Chapter 5: Attack of the Genetically Mutated Monkey

"Make one sound, and I will slice your throat faster than you can scream," Dr. Thorne threatened as he disappeared into the shadows of the empty hallway. Or so he thought he did. I could see him hanging in the rafters above just fine. He looked like a strange genetically mutated monkey from that movie I watched. Planet of the Apes, I think it's called. Am I supposed to be able to see him? Probably not, especially when Percy didn't see him last time around.

I glanced at Bianca to see how she's holding up. She stood frozen in fear, her eyes wide and her jaw slack. Alright, definitely terrified, but she doesn't appear to be hurt which is good. When is Percy coming? I'll have to warn him when he walks in. If I remember correctly, he attempted to save us without waiting for back-up first.

Bad idea.

The son of Poseidon suddenly burst through the wooden doors. His celestial bronze sword glinted in the darkness, the golden light casting an ethereal glow in the shadowed corridor. His sea-green eyes scanned the hallway for danger and finally landed on Bianca and I.

He approached us slowly like we were caged animals. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

A shadow stirred out of the corner of my eye. Dr. Thorne's preparing to attack. I have to warn Percy before it happens. I have to buy some time for Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover.

"My name's Percy," he said calmly. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe."

My eyes locked with Percy's. Above you, I mouthed as discreetly as I could.

Percy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I tilted my head upward ever so slightly as my sister clenched her fists in warning. He's right above you, I mouthed again. Realization dawned on the son of Sea God's face as he finally got the message.

Too late, I thought as a spike whizzed through the air and pierced Percy's shoulder, ramming him against the wall behind him. He slashed blindly with his sword as Thorne's chilling laugh resonated in the darkness.

"Yes, Perseus Jackson. I know who you are," Dr. Thorne said as he expertly migrated from the rafters to a shadowed corner. He's using Percy's full name, that's a stereotypical bad guy thing to do. Why does every villain do that? Is that just villain protocol or something?

Percy tugged uselessly at his pinned shirt and jacket. His skin turned a nasty combination of green and stark white, his breaths shallow. He's about to pass out. But why? Percy certainly isn't one of the faint at heart, that's for sure. Poison, my brain supplied. The spike must of grazed his shoulder.

Dr. Thorne stepped into the pale lighting, his face casted in an eerie glow from the light of Percy's sword, Riptide. "Thank you for coming out of the gym. I hate middle school dances."

Percy swing his sword fruitlessly at Thorne, the monster just out of reach of the blade. A second spike whisked through the air, landing only an inch from my sister's face as she yelped in surprise. I glared daggers at Dr. Throne and I could've sworn he flinched.

"All three of you will come with me. Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw," he said.

And if you pull that trick on my sister again I will show you just how accurately I can open fissures in the ground, I silently warned as I passively followed Dr. Throne outside. We began a long trek through the snow and I shook like a leaf, the icy wind biting me all over. As a child of Hades, I have an unnaturally low body temperature, which is part of the reason why I always wore my aviator jacket everywhere I went. Speaking of said jacket, I'll have to remember to get one soon.

As we trudged through the blanket of winter, Percy closed his eyes in concentration. Is he praying? No, that's not it. It doesn't seem likely that he's tapping into the ocean water around us either, not when we're at a disadvantage with Thorne breathing down our necks. A thought occurred to me: I vaguely remember Percy mentioning something about an empathy link connected to Grover. He's trying to contact Grover for help.

"What are you doing, Jackson?" Dr. Thorne hissed in suspicion. "Keep moving!"

The son of Poseidon open his eyes. "It's my shoulder. It burns," Percy faked a wince to add effect.

"Bah! My poison causes pain," Thorne snorted disbelievingly. "It will not kill you. Walk!" I almost smiled. Thorne has taken the bait. When he looked away, Percy attempted another connection.

The Manticore led us on a path to the woods lit by old fashioned street lamps. "There is a clearing ahead. We will summon your ride."

"What ride? Where are you taking us?" Bianca interrogated.

"Silence, you insufferable girl!" The monster snapped.

"Don't you dare talk to my sister that way you evil, slimy jerk!" I instinctively fired back. The PG insults have commenced. I gave the manticore my famous death glare and this time he definitely flinched. Percy looked impressed. Dr. Thorn growled menacingly, and I decided that it wouldn't be wise to irritate the manticore in disguise any further.

"Halt," the evil principle order.

We have finally arrived at the clearing. A cliff a few feet ahead of us faced a void of dark mist, eerily reminding me of the death mist residing in Tartarus. The pseudo mist down there made no attempt to obscure the horrors beyond it. I saw every vain, every cell of skin, and every limb that made up Tartarus—all because I have an inherited ability to see through the death mist.

