When Luke had revealed he was working for Kronos and started talking about his job on the cruise ship again, I thought he was speaking figuratively, like it was a code or something to keep the true nature of his role hidden. I imagined that when we stepped out of the portal, we'd emerge in some kind of underground secret lair, where we'd be greeted by a guy wearing a nice suit with a thick Russian accent. Or maybe a cave filled with a team of battle-hardened freedom fighters with dirty faces, wearing bandanas and war paint, all sitting around waiting for their next mission.

But no. It actually was a cruise ship, and as far as I could tell, it was just about deserted save for a few ghostly images of tourists. They shimmered about on the deck, going about their respective businesses, but they behaved strangely. I saw a pair of them walk straight through each other, their images flickering for a moment before continuing on their way as if nothing unusual had happened. Another tourist was doing laps in the pool, but her body was stuck halfway out of the water in a T-pose as she moved, something I found extremely disconcerting. A crew member wearing a crisp white uniform was wrapped up in a friendly conversation with a tourist, but they were facing away from each other. The tourist told a joke and pointed to the beer in his hand. The staff member broke out in laughter, his eyes fixed on something in front of him that wasn't there.

"Welcome aboard, passenger," Luke said in his best announcer voice, stretching his arms out in a grandiose display. "This is your captain, Luke Castellan, speaking. Thank you for joining us on this luxury tropical adventure, and do try to ignore the virtual tourists. They're simply meant to show passing vessels that we are not, in fact, a ghost ship, but clearly there are some glitches that Hecate needs to patch. Please enjoy your stay here on the Princess Andromeda."

I gaped at him as a passing apparition opened his mouth and poured juice on his shirt. "Did you just say 'Hecate'?" I asked. "As in the goddess of magic?"

Luke had a smug grin on his face. "That's the one. She fought for the gods in the first Titan war, so a lot of people forget she's really a titaness, but you'd be surprised just how many minor gods the Olympians have managed to offend over the millennia. There are plenty who would love to take revenge and join our cause."

"Ok, wait a second. Back up," I said, already feeling overwhelmed. "How did you even get a cruise ship?"

"We have several wealthy sponsors."

"Like who?"

"Ever hear of King Midas?"

"Oh."

"For now, this is the base of operations for the titan king's army, and your new home."

"Home," I repeated, staring at the Olympic sized swimming pool decorated with slides and fountains, patioed refreshment bars, tanning decks, fine-dining open air restaurants, and of course, a magnificent view of the sea. Yeah, I think I could get used to the idea of staying here.

As I scanned the decks, I realized we were the only two non-holographic people in sight. Luke had mentioned an army, but I doubted a few intangible images would do much harm against the gods, even if they were T-posing.

"Uh, Luke? Where is everyone?"

"Hmm?" he asked, still admiring the view, as if it was his own little empire. "Oh, right. The army. Right now, it's just us."

My eyes bugged out. "What?"

That seemed like information that would have been good to know before I betrayed everyone and everything I knew. I guess with how close Kronos and Luke had gotten to causing World War III, I just figured they had a more solid foundation. They may have had the funding, but all of the money in the world wouldn't mean squat without an army. It wasn't like you could just buy a throne from a god.

"The situation isn't as bad as it sounds," Luke said quickly. "We just need more time. The titans are nearly done reforming, and once they do, they'll join our ranks as commanders and generals. The titan king himself will take longer to reform—you know, the whole getting chopped up into bits thing—but right now he's working overtime sending messages out across the country. You're not the only one who's dreaming of him. And monsters, too. They're starting to head for the coasts. We'll be picking them up on our journey to California."

"California?" I asked, unpleasant memories starting to resurface. "Why there?"

"That's where Mount Othrys is," he said, as if that should have been obvious.

I decided to just pretend I knew what that meant to save face. "Oh, right."

Luke gave me a more in-depth tour of the rest of the ship. I saw the engine room with its shiny new pipes and well-oiled machinery, the cargo hold big enough to fit two jumbo jets side-by-side, various lounges, a basketball court, and finally, the central promenade, filled with closed shops and information kiosks. We stopped at one of the restaurants for dinner.

"Table for two, please," Luke said. The host bowed and showed us to our seats.

The staff were entirely holographic, so I wasn't really sure how they were able to serve real food, but I had a lot of other things on my mind, so I didn't question it too much. The waiter had a thin mustache and wore a classy red vest and black bowtie overtop a dress shirt. He came out with a towel around his arm and served us a huge platter of steak, shrimp, and veggie rolls. He took my glass and poured water into it from his pitcher, or at least he tried to. The stream missed the glass entirely and landed on his shoe. Handing the empty glass back to me, he bowed once more, looking quite pleased with himself, and left us to eat.

