Chapter 7: Son of a Witch
Circe stepped forward with the smile still bright on her face. Her skin seemed to be radiating a strange glow, but it could've been my eyes fooling me. I looked to my right. Thalia was staring at Circe with a fierce look, like she had encountered her before. A gust of wind sliced through the deck and caused my hair to lash at my face. I continued to stare at the sorceress, never removing my eyes. She couldn't be trusted.
"Long time, no see," Circe said. Her smile widened a little bit. "I know what you are all thinking. What am I doing here?" She laughed. "Just helping an old friend of mine."
"What, you mean Kronos?" Thalia asked with disgust. Kronos cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows.
"Indeed. Without Circe, I would have never been able to do it," he said.
I switched my attention to Kronos warily. "Do what?"
"Oh, you will find out soon enough," Kronos answered. The mysterious glint in his eyes told me that he was planning something devious, I was sure of it.
Thalia narrowed her eyes at Circe. "I thought you hated men, Circe?"
"Yes," she admitted. "But Kronos has promised to make me queen once Olympus falls. And I could turn the male gods into guinea pigs for my own amusement." She chuckled softly. I shuddered at the thought of Zeus as a tiny, enraged rodent.
"Yes, come now, my queen. Your beauty is wanted elsewhere," Kronos said, gesturing towards the room near the pool. He ran a hand down her arm, which made me crinkle my eyebrows in disgust.
Circe let out a girlish giggle. "Oh, you!" And then she bounced off, passed the pool and into the room. Kronos turned his eyes from Circe to us.
"You see, I had some help from Circe." Kronos shrugged, like making a crazed, evil sorceress his eternal queen wasn't so bad.
Thalia spoke up. "For the spell." She made it clear that it wasn't a question. Her stare was as cold as ice.
"I see Artemis did a nice job teaching her little helpers," Kronos said, dangerously calm.
Thalia's face twisted into a wild scowl. I thought she was going to blast him right then and there, but she somehow controlled herself. For all Kronos knew, we were still numb from head to toe. We couldn't let him know that we had an advantage to getting off this ship.
"You're trying to control the Great Prophecy," I accused, narrowing my eyes.
Kronos's winning demeanor didn't falter. "Am I?"
Thalia almost threw her hands up in exasperation. Instead, she said, "No Styx!" like it was obvious.
Kronos pursed his lips and shrugged. "Maybe I am."
Maybe? Why else would he want to control Percy? For power? To raise him? The thought of Kronos raising Percy as his son made me want to throw up. What else could he gain from Percy, besides controlling the Great Prophecy? Is he going to bargain with the gods?
The door of the pool room cracked open. Circe's head stuck out of the crack. "Lord, it's time," she called.
"Coming, my queen," Kronos answered back. He turned back to us and smiled. "This way, if you will." Kronos walked off into the direction of the room.
I didn't have time to refuse, because a celestial bronze sword tip dug into my back and forced me to move forward.
"Ow! Watch it!" I hissed.
"Sorry," James whispered from behind me. I didn't look at him. I glared at the floor as we made our way to the room.
As soon as the door flew open, cold air crashed into my face. It was dark inside, that's for sure. I had to try real hard to avoid tripping over my own feet. Once Thalia, Grover, and I were inside, the door slammed shut, sealing us in the dark. My eyes were almost adjusted to the lack of light, when I heard a low click. The blinds creaked open, blinding me once again.
"Hi!" squeaked a childish voice. Something hugged me around the waist as I blinked rapidly, trying to adjust my eyes. I pulled back and stared into a pair of bright green eyes. But the connection didn't last long.
"Son, are you ready?" Kronos asked. He was waiting across the room by Circe and a chair. In his hand was a syringe filled with some sort of gold liquid. My eyes widened as Percy nodded and stepped towards him.
"What did you… What did you do to him? What're you going to do with that?" I demanded, my voice shaking. My eyes were fixed on the point of the needle as Kronos twirled it in his hand.
