(A.N.)Holy crap I feel like such a douce for not updating this story sooner! I really have no excuse so I'm not and gonna try and make one... * sigh* I am soooooo sorry to everyone who has been waiting for this chapter for ages, just think of it as your New Years present. And for the people saying that the new year has passed, well than think of it as your Chinese New Year present, which was yesterday, Jan 23, year of the dragon, WOO! Also an humongous thank you to everyone of you awesome people out there who reviewed, added my story on Favs/Alerts, or added me as a fav author! Again my most humble thanks. I hope this longish chapter makes up a bit.
Anyways, I am not going to keep you any longer, so you can finally move on to the finally updated chapter...
*Apologies for any grammatical/spelling error!*
Legal Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or anything related. Really wished I did though.
"dialogue"
'thoughts'
story
Coughing, Annabeth waved her hand in front of her face, as to
clear the smoke away. She heard a familiar groan invade her
senses as the smoke finally cleared.
There, on his back groaning (in pain, she wasn't sure) was the
actual living Percy Jackson in all his glory.
"Owww..." Percy groaned and rubbed his face.
Shaking her head out of her shock, Annabeth quickly rushed to
her not-known-to-the-gods-boyfriend.
"Seaweed Brain!"
That exclamation sent the gods reeling in shock. This was the
famed Son of Poseidon, the apparent prophecy child, the evident
best friend of one daughter of Athena.
"Kelp Head!"
"Jackson!"
was also exclaimed as Thalia and Nico had finally gotten over
their shock as well.
They quickly rushed over to his side and made sure he was
alright.
"That had to be some landing, Jackson."
Percy glared at Thalia as she (very hardly mind you) punched him
in greeting.
"Yeah it was. It's not like I'm in immediate pain or anything."
This was answered with a slap from Annabeth.
"Ow! What the heck Wise Girl!"
She just rolled her eyes.
"Seaweed Brain if you can use sarcasm, you're okay."
Another smack.
"Ow! What the-Nico! What was that for?"
"Well, everyone else got to hit you and I was feeling a little left
out."
Nico shrugged.
Percy just rolled his eyes as Annabeth and Thalia laughed. The
gods just stared.
Poseidon looked over his son.
'He actually looks like me'
Most of his children usually had one or two feature of his, that
was all, but Percy really actually resembled him, truly. And this
was true.
Hestia looked over her nephew as the children were talking and
was impressed. He looked exactly like her brother, black locks,
slight tan, and sea colored eyes. As she witnessed the scene
above, she smiled.
'I like you Percy Jackson.'
Athena was having the exact opposite thoughts, as she glared at
the boy. He looked exactly liked his father, and thouht he was no
better.
'How was my daughter able to even converse with this-this-this t
hing!'
Most of the gods shared the negative feelings about Percy,
unforetunately.
But it wasn't like he wasn't used to gods hating his guts, that was
just normal daily stuff.
As the two were laughing, Percy looked around to find out where
he was now, and froze as he saw the gods in their thrones. After
a couple seconds of shock, he sighed.
"What do the gods want us to do now?"
Thalia and Annabeth, who were now finished with their fit, were
at first confused. Annabeth being the daughter of Athena, tried to
think of a way to tell her boyfriend they were in the past.
Not wanting to get pulverized, Percy greeted his Uncles and
Father.
"Lord Zeus, Lord Hades, dad."
He inclined his head at the end, because he was still on the floor
sitting and could not bow.
Some of the gods bristled in shock as he addresed Poseidon so
informally.
'Dad?' Poseidon mused. 'We must be close.'
Turning to his girlfriend, Percy asked
"So, what's going on and why are we here?"
Nico decied to answer.
"We're reading a book."
"A book?"
"Don't worry Seaweed Brain, we'll read it for you."
Percy just glared at you guessed it-Annabeth. Nico and Thalia just
smirked into their palms.
"So we're reading a book, with the gods?"
His eyes then landed on Chiron.
"Chiron?"
Chiron, unsure of how to answer, looked pleadingly at the
daughter of Athena, who sighed.
