I didn't say a word to Luke. When I realized what he'd done, I'd stood and walked out the door, not even waiting to be dismissed by Kronos.
For as long as I could remember, the sounds of the ocean had been like a lullaby to me. When I drifted off at sea, I felt calm and at ease, as if each wave was washing away my worries.
But not tonight.
I laid awake in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling. The rocking of the waves felt jarring. I tossed and turned dozens of times. Sleep wouldn't come. Thoughts and questions about camp raced through my head, each one making me more and more anxious. How fast would the poison work? Would the camp's borders last a few more days, or would the cabins be waking up tonight to a monster attack?
Maybe Luke was right. Many of the campers there had plenty more years of hero training than I had. Plus, they had Chiron. They could handle themselves.
But a nagging voice in the back of my head told me the camp would be worse off than even Luke could have anticipated. The collapse of the camp's borders would be like a nuclear meltdown, only instead of emitting death, it would attract it. The collective scent of dozens of demigods would permeate the air for miles, drawing monsters in droves.
The year-rounders were strong, but I knew even they wouldn't be able to hold out forever. Beckendorf, the Stoll twins, even Clarisse… It felt like I'd betrayed them. I hadn't wanted to poison the tree, but I couldn't deny the fact I'd had a hand in it. I betrayed them.
And Silena… did Luke even tell her about the plan? Just from what little I picked up about her at camp last year, I knew there was no way she'd ever approve of a ploy as dangerous as this. She loved her siblings too much to expose them to danger.
I just prayed to any divine entity that would listen that Annabeth had the sense to stay away from camp this year. If anything happened to her, I don't know how I'd be able to live with myself.
I flipped over on my stomach and stared out the porthole at the dark sea. Sometimes, I daydreamed about finding my own ship and sailing off on my own, away from all the monsters and gods and prophecies. Just me, myself, and I with an entire world to explore, never looking back.
I thought about how different my life would have been if I had decided to go with my father to his undersea palace. But I knew that could never happen. It still haunted me, the look in his eyes when I told him of my oath on the River Styx. In that instant, so many emotions swirled behind his mask of rage that I couldn't tell how he really felt. The image of him the last time I saw him was burned into my mind. A broken, hollow man lying in the ruins of our splintered cabin. Why hadn't he chased us? Had he been grieving? Had he really cared?
No, he couldn't have. The gods weren't the 'caring' type. They didn't take notice of mortals, even if they were their own children. It was more likely he wanted me close so he could threaten Zeus. Keeping the child of prophecy tucked away would definitely provide some leverage in council meetings. Yeah, that must have been it.
I don't know when I finally passed out, but if I had known what punishment Kronos had in store for me, I would've put in the extra effort to stay awake through the night.
See, when demigods have nightmares, they're usually very vivid, and very personal. Monster attacks, loved ones getting hurt or dying, you get the idea. What happened next, however, was so distant, so foreign, it was like I was experiencing someone else's nightmare.
I laid unmoving on the scorched pile of rocks that used to be my mountain, my palace, my throne of power. Above me, the storm clouds in the sky had been blown apart in a line stretching for miles towards Olympus, the aftermath of the blast that cast me down. Where had he gotten a weapon so powerful?
I tried to move, to get up, to breathe, but my body wouldn't obey me. I was paralyzed. Time marched onwards, heedless of its master's plight, and after a while I began to wonder if it was my fate to become part of this mountain. However, the Fates were not so kind.
The sound of heavy footsteps met my ears. For a moment, hope surged through me. Had my brethren survived? Were they here to help me? But my excitement was quickly dashed when my eyes were greeted by a large, brutish face with one beady eye staring down at me in amusement. Cyclopes. Filthy, traitorous creatures.
In the corner of my vision, I saw one of them stoop down and lift an object off the ground, examining it. Rage surged through my veins. My scythe, my symbol of power, in the hands of such a lesser creature!
The Cyclops ran a finger along the sharp, curved blade, and when it inevitably nicked his finger, he howled in agony, collapsing to the ground and writhing as if his blood had turned to fire. The scythe was far more powerful than his tiny mind could comprehend.
