Percy talking

Percy thoughts

Adamos talking

Adamos thoughts

Characters are owned by Rick

(Except Adamos he's mine)

Chapter 19

I Trade One Bastard For Another

"You know I don't see how extortion and manipulation make me a super villain." Adamos questioned.

"And I don't see how it doesn't." I retort. I continue to stand inside the elevator that leads to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building, or as its better known as Mount Olympus. Currently the elevator was going down towards the base floor after we finished our business with the gods. Adamos managed to do everything he wanted to which sort of included lying to the Olympians, blackmailing a god of war, and giving manipulating four gods into doing his work for him.

"Wouldn't those things just make me a regular villain?"

"You're a god so I don't think that regular applies to you."

"I feel like I should be offended, but you're right."

The elevator then dinged, signaling that the excessively long ride was over and that we reached the base floor. I looked around and see that the security guard was still sitting at his desk reading the same book with the wizard on it. However, I did notice that he was giving me brief glances out of the corner of his eyes. Other than the first glance I didn't bother with him as I stepped out on to the streets of Manhattan.

"So, do we have to head camp right now?" I asked.

"I don't think so. I did everything I wanted to accomplish. Did you need to do something?"

"I—uh, I wanted to see if Lord Hades returned my mom. He promised to remember." I thought.

"Oh yeah he did." Adamos said, just remembering that fact. "I don't see why we can't."

At this I felt a bit excited. This meant that there was nothing left to do at the moment. I brought my fingers to my mouth and let out a taxi cab whistle. Almost immediately a yellow cab pulled up to the curb and I climbed in, gave the driver my mom's address and he took off.

The ride only took maybe ten minutes before the driver pulled up to our apartment building and I paid the fare. Soon I was in front of the apartment and rang the doorbell. Almost immediately the door began to open until she was in full view. My beautiful mother, smelling of peppermint and licorice, not looking the least bit as if she were just held prisoner in the underworld. The smile on her face was the most warm and genuine thing that I had seen for a great while.

"Percy! Oh, my baby boy. Thank goodness you are all right." She rushed over and brought me into a crushing hug. The two of us stood in the hall way as she cried and ran her hands through my hair.

I myself was shaking in her embrace and I felt my eyes wetting a little. I was so relieved to see that she was all right. After a minute or so the embrace ended and she began to tell me about how she appeared in the apartment one morning, scaring Gabe half to death. She said that she didn't remember anything since the Minotaur attack, and she couldn't believe Gabe when he told her that I was a fugitive. Until now she had been worrying out of her mind due to the lack of news. Gabe however forced her to go to work, saying that she had a months' worth of salary to make up for.

I felt anger boiling inside of me at her story, but I held my tongue and instead preceded to tell her my own story, minus a few details so as to not worry her to much or reveal to much. It was harder than I thought to lie to her and internally it made me feel a bit guilty, but I couldn't tell her about Adamos, and I knew she would freak out about the more dangerous stuff I did. I was half way through my story when the voice I wanted to hear least of all sounded through the door.

"Sally! Is the meatloaf done yet or what?"

My mother closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. "He isn't going to be happy to see you Percy. The store got half a million phone calls from Los Angeles…something about free appliances."

I sheepishly rub the back of my head and looked away, I couldn't look her in the eyes. But she seemed to catch on and just gave me a knowing smile. "Just don't make him angrier. Come on."

We stepped into the apartment and immediately I was repulsed by what I saw. The entire apartment seemed to have devolved into a dump. Garbage littered the floor, reaching to my ankles. Beer cans were strewn all across the couch, Dirty underwear and socks laid on top of the furniture and lampshades.

Gabe sat at his now fixed poker table with his three friends playing poker and smoking cigars. As soon as he saw me the cigar fell from his mouth and his face became a fiery red. "You got some nerve coming here you little punk. I thought that the police—"

"He's not a fugitive after all Gabe." My mom spoke up, interrupting him. "Isn't that wonderful?"

Gabe looked between me and my mother, his face showed his obvious displeasure at my homecoming. "Bad enough I had to give back the life insurance money." He growled. "Get me the phone, I'm calling the cops."

"Gabe, no!" My mom cried out.

He raised his eyebrows. "Did you just say 'no'? You think I'm gonna put up with this punk again? I can still press charges against him for ruining my Camaro."

"But—" My mother spoke, but Gabe raised his hand, and my mother flinched. Then I realized something. I wasn't the only one that Gabe had beaten, no my mom was just as much a victim of his abuse, or maybe more.

The burning anger inside began to blaze like an inferno. I grit my teeth and clenched my fist to the point that my knuckles turned white. I was about to step forward, my hand reaching towards Riptide in my pocket, but my body locked up.

