Yeah, I'm procrastinating. A lot. I wrote for you guys. IMPORTANT A/N AT THE BOTTOM!

So I was checking the stats of this story, and then I was like oh my gods, I'm getting a steady 200 readers every chapter! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Warning: This chapter is a mainly 'hey let's torture Percy' chapter. Story is T for a reason. There will be blood.

Also, chapters are mostly going to jump POV a lot. Watch out for that! o.O.o will normally signal that POV change. And my gut tells me that it'll be better if I write the chapters with POV changes in third person. So yeah. That's my little blurb.

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own them.

Ch 12

PERCY (in third person) (in case you hadn't noticed) (but seriously, just look at the lack of me, myself, and I below) (so if you didn't notice, it's third person) (if you did, great) (if you still didn't, I'm really ashamed of you)

The cuts on Percy's tail hurt. The cuts on Percy's torso hurt. The cuts on Percy's arms hurt. The cuts on Percy's face hurt. In other words, Percy hurt.

Polybotes had an extremely twisted mind. As in too twisted to exist. That much, Percy knew for sure.

Polybotes chained Percy so that he was dangling by his wrists. He locked a chain around the end of Percy's tail so that he couldn't kick. But Polybotes took Percy's gag off. Said he wanted to hear Percy's screams.

Yesterday sucked. Yesterday, Polybotes tried to found out what color merfolk blood was. And when he found out it was red, like human blood, he got angry, and decided that he should practice with his sword. But he didn't bother to go outside. Or get a training dummy. No, Polybotes used Percy as his training dummy. And Polybotes decided that Percy was a good training dummy. And informed Percy that the next day would be even worse. Percy didn't see how this was possible. He didn't want to see.

Polybotes entered the chambers fuming. "Mother won't let me have a new sword until tomorrow!"

"Like I care," Percy groaned.

"You should," he said. "I was going to test it on you."

"Lovely. What are you going to do instead?" Percy asked, pretending to actually be curious.

Polybotes shrugged, then opened a cabinet full of wicked looking knives. "Use these."

"Whatever happened to your scientific studies?"

"I decided that I like your screams better."

"Do you find them melodic?"

"No. They're terrifying."

For some reason, Polybotes managed to turn every witty comeback Percy had into some sadistic comment. Polybotes grabbed a large bucket of salt water and threw it over Percy, dousing him completely. His cuts from last night started to heal, but it wasn't enough salt water to completely heal the deep ones. Polybotes chose a particularly sharp knife from the cabinet and wiped it on a cloth.

Percy started to pull against the chains, to no avail. Without any leverage, there was barely any wiggle room, and his arms were already sore from hanging there all night.

Polybotes backhanded Percy across his face. "Stop moving! It makes it harder to get clean cut."

"I couldn't care less."

"You will," Polybotes growled. Polybotes swiped the blade across Percy's shoulder. Percy grunted. He pressed the blade against Percy's cheek. "I will crush your spirit until your dreams don't exist anymore. Hope will be but a distant light, too far to reach."

"Did you think of that yourself?" Percy spat.

Polybotes growled again. He pressed the blade against Percy's cheek harder, then dragged it down, leaving a line of blood from the back of his right cheek to his jaw. "I'll let that scar," he decided.

Blood dripped off of Percy's chin and onto his torso. Polybotes caught a drip of his blood in a vial, then placed it with the other vials of Percy's blood he collected yesterday. Then he went back to the cabinet. He pulled out a short, saw toothed knife that looked sharper than the last one, if that was even possible.

"I know that merfolk shed scales," he said, "but I don't have the patience to wait for you to shed a scale. Besides, sawing one off of your tail will be fresher."

Percy gulped. Once, when he was a merboy, he had scraped his tail against an extremely sharp rock, and one of his scales had been cut off. It hurt worse than anything Percy had ever experienced, exploding with the most ferocious force, then getting worse. To this day, Percy hadn't topped the pain.

Polybotes chose a scale, and pressed his knife up against Percy's tail. Then he began sawing. Pain exploded on Percy's tail. He let loose a scream that would have chilled anyone to the bone. Except Polybotes, who just smiled and kept sawing.

Yep, Percy thought, pain topped.

By the time the scale fell off, Percy had nearly blacked out in pain. Polybotes, on the other hand, had a gigantic grin on his face.

He held up his prize in front of Percy's face. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

Percy panted, completely dangling from the chains, not responding.

Polybotes continued. "I think it is. But getting it was just so fun, don't you think?"

Percy refused to answer.

Polybotes frowned. "Maybe I should get another?"

"No!" Percy cried.

Polybotes smirked. "That's what I thought." He frowned. "Now what. What else do I need from you?"

Percy groaned as another wave of pain racked his body.

"A tear!" Polybotes cried joyfully. "Now you have to cry!"

He grabbed his sword and swung it experimentally.

time lapse

Three hours later, Percy still refused to shed a tear. Sure, he was bleeding from too many cuts to count, but Percy's will was still strong. He would not cry.

Relief came in the form of Lady Gaea, oddly enough. "Polybotes!" she yelled. "We're going out!"

