Hello everyone,

Thank you all for reading my story. Disclaimer: I don't own any excerpts from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Titan's Curse.

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With best regards,
SharkAttack719

Περσεύς 6

Iris-Messaging and Nightmares

I'd never seen Camp Half-Blood in winter before, and the snow surprised me.

See, the camp has the ultimate magic climate control. Nothing gets inside the borders unless the director, Mr. D, wants it to. I thought it would be warm and sunny, but instead the snow had been allowed to fall lightly. Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed to be balls of real fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and weirdest of all, a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in an old mummified body. I wondered if the spirit of Delphi was roasting marshmallows up there or something.

"Whoa," Nico said as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?"

"Little extra challenge. Come on. I'll introduce you to Chiron. I assume you know him, Zoe?"

Zoe nodded stiffly. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me."

"I'll show you the way," Grover offered.

"We know the way."

"Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here, if you don't"—he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking—"like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!"

Zoe rolled her eyes, but I guess she figured there was no getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off toward the cabins. As Bianca di Angelo was leaving, she leaned over and whispered something in her brothers ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away.

"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. An arrow thudded onto the bus behind his head, the sharp-tipped object nearly impaling the god's face. He just smiled as if it had happened before. Then he turned to me and winked. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"

He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.

Nico was still looking grumpy. I wondered what his sister had told him.

"Who's Chiron?" he asked. "I don't have his figurine."

"Our activities director," I said. "He's…well, you'll see.

"If those Hunter girls don't like him," Nico grumbled, "that's good enough for me. Let's go."

The second thing that surprised me about camp was how empty it was. I mean, I knew most half-bloods only trained during the summer. Just the year-rounders would be here—the ones who didn't have homes to go to, or would get attacked by monsters too much if they left. But there didn't even seem to be many of them, either.

I spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stoking the forge outside the camp armory. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, from the Hermes cabin, were picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was about it. Even my old rival from the Ares cabin, Clarisse, didn't seem to be around.

The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but didn't seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr. D, the camp director, and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.

Chiron's brown beard was shaggier for the winter. His curly hair had grown a little longer. He wasn't posing as a teacher this year, so I guess he could afford to be casual. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoof print design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.

He smiled when he saw us. "Percy! Thalia! What a surprise seeing you here. I thought you said you would come next week?"

"Um, well, Grover found two new demigods in Maine," I explained. "I guess he didn't mention it to you."

"Ah," Chiron mused. "So, I assume that this is—"

"Nico di Angelo," I introduced. "He and his sister are half-bloods. I'm not so sure but they remind me of someone famous. I can't exactly pinpoint who, though."

Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."

"Well…"

His smile melted. "What's wrong? And where are Luke and Annabeth?"

"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost."

I'd been trying not to pay attention to Mr. D, but he was kind of hard to ignore in his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes. (Like Mr. D had ever run a day in his immortal life.) A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair, which must've meant he'd won the last hand of cards.

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked. "Who else is lost?"

Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. "The Hunters are all moved in!"

Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about." He glanced at Nico. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."

"But…Oh, right. Yes, sir."

"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kinda strict—"

"It's PG-13," Grover said.

"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.

"Now," Chiron said to Thalia and me, "perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story."

When we were done, Chiron turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search for Annabeth and Luke immediately."

"I'll go," Thalia and I said at the same time.

Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"

Thalia and I both started complaining, but Mr. D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if we didn't shut up.

"From what you have told me," Mr. D said, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell and Lucky—"

"Annabeth and Luke," Thalia corrected coldly.

"Yes, yes," he said. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace them. So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl and Lucky boy are dead."

I wanted to strangle Mr. D. It wasn't fair Zeus had sent him here to dry out as camp director for a hundred years. It was meant to be a punishment for Mr. D's bad behavior on Olympus, but it ended up being a punishment for all of us.

"Annabeth may be alive," Chiron said, but I could tell he was having trouble sounding upbeat. I knew that he knew a lot about Annabeth. He had helped her with her relationship with her father, though not much had been accomplished from that. "She's very bright. If…if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate." He didn't say anything about Luke.

Thalia looked hesitant. "But...there's no real reason why Ethan would keep her around and alive. Unless it's bait for Percy and I... It's the same with Luke."

