Chapter 2
The person standing there was, you guessed it, Annabeth.
Luke and Annabeth began walking in our direction, pulling the girls along by the arm, before stopping at our table.
"Inmate 518, Perseus Jackson, and Inmate 423, Nico di Angelo, these," Luke said, gesturing to the redhead and black haired girl," are your responsibility. Teach them how things are run here. I would do it, but I have far more important matters to attend to. Come along, Annabeth."
And with that, Luke strutted out of the room with Annabeth following suit, but not without glancing back at me as she went.
Switching my attention to the girls, I spoke:
"So…uhm…. what are your names?"
"Thalia, daughter of Zeus," said the black haired girl in a bored tone like she could think of thousand different things she'd rather be doing. Honestly, I couldn't really blame her; I was the same way when I got here.
"Rachel Dare," The redhead said.
"Well, who's your parent?" With Thalia, it was kind of obvious who her parent was, especially with her electric blue eye color and the way she seemed to radiate power, but with Rachel, I couldn't quite pinpoint hers.
"Err…I don't have one." What? Ok, now I was really confused. If she doesn't have a godly parent, then why is she here?
She took notice of my confused expression and began to elaborate:
" Well, I'm not a demi-whatever like you guys, but I can see things. Things that haven't even happened yet. I even saw you one time, but you weren't in here."
"What do you mean I wasn't in here?"
"It looked like you were in a cabin of some sort, reading a newspaper that was dated next month. Thalia, Nico, and I were standing behind you, reading over your shoulder. Oh and that blond chick that brought us in here was there, too."
Soaking all the information in, I realized that if Rachel was right, I'd be out of this dump next month, . No more cells, no more guards, no more shackles. I'd be out there, back in the real world, with Nico. And Annabeth. I smiled mentally at the thought.
Nico nudged me, a huge smile on his face, before he spoke:
"So, in order for that to happen, what do we have to do?" He asked, deciding to trust Rachel and what she saw.
"Well," Rachel began, "I don't know. I guess just wait for the opportunity."
"Ugh, can't we just leave now? There's no way I'm staying here for a whole month," Thalia grumbled, clearly annoyed that we were a). trapped and b). had absolutely no plan.
The conversation was dropped after that and silence replaced it.
Several seconds passed before I couldn't stand the quiet and broke it.
" Since you guys are going to be here a while, I thought I'd tell you the rules. So, here, we have to-"
"Spare me the details. I don't plan on listening to them anyway." Thalia said, interrupting me.
"Okaaay, then, new topic. How did you get here?"
"Red and I met at a park. I'd just killed a hydra, not knowing that Rachel was standing there the whole time. When I found out, I didn't think it was a big deal because this was when the mist was still, you know, working. But then she asked me what that was and why it was here and blah blah blah so then I knew she could see through the mist. She was terrified, wouldn't leave my side, so I took her under my wing and told her about us after I knew I could trust her. We became friends and one day, we were just talking, hanging out, and she fell over, her eyes were glowing, there was green smoke around her, and she was talking in a weird voice. It was kind of funny; she sounded like she aged seventy five years in ten seconds, but other than that, it was really freaky. After it was over, she told me she saw us getting dragged away from here and thrown in a truck; I didn't believe her. But a couple days later, her vision came true."
"You're like a fortune teller. You don't happen to have a crystal ball, do you?" I asked jokingly, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Yes, Percy, I do," Rachel said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at me. "And it's telling me that in your near future, I'm going to slap you if don't take this seriously."
"Get back on track here, people. If we're going to get out of here, we're going to need a plan. Why don't we meet here everyday at both lunch and dinner to discuss how this is all going to go down? Sound good?" Thalia said, cutting me off before I could reply to Rachel.
We all nodded our consent.
The guards came into the cafeteria and quickly ushered us out.
I arrived at my concrete cage moments later. The guards shoved me through the entryway, removed my shackles, and slammed the door shut, leaving me to my thoughts.
