Fast update, long chapter… yay!

Thanks to all of the amazing reviewers from last chapter: henrie locker, bxexlxlxa, softballchick1290, Mila-is-a-bookworm-101, ConstantCutie, Burned Blue Cookie, Guest, and Something More Creative. Every single one of you is pure epic, and I love you guys so much for sticking with this.

I'm on the edge around this chapter… but nonetheless, stay focused, because there are a crapload of hints about what's to come…

Warning: If you have a ridiculously weak stomach, people vomit a bit near the end… no detail, though.

Enjoy!

Percy

It's late.

I'm not sure how late, exactly, because the road we're on is unpaved and rocky and I can't take my eyes off of it for even a second, but it feels late. My eyelids are threatening to close as a sleepy yawn escapes my lips, the only noise in the quiet car. Tyson fell asleep hours ago, snoring softly in the car seat we managed to find on clearance in a department store, and Luke and Grover followed shortly, sprawled over the backseats. Annabeth's the only person still awake, but she's sketching quietly in the back, twirling a strand of blonde hair absentmindedly.

Noticing my yawn, she glances up from her paper. "I can drive, if you want to sleep." She offers, looking exhausted herself.

I let out a tiny shake of my head, veering around a large pothole. Luke had told us to take this route, claiming that we're less likely to get caught here, where there's no cameras to track our license plate. He was right, but why couldn't have he have driven this route? I'm clutching the steering wheel so tight, it feels like it could break apart in my hands any second. "No," I manage to get out, swearing as we go over a bump, loose gravel flying up around us. "The next hotel we see, we'll stop and spend the night. I can drive until then."

Annabeth frowns, clearly dissatisfied by my answer, but looks back down at her drawing nonetheless, dropping the matter. I can tell she's trying to avoid getting into another fight with me, something I admire her for. After the argument at the diner, I expected us to be pissed at each other for a few days, but then when we were at the beach, everything changed, somehow. I'm not sure why she hugged me, and honestly, I was pretty taken aback by it- a slap across the face seemed more her style- but I ended up hugging her back.

And that's when I realized just how much I miss her.

Not literally, of course- we're around each other all day now- but in the sense that I missed her pre-blowup. I missed the Annabeth from the café across the street, the girl who practically lived at my apartment and was adored by my mom and Paul, the girl who was my best friend. I miss her so badly it hurts, and that hug brought all of those emotions back full-force, overwhelming me like a sudden blow to the head.

Afterwards we were kind of in a limbo between what we used to be and what we are now, but now, with the beach long gone and the hot sun seeming like a distant dream, it's just plain awkward. I can tell that the rest of them (except probably not Tyson) realized something happened between us on the beach, but I'm not saying anything, and neither is Annabeth. The hug was a mistake. Last time I got close to her… well, look where it got us.

The road's starting to appear blurrier, the trees starting to swim before my eyes. My head jerks forward for a second as I finally succumb to sleep, before snapping back up as Annabeth lets out a shriek behind me. I glance back up blearily to realize that the minivan's spun out of control, driving horizontally across the road and barely missing a couple trees. "Shit, sorry," I mutter, blinking a few times to clear the fuzz in my head before steering the car back into place. "I fell asleep there for a second."

"You're driving with a five year old kid in the car!" Annabeth hisses, glancing around to make sure that our near crash didn't disturb any of the other passengers. "You can't fall asleep behind the wheel! Let me drive."

I sigh, about to give in, when suddenly a florescent light up ahead catches my eye. This road's been so dark and deserted for so long that the bright glare burns, but eventually I'm able to make out the words 'C.C.'s Resort and Spa'. "There," I say proudly, turning into the barren parking lot. "We can stop here for the night."

Annabeth frowns, looking at the small hotel that had appeared from seemingly nowhere. "I don't know, Percy. Doesn't this seem a little suspicious?"

I grin at her, unbuckling my seatbelt and jumping out. The cool air's pleasant after being stuck in the stifling car for so long, and so I take a deep breath in before sliding over the back door on Tyson's side. "It's either that, or I keep driving." Without waiting for a response, I begin to shake the five-year old awake, hoping he wouldn't lash out and hit me once he wakes.

