A/N-
I'm updating again! Thanks to everyone that favorite or subscribed to this story. As requested, here are some responses to your reviews.
anonymousreader666- Thanks for the review. I'll most likely end up working mainly on this story and updating Tempting Fate every once in a while. As for what you think will happen… there are few thing in there that are relatively close, but nothing spot on. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.
lcrs50- Thanks for the review, I glad to know that you liked it (You did like it, right? I wasn't entirely sure if that was being said in a "that was good tone" or a "that was weird tone.")
Bookdancer- Thanks for the review. I probably will end up finishing this story first.
ccvvg- Thanks for the review. I most likely will end up finishing this story first (and maybe updating Tempting Fate at random points. The Mark of Athena story won't be started till this is done, if I decide to do it that is.)
So, here is the chapter. I hope you enjoy. I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
.
.
.
"There's a friend of mine is there, I just saw her on the news with that museum getting blown up, can you give her a letter for me. Her name's Silena Beauregard. She's a daughter of Aphrodite," he said, while a faint blush spread across his checks.
I nodded before talking the letter. He sent me a thankful smile before standing up and walking back up the stairs.
.
.
.
Chapter 8-
.
.
.
I was lost. Somehow I had gone from a ranch in Texas, to a long, old, stone hallway with vines growing through the rocks, like something you'd see in an Indiana Jones movie, and every once in a while, noises would reverberate through the walls of the maze like structure.
It seemed like only twenty minutes since I left the farm, but based on my surroundings, I must have traveled a lot further. As I walked, I couldn't help but think about what Helen had told me earlier.
(Flashback)
.
I was staring up at the ceiling when she walked in. A small smile appeared on her face as she spotted me on the couch. "You ready to get out of here?"
I shrugged before standing up and walking towards her. "Is it time to go?" I asked.
"Not quite yet. Geryon is still up in the farmhouse, but Beckendorf was going to cause some commotion so that he'd have to leave. You'll know when it's time to go," she replied
I nodded and looked at the floor; I still felt bad for leaving them here. Helen seemed to notice my discomfort, because she walked over and place her hand on my shoulder. "Beckendorf told me that you felt guilty for leaving us here." I glanced up at her, only to see her eyes filled with sympathy and understanding.
"Let me tell you a story while we wait," she said. "Now, I believe I told about my family." I nodded. "Well, a few months after Annabeth, my step-daughter, ran away the Titans took control of the country. Fredrick and I never attended any of the anti-titan rallies that started, but we did donate money. We tried to be careful. We also used fake names and always sent the money in cash so that it could be tracked back to us, but alas, the titans found out."
"I had tucked my sons; Bobby and Matthew, into bed before going to join my husband in the living room. He was grading paper for his class, but I could tell that he was distracted. After a while, I finally asked him what was wrong. When he looked up at me his eyes were rimmed red and large bags were visible under his eyes. He stared at me for a few seconds before simply saying 'Annabeth.'"
"I remember every little detail of the events leading up to my capture, I could even describe to you what the pajamas I was wearing looked like, but the capture itself, completely gone," she said. "The next thing I remember is waking up in what would be my prison for the next three years."
"So you weren't immediately sold to the ranch?" I asked a bit confused.
"No, I was taken to large arena up in the north. The owner, Antaeus, is one of the few monstrous beings that the Titans have little control over. He's the son of Poseidon and Gaia, immortal as long as his feet touch the ground. Now, each week, Antaeus holds a fight to the death in honor of his father. It's a form of human sacrifice, and the warriors forced to fight are some of the slaves that Abtaeus buys. It's a practice looked down upon by the Titans, but they know as well as anyone that Poseidon is too proud to accept the offering. And even if he could return to his former strength through the he still wouldn't be able to escape. It was part of the reason he was placed under the sky in the first place."
"So all the slaves in the arena fight?" I asked.
Helen stared off into the distance for a second before answering. "We were split up into different sections. Some were trained to fight in arena, while others we trained to 'entertain' the guests after the tournament was over. I personally was put in a group that served food and drinks to the visitors during the show. It is a dangerous position, because you were so close to Antaeus and the other guests," she said.