"So, what do you think so far?" Luke asked, spreading butter onto his roll.

"It's amazing," I gushed. "It's even better than—"

I stopped myself. I had nearly said it was better than camp, because seriously, what was better than living for free on a luxury cruise liner? But it was missing a lot of the things I had come to love over the summer. Capture the flag, canoe races (which I always won), campfires with all my friends. I even started to miss my Greek lectures with Annabeth.

Luke seemed to sense my dissatisfaction. "Oh, hey. There's still gonna be lots of hero training," he reassured me.

I perked up a little. "Really?"

"Yeah, of course. Don't think that just because you're on a cruise that I'll let you get soft. Lord Kronos demands his servants to be in peak physical condition. I'll drill you in sword practice every day until you're as good as me, I'll run you through endurance training until you throw up, and I'll even throw some water training into your regimen."

"Water training?"

"Yeah, you got a lot of power from your dad. Whether you like him or not, you'd better learn to use it. Could save your life one day."

Luke wasn't wrong. In fact, my power over water had already bailed me out of trouble multiple times. I guess that was one thing I could thank my dad for. But I'd never actually considered training with my powers. Were they really something that could be honed? I imagined myself after years of practice, whipping rivers around like a water bender, taking out gods left and right.

"And once our army grows a little bit, it won't feel so empty around here. I mean, I know I'm great company and all," Luke said sarcastically, "but I don't think it'd be very fun hanging out with the holograms when I'm not around."

Beside us, one of the virtual patrons of the restaurant stabbed at some holographic meatloaf. "We are having a blast on the Princess Andromeda!" it said before shoving a piece into his mouth.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Probably not."

A spark glinted in Luke's eye. "Oh, and if you think the rest of the ship is great, wait 'til you see your room."

I immediately sat upright in my seat. "My room?"

Luke grinned. "VIP section, baby. Right next to mine."

It felt strange walking out of a restaurant without paying. "No tip?" the waiter called from somewhere behind us, his form flickering. Luke took me back through the Promenade and into the cabin area, where we took an elevator up to the top floor. When the door opened, I gasped.

We had arrived at the right time. The sun was just starting to set on the horizon, casting warm colors and long shadows throughout the hallway. We stood about 15 stories up, and through the tinted window, I could see across the ocean for miles.

Luke led me down the hall. We passed beautiful portraits of what I could only assume to be titans and titanesses, and expensive vases painted with elegant scenes such as the Garden of the Hesperides and other remnants of the so-called Golden Age. Luke stopped at the second door on the left and held a card up to it. A metallic click sounded, and he put his hand on the door handle.

"Ready?" he asked.

Without even waiting for my nod, he opened the door to reveal a stateroom that would've made the rich kids at Yancy Academy jealous. It was just as big as Smelly Gabe's apartment, which was pretty crazy considering we were on a ship. The front door led into a small raised kitchen area, complete with a microwave, stove, and a fully-stocked fridge with a bunch of my favorite sodas. Beyond the kitchen's breakfast bar was a personal home theater set-up, with a 72-inch 4K TV mounted to the wall flanked by two large speakers and a subwoofer. A small popcorn machine was plugged into the wall in the corner. I found several gaming systems in a box underneath the TV, and countless games and movies lined the cabinets.

I was completely speechless by this point, but the tour wasn't over yet. Backtracking through the kitchen and through the other door, Luke showed me my bedroom. The king-size bed was so large that I could've fit five of me in it. It had black satin sheets, a velvety blanket, and the softest pillows I'd ever felt in my life. Beside the bed was a huge circular window like a porthole scaled up. I drew the curtains aside and took in the view of the ship, the ocean behind it looking just as magnificent as it had been when we stepped off the elevator. The dressers were empty, but Luke promised we'd get me some new stylish clothes since I had to leave all my stuff behind at camp.

Connected to the bedroom was a rather spacious bathroom, which featured a large, square shower, a toilet that looked like it was made of solid gold, a sink with a granite countertop, and my favorite part: a sauna with water jets and a bunch of bath bombs sitting on the sides.

For a solid minute, I wondered if I'd died and somehow ended up on the Isles of the Blest. This place looked exactly like what I pictured those super expensive penthouses at the tops of highrises to look like. Luke stared in amusement at my dumbfounded expression.

