•as the world caves in•

•we go on a cruise•

We continued on our way, looking at monsters in some weird mall thing before continuing.

"Voices inside." Tyson said. He closed his eye, and then he sounded like Luke. "...the prophecy ourselves. The fools won't know which way to turn."

Then it changed. "You really think the old horseman is gone for good?"

Now, it was Luke's laugh. "They can't trust him. Not with the skeletons in his closet. The poisoning of the tree was the final straw."

"Tyson stop!" I said. "It's creepy."

"I'm just listening." Tyson frowned.

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

"Quiet!" He hissed in a voice, then, in Luke's: "Are you sure?"

I understood what was happening, but I was far too late.

The door was slammed open, and Luke had a grin, but not the one he used to have. "If it isn't my three favorite cousins. Come right in."

We, of course, had no choice and were shoved in by monsters, forced to follow Luke into the stateroom.

It was beautiful. It had huge windows in the back wall, looking over the stern of the boat, seeing the sea and sky all the way to the horizon. A canopy bed was in the corner, along with a dining table and couches.

But, there was also a golden casket, engraved with scenes of cities on fire and heroes dying and it made the whole room feel cold despite the sunlight.

Luke still held his smug grin. "Well, a little nicer than Cabin Eleven, huh?"

It was like he was a whole new person. His personality was completely changed and I wondered if I had ever known him at all, wondered if his personality at Camp was even real.

The one thing he still had was his scar, the scar that banned quests, the scar that left so many questions from Annabeth and I over if we could actually handle a quest.

And finally, his sword, but it was half-steel and half-Celestial bronze. For monsters and mortals.

"Sit," he demanded and with a wave of his hand, four dining chairs went to the center of the room.

I looked over at the monsters, pointing javelins at us. They seemed like twins but almost looked like bears.

"Where are my manners?" Luke said. "These are my assistants, Agrius and Oreius. I know Coriane has heard of them, perhaps the rest of you have."

I was in a state of shock, of course he brought them, one of the monsters who desperately hated not only my mother, but Artemis as well.

Luke looked to Percy. "Their mother... well, it's sad, really. Aphrodite ordered the young woman to fall in love. She refused and ran to Artemis for help, so, she let her become one of her maiden huntresses, but Aphrodite got her revenge. She bewitched the young woman into falling in love with a bear and when Artemis found out, she abandoned the girl in disgust. Typical of the gods, they fight with one another and the poor humans get caught in the middle. The girl's twin sons here have no love for Olympus. They like half-bloods well enough, though."

"For lunch," Agrius growled and it sounded like the one we'd heard earlier. The other one started giggling like crazy, and Agrius scowled. "Shut up, you idiot! Go punish yourself!"

Oreius whimpered but walked to the table and banged his head on it, making it rattle.

Luke acted like this was normal and sat on a couch. "Well, Percy, we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it. How's your mom, how's school? Cor, what about you?"

"Don't call me Cor," I snapped. "It's Coriane to you."

"I'm the one who gave you that nickname, so I think I can call you Cor."

Percy ignored the banter. "You poisoned Thalia's tree."

Luke sighed. "Right to the point? Okay, sure, I poisoned the tree, so what?"

"How could you?" Annabeth shouted. "Thalia save your life! Our lives! How could you dishonor her!"

"I didn't dishonor her!" Luke snapped back. "The gods dishonored her, Annabeth! If Thalia were alive, she'd be on my side."

"Liar!" Annabeth and I shouted.

"If you knew what was coming, you'd understand-"

"We understand you want to destroy camp!" I yelled. "You're a monster!"

He only shook his head. "The gods have blinded you both. Can't you imagine a world with them? What good is that history you two study? Three thousand years of baggage! The West is rotten to the core. It has to be destroyed, so join me! We can start a world anew, we could use both of your intelligence."

"Because you have none of your own?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I know you, Coriane. You deserve better than tagging along on some hopeless quest to save the camp. Half-Blood Hill will be overrun by monsters within the month. The heroes who survive will have no choice but to join us or be hunted to extinction. You really want to be on a losing team, with company like this?" He pointed to Tyson.

"Hey!" Percy defended.

"Traveling with a Cyclops." Luke chided. "Coriane, Annabeth, you talk about dishonoring Thalia's memory! I'm surprised at you both. Of all people!"

"Stop it!" I screamed and buried my face in my hands, pushing the tears from falling. I wasn't dishonoring her, I was making her sacrifice worth it, even if it meant pairing with a monster.

I stayed like that for however long until I saw Tyson held back by the twins.

"He is reforming," Luke said. "Little by little, we're calling his life force out of the pit. With every recruit who pledges our cause, another small piece appears."

"That's disgusting!" Annabeth spat.

Luke sneered at her. "Your mother was born from Zeus's split skull, Annabeth, I wouldn't talk. Soon there will be enough of the titan lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece together a new body for him, a work worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."

"You're insane," I murmured.

"Join us and you'll be rewarded. We have powerful friends, sponsors rich enough to buy this ship and much more. Percy, your mother will never have to work again. You can buy her a mansion, you can have power, fame, whatever you want. Annabeth, you can realize your dream of being an architect. You can build a monument to last a thousand years, a temple to the lords of the next age! Coriane, you'll have enough time to do all those dreams you had when we were kids. Be an actress, an author, an archeologist! You can do anything!"

"Go to Tartarus," I spat.

"A shame," he sighed. He pressed a button and the doors opened with two men walking in, glassy eyes like the others. "Ah, good, security. We have some stowaways."

And so, we were shoved away by Oreius and the guards, facing whatever doom came for us.