cayleigh while a few rows back, Grover and Luke were both still awake.
"You don't think we'll be too late, do you?" Luke asked, looking over at Grover. "I mean, if Percy died, you'd be able to feel it right."
"Yeah." Grover nodded. "I'm pretty sure that I would." He frowned slightly. "I think we'll make it in time if we work hard, but since when do you care? You hate Percy."
"No, I don't hate Percy." Luke let out a deep sigh, raking his fingers through his hair. "I used him to get back at my father, but he was just a random selection. It could have been anyone, it just happened to be him, and I do feel badly about that. Percy's a good guy, I don't want anything to happen to him."
"Well something already has happened to him," Grover stated. "And if you think about it, it's your fault. If you hadn't stolen the lightning bolt, he never would have had to go search for his mother, and he never would have encountered and slain Medusa."
"Why do you think I'm so intent to help?" Luke snapped, surprising even himself with his outburst. "I know that Percy's abduction was my fault, alright? I feel terrible about it, but that's not going to save him, so I'm coming with you and I'm going to help you save him."
"Oh." Grover bit his lip, trying to get comfortable in the seat. "Well you just better hope it's not too late or I'm going to have to get all Medieval on you."
"Yeah, I'd like to see you try," Luke joked.
"Let's hope you never have to." Grover yawned, closing his eyes, and a few minutes later, he was fast asleep. Luke, however, failed to fall asleep, worrying too much about the young man who's life he had single handedly put in jeopardy.
A/N: Alright, so yes, we do have a new character, and if you guys need a picture, let me know and I"ll post one with the next chapter. NOW QUESTION TIME! Some people suggested that Percy be sexually assaulted by his captors. What do you guys think about that? Should it happen or not, and if so, to what extent?