AN: Hi! Thanks so much for reading and seriously, i love writing this story sooo much! eeek! and d'accord, and i've jsut realised ii lied about something in one of my other ANs...oops. But, ohwell, i guess you can figure it out.
To Guest: Thanks for reviewing annnd, you guessed right!
To Guest: I've updated - though i stopped the chapter sooner than i thought i would, because i don't have much time to write today :)
To FandomsUnite98: hello again! thanks for your review , i hope you like my story because maybe i got carried away with killing loads of people and torturing their lives...mwhahaha. Sorry... oh well, happiness is on the way! (probs)
To prince of the seas: Thank you!
To verapaige01: Thank you for reviewing! And i promise i will get percabeth together - promise. And i'm glad you like Sebbie because i didn't orginally plan to give him a big part in the story, but i just had an idea and i had to write it down! As for the blue eyed you'll find out in this chapter...
So anyway, hope you all like this chapter and please review! :) Oh and one more thing...can anyone guess what the chapter title means?
"What the hell is going on?"
"Mother, I – "
"You've been double crossing me this entire time?" Sally hissed, her hands flickering with sparks. "And don't think I don't know about your child –"
"I don't have a child," Percy tried to say. "He's not – "
"I'm not a fool, Percy," she spat, unsheathing her sword. "If you think that either of you can get away with this – "
"Let her go, do whatever you want to me, please...just let her go," Percy pushed Annabeth behind him hurriedly.
Sally laughed coldly. "You think I'd let an enemy just walk out of my camp unscathed?" she swung her sword so fast it blurred in Annabeth's direction.
"No! – "
He shot a bolt of green light in his mother's direction, but she swatted it away with her sword, growling menacingly.
"Mother – this isn't you – "
"Get out of the way," she lunged forwards, but Percy threw himself in the path of the sword and felt the cool metal stab into his skin.
"Percy!" Annabeth shouted from behind him, but all he could focus on was his Mother's furious expression.
Blood poured from the wound and soaked into his shirt, as he kneeled on the ground by her feet.
"Mother, don't..."
Sally glared at him. "This behaviour cannot go unpunished. We are at war Percy and you think that you can sneak off behind my back with the enemy? You may be my son, but you are no exception to my laws and I'll treat you just like any other soldier."
"Kill me then. Torture me all you want – j-just spare Annabeth..." he pressed his arms around the wound, desperately trying to stop the blood flow.
"Mercy takes no part in this war," she shouted, raising a hand full of green fire.
Percy's eyes widened as the light flooded around him and he was catapulted back into the tent, tearing it from the ground.
He got unsteadily up on his knees and froze in horror as he heard a heart rending scream fill his ears.
"Annabeth!" he cried, staggering towards her.
She was doubling over, crying out in pain, though he could see no blood or injury. Sally stood watching her with an emotionless mask on her face, holding out her hand as if she were casting spells on her body.
Percy gathered up his last remaining strength and shot a column of poison at his Mother's head, he looked away with guilt when he heard her screaming as she fell to the ground unconscious.
He held a hand to his wound and stumbled up to Annabeth's side, who was curled up on the ground, whimpering.
"Annabeth, you have to go," he shook her shoulder gently.
"What about you, what will you do?" she said through heavy breaths.
"I need to stay here – "
"But she'll ki – "
"I have to, ok?" he helped her stand up. "You must go; she won't stay unconscious for long."
Annabeth looked like she was about to cry and hugged him quickly. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "This is all my fault..."
"It's fine."
She shook her head. "No, nothing is fine. Nothing."
"I – "
"I'm sorry," she said again.
"You have to go," he said tenderly.
Annabeth smiled, through the tear tracks on her cheeks. "I won't forget you."
In a blur of falling snow, she was gone. Only her light footprints remained in the soft white powder on the ground.
Darkness curled around his ears as he tossed and turned on the torn beat up mattress that Ethel had given him to sleep on. All around him was stillness and the cold feeling of loneliness that pressed on his mind, filling it with thoughts of his mother...who had abandoned him so abruptly.
He shivered and curled up on his useless excuse for a bed, his eyes shut tightly, hoping that when he woke up he'd be back with his mother and father and everything would be alright.
Sebbie sighed and sat up, hugging his arms around his body. The hearth on the other side of the room was black and empty, resembling the city where he now lived.
Leave whilst you can. He told himself. Find your parents. Find your home again.
He smiled at the thought, imagining the warm feeling of safety and comfort. Sebbie carefully pulled the thin blanket off and laid it back on the bed, in case Ethel woke up after he left.
