Annabeth hadn't moved from her tent since Jake had come in. For some strange reason over the past few days, she had been feeling more and more weak and sick. Like last night, when she let Percy take watch so she could sleep. That wasn't like her. And now, as she began to shiver once more, she really wished Percy were here to give her his t-shirt.
The nauseous feeling continued but Annabeth shoved it away, slowly pushing herself up to a sitting position. When she awoke last night, the same feeling had hit her. She felt dizzy and almost emptied her stomach with the effort but she bit her lip and fanned herself with her hand. She wasn't one to get sick, and not this suddenly. Was it even possible to get sick while in the Abyss? What was happening?
Not even 500 feet away, Kronos sat in his tent of black, tapping his foot, as Luke would while he thought. Just for a hint of humor, he shifted into the form of Hermes' "prized" son. Kronos snorted at the thought and a malicious grin fleeted across his lips. Or at least Luke used to be. For days, he had sat alone in his tent, flipping through all of Luke's memories like a television in his head. There were happy times and sad times, moments of despair and times of glory. It was all in there, just begging to be remembered.
The way Kronos could feel Luke's consciousness squirm inside him as he touched on the more personal memories only made him find the whole ordeal more amusing. His original mission was to find Percy Jackson and study him to the nth degree. But Luke didn't have much about Percy. Perhaps a few snippets here and there, enough to satisfy Kronos, but not enough to please him. He needed more. And that's when his "aha" moment came.
In most memories of Percy, a girl lurked somewhere in the background. The same Blondie showed up in Luke's childhood memories. She could be the key. She could lead him to Percy. Of course, she wasn't exactly what Kronos expected her to be. Most fugitives don't willingly help their captors kidnap them. For Kronos, it was easy enough to appear as Luke inside of her own camp, slipping through unseen by the guards that his minions killed without thought only seconds later. Really, the sentries the gods used were completely useless. On top of that, it was even easy enough to go through Luke's memory and find the right silly birdcall for her. However, Kronos had at least expected some resistance.
She ran towards them almost eagerly from her cave, as if she was hiding something that she didn't want to be found. The glint of fury in her eye as she looked at whom she still considered "Luke" let Kronos know that she would be easy enough to fool. She hated Luke and she would do anything to protect Percy Jackson. Luke had given him that much information as well. And emotions that overwhelmed people often gave way to spontaneous actions.
Having Annabeth in their camp would lure Percy to them like a fly to honey. Of course, her minor obstacle of threatening her death if Percy followed may deter the so-called "hero" for awhile but Kronos was certain that he would find a way to escape the watchful eye of the gods. And then, as if she made his day even better, she even proposed a suggestion that would make Percy watch straight into enemy territory.
Kronos had announced that he planned to attack the next day just to see how far he could push his new plaything into admitting information for Percy. He was going to attack; the day before Percy's 16th birthday. It would give them some time to gain the lead in the battle. Of course, once the girl heard this, she didn't throw a fit like most girls would but calmly proposed another option. It was almost too good to be true. The determination in her eye as she spoke every word told Kronos that she was sure that she would win, but Luke inside of Kronos let him know that Annabeth must be wrong.
Her terms were somewhat arguable but Kronos' cruel amusement at her idea made him somewhat more lenient on the issue. She had said to him, "If you postpone attacking until the sun begins to rise on Percy's 16th birthday, I will make you a deal." It was almost too tempting to resist. He could call the terms and raise the stakes, as long as in exchange, they would postpone the battle.
