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FIC: The Final Sacrifice, chpt 9
Title: The Final Sacrifice (Daughter of Wisdom 5)
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Thalia Grace, Charles Beckendorf/Silena Beauregard, Clarisse La Rue, Michael Yew, OCs, multiple others
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Word Count: WIP, estimated 100K+ (3334 chapters planned)
Summary: The war on Olympus is heating up, and Annabeth Chase is right in the thick of it. Bad enough that she's gearing up for battle while wrestling with the emotional turmoil over two of her dearest friends that is turning her heart inside out. She doesn't need more mysterious glimpses about the Great Prophecy and how it connects to her own history. But in order to understand what lies in her future, Annabeth has to dig into the past. What she finds will shape her choices … and change the course of the final battle. An alternate PoV retelling of The Last Olympian. Part 5 of the Daughter of Wisdom series.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: I Get Into A Cage Fight
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Charles Beckendorf, Clarisse La Rue, Hypnos, Alabaster Torrington, Leila
Word Count: 3,375
Chapter Summary: Annabeth has a difficult choice to make.
Notes: A nod here to Percy's Christmas adventure from The Sword of Hades in The Demigod Files-I try to use the short stories while I can! And this is also an attempt to explain the time when Percy told Annabeth about Bob/Iapetus, since she obviously has heard about it by HoO, but it never is actually shown in canon.
Annabeth's previous meeting with Hypnos is a throwback to the first fic in this series, Daughter of Wisdom. Euterpe is the Muse of lyric poetry-i.e., music, so concerts would certainly be her domain! The bit about Hypnos putting Zeus to sleep has basis in the mythology, where twice Hera persuaded Hypnos to exert this power, leading to Zeus being furious with Hypnos, who then hid from his wrath by hiding with Nyx.
I found Alabaster Torrington's story in Son of Magic (from The Demigod Diaries) interesting on two levels. First, he had a very specific and intense hatred towards the gods and Camp Half-Blood, and even specifically Percy, which lends credibility to the idea that he's encountered him beyond just the warrior who won the Battle of Manhattan. ('I’d never set foot in their camp, and if I did, it would only be to give that son of Poseidon what he deserves.') Second, he was clearly high enough in Kronos's army that the gods refused to give him amnesty after the war-to the point that Hecate ransomed him for the sake of her other children. I have therefore tried to give him a bigger role and a more clear reason to hate Percy, while working within the constraints of what Percy seems to know in the series.
A third point about Alabaster made me decide to give a peek into what was going on with our friends on the West Coast: despite his history being traced back to the Greek side, Alabaster had an Imperial gold sword. At some point during this year (if my calculations are right), Jason and Reyna ran a quest to Charleston to recover torpedoed Imperial gold weapons. I have therefore referenced that adventure, but left it vague enough for the reader to infer how much Alabaster knows as makes sense to them. That's where Lethe came in most useful as a plot device! Her waters ensure that neither Percy nor Annabeth will have any memory of any of this. Possibly more so since the gods at this stage are so adamant that the camps are kept apart.
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It wasn't long before Beckendorf and Clarisse started their distraction. The ball of scrap metal rolled off the roof of one of the warehouses, landing with a thump at the many-headed Ismenian dragon's feet. Five heads peered over curiously, then snapped at it. As soon as any head came close, the ball rolled away, positioning itself nearer to a different group of heads. Slowly, it got the attention of all the dragon's numerous heads, always taking care to stay just out of reach. For the five minutes or so that Beckendorf had had to put this together, it was remarkable workmanship.
Then the ball grew legs. Eight spindly attachments sprouted from its sides, lifting it an inch off the ground. The ball skittered across the concrete on its new limbs, moving terrifyingly like a-like a-
I cringed and backed up against the alley wall, clenching my teeth together. I did not want to think about spiders, especially not while in Richmond.
Percy's hand found mine. 'Hey,' he whispered, 'it's not really a spider. He probably made an automaton, like that disc of Hephaestus's.'
I knew Percy meant well, but this wasn't exactly comforting. Last year, Hephaestus's bronze spider-or an eight-legged disc, at any rate-had led us into the heart of Mount St Helens, where we'd gotten surrounded by telkhines. And in the heat of the moment, I'd gone and ...
I pulled my hand away. The dragon was waddling off after the eight-legged ball, which danced back and forth in front of it. The ball stayed just close enough to keep all the dragon heads interested, but far enough to get the beast moving.
'Here's our chance,' I said as soon as the dragon disappeared into the warehouses. Beckendorf and Clarisse were no doubt lying in wait for it, but there was no telling how long they could keep the dragon busy. We wouldn't have long.
I noticed two things when we ran into the loading dock. First, each cage was positioned under a black poplar tree, which was really weird. How were there two random trees in the middle of an industrial park? Second, both cages had a wooden bowl balanced on top. Milky white liquid dripped from a branch of each black poplar into the bowls.
Something about that constant drip, drip, drip held my attention. Without really thinking about it, I advanced, holding out my hand to touch the water.