The Cyclops above me shook his head like this was a common occurrence and began to bind my arms and legs in chains. Eventually, the other one settled down and gingerly retrieved my weapon, taking care not to touch the blade again.
Then, I was being dragged along the rubble-strewn path back up the mountain. Eventually, some semblance of strength returned to my limbs, and I was able to preserve a shred of dignity by following along on my feet. When we reached the summit, or what was left of it, my heart fell. My brothers Krios, Atlas, Koios, Hyperion, and Iapetus had been similarly bound and forced to their knees before our enemies. I glared at the one standing above them, the corners of his lips curved ever so slightly upwards in victory. It made me sick. He was my youngest, and most despised of the bunch, Zeus.
In his hands, crackling with residual energy, was the weapon that struck me down, sheared off the top of Mount Othrys, and ended my Golden Age. A 15-foot cylinder of pure, radiant power. Standing behind him were my other two traitorous sons, each with their own newly crafted symbols of power.
The Cyclops dragged me into the center of my siblings before kicking the back of my knees in, forcing me to kneel. I met Zeus's eyes, gathering all the hatred I could muster into one look. The Cyclops who had been fooling around with my scythe knelt before Zeus and reverently offered it to him.
He stared impassively at it for a moment, examining it. Raising a pale hand, lightning dancing between his fingertips, he grasped the shaft of the scythe and hefted it into the air, testing its balance. My blood boiled. Mother Gaea had that specially crafted for me. Only I was allowed to wield it, she had proclaimed. What right did he have to touch it?
"My scythe," I growled, finally finding my voice. "Return it to me at once."
His eyes fixed upon me once more, his lips curling into a frown, as if considering my demand. Seeming to make up his mind, he stepped forward, the scythe held in front of him.
"As you wish… father."
He raised the blade and slashed it downwards, and I gasped in surprise. My eyes slowly drifted to my torso, which now had an angry golden gash driven across it.
My brothers cried out in protest as memories from millenia ago resurfaced in my mind, recollections of doing the same thing to my own father swimming to the forefront.
The scythe was brought down again, and again, and again, each strike peeling off another slice of my flesh. Agony racked my entire body. A pool of ichor, skin, and bones began to collect on the ground where I lay.
One of my other sons, I knew not which, stepped forward. "Brother, perhaps that is enough…" the voice said placatingly. Zeus paid him no attention.
Even when I was reduced to a thousand pieces, the pain never subsided. Hatred was all I knew as my siblings and I were cast down into Tartarus, and Atlas forced to bear the weight of the sky.
I woke up screaming, my arms wrapped tightly around my torso. In a panic, I ran my hands over my feet, my arms, my head, checking and double checking that they were still there, that I was still in one piece.
It had felt so real, the tip of the scythe repeatedly carving its way through my body. The feeling of being chopped up into pieces was… indescribable. No longer living, but not yet dead either. Just… existing in endless pain.
I curled up into a ball on my bed, shivering, and wondered if Kronos still felt that horrible agony to this day. I thought about the people in the Fields of Punishment I'd passed on my way to Hades last year, suffering endless torment, some of them having been there for thousands of years. If I were to die now, would I be sentenced there? For betraying not only the gods, but my friends as well?
Needless to say, I wasn't able to get much sleep the rest of the night.
I got up when the sun began poking through my window. Luke was in the hallway waiting for the elevator. It looked like he hadn't slept well either. Wordlessly, I stood beside him and waited along with him. Yesterday, I'd been so angry that I couldn't even bear to look at him, but now I just felt numb.
I could feel him glancing at me, taking in my appearance. I must've looked like a specter, because his eyes softened.
"Nightmares?" he asked.
I didn't say anything.
He looked down at his feet. "When Ares caught me with the master bolt, the titan king… he wasn't happy, to say the least. The entire mission had nearly gone south right then and there. He punished me with night terrors for my failure. The same ones I suspect he's giving you right now."
The elevator chimed and the doors parted. Luke entered and pressed the button for the upper deck. I followed behind him silently.
