Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews last chapter! :) Ok, shall we move on to our vague responses? We shall! First off, let me say that, although there shall be no spoilers, Percabeth is my OTP and it would crush my heart if I crushed their relationship. But... let me also say that if I feel like the story needs it, I would (in theory) kill them all! :) But no spoilers! So the ending of Percabeth is up in the air for now. As for how Percy is holding up with our newest developments, you shall see this chapter. And this isn't a spoiler, but I'll hint that if anything gets in the way of Percabeth, it'll be Percy and his horrible, terrible guilt and self-loathing. Some fun stuff we got going! :) Unfortunately, (or fortunately for me and my desire to torture my readers) Percy does not yet have the curse of Achilles. He gets the curse during The Last Olympian, and this plotline takes place right before it, expanding until the end of that book (but in my own special way). But no, he currently lacks the curse. I'll tell you this: it won't end well for anyone! :D Ok, anyways, I own nothing but please enjoy this chapter! :)

Third Person POV

The daughter of Athena stared at one of her best friends for a solid minute before her gray eyes desperately sought out Percy's best friend. "Grover, you can't possibly believe their ideas! Percy would never-"

"After what we saw, Annabeth," Grover said in a soft, mournful voice, "I don't really know how I can believe otherwise. I don't want to believe that my best friend would ever even consider joining Kronos, but..." He sighed. "We have to prepare for a much harder battle without the son of Poseidon on our side."

"I thought I told you that if you saw any demigods, you were not to engage."

Percy stood back in that hideous, green-lit room, eyes cast to the floor as the titan of time watched him closely.

"Do you remember when I said that, Apprentice?" Kronos asked, tone icy.

Percy was smart enough to nod, keeping his lips pressed tightly together and his newly-rediscovered voice locked away.

"And what did you do when you saw the demigods? Did you engage?"

Clearly it was a trick question, a question whose sole purpose was to make Percy's no-doubt-short life as miserable as possible, but he had no choice but to nod anyways.

Kronos narrowed his golden eyes, Ethan's face screwing up with barely contained fury. "You did engage!" He spat, taking a few quick steps closer and narrowing the thin margin of distance between himself and the son of Poseidon. "I saw you engage the demigods! What were you expecting to happen, Apprentice?" Percy's appointed title was no more than a hiss between clenched teeth, spat as if a despicable curse.

Percy happened to think that, if this was ever over, he'd never be able to hear the word "apprentice" again. He also happened to think that he'd hear it nearly every night regardless, when his tormentor visited him in his nightmares.

"Were you expecting that they'd help you?" Kronos asked, tone mocking and full of disbelief, as if the very idea of someone helping Percy was laughable. And for all that he'd done, Percy couldn't stop himself from agreeing. "Were you expecting they'd save you from the big, scary titan? What, are you too much of a coward to face me yourself? You need two girls, a son of Hephaestus, and a pathetic satyr to do the rescuing for you?"

With Kronos nearly two feet away from the son of Poseidon, Percy had to physically stop himself from reaching over and punching the titan in Ethan's scowling face.

"Grover is more of a hero than you or any of your followers will ever be!" He wanted to shout.

"Beckendorf has more strategy and heart than all of your monsters combined!" He begged to scream.

"Silena has more bravery than your entire army of lying monsters and traitorous demigods!" He desired to yell.

"Annabeth is worth more to me and to the world than any single person in this compound!" He died to shriek. "Including myself."

However, unfortunately, Percy restrained himself. For the moment. There would come a time in which Kronos would get what he deserved, but that time was not now.

Especially since part of the titan's words were correct. "Too much of a coward..." He had called Percy a coward. He was a coward.

(A traitor, a coward, a thief, a pawn.)

At least in that regard, that twisted monster was right.

And if those words didn't taste like poison...

"Do you think there's some way that you can get out of this?" Kronos hissed, taking another half-step closer to his prisoner. "You and I both know what will happen if you ever even attempt to leave. I'll kill those four faster than you can blink, their dead corpses sitting on the ground for you to see, knowing it was all your fault. Maybe I would show mercy, killing them quickly, like the bothersome flies they are. Or maybe, just to torment you, I'll draw it out. Kill them slowly, one by one, until they're all gasping on the floor, staring up at you in your mask, the mask I gave you, and they're wondering why you aren't falling down too. And you'll drop to your knees besides them, besides that daughter of Athena you're so fond of, and you'll grab her hands in her final moments, if only just to be closer to her. Then, with the last of her strength, she'll part her lips slightly and whisper, 'This is all your fault.' And their last breaths that they take lying on the ground, their skin illuminated from within due to my nanobugs, will follow you for the rest of your miserable life."