'Don't!' Percy grabbed my arm. I blinked and shook my head. My limbs were heavy, like I'd been sleepwalking and had suddenly woken up.
'Do you know what it is?'
'I'm not sure,' Percy said. 'But it looks familiar ... and not in a good way.' He pulled his pen from his pocket and uncapped it. A second later, his bronze sword, Riptide, was in his hand. He raised it to the flow of water. As soon as the blade touched it, the water changed course and spurted off the edge of Percy's sword. He lowered Riptide and pulled me back. The water turned black as it splashed to the ground.
'That's Lethe water,' Percy said.
'Like ... the river Lethe?' I shuddered, thankful that Percy had had the presence of mind to keep me from touching it. 'But that's an Underworld river. How ...?'
'I don't know,' Percy said. 'But I'm pretty sure. Thalia, Nico, and I were down there last Christmas. Er, long story. But we ran into Ethan Nakamura and a Titan. Eye-patcher or something.'
'Iapetus?'
'Yeah, that's the one. He tried to kill us-the usual drill-but I chucked him in the Lethe. And ... well, it wiped his memory completely. Now he thinks his name is Bob, and he's a janitor for Hades.'
I shivered. If this stuff was strong enough to destroy the memory of a Titan, what could it do to us?
'Yes,' a voice chuckled, making us jump. 'Lethe tends to do that.'
The speaker appeared out of nowhere, hovering in the air next to the dripping poplar branch. At first, I thought he was a ghost-a very familiar-looking ghost, with flaxen hair teased into an Elvis Presley pompadour that went badly with his round, puffy cheeks. Then I realised he didn't even have that much substance. He was only visible from the shoulders up, and was no more than a hazy, disembodied image that flickered worse than a bad Iris-message connection.
Percy seemed to be thinking along the same lines. 'You're not a ghost, are you?'
Bad Hair-Do considered this. 'You could call it astral projection. My body, alas, is in Tartarus, curse the gods.'
'You're a Titan, then.' Percy raised his sword, though I had no idea if it would even have an effect on something without form.
'Oh no, I'm a god.' His face contorted into a sneer. 'A minor god, as the Olympians so generously designate. I presided over the domain of sleep for thousands of years, which you'd think would make me pretty damn important. I mean, you mortals spend a third of your lives sleeping! But no, I still get no respect. And then when I tried to branch out into concert music-'
It suddenly clicked where I'd met this god before. 'I know you! You're Hypnos! I was at one of your concerts on Olympus. You ...' I stopped. Hypnos had put us all to sleep during our field trip to Olympus three years ago. That was the same time Luke had stolen Zeus's master bolt and Hades's helm of darkness, and tried to frame Percy for the theft.
Hypnos's nostrils flared. 'No appreciation for my music. Euterpe complained so much, they threatened to break my lyres if I kept playing. Talk about favouritism. The last straw was when I did Hera a favour and put Zeus to sleep so she could go interfering with some quest behind his back last June-'
'That was you?'
'And what thanks did I get? Hera didn't even lift a finger to help when Zeus came after me. I had to flee all the way to Tartarus to escape his wrath! But Kronos offered me freedom. I don't dare do more than project my consciousness into the upper world now, but once the Titans rule and we imprison the Olympians in Tartarus instead, I will get out and play all the concerts I want!'
I clenched my fists. On one hand, I could sympathise with Hypnos for getting shafted by Hera the Hypocrite. On the other, his interference had allowed her to mess up my quest last year-and my life.
'Well, you can go back to sleep, snooze-boy,' Percy said. 'We're not letting Kronos win.'
Hypnos sneered. 'You're fighting a losing battle, son of Poseidon. Kronos's army outnumbers yours by far. My sons are all in his service: running test strikes on mortals in Manhattan, enticing demigods to his side ... Their spells will intercept the dreams of all demigods and persuade them to join the Titan army!'
'You're doing this. That's why the satyrs lost track of their half-bloods!'
'Yes.' Hypnos's wavering image was smug. 'Even you were drawn here. But clearly, there are some glitches with the hypnosis. No matter. There are uses for those who won't fight for us.' He jerked his chin towards the cage of younger children. 'The monsters are always hungry.'
My eyes fell again on the teddy bear lying between the cages. I couldn't tell if its owner was still inside the cage, or if she'd already been ... My stomach turned over.
Percy's face was dark and stormy. He lifted Riptide and swiped at the bowl on top of the older children's cage. It smashed to the ground next to the abandoned teddy bear. The sleeping demigods stirred.
'You will pay for that!' Hypnos growled.
'Oh year? What you gonna do about it?' Percy challenged. 'News flash, you're a disembodied spirit.'
'I may not be able to fight you, but I'll find a champion who can!' Hypnos let out a wail like an air raid siren. Percy slashed through him with Riptide and the astral projection vanished, but it was too late. Hypnos's brief alarm had already brought someone running.
Expecting the Ismenian dragon, Percy and I both raised our weapons and spun round in a defensive stance. But it was only Alabaster Torrington, the stringy demigod servant whom I'd seen in my dreams. He was dressed in black from head to toe, which might have been good camouflage if it hadn't been mid-morning. I'd have found it odd that he carried no weapon, had I not known this kid was a son of Hecate. He didn't fight by the normal rules.
