We were rather unceremoniously thrown onto the aft deck where I immediately attempted to surge to my feet but one of them pressed their foot into my back and pushed me down with so much force my face hit the floor and I felt a hot gush of blood flow from my nose. Tyson went ballistic to see me bleeding but I told him to stay still and not fight back and that I was fine. Although I couldn't tell which of the bear brothers it was, they were pressing against my backpack which was filled with treasure, which in turn was now digging into my spine and back until I could feel the bruises forming and I gradually couldn't breathe, there not being enough space between my chest and the floor to take in air. Luke must have noticed, because he told Agrius to let me up. Instantly I sucked in a deep gulp of air and lay there for a moment, recovering myself. The Andromeda was moored not far from the Queen and from this distance, I could still feel its presence so I called to it, getting it ready to start sailing though I wasn't sure it would have any hope of outrunning the cruise ship. Still, it was better than nothing. "And so, the Fleece. Where is it?" Luke questioned, getting straight to the point.
I listened to him pace back and forth in front of us, feeling the cold touch of his sword bush against my cheek briefly before it was lifted away until Grover then protested. "Hey! That's real goat fur under there!" I don't think I've ever heard Grover be so spunky. Clearly Tyson wasn't the only one who'd gained some courage during this little escapade.
"Sorry, old friend. Just give me the Fleece and I'll leave you to return to your, ah, little nature quest." But Grover didn't give him the answer he wanted, merely muttered that Luke was some old friend. "Maybe you didn't hear me. Where – is – the – Fleece?"
"Oh believe me, we can hear you." I told him dryly as I sat up a little again, glaring in his direction as I wiped at the blood that was still dribbling down my nose. "I'm blind not deaf, idiot." I expected him to come back at me with something but Luke stayed quiet, studying me for a few moments before I then felt his gaze shift elsewhere.
"It's not here." Percy suddenly announced with no small amount of pride in his voice. "We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up." If I were closer I would have hit Percy to make him shut up, because the last thing we wanted to do was give Luke any indication of where the Fleece was right now. Too late though, he soon caught on though he didn't believe Percy at first before twigging that Clarisse was the one who had it. I sensed a flash of rage in Luke before he suddenly shouted, ordering Agrius to fetch his steed so that he could fly to Miami Airport and when Agrius started to question him, threatened to have him fed to the drakon. Still sounds like an awful way to die. I instantly felt sorry for the poor pegasus forced into Luke's servitude. For a few moments no one talked, but then Percy started to speak up again and my devil glare did not shut him up. "You've been toying with us all along. You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."
"Of course you idiot! And you've messed everything up!"
"Hey! Only I can call Percy an idiot!" I shouted back, naturally rising to my brother's defence however Annabeth clawed at my arm to keep me down as Percy then yelled.
"Traitor!" I wasn't aware that Percy had chosen to throw a drachma coin at Luke, however with the way that Annabeth was practically ripping the sleeve off my shirt, I figured that she was clued into something that I wasn't, so I settled back down again and didn't interrupt a second time. "You tricked all of us! Even DIONYSUS at CAMP HALF-BLOOD!" I felt like my brother had gone crazy, but having seen how well Percy acted in these kind of situations the past couple of days, I theorised there had to be a reason behind it. Hearing him stand up and uncap Riptide, I twitched and frowned, wanting to get up too but Annabeth would have probably torn my arm off if I tried.
"This is no time for heroics, Percy. Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."
"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?" Didn't we go through this already? Now I was more confused than ever, however as Annabeth shifted closer to me, she dared to whisper in my ear. Iris Message. I blinked, not fully understanding how Percy had done it, but now I could understand what he was doing. He'd somehow managed to contact Dionysus seemingly without anyone noticing. My brother is a little genius! Now Dionysus will have no choice but to admit that Chiron is innocent and bring him back, so long as we can get Luke to admit the whole truth.
"I did, of course. I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."
"Chiron had nothing to do with it?"
"Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts." I bristled at the insult towards Chiron but I knew I couldn't interrupt. Percy was on a role and if everything was going according to his plan, then we might actually save camp twice over today. Once with the Fleece, and twice by getting rid of Tantalus.
"You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?"
"You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece…once I was done with it." Now this none of us had expected and beside me, I heard Annabeth gasp sharply so I put my arm around her. This was probably harder for her than any of us. Percy hesitated too but then he recovered himself and said clearly that Luke was going to heal Kronos, posing it as a guess. "Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven't stopped us, Percy. You've only slowed us down a little." This wasn't the best news, but still better than if Luke had the Fleece. I really hope Clarisse is on that plane by now.
"And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up – all to help Kronos destroy the gods." Percy listed off clearly, making Luke grow agitated and demand to know why Percy kept on asking him these questions. "Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you." Now livid, Luke practically hissed at my brother.