Lying down on the stained, misshapen mattress, I replayed my day in my head over and over, unable to believe that everything that happened was real. I had two new allies, Rachel and Thalia. One of them could look into the future; she saw all of us in a cabin, not in here. We were going to leave, escape, break free. We'd never have to be confined to this hellhole ever again. We could live our lives the way we'd wanted before our dreams were torn to shreds. All we needed now was a plan, a good, solid plan and we'll be free.
Freedom here I come.
It's been two weeks since Nico and I had first met Rachel and Thalia. Not much has happened since then. The only change is that we formed a plan, but it's not quite fool-proof yet. We still need to work out a few holes that could lead us to a failed escape, resulting in severe consequences that none of us would likely survive from. Other than that, our plan is really coming together rather nicely. But now our flow of ideas has reached a dead end and none of us can think of ways to patch up those holes.
"Why don't we just have Percy drown all the guards with his water-controlling thingy?" Nico suggested as we gathered at our usual table for breakfast.
"That wouldn't work. Last time I checked, there was hardly any water to control and there are way too many guards. I don't think I'd be strong enough to keep control long enough to get rid of all of them." I replied.
"Well, now what? We've thought of everything and not one of those things can work out in our favor."
"There has to be something were overlooking, Nico, something that were missing. Something important that could piece this whole thing together."
We sat in silence, wracking our brains for one idea that could make this work, until Thalia's eyes widen and she said:
"I've got it! But for this to go how we plan, we're going to need inside help."
"Are you kidding me? Who's going to be willing to betray Kronos to help us?" Rachel exclaimed, clearly exasperated that Thalia would even suggest such a silly idea.
"Percy, you were close with that blond chick, right? Ask her. She could help."
"Why would she help us? She doesn't care about me; if she did, she wouldn't have brought me here."
"Maybe she cares, maybe she doesn't, but it's worth a shot. We're getting desperate here, Perce. We're at a dead end. We think and think and think, but we always come up empty handed. This could be our chance. Don't blow it."
"Thalia's right," Rachel added, "You may not want to see Annabeth after what she did to you, but this is our shot. And you need to take it."
"Alright. I'll do it, but after dinner when the guards are bringing us in for the night."
I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that I'd have to face Annabeth again. When I arrived here, I didn't even plan on talking to her, let alone beg for her assistance to escape from a prison she gladly trapped me in. But my friends and I needed help even if that included talking to Annabeth Stupid Traitor Chase.
I just hope I won't regret it later.
The hours flew by faster than normal and before I knew it, I was out of the cell and in the cafeteria for dinner. My friends attempted to calm my nerves as they loudly munched their food. Unfortunately, their effort did nothing but make me more anxious for my upcoming encounter.
Then, it was time. The guards came through the doors, hollering for us to leave the room in an orderly fashion.
Scanning the room, I found a familiar head of curly blond hair off to my right. And there she was, standing against the wall with her arms crossed, eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary. Her celestial bronze dagger that she had had ever since she was seven rested against her hip. She had a scowl on her face as she observed the demigods, obviously depicting the best way to take each one down if a fight were to occur.
Even after everything she did to me, my heart still flipped around in my chest at the sight of her. Sometimes, I really wish it'd stop; it won't make any difference that I still like her, that I miss our relationship, that I miss what we used to be. But I can't help how I feel, I can't change my feelings even though it would most likely be for the best if I did. Annabeth doesn't love me, that I'm sure of, but if she helps me escape, I'll know that deep down she really did care about me, that our friendship mattered to her. And maybe, just maybe, that'll make this whole thing hurt a bit less.
The closer I got, the tighter the knots in my stomach felt. Each step felt like I was walking into the lion's den; one wrong move and it would strike. Well, in this case, she would strike and strike to kill at that.
When I was an arms length away, I tapped her shoulder, causing her head to swivel in my direction. When she realized who I was, her eyes immediately widened like she was shocked that I actually came to talk to her.