'So you're the son of Poseidon.' Torrington looked him up and down, unimpressed. 'Lackey of the gods.'
Percy's nostrils flared. I could tell he didn't like being called a lackey, but he kept his temper in check. 'And I suppose you're just another of Kronos's flunkeys.'
'I'm nobody's flunkey,' Torrington spat.
'Then snap out of it, dude.' Percy waved his hand towards the cage. 'Help us get these kids out of here. You can come back to Camp Half-Blood with us. We can protect you.'
Torrington's face contorted. His voice dripped with contempt. 'You favourites of Olympus. Always so condescending. What makes you think I want to return to your pathetic little camp?'
'Fight him!' Hypnos's astral projection winked back into sight over the other cage.
Torrington produced a sickly green notecard with a picture of a golden sword. He clapped his hands together and chanted something in Latin. A second later, he held a heavy gold sword in his hands.
Percy gave me a pointed look and jerked his head towards the cage door. I'd been on enough missions with him to read his expression easily: I'll take this jerk, you free the demigods.
The next moment, he engaged Torrington in battle, bronze meeting gold as their swords clashed. Hypnos's projection streamed overhead, screeching for Torrington to 'Kill him, you fool!'
I hurried to the cage and smashed the hilt of my dagger into the lock. Ironically, I would probably do better with the hammer I'd had as a frightened kid. The cage door shook with a loud clang, but the padlock held firm. It was made of a stronger, heavier metal than bronze, dark as liberated Lethe and unyielding as steel.
The kids inside were rousing from their Hypnos-induced slumber. The ones nearest to me curled back in fright, possibly alarmed by the sight of the crazy girl attacking their cage. Only one kid didn't react. I recognised him from my earliest dream: the pudgy, heavy-eyed boy with fair hair in a cowlick over his forehead. He still seemed half-asleep.
One of the girls at the back shuffled forward with a sigh of relief. 'Oh, thank the gods you found m-' She stopped, rubbed her eyes, and stared. Her head whipped from me to Percy and Torrington. 'Wait. You're not Jason and Reyna.'
'Jason and Reyna?'
Quick as a manitcore's strike, the girl pulled a hand trowel out of her pocket, the kind gardeners use for potting plants. I had just enough time to wonder if she meant to dig her way out of the cage before she flipped it upside down. Suddenly, there was a blade in her hand, a curved golden sword unlike any Greek weapon I'd ever seen.
'Who are you, and why have you captured us?' Her sword shot out between the cage bars.
'Whoa!' I leapt back to avoid being stabbed. 'Hey, I'm on your side. I'm trying to get you out of the cage.'
'You're lying.' The girl's eyes were narrow and suspicious. There was a hostile vibe wafting from her-and not just because she was waving a hand-trowel-turned sword in my face. Everything from her purple shirt to the shape of her weapon screamed ENEMY! I had the strangest compulsion to stab her with my dagger.
It was probably Hypnos working his manipulative magic, the same way he'd lured all these demigods here to be brainwashed or killed.
I forced myself to speak as soothingly as I could. 'We're here to rescue you. I'm Annabeth Chase. I'm a demigod, like you. Just let me get this cage open.'
The girl frowned and lowered her weapon. 'I'm Leila, daughter of Ceres,' she said. 'What is your lineage?'
Her words were as strange as her weapon. Ceres was what the Romans had called Demeter, when the Greek pantheon had migrated there, but I'd never heard any of the cabin four kids refer to their mom that way before.
But we had more pressing problems than Leila's vocabulary. Like the padlock on the cage that stubbornly refused to yield to my dagger.
'I tried that,' Leila said. 'It wouldn't budge under my sword either.'
'Mine's Celestial bronze. It's stronger than most metals.'
'Well, mine's Imperial gold.' Leila frowned. 'I thought Celestial bronze was just a myth.'
'I've never heard of Imperial gold.' I tried to wedge the point of my dagger into the lock. That didn't work either.
'Are you a legacy, of first-generation?'
I wished she'd stop interrupting with strange questions when I was trying to figure out how to free her. What did she even mean, legacy? Probably she meant to ask who my godly parent was. 'A daughter of Athena,' I said.
Leila and I both froze.
Athena. My hand went to my camp necklace, where my mother's birthday present hung among the beads. A key that could unlock anything.
I am afraid that this one will only work once.
My eyes darted to the other cage. The children inside were still asleep, their faces sweet and innocent in slumber. They were all marked for death. I could choose to save them-but that would leave Leila and the demigods in her cave to Kronos's mercy. And unless we rescued them, they would be pressed into battle against us one day
'Annabeth!' Percy had knocked Alabaster Torrington out, but while I'd been struggling with the padlock, the Ismenian dragon had returned. Percy was contending with its myriad of heads, all snapping at him. His message couldn't be clearer: hurry!