"Well, in that case," said Mr. D. "She will have to be smart enough to escape on her own or escape with Lucky Pastel."

I glared at Dionysus furiously. I doubted I could control my anger any more than I could now. I felt as if I was practically shaking in anger. I felt a slight shock at my wrist and realized sparks were coming off of Thalia. She looked furious...no, murderous.

She stood up from the table.

"Thalia." Chiron's tone was full of warning. Even an ADHD kid like me knew it wasn't safe mess with a god who seemed to be of a lesser caliber. They were always more powerful than the seemingly more powerful gods. But Thalia looked more murderous than I'd ever seen her before.

"You're glad to lose another camper," she said. "You'd like it if we all disappeared!"

Mr. D stifled a yawn. "You have a point?"

"Yeah," she growled. "Just because you were sent here as a punishment doesn't mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too. Maybe you could try helping out a little!"

For a second, there was no sound except the crackle of the fire. The light reflected in Mr. D's eyes, giving him a sinister look. He opened his mouth to say something—probably a curse that would blast Thalia to smithereens—when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.

"SO COOL!" Nico yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. "You're…you're a centaur!"

Chiron managed a nervous smile. "Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters."

"And, whoa!" He looked at Mr. D. "You're the wine dude? No way!"

Mr. D turned his eyes away from me and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?"

"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine."

"My figurine."

"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!"

"Ah." Mr. D seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved Thalia's life.

"Well, that's…gratifying."

"Percy," Chiron said quickly, "you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."

"Capture the Flag?" Thalia asked. "But we don't have enough—"

"It is a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."

"Yeah," I muttered. "I bet it's real friendly."

Chiron jerked his head toward Mr. D, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defense points all the gods had in his game. "Run along now," Chiron told us.

"Come on, Thalia," I said. "Let's tell the others about Capture the Flag."

Before she could complain, I hauled her out of the Big House before Dionysus could remember he wanted to kill his half-sister.

"I know what it's like having a god on your bad side, Thalia," I told the daughter of Zeus. "Trust me, Dionysus will follow through with turning you into a dolphin or grape plant. That's what gods who can't fight with weapons hide behind, their powers."

"Let go of me," she argued. I let go of her once we got to a safe distance from the Big House. She glared at me. "I'm not stupid, Percy. It's just..." She looked out toward the basketball court. "It doesn't seem fair. I know, I know. Life isn't fair, but it doesn't mean everything has to be bad in my life."

I gave her a sympathetic look. "I understand, Thalia. Do you think I've had it fair my entire life? I've watched as Gabe"—I said the word like it was venom—"attempted seducing my mother every night, even though at the time I didn't know. I have had dreams where I learned he attempted to rape her many times. I watched Viola die right in front of my eyes. I could rant on about how much 'unfairness' I've experienced during life, but you wouldn't care. You learn to live with what you have, and some things may disappear, temporarily or permanently. If something bad happens...well, either kill the person who hurt you, ignore them for the rest of your life, or forgive them in the future. It really all depends on the person who hurts you. If they stick to hurting you, it will influence your decision. If they stop and attempt to apologize, consider forgiving them. As Hestia says, sticking together will help you get through any period of difficulty."

Thalia kept looking out at camp. Her eyes scanned the entire camp like a photocopier trying to scan a sheet to copy. I watched her sadly as her eyes turned solemn and mellow. She looked down.

"We'll get Annabeth and Luke back," I promised. "I just don't know where they are."

Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.

"I'll break that up," Thalia said. "You circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tomorrow."

"All right. You should be team captain."

She smiled and agreed before her expression turned serious. "Don't think this changes anything, though."

"I can try," I sighed. "And listen, I'm sorry about the fight back in our house. I wasn't really thinking and I was angry with you because you made fun of my intelligence. It's sort of a sore spot for me. I understand if you stay angry with me, and I probably deserve to be on your hate list for a while, but I hope you understand why I get pissed off so easily. Just because my father is Poseidon doesn't mean have Kelp for Brains."

"You let Annabeth call you Seaweed Brain," Thalia accused. "Since when have you yelled at her."

I looked down and stayed silent.

Thalia sighed again and she trudged off toward the court, where the Ares camper and the Hunter were trying to kill each other with a sword and a basketball.