"May I, Lord?" Circe asked. She exchanged a glance with Kronos, who nodded. "Very well," Circe said. "If you want to know what happened this badly, then so be it."
Circe looked at each of us for a moment before she snapped her fingers. The sound echoed off the walls and bounced into my ears.
And then everything went black.
At first, I thought Circe killed me, but then I realized that wouldn't be logical. For one thing, I know what Hades's domain is like, and this wasn't it. My vision started to brighten. The first thing I realized was that I was in the same room. It was the same scene as before, only, next to Kronos was—
I nearly choked on my own gasp. There, next to Kronos, was Percy. He was bound to a long table, strapped down by his wrists and ankles. I could see him struggling to get free. He had a half-crazed look in his eyes as Kronos towered over him with something in his hands.
No!I tried to scream, but nothing was coming out of my mouth. My eyes darted around the room. The blinds revealed no light, which meant it was nighttime. Thalia and Grover were still next to me, only I couldn't hear them. They were mouthing something at me, but I couldn't make it out what they were trying to tell me.
"What do you want from me, Kronos?" Percy growled. My eyes turned huge as I heard Percy's voice. This wasn't the five year old Percy. This was… this was Percy. Percy, the one of the prophecy. Percy, the son of Poseidon. Percy, my best friend.
When Kronos didn't answer, Percy started to thrash against the restraints. Circe began muttering something in ancient Greek.
"Now, Perseus. Why don't you be a good little hero and stay still?" Kronos said. He brushed back the bangs from Percy's face.
Percy snapped his teeth at Kronos's hand. "What are you doing with me? You know I'll never join you!"
"Yes, but I have other ways to make you, whether you like it or not," Kronos answered simply. Percy glared at him, but soon his eyes turned wide when Kronos showed him a familiar syringe. It was full of that same gold substance.
I whipped my head back to look at Thalia, who was looking right at me.
"The spell," she seemed to mouth at me. Terror flooded her eyes, and I probably looked the same as she did.
That's when I knew where we were. Circe was showing us what happened before Percy washed up on the shore at Camp Half-Blood. She was showing us what Kronos did to him.
Percy was staring at the syringe, his face pale. He was shaking his head back and forth slowly, a desperate attempt to stop Kronos. Percy's eyes drifted to where I was. He blinked before mouthing my name.
I held my breath. There was no way he could see me. This was a vision for the gods' sake!
Kronos let out a chuckle, not noticing my presence. "I have to say, Perseus—if it weren't for you, my plan would have never worked."
Percy returned his eyes to the syringe. "What plan?" he asked bitterly.
"Oh, just the plan that will make Olympus suffer for what they had done to me." Kronos offered a wicked smile as he positioned the syringe over Percy's heart.
Out of instinct, I tried to run forward to save Percy, but I couldn't move my legs. I had to remind myself that this was a vision, and what's done has been done. There was no changing it.
Circe continued to chant louder, but her words made no sense to me.
Percy glanced over at me again, and for a scary second, I was positive he could see me. The syringe was inching closer.
"ANNABETH!" Percy cried out. "Help—" he started, but his voice faltered as Kronos forced the syringe down and into his heart. "—me…" My own heart throbbed in my chest as Percy's eyes slowly fluttered closed. His breaths turned into short, shallow gasps.
It was silent for a second, until—KABLAM!
The door was kicked open and in flew a black Pegasus.
Blackjack!
The Pegasus whinnied in fear and flew to the center of the room to knock Circe over.
"What in the world?" Kronos yelled as Blackjack planted a kick on his chest, forcing him to fly back and hit the wall. The syringe was half empty as it fell to the floor and cracked. The golden liquid seeped into the carpet.
I watched as Blackjack ripped the restraints from Percy's wrists and ankles and hoisted his unmoving body onto his back. Kronos got up and growled, but it was too late. Blackjack flew out of the door, leaving a wheezing sorceress and a very angry titan.