"Don't." Adamos said in a serious voice. "Your sword won't work on him, no matter how much he deserves it." I felt my anger flare further at Adamos's intervention and I felt my foot take half a step forward, but no further as Adamos tightened his hold. I could feel his narrowed gaze on me.

"What punk? Got nothing to say? You touch me, and you're going to jail forever, you understand?" Gabe taunted.

"Hey, Gabe," Eddie interrupted. "He's just a kid."

Gabe looked at Eddie and mocked in a falsetto voice: "He's just a kid." This got a laugh out of his other friends as Eddie looked away.

"I'll be nice to you brat." Gabe grinned, showing his yellow stained teeth. "I'll give you five minutes to get your stuff and clear out. After that I call the police."

"Gabe!" My mother pleaded.

"He ran away," Gabe told her. "Let him stay gone."

"Let me go!" I mentally growl and try to break free.

"And what exactly will you do." Adamos spoke harshly. "Stab him with a sword that doesn't work? Or are you going to beat him up with your bare hands in front of all these witnesses and then get charged for assault? Or maybe you would like to throw everything we worked for out the window by going to prison and end up worrying your mom even more." Each sentence brings my anger down more, not enough to completely wipe it, but enough for me to think straight.

"I—No I don't want that." I admit. "But I can't just do nothing!"

"I never said that you would. But there is a time and place for these things." Adamos says and I feel him let up on his restraint.

I let my muscles relax and I begin to stand on my own. "It's fine mom." I say in a soft voice and begin walking off to my room. My mother follows behind me with an unsure look on her face as we enter my room. I look over the space and it looks the same as before. Filled with Gabe's junk. Stacks of newspapers and magazines were piled into the corners, used car batteries were on the floor, and there were even some cards and wilted flowers from some supportive people.

"Gabe is just upset honey." My mom tried to reason. "I'll talk to him later. I'm sure it'll work out."

"Mom," I spoke up bringing her attention to me. "It won't work so long as Gabe is here."

She begun to wring her hands nervously. "I can…I'll take you to work with me for the rest of the summer. In the fall there might be a boarding school—"

"Mom."

Her gaze lowers. "I'm trying Percy. I just…need some time."

"Mom I can just stay at camp during the summer. At least until we figure something out." I said.

"Percy." She said with a sad look on her face.

"Don't worry, we'll get through this." I said as reassuringly as possible. "We always do." Her eyes looked into my own for a moment, searching for something before relenting.

"So, you're really going to camp for the summer… or forever?"

"That…will depend." I say and we lock eyes once more but this time in agreement. We would see what the future holds.

She leans forward and kisses me on the forehead. "You'll be a great hero Percy. I know it."

I stood up and looked around my room once more. I had felt like I wasn't going to see it again. I then walked my mother to the front door to leave.

"Leaving so soon punk?" Gabe called out from the living room. "Good riddance."

I felt a twist of anger in my gut before turning away. I didn't feel good about leaving my mom with him but there was nothing that I could do.

"Hey Sally," He yelled. "What about that meatloaf, huh?"

A flash of anger appeared in my mom's eyes, but it soon disappeared, and a smile was on her face. It tore me up inside to see her keeping a strong face. "It'll be right out Gabe."

Then she gave me a hug and walked back into the apartment. Back in there with him. And a massive pit began to form in my gut.

LINEBREAK

"Dammit! Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" I growled out. My fist hitting the wall of an alleyway with each word. I pull my hand back from the wall, seeing the large cracks that appeared on the concrete and the specks of blood on the wall. I look at my own hand and see the damage that I did. The skin on my knuckles was torn and bleeding, but almost immediately small white flames sprout from the injury and the skin begins to stitch itself back together.

I clench my hand in frustration. "I can't believe I left her. I left her with him." I mentally scold myself. I had done things that no normal person could do, but I couldn't give my mom the life she deserved. A life without Gabe, a chance to go to college, to meet someone nice.

"Do you really want to save her?" Adamos spoke, his voice held no emotion.

"Yes." I immediately say. "She deserves better. She deserves to be happy."

"And if I could give you a way to deal with Gabe. What would you do?"

"I would do it." I thought without hesitation. "If I could save her then I would do it."

Adamos was quiet for several moments. The sound of blaring horns and the bustle of the nearby street was all I could hear before he spoke one more.

"…I see." Adamos spoke and then he took control and I felt his power. He raised my hand and began to draw something on the ground. With each trace a line of light formed creating a circle. Then came the written words, words in a language I couldn't understand.

"H^$&vHRvhddb DWEGVSDGWER%$^&"

His voice was distorted, overlapped with other voices. Trying to listen to it gave me a headache, forcing me to tune him out. The dark alleyway was dimly illuminated only by the glowing magic from the circle. Luckily, we were far enough in that no one would look for us unless the walked into the alley.