With a roll of her eyes, Annabeth sighs and relents, beginning to wake up Grover and Luke. Eventually all five of us, groggy and disheveled, enter the lobby to find it completely empty. The front desk is covered in dust, and the furniture, although it must have been very ornate at some point in time, is faded and frayed. I lay Tyson down on a nearby sofa- the poor kid's exhausted- before moving further into the room, the rest of them behind me.

"Hello?" Grover calls out, trembling slightly. This feels like a scene from an old horror movie- any second now, we're going to find the stash of dead bodies hidden behind the desk. I'm about to mention this when Luke walks over to an old-fashioned bell and begins to ring it loudly. The sound bounces around the room, echoing off of the high ceiling. If anyone's in here, they should have heard this.

Just when we've almost decided to go and sleep in the van, a door behind us swings open, revealing three dark-haired figures. They're obviously all females, dressed in long, Grecian-style gowns, but one of them appears significantly older than the other two. "We're here, we're here, don't worry," The oldest woman coos, stepping out fully into the lobby. "Terribly sorry it took us so long to get here. But welcome to C.C.'s Resort and Spa!"

Annabeth steps forward, all business. "Um, hi. Can we please have three rooms, for-"

"My dear!" The woman that spoke before walks up to Annabeth and begins to examine her face, holding her chin with long, manicured nails. "What a gorgeous face you have! She is beautiful, no?" The last part is directed at us three boys.

"Yes," Luke and I say at the same time, before glaring at one another and looking down. Gods, does he not understand the fact that he's a fully grown man, seven years older than her, that could go to jail for assaulting a minor? I seethe, tuning back in to hear the woman stop rambling as Annabeth begins to speak.

"Actually, we just want some beds. We've been travelling all day, and we really could use some sleep." Annabeth gestures towards Tyson, who's still passed out on the sofa behind us.

"Then they must eat, correct, mother?" One of the girls, looking like the eldest of the two, walks towards us as well. This must be some ridiculous family business or something. "Guests should never have to go hungry."

"Indeed, Hylla," The woman- I guess the mom of the two girls?- smiles serenely at her daughter. "Would you show our lovely guests to the dining hall? Reyna, you can take our two… special visitors to their room. Make it fast, now." The older daughter, Hylla, nods and begins ushering Annabeth, who has taken sleeping Tyson in her arms, and Grover through a side door. I go to follow, when the youngest girl-Reyna?- presses a hand to my chest to stop me.

"You two must eat upstairs," She says, gesturing towards the staircase. Reyna looks around my age, maybe a year younger, with dark hair braided to the side and obsidian eyes. "It is customary that men eat away from the women and children. Your friend- the cripple- is an exception to this due to his condition, but you two must remain separate. It is tradition, after all."

"That's stupid," I blurt out without thinking, and Reyna's gaze snaps around to face me, eyes dark. "I mean, uh, okay. We can follow your custom… thing and eat upstairs."

With a nod, Reyna begins ushering us up a flight of stairs and to our room, which is thankfully only two floors up. I suddenly have a deep urge to take a shower- I didn't have time at Camp Half Blood, and quite honestly, I think I'm beginning to smell a fair bit- but I change my mind as I enter the room, Luke right behind me. No way am I letting him out of my sight. He'll probably toss my clothes out the window or something.

Reyna shuts the door, telling us food will be here shortly, and I'm left alone with Luke, to my utter dissatisfaction. He flops down on the bed closest to the window, sighing in exhaustion as if he hadn't been sleeping soundly in the car for the last five hours. I sit stiffly on the other mattress, close to fainting from lack of sleep but also, really, really craving food.

"So, Annabeth?" It takes me a second to realize that Luke's talking to me. I figured he'd be one of those people who make diabolical speeches to themselves aloud. Seeing my confused look, he elaborates, "Is she crazy or something? The whole prophecy shit she's been spouting sounds pretty insane."

I gape at Luke, not believing what I'm hearing. "What? But.. you said… you said you believed in the Mark of Athena!"