"I still remember them," he said. "Like they're burned into my retinas. They're all true. Every one of the visions he shows you truly happened at some point. They're horrifying, but it's important to experience them. It puts into perspective just why we're fighting against the gods."
I nodded absently, staring a hole into the doors of the elevator as we descended. Luke took note of my silence.
"Don't worry too much about the campers," he said. "They'll be fine."
He didn't sound too sure of himself, I thought.
Before we reached the bottom, an image framed by a faint rainbow began to shimmer into existence in front of us, just a little bit clearer than the last time I'd seen it. An Arke message.
It was Silena. She looked absolutely distraught.
"Luke!" she cried, half-panicked. "It's awful, the tree—Thalia's tree—it's been poisoned! Everyone's running around trying to figure out how it happened. They're saying the magical borders are going to fail soon. Chiron's just left for an emergency meeting on Olympus…"
Her voice began to trail off as she looked between the two of us. I lowered my gaze to the floor, unable to meet her eyes.
"Why don't either of you seem surprised?" she asked hesitantly. After a moment, her eyes widened, and she brought a hand to cover her mouth. "Don't tell me… you guys did this?"
The look on Luke's face said it all. She stood there for a moment, dumbfounded.
"Luke, I thought— I thought you loved Thalia. How could you do this to her?"
Luke scowled, his scar bending. "I did— I do love her. She's family."
"Then why…?" Tears were beginning to spring to her eyes. "You told me we were going to be saving lives," she said. "How is putting everyone in danger like this going to accomplish that?"
Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose like he was getting sick of explaining this over and over. The elevator chimed once again and its doors opened, but Luke held them. "Silena, I need you to just trust us," he said. "We have a plan here, and if it works, Thalia will have another chance at life, and the camp will be safer for it."
"Safer? What are you talking about?"
"Look, for now, we just need you to start subtly mentioning the Golden Fleece to the campers. It's the only thing that can save Thalia now, and we need them to think the idea came from one of them, not from us."
Silena's eyebrows furrowed at the mention of the Golden Fleece, but I could see her slowly start putting the pieces together. "You really think the Fleece will be able to bring Thalia back?" she asked. Luke nodded.
"But… it's been missing for thousands of years. Do you have any idea where it is?"
"We do."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Then… what's with all the cloak and dagger stuff? Couldn't you have just gone and gotten it without poisoning the tree?"
Luke glanced over at me, and I gave him a pointed stare. He crossed his arms in a gesture that said 'don't look at me' and turned back to Silena, explaining to her that it was simply too dangerous for us to go. It was in the Sea of Monsters, and Kronos wouldn't risk the lives of his lieutenant and the child of the prophecy for a chance that this plan might work..
"So, you're going to risk the camper's lives instead," she surmised, unimpressed.
For what seemed like the hundredth time, Luke sighed in exasperation. "More or less," he said.
"Great," she said. "That's really great. And you didn't tell me any of this beforehand because...?"
"If I had, would you have let me go through with it?"
His question was met with silence. Silena brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of her nose, looking troubled and suddenly much, much older. I felt bad for her, having all of this dropped on her at once. I couldn't believe Luke hadn't told her ahead of time. It was like, 'Oh hey, thanks for keeping us informed. Have fun fighting for your life by the way! After a moment, she closed her eyes and shook her head.
"I can't," she said.
Luke leaned forward. "Can't… what?"
"I can't be your spy anymore. This plan of yours is insane! I never thought you'd do something like this," she said angrily. "You know, when you first approached me about keeping tabs on the camp for you, I thought you were so brave for standing up to the gods and stepping up to bat for us half-bloods. But now… Now I see you're just a coward."
Luke frowned.
"And Percy," she said, swivelling her attention towards me. She took in my appearance for a second, and I shifted uncomfortably. "Gods, what are they doing to you? We may not have spoken much, but I never would have taken you for someone who turns on his friends."
Her words stung. I mean, I'd been repeating them to myself all of last night, and ever since I agreed to the plan a couple days ago as well. But to hear them from someone else, someone so respected at camp… I found I couldn't formulate a response.