Once Adamos was done I looked at the magic that he had drawn. The circle was made from dozens of overlapping shapes, words and symbols were written so in such small and fine details that it seemed inhumanly well drawn.

Then Adamos drew another circle, yet this one was smaller by a large margin and far simpler. He placed his hand over the circle and in response it began to glow and then fade. In the middle of the previously empty circle was a set of car keys.

"What—what is this?" I ask as I look over the shirt and the magic circle.

"This Percy," Adamos spoke, his voice monotonous. "Is what you asked for. A way to get rid of Gabe. Using a high-level magic circle, a chant in the mystic language, and a possession of the target." He explained and I felt my body come back to me.

I was in shock. This was the answer to what I wanted, exactly as Adamos said. I reached out and grabbed the car keys. I could tell it was Gabe's from the trashy dice key chain. I threw it into the middle of the circle and watched as it began to glow.

"So, what do I do now?" I asked in barely a whisper.

"Now all you need to do is channel power into it, and it will activate."

I slowly reach out prepared to do exactly that, but I stopped when Adamos spoke the next words.

"Just so you know Percy, this is a very high-level curse. Are you willing to ruin someone's life so easily?"

My hand stops in motion and I freeze. Thoughts began to race through my head. "Can I do it? Is it right for me to ruin some ones life? What right do I have to do this?" Even if Gabe was one of the worst people I had ever known, I didn't even know if I could do this. I tried to reach further but my body wouldn't listen as if something was holding me back.

"I—I can't." I say and drop my hand. Flashes of my mother enter my mind and I heard her words she said before I left.

'You'll be a great hero Percy. I know it.'

I just couldn't do it. She believed that I could be a great hero, and this isn't something that a hero would do, but I couldn't leave my mom with him.

"I can't do it, but… can't leave her with him." I growled out, and I internally hated myself for my indecision.

"Would you like me to do it for you? It's of no concern to me." Adamos said.

"I…yes please." I said in almost a pleading tone. Adamos poured his power into the circle and I watched as the car keys burst into flames. The circle lit up, casting a dim light in the alley. I was secretly glad at how far in the alley we were so as not to draw any attention. It only took a second until the light died and the circle disappeared, taking away any evidence that what just happened was ever done.

I grit my teeth. I couldn't do it. I couldn't save my mom myself and once again had to rely on Adamos. It left a bitter sweet taste in my mouth. And the line from the prophecy echoing in my mind.

'You'll fail to save what matters most in the end'

"Some hero I turned out to be." I spat. "Can't even save my own mom from some asshole without help."

"Percy…"

"What's the point of me slaying monsters and going on quests if I can't even save those closest to me."

"That's because you're only a child. You shouldn't have to make decisions like this Percy."

"Than why offer it at all!"

"…Because choices have consequences," Adamos explained. "The choice between saving your mother or leaving her. You save her but destroy another or leave her to fates hands. This is not the kind of choices that you should make… not yet."

"Ok…I think I understand." I said. Being a hero isn't like in myths and fairy tales. They talk about how that heroes slay a monster and people celebrate, but the leave out the terrible decisions they have to make. "I think I'm ready to head back to camp Adamos."

"Good, I think we still have enough cash for a cab." He said and I started walking to find a cab.

"By the way," I switched to the mental conversation as I walked out into the open sidewalk. "What did that curse do?"

"Well," Adamos spoke and I could feel him scratching his head for an explanation. "That curse basically alters some ones future. I'm pretty sure the ladies fate won't mind, but it's best not to use this thing willy nilly. Otherwise the fates will be pissed. Probably the only reason I can get away with this is because Gabe has no importance in the tapestry of fate."

"Wait. You rewrote some ones fate?" I say. The explanation caused me to pause as I walk but I start moving again.

"It won't kill him per say, but it should alter how things go for him. Think of it like a curse that brings nothing but misfortune to the cursed." Adamos explained and I could feel him grinning.

"So, like what kind of misfortune?" I ask as I was now genuinely curious.

"Everything from stubbing pinkie toes on furniture," I flinch at that. "To probably being arrested. Basically, his life will be nothing but misery." Adamos said with glee, his mood flipping like a switch from the serious tone he had before. Honestly it was weird how easily his mood changes.

"I think I can live with that, but honestly a part of me wishes that he was dead. To payback all of the things he's put my mom and I through."

"Oh Percy," Adamos said in a voice that sounded like a patronizing parent speaking to a child. "Getting back at someone by killing them is no good. True vengeance is slowly ruining a persons life over a long period of time, till their will to live slowly deteriorates till they are nothing but a shell of their former self."

"Tha—That sounds a dark." I give a nervous laugh. "Are you sure you're not some kind of villain?"