"What audience?" Then I sensed everyone suddenly freeze, then shift their weight to turn around and gasp when they saw what my brother had someone created. I'm guessing he used one of the fountains. Pretty ingenious really, if I'm honest. Of course I couldn't tell who was there, but at the very least I knew Mr D had been listening because I heard his snarky voice come through the Iris message, noting how they had some unexpected dinner entertainment. My stomach growled hungrily. When was the last time I ate a full meal? I'm starving. Probably not the best of times to be thinking about food. Percy was quick to speak up, making sure that Mr D had heard everything and insisting that Chiron wasn't to blame for any of this. He sighed heavily.
"I suppose not." Then I heard Tantalus, and I almost wanted to stab him through the Iris message but I don't think the goddess would allow that, so I stayed put. He suggested that the message could be a trick, though he sounded distracted even as he said it. "I fear not. It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games." Mr D drawled and it was irritating that he didn't take a more active interest in what was going on. We were being held hostage, after all. I heard Tantalus suddenly cheer and announce he got something. I wonder if he'd finally cornered some food. "We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus. You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed." Listening to Tantalus scream in dismay was one of the most wonderful sounds I had ever heard, even when currently trapped on a ship surrounded by monsters and enemies. I think this was perhaps the only time Mr D had received a huge cheer and round of applause from the campers. Couldn't blame them. If I were there, I probably would too.
Luke howled and I heard something slash through the water, cutting the message off so that the cheering died off all at once before then turning to face us. Or rather, Percy, as I now steadily rose to my feet and started to inch towards him. "Kronos was right, Percy. You're too unreliable a weapon. You need to be replaced." Before I knew it a whistle blew and thumping feet came rushing through one of the doors, adding more enemies to the thick throng we now faced as my hand drifted towards my bracelets inconspicuously. Rolling through my mind with a sinister murmur, Luke spoke again. "You'll never leave this boat alive." Something in his voice told me that he meant it, though I couldn't sure if it was Luke speaking or Kronos's influence that was making him say these words. All I knew was that I had to protect my little brother, even when he challenged Luke to a one on one battle. We were interrupted when Agrius returned dragging a pegasus in tow, and when I heard his voice I knew instantly that he and Snowstorm would probably become good friends if they ever met. He was proud and wilful, fighting Agrius all the way with a barrage of insults that I found to be rather impressive considering they were coming from a winged horse. The guy had quite the imagination. Exactly like Snow. Making up his mind, Luke turned back to Percy. "I told you last summer, Percy. You can't bait me into a fight."
"And you keep avoiding one." Percy rather smartly answered back. "Scared your warriors will see you get whipped?" Now Luke had no means to refuse, otherwise he would appear weak and cowardly for refusing a thirteen year olds' challenge.
"I'll kill you quickly." Panic surged inside me and I darted to the side, placing myself in front of Percy and looking desperately towards Luke.
"No! Please Luke, don't hurt him." Behind me I felt Percy tug at me but I shook him off, refusing to budge. Luke didn't answer but instead whistled for something, and I only figured out it was a shield when Annabeth told Luke to at least give Percy a shield too. He refused, meaning that if Percy was going to fight him, then he'd do it without armour or a shield. Now I felt angry. "I said no!" I even planted myself firmly, widening my stance which Luke knew to be my starter stance ready to fight. After all, he'd trained me. Again Percy told me to get out of the way, that he could handle it, but even if he could, I couldn't. I shrugged off my backpack and tossed it at him, the weight almost throwing him off his feet though I heard him rather dimly shrug on the straps whilst staring at me as I flexed my fingers and rolled my shoulders, loosening myself up ready to fight. "I'm not going to let you get hurt Percy, and I don't care if it's uncool to have your big sister protecting you. Just shut up and make sure you don't get skewered by anything." My voice was dark and focused, head now tilting and turning as I listened to Luke as he paced. "What's it to be? You'd fight a thirteen year old, sure, but will you fight a blind girl in front of all your precious warriors? I'll even place a bet. Ten drachmas says I can land a hit on you in the first sixty seconds." His tone was ice cold.
"Fine, but like I said. You bring your own equipment to this party." Nodding my head, I stood ready. Luke struck first and knowing how he fought, I felt the shift of his weight and the sound of his feet even as he tried to make them as light as possible but the shield weighed him down, and as my senses tuned into my surroundings they seemed to receive things in extreme succession so that I could react swiftly. He swept upwards, intending to slice with his sword but I sidestepped and twisted my body with a roll, sliding under the sword with my hands outstretched for balance as I moved then to the side. Luke swung again, this time at my head so I jerked back, barely avoiding the sharp tip. Although the blade was big he was still quick, and when he slammed his shield forwards to try and knock me down I couldn't move back fast enough so had no choice but to grab on with both hands in order to jump up and fling my legs over as he'd stabbed forwards simultaneously. I was doing okay, but now he was starting to wise up to my new skills, so the next time he came at me I held my ground and instead, drew Amaryllis.