The cabins were the weirdest collection of buildings you've ever seen. Zeus and Hera's big white-columned buildings, Cabins One and Two, stood in the middle, with five gods' cabins on the left and five goddesses' cabins on the right, so they all made a U around the central green and the barbecue hearth.

I made the rounds, telling everybody about capture the flag. I woke up some Ares kid from his midday nap and he yelled at me to go away. When I asked him where Clarisse was he said, "Went on a quest for Chiron. Top secret!"

"Is she okay?"

"Haven't heard from her in a month. She's missing in action. Like your butt's gonna be if you don't get outta here!"

I decided to leave before I ended up shoving his head up his own ass.

Finally I got to Cabin Three, the cabin of Poseidon. It was a low gray building hewn from sea stone, with shells and coral fossils imprinted in the rock. Inside, it was just as empty as always, except for my bunk. A Minotaur horn hung on the wall next to my pillow.

I took Annabeth's baseball cap out of my backpack and set it on my nightstand. I'd give it to her when I found her. And I would find her. Luke better not change to the Titans side. And if he appeared to when Thalia and I would arrive, he'd better hope on his life that he's faking.

I took off my wristwatch and activated the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Dr. Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The beautiful metal pictures that my brother had crafted were all banged up. In the picture of me and Annabeth fighting the Hydra, it looked like a meteor had made a crater in my head. I hung the shield on its hook, next to the Minotaur horn, but it was painful to look at now. Maybe Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin could fix it for me. He was the best armorsmith in the camp. I'd ask him at dinner.

I was staring at the shield when I noticed a strange sound—water gurgling—and I realized there was something new in the room. At the back of the cabin was a big basin of gray sea rock, with a spout like the head of a fish carved in stone. Out of its mouth burst a stream of water, a salt water spring that trickled into the pool. The water must've been hot, because it sent mist into the cold winter air like a sauna. It made the room feel warm and summery, fresh with the smell of the sea.

I stepped up to the pool. There was no note attached or anything, but I knew it could only be a gift from Poseidon.

I looked into the water and said, "Thanks, Dad."

The surface rippled. At the bottom of the pool, coins shimmered—a dozen or so golden drachma. I realized what the fountain was for. It was a reminder to keep in touch with my family and friends.

I opened the nearest window, and the wintry sunlight made a rainbow in the mist. Then I fished a coin out of the hot water.

"Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow," I said, "accept my offering."

I tossed a coin into the mist and it disappeared. Then I realized I didn't know who to contact first.

Should I contact my father to thank him for the wonderful gift that he gave me in this fountain? But could you even send an Iris-message to a god? I'd never tried. Would it make them mad, like a sales call or something?

Then I thought about whether I should have tried contacting Luke or Annabeth, to see what kind of danger they were in. I hesitated, though. Surely someone would notice my face appearing out of nowhere and raise the alarm. I could only hope that my dreams would lead me to them.

Then I made up my mind.

"Show me Tyson," I requested. "At the forges of the Cyclopes."

The mist shimmered, and the image of my half brother appeared. He was surrounded in fire, which would've been a problem if he weren't a Cyclops. He was bent over an anvil, hammering a red-hot sword blade. Sparks flew and flames swirled around his body. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark blue water—the bottom of the ocean.

"Tyson!" I yelled.

He didn't hear me at first because of the hammering and the roar of the flames.

"TYSON!"

He turned, and his one enormous eye widened. His face broke into a crooked yellow grin. "Percy!"

He dropped the sword blade and ran at me, trying to give me a hug. The vision blurred and I instinctively lurched back. "Tyson, it's an Iris-message. I'm not really here."

"Oh." He came back into view, looking embarrassed. "Oh, I knew that. Yes."

"How are you?" I asked. "How's the job?"

His eye lit up. "Love the job! Look!" He picked up the hot sword blade with his bare hands. "I made this!"

"That's really cool."

"I wrote my name on it. Right there."

"Awesome. Listen, do you talk to Dad much?"

Tyson's smile faded. "Not much. Daddy is busy. He is worried about the war."

"What do you mean?"

Tyson sighed. He stuck the sword blade out the window, where it made a cloud of boiling bubbles. When Tyson brought it back in, the metal was cool. "Old sea spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys."