"Why do you keep calling me a villain?" Adamos pouts.

I stop and manage to wave down a taxi as it drives by. I give the driver the address to camp and soon we are on our way back. I decide not to delve into the dark topic any further during the ride.

LINEBREAK

My return to camp was not what I expected. I kind of expected people to be there to welcome me back or Chiron there to ask what happened, but this was nothing like that.

The camp seemed to be in an uproar as I saw various campers all running around with weapons and gear. The were searching through every nook and cranny of the camp. In the cabins, the arena, the lava wall, everywhere. Noticing that no one was going to stop and explain things to me I made my way to the big house. A pit began to form in my stomach, and I didn't know what it meant.

I opened the door and looked around. The living room was completely empty, the lights were off, and nothing looked out of place other than someone had been sleeping on the couch and if the large amount of diet cokes were anything to say than it was probably Mr. D.

"Hello?" I called out, but silence from in the house was the only response.

"Percy!" I heard someone call out from behind me. I turn quickly to find Grover running up towards the big house.

"Grover!" I called out. "You made it back safe."

"Yeah, and I take it that everything went well on Olympus since you're in one piece." He spoke and I nodded

"Hey Grover, what's going on?" I asked. "What's up with everyone?" I looked around once more to see that Campers seemed to be rushing around. I looked back at Grover and he had a nervous look on his face.

"It would be best to speak to Chiron about this." He said. "I'll take you to him." Grover then trotted off deeper into camp. I followed after him, not really having any better idea of where to go. We walked directly to a long wooden building that was halfway between the Big house and the arena. I recognized it as the infirmary and felt my worry deepen. 'Did something happen to Chiron?' I began to wonder.

The two of us entered into the building and I took a look around. The walls were lined with beds and medical cabinets. A few desks were scattered about, and various equipment was in certain areas. Most of the beds were empty but I saw a couple had occupants laying on them. They weren't the only ones it seems as Chiron rolled out in his wheelchair from behind a curtain with some bandages in his hands.

"Percy?" He asked with widened eyes as he saw us for the first time.

"Chiron," I said as I looked over the two in the beds. "What happened."

Chiron seemed to look at me with a gaze that seemed like he was weighing some important options. It was a moment before he decided to speak. "Grover. I think its best if you leave. I need to discuss something with Percy here. Alone."

Grover looked between us but I, along with Chiron, held a straight face, not giving anything away. Grover finally listened to Chiron and left, leaving just Chiron, the two injured and myself in the infirmary.

"I think it best that we speak in the office." Chiron spoke after the he was certain we were alone. He placed the bandages on a table and wheeled himself further into the infirmary and disappeared behind a curtain. I followed after him saw that behind the curtain was an open door leading into a separate room. The room resembled a doctors office you would find in a clinic rather than the multi bed rooms in a hospital like the rest of the infirmary.

"Close the door please." Chiron spoke as he turned his wheel chair around to face me. I complied with his request and closed the door. The smell of antiseptic filled the room to the point I could probably taste a bit of it if I took too deep a breath.

"What happened here Chiron?" I asked concernedly, getting straight to the point. Chiron seemed to age a few years at the question. The grey of his hair seemed to spread, and his face looked more weathered.

"Am I correct in my assumption that you told the gods about the quest?" He asked. I answered with a small nod and Chiron let out a sigh. "When you told me of the line in the prophecy, I must say that I was a little skeptical at first as you can never really understand a prophecy until it comes to pass. And with your suspicions of Luke, I didn't really know what to think." Chiron spoke, his voice taking a somber tone. "But ever since your departure for the quest, things here have only descended into chaos far sooner than I suspected. With the leak of the potential civil war on Olympus, to the cabins picking sides." Chiron shook his head disapprovingly. "It was then that I started to pay closer attention to the campers, and I found one key figure in most incidents."

"Luke Castellan." I spoke, as I could see that this was hard for Chiron to talk about.

He responded with a nod. "I honestly never expected for this to happen. Luke has always been a model and trustworthy camper, teaching the younger ones and helping where he can. But upon closer inspection he has quietly goading the other campers since you left. Then recently I received a summons from Olympus for Luke to be brought for questioning. I had asked two of the older campers to accompany me in the search for him. It didn't take long before we found him alone in the arena practicing."

"I'm guessing that the meeting didn't go well." I spoke as I thought about the two injured campers.

Chiron shook his head. "No, it didn't. I asked him to accompany us till he could be brought to Olympus for questioning. I hoped that this could be all sorted out, but it seems that young Castellan had other ideas thoughts. He injured the two campers I brought with me and escaped into the forest. He hasn't been seen since." Chiron shook his head disappointingly. "I always knew that something changed in him after his quest, but for this to happen…" Chiron left the sentence hanging as if he couldn't bring himself to speak more.