I bent down and fit my key to the lock. It clicked and sprung free. I threw the door open and the demigods flooded out, most of them looking dazed and unfocused. One guy stumbled at the threshold. I caught him and set him upright, then dashed to the other cage, hoping that maybe, just maybe, the key would work one more time.
No such luck. I couldn't even jam it inside the lock.
Someone grabbed me from behind. Instinct took over: I jabbed my elbow into their gut and stomped on their foot.
Leila drew a sharp intake of breath. 'Graecus-Octavian was right.' She came at me with her gold sword. I brought my dagger up to catch her blade as it thrust towards my midriff in a violent stab.
'I'm on your side!' I yelled as I parried with her, but something about this fight felt right, as if I should have been battling her from the start. 'We need to get out of here!'
I couldn't understand it. Leila seemed relieved to be liberated, yet she was attacking me with determined jabs. Her fighting style confused me. Her stabs came straight at me, jerky and restricted in motion. It was like she'd never been taught out to use a sword; she wielded it like a knife. This shouldn't have been surprising, since she'd never been to camp, but she was about my age and she'd survived this long. Surely she had to have some skill in defending herself.
The rest of the compound was pandemonium. Percy swirled his way around the billion dragon heads, leaping around like a Tasmanian devil. The dragon's eyes twitched in irritation as they tried to follow his movements. Holographic Hypnos went crazy, shrieking and shuddering. The kids I'd released darted around the compound, screaming. Some ran for it, others huddled uncertainly in the shadow of the cage. Others-my heart sank to see it-dashed to Alabaster Torrington as though drawn to his aid. I had assumed that with the Lethe bowl smashed, Hypnos's spell over them would have broken. Clearly that wasn't the case-unless those demigods were choosing to join Torrington of their own free will.
A familiar war cry rang out from above. I ducked and rolled away from Leila's gold blade, and caught sight of Clarisse and Beckendorf standing on the warehouse roof. Clarisse's electric spear glinted in the sunlight. Beckendorf had one hand raised over his head, clutching a small but deadly-looking metal sphere.
Across the loading dock, Percy yelled and slashed a dragon head from its neck. Five more came at him, nearly taking his foot off. The dragon's jaws scraped his shoe and sliced it open at the toe. Percy tripped and face-planted against the concrete. The dragon roared in triumph.
'Percy!' Beckendorf and I yelled at the same time.
Percy looked up. He understood immediately. He swung Riptide like a discus and let it fly at the dragon, an unorthodox move I wouldn't recommend unless you're confident that your sword will reappear in your pocket later. Alarmed, half the dragon heads jerked back to avoid being decapitated by the flying sword. It lurched towards the warehouse wall.
And Beckendorf released his grenade.
The bomb hit the Ismenian dragon and blasted half its heads to Tartarus dust. Scrap metal flew everywhere, forcing Leila and me to halt our fight and cover our heads. I spluttered and choked as a cloud of ash enveloped us.
In the middle of all this, Clarisse leapt from the warehouse roof. She landed on Leila and knocked her flat onto her back. Percy clambered away from the dragon and ran towards us.
'Get the kids!' I told him, jerking my head towards the group of frightened demigods I'd just freed. Then I turned back to Clarisse. 'Let's get her-Clarisse, stop!'
I pulled her arm back just in time. Her electric spear glanced off Leila's shoulder, instead of piercing her through the heart. The charge shook Leila's body. She crumpled to the ground.
'Are you insane?' Clarisse demanded. 'She was trying to kill you!'
'She's not one of Luke's,' I said. 'Hypnos brainwashed her.'
'You're turning into Prissy,' Clarisse grumbled, but she helped me hoist Leila up.
A second grenade sailed over our heads, slamming into the dragon again. More heads exploded.
Percy ran to the unopened cage. 'How'd you get the other one open?'
'No time to explain, Percy, we have to go!'
He gave me an incredulous look. 'We're just gonna leave them?'
'We can't open it! My key only works once!' The sickening truth curdled in my gut like spoilt milk. I couldn't think about the choice I'd made, not if I wanted to keep my breakfast inside my stomach.
'Get out of there!' Beckendorf yelled. He'd jumped into the loading dock and was herding four of the freed demigods into an alley.
I tugged at Percy's shoulder. The look he gave me broke my heart, but he moved away from the cage of sleeping children. As we ran, hoisting Leila between us, I turned back for one last look. Alabaster Torrington lay unconscious next to the lonely teddy bear. One of the liberated kids dragged Torrington to his feet. It was the same boy who'd stumbled into me coming out of the cage. In his hands was a green, leather-bound diary.
My heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach. Without stopping to think, I ran for Torrington, leaving Percy and Clarisse to struggle with Leila's dead weight. I tackled the thief to the ground and tugged the diary from his hands. He yanked it back and aimed a kick at my ribs.
'Annabeth, no!'
Percy's shout came just as something soared over my head. Beckendorf's third grenade smashed into the bowl on top of the unlocked cage. Its contents splattered, sending inky drops of Lethe flying like tiny, memory-wiping missiles.
I caught a glimpse of Percy sprinting across the loading dock. Then the world exploded into whiteness.