As quietly as possible, he fumbled with his boots and turned to leave through the dirty wooden door. A flash of silver suddenly shone in the corner of his eye and he peered through the gloomy room to see a knife lying on a low cut table.
Sebbie picked it up and held it out in front of him. It was at least some sort of weapon...though he had seen Ethel cut vegetables with it.
He shrugged and opened the door, which let out a loud creak from its rusty hinges, making him freeze on the spot. Cautiously, he shut the door and tip toed down the damp alley way, stopping at the end when a patrol of guards marched past.
Once everything was quiet, he raced through the courtyard, holding the knife tightly in his grip. The thick snow that fell down trickled into his clothes and tumbled down the sky, sheet after sheet.
"Hey! You there!" a bellowing voice destroyed the winter's silence, like a cannon rocketing through the air.
Sebbie looked back with terror to see a group of soldiers advancing on him, their faces hidden by dark grey helmets that dripped with melting snow.
He sprinted down an empty street, breathing heavily and blinking rapidly to get the frozen ice out of his eyes. Loud crunches in the snow told him they were gaining on him, fast.
"Stop where you are!"
The tall gates that led out the city were now in his sight, adrenaline burned through his veins as he heard the footsteps behind him getting closer and closer.
Guards stood around the gates, with burning torches that flickered dimly in the heavy torrents of snow. His legs ached from running and he felt weak with fatigue, his grip around the knife was loosening.
A strong hand suddenly closed around the back of his shirt, pulling him to a stop.
"Get off me!" he screamed, kicking the man in the knees.
More soldiers surrounded him, enclosing him in a circle.
"Don't you know it's forbidden to be in the streets after curfew?" he growled.
"No! I had no idea, can I go now?" Sebbie squirmed in his grip, his fear increasing by the second. "Please, I have to go!"
The guard laughed and his grip tightened. "By order of the King, there are to be no exceptions. Not even beggars like you."
"I'm not a beggar," Sebbie told him, feeling annoyed that this human was calling him a lower creature than he was.
One of the guards stepped forwards, breaking the circle and bringing his dim torch towards Sebbie's face.
"Sir, this is neither beggar...nor even human," he tugged Sebbie's ear suddenly, making him yelp in pain.
The other guard glowered at him; his eyes were dark with fury.
"How did an elf get inside our walls?" he hissed, unsheathing his sword that sparkled in the pure white snow. He gestured to the rest of the soldiers. "Kill him where he stands."
"No! Wait – can't we negotiate something?" Sebbie cried, freezing in terror as the tip of his blade point at his throat.
The hilt of his dagger suddenly felt warm in his hand and as quick as a flash, he threw it directly at the soldier, before legging it towards the gates.
"Get him!" the guard screamed. "Get the elf!"
There was a herd of shouting as he sped through the gates, almost slipping on the ice below. A knife suddenly whizzed past his head, narrowly missing his pointed ear.
He ran down the long path, where he could see a tangled forest in the distance, stretching high up into the sky.
"Get him!" he heard the guards shouting behind him.
A dip in the road abruptly tripped him up and he toppled over onto the snow laden ground, breathing heavily.
"Gotcha," someone said.
Sebbie rolled onto his back and looked up at the terrifying soldier that stood over him, a sword raised above his chest.
"No!" he screamed, trying to scramble away.
The tip of the sword drew nearer and nearer, flying down like a bird swooping for its prey.
"Mama! Dada!" he cried.
He shut his eyes, but he couldn't feel the pain. Only the freezing cold snow beneath him and the numbness of his fingertips and toes.
Sebbie open his eyes slowly, to find a figure standing over him...but it wasn't the soldier. No...It was somebody else.
"Mama?" he whispered hopefully, shaking from the fright and terror of the chase.
The figure didn't reply and pulled him steadily up by his forearm, though he still had to look up to meet the person's eyes.
"Mama?" he repeated, backing away in fear.
"We must go," the person said, scooping him up like a baby and racing off into the forest.
Sebbie struggled but the person wouldn't let go. Through the blizzard he could see the soldier lying limp, an elegant black arrow sticking out of his heart. His scarlet blood stained the pure white ground.
He stared up anxiously at the person. She had a strong gracefully crafted bow slung over her back and a quiver full of black feathered arrows.
The trees blurred around them and cobwebs glistened on the branches as they passed them. Paths roamed in all directions, rising and falling on rocky slopes and falls. Everywhere around them was deathly silent, no birds, no leaves and no sign of any life. Even the trees themselves looked dead, gnarled with age and bent over, concealing the sky above so the snow could not fall through.
