Backbiter by Annabeth Chase

Chapter Nineteen: My Dreams Come True

(The Titan's Curse pg 260-283)

I had no way of knowing how long I was locked in that tiny prison cell, but it was long enough to make me feel like I was going a little crazy. I was starving and miserable. They brought me food a couple more times, not nearly enough, but at least Luke didn't show up again. The worst part was having nothing to do and no one to talk with, I was just sitting in a tiny room slowly losing my mind. My body still ached but I tried to move around as much as possible to get my joints and muscles back into working order and despite how much I wanted it to not matter, Aphrodite's message really was helpful. The thought that I might get out of this, that Percy might be trying to save me, did help keep me from coming completely unraveled.

When the wall shifted and I saw Luke once more I had no idea what to think, was he taking me to be executed or was he going to try and force me to join him again? I didn't want to see him, but it did seem to mean that, at the very least, my waiting was over. Luke entered the room and grabbed my arm harshly, pulling me to my feet.

"Last chance, if you join us, we will win. Please Annabeth, there aren't any other options," he looked at me pointedly, but I just averted my gaze and stared stubbornly at the floor. "Fine, let's go."

He pulled me into the hall and the dracaenae guards who were standing there gagged me and cuffed my hands behind my back.

"You will help us capture your friends and then you will die, so I hope you're happy with your decision," Luke whispered angrily in my ear as though all of this was my fault. I tried to glare at him, but he just held my arm tightly and pulled me along.

We wove through a few halls and came out onto the hillside I had been on earlier. The ruins had changed, almost growing since the last time I had seen them. Now instead of random columns and blocks there were partial walls and rooms forming. As we got closer to the top of this mountain a few more dracaenae joined us and they were carrying that awful sarcophagus where Kronos was being reformed. Even just seeing it caused a chill to go through me and made me want to vomit. 

"General," Luke said respectfully as we approached a large man. We stopped in front of him, and Luke bowed slightly. Luke had taken on Atlas's burden and used me to trap someone else between the earth and the sky. Now the Titan was standing before us, free from his curse and Luke still hadn't seemed to realize that he was as much a pawn in this as I was.

As Atlas turned towards us Luke shoved me and I fell hard. Before I could right myself Atlas grabbed me by my hair and lifted me off the ground. It took everything I had not to cry out as he looked me over.

"Are you sure she will help us capture her friends? I don't want any more mistakes," Atlas said to Luke as though he wasn't completely sold on whatever plan Luke had concocted to keep me alive.

"Yes, I'm certain," Luke replied.

Atlas set me on the ground and got right in my face, "One false move and you're dead. Luke will kill you, got it?"

Luke stepped forward and held me tightly, pushing his sword to my throat to show that Atlas wasn't exaggerating. Atlas turned around and I was forced to follow. Our procession walked only a few feet before the fog cleared.

We stood at the summit of the Mountain of Despair and across the clearing I could see Artemis holding up the sky. She must have taken the burden from me, and it was easy to deduce that the quest Aphrodite had mentioned was to save Artemis as one of her Hunters stood with my friends. Percy, Thalia, and Zoë had their backs to us, facing the goddess. We watched as Zoë rushed forward and knelt next to Artemis.

I tried to quickly work out what the plan was as we stood on the hill. Luke had told me that he needed Thalia to join them, and it felt really stupid that they had brought Thalia here. The prophecy could come true any day now and seeing her here made a lot of partial information I had make sense.