Chapter 10
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Thalia Grace, Charles Beckendorf/Silena Beauregard, Clarisse La Rue, Michael Yew, OCs, multiple others
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Word Count: WIP, estimated 100K+ (3334 chapters planned)
Summary: The war on Olympus is heating up, and Annabeth Chase is right in the thick of it. Bad enough that she's gearing up for battle while wrestling with the emotional turmoil over two of her dearest friends that is turning her heart inside out. She doesn't need more mysterious glimpses about the Great Prophecy and how it connects to her own history. But in order to understand what lies in her future, Annabeth has to dig into the past. What she finds will shape her choices … and change the course of the final battle. An alternate PoV retelling of The Last Olympian. Part 5 of the Daughter of Wisdom series.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: I Get Into A Cage Fight
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Charles Beckendorf, Clarisse La Rue, Hypnos, Alabaster Torrington, Leila
Word Count: 3,375
Chapter Summary: Annabeth has a difficult choice to make.
Notes: A nod here to Percy's Christmas adventure from The Sword of Hades in The Demigod Files-I try to use the short stories while I can! And this is also an attempt to explain the time when Percy told Annabeth about Bob/Iapetus, since she obviously has heard about it by HoO, but it never is actually shown in canon.
Annabeth's previous meeting with Hypnos is a throwback to the first fic in this series, Daughter of Wisdom. Euterpe is the Muse of lyric poetry-i.e., music, so concerts would certainly be her domain! The bit about Hypnos putting Zeus to sleep has basis in the mythology, where twice Hera persuaded Hypnos to exert this power, leading to Zeus being furious with Hypnos, who then hid from his wrath by hiding with Nyx.
I found Alabaster Torrington's story in Son of Magic (from The Demigod Diaries) interesting on two levels. First, he had a very specific and intense hatred towards the gods and Camp Half-Blood, and even specifically Percy, which lends credibility to the idea that he's encountered him beyond just the warrior who won the Battle of Manhattan. ('I’d never set foot in their camp, and if I did, it would only be to give that son of Poseidon what he deserves.') Second, he was clearly high enough in Kronos's army that the gods refused to give him amnesty after the war-to the point that Hecate ransomed him for the sake of her other children. I have therefore tried to give him a bigger role and a more clear reason to hate Percy, while working within the constraints of what Percy seems to know in the series.
A third point about Alabaster made me decide to give a peek into what was going on with our friends on the West Coast: despite his history being traced back to the Greek side, Alabaster had an Imperial gold sword. At some point during this year (if my calculations are right), Jason and Reyna ran a quest to Charleston to recover torpedoed Imperial gold weapons. I have therefore referenced that adventure, but left it vague enough for the reader to infer how much Alabaster knows as makes sense to them. That's where Lethe came in most useful as a plot device! Her waters ensure that neither Percy nor Annabeth will have any memory of any of this. Possibly more so since the gods at this stage are so adamant that the camps are kept apart.
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It wasn't long before Beckendorf and Clarisse started their distraction. The ball of scrap metal rolled off the roof of one of the warehouses, landing with a thump at the many-headed Ismenian dragon's feet. Five heads peered over curiously, then snapped at it. As soon as any head came close, the ball rolled away, positioning itself nearer to a different group of heads. Slowly, it got the attention of all the dragon's numerous heads, always taking care to stay just out of reach. For the five minutes or so that Beckendorf had had to put this together, it was remarkable workmanship.
Then the ball grew legs. Eight spindly attachments sprouted from its sides, lifting it an inch off the ground. The ball skittered across the concrete on its new limbs, moving terrifyingly like a-like a-
I cringed and backed up against the alley wall, clenching my teeth together. I did not want to think about spiders, especially not while in Richmond.
Percy's hand found mine. 'Hey,' he whispered, 'it's not really a spider. He probably made an automaton, like that disc of Hephaestus's.'
I knew Percy meant well, but this wasn't exactly comforting. Last year, Hephaestus's bronze spider-or an eight-legged disc, at any rate-had led us into the heart of Mount St Helens, where we'd gotten surrounded by telkhines. And in the heat of the moment, I'd gone and ...
I pulled my hand away. The dragon was waddling off after the eight-legged ball, which danced back and forth in front of it. The ball stayed just close enough to keep all the dragon heads interested, but far enough to get the beast moving.
'Here's our chance,' I said as soon as the dragon disappeared into the warehouses. Beckendorf and Clarisse were no doubt lying in wait for it, but there was no telling how long they could keep the dragon busy. We wouldn't have long.
I noticed two things when we ran into the loading dock. First, each cage was positioned under a black poplar tree, which was really weird. How were there two random trees in the middle of an industrial park? Second, both cages had a wooden bowl balanced on top. Milky white liquid dripped from a branch of each black poplar into the bowls.
Something about that constant drip, drip, drip held my attention. Without really thinking about it, I advanced, holding out my hand to touch the water.
'Don't!' Percy grabbed my arm. I blinked and shook my head. My limbs were heavy, like I'd been sleepwalking and had suddenly woken up.