A familiar snap clicked through my ears. The next thing I saw was the room turning three hundred and sixty degrees before stopping. I stumbled back uneasily and stepped on someone's foot.
"Ow," someone groaned from behind me.
I looked back to see James, and his other buddies with Thalia and Grover. Thalia had a strange expression on her face, almost as if she had just seen someone's death. I looked forward again, into the questioning eyes of Percy. Circe snapped her fingers again, and I flinched involuntarily. It didn't seem to affect anyone, except Percy. His eyes glazed over for a second, like he was in the middle of a daydream.
"Now you see," Circe started with a smile, "Everything would have worked right then, if it weren't for that good for nothing Pegasus."
"You can turn it into a guinea pig later," Kronos promised. Circe grinned at the thought. Kronos continued to explain. "It was a good thing he was unconscious when he rode off. All I needed to do was have Morpheus send him dreams that would lead him to right into the hands of Hebe." I gasped, but he went on. "And without realizing it, Hebe sent Percy right back to me when she threw him off her cliff. Convenient, if you ask me."
"He fell right into our trap. To turn him into a mere child and make him believe that he is the son of Kronos. And then we were going to raise him to bring Olympus crumbling down," Circe said, a triumphant smile planted on her face.
I cursed under my breath. I completely forgot about the minor gods that were on Kronos's side. The dreams were sent by Morpheus, not Poseidon. I made a mental note to apologize to Poseidon later.
"But fear not, it ends today." He turned towards Percy with the same wicked smile in the vision.
"NO!" I screamed, trying to run forward, but James held me back. Circe smiled at the agony in my voice.
I couldn't let Kronos inject that stuff into Percy. If he only injected half in the vision, then he would have full control over Percy once he gets the other half into his body. But there was still time. Kronos was too busy testing the syringe against his skin, making sure the liquid would come out correctly. I looked at Thalia and Grover.
"Now," Thalia mouthed.
I didn't need to be told twice. I elbowed James where the sun doesn't shine and grabbed my invisibility cap from my pants. Wow, that sounded weird.James went down in pain as I pulled my hat over my head and blended into my surroundings. Behind me, I heard the distinct sound of lightning crackling in the room. I darted over to Kronos and gave him a good roundhouse kick to the chest and sent him flying back into Circe. I grabbed Percy by the wrist and tugged him away.
Percy shook his head roughly and blinked a few times. "Annabess?" Percy questioned as he looked at his wrist. I nodded out of habit, which was pretty stupid because I knew he couldn't see me.
"Yes, Percy, it's me," I said quietly. I peered over my shoulder at Thalia, who had already knocked out the two boys and was now dragging Grover to the door.
"Go!" Thalia shouted, pushing my invisible body towards the door. I took off my invisibility cap and tugged Percy along.
"What about Daddy?" Percy asked. He had a small pout on his lips, which made me feel the need to pinch his cute little cheeks.
"I'll explain to you later, okay?" I said, turning my eyes on the deck. The deck was surprisingly empty. There were no monsters, which was strange.
"Guys, our backpacks!" Grover reminded us, gesturing wildly at the hall entrance. We sped down the hall like marathon runners and grabbed our backpacks. It wasn't long before we were out on the deck again. We all searched quickly for an exit like trapped animals.
"How are we getting out of here?" Thalia yelled over the sound of the thrashing waves. I could only think of two choices. We could either use a life boat, or try to swim home. And I doubt any of us can do that, not including Percy.
"Fluffy," Percy said.
"What?" Thalia asked, an eyebrow turning up.
"Fluffy can help," he answered with a smile.
We all looked at him incredulously. What the heck is a Fluffy? If that's Percy talk for a private jet, then I'm all ears.
The three of us watched as Percy walked over to the pool's edge and clicked his tongue three times. I thought he looked like a complete weirdo, but then the water's surface began to ripple. Sure enough, out came two beautiful hippocampi.