"Look Seaweed Brain, I'm not sure how to explain this, but yes
we are reading a book. It's in your point of view, and before you
interrupt me, we a back in time."
That got Percy to shut up. He raised his eyebrows.
"Oh? Well that would explain Chiron here, I was just talking to
him. Wait my point of view, of what?"
"Oh you know nothing important, just around the time of the
Battle."
Thalia decided to butt in.
Percy's eyes dimmed.
"Oh... so how far back are we?"
He warily looked at the gods.
"Annabeth is already at camp and Thalia's already a tree."
Nico stated quietly.
Percy just nodded.
"So who's reading and where did you leave off?"
"I am." Replied Hermes.
"And we are at the point of when you and Charlie Beckendorf
were apparently going to do something?" Percy looked at Thalia.
"I thought you said of the Battle?"
Thalia pursed her lips and said,
"Well, yeah maybe it was a little before."
Percy just grimaced.
Annabeth, knowing this was going to be a hard for him, wrapped
her arms around his waist and laid her head onto his shoulders
thinking 'Mother be damned.'
Hestia gave a significant look to Poseidon, who just quirked an
eyebrow in reply, truly wondering at the extent of the relationship
his son had with this particular daughter of Athena.
Athena, being Athena just glowered.
"If everyone agrees, may I begin the story again?" asked
Hermes.
Everyone nodded.
It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess Andromeda
Percy grimaced again, pulling Annabeth tighter against him.
glowed on the horizon- a huge cruise ship lit up with yellow and white. From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord.
"What!" the gods exclaimed. "Why are you going there?"
worriedly asked Poseidon.
Blinking up at his father, Percy gave a small smile, it seems as his
fahter already cared.
Before he got to answer Hestia answered.
"They're going to blow it up Poseidon, honestly didn't you listen
to the title of the chapter?"
He just pouted.
"Doesn't mean I can't want MY son from going anywhere near it."
Hestia just rolled her eyes.
Then as you got closer, you might ntice the giant figurehead-a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.
Apollo snorted, but didn't comment as he saw the glare on his
sister's face.
Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots.
"Was that supposed to be a pun?" Nico asked, trying to lighten his cousin's down mood.
Others who didn't get it looked on in confusion.
Percy smiled at Nico, knowing what he was trying to do and said,
"Honestly, probably not."
I'd almost died twice on the Princess Andromeda.
"Then why are you going back?" asked Poseidon in an almost
mother hen fashion.
"Because we had too." Was his sighed reply.
"What happend the other two times?" asked Hephaetus who was
worried for both his son and Percy.
Percy and Annabeth shuddered. They replied together.
"Don't ask."
"It couldn't have been that bad, right?" asked Nico hesitantly. The
looks he got were answer enough.
Now it was heading straight for New York. "You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind. I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets.
Persephone bit her lip anxiously and looked at the son of
Poseidon. Seeing his down mood, she knew something bad was going to happen. She just knew it.
I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it started. "Blackjack" I said, "Set us down on the lowest stern point." Gotcha, boss, he said. Man, I hate seeing that boat.
"The feeling is mutual." Percy muttered under his breath, thankful
of Annabeth's comforting presence.
Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess Andromeda until he'd escaped with a little help from my frieds and me.
"Aww, poor thing." cooed Aphrodite.
I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back there again.
The quartet (which is how I will address the trio and Percy now) laughed. Except Ares, he just snorted cuz' he don't do laughs.
"Don't wait for us," I told him. But boss- "Trust me," I said. "We'll get out by ourselves."
Here Percy sighed guiltily.
Blackjack foled his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whirled in my ears. I saw monsters patroling the upper decks on the ship-dracaena, snake-like women, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid sea-demons known as telkhines-
Poseidon groaned as he heard the list of monsters. How in Hades
were his son and Charlie Beckendorf going to get out of this
alive?
but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm.
Poseidon and Hephaetus sighed in relief. 'Thank gods for small
miracles.'
We shot down the stern of the boat, Blackjack folded his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lower deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.
"This is not a good time to feel queasy Kelp Head." joked Thalia
without mirth, even though she knew Percy survived, she knew
how hard it was to hear how Beckendorf died.
