Okay, sorry for the long update.
I really, truly am sorry.
Henrie Locker,
I know, I know. Please don't be mad, just keep reading! Percabeth is true and it shall continue! (rhymes lol)
Geek Without glasses,
I will not be updating the Kingdom of Olympia that soon. I need idea for Plan Hydra.
For those of you reading Kingdom of Olympia (my other story),
I REALLY NEED IDEAS FOR THAT STORY. HELP!
Kronos called in the remaining demigods. Percy, Jason, Thalia, Reyna, Nico, Hazel, and Leo all lined up in front of him in what they had nicknamed 'The Punishment Room'.
Out before them lay a simple post and shackles. A table behind it held all sort of different whips.
"This is a new Roman technique. Who would like to volunteer to go first?" Kronos cackled.
The demigods glared at him. "How 'bout you try it out for us?" Percy taunted.
"Yeah, tell us how it feels." Leo snickered.
"Each day, I will bring all of you in. Each day, one will be chosen to experience the whipping. Who would like to be first today? Nobody? Then I shall choose." Kronos pointed Luke's finger towards Percy. "How about my least favorite demigod? Perseus Jackson! Step right up!"
Percy sighed, understanding that he would have to have gone through it anyways. He stepped forward, allowing the Cyclopes to chain him to the post.
The smaller Cyclops snatched a tan stick that looked nothing like a whip. It resembled bamboo. The other Cyclops selected a whip made of leather. A metal hook was attached to each strand of leather. The whip just looked painful, never mind how it actually felt.
The smaller Cyclops struck first. His tan stick hit the back of Percy's knees, making him go down. He unwillingly cried out. It hurt more than expected.
The Cyclops with the nasty-looking whip raked his weapon against Percy's back, tearing his shirt and ripping open bloody streaks. The Cyclopes repeated this process, mangling Percy. On a good hit, Percy was barely scathed. On a bad one, the metal hooks would sink into his back. The Cyclops would tug them out, lacerating another thick layer of Percy's skin.
Percy howled in pain. Not even the fork-torture-thing hurt this bad. On the sixtieth blow (Thalia was counting), the Cyclopes stopped, looking up at their master. Percy lay, unconscious and bloodied, against the post. He was still chained to it.
Kronos grinned maliciously. "Undo his cuffs." The Cyclopes twisted the key, and Percy slumped to the ground, still bleeding. Kronos seemed to be fighting against himself. For exactly 163 seconds, he didn't breathe a word. His eyes changed from blue to gold, back to blue.
As Luke Castellan opened his mouth to issue an order, Kronos locked his jaw.
"Take them back to their cell!" Kronos snapped, his unique voice gaining control yet again. The blue eyes dissolved into the purest gold.
The Cyclopes obliged, dragging Percy's torn back against the rough stone, smearing the dark red stain in an uneven line as they marched back towards the cell.
LINE BREAK
Each day, the Cyclopes dropped off ten buckets of water, 8 trays of mush that served as food, and cloth to bind the demigods' wounds.
Having nowhere else to put him, the half-bloods gently set Percy down on the cool stone. They stripped off what remained of his simple blue T-shirt.
Piper pressed a white rag onto the mutilated back of Percy. He groaned. The rag pulled away, bright red.
Percy's back was unchanged after ten doses of the soak-press-clean method.
Frustrated, Piper tried wiping the blood away. It worked better than the previous method, but Percy cried out in pain.
"Percy? I'm really sorry about this, but…I can only bind it if there's less blood. Just…well, this is gonna hurt." Piper sucked in a deep breath.
"Here," Thalia gently took the rag out of Piper's shaking hands. "Let me." Thalia wiped away the still-pooling blood off of her cousin's back.
LINE BREAK
The half-bloods were in bad shape. Leo was shot, making it extremely difficult to function. Reyna was definitely developing some sort of horrible sickness. Nobody was sure if it was contagious, or worse, deadly. Jason limped, unable to put much pressure on his foot. Percy was knocked out, incapable of most motion.