"Ah." I knew what he was talking about. There were different rulers of the seas when my father wasn't around. Aigaios was an old god, a son of Pontus and Gaea, and he had fought on the side of the Titans when the Titanomachy occurred. Oceanus was a Titan himself, a son of the sky and earth, Ouranos and Gaea, and brother to Kronos. In the first Titanomachy he stayed neutral, despite the efforts of Kronos and Aigaios. The fact that he was allying himself with Kronos this time around wasn't a good thing.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

Tyson shook his head sadly. "We are arming the mermaids. They need a thousand more swords by tomorrow." He looked at his sword blade and sighed. "Old spirits are protecting the bad boat."

"The Princess Andromeda?" I said. "Ethan's boat?"

"Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy's storms. Otherwise he would smash it."

"Smashing it would be good."

Tyson perked up, as if he'd just had another thought. "Annabeth! Is she there?"

"Oh, well..." My heart felt like a bowling ball.

Tyson thought Annabeth was just about the coolest thing since peanut butter (and he seriously loved peanut butter). I didn't have the heart to tell him she was missing. He'd start crying so bad he'd probably put out his fires. "Well, no…she's not here right now."

"Tell her hello!" He beamed. "Hello to Annabeth!"

"Okay." I fought back a lump in my throat. "I'll do that."

"And, Percy, don't worry about the bad boat. It is going away."

"What do you mean?"

"Panama Canal! Very far away."

I stared at a random spot thoughtfully. Why would Ethan take his demon-infested cruise ship all the way down there? The last time we'd seen him, he'd been cruising along the East Coast, recruiting half-bloods and training his monstrous army. I had a bad feeling, knowing that the Panama Canal was the link between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean.

"All right," I said, not feeling reassured. "That's…good. I guess."

In the forges, a deep voice bellowed something I couldn't make out. Tyson flinched. "Got to get back to work! Boss will get mad. Good luck, Brother!"

"Okay, tell Dad—"

But before I could finish, the vision shimmered and faded. I was alone again in my cabin, feeling even lonelier than before.

I was pretty miserable at dinner that night.

I mean, the food was excellent as usual. You can't go wrong with barbecue, pizza, and never-empty soda goblets. The torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm, but we all had to sit with our cabin mates, which meant I was alone at the Poseidon table. Thalia sat alone at the Zeus table, but we couldn't sit together. Camp rules. At least the Hephaestus, Ares, and Hermes cabins had a few people each. Nico sat with the Stoll brothers, since new campers always got stuck in the Hermes cabin if their Olympian parent was unknown. The Stoll brothers seemed to be trying to convince Nico that poker was a much better game than Mythomagic. I hoped Nico didn't have any money to lose.

The only table that really seemed to be having a good time was the Artemis table. The Hunters drank and ate and laughed like one big happy family. Zoe sat at the head like she was the mama. She didn't laugh as much as the others, but she did smile from time to time. Her silver lieutenant's band glittered in the dark braids of her hair. I thought she looked a lot nicer when she smiled. Bianca di Angelo seemed to be having a great time. She was trying to learn how to arm wrestle from the big girl who'd picked a fight with the Ares kid on the basketball court. The bigger girl was beating her every time, but Bianca didn't seem to mind.

When we'd finished eating, Chiron made the customary toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was pretty half-hearted. Then he announced the "good will" capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a lot better reception.

Afterward, we all trailed back to our cabins for an early, winter lights out. I was exhausted, which meant I fell asleep easily. That was the good part. The bad part was, I had a nightmare, rather two nightmares, and even by my standards they were a whoppers.

Annabeth was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic and I couldn't see the sky above—just a close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave.

Annabeth struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to rums.

"Thorn!" Annabeth cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.

She gasped.

There was Luke. And he was in pain.

He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat, "Annabeth!" he called. "Help me! Please!"

She ran forward.

I stared shocked at Luke. What was he doing? How did he manage to get under that? I didn't understand what the blackness was and what it was doing to Luke. It was almost as if he were trying to hold up a cavern roof.

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down and touched Luke's face. She looked up with fear in her eyes, as if the cavern roof held a dark secret only she could see.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."

I couldn't see what was wrong with him. He seemed to be struggling against some invisible curse, as though the fog were squeezing him to death.