Good luck, boss, Blackjack said. Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!
Chiron smiled. This pegasus sure had personality.
With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket
"That's so stupid dude. You're gonna fight with a pen." said Ares,
who was lookig at Percy with digust. Percy, just raised an
eyebrow and took Riptide out and uncapped it.
Ares, who was going to make a comment when he saw Percy pull
out Riptide, abruptly shut his mouth when he saw the glowing
celestial bronze sword.
"Riptide," Poseidon whispered as the rest of the gods looked onto
the famed sword with shock. Percy capped it and put it back in his
pocket.
"Please continue Lord Hermes."
and uncapped it, Riptide sprag to full size-three feet of deadly celestial bronze glowing in the dusk. Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light – the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite.
"Aww that's so sweet!" Aphrodite squealed, happy her daughter
had found someone.
They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying "Duh, you guys like each other!"
"Does that remind you of anyone Thalia?" said Nico innocently as
Thalia replied "No, I have no idea who that reminds me of."
They both were staring at Percy and Annabeth who rolled thier
eyes in response. Even with all the dangerous missions Beckendorf had been happier this summer then I had ever seen him.
Hephaestus smiled, glad that his son was happy.
"We'll make it back at camp." I promised. For a second I say worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.
"You bet," He said. "Let's blow Kronos back into a million pieces."
Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.
Everyone looked wary, and worried, except Ares, he looked excited for a fight.
"I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice – a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it was a meatloaf sandwich!"
"Eew, meatloaf." said Nico with his nose scrunched up. He had some bad experiences with that dish...
"Meatloaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood, I swear. They are on board!"
"Bah, your brain isn't on board."
"Wow Seaweed Brain, they don't even know you're on board, and
they still talk about you! " said Annabeth with a smile.
"Whoa,whoa, whoa Beth, who said Kelp for Brains over here had brains?"
Thalia grinned.
Percy groaned. "What is it? Pick on Percy day?"
"Yup!"
They continued to argue and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines began to fade.
Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room".
It was locked, but as Beckendorf pulled some chains cutters out of his bag
"Oh yes the new in accessory." Percy added.
and split the bolt like it was made of butter. Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feet tall , with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human.
Annabeth shuddered as she remembered the Labyrinth.
He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on .
I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something was wrong. He leaped sideways towards a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust.
Ares face fell as he realized there would be no awesome fight.
"One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go."
He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid – Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world. Then he threw me another essential tool to demigod heroes
"A shield?" "Thermal gloves?" "A map?"
– duct tape.
"What?"
"Well that does make sense."
"I guess."
"Slap that one of the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines."
We went to work, the room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat.
" Ugh, that's absolutely revolting!" exclaimed Hera.
The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all
"You just have to brag about that, don't you?" Annabet said
exasperatley.
"Wise Girl when you're me you have bragging rights."
"Too true." went Nico. Annabeth just rolled her eyes. "Wise girl?"
questioned Hestia to Poseidon. He just shrugged.
"Well it does make sense with her being a daughter of Athena
and all."
I have a perfect bearing at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at 40.19 degrees North, 71.90 degrees West, making eighteen knots, which would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn.
"You know that is really useful," went Thalia.
"You could instantly know where we are."
"You mean like a GPS?" added Annabeth.
Laughter resounded as Percy rolled his eyes.
"Does it work on land?" Nico asked.
"Umm..." started Percy.
"Not unless I'm close to a larger body of water." He nodded.
This would be our only chance to stop it.
"You know I really hate to admit this, but out of the three of us,
you have the most useful powers, Kelp Head." stated Thalia
shaking her head in mock envy.
I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard pounding feet on metal steps – so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign.
Hephaestus bit his lip in worry.
I locked eyes with Beckendorf, "How much longer?"
"Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least."
Judging from the sounds of footsteps, we had about ten seconds.
"I'll distract them." I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."
"Percy –"
"Wish me luck."
"Dude, this is not good, not good at all." said Apollo. Artemis
glared at her brother for stating the obvious.
