Annabeth Chase and the Sea of Monsters

Chapter 37 - Percy surprises me again

It was like a horrible case of deja-vu. We were back on board the Princess Andromeda and taken onto the aft deck. There was a swimming pool nearby and I could see Percy sneaking looks at it, but we were surrounded by an assortment of snake people, Laistrygonians and evil demigods.

"And so, the Fleece," Luke said, circling around us. "Where is it?"

He prodded Percy in the chest with his sword, which seriously isn't a safety precaution, tapped my arms and poked Grover's jeans.

"Hey!" the satyr protested. "That's real goat fur under there!"

Luke smiled. "Sorry, old friend. Just give me the Fleece and I'll leave you to return to your, ah, little nature quest."

Grover sniffed. "Blaa-ha-ha! Some old friend!"

I glared at Luke, but he didn't even glance my way. All his attention was on Percy. It was like I wasn't even there.

"Maybe you didn't hear me," he said softly. "Where - is - the - Fleece?"

"Not here," Percy smirked. "We sent it on ahead of us. You messed up."

Luke's eyes narrowed. "You're lying. You couldn't have . . ." His face paled and he took a step back. "Clarisse?"

I felt a surge of savage pleasure at seeing his face. Although I questioned Percy's decision before, now I was glad he'd made it.

Percy nodded, still smirking.

"You trusted . . . you gave . . ."

"Yeah."

"Agrius!" Luke whirled on his bear-man, who flinched.

"Y-yes?"

"Get below and prepare my steed. Bring it to the deck. I need to fly to Miami Airport, fast!"

Never in my years of knowing him had I seen him looking so desperate. Not even when Thalia sacrificed himself. It was like something more important than the life of a friend depended on this.

"But, boss -" Agrius stuttered, glancing at Tyson worriedly, who growled at him.

"Do it!" Luke screamed. "Or I'll feed you to the drakon!"

Agrius ran off, tumbling down some stairs. Luke paced the deck, cursing and gripping his sword so tight I thought his hand would snap. His crew watched him with concern. I'm pretty sure they were relieved that they weren't at the receiving end of his anger.

"You've been toying with us all along," Percy said suddenly. I glanced at him, but all of his attention was on Luke. "You wanted us to bring you the Fleece and save you the trouble of getting it."

"Of course, you idiot!" Luke snapped. "And you've messed everything up!"

"Traitor!" Percy yelled. He dug the drachma out of his pocket and threw it at Luke. I don't know what he expected to do as Luke easily dodged the coin and it sailed into a spray of water. "You tricked all of us! Even DIONYSUS at CAMP HALF-BLOOD!"

I stared at him in confusion as he uncapped Riptide. Was he planning on getting us all killed?

But as I looked back to Luke, I saw that the fountain behind him had started to shimmer. An image of a familiar balding man in a leopard-print shirt appeared, accompanied by another man in prisoner jump-suit and a massive crowd of kids.

I struggled to keep the smile off my face. Sometimes it was nice it underestimate Percy.

"This is no time for heroics, Percy," Luke sneered. "Drop your puny little sword, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."

"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Luke?" Percy demanded.

Behind the son of Hermes, Dionysus sat upright, fingers on his chin as he listened intently.

"I did, of course," Luke snapped. "I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."

"Chiron had nothing to do with it?"

"Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts."

"You call it guts?" Percy yelled, his face flushed with anger. "Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?"

Luke glared at him. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece . . . once I was done with it."

I stared at him, but he seemed sincere. Then again, I didn't know what to believe these days.

Dionysus leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers together in front of him. A smile was on his face, one that wasn't mirrored in Tantalus's.

"You were going to heal Kronos," Percy said, holding Luke's attention.

"Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven't stopped us, Percy. You've only slowed us down a little."

"And so you poisoned the tree, you betrayed Thalia, you set us up - all to help Kronos destroy the gods."

Luke gritted his teeth in frustration. "You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"

Percy smiled. "Because I want everybody in the audience to hear you."

"What audience?"

A horrified look came over his face. He spun around to come face to face with Dionysus, Tantalus and the whole camp. They were staring back at us, most glaring at Luke.

"Well," Dionysus said drily, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."

"Mr D, you heard him," Percy said. "You all heard Luke. The poisoning of the tree wasn't Chiron's fault."

"I suppose not," Dionysus sighed.

"The Iris-message could be a trick," Tantalus suggested, his gaze on a cheeseburger he was trying to corner.

"I fear not." Mr D looked at Tantalus with distaste. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."

Tantalus managed to grab hold of the cheeseburger. He stared in shock as he lifted it up. "I got it!"

"We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus," Mr D said with a sort of savage pleasure.

Tantalus looked up, surprised. "What? But -"

"You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."

"No! But - Nooooooooooo!"

He tried to bite the cheeseburger, but he was dissolving into mist too fast. His teeth clamped through air as he disappeared. The camp erupted into cheers.

Luke roared in anger and slashed his sword through the fountain. It exploded, destroying the Iris-message. He turned back to Percy, a murderous look in his eye.

"Kronos was right, Percy," he growled. "You're an unreliable weapon. You need to be replaced."

A brass whistle was blown and the deck doors flew open. Tyson backed towards Percy so they stood back-to back, watching as dozens of warriors poured out. Grover and I were still held by Oreius, so we could only watch helplessly at the monsters came our way. They circled us, standing several rows deep as they aimed weapons at us.

Luke smiled devilishly. "You'll never leave this boat alive."