The lost hero rises

4. Where to?

Percy's point of view

It feels like things are in slow motion.
My heartbeat. Breathing. Everything.

I look at my mom.
She is just sitting there. Not moving and not even looking at me.

I know it might sound weird. But I expected her to tell me not to do it. To stop this and go back to my friends.
But she doesn't say a thing.

"What will it be Perseus?" Nyx says pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I.. I don't.." I stutter. My head feels light and I start to see dubble. "My head.." I whisper.
I feel dizzy and my head feels like it's going to explode.

I faintly recognize the feeling.
And as soon as I know what is causing it my vision turns black.

Annabeth's point of view

Percy was about go give an answer.

I was begging to the gods he would figure something out. That he could reject them without getting Sally killed.

But he started to lean heavily on the wall beside him.
He is mumbling. I can't hear him. But this is not good. That's for sure.

Then without a warning or anything, Percy stands up and kneels in front of Nyx and Tartaurus.

"It.. It would be my honor to serve you." Percy says monotone. Nyx smiles at him.

It feels like my breath gets sucked out of my lungs. I stare at Percy.
I can't believe this..

I back up.
Tears blurr my sight and it feels like I can't breathe properly.
I need to get out of here. I need to tell Chaos and the others about this. We need to-

As I backed up I accidentally bumbed into a photo of Sally and Percy. It fell down and the glass shattered on the ground.

I freeze and Percy, Nyx and Tartaurus snap their heads. They see me and I think Tartaurus growled.

"Kill her." Nyx simply says.

At first I didn't understand. But then Percy stands up and I realize that she gave him an order to kill me.

Percy swings Riptide in front of me and I raised my daggers just in time to block him.
I fall on my back. Percy is leaning over me with riptide.

"Percy! Please. Percy stop it!" I beg him.
His eyes are almost black. There is no emotion on his face.

He pushes the blade of riptide down.
It scratched my cheek. I can feel blood running down. Dripping on the ground.

I need to get out of here.

I kick him in his stomach and push him off me.
I look at him. He gets up.

Suddenly there is a hand grabbing my shoulders and dragging me out of the apartment.

Paul.

With everything going on I totally forgot he was there too. How stupid.
We start running. I can hear his footsteps behind us.

"What happened to him?" Paul asks shocked.

"I.. I don't know.." I say holding back the tears and anger. "I do know we need to get out of here. I don't know what he'll do if he catches us."

"My car is around the corner. Let's get out of here." Paul says. I nod and we run for his car.

Luckily Paul had his keys ready and we could get out of there fast. Because if it took us even two seconds longer.. Percy would have caught us.

Paul starts driving.
"Where to?" He asks still catching his breath.

"Camp half-blood." I tell him while wiping the blood of my cheeck.
Percy probably knows we'll be there.
I don't care. I need to talk to Chiron and Chaos.

Then it hits me.
I turn in absolute shock. "Sally! She is still there. We need to go back. Paul turn around!"

But Paul doesn't even look at me.
His eyes kept focus on the road.

"Paul.. What's wrong?" I ask softly.

"That.. wasn't Sally.." He says. His knuckles turn white from grabbing the wheel.

"What? What do you mean? She was right there on the couch." I tell him.

"I don't know how to explain. But whatever or whoever that was. It wasn't her." He explains.

"She did seem a bit off.." I think about how calm she seemed. And how she didn't even say anything to Percy, she was quiet the entire time. And that is not like her.

"I haven't seen of heard from her for the weekend. I got worried. I was away for the weekend." Paul explains.
"I bumbed into Percy. He thought something sas wrong. We rushed back into the building. Percy felt something was wrong and told me to hide. I noticed how sally was acting. She would never do this.."

"You're right.." I say. "Percy was also acting weird. Did you hear what he mumbled? I couldn't hear him." I ask paul.

"I'm not sure. But he said something about his head hurting or something." Paul says.

I think about it.

Then it feels like all the pieces are comming together. How could I have been so blind and naive?

We need to get to camp. Fast.

"You figured it out.." Paul says looking at me.

"Nyx.. She took control of Percy's mind!" I exclaim.

"You mean like mind control?" He asks.
I nod.

"She tried it before. When we fought her before she tried to control Percy to fight on her side. But Percy knew how to block it." I explain.

"Why didn't he block it again?"

"I think it has to do with his sleep. Before he knew exactly when and how Nyx would try it. But this time.. Percy has not been sleeping good. He kept having nightmares. It makes the mind easier to manipulate. She must have done something to him." I say.

Paul says nothing.

"How could I have not seen this comming! I'm such an idiot!" I yell.

"Annabeth. Don't say that! It isn't your fault. Let's get to camp and we'll figure something out. We will get them back. Both Sally and Percy." Paul says with a smile.

"You're right." I say getting myself together.
"First we need to get to camp."