Growing Up In Tartarus: One Wrong Move

Chapter 5: Lying Is Bad, Telling The Truth Is Bad, Is Anything I Do Here GOOD?!

Percy POV

I burst into the room, panting from my sprint. Luke came over to me with a disappointed glare aimed at me. I bit my lip, looking down in shame.

"Percy," he said warningly, "why are you late? I thought you wanted to not only see your friends again, but also didn't want any more punishments. You know what the punishment is for being late!" I trembled at his anger-filled words. The punishment for being late was horrible. Possibly worse than trying to escape.

The punishment was that Luke would cut off a toe.

"No! Please Luke! D-d-don't do that! Anything but that! I would rather have lashes!" I begged. Of course, I thought that there was a limit to the amount of lashes I could receive.

"Fine. If you would rather have eighty lashes to the loss of one measly toe, then fine!" Luke yelled. I immediately shook my head.

"A-alright! Cut off the toe." I said dejectedly.

"That's what I thought. Now, go sit in the chair, I'll be right over. I was hoping that I didn't need to bring my tools today, but I guess that I wrong." I followed his instruction, hanging my head in shame.

"I'm sorry Luke. I wasn't trying to be late."

"Then what is your excuse?" Luke asked me, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow. I shook my head to signal that I had none. He sighed, then pulled out two objects: a knife and what looked like a leg-cast or leg-brace. I knew from what Luke has told me, that the cast was weighted, so that I could jerk my leg away and make everything harder than it has to be.

"Now hold still, I'm gonna shackle your arms, then one of your legs." Luke said irritably. I did as told, albeit a little shakily. Luke did as he said he would, by the end of which I was trying to hold in tears of fear, shaking badly. A few stray tears leaked out of my eyes.

"Oh, stop. You did this to yourself." Luke told me. I struggled to compose myself.

"Please Luke. I-I didn't want to be late! Plea-" he cut me off.

"No! Now, Percy! If you don't want this to be worse for yourself, you would shut up!" I flinched at his tone, but bit my lip, holding back a whimper. I looked at Luke with pleading eyes, but he just ignored it. He then brought the knife to my skin, and I closed my eyes, tight.

"Please do it quick." I said softly before I could stop myself. I didn't see his reaction, but soon was backhanded across my face. I cried out in pain as the chair I was sitting in crashed to the floor, Luke hauling me back up.

"I told you to stop talking," Luke said, proceeding with my foot. As punishment for asking him to be quick, he was making it agonizingly slow. I managed to hold in my cries, but I let out a few whimpers and tears. When he was finished, blood covered my foot and his hand, which he wiped on my ragged clothes. "Training is canceled." Luke said harshly, then walked out of the room, leaving me to wrap my wound and limp back to my cell.

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I awoke to the sound of my door being slammed open. I looked up and saw Luke looking at me with an evil smirk, making me shiver. That smirk meant that I was to be tortured in some way, I just knew it.

"So, Perseus," yep, definitely being punished, "I'm going to ask you some questions, and you are going to answer. Only one rule to this fun game: you must wear this collar." Luke said, coming near me. I eyes the collar wearily, but didn't fight him when he tried to put it on me.

"Let's start simple. How old are you?" I narrowed my eyes at the too-easy question, but answered nonetheless.

"I'm twel-" I was cut off by an electric shock, causing me to softly cry out.

"Answer precisely!"

"Ahh... I'm twelve and... Three quarters?" I said, more like a question, but the collar seemed to think it was close enough. I sighed in relief.

"Good." Luke said. He then kept on asking tedious questions, and I knew that he was building up to a much bigger one. Finally, Luke asks me what I've been trying to prepare for.

"Why were you late for training this morning?" I gulped. Every question so far had required a specific, honest answer. If that was what I gave now, I would probably receive something like one-hundred whip lashes, at least two brandings, and an escort. Not to mention the fact that I would probably never get to see my friends again.

My hesitation caused Luke to set the collar off, giving me another shock, this one sending me to the ground, crying out loudly and grasping at it, as if I was trying to take it off. The shocks had gotten worse every time,

"I asked you a question! You better answer me!"

"I-I... I was on my way to training... A-a-and I trip- AAGGH!" I screamed from the shock the collar sent my way. Luke 'tsk's from above me as I lay on the floor, writhing in pain.

"You know what the truth is. Tell me that. Not something that you made up on the fly." Luke says sternly. I took a deep breath, getting ready for the punishment sure to follow.

"I... I w-was walking to t-training, a-and I-I found a d-d-drachma laying o-on the ground." I shuddered at this point, not wanting to tell him any more. "A-and I u-u-used an I-I-IM station.... T-to c-con-tact my... M-my f-f-f-f-f-friends..." I trailed off, cringing away from Luke. He was fuming. He started to transfer my shackles to the ones one the ceiling and floor, making me shake in fear.

"W-w-wait! Please Luke! I d-didn't t-tell them a-a-anything about w-where I am! I promise! I only said that I missed them! And that I loved them!" At this, I got an electric shock; Luke never took off the collar.

"What else did you tell them!" Luke roared. I flinched away, whimpering, but answered nonetheless.

"I t-told th-the-them of m-my punishments. But nothing else, I swear it!"

"What. Did. You. Tell. Them?" Luke asked, giving me a single lash with each word, making me grunt in pain each time.

"I-I told them how much I l-l-lo-ved them. W-what my pu-nish-ments were. And p-possibly l-letting i-it s-slip th-that I w-work for Lord Kronos n-now..." I said, careful to not stutter on 'Lord Kronos', because it was disrespectful. Luke glared at me, then sent a guard to get Kronos.

"You have been very, and I mean very, bad. You have done specifically what you were told to wait to do, and now you must be punished for it. This type of offense is above my head, and your punishment will be decided by-" Luke was cut off in the middle of his rant.

"By me."