Annabeth Chase and the Sea of Monsters

Chapter 17 - A boy slaughters a dummy

"You two stay here," I told Percy and Tyson. "I'll go and find Luke and see what he's up too. Then I'll meet you back here. Don't go anywhere."

I turned to go, pulling my cap out of my pocket as I went, but Percy grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"No way," he said, frowning at me. "It's way too dangerous. Luke will capture you for sure."

"Not if he can't see me," I argued. "He never was very good at knowing where I was."

"No," Percy repeated emphatically. "Either we all go together, or nobody goes."

"Nobody!" Tyson voted immediately. "Please?"

I glared at Percy, but he stared back at me just as defiantly. Why couldn't he see reason? I would be so much quieter and stealthier if I went myself, especially if we had the Cyclops trailing us. It was a massive risk bringing him with us. I still couldn't be sure that he wouldn't betray us.

But I could tell that Percy wasn't backing down. I don't know why he insisted that Tyson come with us at all. He would just slow us down.

"Fine," I muttered sourly. "All together it is."

We returned to our cabins first to gather our gear. All of us agreed that we did not want to spend another night aboard the ship of doom, no matter how many luxuries they had.

Tyson carried all of our duffel bags, slung as easily over his shoulder as he would carry an empty sack. Percy protested when he took the bags, but Tyson wouldn't let go of the bags. I told Percy not to worry about it. Being our luggage carrier was the only way he was going to be helpful.

I scouted ahead invisibly as we followed the ship's maps to the admiralty suite. There wasn't much to see, but several times I had to backtrack and warn Percy and Tyson of incoming tourists so they had plenty of time to hide. Not that they really needed to. I could have pushed over one of the tourists and they wouldn't even have noticed me.

We were nearing the admiralty suite, located on deck thirteen, when I heard voices ahead of us, coming our way. I stuck my head around the corner to check who it was, waving Percy to silence. From the armour they wore and the weapons at their side, they weren't tourists.

"Hide!" I hissed at Percy, grabbing him and shoving him into a nearby supply closet. I was only closing the door behind him and Tyson, leaving myself outside, when the boys rounded the corner.

They would have looked like ordinary kids in their jeans and t-shirts hadn't it been for their armour and weapons. They were chatting casually to each other, but as I studied them, I realised that I recognized one of them.

He was tall and well-built with short blonde hair and blue eyes. The last time I saw him, it had been nearly a year ago, right when Luke ran away from camp. Chris Rodriquez.

"You see that Aethiopian drakon in the cargo hold?" the other kid asked, a smaller boy with dark hair and a sharp, narrow face. Immediately, I didn't like him.

Chris laughed. "Yeah, it's awesome."

I couldn't help but stare at him. We'd all assumed that he'd been eaten by some of the monsters in the woods, or maybe run off. I never expected him to be here.

Actually, now I remembered that he'd always been a bitter kid. He was a son of Hermes and had always moped around at lot at camp. He also had been pretty close with Luke. Looking at how pleased and excited he was now, it was like looking at a completely different kid.

I still had my hand on Percy's arm, so my bicep was stuck in the door, but neither boy seemed to notice that the door was slightly open. I squeezed Percy's arm, seeing if he recognized Chris's voice. By his stillness, I don't think he did.

"I hear they got two more coming," Chris said. "They keep arriving at this rate, oh man - no contest!"

They kept walking, laughing and joking to each other. I waited until they were out of sight before I slipped into the closet, taking off my cap.

"That was Chris Rodriquez!" I told Percy. He looked confused. "You remember - from Cabin Eleven."

Understanding dawned on Percy's face. "What's another half-blood doing here?"

I shook my head. The only reasons I could think of for them being here were pretty horrible. Demigods and monsters living together in harmony. I really didn't want to think about it.

We kept walking down the corridor. The further we went, the colder I started to feel. It was as if all the warmth and life was being seeped out of my body. A sure sign that we were approaching something evil.

I scanned our surroundings as we walked, hand ready on my knife. We were passing a glass wall when I happened to look in it. My blood turned cold.

"Percy," I said urgently, pulling him to a stop beside me. "Look."

He came up next to me and looked out the window. His eyes widened in horror.

It was a view down into the Promenade - a mall full of shops- several storeys down. It would have been a nice view too, if the monsters hadn't been assembled at the candy store.

There were all types down there. Laistrygonians, hellhounds, and my personal favourites.

"Scythian Dracaenae," I whispered. "Dragon women."

The monsters had circled a kid in Greek armour, but they didn't look like they were attacking. More like an interested audience.

I guess that was because the kid was hacking at a straw dummy, completely tearing it to pieces with his sword. Even worse, the dummy was wearing a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt.

Every time the kid hacked off a limb or ripped open the stomach of the dummy, all the monsters cheered and howled and stamped their feet. It was sickening.

I stepped away from the window, feeling like I was going to puke. I must have looked pretty bad because when Percy looked at me, he had a concerned expression on his face.

"Come on," he said, leading me away from the window. "The sooner we find Luke the better."

We kept moving and gradually the end of the corridor came into view. The space was taken up by a pair of huge oak doors, looking like the type you'd find leading to a president's office. Ten metres away from them, Tyson stopped suddenly.

"Voices inside," he said.

"You can hear that far?" Percy asked.

Tyson closed his eyes and concentrated. When he spoke, it wasn't his voice, but Luke's instead. I felt horror seep through me on hearing it, and I actually staggered away from him, feeling like I was going to collapse.

"- the prophecy ourselves. The fools won't know which way to turn."

Tyson's voice changed again, this time becoming deeper and gruffer, like the guy that had been talking with Luke earlier. "You really think the old horse is gone for good?"

Tyson did Luke's laugh and it sounded so realistic, that I actually thought that he was in the room with me. Knowing that it was only Tyson made me feel horrified. "They can't trust him. Not with the skeletons in his closet. The poisoning of the tree was the last straw."

"Stop that, Tyson!" I hissed, more voice barely a croak from fear. "How do you do that?"

Tyson opened his eye and looked at me, puzzled. "Just listening."

"Keep going," Percy urged. "What else are they saying?"

Tyson closed his eye and spoke in the gruff voice. "Quiet!"

"Are you sure?" Luke's voice said.

"Yes," said the gruff voice. "Right outside."

If I hadn't been so horrified by Tyson and his trick, I might have known what was going on. As it was, I could only stand there, paralysed, as the door opened, revealing Luke. Two hairy giants stood either side of him, bronze javelins aimed at our chests.

Luke smiled crookedly at us. "Well. If it isn't my two favourite cousins. Come right in."