Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Sea of Monsters

| Chapter VI | I Deal with the Devil |

*August 24, XXXX*

*Percy's Point of View*

***

Luke still scared me, even after the moments of awkward silence after he spoke.

None of us has moved, and the only sounds in the room came from his two overly hairy henchpeople. I snuck another glance over at the two, Agrius and... whoever the other one was. They stood by the doors, wearing only blue jeans. The rest of them was okay without clothing though, since it was completely covered in shag carpet fur, brown and matted and in desperate need of a good brushing. Agrius scowled at me again, while his brother grinned stupidly, allowing a bit of drool to hang from his black lips.

Luke must've noticed me staring, because he said, "Oh, where are my manners? Let me introduce you to Agrius and Oreius. Have you heard of them? Their story is quite the legend," he said.

My eyes narrowed at Luke. What was he up to? "Sorry, I can't say that I have."

Luke shook his head disapprovingly. "Well, that's no good. Why don't I give you a refresher course?"

He stood from the plush couch where he was sitting, brushed the invisible dirt from his button-down shirt and khakis, and gave me another horrifying grin.

"Their mother... unfortunate girl... was offered by Aphrodite a chance to fall in love. She refused, running to the only place that made sense." He gave me a look as if I should know what happened next.

"Artemis," I replied.

He nodded. "Yes. She became a hunter, and for a while, she was safe from Aphrodite. I guess the goddess of love really knows how to hold a grudge, though, because she cursed the poor girl to fall in love with a bear. She was forced to mate with it, and became pregnant with her two sons, Agrius and Oreius."

Luke paused, his tone growing sad, but I knew that it was just an act. It was false sympathy and false mourning.

"Artemis, being the stubborn, judging goddess that she was, shunned the girl, cursing all animals to hate her. She could not even live in the forest with her two children. Instead, she had to run back to her father and gave birth to them both."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I remember this story now, but didn't Zeus turn them into birds? I distinctly remember that Zeus turned Oreius into an eagle and Agrius into a vulture. Correct me if I'm wrong." I smirked upon seeing the aggravated and uncomfortable looks on the two monsters' faces.

Luke's face reddened a little. "Our lord has brought them back to avenge their mother! She, who did nothing wrong, was punished unjustly by the gods! They do not care for us! They would make play with our fates, roll their dice to decide who lives and who dies! It is typical of them to punish the innocent. They bicker with one another like children and the poor humans get caught in between. You see, Agrius and Oreius know of the pain brought by the gods. They have no love for Olympus." Luke suddenly gained a thoughtful expression. "They like half-bloods enough, though..."

"...for lunch." Agrius grinned.

"Hehe! Hehe!" Oreius laughed.

At first, Agrius smiled that his brother thought his joke was funny, but then the smile fell into a frown as Oreius continued laughing as if he was having an asthmatic fit. It must've happened a lot because neither Luke nor Agrius looked surprised, only annoyed.

"Stop that laughing!" Agrius roared, "Go punish yourself!"

Oreius immediately clamped his mouth shut, letting only small whimpers escape. He trudged over to the corner of the room, plunking himself down on one of the stools. He began banging his head on the table, causing the silver platters to shake and clatter.

Each of us stared for a while before Luke turned back to us as if it was completely and utterly normal behaviour. He smiled pleasantly, but there was nothing pleasant about it. "So," he said, "How are things?"

"You poisoned Thalia's tree."

Luke sighed. He averted his eyes for a second - only a second - before giving us the answer I wasn't expecting. "Yeah, I poisoned the tree. So what?'

I jumped at the sudden growling next to me, my eyes wandering over to the two bearmen before realizing that it was Annabeth. Her grey eyes had turned into dark foreboding storm clouds. She was grinding her teeth together angrily.

"How dare you?" she demanded, advancing towards Luke. She grabbed the front of his shirt, shaking him slightly. "How dare you? She saved your life! Our lives! How could you do such a thing? How could you dishonour her..." By the end of her rant, breaking off in tears. She let go of Luke's shirt, tears staining her cheeks.

"How could I dishonour her? How could you? Travelling around with a cyclops of all creatures? You dare question me when you're hanging around with him?" Luke pointed an accusing finger at Tyson. "If Thalia were alive, she'd be on my side!"

"You liar!"

Luckily I was there because the situation was about to explode. I pulled Annabeth away from Luke before she turned into a raging ball of blonde. "Not in front of the bodyguards," I hissed in her ear. "We'll get him yet."

We were about to leave when Annabeth yelled, "You're a monster!"

Luke didn't even flinch. "The gods are manipulating you, Annabeth. I thought you of all people would be smart enough to see that." He turned to his two henchmen, "Take them below, I'll deal with them later."

Published: Saturday, February 11, 2017

~CSP2708~