The girl carried him effortlessly, leaping up onto rock after rock, gaining height until they came across a wall of rock. She pressed her palm to the stone and a glowing blue symbol appeared underneath her hand. A hidden door slid into the rock face, displaying a long tunnel ahead.
"Who are you?" he whispered.
She didn't reply. Instead, she took him into the tunnels, which curved and twisted and shone with diamonds that were embedded in damp grey walls.
They entered a large circular room, where a white tiger skin lay draped over the floor and a bed lay at the side.
"Who are you?" he asked again, trying to keep the trepidation out of his voice.
The girl took her bow off her shoulder and hung her quiver up on a hook on the wall.
"Thalassa," she said, sitting down by a dark blue fire that burned in the middle of the cave.
"Why did you help me?" Sebbie said, sitting down next to her.
Thalassa shrugged and scraped a stone across the point of an arrow.
"I would always protect my kind," she said in a low rich voice, her sharp angled features seemed to glow in the dimly lit room.
"So you're an elf as well?" he smiled widely at her.
"Yes."
"Then why do you live alone? Why are we in this cavern?" he gazed around, taking in every last detail.
"I live here and I live alone, guided by my mistress who took shelter of me when I was lost..." her emotionless blue eyes grew distant, as she stared into the strange coloured flames.
"But why would you want to live alone?" Sebbie creased his eyebrows, confused.
Thalassa didn't look at him; instead she kept her eyes on the fire and spoke in her same hypnotic trance like voice.
"I follow my mistress' orders," was all she said.
Sebbie frowned. Something about this girl wasn't right...it was almost like...like...
"I have only one aim in life," she spoke quietly, almost like she was talking to herself.
"What is it?"
Thalassa turned to face him, her eyes hardening as if he had gone too far.
"Where were you heading, young one?" she said, changing the subject smoothly.
Sebbie had to think about that. He wanted to find his Mama, but he didn't know where she had gone...all his anger towards her had faded and there was nothing more he wanted than to have her back.
"I want to find my parents," he told her, thinking about his father. "Where are your parents? Aren't they worried about you?"
Thalassa scowled deeply, but Sebbie had a feeling that she wasn't directing it at him...like she was frustrated with herself for some reason.
"I don't know my parents. I have no memory of my childhood. My mistress told me that I shouldn't learn about it, since the horrors could 'corrupt' me," she spat, throwing a stick into the fire.
"I can stay with you," Sebbie said kindly. He felt sorry that this girl didn't even know her own parents; she looked like she seriously needed some company right now.
Thalassa stared at him suddenly, her expression never changing, but maybe...just maybe her eyes softened in the smallest possible way.
"That is not possible, my mistress won't allow it."
"Why?"
She tore her gaze away from him and pulled something out of her pocket...a square flimsy object that held no aura of power to it or any other incredibility.
"I don't know, but I cannot abandon the task she has set for me," she placed it back in her pocket. "And I shall not let myself to get distracted."
"I won't distract you," Sebbie said hurriedly. "I can help you achieve whatever you want to do."
Thalassa shook her head.
"I have no need for you, though I'm touched by your offer, I must continue with my task, for it is mine to bear alone."
"But you don't want that, do you?"
"I didn't say I have to like my task. Everyone has to bow down to their destiny, however much they try to fight it."
Sebbie put his palm on hers. "Do you really think you can be pushed around by fate? This is your life to live, not someone else's. Let me help you and afterwards...maybe I can find your family."
The sides of her lips tilted upwards in a small smile.
"You're wise for one so young. But I promise you that one as young as you will not like the mission I strive to complete."
"I won't let you down, I promise," Sebbie told her, his voice ringing with truthfulness.
Thalassa paused and her eyes hardened. "You do not know what you're getting yourself into."
"Then tell me what your task is," he persisted.
She scowled into the flames and started sharpening another black arrow. "If I tell you, then you've already sealed your fate. I cannot let you leave these caves alone."
"I would risk anything to help you find your family, even if I have to go through this as well," Sebbie replied seriously.
"You barely even know me," she said, though Sebbie could detect a sense of happiness in her tone.
"No deserves to be alone," he intervened. "I swear that I will not betray you and I'll stay with you no matter what."
"You're serious about this?"
"Certain."
She thought about it and threw another log into the fire.
"Then I'll tell you my task," she said quietly.
Sebbie leaned forwards, his heart thumping wildly for some reason.
"My mistress, she ordered me to kill and destroy Annabeth Chase, princess of Athane."