Luke snorts. "I think the whole concept behind the 'secret' to the Mark of Athena is pretty cool- I mean, it probably will help unlock a lot of technological advances, based off some of the research I've done. But she's turning it into a freaking fairy tale- prophecies and giants and dreams. So, let me ask again- is she insane?"

"No!" I say furiously, getting to my feet. "She's not insane! She's just acting off of her mom's orders, like she's supposed to!"

"And that's another thing," Luke continues, not even batting an eye at my outburst. "Parents. You're all so naïve, thinking that they know what's best for you, that they'll always be there to help. Let me tell you, Percy, they're not. My Dad? He's never been around. Took off when I was a baby, and never tried to get in contact with me. We need a new system, with new rules in place. Rules that make it so that kids can do what they want, without always having to listen to their parents."

"That," I'm appalled, honestly, by this seemingly random and yet somewhat creepy conversation. "Is the most insane thing I have ever heard of. You can't trust children to make decisions by themselves! There'll be two-year olds wandering across highways unsupervised! There'll be ten-year olds dying from alcohol poisoning! You seriously don't want that kind of system in place."

"Why not?" Luke shrugs. "I grew up practically unsupervised. Think about what could happen with that kind of freedom!"

"Um… death, wars, destruction, just to name a few," I list the items off on my fingers, honestly terrified now. Whatever Luke is rambling on about doesn't exactly give me high hopes about his mental stability. "So… what? You being on this 'quest' is all an act?"

With a smirk, Luke rolls his eyes at me. "No. I'm interested in where your journey will lead, honestly. And there are some bonuses- Annabeth's ass, for example." That's it. I'm about to punch him straight in the face. No one- and I mean no one- talks about Annabeth like that, like she's some piece of meat for them to survey. Because she's so much more- she's intelligent and witty and brave and…

…wait, I'm supposed to be beating up Luke. Right. Focus, Percy, focus.

Luke's still going on- ranting, really, by this point- about his supposed 'utopian' society, which all sounds like a load of bull, if you ask me. I clench my fists, ready to give him a good sock across the nose, when there's a knock on the door. Immediately, Luke shuts up and I flop down onto my bed, trying to act nonchalant and failing miserably. If it's Annabeth, I don't want her to hear anything about what Luke and I were talking about (well, really, Luke was doing most of the talking). Luckily, once Luke opens the door, it turns out it's just Reyna, holding several platters of food. My stomach grumbles, and I practically dive for the plate Luke tosses in my direction.

Even though the things we were discussing before were rather dark, not to mention all of the tension between us beforehand, we sat in amicable silence as we ate. Hey, don't judge us- we're teenage boys, and there's hamburgers in front of us. What would you do?

"So," Luke says, ketchup dripping down his chin. You know, it's even harder to take this whole diabolical-mastermind thing seriously when he looks like he's just stepped out of the latest Twilight movie. "Will you join me, Percy?"

I almost choke on the fries I'm practically inhaling. "Join you in killing a lot of innocent people, for some insane idea that will never succeed? The world will never listen to you, Luke. Your ideals are ridiculous."

Luke sighed. "I figured you'd say that, Jackson. Don't worry, you'll come around. But until then, I'm sticking with you guys, which means you don't breathe a word of this to anyone, alright?"

I can't help it- I let out an incredulous snort. "Really? You think I'm not going to tell Annabeth about this the second they all get back? I'm going to tell Grover too, and hell, I'm even going to tell Tyson. You're a jackass, Luke, just like I always knew you were. And now… I'm finally going to get a chance to show everyone else your true colours."

Luke's silent for a moment, chewing at his burger. Then, finally, he looks me in the eye, dead serious, and smirks. "What makes you think they'll believe you?"

This takes me aback. I can't even imagine them believing Luke over me. "They won't," I say confidently, hoping he can't see the worry in my eyes. "Trust me- they know me so much better than they know you. They'll believe me, you'll see."

Luke looks like he's about to respond, when suddenly his face pinches together in pain. I look at him in confusion, not exactly rushing to his aid, as suddenly my stomach begins flopping uneasily in my stomach, cramping and twisting until I'm almost screaming from the pulsating ache. I can feel sweat beginning to pool on my forehead, and the room begins spinning slightly. This feels almost like the flu, except a few seconds ago I was perfectly fine.