"Um..hey,Percy." Annabeth said hesitantly like if she said one incorrect word, I'd run away and be gone for good.
It's now or never.
"Hi, Annabeth," I replied, inwardly smiling when a small smile grew on her lips as I spoke her name, "Listen, I need help."
"Help?"
"I need to get out of here." There I said it. Now I can only hope Annabeth can find it somewhere in her heart to do this favor for me.
"Are you insane," She whisper-shouted at me, "Even if I help, you're only going to get caught and once they catch you, they're going to ki-" She trailed off, unable to finish her thought.
"That won't happen if you help," I retorted, my tone matching her hushed yet stern pitch. "Please, Annabeth, if you care about me at all, you'll do this for me."
"Percy, I-"
"C'mon, we need you, I need you… And you and I both know I can't stay here. One more month in this awul prison and I'm going to go mad, crazy. Then, you can officially call me Seaweed Brain because there's going to be nothing left up here." I said, placing my pointer finger to my temple.
Closing her eyes, she remained silent, contemplating her options-hopefully leaning toward my side of the argument. Annabeth appeared to be warring with herself, one side screaming to help while the other battled against it, stating how that idea would get her nowhere.
My palms began to sweat as the seconds ticked by without a response. This is it. If Annabeth says no, we'll have no chance. We need help from the inside or the outside and since we have no way to contact demigods outside the prison, inside help is our best bet.
Finally after several long, agonizing seconds, she opened her mouth and said:
"I'll do it," I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding before launching myself at her, pulling her into an embrace. Mentally slapping myself back to reality I took in what I was doing and quickly released her. "but on one condition."
"And that is?"
"You let me come with you when you're out."
"Fine."
We shook hands to confirm our agreement before Annabeth led me back down the familiar hallway to my cell for the night.
"Thanks, Annabeth," I said just before she left and disappeared down the hall.
She nodded once before telling me goodnight and briskly heading back the way we'd come.
I awoke the following morning to a sharp pain. Jolting awake, I found Annabeth standing over me, her foot placed firmly to my chest, with Ethan, the boy who dragged me from my home, and Luke, both standing behind her.
Shit! Annabeth told them. She betrayed my trust again. But to my surprise, the words that left Annabeth's lips had nothing to do with yanking me away to suffer unimaginable punishment.
"Several sets of guards keys have gone missing, yours included, and it's mandatory proceedure to search the jail until they're found. You and the other inmates will be sent to the outer part of the prison." She said, pulling me up and out of the cell, down the corridor to our destination.
The outer part of the jail is surprisingly outside which is kind of unbelievable, considering the mortals are so worried we'll escape. But anyway, it's this small, grassy area, spanning about half of a football field, with an enormous, rusted barbed wire, electric fence surrounding it. There aren't many guards out to supervise us-I think that's because they believe their fence is "impenetrable" or so they say. Other than that, there's not much else out there besides dandelions and maybe some dirt. Basically, all the demigods just sit around out there and talk with each other until it's time to head back in after inspection, which could take hours. Because of all the demigods, of course. It's a good place if you want your conversations private, unheard by eavesdropping ears.
As we arrived, I quickly picked Thalia, Nico, and Rachel out of the crowd and strode over to them. But halfway there, I was stopped by Annabeth who instead of speaking, simply slipped a small, folded piece of notebook paper into my hand before walking away without a word.
Glancing around, making sure our odd exchange went unnoticed, I unfolded the paper which read:
Tonight's the night. Be ready. Wait for the signal.
~Annabeth
I read the note over multiple times to ensure that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. They weren't. Looks like Annabeth pulled through.
I smiled.
After tonight, I won't be Inmate 518, the jailbird of Lotus prison; I'll be Percy Jackson, escapee from the most safeguarded prison in the world.
The mortals may have deluded themselves into thinking they're so high and mighty compared to demigods, but just wait until they see what we can do.