He looked like he wanted to argue.
The whole idea had been to get in and get out without being spotted. But we had to improvise.
"Good luck." He said.
I charged out the door.
"Finally some fighting!" said Ares.
A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing – past another telkhine, who was so startled he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I kept him alive – partly because his lunch box was cool,
"Really Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth said.
"Boys," Thalia said as she shook her head.
Athena just scoffed.
partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room.
"Oh Seaweed Brain." Annabeth sighed. Her boyfriend was so selfless.
I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall was once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom doors had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience.)
Hermes looked up.
"You've been inside a throat of dragon?"
Percy and Annabeth looked liked they wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, remembering.
Smiling sadly, Percy said, "That's a story for another time."
The gods just stared in curiousity. Poseidon just shook his head.
'What the hell had his son been through?'
Back on my first visit to the Princess Andromeda, my old enemy Luke
"Do you mean Hermes' Luke?" asked Athena, for she knew not of any other.
"Yes, that one," replied Percy knowing that with Hermes shake of
head that the other gods didn't know of his fate yet.
"Why would you two be enemies?" inquired Athena further, she
liked Luke, she thought he was good for her daughter.
Annabeth pursed her lips, her mother was cornering Percy.
"It's a very long story mother, let it go." she said in a cold voice.
Hestia cut in before Athena could reply, seeing the distress the
younglings were in, "Hermes just continue."
She got a glare in return.
had kept some dazed tourists on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. I hated to think of what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd be allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.
"Not likely," sighed Chiron, at least hoping their passing was
painless.
I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab.
"How big is big Kelp Head?" asked Thalia.
"Maybe the crab is actually small, but the smallness of your brain
just makes it appear large."
Thalia smirked. "Thalia!"
Percy groaned.
"Must you try and insult at every oppurtunity you get? Besides if
my brain is small, that just yours tiny."
Percy stuck out his tongue at her. She just crossed her arms and
stuck her tongue out back.
Many gods raised their eyebrows at this peaceful exchange.
Shouldn't they be trying to rip each others' heads out for the
insults?
I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat-Alaskan king crab. I'm talking giant like bigger than the fountain. The monster rose ten feet out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, and its pincers larger than my body.
"Oh... so not that large then," said Nico sarcastically. Hades just
watched his son with rapt attention, taking in every detail.
If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size.
Aphrodite grimaced as she imagined the crab.
It's beady black eyes glared at me,
"Everything seems to glare at you Seaweed Brain."
"I know."
and I could see intelligence in them – and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr. Crabby.
"FFFfffff," it hissed,
"Oooh, sooo intimadating," drawled Thalia.
sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off him was like garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week.
"Ughh, Percy must you have the most realistic descriptions?"
complained Nico.
Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving.
"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so –"
"Coward," scoffed Ares. He was met with five very menacing
glares for that statement.
The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping . I dove into a gift shop, plowing through a rack of t-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr. Crabby turned and followed.
"There!" a voice said from a balcony above me. "Intruder!"
If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ship, I was crab chow.
"Wow Jackson you're actually tactful enough to figure this out!"
exclaimed Thalia looking innocent, but if one gazed in her eyes
they would see the mischieviousness.
The demonic crustacean
"Oh my gods Seaweed Brain, you actually used big words!"
lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.
I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab – something about Hercules crushing it under his foot? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks.
"Only a little bit, " said Annabeth. 'If he could get under it he
could defeat it,' thought Poseidon hopefully.
to our cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of things he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armor, right in the middle of their ugly bellies.
The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.
I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks.
I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming. "AHHHHHHH!"
"Genius! That could work Seaweed Brain!" exclaimed Annabeth,
already knowing what her boyfriend planned to do. Realization
appeared on the other two's faces and they gave appreciative
glances.
Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slide on the wet marble floorstraight under the creature.
"Nice," commented Apollo and Hermes.
It was like sliding under a seven ton vehicle. All the crab had to was sit and squash me, but before it realized what was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out backside.
Even Ares thought this was pretty good, but he had enough pride
not to voice it.
Poseidon smiled, that was his son.