A sword would have done me little good against a shield, not without being faster, more experienced and more agile, but I just wasn't on the same skill level as Luke yet, and possibly never would be, so instead I opened my weapon in the form of the trident. It exploded with such a force that the prongs crashed against Luke's shield on the inside as I'd managed to twist close behind his guard and the shield was forced to swing wide as he grunted, not expecting me to suddenly have a weapon in hand. With a rapid spin the trident whirled in my hand, going around my neck and under my arm before striking forwards as I felt his sword slash at me, my eyes closed as I concentrated fully on the movement of the air and his feet in order to catch the blade between two of the prongs and with a quick twist, almost had it free from his grasp. A shocked murmur rippled through the onlookers as I stood with my trident in hand, doing my best to remain calm though inwardly I was growing increasingly terrified as Luke's attacks were getting closer and closer. I could feel a hairline cut on my brow where he'd caught me, a drop of blood rolling down my temple. "You've improved." Luke said to me, though he sounded more surprised than impressed.
"What, thought I'd give up training just because you left? Don't flatter yourself." I snapped back, drawing back slightly as we began to circle. I felt Luke tap his sword against my trident, the metals ringing outwards as we paced around and around, catching our breath. My attention flickered to Percy and the others, only for the briefest moment, but it was enough. Luke suddenly exploded with movement and I cried out, reacting upon instinct but he knocked my trident away and suddenly he was upon me, drawing back his arm ready to thrust forwards. Percy bellowed and for a split second, I felt Luke hesitate as I slid down and rolled, shrinking Amaryllis into a sword and lashed wildly at Luke who blocked it with his shield, though now he was surprised again. Damn it, I didn't want to reveal everything the sword could do. Plus I'd lost the bet. A minute had long since passed and I still hadn't landed a single hit. If I could just freeze him, slow him down a little, we'd have a much better chance.
I held on for as long as I could but Luke was starting to overpower me. There was a cut on my arm, the back of my hand where I'd grazed his sword, my lip was busted and now I was struggling to focus because of the headache that was pounding against my skull. Plus, Percy sounded about ready to jump in. I didn't know what else to do, however before I could think of anything, something shot through the air with a light hiss before striking something. From that point onwards I had no clue what happened, because the floor erupted in vibrations and shouts from all around me came to life. I didn't know who was a friend or a foe, I couldn't even tell where I was anymore as I stumbled. All I could think about was horses. Percy and the others were shouting for me and I tried to reach them, lifting my hand in order to stretch out as I sheathed Amaryllis but something grabbed me. It was Luke. He tried to drag me back but I managed to kick him in the face, forcing him to let go as I turned only to be picked up by someone and thrown onto a horse's back, making me cry out and struggle to hang on because they hadn't put me on properly. In fact, I slid right off. I hit the deck and almost got trampled by hooves, rolling out of the way only to find myself directly in front of some monsters who all lunged for me so I screamed and scrambled to get away. My senses were completely haywire, turning this way and that before diving forwards to try and figure out where Percy's voice was coming from until something slammed into my stomach. It cause me to stiffen up, freezing entirely before I tentatively reached down and closed my hand around an arrow shaft.
Distantly, I heard Percy screaming. If it had struck my back, it would have just hit the duffel bag. But no, instead it hit me straight in the gut, and it felt worse than being punched by Clarisse when she was wearing her knuckledusters, because the pain stayed there when it should have faded away. I couldn't help it, I collapsed to my knees from shock, bleeding in multiple places and wishing more than anything that I could wake up from this nightmare and be home with mom. I was losing too much blood now, and I knew it. I had to do something, I think I still had some ambrosia left, maybe? But I couldn't make my fingers work even after pulling the duffel bag off, and even after I'd managed to open the zip and the rumbling sound had stopped, I was still surrounded by monsters. I heard something hiss, a forked tongue flickering at my cheek and I felt a flash of fear for the fact I was going to die. My hearing was somewhat dulled, but I could still feel the body of the dragon lady behind me. What had Annabeth called it? Oh I can't remember, I'm too exhausted. Desperately I tried to do something. Get my sword, crawl away, eat the ambrosia. Something. But the Sirens were right. I'm no hero. Not really. Clawed hands dug into my shoulder and head, squeezing until I was lightheaded. Was she going to eat me whole? Disgusting.
However before I could actually be eaten I heard the distinct slicing sound of a sword, a hissing shriek and the pressure suddenly lift from me until someone else grabbed my shoulder as I gave up. What's the point? I'm going to die anyway. I may was well try and have some peace whilst I'm at it. Rather ridiculously, I tried to go for my headphones instead, still nestled in my bag, but the closest I got was my fingers brushing against them and then my whole world spiralled into utter darkness.