"Did you poison the food?" I manage to choke out angrily, wincing as my body is racked with another bout of pain. This is ridiculous. What could have happened that would have made us react so suddenly and violently?

Luke's face is pale green as he looks up from the mattress. "If I did, tell me, why would I poison myself-" He cuts off abruptly, just as I feel the wave of nausea washing over me. Making a beeline for the bathroom, I double over and retch into the toilet, slumping against the small bathtub as the room swirls faster. Luke's still in the main room, puking out of the window. I really hope no one has the room below us.

I'm shuddering now, full-body shivers that make me just want to pass out. "What the hell is going on?" I almost scream out to Luke, forgetting temporarily that he may just be some kind of criminal mastermind.

"Do you really think I know?" Luke hollers back, just as I hear the sound of more retching. He groans, and I can hear him slump against the wall. "If anything, I would bet these idiots undercooked the food or something."

More vomit on my part keeps me from responding, but my mind is still racing. Although undercooking the food seems likely, why would we have felt it so fast? I'm no expert, but I think food poisoning takes more than a few minutes to set in. This feels deliberate, almost, like someone wanted us to get sick.

The door bangs open just then, but I can do nothing more than let out a faint groan as Annabeth races in, Grover and Tyson right behind her. "Guys, we need to go…" She trails off, noticing our overturned plates, Luke puking his guts out onto the flowers outside, and me, doubled over in the bathroom. "What happened?"

"Someone poisoned the food," I say grimly, turning away for a second to cough weakly into the toilet. "We're not sure who."

Grover does his strange bleat-chuckle again nervously. "Yeah, well, we've got problems as well. As in, angry thieves trying to rob us problems. We need to get out of here- we managed to shake them off, but pretty soon they're going to be knocking on our door again."

I retch loudly, feeling their sympathetic winces on my back. "We can barely stand, though," I point out, trying to clamber to my feet and failing miserably. Getting to the van seems like a distant dream right now- I'll be lucky if I can get to the lobby without passing out. "I'm not sure how we're going to be able to walk, let alone run away from angry robbers."

Annabeth chews her bottom lip nervously. "Well, we can't stay here. I guess we'll just have to help you two walk, then." She makes a move towards Luke as my stomach plummets, and not because I'm sick.

I wince from the bathroom. "Seriously?" I say, trying to keep my tone light. "I held your hair back when you ate a worm when we were twelve, and now you won't even help me up?" Yes, I'm desperate. Thank you for noticing.

Annabeth's face softens, and she changes paths, walking up to me instead. "Fine. Grover, go and help Luke," She orders, the tiniest him of a smile on her face as I dizzily stand and begin to lurch towards the door, her arm wrapped around me. At any other time my ego would be a tiny bit damaged by this, but screw it- if she lets go, I'm hitting the floor face-first. My legs feel like they're made of Jell-O.

We walk out into the hall, Luke and Grover right behind us, Tyson by their side. They're having trouble maneuvering around the crutches, but eventually we all make it to the elevator, collapsing the second the doors shut. I slide down the wall, resting my head in between my knees. Finally, the door dings, and I haul myself back to my feet as we step out into the lobby.

And, of course, that's when everything goes downhill.

There are about eight men standing in front of us, with bushy beards, eye patches, and daggers, looking like some ridiculous pirate wannabes or something. To the side stands Reyna and Hylla, along with their mother. Everyone looks like they really want to rip us apart limb from limb, which I've learned from experience generally isn't a good thing.

"Um, hi," Grover steps forward, obviously deciding to go for the polite approach. "Why don't you put your nice, er, daggers away and we can talk like civil humans?" Beside him, Luke nods eagerly. I cautiously pull Tyson into my side- something tells me that the wannabe pirates aren't going to play nice.

"Boy, we ain't simpletons," One of the men sneer. He looks like one of the dudes from Duck Dynasty- long beard, heavy accent, you name it. "Y'all are gonna attack the second we turn."

