Children of The Big Three Book 2: The Sea of Monsters

Chapter Thirteen: Well This Sucks

Breakfast, in fact, was not nice. In fact, it was rather hell-houndish. So the trio decided maybe they'd get something out a vending machine later, maybe a Pepsi. Thalia had this weird thing with Pepsi that Percy did not understand in the slightest. Perhaps it was another one of those Zeus/Poseidon rivalry things, because Percy knew for a fact that Coke was the superior brand. Which of course, brought up the question..

"Ey Nico, what kind of pop do you like?" He asked, as every single bone in his body told him to bolt and dive off the ship, given the fact that it was infested with monsters.

"Mountain Dew." The Son of Hades responded.

"That's a Pepsi product." Thalia added.

"I don't care, it's my Gamer Juice."

"Please, never call yourself a Gamer. You literally only have a 3ds." Percy said absentmindedly; as he grew more and more curious about the seemingly hypnotized folk at the pool. Two children, both girls, simply repeated the motion of splashing each other, a blank expression upon their faces. Pool water hit their face, yet they didn't even blink.

"Alright, if it helps you sleep at night." The Gamer finished. Thalia was about to add some sly joke about hand held gaming being heresy compared to computer gaming, when their talk, along with their side mission for donuts and drinks; was interrupted by the sounds of fist pounding against armor, hissing, and other noises one wouldn't even be able to begin to describe. The cause of which, as the group soon found out, was a large congregation of monsters, all doing their own separate cheer at a person on the balcony above them. Even Tyson was there, though he held an confused expression, as if he didn't know what was going on, but was just happy to be part of the celebration. The Daughter of Zeus' and the Son of Hades' breath hitched after they had looked up at the figure overhead, and as Percy looked up, he could see why. She looked so different now. Her once blond hair seemed to be dyed black, and her eyes were such a deep grey they almost matched it. As if the woman before them wanted to distance herself so far from her genetics that she tried to change them.

"Her eyes.." Nico managed. They weren't just darker, he could see. The way she looked upon the crowd below, as if they were cattle. Expendable. Nico would have been completely okay with this; if it were just monsters. There were a decent amount of Demi-Gods in the audience, which he also had concerns about; but this seemed to take president. Those were the eyes of a War Tactician, one who was willing to sacrifice a platoon of soldiers to secure or destroy a target. Had she always been like this? No.. No one could hide those eyes. This year had to have been an eventful one for her. He almost felt bad. Almost. When she spoke, it was eerily familiar to her mocking tone she had used towards Percy after the battle with the Minotaur, yet it held a inspiring overtone. To hide the goading undertone. With a wave of her hand, the crowd silenced. Her satisfaction was visible on her face, and sickly, hubris fueled pride flared in her dark eyes. Percy couldn't help but notice her scan the crowd, and lock upon their location for an uncomfortable amount of time. After a few moments it was clear that she had spotted them. She moved her head in a: 'Follow me.' Gesture, her face flushed with confidence. Percy knee they didn't have a choice, if they didn't do what they were told; they'd be killed. Even with Tyson, as he had made his way back to the group, they'd be overwhelmed. They just had to hope an opportunity to escape revealed itself on the way. In the meantime, Annabeth began to speak.

"The plan advances perfectly. The Gods reacted just how I predicted. They looked for blame, and looked to each other. Chiron, the trainer of Heroes, has been exiled and left to Fade."

It was as if she was prodding Thalia, goading her to attack. And, to her benefit, it was working. Her fists were clenched at the mere mention of Chiron, but Nico did his best to put himself in between Thalia and her view of Annabeth. A deterrent for Thalia, a small satisfaction to Annabeth.

"Gro-"

The Daughter of Athena had to stop a moment, and for a mere second, remorse flushed her face. Percy saw that, Nico saw it, Thalia was a bit to angry to see it at the moment. That made, Nico think at least, that the poisoning of the tree wasn't exactly her idea.

"The Godlings first line of defense has been rendered useless. The serpents head has been cut, and they remain leaderless. We will arrive on schedule, and wipe them out. Without their precious servants on the ground, the Gods of Olympus will be no more threat then a fog. Our Lord Kronos will rise, and we, the faithful; whom were born strong from weak Gods, shall take our place in the cosmos. Soon, we rise, my brothers and sisters. Soon; the Gods whom seemed you monsters, that they created, shall be disposed of. Soon; we rise!"

The army of monster and Demi-Gods cheered, and Annabeth simply began a eloquent cascade down a flight of stairs and down to the group of heroes, all in her way parted respectfully. All, of course, except Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace, and Nico Di Angelo; whom stood defiantly. Annabeth just walked on around them, and stated loosely,

"You guys coming? Except the Cyclops, he stays out here."

They were led into the presidential sweet, or so Thalia assumed. The door closed behind them, and revealed two, bear like creatures on either sides. And in the middle of it all, there he was. Luke Castellan. Kicking his feet up on a table. Behind him was a sort of golden box, with various graphic images of Ancient Greek Stories, written in a language older then even Greek.

"Kronos.." Nico mumbled. He could feel it. Not dead, yet not even alive. It just.. Was. Kronos just was.

"No my name is Luke, actually." Luke said, and then proceeded to chuckle to himself. "But really," He continued, "Welcome to Shark Tank everyone, and my friends;" His trademark smirk seemed a lot more sinister then any of them remembered,

"We do have much business to discuss."