"Luke," she whispered. "How did you get here? I thought you were with me?"

"I don't know," he said, his breaths ragged. "Help me, Annie."

Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that.

Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed.

"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned.

Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily. Then randomly, he pulled a vial out of his pocket. That was when I got an eerie feeling. Luke opened the vial, brought it to his mouth, and began drinking. I realized too late and I attempted cursing my heart out at "Luke." Unfortunately, my voice didn't work in the dream.

Luke shimmered and his form began to change. His look became more scarred and less handsome. A round shape grew over one of his eyes and his hair turned black.

The figure that appeared in Luke's place was someone who I considered a traitor. Now, I couldn't even describe what I considered that boy. Rage built in my body slowly, like the slow progress of snow collecting on the ground. My vision could have turned red had I been awake.

"YOU!" snarled Annabeth, her voice trembling.

"Oh, don't worry," Ethan said. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."

The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Annabeth against the ground.

Ethan just casually walked away, as if threatening someone to their death was normal. Then my dream shifted.

I was in some sort of room, somewhere underground. There was a vision in a fountain of what was happening to Annabeth, a bunch of figures watching it. The tallest humanoid there was bound by handcuffs and chains. He was cursing them all.

"I'll kill you all, you hear me?" Luke growled. "You do not touch Annabeth."

Then a loud resonating voice laughed. It didn't sound anything like Kronos'. Kronos' voice was cold and raspy, like a knife being scraped against the rocks. This one sounded louder, like a bass guitar being played with distortion.

"Luke Castellan," he said. "You could have avoided this if you had joined us. I know you love your petty little girlfriend, though there is one person who you hold closer to yourself than her." He laughed again. His laugh was less scary than Kronos' but it was much louder and it echoed along the walls of the underground room as if a dozen bouncy balls had been thrown around it randomly.

"You let her go," Luke snarled. "You will let her go if it's the last thing I do."

"So cliché, Mr. Castellan," the voice said. "It is somewhat disappointing you are not on our side, Luke. You have a good sense of humor and are a very skilled fighter. You could easily take on Jackson with a little bit more training. I am sure my lord will deem him killable soon, hopefully when he takes the bait."

"What bait?"

The man chuckled. "Your little girlfriend is his best friend, is she not? He and the daughter of Zeus will be determined to save her. Oh, yes. The son of Poseidon is listening to our very conversation right now. He knows what has happened to the daughter of Athena."

I couldn't tell if the man speaking turned in my direction, but Luke turned toward me. He squinted for a second before his eyes widened. "Percy! Are you there?"

I opened my mouth to speak but no sound came out.

"But after all," the booming voice spoke, "he is in a dream. Unless this were an empathy link, he is not able to speak." I saw as a shadow loomed down and a man appeared in the vision.

He had dark slicked back hair, eyes like stone, light brown skin, and a muscular build. His eyes reminded me of someone, but I couldn't pinpoint who he reminded me of. I couldn't tell which Titan he was. (I assumed he was a Titan.) His eyes held a cruel light, something I swear only Ares has ever shown. He looked to be muscular beyond godly capabilities and probably the only Titan who could fend off one of the Big Three...aside from Kronos.

"So what will it be demigod?" he asked me. "Your friend, Luke, will either be on the Titans' side or dead within a week or so. Your best friend, Annabeth, will either be dead tomorrow or dead within a week or so. Choose wisely, Percy. Will you sacrifice your friends to stop the rise of Othrys or will you become the prophecy child now? Will you come here?"

Panic surged through my brain as the booming voice laughed and laughed. The dream slowly faded out, the Titan's laughing getting quieter and quieter until it was no more.

When I woke, my eyes shot open and I sat bolt upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. There was no sound in my cabin except the gurgle of the saltwater spring. The clock on my nightstand read just after midnight.

It was only a dream, but I was sure of three things: Annabeth was in danger, Luke was being blackmailed, and a Titan had escaped his prison.

Hey everyone,

Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks to those who've put this on their favorites, followed and reviewed.

Disclaimer: I don't own any excerpts taken from Rick Riordan's book Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Titan's Curse.

I also apologize for any grammatical errors in the chapter above.

With best regards,
SharkAttack719