Only seven demigods remained standing. Percy, Leo, Reyna, Thalia, Piper, Nico, Hazel, and Jason. The rest were dead.
Nico sulked in a corner. He tried and tried again to resurrect someone, anyone. He tried Bianca, Annabeth, Frank, Achilles, even Clarisse. Nico concentrated on every demigod he had ever known, attempting to raise their spirit.
Nothing worked.
He couldn't fathom why it wasn't working. He had done it a million times before!
An idea struck him. Nico concentrated on the darkness, attempting to shadow-travel.
It didn't work.
"Jason!" Nico nearly shouted. In actuality, he barely whispered the word, but since it was so quiet in the room, the sound amplified in everyone's ears. "Make sparks."
Jason frowned, but held out his hand. After a minute, he looked at it with confusion and surprise. He squeezed his hand shut, and then forced it open again, giving it a look. Nothing happened.
"What the-"
"I think they're draining our powers or something." Nico looked each person in the eye as he spoke, watching their expressions. "I don't know how or when it happened, but they must've found out after I summoned Bianca." Nico began to pace the tiny cell. "Maybe they created a sort of block, or…" Nico sighed helplessly.
"We need Annabeth."
"She would know what to do. Or at least have a few ideas about how it started."
"But there's nobody else left."
"You guys." Hazel looked up. "What about our parents?"
LINE BREAK
Athena's Pov
Whenever we try to get close to our children, some sort of magical barrier blocked us. There was no tangible way to present ourselves to them. I thought and thought about a way to get to them.
Not my child. Annabeth was safe.
Annabeth was dead, but she wasn't for long.
When she died, I kidnapped her soul before it could escape to the Underworld. I brought her to Hades, who broke the ancient laws and brought her back to the world of the living. She could not go back to Kronos's Palace to be with Percy- I simply would not allow it. After all, she had died going in; who knows what would happen if she actually spent time inside! I approved of Percy. He seemed to truly love her, and he protected her as bravely and sufficiently as possible. I watched him as he suffered. Most of his dreams were about him trying to find Annabeth.
The other Olympians and I were mostly trapped in Tartarus. Since our personalities could be split, we did spend some time in America. I approached Kronos's Palace many times, searching for a weakness, a crack, a loophole.
Nothing.
Annabeth was always by my side. She came up with ideas I would not have thought of. However, every time we leave the place, she stares at it for awhile before actually leaving. I can sense her thoughts. She is always focused on her friends. Getting them out alive is more important to her than defeating Kronos.
We observed the castle again.
"What if…what if we could send them like a hologram or something? I could deliver it…I could let myself get captured again." Annabeth said.
"Absolutely not." I did not want her dying again. "You will not get captured. The hologram idea, though…that's interesting."
"The only way it can get in properly is if someone delivers it! And I'm the only one who can get in!"
"No. I will not have you dying again."
"Mom! That was a mistake! It won't-"
"Happen again? One mistake is the fatal mistake for most heroes." My lip curled. "It will be the last mistake ever made by that hero. It was for you."
That was unfair. I didn't let it bother me too much. She needed to hear it.
"Come." I swept past her, leading us back to the safe house. "We will record the message, and I will think of some way to get it to them."
Silence. I turned to find Annabeth staring into space in direction of the Palace.
"Annabeth?"
"Percy's in there, Mom. So are Thalia, Nico, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Reyna, and Leo. I need to get to them. I can help them escape. If they escape, we can full-on attack Kronos."
"I know. But I will not sacrifice my daughter for-"
"For what? The only other demigods left alive? How selfish is that?! They can save us all! I'm not as important as they are. Together, alive, and free, they can bring down Kronos. We need them, Mom."
"I see your point. We will discuss this with the others. If they agree…I will have to send you." I choked out the last words. No matter what Annabeth thought, I still cared about her. I cared very much. I knew that, if she died again, I would not be allowed to bring her back again.