'Do you know what it is?'
'I'm not sure,' Percy said. 'But it looks familiar ... and not in a good way.' He pulled his pen from his pocket and uncapped it. A second later, his bronze sword, Riptide, was in his hand. He raised it to the flow of water. As soon as the blade touched it, the water changed course and spurted off the edge of Percy's sword. He lowered Riptide and pulled me back. The water turned black as it splashed to the ground.
'That's Lethe water,' Percy said.
'Like ... the river Lethe?' I shuddered, thankful that Percy had had the presence of mind to keep me from touching it. 'But that's an Underworld river. How ...?'
'I don't know,' Percy said. 'But I'm pretty sure. Thalia, Nico, and I were down there last Christmas. Er, long story. But we ran into Ethan Nakamura and a Titan. Eye-patcher or something.'
'Iapetus?'
'Yeah, that's the one. He tried to kill us-the usual drill-but I chucked him in the Lethe. And ... well, it wiped his memory completely. Now he thinks his name is Bob, and he's a janitor for Hades.'
I shivered. If this stuff was strong enough to destroy the memory of a Titan, what could it do to us?
'Yes,' a voice chuckled, making us jump. 'Lethe tends to do that.'
The speaker appeared out of nowhere, hovering in the air next to the dripping poplar branch. At first, I thought he was a ghost-a very familiar-looking ghost, with flaxen hair teased into an Elvis Presley pompadour that went badly with his round, puffy cheeks. Then I realised he didn't even have that much substance. He was only visible from the shoulders up, and was no more than a hazy, disembodied image that flickered worse than a bad Iris-message connection.
Percy seemed to be thinking along the same lines. 'You're not a ghost, are you?'
Bad Hair-Do considered this. 'You could call it astral projection. My body, alas, is in Tartarus, curse the gods.'
'You're a Titan, then.' Percy raised his sword, though I had no idea if it would even have an effect on something without form.
'Oh no, I'm a god.' His face contorted into a sneer. 'A minor god, as the Olympians so generously designate. I presided over the domain of sleep for thousands of years, which you'd think would make me pretty damn important. I mean, you mortals spend a third of your lives sleeping! But no, I still get no respect. And then when I tried to branch out into concert music-'
It suddenly clicked where I'd met this god before. 'I know you! You're Hypnos! I was at one of your concerts on Olympus. You ...' I stopped. Hypnos had put us all to sleep during our field trip to Olympus three years ago. That was the same time Luke had stolen Zeus's master bolt and Hades's helm of darkness, and tried to frame Percy for the theft.
Hypnos's nostrils flared. 'No appreciation for my music. Euterpe complained so much, they threatened to break my lyres if I kept playing. Talk about favouritism. The last straw was when I did Hera a favour and put Zeus to sleep so she could go interfering with some quest behind his back last June-'
'That was you?'
'And what thanks did I get? Hera didn't even lift a finger to help when Zeus came after me. I had to flee all the way to Tartarus to escape his wrath! But Kronos offered me freedom. I don't dare do more than project my consciousness into the upper world now, but once the Titans rule and we imprison the Olympians in Tartarus instead, I will get out and play all the concerts I want!'
I clenched my fists. On one hand, I could sympathise with Hypnos for getting shafted by Hera the Hypocrite. On the other, his interference had allowed her to mess up my quest last year-and my life.
'Well, you can go back to sleep, snooze-boy,' Percy said. 'We're not letting Kronos win.'
Hypnos sneered. 'You're fighting a losing battle, son of Poseidon. Kronos's army outnumbers yours by far. My sons are all in his service: running test strikes on mortals in Manhattan, enticing demigods to his side ... Their spells will intercept the dreams of all demigods and persuade them to join the Titan army!'
'You're doing this. That's why the satyrs lost track of their half-bloods!'
'Yes.' Hypnos's wavering image was smug. 'Even you were drawn here. But clearly, there are some glitches with the hypnosis. No matter. There are uses for those who won't fight for us.' He jerked his chin towards the cage of younger children. 'The monsters are always hungry.'
My eyes fell again on the teddy bear lying between the cages. I couldn't tell if its owner was still inside the cage, or if she'd already been ... My stomach turned over.
Percy's face was dark and stormy. He lifted Riptide and swiped at the bowl on top of the older children's cage. It smashed to the ground next to the abandoned teddy bear. The sleeping demigods stirred.
'You will pay for that!' Hypnos growled.
'Oh year? What you gonna do about it?' Percy challenged. 'News flash, you're a disembodied spirit.'
'I may not be able to fight you, but I'll find a champion who can!' Hypnos let out a wail like an air raid siren. Percy slashed through him with Riptide and the astral projection vanished, but it was too late. Hypnos's brief alarm had already brought someone running.
Expecting the Ismenian dragon, Percy and I both raised our weapons and spun round in a defensive stance. But it was only Alabaster Torrington, the stringy demigod servant whom I'd seen in my dreams. He was dressed in black from head to toe, which might have been good camouflage if it hadn't been mid-morning. I'd have found it odd that he carried no weapon, had I not known this kid was a son of Hecate. He didn't fight by the normal rules.