Internally I was burning inside. I didn't expect Luke to resort to injuring other campers. I didn't like the guy, not any more because he tried to kill me with a cursed object, but I didn't think that he would actively attack other campers.

"A cornered animal is a dangerous one." Adamos spoke for the first time in a while.

I understood that at least but I didn't like it. But suddenly a thought hit me like a ton of bricks. "Did anything happen to Grover or Annabeth?" I asked. I had closer to the two during my quest and I was worried that either had gotten involved.

"Neither of them were present when I confronted Luke, but word travels quickly through the camp." Chiron shook his head "Grover should be fine, but it is Annabeth that I truly worry for."

I frowned at that thought. Annabeth held Luke in high regard, idolized him some would say. There was no doubt in my mind that she was taking this hard. "How is she?" I asked.

"She has been locked in her cabin for some time now. I wish to see her, but with the state that things are at the moment I don't believe that's possible. For now, it would be best to leave her be."

I frown deeply as the pit in my stomach worsens. The feeling of uselessness grows from when I left Olympus. I felt partially responsible for this outcome. "How long has it been since Luke disappeared?" I asked.

"Two and a half hours." Chiron responded.

I nodded and reached out to the door. I was going to find Luke. He injured two campers and tried to kill me. There has to be a reason behind it and I wanted to know what it was.

"Percy," Chiron called out my name, making me pause as I was halfway through the door. His eyes met mine with a seriousness that he didn't have before. "I hope that you aren't about to do something foolish."

"I'm not, Chiron," I tried to look convincing. "I'm going to just drop my stuff off in my cabin." Chiron's eyes looked over me and I could feel that he didn't believe me, but he didn't stop me either as I walked out of the infirmary and to my cabin.

I walked inside of Cabin three and placed my backpack on my bed and walked out. I didn't bother looking around my cabin as I had more important things to do.

"You're going to search for him?" Adamos said. I knew that he already knew the answer but just wanted me to say it.

"Yes. Two campers were put in the infirmary because of us."

"Because of me, you mean."

"No, I'm just as much fault. I was there to." I retorted.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p'.

"Fine." He said not really putting up a fight on my decision. "Just be careful. Luke has access to things that a normal demigod shouldn't. Who knows what he has?"

I take what he says to mind and reach into my pocket and pull out Riptide. It was better to have it on hand in my mind.

"Chiron said that Luke disappeared in the forest." I thought. "Then there's no better place to start."

LINEBREAK

The forest of camp Half Blood was far larger than I thought it would be. The sun had set a while ago leaving the moon as the only source of light, that is if I was a normal person. The forest to me was as clear as it was daytime, which really helped with my search. Or it would have if not for the fact that I had mostly been wandering through the forest without finding anything worthwhile.

"Where the Hades am, I supposed to be looking?" I quietly grumble to myself. As I look around. I notice that I'm somewhere familiar. The sound of rushing water slowly rises as I walk forward through bushes. A stream cuts through the forest directly down the middle. Normally the sound of water helps calm my nerves, but something just felt off about this entire scenario.

"Something doesn't feel right." I thought as I felt the hairs on my back of my neck stand on end.

"There's a disturbance around us. It is magical in nature." Adamos explained. His voice held an edge of anticipation.

The forest around me was eerily quiet. There were no birds or even insects sounding out into the night air. The sound of the creek was all that broke the silence. That is until a rustling sounded out to my right. My head snapped in the direction of the sound and my body tensed as I saw a form step out. The light of the moon seemed to make his face look haunted as he glared at me. The scar on his face seemed deeper than before.

Luke Castellan had an impassive look as he stepped out from the bushes, but his eyes seemed like they held a cold fury. In his hand was an odd sword that I had never seen before. The blade seemed as if it made from made from two different metals, one bronze and the other a steel grey. The feeling that it gave off was unnatural, as if the two metals weren't supposed to be together but forced together. I felt Adamos become incredibly agitated in its presence, only furthering my suspicions.

"Luke." I said coolly, but I had Riptide at the ready. "That's a pretty interesting sword you got there."

"Only one of its kind." He responded. I could hear the underlying tone of malice in his voice. "But enough of that. I heard that your quest was successful."

"Oh yeah. I had to go through a lot of trouble during the quest. Killed a lot of monsters, just like you asked. But I don't think that I quite enjoyed the little surprise those shoes had. They would have killed Grover if he wasn't able to kick them off in time."

"The curse would have worked if you were the one wearing the shoes, but you gave them to the satyr. Grover has always managed to mess up everything he touches. He even confused the curse." Luke spoke with disgust.

"And I'm going to guess that you also summoned the hell hound during capture the flag?"