"This is Fluffy," Percy said, gesturing towards the biggest one. "Oh, and this is his brother, Kevin." The one next to Fluffy whinnied quietly. "Say hi," Percy insisted.
Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Hi, Fluffy. Hi, Kevin." Grover and I followed Thalia's lead and said our hellos. I looked back and saw Circe scrambling out of the door, right behind Kronos.
"Percy," I said quickly. "Can they take us to shore?"
The hippocampi whinnied, so I took it as a yes. They swirled around in the pool as a gesture for us to get on. I literally threw Percy on Fluffy, just so I knew he was safe. Thalia held out her hand and positioned her fingers so that they made a gun. She pointed at Kronos and I swear, I thought I heard a click. Lightning blasted out of her fingertips and struck Kronos right in the chest. It sent him back into the room with a crash. Thalia sent another lightning-bullet thing at Circe, but she dodged it with ease. For the next shot, Circe wasn't so lucky. Thalia landed a bull's eye right on Circe's nose and caused her to wail in pain.
"Go, go, go," Thalia murmured, maneuvering us onto the hippocampi. I hopped onto Fluffy as Thalia and Grover rode on Kevin.
So here I was, on a hippocampus named Fluffy, in the middle of a swimming pool. The plan didn't seem so great right now, considering we had to either jump off the ship with Kevin and Fluffy, or somehow climb down the ladders with them.
"Fluffy, Kevin, go there, please," Percy instructed, pointing somewhere in the distance. The hippocampus whinnied and nodded. Strangely, they were descending into the water. I held my breath as my head went under, but I didn't have to for long. When we surfaced again, we were somehow in the ocean, about twenty feet away from the boat. I'll never understand sea creatures.
I didn't have time to think of another plan, because Fluffy blasted straight forward, away from the boat. I wrapped my arms around Fluffy's neck and held on for dear life. Percy was behind me, giggling as the sea spray splashed at his face. I looked through half-closed lids and saw Thalia and Grover screaming for Kevin to slow down, but Kevin seemed to be enjoying this.
This went on for about five minutes, but trust me, it seemed like five hours. Kevin and Fluffy finally slowed down. We were still going pretty fast, but the speed seemed to decrease by tenfold.
"Hey, Thalia? Grover?" I called when they drifted closer to us. Thalia made sure her backpack was stable on Kevin before she looked at me.
"Yeah?" Grover said for her.
I was thinking that there should have been monsters on the deck. Sure, there were some in the halls, but none of them even tried to stop us. Kronos didn't pull an alarm or anything that would attract the monsters to us. I'm sure he could've controlled Percy before we had a chance to take him. But why didn't he? Was it because he had underestimated us? No, he was smart enough to know we weren't rookies.
"Do you think Kronos—" I covered my mouth quickly as an attempt to stop myself. But the damage was already done. I slowly turned my eyes to Percy.
He was sticking his fingers in the water, creating ripples through the surface. He seemed to take a hint that we were all staring at him, so he looked up at us and offered a cheeky grin.
I exchanged a nervous glance with Thalia. She made a gesture with her hands, emphasizing the area around her left eye. Grover looked back and forth between us, and I could tell the three of us were thinking the same thing. Kronos's name didn't affect him like it usually did.
"Percy?" Thalia poked him in the shoulder to make him look at her. She searched for something in his eyes for a second, and then said, "Kronos."
I recoiled and leaned back against Fluffy's mane. I expected blood to squirt out of Percy's eye and hit me in the face or something. But nothing happened. He stared back with a confused expression.
Grover looked at me with worried eyebrows. I decided to test it again. "Kronos," I said cautiously, slightly raising my hand to protect myself from a blood explosion if I had to.
Percy looked at us weirdly. "Yes. Daddy."
"He's not your dad, Percy," I tried explaining.
I was about to tell him more, but Thalia mouthed, "Not yet." She gestured behind us at the Princess Andromeda still in view. With a slow nod directed at Thalia, I leaned forward and rested my head on Fluffy's neck.