'So you're the son of Poseidon.' Torrington looked him up and down, unimpressed. 'Lackey of the gods.'
Percy's nostrils flared. I could tell he didn't like being called a lackey, but he kept his temper in check. 'And I suppose you're just another of Kronos's flunkeys.'
'I'm nobody's flunkey,' Torrington spat.
'Then snap out of it, dude.' Percy waved his hand towards the cage. 'Help us get these kids out of here. You can come back to Camp Half-Blood with us. We can protect you.'
Torrington's face contorted. His voice dripped with contempt. 'You favourites of Olympus. Always so condescending. What makes you think I want to return to your pathetic little camp?'
'Fight him!' Hypnos's astral projection winked back into sight over the other cage.
Torrington produced a sickly green notecard with a picture of a golden sword. He clapped his hands together and chanted something in Latin. A second later, he held a heavy gold sword in his hands.
Percy gave me a pointed look and jerked his head towards the cage door. I'd been on enough missions with him to read his expression easily: I'll take this jerk, you free the demigods.
The next moment, he engaged Torrington in battle, bronze meeting gold as their swords clashed. Hypnos's projection streamed overhead, screeching for Torrington to 'Kill him, you fool!'
I hurried to the cage and smashed the hilt of my dagger into the lock. Ironically, I would probably do better with the hammer I'd had as a frightened kid. The cage door shook with a loud clang, but the padlock held firm. It was made of a stronger, heavier metal than bronze, dark as liberated Lethe and unyielding as steel.
The kids inside were rousing from their Hypnos-induced slumber. The ones nearest to me curled back in fright, possibly alarmed by the sight of the crazy girl attacking their cage. Only one kid didn't react. I recognised him from my earliest dream: the pudgy, heavy-eyed boy with fair hair in a cowlick over his forehead. He still seemed half-asleep.
One of the girls at the back shuffled forward with a sigh of relief. 'Oh, thank the gods you found m-' She stopped, rubbed her eyes, and stared. Her head whipped from me to Percy and Torrington. 'Wait. You're not Jason and Reyna.'
'Jason and Reyna?'
Quick as a manitcore's strike, the girl pulled a hand trowel out of her pocket, the kind gardeners use for potting plants. I had just enough time to wonder if she meant to dig her way out of the cage before she flipped it upside down. Suddenly, there was a blade in her hand, a curved golden sword unlike any Greek weapon I'd ever seen.
'Who are you, and why have you captured us?' Her sword shot out between the cage bars.
'Whoa!' I leapt back to avoid being stabbed. 'Hey, I'm on your side. I'm trying to get you out of the cage.'
'You're lying.' The girl's eyes were narrow and suspicious. There was a hostile vibe wafting from her-and not just because she was waving a hand-trowel-turned sword in my face. Everything from her purple shirt to the shape of her weapon screamed ENEMY! I had the strangest compulsion to stab her with my dagger.
It was probably Hypnos working his manipulative magic, the same way he'd lured all these demigods here to be brainwashed or killed.
I forced myself to speak as soothingly as I could. 'We're here to rescue you. I'm Annabeth Chase. I'm a demigod, like you. Just let me get this cage open.'
The girl frowned and lowered her weapon. 'I'm Leila, daughter of Ceres,' she said. 'What is your lineage?'
Her words were as strange as her weapon. Ceres was what the Romans had called Demeter, when the Greek pantheon had migrated there, but I'd never heard any of the cabin four kids refer to their mom that way before.
But we had more pressing problems than Leila's vocabulary. Like the padlock on the cage that stubbornly refused to yield to my dagger.
'I tried that,' Leila said. 'It wouldn't budge under my sword either.'
'Mine's Celestial bronze. It's stronger than most metals.'
'Well, mine's Imperial gold.' Leila frowned. 'I thought Celestial bronze was just a myth.'
'I've never heard of Imperial gold.' I tried to wedge the point of my dagger into the lock. That didn't work either.
'Are you a legacy, of first-generation?'
I wished she'd stop interrupting with strange questions when I was trying to figure out how to free her. What did she even mean, legacy? Probably she meant to ask who my godly parent was. 'A daughter of Athena,' I said.
Leila and I both froze.
Athena. My hand went to my camp necklace, where my mother's birthday present hung among the beads. A key that could unlock anything.
I am afraid that this one will only work once.
My eyes darted to the other cage. The children inside were still asleep, their faces sweet and innocent in slumber. They were all marked for death. I could choose to save them-but that would leave Leila and the demigods in her cave to Kronos's mercy. And unless we rescued them, they would be pressed into battle against us one day
'Annabeth!' Percy had knocked Alabaster Torrington out, but while I'd been struggling with the padlock, the Ismenian dragon had returned. Percy was contending with its myriad of heads, all snapping at him. His message couldn't be clearer: hurry!