"Had to make Chiron think that Hades was truly after you. It pushed him to start your quest early."

"Why are you doing this Luke? What do you have to gain from all of this? Why are you working with Kronos?" I asked. And the air turned cold as I spoke the name.

Luke's eyes narrowed. "You should be careful with names Percy."

"He's just using you Luke." I ignored his response.

"You're wrong. He has shown me where my talents can best be used. Not for some pathetic excuse for a quest. My father wanted me to steal an apple from the garden of the Hesperides and return it to Olympus. My father never cared and just gave me a quest that was already achieved. Where's the honor in that. Repeating what others had already done." Luke spat. The words he spoke, I could tell that he believed them whole heartedly. But that didn't seem to mesh with the image in my mind. I had seen Hermes and the distraught look he had when Luke was revealed as the thief was not one of a parent that didn't care, but rather that of one who cared deeply. Luke just continued his rant. "All the Olympian know how to do is relive their past. And my heart wasn't in it and I returned with nothing more than an empty bag and this scar. But the looks of pity where what truly hurt. As if I was some failure that needed to be coddled."

"Sounds to me like you brought it on yourself." I spoke and his eyes narrowed in fury, but I continued speaking. "You said that your heart wasn't in it. Who knows maybe if you had actually tried instead of giving up than you would have succeeded?"

"Don't talk about it like you know!" Luke growled furiously. "You don't know what it's like to train your whole life only to get a half assed quest. No, the only one who saw my true worth was Lord Kronos. He convinced me to steal something that no one has ever attempted before, something no hero has ever had the courage to steal."

"If you're such a great thief than why didn't you take the bolt and helm to Kronos yourself?" I had to keep him talking. At least until I could figure something out. I had my powers, but I knew that Luke was physically better than me as he was older and had more years of experience than I did.

"I wasn't able to. I was spotted by Ares as I made it to Jersey, but that was also apart of Lord Kronos's plan. He's the one who helped convince Ares to our cause. And everything would have been fine if you had played your part."

"Yeah well, I'm not that good of an actor. Its why I played a tree in my third-grade play."

"Well you can make all the jokes that you want. But it doesn't change the fact that your more of a problem to the plan if you remain alive." Luke said and then with speed far greater than I had seen him ever have he covered the distance between us quickly.

I barely was able to bring Riptide to block the thrust. The strength of the strike caused me to take a few steps back. I immediately counter attacked in order to push him away. I felt Adamos pour power into my muscles as I swung my sword. The strength seemed to catch Luke off guard as he did step away. I was ready to go on the offensive and try to push him towards the river when Adamos shouted to me.

"Percy behind you!" He shouted, and I turned around and swung Riptide in a slash only to cut through thin air. I was confused as Adamos wouldn't distract me in the middle of a fight like that, but then a burning pain shot up my leg. I looked down at my leg and saw a pure black scorpion near my leg. The stinger was deeply embedded in my leg. Out of reflex I swiped with my sword, killing the scorpion, but it didn't seem to matter as the poison was already taking effect.

My vision seemed to get blurry, and a nauseous feeling filled my gut, and a pounding filled my ears. I lost the strength in my limbs and fell to the ground kneeling. The sound of footsteps came closer.

"You have sixty seconds to live Percy. Pit scorpion venom works quickly like that." Luke spoke as he squatted in front of me. "Sadly, this means that you won't be able to see the revolution I will bring. Nor watch as I tear Olympus down brick by bri—" Luke spoke but wasn't able to finish his sentence as I used as much strength as I could muster and landed a punch in the middle of his face. The son of Hermes stumbled back, blood dripping from his nose and a fresh scowl on his face. I then collapsed on the ground.

"Fucker," Luke growled as he backed up. "Doesn't matter. The Golden age is coming, and you won't be apart of it." Luke then slashed the air and a dark ripple formed. He stepped through the ripple and once fully through it closed.

I was left there as my blood felt like it was on fire. "Gah, don't you die on me!" I heard Adamos shout in my mind, but it sounded so distant. A warmth spread through my injured leg and I saw white flames burning over the wound, but the pain barely lessened.

"The water." I thought as I crawled towards the water. My limbs felt like they were weighed down by lead weights. I managed to dip my hand into the water, but the liquid offered no safety to me.

"Help!" I croaked out as I tried to crawl back to camp. I don't know when but at some point, I manage to get to stand up, though barely. The white flame had now completely engulfed my leg in an intense blaze. I didn't know how long it had been, but I was sure that it had been longer than a minute since I was stung.

"Someone help!" I called out once more. I didn't know where I was at this point as my vision had faded already. At some point the relief from the white flame had ceased and the pain had increased back to normal. I stumbled forward as the last of my strength failed me. I expected to fall, but I felt two arms catch me. The distant sounds of yelling and a horn were the last things I heard before I passed out.