Percy wanted to vomit. He wanted to vomit and he wanted to cry and he wanted to scream but most of all he wanted to punch Kronos in his goddamn smirking face, just to share some of the torment he was already putting Percy through. Was his only goal here to make the son of Poseidon as miserable as possible? Because, if so, it was working. Goddamn it, it was working and Percy didn't know how much longer he could handle this before he snapped like an old, used rubber band.

He was going to die here.

Maybe not at the moment, but he was going to die here. That much was certain.

Kronos examined the face of his apprentice, smirk widening as he glimpsed the horror and disgust hidden in those green eyes peering through the holes of the navy blue mask. Suddenly, the smirk disappeared and Kronos leaned into the minimal personal space Percy had left, face devoid of any emotion except rage.

"But that won't have to happen, Apprentice," he spat, spraying droplets of spittle onto Percy's face (he tried hard not to flinch, as that would only encourage the titan), "because next time you encounter those demigods, I'll be there to tell you what to do. And if you don't do exactly as I say..." He left the threat floating in the humid air between them like a fishing line cast too far from the dock, where it was about to get prayed on by a shark.

Percy did flinch at that, as much as he tried to squash the urge.

Seeing the instinctual flinch of his apprentice, Kronos's smirk reappeared. He leaned back, letting Percy breathe a small sigh that he thought Kronos wouldn't see. The titan turned halfway, as if to leave the room, when he spun back around and sank a fist into Percy's stomach.

The demigod bent in half, his breath leaving him in a whoosh, eyes squeezing shut as if to protect himself from witnessing more of his own abuse. Therefore, he didn't see the kick aimed for the back of his knees, sending him sprawling onto the cold ground, or the stomp that crushed his right ankle.

He fought the urge to cry out, knowing that would only make the titan attack him harder. Instead, Percy curled into himself, trying to avoid the voice in his head that told him to stand up and fight, goddamn it! But that would only get him, and his friends, killed.

Kronos looked down at his apprentice, who shook slightly on the floor despite attempts to will his body not to. Not once in his attack did the smirk on his lips falter, and now it only grew. "Pick yourself up, Apprentice. We continue your training in an hour."

The sound of retreating footsteps told Percy that Kronos was (finally) exiting the room. He listened, hearing them still just shy of the doorway. He cursed under his breath, wondering what exactly that malicious beast would want with him now. There was supposedly an hour to pick himself up!

"Your next mission is in five days," Kronos stated, smirk never fading. Right before he left the room, he grabbed the slightly-smushed cardboard box Percy delivered to him, which had been sitting in the demigod's backpack near the door, and felt its weight in his large hands. "It best end better than this one."

"Percy Jackson is an enemy of Olympus."

Confused stares followed this announcement as Beckendorf stood in front of the assembled cabin leaders in the Big House rec room. The son of Hephaestus frowned deeply, fighting off any emotion that threatened to overwhelm him as he thought of one of his close friends lying to them this entire time.

"I'm sorry," Katie Gardner from the Demeter cabin spoke up, raising her hand slightly as she frowned, "but I think I heard you incorrectly. Did you actually say a Peter Johnson, or someone? Or is this just a trick, Beck? Don't tell us that Mr. D put you up to messing up the names."

Someone grumbled something along the lines of, "Not again."

The son of Hephaestus sighed, shoulders threatening to sag as the weight of his words tried to push him down. But he needed to remain strong, for himself, for the camp, and most of all, for Annabeth.

Gods, Annabeth needed all the strength anyone could give her now.

"I'm afraid you heard me correctly, Katie. Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, has been declared an enemy of Olympus."

"This has to be a mistake!" All eyes shot over to Travis Stoll from the Hermes cabin, sitting next to his brother, Connor. Even Connor looked surprised by his brother's outburst. The son of Hermes shuffled to his feet, leg still sore and stiff from the injury that landed him in the infirmary a few weeks ago. He could've used nectar or ambrosia to fully heal it by now, but the godly food was being saved for when the next battle began. They'd need all the help they could get against Kronos.

Beck tried to calm Travis down before he hurt himself, urging in a low voice, "There is no mistake, I was an eye witness."

"An eye witness to what, Beck?" This came from Clarisse LaRue, seated at the seat of Ares. She crossed her thick arms over her chest, glaring at the son of Hephaestus with her brown eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, you've told us only jack-shit so far."

"Clarisse!" Chiron scolded lightly, frowning as he attempted to reprimand the daughter of Ares. "I'm sure Charles will elaborate."

The son of Hephaestus nodded his thanks to the old centaur before turning back to face the rest of the confused, alarmed campers. He told his eyes not to linger on the downcast head of blonde curls. "Thank you, Chiron. As most of you know, I went with three others to investigate a break-in at one of Lord Poseidon's warehouses near the bay."