I gazed at the mist that lightly caressed my face. The sun shone through it, creating a hypnotic rainbow.
Then, I had an idea. "Thalia, Grover! Do you have any golden drachmas?" I asked. Kevin drifted closer to us as they dug through their pockets. After rummaging through my own, Thalia held out a golden coin and pressed it into my palm.
"Who are you Iris-messaging?" Grover asked. He watched as the coin disappeared in the mist after I said a silent prayer to Iris.
"Chiron," I said. "Camp Half-Blood."
The mist shimmered. An image of a white centaur holding a bow and arrow appeared. He looked as if he was in the middle of teaching a class about archery.
"Chiron?" I called. The centaur immediately turned, his eyes wide.
"Annabeth!" Chiron smiled. "How are you? And how is the quest going?" He relaxed his arm and let his bow fall to his side.
"I'm fine. We just got off Kronos's ship," I said. Chiron didn't look surprised, but worried. "I'm fine," I repeated again. "But we know what Kronos did to Percy…"
Chiron's eyes turned huge. "And what it is he did?"
I hated to repeat all the bad things, but I finally got it all out. I told him about the gold cracks in Percy's eye, the spell, the ritual, and the weird gold substance in the syringe.
"That's not good. No, not good at all," Chiron murmured to himself. "Annabeth, in the syringe, was it a bright gold?"
I nodded warily. Chiron caught his breath, but he managed to control himself.
"The gold stuff—it's Kronos's blood, isn't it, Chiron?" I flinched at Thalia's voice, only because I had forgotten she was here. It made perfect sense, since Kronos is a titan and all.
"Yes, it is. That is how Kronos linked blood with Percy. This is not good," Chiron said, yet again. He paced back and forth from one side of the mist screen to the other.
"Chiron," I said. He stopped pacing and looked at me. "Is it… Are we too late?" It took all of my bravery to ask him. I really didn't want to hear the answer.
"Let me see Percy's eyes," he said.
I turned and tapped Percy on the shoulder, taking his eyes away from the water. He craned his neck passed me and waved at Chiron with a smile.
"Hi, pony!"
Chiron mumbled a quick hello, but he was gazing intently into Percy's eyes. He squinted slightly, trying to examine the golden cracks in his left iris.
Finally, Chiron pulled back and mumbled something I couldn't hear.
"What?"
"Three days," he whispered.
"WHAT?" I shouted. I clutched at my heart in fear of it failing on me.
"Chiron, that's impossible!" Thalia argued. "Three days to get to the fountain and then to Olympus? It's not possible…"
"There's no going back now. You have three days to do it. Three days until Kronos's spell is finished," Chiron said. He looked at our expressions with sad eyes.
"But Chiron! Kronos only injected half of the syringe into Percy. We stopped him from finishing the ritual," I protested. Sweat was building up on my forehead. My cheeks were flushed, and I swear to the gods I was about to start bawling like a little kid.
"You're right. If you had not stopped him, Percy would be under Kronos's command at this very moment. There's no way of stopping the process now. You have only delayed it."
I didn't realize I was hyperventilating until everyone stopped talking. Thalia ran a frustrated hand through her hair. I took my face in my hands and tried to steady my breathing.
"Chiron," Grover began uncomfortably, "what's happening to him?"
The question didn't seem to take Chiron off guard. It was like he was already thinking about it. He hesitated for a moment, but then said, "Kronos's blood is traveling through his veins, from the heart." He lowered his voice. "You can see it in his eyes. The golden cracks tell us that time is running out. Once they fully cover his iris, Kronos will then have Percy under his command."
"But… How come his right eye wasn't affected?" Grover asked. I've been wondering this for a while. I leaned in closer to the mist.
"As Annabeth had said before, Kronos had only succeeded in getting half of the required amount inside of Percy," Chiron answered, his eyes still troubled.
Thalia clenched her hands together. "But Percy can still resist, right? It happened before."
