As Perseus and Khione walked away Leo was thinking about what they'd said. He glanced down at the plate of food he'd abandoned when Perseus and Khione showed up, but he quickly realized that he had lost his appetite. He sighed, not sure what to think anymore. One of the nicest people he'd ever known had somehow become a psychopath. Although Leo was reluctant to acknowledge it at first he had to admit that the gods were the reason why Percy had ended up like this.
He even had to admit that Percy had good reason to hate the gods, and he thought that at least some of Percy's reasons for hating them were true. Leo's mind also wandered to calypso, he was sure that she was probably really worried about him and he knew he missed her as well. Despite Percy's suggestion that it wouldn't be a good idea Leo considered ways that he might be able to escape. Unfortunately for him, he didn't make any progress. He didn't have anything he could use to pick the cell's lock, He couldn't use his powers and his toolbelt had been taken when Percy brought him here.
He also considered Percy's offer to join him. While he had to admit that Percy made some good points he would never be able to fight and kill his friends.
The idea of Joining Percy and acting as a spy, secretly giving information about Percy's plans to Chiron and the gods also occurred to him, but he couldn't do that either. Percy wasn't stupid, he'd said that if Leo wanted to join him he would have to swear on the Styx not to betray him. Leo was sure that secretly giving information to Percy's enemies would count as betrayal and Leo didn't want to know what might happen to him if he broke an oath on the river Styx.
While Leo was puzzling over what he should do Perseus had gone to the base where many of his warriors were training and preparing for the battles that were soon to come. Some of his forces consisted of Demigods who he had recruited. They needed the most training since some of them had never even been to either of the camps. Perseus stayed at the base for a while working with those demigods to improve their skills with their chosen weapon. For obvious reasons the only demigods he didn't work with were those who had chosen to be archers. They were trained by a daughter of Apollo who had spent several years at Camp Half-Blood before Percy had succeeded in recruiting her to his cause.
Annabeth Chase was not someone who was easily frightened, or at least she never used to be. She had faced numerous monsters, Titans, Giants, and even the earth goddess Gaea, yet somehow she'd made it through all of that and travelled through Tartarus without breaking. Tartarus in particular had been difficult and frightening, but she'd made it through with her sanity.
Somehow the one thing that bothered her the most was watching how Tartarus had basically destroyed her ex-boyfriend Percy Jackson. He had started to change while they were still in that Hellhole, she would never forget how he had manipulated Achlys' poisons and how he had only stopped when she pleaded with him. Gradually Tartarus had turned Percy into a darker twisted version of himself. She knew that he had hidden how he'd changed at first, but even then she had seen through his facade, after all, they were still dating at the time, and she was no fool. Over time he also seemed to have developed a hatred toward the gods, as his temper got worse and he became more violent she knew she shouldn't stay in a relationship where she might end up getting hurt. Despite that, she couldn't bring herself to end their relationship. Despite what he had become part of her still loved him. She also blamed herself for what had happened to him. After all, he had fallen into the pit to protect her.
Multiple times she had suggested he talk to Chiron or his father to see if they knew of something that could change him back but she had begun to worry that he didn't want to change back. Her life had been changed forever when she overheard Percy talking to Khione about leaving camp and joining the upcoming war against the gods. She told him that she would tell Chiron and tried to stop him from leaving but in the end, he captured her.
Next thing she knew she was locked in a small uncomfortable prison cell. At first, he tried to convince her to join him, but when she repeatedly refused he gave up. More than once she had tried to escape and every time, her punishment was torture. After that, he only took her out of the cell when he felt like torturing her. The cell wasn't much better than the torture since numerous spiders had decided to spin webs between its bars. Now, nothing scared Annabeth more than her ex-boyfriend Percy Jackson.
When he had worked with the demigods long enough Perseus knew he had one last task left before he would be free to spend more time with his lover. He returned to the lowest floor of his palace and walked past the cell where Leo Valdez was confined. Further down the hall he stopped at another cell and unlocked it, He opened the door and walked over to the small uncomfortable bed where an all too familiar blonde was asleep. She was shifting in her sleep, and a whimper escaped her lips, she was clearly having a nightmare. Perseus' past self probably would have woken her and tried to comfort her, but he was not that person anymore. Instead, her obvious fear amused him.