The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red and its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap.
I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed .
"How are you going to survive this boy?" asked Artemis
rhetorically.
Riptide, being magical, would appear in my pocket sooner or later,
Most of the gods sighed in relief at this.
but for not it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.
But then groaned at this.
In the elevator foyer of deck eight, a couple of dracaena slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were woman with green scaly skin, yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.
"What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss?"
I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake,
The trio snorted.
but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a you are here display. I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first dracaena. The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship. I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung it around.
Hades gave his nephew a glance, one man, no teenage boy took
on almost an entire ship of monsters all on his own.
Unbelievable.
She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship.
"Get him!" she screamed.
Hellhounds bayed. An arrow somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.
I didn't care – as long as I go the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.
Hestia shook her head. This boy was the most unselfish demigod
she had ever met.
As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve – about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.
Poseidon nodded at this.
That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed – trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.
Aphrodite sighed at this, it was just so sad.
No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.
Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid.
The trio groaned. "What did you do?"
It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it. "If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship now. Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next floor.
"Idiot," whispered Athena, never jeopardize a mission just to
save a handful of people when you could be saving thousands.
I kept climbing.
Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half brother Tyson,
Hestia looked up sharply. "You have a brother?"
Percy grinned. "Yeah, he's an amazing metal smith."
"But demigods aren't immune to fire?" continued Hestia, sincerely confused.
"Oh yeah..." said Percy, sheepish "He's a cyclops."
Poseidon smiled softly his son was one of a kind, not many of his
offspring would acknowledge their cyclops brothers.
and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit.
I burst outside the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.
All I had to do was cross the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad – our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges a quarter of a mile away.
I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "Your late, Percy."
Luke
"What is he doing there?" asked Athena.
stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a while T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-age guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold
"WHAT?" The gods looked at Hermes, who confirmed their fears
as he nodded.
The gods knew that he could not intervene with his son's fate and
didn't blame him, some giving him sympatheic smiles.
We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful – the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words scrapped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me."
"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.
"And you really wonder why so many people are out for your
head," said Annabeth shakig her head. Thalia snorted. Nico
laughed.
Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for the cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me.
Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so fast unless they'd known I was coming.
I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed… or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him.
"No he wasn't," whispered Percy, not knowing the gods could hear him clearly.
A new voice in my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?
"That is probably one of the most stupidest things you have ever
thought Percy." said Nico.
According to that big prophecy, I was supposed to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen.
"No pressure," snorted Percy.
That was only seven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make?
"A lot," the quartet said in sync.
I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.
"Oh yeah who?" challenged Ares.
Percy just raised his eyebrows.
"No one really just this arrogant, cocky god who threatend my friends. It was fairly easy to defeat him."
Percy said smirking, as the trio was laughing.
Ares snorted. "Probably just minor gods."
This made Percy smile.
As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos.
"Make up your mind," whispered Thalia.
I had to remember that.Come forward," he said. "If you dare."
The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back,
"Possibility," said Annabeth in her analytical voice.
"Thanks Wise Girl," replied Percy.
"Glad to know you'd like someone to stab me in the back."
"Of course Seaweed Brain! Didn't you know that was my most
treasured wish," retorted Annabeth as she leaned further in
Percy's embrace.
He just smiled.
but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword.
Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands – a six-foot0long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steal. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged.Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, because Kronos had that power.
I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.
Poseidon fidgeted in nervousness and worry.
I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me – the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the years, but now nothing seemed to happen.
The trio were frowning, they knew Percy was going to survive, but
he never did tell them exactly what happend.
I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. Dracaena hissed with laughter.
Hey, ocean, I pleaded. Any day now would be good.
Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the dock. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.
"WHAT?" exclaimed the gods in absolute shock. Annabeth, Thalia
and Nico were gaping.
Zeus was positively seething. It had taken him a decade to beat
his father and yet this lone demigod could just challenge his
father and suddenly they're on equal terms?
I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake at looking at his face - Luke's face – a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him.Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting in the deck right between my feet.
I kicked Kronos in the chest.
