Chapter 9

Kronos' Headquarters

Training Kronos' army isn't anything like training demi-gods. Not only are you training monsters, but you're training inexperienced monsters. You would think they would learn how to fight after all this time but apparently not. Percy had to be careful though, he may be "training" Kronos' army, but he's also on the God's side.

Between training the monsters, practicing with Luke and Thalia, and training with Kronos' himself, Percy barely had time to write to Annabeth. According to Thalia, Gaea awoke because of Percy's "betrayal" and decided to give Camp Half Blood a visit.

No one knows how Percy's fake betrayal awoke a Primordial, but now his plan better work or else the demi-gods are screwed. Percy didn't tell Annabeth about Luke or Thalia being on Kronos' side. Maybe because if he gave Thalia away it could backfire and give him away as well; or maybe he doesn't really believe Thalia would betray them.

But then that leaves Percy to question Luke. Is Kronos really that stupid to trust him again? Percy doesn't know if he can trust Luke, all he knows is right now he's on his own. The gods can't help him now, and for all he knows, his friends are traitors as well.

Percy stood in the training room with Kronos, practicing his powers. When he and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus he learned that because the human body has water in it, he can control the water inside of someone, causing them to die from lack of blood flow.

In spite of Percy's beliefs, Kronos insists he practice this power along with a few others he learned. Kronos doesn't want Percy to use his normal Poseidon powers. He wants to change them, make them something new, something undefeatable.

Working someone's blood isn't a power of the sea god. Neither is choking someone by messing with the formula of the air. By moving the water molecules Percy can make the air harder to breathe.

"Concentrate Perseus." Kronos demanded.

Percy used Kronos' demand as an excuse to close his eyes as he focused on his power. Now that Kronos got his own body back, Percy couldn't stand to look him in the eyes. How did he even get his body back anyways? Wasn't it cut into a million of pieces or something? Anyway, now Kronos had the form of a seven foot tall man with golden brown skin and burning gold eyes. When he was in his Titan-form his skin turned into a charred black mound, as his eyes glowed a deep gold.

Percy went back to practicing with the air. He focused his senses towards the water in the room.

Sewer Water… Nope don't need that. Sprinklers from the roof… nope not looking for that. The air... yes!

He focused all his energy into a ball and then slowly pushed it towards the water molecules that he felt in the air, working on bringing them towards me and away from Kronos.

"That's better." Kronos nodded.

Percy kept focusing on the water, feeling that familiar painful tug in his gut telling him he's using his maximum energy.

Suddenly the door banged open and Kelli walked in. She took a breath before speaking only to choke on dry air and start up a coughing fit.

Percy quickly lost his focus, sending the water molecules back into the air, allowing Kelli to once again breathe.

Once Kelli gained her breath she glared at Percy then said to Kronos, "Gaea has arrived. She wishes to speak to you."

Kronos nodded his head before turning to Percy and saying. "Keep practicing. I'll be back later."

Percy shook his head, lowering himself to the ground. He didn't think he could stand much longer, there was no way he'd be able to keep practicing.

"Alright fine rest. We will start up again once I get back."

As Kronos and Kelli left the room Percy lied down on his back and looked up at the roof. He let his mind wonder off and began to think about the upcoming war. He thought about how he's training an army to go against his own home and about how Annabeth must feel trying to pretend to be betrayed.

Be careful of what you do, son of Poseidon.

Percy jumped and heard a snicker. He turned to see Thalia standing there with a glass of water.

Percy turned to her questioningly, "Did you say something?"

Thalia looked confused. "No… I just got here." She held out the water and Percy smiled thankfully, gulping it down quickly and feeling his energy rush back.

"What's up Thals?" he asked.

"You should come see something." Thalia said.

"What is it?" Percy asked, worried.

Thalia just shook her head and held out her hand which he took after a moment's hesitation. Percy followed Thalia out of Kronos' headquarters and down to the water. Something seemed off.

"Do you see this?" she asked.

Percy nodded. The water looked poisonous, although as a son of Poseidon he could tell it wasn't. It seemed like the murky gray, and motionless water it turned to after Poseidon and his fight, but there was something else. The water was still and it looked as if it was never to create a wave again, as if it were dead.

"Do you know what happened?" Percy asked Thalia.

She shook her head. "I know the water got a little grayer when you left due to Poseidon's mood, but this is completely different."

Percy nodded. This was definitely different. "Let's keep an eye on it for now." he looked out over the metal bars that were currently keeping him from falling in. The cement showed the water level the waters usually at, but the water was lower. "Thalia look at this."

Thalia leaned over the bars and looked at the cement. "The water levels going down."

"It's like the oceans disappearing. Fading in a way." Percy said in a strained voice, as he tried not to sound worried.

Thalia looked Percy in the eyes. "Percy." She whispered. "Your fatal flaw is loyalty. I know this is hurting you."

Percy shook his head. "I'm loyal to Kronos now. Aren't you?"

Thalia and Percy stayed silent for a while, looking back out towards the dying sea. Finally she said, "Some things are better left unsaid." She glanced at me. "You get what I'm saying?"

Percy nodded. "A lot of things are left unsaid. Some people are worth telling though."

They looked at each other once more before slowly turning their backs to the sea and heading back to Kronos and Gaea, where they would spend the rest of the day putting together their own individual plans to end the evil that has once again risen.

Sorry for the long wait on the updates, I think I'm going to update once a week, not sure which day though :)

Review? Thank you guys! -AJ