He shoved her shoulder hard, he wanted her to be awake for what he was about to do with her. His shove caused her to smack her head on the stone wall behind her. As Annabeth woke up, she could feel pain coming from the back of her head. She moved her hand to touch the spot and it came away slightly damp with her own blood. As she looked up her grey eyes met the creepy red and black ones that belonged to Perseus Jackson.
She tried to hide her fear, but it was practically useless as he could clearly see how afraid of him she really was. It didn't bother him at all. If anything, seeing it pleased him since he had hated her for quite some time now. No chains bound her wrists but she would still have no chance of escaping. She knew what he was most likely going to do to her, and that scared her. She wasn't getting up quickly enough so Perseus grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet.
"Hurry up!" Perseus growled as he started to walk toward the open cell door, his hand still firmly gripping Annabeth's arm. Annabeth had no choice but to follow. An escape attempt would only result in him causing her more pain than what she was already facing. They walked until they had reached the room at the end of the hallway. Perseus shoved the door open and walked through, Annabeth reluctantly followed him. Perseus finally let go of her, but it was only so he could lock the door behind them to ensure that she couldn't make any escape attempts.
The room contained many torture devices, most of which were probably already stained with Annabeth's blood. Fear was all she could feel, she knew that soon the man that she had once loved would be scarring her more than anything else could. He pointed to a stone slab that had manacles attached to it and ordered her to get on it. Once her wrists and ankles were locked in place, he was ready to get started. He had already removed most of her clothes with the exception of being her bra and panties. It seemed that was one line he would not cross, no matter how dark and twisted he'd become, rape seemed to be one thing he would never do. Although Annabeth was thankful for that, she knew he was still capable of causing her a lot of pain even without violating her.
A bloodstained knife appeared in his hand. With a sadistic smile on his face, he lowered the blade until it was creating a long gash that stretched from her forehead to her cheek. He did the same on the other side of her face. Her grey eyes that had once intimidated him now showed nothing but fear and pain. He knew she was trying to hide her weakness but it was a pointless endeavour as it showed clearly in her eyes, and the pained cries he would hear almost every time he cut her.
Despite the multiple knife wounds he gave her he wasn't trying to kill her yet. He only stabbed her in places that he knew wouldn't be fatal.
He eventually switched from stabbing her to what he'd done to Leo, he'd strangle her until she was near passing out and once she got some air in her lungs again he would start strangling her again. When he got bored of that he broke a few of her bones, and she shrieked in pain, but the shriek turned into a coughing fit.
Perseus was still smiling down at her sadistically. He paused for a moment and said, "You know After I finish with you I'm going to let you go, although you might not survive long enough to enjoy that freedom,"
Annabeth's eyes widened in shock, and her expression quickly changed to confusion. She wondered why he would be letting her go now, She would definitely tell Chiron and the gods about where she had been and that Percy had turned against them. Then she thought, maybe Percy wanted her to tell them. Maybe he thought his forces were ready to take them on and she was his way to send a message. She didn't know but she wasn't going to complain about getting out of this place.
Unfortunately for Annabeth Perseus wasn't done with her quite yet, he still had plenty of pain in store for her before he would let her go. Annabeth's shrieks turned into screams as Perseus branded her with the words bitch and traitor because in his mind those words described her perfectly. She passed out as he was holding the second brand against her skin. He burnt her in other places as well, he took his time, it didn't really bother him that she'd gone unconscious she would still feel the pain once she returned to consciousness. When he was finally done with her he used his powers and forced her to return to consciousness.
Perseus said, "When you get to Camp you can tell them that I have Leo Valdez here, It will be funny to see how they react,"
He snapped his fingers and the clothes he had taken off her reappeared on her body and they instantly started to stain red as her many wounds continued to bleed. Her manacles also unblocked but she couldn't have moved anyway. With another snap of Perseus's fingers, Annabeth disappeared off the stone and reappeared in the cabin area of Camp Half-Blood. Piper Mclean was just coming out of the Aphrodite cabin and shrieked before hurrying over to Annabeth and once she was sure her friend was still alive she said, "Di Immortales! Annabeth what happened to you?, no wait I have to get Chiron now,"
She ran off as fast as she could to find the old centaur.