Growing Up In Tartarus: One Wrong Move

Chapter 23

**Annabeth's PoV**

"Luke, do you need a break?" I asked hesitantly.

"I'll be fine," he snapped back.

I would have just let it be (considering I was being nice to someone who didn't deserve it), but a couple minutes later he tripped on a rock. He cried out as he stubbed the stub of his recently stolen toe. The majority of us ran forward to catch him as he started to roll into the river we were walking beside. The fire that was inside the river splashed at us and hit the writhing teenager, hitting him in the process.

Percy was staring at us, and it didn't take a genius to see the judgement hiding in his gaze. Connor and I shared a look. Percy really wasn't one to wish death upon a person, so his attitude worried us.

Luke finally managed to relax enough to get up. We managed to get him back to his feet and soon enough we were moving again. I pulled back and walked with Percy, not wanting him to be left behind.

"Are you okay?" I asked him slowly.

"I guess," he sighed.

He made a motion with his hand that I had to assume was him cutting off our conversation. The entire group walked in silence until we made it to the exit. Luke explained what we had to do to get out and soon we made it to the top. I couldn't have been more happy to see the sun again.

It took me a moment to realize that Luke had thrown shackles on all of us, including Percy, which made me wonder what Percy's part of all of this was. As we got closer, two campers that had been guarding the border pointed frantically at Luke. It didn't appear to me that they had noticed us.

"It's Luke!" the pointing one called, but faltered as his gaze fell on our shackles. "He has Percy, Annabeth, and the Stolls chained up!"

The other camper called into camp for backup, and soon there were campers flooding the top of the hill with raised weapons. There were a couple Apollo Cabin members starting to fire arrows at us, their aim directly on Luke. He went down as the arrows hit his knee.

Chiron rushed forward and used one of his front hooves to break the cuffs. He gave us a relieved look. He pulled the four of us into a tight hug as soon as we were free.

"Where is Grover?" he asked worriedly.

"Luke killed him," Percy hissed bitterly.

Chiron frowned lightly. "I want someone to take Mr. Castellan to the big house. You need to lock him inside the attic and make sure he cannot get out. You can move the Oracle to the random cave beside the house."

**Percy's PoV**

I watched as Luke touched the piece of golden fleece that was perched on the lowest branch of the tree that protected camp. His mouth moved in an unheard spell, and I started to wonder what spell he was putting on it. He was yanked away from it a few seconds after he finished his spell, being dragged to where Chiron had told his draggers to take him.

I barely noticed a girl walking up to me, but I did as she softly spoke my name. I turned to face her, letting her usher me towards the inside of camp. We ended up in front of the Poseidon Cabin.

"My name is Silena, Percy," she finally said. "I needed to talk to you alone."

She started to look around to make sure no one was watching before she entered the cabin. I followed behind her, sitting down on my old bed. The fact that I was in this cabin after swearing an allegiance to my father's enemy made me feel weird.

"What do you need to talk to me about?" I asked.

"I'm a follower of Kronos," she said. "I was asked to watch you and make sure that you get trained enough to be victorious during the final battle."

I looked around, deciding it was pretty idiotic for her to say something like that inside a cabin, but I didn't say anything about it. I instead decided for a nod, letting her give me a gentle smile as she left my cabin. I sat in silence and pondered my next move.

9/15/17