"So I take it you like your new room?" he asked.

I nodded dumbly, unsure if I would even be able to form words at that moment. Midas had certainly spared no expense. I was sure I'd be perfectly content living here for the rest of my life.

Luke chuckled and walked back towards the door, patting me on the shoulder as he passed by. "I'll let you get settled in, then. Those portals took a lot out of me, so I'm gonna turn in early for the night. If you need anything, I'm right next door."

I nodded once more, and Luke smiled at me. He made to close the door behind him, but stopped just before it clicked and opened it again. "Oh, and Percy? I'm really glad you decided to come with me. It—well… It's just a big relief I'm not doing this alone anymore. I appreciate it."

I hadn't even thought about how much courage it must have taken for him to be the first one to follow Kronos, to go against everyone he knew and everything he'd been taught over the last five years to do what he thought was right. I admired him for that. I knew that I wouldn't have even considered leaving camp if it hadn't been for Luke.

Finally, I found my voice. "Yeah, I'm glad I came, too," I said, returning the smile.

"We'll talk more tomorrow about what our roles will be in all this, and I'll give you and the boss an official introduction. For now though, go ahead and enjoy yourself."

"Thanks, man. Night."

The door clicked shut, leaving me alone in the bachelor pad of my dreams. I'm glad I didn't know then how my meeting with Kronos would go the next day, or I wouldn't have been able to properly relax in my 'Giant Sea Salt' bath-bombed sauna that night.

That night, sprawled out on my massively oversized bed, I had another dream. Actually, I would describe it as more of an out-of-body experience. I was in my own room, standing above my sleeping body. I noted sheepishly that Annabeth had been right: I do, in fact, drool in my sleep. The moon was centered perfectly in my porthole window, its light gleaming off of the crests of the ocean waves.

The door to the hallway was firmly locked, but I was able to phase through it with ease. Wondering what I was supposed to do now, I decided I'd take another tour of the ship to see what it looked like at night. Heading for the elevator, I hesitated at Luke's door and considered knocking, but figured my hand would just pass through the door without making any noise. Voices coming from the room across from Luke's met my ears, and from what I gathered, they were talking about me. I pressed my ear as close to the wood as possible.

One of the voices was definitely Luke's. "—can trust him, Lord Kronos. He has every reason to despise the gods."

The second voice seemed like it wasn't coming from the room, but from miles below the ship. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and the wooden door I was pressed against feel cold, despite my intangible body.

"Of his animosity towards the gods, I have no doubt. It is his willingness to oppose his demigod friends that I question. If he were faced with a choice between preserving me or that wretched camp of yours, which would he pick?"

Luke was silent for a moment. "I believe that, given time, he will become a worthy servant to you. He has already made the hardest decision of coming here."

"Then you vouch for him? You will be willing to accept any punishment that comes should he betray me?"

"...Yes, my lord."

"Very well. Tomorrow, then, I shall issue the boy a test to confirm his dedication to our cause. And you'd better hope he passes. Else, you will be the one to kill him."

I wasn't sure if I could make noise in my out-of-body state, but they must have somehow heard me gasp, because the voices inside immediately hushed. I booked it back to my room, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping on the titan king. The door I'd been standing against opened just as I made it back into my room.

I'm not sure if Coca-Cola and popcorn hangovers are a real thing, but I was definitely feeling out of it the next morning. It wasn't really a headache, but more like a weight on my chest. Like nervousness, or maybe 'hesitance' was the right word.

Luke had told me the night before that I'd officially be meeting the boss today. That could only mean Kronos, the voice I heard in my dream. But how was I going to meet him if he was still in pieces, and his essence still in Tartarus? What exactly was in that room that I had stood outside of last night? Another gateway to the pit?

I really didn't want to go back there. The last time I had been, Annabeth, Grover, and I were nearly sucked in. Gods and titans alike avoided Tartarus like the plague. I didn't think us demigods would do so well down there. I'd much rather stay in my luxury stateroom.

And what exactly was this "test" that Kronos had planned for me? I got the feeling that whatever it was, I was not going to like it. Kronos had mentioned that he didn't approve of how attached I was to my friends at camp. If he wanted me to do anything to harm them, he had another thing coming. Because as much as I didn't want to think about it, I loved my friends at camp far more than I hated the gods. And if they stood in the way of our mission, I didn't know if I'd be able to do anything about it.