LINEBREAK

"Percy! Percy" A voice called out.

I groaned as I turned away from the voice. The pounding in my head felt like I was being hit with a hammer.

"Wake up DAMMIT!" The voice shouted and I felt a sharp pain erupt from the side of my face. That snapped me out of my near unconscious state as I slowly but surely awaken. My eyes open and is see a dark figure with their hand raised as if to slap me.

"I'm awake." I exclaim and scoot away. This action was costly as the sudden movement sent a wave of pain through me and gave me a splitting headache, only for it to subside into a dull pain.

"Oh Percy. Your alive." A voice sounded out in relief and excitement. I opened my eyes and saw that Adamos was barreling towards me and I felt a brief spike of fear before he scooped me into a bone breaking hug before holding me at arm's length away. "If you had died on me it would mean that I wasted a few months' worth of time on you."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Glad your priorities are in order." I deadpan. I now was able to get a good look at him as I wasn't being crushed by an embrace. Adamos looked worse than I had ever seen him. He had bags under his eyes and his hair seemed to be messed up rather than tied back like normal. His eyes had a tiredness in them that dulled the colors slightly. "You look like crap." I said.

Adamos let out a laugh at my blunt remark. "Yeah healing pit scorpion venom is a very hard thing to do, add onto that keeping you alive for about 6-7 minutes until help arrived is no easy feat. I mean just look." Adamos pointed out into the ocean of the island. I turned and looked at the endless ocean expanse, but there wasn't just water out there. Sitting above the water was a large sphere the roughly the size of the big house and in the center was a glowing orb of multiple colors.

"Is that… my well?" I asked. "Been a while since I saw that."

"Yeah, I mean look you made some progress with your powers." Adamos said and I took a closer look. The glowing orb at the center was bigger. If before the orb was the size of a basketball, now it was as big as washing machine.

"Its so much bigger." I said with a shocked look.

"Yep." Adamos said proudly. "Near death experiences are a great way at getting stronger. Its basically a dragon ball power up. But that's not important anymore."

"How it that not important?" I asked.

"Because of that." Adamos said pointing to the top. My eyes drift upward but I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Just the golden tethers that connect Adamos's power to mine…wait? Tethers?

I look back there and see that instead of the single golden tether that connects my well to Adamos's there are now three tethers. "Why are there three?" I ask. "Shouldn't there only be one?"

Adamos let out a sigh. "The venom from the scorpion is one of the deadliest in our mythology. Ranked as the fourth deadliest. Twelfth if we're talking about all the pantheons. I had to forcefully increase our connection in order to secure your life. The amount of power that I could give you access to wasn't enough."

"So what? Do I have access to more of your powers?" I asked.

"Well technically yes but—"

"But isn't that a good thing. Should make things easier right. If I'm stronger than before and you have an easier way of helping me." I question. I didn't really see the problem.

"You'd think so but no. I only wanted to ever give you the one tether to my power. While having more tethers means better access to my powers it also multiplies the risks of your body being damaged from power overdose. Luckily three was all I needed." Adamos explained. I felt a cold sweat form at my nervousness. I made a mental note to practice control of my powers when I get the chance.

"Say Adamos where did you learn about this stuff?" I asked. He gave me a questioning look. "The wells and the possession?" I clarify.

"Ancient Chinese secret." He says with a smirk.

"Fine don't tell me." I say with a huff.

"What do you mean?" He asks. "I just did. It's an ancient Chinese secret, well mixed in with Egyptian secrets."

"So, do you know how Luke escaped?" I switched topics as I was sure that he wasn't actually going to tell me. "I think he went through a portal." I said.

"Spatial movement is a high-level magic. Not something anyone can just make happen like that. He probably had an item on his person that let him use it quickly." Adamos said with a thoughtful look.

"Aw man. That's no fair." I whine. "Why does he get something as cool as a warp gate?"

"It's not so special." Adamos tries to ease my feelings. "Most magic items have a limited use before they run out. And it takes a lot of time and energy to refill it back to full use depending on how high the spell level is."

"But still! Teleportation!" I shout.

"Will you stop complaining if I teach you more spells?" He offers as he starts to rub his temples. "I'm starting to get a migraine. I think healing you took more out of me than I thought.

"Depends on the spell." I counter.

"An attack and a utility spell."

"Deal." I shake his hand. "By the way, do you think we can use that curse we used on Gabe, on Luke?" I asked in general curiosity.

"No." Adamos shook his head. "Demigods are generally more important to the fates than mortals so messing with their work like that will only piss them off. And I don't know about you, but I don't really feel like pissing them off that much. Besides we don't have anything that Luke treasures. Curse only works if you sacrifice something of importance to the target."