"We're weaponless, actually," Luke pipes up ever-so-helpfully, and I wince. Great. Now we've lost any advantage we had over them. Another wave of nausea overtakes me, and I slump into Annabeth's side, feeling ridiculously weak.

"Look," Annabeth's watching me nervously, as if hoping I won't puke. "My friends here are sick. If you could just let us go on our way…"

"Oh, we know they're sick," Hylla smirks. "It's their punishment, isn't it, mother?"

I blink, wondering if I'm hallucinating. These people are just hotel owners.. why the hell would they want to poison us on purpose? "Punishment? Why?" I inquire, my voice sounding weak and raspy. "Whatever I did, I probably didn't mean it."

Reyna tsks, turning towards her mother. "You see? They are so ignorant that they don't even know what they did wrong."

"Listen," Annabeth lets go of me and walks forward, and I try my best to remain standing. She lowers her voice, as if telling the eleven individuals in front of her a secret, but her eyes show that she's really just about to lie through her teeth. "Those two boys you see there aren't exactly the sharpest. In fact, they're actually rather stupid. So they probably meant no harm to whoever they offended… anyways, if you could call your lovely… er… pirates off and step aside, we'll just be on our way."

In a flash, there are four daggers pointed at her throat. Great. Not only is it, like, 3am, but Luke and I are about to vomit our guts up, no one's gotten any sleep, and there are men with weapons in front of us, and women that hate us beside them. The odds really aren't in our favour, are they?

The oldest woman, whose name I still don't know, laughs. "Oh, how funny! She doesn't even realize that we're just doing this to protect her."

Annabeth looks taken aback as she cautiously steps away from the daggers. "Protect me?"

"Oh, yes," The woman's skirt swishes as she walks up to Annabeth, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I am Circe. I believe you have great potential, but you cannot achieve that potential while on a quest with such ignorant pigs! The shame! They call you beautiful, they have no other regard for you. They do not value a women for anything other than her looks. Thus, their punishment."

"Hold up," Grover's furry eyebrows knit together. "So you poisoned Percy and Luke… because they called Annabeth beautiful?"

Circe nods, apparently satisfied, and if I wasn't so dizzy, I would have screamed in terror. We're outnumbered by people that don't exactly seem sane anymore, with no way to escape. Annabeth seems to be thinking the same thing, as her eyes meet mine. They're thinking, racing, before finally a solution is reached and I know what I have to do. It's stupid, and pointless, and will most likely end in injury, but I have to try.

The rest of them have obviously received the message by way of eye contact, and I watch as their bodies tense up. I reach into my pocket and pull out my bomb-pen, one hand on the trigger. We're waiting for a signal from Annabeth, and finally it arrives- a simple twitch of the hand, nothing more.

And with that, we all race straight into the crowd of people, heads down. I scoop Tyson up and hold him to my chest, dodging knives and frustrated screams. The ground is spinning, and my stomach is threatening to blow any second now, but I keep running. It's a stupid plan, but unless we wanted to stand there talking all day, it's our only way out.

We burst out of the front doors and into the parking lot, making a beeline for the van. There's an angry mob behind us now, seething with rage and I wonder briefly why on Earth they were so hell-bent on us staying there. Luke and I got our punishment- what else did they need us for? The pavement is hard underneath my feet, as we finally reach the van and I toss Tyson inside, clambering in after him. Annabeth gets behind the wheel and jets out of there, not even waiting for the doors to close.

"What," Grover pants, gasping for air, "is it with us running into buff guys with beards?"

I'm about to answer when the nausea catches up to me and, for the second time in three days, I pass out.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't all that manly, either.

I have an odd fascination with making Percy pass out a lot… I think he does it at least once more in coming chapters, so maybe I'll need to start coming up with new ways to end his POV…

Anyways, so yeah! Lots of shit went down in this chapter! And now, with Luke's evilness out in the open, we can have Percabeth, right?

Haha, NOPE. Annabeth still doesn't know, remember?

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter more than I did, and don't forget to leave a review on your way out! Seriously guys, it means so much.

Thanks for reading,

-Jace ;)

PS: If anyone here speaks French… I have a project due Monday and I'm shit at writing futur simple. Help?