Nico and Hades snorted. Hades looked on in surprise.
He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only reflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain. I remembered what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: Careful, fool. One touch, and that blade will sever your soul from your body.
"So,no, not dangerous at all," Apollo said.
Now I understood what he meant.
I wasn't just losing blood, I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.
Thalia groaned. "But your will is probably the only thing that kept
you going all this time cuz."
I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.
Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."
My vision started to blur. I knew it didn't have much time. "Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was his head."
"Really Percy? Your like have dead and you're still insulting him?" said Nico
"A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."
"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.
Annabeth was crushing his hand in her worry, but Percy didn't say
anything. If anything he just pulld her closer.
"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face – Luke's face – seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"
He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!"
A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crows. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer,
"Whoa, whoa,whoa, the Labyrinth, like the Labyrinth," said Artemis, glancing at the quartet.
"Uh..yeah that one,"said Percy. "How did you find it?" asked Chiron, curious.
"In one of our forest hunts," was the reply.
Before anyone else could ask, Zeus complained, "Can we just get
on with the damn book already?"
and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life."Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."
He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.
Hephaetus almost piereced his lip in his worry.
"No!" I yelled.
Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives where still armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.
"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"
"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"He was going toward the engine room, my lord."
"How do you know that?"
"Er…" Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."
Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.
Persephone knew something bad was about to happen, she just had that foreboding feeling he had before, only stronger now.
Kronos hesitated.
Buy the story, I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand.
"Open his bag," Kronos ordered.
One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.
I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.
"Did you, perhaps," he said. "capture this demigod near the galley?"
Ethan turned pale. "Um – "
"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"
Ethan scrambled back in terror then turned on his heels and ran.
I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand: How long?
He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. Zero.
There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both.
Everyone was literally on the edge of their seats.
Kronos turned towards me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."
He held out his hand and dangled a little sliver bracelet with a scythe charm – the Titan lord's symbol.
The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think.
I muttered, "Communication device.. spy at camp."
"What! Who?" "How did he get a spy in camp?" asked Hades,
mulling over possibilities.
Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on your friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way, Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."
I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.
Beckendorf mouthed one word: Go
"Percy's not gonna leave you," said Apollo,grinning at Percy.
However, Percy didn't see it as he buried his face in Annabeth's
sweet smelling hair, as he knew what was about to take place.
I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.
The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly – toward the watch on his wrist.
"He's really gonna do it," said Hades quietly, he didn't particularly
like demigods, but this one deserved respect for what he was
about to do.
I wanted to scream, NO!
Then down at the swimming pool, one of the dracaena hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"
Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought down his hand up to his watch.
Hephaetus face was twisted in horror, as much as he hated to
admit it he had favorites, and Charles, even though young, was
one of his.
I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest,
"Probably because he eats cereal," said Demeter trying to
convince the other gods, who were really not paying attention to
her.
She frowned.
but it did startle him. I pushed through the crowed of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship – toward the water a hundred feet below.
I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierce my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away – a hundred yards, two hundred yards.
Even from a distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.
Beckendorf, I thought,
Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.
The room was absolutely silent.
The trio had forlorn faces, as Annabeth pulled Percy closer to her
when she saw the silent tears stream down his face.
Poseidon looked to Hephaetus, about to say condolences, when
the Blacksmith god shook his head and smiled a sad smile.
Poseidon was one of the better gods, he knew the basics of what he was going to say.
Everyone else was stunned as they watched the silently sobbing
son of Poseidon.
But of course, they didn't realize the depth of companionship
between Percy and Charles.
Hepheatus gazed at Percy sadly.
'The poor boy, having to go through so much and having to lose
comrades at every turn.'
Everyone was silent as they payed respects for the lone demigod.
Until the silence was interrupted by Hera as she got out
irritably,"Can we read the next chapter already!"
She got several glares and a murderous stare in reply.
(A.N.) Oh. My. Gods. I actually finished this chapter! Again so sorry for the wait! Hopefully it won't take as long to upload next time! If I do take a long time, you all are free to flame me. Although I must admit, the nice reviews inspired this. Thanks to all! R&R!