Fight to the Surface (Sea Prince Trilogy #2)

Chapter Five

"Hunt down Perseus Jackson and bring him to Olympus to lie before us.

"Dead or alive."

There was immediate outrage. They couldn't hunt down and kill their friend! Their hero! They wouldn't! Not the person they'd all shared so many memories with. Not the person they'd faced so many hardships with.

Never.

They voiced this, complaining until Thalia spoke up.

"What did he do that's so bad anyway?"

Everybody waited quietly for an answer. They all knew of Percy's rocky relationship with the gods. Had the demigod finally pushed them too far?

"Perseus Jackson has become an outlaw of Olympus. He has chosen to leave us and conspire against us."

Betrayal?

"He wouldn't do that. He's Percy." Jason shook his head in denial. His fingers were intertwined with Piper's, seeking comfort in each other.

"His fatal flaw is loyalty for crying out loud." Nico agreed. Nobody remarked on how closely the son of Hades and the son of Apollo stood together.

"Then you explain to me why he would go around vandalising our property, the places we gods draw power from."

Not a single demigod had a response to offer the god. Not that Zeus would listen should they even present one.

Why would Percy do such a thing?

They hadn't seen him in almost five years, and the first they hear of him, the first they will meet him after so long, is as a fugitive that needs to be captured.

"How about I rephrase this. You will bring us Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon and Prince of the Seas, dead or alive, or I'll have you all slipping permanently into Hades' realm." Zeus bellowed, his decision final, confident this would get them motivated enough.

The gritted their teeth and clenched their fists. They had little choice other than to comply.

When they next saw Percy, they would talk to him. Talk him out of it, ask why he's doing what he wants.

But they didn't know the truth.

~~~~

The red-headed assassin watched the demigod from afar. What he was doing was so normal, seemingly too normal for what had happened to him.

From what she'd been told, the prince was currently under the influence of brainwashing, and had little to no memory of his time with them. She'd decided to check out for herself just how real that information was.

Of course, she wasn't trying to gain his attention, not yet, anyway. But she did.

He noticed her leaning casually against a lamppost, watching him. As her features flashed through his brain, something inside him awoke.

He couldn't remember where he'd seen her before, why she seemed to familiar.

Something bubbled up in his mind out of the inky darkness. Percy doubled over as a black cloud overtook his vision.

He was in a room, one with what used to be white walls that had now turned black. There were picture frames covering almost every spare space on the walls.