Several heads nodded, including a grudging nod from Clarisse.

"We were told that Kronos and his forces were attempting to steal something from the warehouse. And although we do not know what was taken, we do know who took it."

"It couldn't have been Percy!" Travis argued, already seeing where Beckendorf was going with his story. "He would never betray Olympus!"

Beck stared at the distraught son of Hermes for a moment, a sympathetic frown settled on his features. "There's nothing I want more than to believe that Percy was not there, on that rooftop where we cornered Kronos's minion. The man we chased was wearing a navy blue mask to hide his face, but the brave satyr, Grover, was able to knock it off with a surprise attack."

Clarisse raised both her eyebrows at that, looking at the blushing satyr near the door with something akin to respect.

"As the mask fell to the ground, Grover was able to get a clear look at the man's face."

All eyes shifted back to the satyr at Beck's statement, causing his blush to deepen. Katie looked at Grover earnestly, leaning forwards slightly in her seat as she asked, "Who was it, Grover?"

Everyone silently prayed that he'd say any name other than that of Percy Jackson.

The satyr looked down at the ping pong table, frowning deeply as tears flooded his eyes. Wiping a hand across his eyes, he sniffled once before saying in a shaky voice, "I... He-he looked like Percy."

A brief moment of shocked silence followed, everyone shocked by the words even if they had been expecting them all along.

"... You said 'looked'," Connor noted, casting a glance at his brother out of the corner of his eye. "Could it be possible that it wasn't actually Percy?"

Grover shrugged helplessly, causing Beck to intervene.

"At that point, it looked like it could've been any monster disguised as our 'loyal' friend. We attempted to talk to him, which only caused him to run away. He had almost disappeared when Annabeth spoke."

All eyes looked at Annabeth, who kept her head down as if she couldn't feel their stares on her. They honestly didn't matter to her; none of them were Percy. Why didn't anyone believe her when she said that she believed in him?

Sensing some of their confusion, Silena tried to explain Percy's motives. "He didn't run away because he loves her," she said softly. "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite; when someone loves, I can tell."

Beck nodded at his girlfriend with a small smile matching the one on her face, picking up the tale. "He let us talk to him for a moment more, before we started to ask him to return to camp with us. I don't think it had clicked in our heads that he was the one wearing that mask, the mask of Kronos's minion.

"Annabeth took a step forwards, then Percy spoke for the first time. His voice was a whisper, but it was still clearly his." Here, Beck hesitated, exchanging glances with Silena and Grover and looking at Annabeth with a worried expression on his face. Did he dare continue his story?

"What did he say, Beck?" Katie Gardner asked, face having grown pale throughout the tale's unfolding.

Silena nodded slightly, causing Beck to sigh. "'I'm sorry,' he whispered to us."

There was a pause as they waited for the son of Hephaestus to continue. When it didn't appear that he would, Clarisse asked with a scowl, "What did he have to be sorry for?"

"That's what I was wondering," Beckendorf admitted, "until he summoned a giant wave and nearly drowned us."

Silence followed in the wake of this announcement, no one knowing how to react. People blinked up at Beck, as if waiting for him to laugh and claim it was a hilarious joke the whole time. Others stared at the table, wondering if they had ever seen the signs of Percy being evil but hadn't paid heed to it before.

Finally, Travis Stoll spoke up. "... There's no other monsters that have water powers," he murmured sadly, as if he had wracked his mind to come up with a logical explanation.

"He's a son of Poseidon, though!" Katie tried to defend. "His fatal flaw should be loyalty!"

Clarisse scowled darkly. She would never admit it, but she trusted that Kelp Head. Knowing he was a liar, a traitor... Clarisse LaRue did not trust easily. "Who said we ever had his loyalty to begin with? He might've been working for Kronos before we even met him."

No one tried to defend the son of Poseidon again. They all wallowed in their silence, too lost in their thoughts to notice that Annabeth was quickly becoming consumed in hers.

"I think you're all despicable!" The daughter of Athena finally shouted, standing up abruptly and knocking her chair over. It hit the back wall of the rec room with a bang, causing all the cabin leaders to flinch. "Percy would never do anything to hurt any of us! He was our friend and now that it looks like he might be gone, you're ready to give him up? I am disgusted! And to think, that he called you people his friends."

Silena reached over as if to put a comforting, well-manicured hand on Annabeth's shoulder, but the distraught girl was gone from the room before anyone else could react. They stared after her for a moment, taking in the swinging door to the rec room and the confused campers peeking in from the outside.

Beck turned back to the counselors. "Don't tell the younger campers yet, but as of right now, Percy Jackson is an enemy of Olympus."

Hey guys! Ok, still kinda busy... So... next chapter will be up Monday! :) Thanks! :)