Fortunately, I didn't have to. Luke stepped in between us, an angry scowl on his face.
"First of all," he said, "don't blame Percy for this. It was the titan king's orders to poison the tree, and to his credit, Percy did try to disobey them, which he is now facing punishment for."
Her eyes flickered towards me for a second, but Luke pressed on. "Secondly, you can't back out of this now. You're tangled in this just as much as we are, and if I don't know what's going on at camp, then I can't guarantee its safety."
"'Guarantee its safety?' You can hardly guarantee its safety right now!" she retorted.
"I'm talking about in the long run. A war is coming, Silena, and like it or not, the camp is going to get caught up in the middle of it. As long as there are no surprises, I can keep our casualties to a minimum. You wouldn't want 'Charlie' accidentally walking into a trap meant for the gods, now would you?"
I saw the color immediately drain from her face, and I looked at Luke in shock. Had he just threatened to…?
"No," Silena breathed, wearing a pained expression.
Luke nodded in satisfaction. "I thought so. Not to mention, Mr. D probably wouldn't be too thrilled to find out someone in his camp was feeding information to his enemies."
I stared hard at the back of his head. I couldn't believe how he was treating her. First, he puts her directly in danger without telling her ahead of time, and then when she understandably wants to back out, he blackmails her? He was clearly going too far.
"Luke…" I began, but he held up a hand and cut me off.
"So," he said, eyes narrowed at Silena. "Are you going to spread the word about the Golden Fleece?"
Silena nodded miserably, eyes downcast. "Yes," she said softly.
"Good," he replied, his jaw set. "I'll be expecting to hear from you shortly, then. Anything else?"
Silena shook her head.
"I need a double shot of espresso yesterday," Luke grumbled, releasing the elevator and allowing the doors to close.
I lingered behind, an awkward silence falling between me and Silena, who looked like she was about to cry. I didn't know how Luke managed to convince her to become our spy in the first place, but I sensed they had some kind of history between them. I tried not to dote too hard on the fact that Luke was probably at least 5 years older than her.
"Silena," I started, unsure of where I was going with this. "I'm— I'm really sorry. I thought he'd already told you about the plan."
She sniffled, looking down at something on the ground. "He used to be so nice," she said. "I went to the fireworks with him once. He was charming and funny. But now he's changed so much. It's like he's a completely different person."
"He's just got a lot going on right now," I said, but I cringed inwardly. Even to me, the excuse sounded feeble.
"I guess," she said.
A moment passed, and I considered asking the question that had been on the forefront of my mind the whole conversation.
"Hey Silena," I said, fiddling with my fingers. "Um… Is Annabeth there? At camp?"
She looked surprised for a moment before adopting a thoughtful look. "No, I haven't seen her around yet," she said. "She's probably still with her dad."
I let out an audible sigh of relief, feeling like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. She was safe. Well, as safe as any demigod could be out in the real world. That was one less worry I had to clog up my mind. I looked back at Silena, and felt blood rushing to my face when I saw a grin spreading across her cheeks. Leave it to a daughter of Aphrodite to jump to conclusions.
Fortunately for me, Silena didn't seem to be in the teasing mood, because she let it go pretty easily. Within seconds, she was back to all business.
"Percy, tell Luke that if this plan of his doesn't pan out, he's going to be sorry. And that isn't a threat. I know him, or at least I think I do, and he's absolutely going to regret this if it doesn't work. He'll be a bitter old man shaking his cane at the gods by the time he's 23."
I would've laughed at the imagery if it weren't so true. "I'll let him know," I said.
"And try to help him keep his head on straight. I know he still cares about his friends. Don't let him lose that side of himself."
I nodded. "Stay safe, Silena. Take care of yourself."
"You too," she said. "And get some sleep! You look like you need it."
I gave her a tiny smile and waved before the image faded. Taking a deep breath, I opened up the elevator doors and stepped out onto the main deck of the Promenade, no longer in the mood for my daily routine. Today was going to be a long day.