Chapter 2:
AN: Hey guys! Some reviewers pointed out a couple of things. Percy's pen is now in Luke's possession so it will return to Luke's pocket now.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of Percy Jackson's world. Because if I did, we wouldn't be in suspense from the MoA. If I am keeping you in suspense I am sorry, try checking out my other stories or ranting your frustration at your pet Unicorn while eating Donuts. Without further ado, chapter two.
Song: In The End-Linkin Park
Percy's POV
Even after I had woken up, the world stared at me through a blurry window, tinted dark, and unaided by the typically crisp, clear cold. At this point, it wasn't about getting information or even getting out. It was about staying alive.
And what, you may wish to ask, was the world's impending hero doing as he hung in the very heart of the enemy's lair? Well, I was thinking about my mom's (and by extension, Annabeth's) blue chocolate chip cookies. You know, the ones that have just come out of the oven, the gooey essence that no artificial sweetener will ever be able to replace, no matter what Pepperidge Farm ads tell you. And yes, I was trapped in the lair of my most dangerous enemy thinking about food. I'm a growing boy, take it up with the gods if you have a problem.
It was exhausting to be terrified out of your mind, yet strangely exhilarated, in my case, it was like a sugar high, at the moment before you crash.
Call me unoriginal or off-topic or repetitive, but have I mentioned how hungry I am? I felt like my stomach was trying to eat itself alive, and from what experience I had with hunger, that wasn't a good sign.
It wasn't like I was really able to tell time in the darkness of the cell, but since I had drifted off around three times before being awoken by a rudely-directed bucket of polluted water, simultaneously waking me up and tiring me even more, I figured it had been around three days since I said goodbye to Annabeth.
I squinted into the darkness one more time before I let my head fall down. It was a good thing that I had, because nearly the second I had, a door directly in front of me open, exposing what felt like the brightest light since the last dawn I'd seen.
My voice broke as I whispered, "Luke." He stalked forward until he was directly in front of me, and grabbed my chin to force me to look up at him. His eyes were painfully blue, with no sign of the gold that had been so prominent back in Manhattan. "Where's Kronos?" My throat burned with effort, and my eyes stung.
"Not here." Even without seeing him directly, the light still too bright, he can hear the smirk in his eyes. "He's looking for a new host. Apparently he wants to use someone...closer to the gods to bring their demise. Someone no one really wants to kill." There is sadness in his voice and I would almost feel sorry for him if I didn't realize what he was implying. I feel my eyes widen, heart beating faster and breathing speeding up. I barely even notice when he unchains me.
Immediately, my feet hit the ground and I unsteadily struggle to look at him, resolved to try and convince him one last time that it still wasn't too late. "Luke, your father, he'll still take you bad, he still loves you, Luke you have to listen to me." He gives me this look like I'm the only thing in the world that he hates and pushes me towards the ground with his foot.
"My father left me for dead," he grits out through his teeth, and I swear to all the gods that no other monster has scared me as much as Luke did in that moment. The anger radiating off of him would be enough to budge the rock. My arm burns like it did in the Styx, hot and cold but so bright and white-hot. Every bone in my body hurts about thirteen times more than it should, and so I just close my eyes and try to numb it all.
Annabeth's POV
The camp is so quiet without Percy. Everyone seems tired, without any kind of hope or spirit at all. We may be fighting a war but that doesn't mean that everything is lost. There's a kind of silence that's settling over camp that makes the shadow of the war looming over us a thousand times bigger. But we knew this had to be done.
The campfires are quiet now, dull gray flames as Apollo tries to cheer us all up with a half hearted round of the slower paced camp songs. We all know the real reason we're here. There's really no use waiting for it.
I stand up, and the little singing there was dispersed. "Well. We all know that I'm here to give you an update, so I'll just get straight to it." I can feel myself trying to cry. No. I tell myself. Clinically. Clinically and unemotionally. "We've received some communication by means of the empathy link and dream messages. He's managed to overhear a battle plan, but he thinks Kronos is on the move. There's something he's not telling us, he's nervous, but it might just be the fact that he's imprisoned in a base more secure than Azkaban." A few people laugh, understanding, but the pain stays on their faces. The fire is yellow and orange and red and blue, flickering back and forth like a real campfire at a normal camp.
People start muttering and the fire jumps higher, agitated and hot now. "What if they kill him?" An Apollo boy asks, clearly worn and tired from the very effort of considering such a possibility.
Surprisingly, Clarisse stands up to console him. "They won't kill Percy, they know they can use him against the gods, against us. But, I'm not going to lie; it was his fault he lost the final battle, and they hate him for it. It's not going to be pretty, but he'll live.
I give her a nod, thanking her for reassuring me and everyone else. But really, if anyone would know how to keep a hostage, it would be her.
The muttering gets louder, some kids concerned, some kids angry, some kids are down on their knees crying. Percy, they really care about you. You have to come back to them… to me. I start crying too, finally unable to keep the dam standing and look out at the water. It's beautiful, all the best qualities of Percy and Poseidon shining through. But nothing should be beautiful right now. Not while Percy's gone.
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Edited: 10-25-14