A/N-

Hey everybody. Sorry that I haven't updated in like four months. I've been really busy and had writers block. Also, I was a little discouraged by the fact that not very many people have been reading my new story Tempting Fate. Make sure to check it out.

Thank you to everyone that reviewed, favorited, or subscribed. To all of you guys who guessed that Percy was going to be sold to Paul Blofis, sorry you're wrong. However he will be in the story.

I had a lot of trouble writing certain parts of this chapter. In order to get it finished I borrow some description from the books. So, anything with a * after it is owned by Rick Riordan.

I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians; however I do own the plot to this story. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

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A few people raised signs and called out a new number this continued for a few minutes, until the auctioneer called out, "1,250. Going once, going twice, and sold to number 53. Remember to stop at the front desk on your way out to pick up and register him." With that, a guard lead my off the stage.

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Chapter 6-

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I was chained to a new pole. There were other people chained to it, but my eyes couldn't seem to focus on them. My body felt constricted, like the entire weight of the world was crashing down on me.

The room was silent. I was afraid to make a noise. Every once in a while the door would open and a newly sold demigod would be dragged into the room and chained to a new pole. They too remained silent.

After an eternity of waiting in the unbraking fear, the guards lead the man that… bought me into the room. He didn't look like some evil monster, or a rich Lacertus citizen. To be frank, he looked like a redneck father time. He had a long white beard, and wore a cowboy hat. *

The guards began to unchain the other slaves and me. We were the lead back out and towards another van. This one was white, with the words "Triple G Ranch" painted on the side. After a long drive the van pulled to a stop. The old redneck the opened to the doors to the van and let us out before driving away.

We were standing on a dirt road, looking out at what appeared to be a large ranch. There were even cows in the pasture nest to us. However, these cows happened to be a bright cherry red. A girl standing a few feet over mumbled something that sounded like, "Apollo's holy cows."

I deliberated the idea of just making a run for it while no guards or monsters were around, but before I could a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun walked towards us.* She smiled sadly at us before introducing herself. "Hello, my Helen Chase. Eurytion said that he left you guys here. Follow me."

She then turned around and started walking back down the road. We all glanced at each other before following. As we walked, Helen started telling us about the ranch. "It's the main supplier of monsters for the army. In the last few years we have actually been working to breed new monster as well as replicas of some that haven't returned from Tartarus yet."

We soon arrived at a short building made of wood. It was old and worn. Helen led us inside before saying, "This is the urr… slave's quarters." It consisted of three rooms, a large main room that had pillows and blankets lined up against one wall and an old carpet on the floor. There was also a small kitchen and a bathroom. "It's not much, but it's all we got," said Helen. "In the evenings grab a pillow and a couple blankets. We just sleep on floor."

A boy standing on the other side of the group shifted uncomfortably before asking, "So, what exactly are we going to be doing here?"

"Well, that depends on whether or not Mr. Geryon likes you. Mr. Geryon is the owner of the ranch. You'll probably be meeting him soon, and I would advise you not to stare. Orthus and Eurytion are also important figures here. Orthus is a two-headed dog owned by Geryon, and Eurytion is the man that brought you to the ranch. He is a demigod, such as yourselves."

The girl that had recognized Apollo's cows then spook up, "Wait are you saying that you're not a demigod?"

At that Helen laughed, "Gods no. I'm just a plain old mortal."

"Then why are you here?"

"My step-daughter was actually a demigod. However, she ran away shortly before the Titans took control. When they did take the throne, my husband and I resisted. Somewhere along the way I was caught and ended up here. I still don't know what happened to my family."

Everyone went quiet after Helen finished talking. It was weird that she opened up so quickly. It was like she thought it would help us adjust if we at least new some other people's stories. After a bit, Helen led the group of half-bloods out of the slave home and towards a large white farmhouse that was sitting at the top of the hill. She walked right up and knocked on the door.

It was opened by Eurytion. He looked at us for a moment before opening it up further and gesturing for us to walk in.

I couldn't focus on the room, because my eyes imminently focused on the monstrous human sitting at the table. He had a normal head. His face was weathered and brown from years in the sun. He had slick black hair and a pencil-thin mustache. He had two very beefy legs, wearing a very large pair of Levis. The only unusual thing was his three chests. Each of his chests wore a different colored shirt: green, yellow and red.*

The man-monster-thing looked up from the paper he was read and surveyed the crowd. Most of the demigods looked pointed at ceiling or the floor, but I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away. It was then that he caught me staring. His eyes narrowed. "Welcome to my ranch." He said, then looking directly at me he asked, "What do you think of it?"

"It's a nice chest – I mean ranch. It's a very nice ranch with lots of cows and stuff." I was mentally face-palming.

Geryon smiled sinisterly at me before saying, "Great, you be in group 7," he then turned to Helen, "Distribute the rest in the groups that they will work best in." With that, he stormed out of the room.

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Helen had the older slaves had out some pamphlets. The one I got was labeled "Group 7: Monster Training." Inside the pamphlet was a bunch of information about what the members of group 7 did around the ranch. "Before we can send the new breed monsters to the Titan army, they have to be trained. That's where you come in. As a member of group 7 you will help train monsters to find and attack demigods. To do this you will—."

I stopped reading and looked up when I heard the door slam. In walked a huge African-American dude with a permanent scowl, muscles like a pro ballplayer, and hands like catcher's mitts*. He glanced around the room before saying, "So which of these unlucky kids are in the MT."

Helen led the man over to where I was sitting. "Percy," she said, "This is Beckendorf. He is in charge of group 7."

That was the start of my new life at the ranch. The next day, Beckendorf woke me up bright and early saying that it was time to get started. He led me down to a gorge filled with large boulders. "This is where most of the monster 'searching for halfbloods' training takes place. In the area there are several well hidden cages. You'll be locked in one of these cages when the monsters are released. When the monster finds you, you'll push the green button. The red light at the top of the cage will then turn on and some people will come and get you out of the cage. It's pretty simple."

I didn't know what to say, so I just nodded my head and followed him till we got to a small metal cage stuffed in a crevasse between two rocks. "Well here we are," said Beckendorf as he opened the cage door, "The button his right back here. Good luck."

After about twenty minutes the red light on the top of the cage turned on and through a speaker came a recorded voice that said, "One minute till monsters are released…. Thirty seconds… ten seconds… monsters have been released." Then, the light turned off, and everything became quiet.

I could feel my adrenaline racing as I waited in silence and my back was soon touching the rock wall behind me. My breath became shallow and my hands were clammy. I was beginning to feel like I was actually hiding from a monster.

It had almost been twenty minutes when it happened. There was loud bang from the other side of the rock. It sounded like something had rammed against the stone. My heart skipped a beat as I waited in the dark cage. Bang! It happened again. Then I heard the monster outside begin to stiff. They were long, deep sucks of air, as though the monster was trying to get as much of my scent as it possibly could. I held my breath and stood as still as I possibly could. The monster suck in one more time before everything went quiet.

Then, a figure appeared at the opening of the crevasse. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns. But of course, I knew that it wasn't really a football player lumbering towards me. There was no blanket. The bulky, fuzzy mass that was too big to be his head ... was his head. And the points that looked like horns…*

I reached over and frantically pressed the button Beckendorf and showed me, but nothing happened.

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A/N-

And that's a wrap. What did you guys think, was it worth the long wait? What do you think will happen to Percy? If you guys can find any spelling or grammatical errors, please tell me where they are so I can fix them. Thanks for reading and I would really appreciate a review!

~ELM