I bent down and fit my key to the lock. It clicked and sprung free. I threw the door open and the demigods flooded out, most of them looking dazed and unfocused. One guy stumbled at the threshold. I caught him and set him upright, then dashed to the other cage, hoping that maybe, just maybe, the key would work one more time.
No such luck. I couldn't even jam it inside the lock.
Someone grabbed me from behind. Instinct took over: I jabbed my elbow into their gut and stomped on their foot.
Leila drew a sharp intake of breath. 'Graecus-Octavian was right.' She came at me with her gold sword. I brought my dagger up to catch her blade as it thrust towards my midriff in a violent stab.
'I'm on your side!' I yelled as I parried with her, but something about this fight felt right, as if I should have been battling her from the start. 'We need to get out of here!'
I couldn't understand it. Leila seemed relieved to be liberated, yet she was attacking me with determined jabs. Her fighting style confused me. Her stabs came straight at me, jerky and restricted in motion. It was like she'd never been taught out to use a sword; she wielded it like a knife. This shouldn't have been surprising, since she'd never been to camp, but she was about my age and she'd survived this long. Surely she had to have some skill in defending herself.
The rest of the compound was pandemonium. Percy swirled his way around the billion dragon heads, leaping around like a Tasmanian devil. The dragon's eyes twitched in irritation as they tried to follow his movements. Holographic Hypnos went crazy, shrieking and shuddering. The kids I'd released darted around the compound, screaming. Some ran for it, others huddled uncertainly in the shadow of the cage. Others-my heart sank to see it-dashed to Alabaster Torrington as though drawn to his aid. I had assumed that with the Lethe bowl smashed, Hypnos's spell over them would have broken. Clearly that wasn't the case-unless those demigods were choosing to join Torrington of their own free will.
A familiar war cry rang out from above. I ducked and rolled away from Leila's gold blade, and caught sight of Clarisse and Beckendorf standing on the warehouse roof. Clarisse's electric spear glinted in the sunlight. Beckendorf had one hand raised over his head, clutching a small but deadly-looking metal sphere.
Across the loading dock, Percy yelled and slashed a dragon head from its neck. Five more came at him, nearly taking his foot off. The dragon's jaws scraped his shoe and sliced it open at the toe. Percy tripped and face-planted against the concrete. The dragon roared in triumph.
'Percy!' Beckendorf and I yelled at the same time.
Percy looked up. He understood immediately. He swung Riptide like a discus and let it fly at the dragon, an unorthodox move I wouldn't recommend unless you're confident that your sword will reappear in your pocket later. Alarmed, half the dragon heads jerked back to avoid being decapitated by the flying sword. It lurched towards the warehouse wall.
And Beckendorf released his grenade.
The bomb hit the Ismenian dragon and blasted half its heads to Tartarus dust. Scrap metal flew everywhere, forcing Leila and me to halt our fight and cover our heads. I spluttered and choked as a cloud of ash enveloped us.
In the middle of all this, Clarisse leapt from the warehouse roof. She landed on Leila and knocked her flat onto her back. Percy clambered away from the dragon and ran towards us.
'Get the kids!' I told him, jerking my head towards the group of frightened demigods I'd just freed. Then I turned back to Clarisse. 'Let's get her-Clarisse, stop!'
I pulled her arm back just in time. Her electric spear glanced off Leila's shoulder, instead of piercing her through the heart. The charge shook Leila's body. She crumpled to the ground.
'Are you insane?' Clarisse demanded. 'She was trying to kill you!'
'She's not one of Luke's,' I said. 'Hypnos brainwashed her.'
'You're turning into Prissy,' Clarisse grumbled, but she helped me hoist Leila up.
A second grenade sailed over our heads, slamming into the dragon again. More heads exploded.
Percy ran to the unopened cage. 'How'd you get the other one open?'
'No time to explain, Percy, we have to go!'
He gave me an incredulous look. 'We're just gonna leave them?'
'We can't open it! My key only works once!' The sickening truth curdled in my gut like spoilt milk. I couldn't think about the choice I'd made, not if I wanted to keep my breakfast inside my stomach.
'Get out of there!' Beckendorf yelled. He'd jumped into the loading dock and was herding four of the freed demigods into an alley.
I tugged at Percy's shoulder. The look he gave me broke my heart, but he moved away from the cage of sleeping children. As we ran, hoisting Leila between us, I turned back for one last look. Alabaster Torrington lay unconscious next to the lonely teddy bear. One of the liberated kids dragged Torrington to his feet. It was the same boy who'd stumbled into me coming out of the cage. In his hands was a green, leather-bound diary.
My heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach. Without stopping to think, I ran for Torrington, leaving Percy and Clarisse to struggle with Leila's dead weight. I tackled the thief to the ground and tugged the diary from his hands. He yanked it back and aimed a kick at my ribs.
'Annabeth, no!'
Percy's shout came just as something soared over my head. Beckendorf's third grenade smashed into the bowl on top of the unlocked cage. Its contents splattered, sending inky drops of Lethe flying like tiny, memory-wiping missiles.
I caught a glimpse of Percy sprinting across the loading dock. Then the world exploded into whiteness.
Chapter 10