Chapter 7 (Annabeth) The Princess Andromeda Part 2
"I'll be next door. Just don't eat or drink anything. This place doesn't feel right."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. Lock your doors." Percy locked the door, not before giving me a quick hug. I must have been a little bit flustered because he smiled.
"Alright. I'll see you two in the morning."
"Goodnight Annabeth."
"Goodnight Percy."
I slipped in next door. The room was just another plain bedroom like the one the boys were in next door. I locked the door behind me. Suddenly, I heard voices. They seem to be coming from above. I strained my ears to listen.
"You idiot." A male voice.
"Shut it." Another male.
"Give it to me." A female this time.
"You think you know how to do this" Male one said.
"Give it here, Chris."
A sudden memory. Chris Rodriguez, an unclaimed demigod from the Hermes cabin.
"Fine. If you get this wrong, then Luke will bust our heads. You do know that, right Lucy?"
Lucy Ryan, another unclaimed demigod from the Hermes cabin.
"Yes I do. Now give it here."
"Guys let's go somewhere else." Male two said.
"Joey's right. Let's go." Chris said. They walked away.
My heart was beating so fast, I thought it was going to burst. Three demigods. Chris Rodriguez, Lucy Ryan and Joey Brand. All unclaimed demigods from the Hermes cabin. How many others would we find? I couldn't dwell on that now. I needed sleep and I got it fast.
The next morning, I woke up early. I got dressed and searched the room. I didn't find anything useful unless you count breath mints. I put the breath mints in my bag and before you ask, the breath mints aren't for me. They're for Seaweed Brain. His breath smells when he drool in his sleep. Kind of like a fish. Suddenly, a voice over the intercom was speaking. I knocked on the door and peeked inside. The boys were awake and Percy had a drool line on this chin. He saw me looking and quickly wiped it off. He looked for another topic.
"Did you hear what that guy said?"
Tyson groaned. "The happy man said…bowling practice?" Boys are deaf.
"He said disembowelling practice."
Once the boys got dressed, we walked out onto the deck. A family of swimmers passed us; their expressions vacant. The dad told his kids," We are on a cruise. We are having fun."
"Yes," his three kids said together, their expressions blank. "We having fun. We will swim in the pool." They wandered off.
"Good morning," a crew member told us, his eyes glazed. "We are all enjoying ourselves aboard the Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day." He drifted away.
"Percy, this is weird," I whispered. "They're all in some kind of trance."
"Yeah."
We wandered over to the cafeteria and saw a monster. A hellhound. It was probably still young because it wasn't as big as the one that attacked Percy when he first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. We scrambled away down another hallway. Suddenly, from down the hallway, a voice said, "Ssssix more joined yessssterday."
I beckoned frantically at the others and we rushed into the womens bathroom and closed the door. Another voice hissed. "He isss getting more powerful assss we sssspeak. Ssssoon we will be more powerful. Then we can take on the Olympianssss." They hissed in unison, like they were laughing. Another voice sounded outside.
"-only a matter of time. Don't push me, Agrius!"
I made a weird noise. Percy looked at me fearfully.
"What do we do now?"
I thought furiously. "We have to find out what Luke's up to."
Tyson whimpered. "Why not leave?"
Percy answered. "We can't." He nodded at me. I got out first and put on my cap of invisibility. I scouted up ahead. Most of the people that we met were the glassy-eyed passengers. It was the first time I heard someone talk that politely. As we came up the stairs, I spotted two demigods coming our way. One of them was Chris and the other was Joey.
I hissed at Percy and Tyson. "Hide!" I shoved them into a closet. Chris and Joey came down the stairs.
"You see that Aethiopian drakon in the cargo hold?" asked Joey.
Chris laughed. "Yeah, it was awesome." I squeezed Percy's arm.
Chris continued. "I hear they got two more coming. They keep arriving at this rate, oh, man – no contest!"
They walked down the hallway and their voices faded away. I pulled of my cap. "That was Chris Rodriguez!" I told Percy. "You remember him? From Cabin Eleven?"
Percy nodded. "What's he doing here?"
I didn't know. I put my cap on again. We kept walking down the hallway. Every step closer to the doors at the end of the hall, the air got colder. I sensed we were getting closer to Luke. The problem was, I didn't feel any cold when Luke walked past our door. Someone else must be with him. I stopped and Percy collided with me.
I took my cap off. "Sorry Percy. I should've taken it off."
"It's OK. Shhh. Listen." We strained our ears but we couldn't hear anything.
"Scary man inside." Said Tyson. I looked at him.
"You can hear?"
He nodded and closed his eyes and said "You think the old horseman is gone for good?" It was the voice that Luke was talking to earlier outside the cafeteria.
"I don't know. What would you say, my Lord?" I gulped. Luke's voice.
"Stop it Tyson." I told him.
Tyson opened his eyes. "Just listening."
"Keep listening." Said Percy.
Tyson closed his eyes again. "Quiet!" the other voice whispered furiously.
"Are you sure?" Luke.
"Right outside."
I realised too late. Percy yelled, "Run!" but it was too late. The doors burst open and Luke and two other creatures were standing there. The bear-men lowered their spears, ready to run us through. Luke held up his hand.
"Bring them in. If it isn't my two favourite cousins." He smiled his crooked smile. The bear-men marched us inside and forced us into chairs. The room was beautiful but cold in the evil way. Luke bowed to a person sitting on a wheelie chair at the other end of the room. He was turned away from us but he looked familiar.
"My Lord. Eavesdroppers. Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson and a Cyclops." Luke said. He stepped back and ordered the two bear-men to lower their spears to the ground. The person stood up and turned around. He smiled coldly. I screamed. Now I knew why he looked familiar. It was Adrian.