I thought about it and realized just how little I actually knew about Luke. He pretended to be my friend and initially we did speak, but now that I look back, he never told me anything personal about himself other than his hate for the gods. Also tempting fate didn't sound like such a good idea as I remember the sound of those shears cutting the string. I felt a cold chill go down my spine at the memory.

"I think that it's about time for you to wake up Percy." Adamos spoke, drawing me from my thoughts. "You should be well enough to do so. Don't both trying to contact me for a while." Adamos lets out a yawn. "I think I'm gonna sleep for a while." Adamos then flicks me on the forehead and everything goes black.

LINEBREAK

Usually when you wake up from a fever or a long sleep your mouth tastes like you were chewing on cotton and it absorbed all the liquids. I remember that one time I was sick when I was younger. This time however I awoke to the taste of my mother's cookies in my mouth. I could feel a straw in my lips and a cool liquid flowing through.

"Nectar." I thought

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a strange room that I hadn't been in before, but it looked oddly familiar. The bed I was in was incredibly comfortable. I looked down to see that my pants were now ruined. What were once a nice pair of jeans was now missing an entire leg and was replaced by a mass of bandages. Argus sat in the corner of the room, his multiple eyes watching everything in the room. Chiron sat in his wheelchair on my right, holding a bottle of nectar.

"Percy," He let out a sigh of relief. "It is good to see that you pulled through."

"What happened?" I asked just for the sake ok clarification. I had a decent idea of what happened after, but I just wanted to know.

"The nymphs found you wandering out of the woods looking ghastly. It took just about most of my healing skills in order to cure you, but I must say your body is quite resilient for being able to endure such an event."

"Still doesn't change the fact that I feel like I've been frozen and microwaved at the same time." I groaned.

"Indeed. Pit scorpion venom is no mere joke. But I must insist that you tell me what happened." Chiron's tone turned serious.

Then I began to tell him most of what I remembered. I left out how long I had been poisoned because enduring a poison that kills in a minute for several minutes is just a giant red flag to any sane person.

"I knew that I should have stopped you." Chiron began to rub the bridge of his nose.

"I have a feeling he would have come to me anyways." I said and Chiron didn't even attempt to rebuke me.

"I hope that you aren't considering going after him?" Chiron asked with a raised brow. His look was one that seemed like it could see through any lie that I would attempt.

I began to think about if I could. I wanted to pay Luke back for this, or maybe I could show him just how wrong he's being. But I dismiss those ideas. Luke has access to powerful magic items and with the ability to teleport I wouldn't be able to find him anyways. "No. I'm not going to go after him." I shook my head.

Chiron had a relieved look. "Good. I'd hate for something to happen to you over something so foolish as vengeance."

"Hey Chiron?" I decided to change the topic for this discussion. "What happened while I was out?"

"Oh, after we found you, we I had the campers search the entire camp for Luke, but we never found him, and now I know why. But after our search turned up nothing, we ended it. We then went through the tradition of shroud burning." He then handed me a golden laurel. "And this goes to the completer of the quest."

"And what about Grover and Annabeth?" I asked and Chiron seemed to fidget a bit.

"Grover has been here a few times to check on you, but Annabeth…After she found out she only secluded herself further into her cabin." He said in a somber tone.

I leaned further back into the bed I was in and looked at the ceiling. I let out a sigh at the news. If she was bad before, now I wouldn't be surprised if Annabeth didn't come out of her cabin for the rest of the summer. It was obvious to anyone with two eyes that she held Luke in the highest regard, and this just shattered her views of him all at once.

"I suggest that you continue to get some rest Percy. Argus will make sure no one disturbs you." Chiron said as he wheeled himself away.

"Thanks." I called out as he disappeared out of the doorway. Argus followed after him, and I assumed he was going to stand guard outside the room. I moved around to get myself as comfortable as possible and closed my eyes.

"I have a long way to go if I want to beat Luke." I thought. "But sleep sounds pretty great right now." Then once more I drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Yay I'm back. Ahoy all you sexy beasts. Momentei here. All right I know its been a bit longer than normal for an update, but I was working a bit too much on my other story and lost focus on writing this chapter. Also, classes and work have just been weird. In response to some of your reviews I'll just say this. About Adamos's relationship with Athena's children I just have to say that his feelings are complicated. He doesn't hate them, but he doesn't love them. The next review is if Adamos will reveal himself to other gods and goddess's and I just have to say maybe he will, maybe he won't. I'm not gonna tell. (Wink) Also yay because this means that the first book is now over, and we can get to some of the adventure outside of camp. But a small spoiler for the sea of monsters. SEA SHANTIES! YEAH!

Remember to leave a nice review or follow the story.

Over and out,

Momentei