Dr. Thorn shoved us toward the edge of the cliff, allowing me to catch a whiff of salty air. Sea salt. Percy almost fell off, but Bianca caught him. "Thanks," I heard him mumble.

"What is he? How do we fight him?" Bianca whispered urgently.

"I… I'm working on it." Translation for: Our back-up still hasn't responded.

"Are your friends coming?" I murmured.

Percy frowned in scepticism. "How did you know—"

"Stop talking!" Thorn barked. "Face me!"

We reluctantly turned around.

Thorn pulled out a phone from his coat pocket. His eyes glittered victoriously. He pressed the side button on the phone and spoke, "The package—it is ready to deliver." Seriously? The package? Yeah, that definitely doesn't sound suspicious. A distorted reply came from the other end of the phone, which sounded a lot like all of the voices of the adults in that show, Charlie Brown.

It must be Luke on the other end, I thought bitterly. That guy is going to cause quite a few problems for me when I'm trying to save the world.

Percy gazed out beyond the cliff, and I knew he was considering whether he should jump or not.

"By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself," Thorn cackled. Of course Percy wouldn't jump. Leaving us behind would go against his fatal flaw, boundless loyalty.

Bianca frowned. "What did he call you?"

"I'll explain later," Percy said cryptically.

"You do have a plan, right?"

Percy didn't respond and I saw a flash of panic cross his face. He's probably debating with himself whether or not he should tell us to jump over the cliff. Yeah right, like Poseidon would tolerate that. Well… maybe. Hopefully Poseidon is more lenient about his nieces and nephews crossing his domain than his brothers. But Thorn would probably kill us first before we even reach the water.

"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," he said. Woah, freaky much? "You do not realize who I am, do you?"

Of course I do, idiota! I wanted to say, but I wisely kept my mouth shut. No need to draw any unwanted attention. A tail flickered behind Thorn, and another spike catapulted through the air and nicked Percy's ear.

Uh oh.

"Unfortunately you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise you would already be dead." Not if I can help it. That reminds me, if I get out of this alive I'll need some place private to test out my powers.

"Who wants us?" Bianca demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I… We've got no one but each other." Except our father, the literal Devil of my not-so-mythological life.

"Aww," Thorn cooed mockingly. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."

Realization dawned on Percy's face. "Luke. You work for Luke."

"You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."

"The General?" Percy asked in a French accent. "I mean… who's the General?"

My eyes widened in understanding. Atlas. A name that resurfaced some painful memories. The quest, the broken promise, the deaths. Too many wildflowers in the field…

Dr. Thorn shifted his gaze to me. "Your little friend here seems to have an idea. Your intelligence will be a great addition to the General's army." Percy glanced my way, skepticism once again painted on his face.

Thorn looked to the distance, his eyes following the sliver of light that illuminated in the void in front of us. A helicopter sounded. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

"Where are you taking us?" I demanded.

"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play with cards and dolls." Okay, that just isn't fair. It's not my fault someone decided to blast me into the past and back into my annoying 10 year old body. Anger simmered inside of me, the flames of my rage rising at a dangerous rate.

"I will never join your army, you demonic, genetically mutated monkey!" I finally recognized my voice: low, dark, and impenetrable—just the way it should be. "You can go take your great army and shove it up your—"

"Now, now," Dr. Thorn chided. "You will change your mind about joining us soon enough, my boy. You would make an excellent soldier—you are powerful, a fierce fire burns in your soul. But all fires snuff out eventually." I flinched. It sounded too similar to my line in the Prophecy of the Seven: twins snuff out the Angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death. "If you do not join us, well… there are other uses for half bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

"The Great what?" Percy asked.

The monster's smile looked sinister. "The stirring of monsters. The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all- the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

"Okay. He's completely nuts," Bianca whispered to Percy.

"We have to jump off the cliff. Into the sea." Percy supplied helpfully.

"Oh, super idea." Bianca decided. "You're completely nuts, too."

Something invisible slammed into the three of us, knocking us down like bowling pins as Dr. Thorn's spikes flew harmlessly over our heads.

The back-up has arrived.

A/N

So this chapter has actual diologue from Titan's Curse, however I changed up a couple of parts and tweaked it a little to fit better into the story. You'll see what I mean in the next chapter. Also, the use of dialogue from the original story is only gonna last for about one more chapter or so, and then I will stay away from it completely. Using the same diologue felt necessary in this part of the story. I may or may not do this more in the future, depends solely on the situation. Also, I wrote the chapter in the very beginning of the story because it wouldn't have fit otherwise. Thanks for reading.

-Echolex