Polybotes took one more swing at Percy, opening a gash on his tail that dripped blood onto the once white, now red with Percy's blood, floor. "But mother!" Polybotes cried. "I'm not finished!"

"You can return when you come back! We're going to get you a present!"

Polybotes sighed, grumbling. "Fine!" He sliced the sword deep into Percy's arm, then twice more along his tail. Polybotes cleaned his sword, and stomped upstairs, finally leaving Percy alone.

o.O.o

PIPER (third person)

Ma Gasket rushed into the kitchen, looking flushed. "Reyna!" she roared. "Reyna!"

Piper flinched from where she was still strapped down on the island at the noise. Reyna rushed in, her mouth pinched in one irritated line.

"What is it, Ma Gasket?" Reyna sighed.

"Lady Gaea's here! I assume she wants food! Go put on something presentable, and take her order!" Ma Gasket ordered.

Reyna gasped, and looked at Piper worriedly.

"I know, I know, she'll want mermaid stew. Don't worry, I'll start preparing it now. Now go!" Ma Gasket shoved Reyna out the door. Then she turned to Piper. "Hullo, mermaid. Ready to become stew?"

Piper shrieked, and started to struggle against the leather straps. She knew that she couldn't talk her way out of this. The land did something funny to any powers that merfolk had.

Ma Gasket tsked. "Now, now, none of that," she said. Ma Gasket grabbed a rag and tied around Piper's mouth, muffling her screams. Ma Gasket grabbed a cleaver and started sharpening it.

Piper started crying. She was going to die. She was actually going to die.

Ma Gasket stuck her cleaver in the wood next to Piper's head. Piper gave a muffled shriek. Ma Gasket smirked. "Jumpy, are we? Don't worry. I'm going to season you first."

Ma Gasket stomped over to the cabinet. She pulled out some jars of spices, and mixed them together. Just before she sprinkled them over Piper, Reyna burst in, with two people in tow.

"Wait!" the older woman ordered.

Ma Gasket gasped, and sank to her knees. "Lady Gaea! What an honor!"

Lady Gaea inclined her head. "Son, go look at it."

The boy following her walked over to where Piper was strapped down. He plucked the circlet from Piper's head. Piper squirmed in protest. The boy barely glanced down. "It's got a crown similar to the other one," he said. "It's pretty. Yes, this one will do."

Lady Gaea smiled at her son, then turned to Ma Gasket. "How much for the mermaid?"

"For you, nothing! Let it be a gift of good will!" Ma Gasket said, from where she was still on the floor.

Lady Gaea's sadistic smile only grew wider. She flicked her hand at Reyna. "Ready her for travel." Then she left. Her son jammed Piper's circlet back onto her head, then followed. Ma Gasket trailed behind them.

Reyna started sawing through the leather straps that kept Piper against the table. "I'm sorry," she kept muttering as she sawed, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Once Piper cut through her gag, Piper asked the question she had been dying to ask. "Why are you sorry?"

"Lady Gaea. She's terrifying. But her son, Polybotes, is even worse," Reyna whispered as she bound Piper's wrists behind her back.

Before Piper could ask another question, Polybotes burst in. "Is it ready?" he asked impatiently.

Reyna bit her lip, and gave a short nod. Polybotes picked Piper up, and threw her over his shoulder. The last thing Piper saw through the swinging doors was Reyna's apologetic face.

o.O.o

NICO

"I don't believe you." Nico lay on the beach next to Michael Kahale.

"Really. Go."

Nico was still doubtful. Because Kahale was letting him go. What human (other than Will Solace) (gods, that gorgeous human) (and the rest of the Argo II crew) had ever had a heart?

Kahale bit his lip. "I feel bad about what I did. So, I'm trying to make it up to you."

Nico sighed. Even though he still didn't trust Kahale, something told him that he was telling the truth. And besides, Nico wasn't about to pass up a chance to return to the ocean.

Nico dove beneath the surf. His head popped up once more, just in time to hear Kahale say something.

"By the way, the Argo II is a day's swim from shore. You can still catch them."

o.O.o

LEO

Lady Gaea and her son purchased Leo from Lady Khione. Just in time, too, because Leo was starting to freeze. Leo thought, hey maybe things will get better now! Leo couldn't have been more wrong.

Polybotes had Leo chained up next to another merman with a red (like blood) tail. Except the tail had hints of green in it. Sea green. The merman's head hung down, like he was too tired to care about anything at all. He had multiple cuts, well, everywhere. It finally dawned on Leo that the merman's tail might not be red. The red was just blood. Then the hints of sea green would mean that the merman's tail was sea green. But the only merman Leo knew with a sea green tail was…

"Percy?"

Mwhahaha! Cliffhanger!

IMPORTANT A/N TIME:

I need a cover. Like seriously. Please, please, please, please PM me with a cover. I'd draw one, but then Percy would end up looking like an alien. And not a pretty one at that. So, please. PM me about a cover! Best cover gets a) put up on the story, and b) like a thousand shout-outs, and something else (that I have to think of)!