But the part of the dream that had really shaken me to my core was that if I failed this test, Kronos would force Luke to kill me. I was torn wondering if he would actually carry out such an order. Yesterday, he said we were family. Would he really choose Kronos over me? What about Annabeth? He still loved her. I know he did. What would Luke do if it ever came down to us versus her? What would I do?

The more I thought about it, the more my head began to hurt. The decision I made yesterday to go with Luke had been emotional and hasty. He'd given me no time to think it over. It was just like, "Oh yeah, I'm working with the titan king to destroy the gods and I'm leaving now. Want to come with me?" Of course I wanted to help Luke, and of course I wanted to bring justice to the gods, but was this really the way to do it? I hoped I wouldn't come to regret my decision.

I tried to clear my head with a nice cool shower. I figured if anything went wrong today, I could always jump ship and swim back to land. I'm not sure how to explain it, but somehow I was able to tell my exact location in the water. We weren't very far off the coast of New York, so I'd be able to get back to Manhattan in no time at all. Luke would find it rather difficult to track me through the water.

The issue was that I wouldn't be able to go back to camp. The trees had heard everything Luke and I discussed out in the woods, so the campers would probably know to sound an alert if they saw either of us. There probably wasn't anything I could say to dig myself out of that. Plus, I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to face Chiron and his brutal looks of disappointment.

I'd have to strike out on my own, and I wasn't sure how long I could reasonably hide from gods, titans, and monsters.

I found my dresser and closet to be fully stocked with clothes, which creeped me out because they weren't there when I went to bed. I threw on a pair of beige chinos and a button-up T-shirt with pineapples on it, which really wasn't my style, but apparently whoever designed my wardrobe wasn't a huge fan of graphic tees and basketball shorts.

After a nutritionally balanced breakfast of coffee and Fruit Loops, I heard a knock at the door of my stateroom, and my stomach started to do somersaults. I opened the door, and Luke stood outside, looking pale. He wore a pair of bermuda shorts and a blue polo, with sandals strapped to his feet and a pair of sunglasses hanging from his collar.

"Ready to meet the boss?" he asked, an edge to his voice.

I didn't know whether to tell him I'd overheard him last night or not, so I just nodded. Luke led me down the hall to the same door I'd visited in my dreams. It bothered me that it was so close to my own room. I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked in there, but I prepared myself for the worst.

To my surprise, the room was actually beautiful. Like mine, it was a luxury stateroom. The windows gave a fantastic view of the stern of the ship. In the center of the room were two plush couches facing each other with a Persian rug underneath. A canopied bed lay in one corner, though I wasn't sure if anyone would be using it, and in the other corner was a mahogany dining table.

The only thing off about the room was the ten foot long golden casket sitting at the fore of the room atop a velvet dais. Along its sides were depictions of Ancient Greek cities burning and heroes dying grisly deaths. I'd have probably taken the shroud the Ares cabin made for me over gruesome artwork like that. Despite the sun streaming in through the windows, the sarcophagus made the whole room feel cold.

Luke approached the casket and knelt before it. Hesitantly, I did the same.

"Lord Kronos," Luke said reverently. "Here is another willing servant. Percy Jackson has seen the true colors of the gods and has since renounced them. He seeks vengeance for the injustices they've caused and an end to their selfish ways. I bring him before you so that he may pledge himself to you."

The sarcophagus was slow to respond. I could feel a presence bearing down on me, as though it didn't really know what to make of me. After a long, tense moment, I felt the floor beneath me rumble, and that same menacing voice from my dreams reverberated from below.

"So, little hero, you've finally seen the side of the gods I warned you about and decided to heed my advice. Very interesting… Tell me. Is what Luke says true?"

"It is, my lord," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"And, unable to do anything yourself, you have come to me in the hopes that my brethren and I will be able to exact justice."

"Yes, my lord."

"Hmm…" the deep voice mused. "Very well. I can be your vessel for revenge. But first, you must prove yourself to me."

I braced myself. This must've been the test the two of them spoke of last night. My eyes nervously darted towards Luke, but his gaze remained fixed on the casket, his face hard.

"I do not trust you, Perseus Jackson. You have done much already to delay our plans. Therefore, I lay before you a task. Complete it, and I will allow you to pledge yourself to me. I will even grant you my blessing."

Luke looked up, surprised. I guessed they hadn't spoken of that during their nighttime chat.

"What is the task, my lord?" I asked him.

"Bring me the head of a mortal of your choosing. You have twenty-four hours. Don't disappoint me."