A.N. Last chapter I got a review that pointed out all the historical inaccuracy so I would really appreciate any good points about my story ( though I will take constructive criticism) but just no flames please! Anyway I'll stop banging on about it and hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 6

Annabeth's Pov

We sped through the forest, the wind billowing our cloaks out behind us. I could tell Blackjack wanted to take to the air but we were too deep into the forest to as the branches and leaves would tangle his wings. We continued to ride until the sun came over the horizon. We were about a third of the way through the dense forest it would take us another couple of days until we reached the other side. We reached a large gap in the trees which had a small stream running through it. I dismounted and led Blackjack over to the stream. It was clear fresh water that had a white sand bed. Near the edge of the clearing that the river entered there was a small waterfall which collected into a round pool. The waterfall was about a meter above the edge of the pool and though the stream was slim the waterfall had a large amount of water falling into it. The rest of the clearing was covered with soft emerald grass which was dotted with white daisies. Under the new morning sun it looked as if it had been designed by Aphrodite herself.

"Oh Gods!" said Thalia. She had dismounted and was rolling her shoulders back , a painful grimace on her face . She unsaddled Porkpie and left him to graze and then stalked over to the stream. She crouched down and splashed some of the water on her face.

"Oh My GODS! That is so COLD!" she shrieked. I rolled my eyes , I was smiling though.

"I think this should be a good place to rest for a while." I said while de-saddling Blackjack who joined Porkpie grazing.

I dropped the sack and my cloak by the waterfall , took of my boots and waded into the basin. The water reached my waist when I stood in the middle of the pool. I waded over to the waterfall and stood underneath it letting it run through my hair and wash away the grime and sweat from last night. I waded back to the side of the pool and climbed out as Thalia climbed in. I quickly changed into a mans tunic with a pair of cotton shorts and put on a pair of sandals. I tied my hair up in a low bun with a strip of leather. Thalia pulled herself out of the river and changed into the same as me.

"How do I look?" I asked. " Do I look Boyish enough?"

"Mmmm... Yeah but your hair has to go. It is too long and feminine. You need to cut it."

"What? Awwwwwwwwwwww... but thats not fair!" I whined while stomping my foot.

"I like my hair! And it took me ages to grow it this long!"

"Annabeth, if you want to have the same equality as a boy you HAVE TO LOOK LIKE ONE! Now you can either cut your own hair or you can get caught because you were recognised as a girl and go back to the palace. Which is it going to be?"

After a few minutes of contemplating I came up with an answer.

"I'll cut my hair." I grumbled. I sat and sulked while Thalia started to chop away at her hair. After a few minutes her dark black hair was cut short and was choppy and spiked but still with a long fringe. I sighed and retrieved my knife from the sack.I leant over the stream so I could see my reflection. I tugged my hair out of the bun and then retied it back in a ponytail. Then I grabbed my knife and cut off the ponytail. The strip of leather fell away easily from what was left of my hair. I continued to cut my hair until I literally could not chop any more off. My blonde curly hair was now uneven and badly cut. I sighed and glanced at the pile of hair in my lap. Oh well, I thought. I stood up brushed my self off and walked over to had better be worth it.

"Okay Thalia, we have two options. No.1 We keep moving. We try to get out of the woods as soon as possible, but we will have to ride for the rest of today and through out the night. Option No.2. We stay here over night make a fire and then continue traveling tomorrow. So what do you want to do?"

She pondered for a minute in silence before coming to her conclusion.

"We ... go. I'm guessing that the palace will be searching for us and so the further away we get the better." And so we saddled the pegasi and continued to canter through the forest.

We had been travelling all day when things started to go wrong. The sun was long gone but the moon was hidden behind a bank of clouds so we were almost in complete darkness. We stopped cantering and had to dismount and carry on foot as to not crash into a tree. We wandered through the forest when I heard a twig snap from behind me.I glanced back. There was nothing but shadows. I shivered. After another few minutes another twig snapped.

"Thalia! Did you hear that?"I whispered.

"Hear what?"

"That twig snapping. Another one also snapped a few minutes ago. Do you think we're being followed?"

"Maybe... I can see a clearing up ahead. When we get there we can mount and get the pegasi up to fly if its clear enough."

I nodded and we continued through the forest until we reached the clearing.I handed Thalia my stirrups and was walking back to the right- handside of the horse when something whistled by my ear.I froze , slowly I turned around and saw an arrow embedded in the ground behind me.

"Thalia?"

"I see tell me it has the palace symbol on the shaft..."

" Sorry but Thalia I don't even need to look. I doubt the palace would try and get us back by shooting us with arrows that have poison on the tip. If with arrows at all." I whisphered.