Annabeth ignored me, looking back once more before whirling around and leading me back inside.
LINE BREAK
"So…you'll really let me do it?" Annabeth studied the faces of the battered Olympians closely.
Zeus sighed. "It seems that is the best option. Let's take a vote." The others nodded. "All in favor?" Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysus, Hermes, Apollo, and Artemis raised their hands.
"All against?" Athena and Hera voted together.
"It seems that Annabeth will go and deliver our message to our children." Zeus nodded grimly, handing Annabeth a silver disk. On it, a hologram was recorded that had captured the Olympians explaining their decisions to their children. "You may go."
Annabeth smiled, took the disk, and disappeared.
LINE BREAK
Annabeth trudged down the dusty road, her heart racing. The Cyclopes took notice of her, and lowered their spears. "Halt! Who goes there?"
Annabeth didn't answer. She simply kept on going forward.
"Stop! Stop in the name of Kronos!"
Annabeth stopped once she could see the Cyclopes' faces clearly.
"You're coming with us, girl." The first one growled, jabbing at Annabeth with his spear. Annabeth didn't respond. She just nodded and walked forward.
The second Cyclops knocked a special knock on the door, three, six, three, and the door was cranked open. Annabeth took a deep breath and continued forward, emerging into the ever-growing blackness.
Annabeth was brought before Kronos himself, into the golden room. It was beautiful, so magnificent, with jewels decorating the walls, floor, and throne. However, the unmistakable smell of blood reeked from the floor. Faded, deep red stains pooled on the ground.
Kronos sat up when he saw Annabeth.
"Sir! Another has surrendered. Should we stick her with the others?"
Kronos didn't respond, his eyes an unreadable color. "An-Annabeth?" A familiar voice croaked.
"Luke?" Annabeth cursed herself for talking. It wasn't part of the plan. He was Kronos. Luke Castellan was dead.
"Put her in the cell with her kind." Kronos wrinkled his nose, waving the monsters and Annabeth away.
Annabeth was shoved away. When she was forced to walk down a deep, dark passage, all she could think about was the voice change. Was Luke alive? Was that even possible? Was Kronos simply manipulating her? Annabeth shuddered at the possibilities, thinking of her knife. It was stored away, hidden in a secret pocket on her pants, along with the silver recording.
"In here." The bigger Cyclops grunted, pushing her into a cell where night was always present. The door slammed shut behind her, and Annabeth fell to her knees.
"Annabeth?" Blue eyes stared at her in shock. Thalia rushed forward, crushing Annabeth. "How-what-where were you? How did you get out? I saw you die! You…" Tears dripped down her face. Thalia quickly wiped them away. She was ecstatic to see Annabeth again, but she wouldn't cry. Thalia never cried.
"Annabeth?" Others came forth, each squeezing Annabeth in joy. Reyna turned her head, coughing sickly into the wall. Leo curled away as Annabeth grazed his shoulder with her fingers. Jason limped on his foot, and Percy never even woke from his sleep.
"What's…what's wrong with Percy?" Annabeth's voice quivered as she traced his jaw line gently.
"Kronos has had us punished. Each of us got different tortures, but now he's whipping us. Percy…Percy was first."
Annabeth began to explain what happened as she looked upon Percy with concern. "I did die. I only spent a short amount of time in Elysium, though. My mother had Hades pick me up. I was pulled back into the world of the living. I assisted our parents, trying to find a loophole to get to you guys. Eventually, I came up with the idea of a hologram, but they needed someone to deliver it. I volunteered. After all, who else could do it?" Annabeth reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver disk.
The demigods leaned forward.
"Are you ready to see what our parents said?"
"Bring it on!"
Annabeth clicked the 'start' button.
Yay! Stick around to see what happens next! Jeez, I sound like a TV show….
Check out my newest story, 'The People's Avenger'!
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Okay, bye for now!