"During my first week, I accidently tripped on the long shall I was forced to wear. The drinks I was holding spilled on Procrustes, Antaeus' half-brother," She paused for a second and took a deep breath before continuing. "I was dragged out of the room and taken to dungeon underneath the arena. There I was hit, punched, kicked, and tortured. The next morning I woke up with two black eyes, a bruise spread across my body, scabs across my back from being whipped, and a long jagged scar across my abdomen."
At this, she raised her shirt to the bottom of her rib cage. There, disfiguring the smooth skin of her stomach was a crude, white scar. "My life continued like that for three years. Finally, I was deemed too old to be seen by the visitors and was sold."
A thousand questions rushed through my head, but I couldn't bring myself to ask any of them. Instead I just sat there in silence thinking about what she had just told me. A part of me understood why she had no desire to leave to the ranch. It was quiet and peaceful, without uncertainty or change. Helen may have deserved better than this, but she was content. Still, as I sat in that room, I swore to myself that one day, I would come back and free everyone here. I'd set everything up. They'd have a place to go where they could without ever having to be ordered around by the Titans again. They would be free.
The silence was interrupted by loud bang from outside. "There's our queue," said Helen as she stood up and offered her hand to me. I grabbed on and she pulled me up. We then walked up the stairs and into the main room of the farmhouse. The escape was quick. The ranch was almost out of sight when I glanced back to see Helen's lone silhouette walking back towards her current home.
.
.
.
I yawned. With each step I had begun to feel drowsier. I'd barely slept the night before, but the drossiness was coming on so quickly, it hard to believe that I was really this tired. I could barely move my feet anymore. My eyes lids were half closed, causing my vision to be blurry. If I had been more awake, I would have notice that the walls of the maze had changed again. Now, I was inside a tunnel.
A few steps later, I curled up against the tile wall and allowed myself to slowing drift into the sleep that was calling me.
.
.
.
I was looking down on the remains of a battle ground. The floors were scorched and the structure of the building looked weakened. Piles of monster dust littered the floor, soaking into the blood flowing from the bodies lying on the ground. There were a few people moving around; carrying those that survived to a medic station that was set up in the corner, and taking those that had not out of the room.
Standing off to the side were two people. They were quietly talking, while watching the cleanup process. Both were in full armor, but they were recognizably female and based off size, probably around my age.
Then, one of them pulled off her helmet. The girl's curly blonde hair fell out and spread across her shoulders. I instantly recognized the grey eyes that burned with a passion as they surveyed the scene before her. The girl was Annabeth Chase, Helen's step-daughter that had inhabited my dreams since I saw her that fateful day at the museum.
The spell seemed to break when a blonde haired boy approached her. He said something I couldn't hear before gesturing toward the infirmary in the corner. Annabeth nodded before following him over.
He led Annabeth over to the only patient who seemed to be awake. Her face was dirty and a there was a long cut across he forehead that hadn't been bandaged yet. My heart jumped as I realized who I was looking at. Her choppy hair had been evened and for once her eyes were accented by makeup, but it was still the same Piper McLean that I had met in prison.
.
.
.
I woke up to someone shacking my shoulders. Standing over me, was a boy that looked around my age. He was really tall, almost two meters high, with large, broad shoulders, and messy light brown hair. His teeth were a yellowish color, as though he hadn't brushed his teeth in years. However, the thing my eyes focus on was the large, brown eye in the center of his face.
He smiled when he saw that I was awake and said, "You okay?" At that, it all became too much. I fainted… again.
.
.
.
A/N-
There is chapter 8! I hope you guys liked it. What did you guys think of Helen's story? Are you glad that I brought Tyson in? What do you think will happen next? Also, do you guys think that Percy is too OOC?
Also, I've decided to give the first person to correctly guess both where Percy was when he fell asleep and where Piper was enslaved a preview of the next chapter. In order to get the preview, you must be logged in so that I can send it to you. If you don't have an account but still want to guess, I'll tell you whether or not your correct next chapter.
Please review, favorite, and subscribe. They motivate me into updating. I would love to get ten up to 60 reviews this chapter. Thanks for reading.
Till next time,
~ELM