Another whistled by and landed a few centimetres in front of Thalia. Slowly we moved behind the horses and looked for were the forest was closest. I found it and nodded to we ran for the forest. if we got into the forest then it would be harder for them to shoot us as the trees would provide perfect cover. Our plan was cut short though as men appeared out of the shadowy gloom and formed a wall in front of us. We skidded to a halt.I glanced around. The entire clearing was lined with big brutish men armed with swords spears and arrows. One stepped forward and grimaced.

"Damn! They're boys. Oh well, they'll do well at auction anyway." he nodded to one of the brutes who stepped forward and grinned showing ugly stained teeth. he had a rope in his hands. Thalia bolted for the horses but to no avail. One man caught up with her andpicked her up as if the was a walking doll. She screamed and kicked and bit but all that she acheived by this was to be hung upside down and the man hold her twice as tightly . By the time she wazs brought back to her original spot she was woozy from all the blood that had drained to her man qith the rope stepped forwards and bound her wrists together before doing the same to mine. We were also gagged with a horrible sweaty peice of gloth that stunk like feet. The guards waited with us for another couple of hours before the leader announced that who ever they were meant to be waiting for wasn't coming. We started the journey back through the woods. The men dragged us along by the rope. If we tripped and fell they would just pull us along over the harsh rocky ground. Eventually we reached some sort of camp. People were chained up in rows. There were over a hundred people there. And a satyr? I glanced at Thalia and she was obviously thinking the same thing as me.

What the hell was a satyr doing in a slave trade?

While I was contemplating the satyr the men had been having a conversation. Suddenly my hood was jerked back and I was staring into the eyes of General Atlas. DAMN IT! I had seen General Atlas a couple of times when he had visited the palace but I had never liked him.

"WHAT IS THIS?... A GIRL, A STUPID, WHINY, LITTLE GIRL AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN CAPTURE HER? YOU IMBECILES!" he bellowed his face men flinched.

Their leader spoke up.

" We waited all night sir, and these two were the only ones following the specific trail. The girl didn't show!"

Atlas's face turned one shade darker." So Luke wants to play games, eh? Well I'll show him what happens when you mess with me!" He said before stroming off into his tent. The lead guard nodded to the end of the chain of people.

"Shackle them up. They give you any trouble twenty-three flogs with the Nine cat and iron." He said before following Atlas into the tent. We were dragged to the end of the line and shackled on. The people were chained in rows of three so Thalia and I were next to a strange boy with raven black hair and sea green eyes who was glaring at the guards. I was in the middle and Thalia was on the end. The satyr was in the row in front of us. I glanced at Thalia . she had the same expression as the time Nico went missing. Worry and annoyance.

"Luke? Why would he want to capture a girl. Unless..."she looked at me."Unless the girl they were talking about was you." I sat in silence for a few minutes , contemplating what she said. Suddenly it all made sense.

"Your right Thalia! Luke was the one who helped me escape the palace. Though I had said I never wanted to come back he couldn't risk having to marry me if I missed the high life and changed my mind. So to ensure that I wouldn't come back he paid Atlas to capture me and sell me off on the slave auction! Oh, Luke Castellan YOU ARE DEAD!" I said through clenched a voice behind me burst out laughing. I turned around. It was the boy with black hair laughing like he had been tickled with a feather.

"Oh thats good! I have only one question what would Luke Castellan, son of Hermes and royalty want with YOU?" he said after managing to calm down.

I glared at him."None of your business." I said through gritted teeth. The boy just raised his eyebrows.

"Anyway, My names Perseus, but people call me Percy, what are your names? and why did you say your a girl?" he said while pointing from Thalia to me. I looked at Thalia. We hadn't even chosen names for ourselves yet.

"Amyntas." I said quickly.

"Theron. And I meant Amyntas's sister but I said his by mistake." she replied smoothly. Percy didn't seem to buy it but he didn't say anything else.

"Well, Theron, Amyntas seeing as we do not appear to be going anywhere I am going to get some sleep. I would advise you to do the same. You hardly sit down when your in the slave trade. Especially when your on the slave end." and without another word he leant back against one of the trees and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before he began snoring softly. Slowly I leant back lying on the hard ground. Thalia fell asleep the moment her head touched the ground. I lay on my back and wathed the stars through the branches of the trees. I knew all the constellations and where they moon was the only light as all the torches had been extinguished for Atlas to be able to sleep. The moon cast patches of silver light on the ground as it filtered through the trees. After a couple of hours I looked over atThalia and whisphered "What have I got us into?"

AN. Hey guys!How'd you like the story so far? know it can be a bit slow