Chiron didn't seem any happier at Thalia's words. "It's possible to resist, yes. But as time passes, the will to fight back will slowly die. The titan lord is very powerful. Soon, Percy will not be able to control himself.
I dropped my head in defeat. There was one cure for this spell, but what was it? Thalia didn't know it. She said the gods might have known it, since they were here for a long time. But Chiron was alive for quite some time, too.
"Chiron, you know a cure to this spell, don't you?" My voice shook as it passed my lips.
Chiron didn't answer. He looked at his hooves and pursed his lips.
"Chiron, you know how to save Percy," I continued desperately. I watched as Chiron's face twisted in despair. He looked up at me with eyes to match and started to say something, but he was cut off by a robotic voice.
"Please insert one golden drachma," it said. We dug crazily through our pockets for change, to no avail. The mist image of Chiron soon faded away, and then we were alone.
I let out a sigh and covered my face with my hands. Thalia glanced ahead of us. There was still no land in sight, which was a bad thing.
"I'm going to get some sleep. We'll all need it," she said before resting her head on Kevin's mane. Grover drifted off to sleep soon after. I was tired, but I was afraid I would get dreams that showed me what was going to happen. Like on the plane ride, in the closet. That dream had been too real for me. I didn't know what it meant, until now. It basically showed me that we would fail to get Percy to Olympus in time. Either that, or Kronos would shorten our time by injecting the rest of the blood in Percy.
"Are you… okay?" Percy asked me from behind. He stuck his chin onto my shoulder and stared at my face.
I turned and faced him, my knitted eyebrows almost identical to his. I stared at his left eye. The gold had extended passed the pupil, only a few cracks away from his iris being fully devoured.
We had only three days to stop this. Three days to get to the fountain. Three days to save Percy.
"Yeah. Just fine, Percy. Don't worry about it," I said. I turned away from him and continued to stroke Fluffy's white mane. I expected him to leave me alone and go to sleep, but he did something that made my body tingle on the inside.
He hugged me.
I didn't try to break free from his grip, not because I couldn't or anything, but because he was just so warm. His arms were wrapped around my torso from behind. He rested his chin on my shoulder again, so that his hair tickled my cheek. He smelled so much of the sea. It was strange, yet alluring to my senses.
I continued to enjoy the sea scent for the whole ride. By the time I saw a hint of land, the sky was already darkened. The sun had gone down, but the moon had yet to rise. The sky was an odd shade of purple and orange. I looked up at the sky and thought of all of the gods I knew.
Please let us make it in time. Please keep us safe on our quest.
I closed my eyes and let out a loose sigh before waking Thalia and Grover up. Kevin whinnied in pain as a shock jolted through his body, but it could've been worse.
"Huh—wha?" Thalia mumbled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. Grover let out a yawn, but it sounded something like ahh-I'm-so-tired-I-can't-even-think-straight-ahhh.
"Look," I said, pointing at the dark silhouette of the city.
"So are we going to get some rest at a hotel first or what?" Thalia asked. "Sleeping on a horse isn't that comfortable, ya'know," she muttered. Kevin made a noise of hurt.
"Yeah, sure," I said. I stayed silent for a few minutes, debating whether or not to talk about it. I decided I should. "Hey, guys?"
"Yeah?" Grover turned his head towards me and raised his eyebrows.
"Something that's been bothering me since we got off Kronos's ship," I started. Thalia made a gesture with her hands for me to get on with it. "Well, don't you guys think it was kind of easy? I mean, too easy?"
I looked at my nails as they contemplated my question for a moment. Finally, Thalia spoke up.
"I was thinking that, too… But don't worry about it, okay? All that matters is that we're off that ship for good," she said.
I nodded glumly and peered straight ahead. I could make out the buildings now. They were huge, beautiful works of art. Some were lit by an orange light. Shadows of tourists danced along the building walls.
Thalia looked up and smiled.
"Land, ho."
