P.J and the Prison of the Gods ( Book #1 : ✓ )

Separated

I'm currently writing to you from the inside of an over sized bottle of mustard. Just, don't ask. I think I'm going to have to fake my death. Again. That'll get them to leave me alone. 

Special note: this chapter features my own OC antagonist... who will die. Enough of my rambling. Here's the next chapter. (Review or I'll trick the CIA into thinking you're me).

"Percy shut it down!" Chris shouted. "Shut it down!"

The pain was overcoming my every sensation. I didn't know how I could still think. I was fighting to breathe. Fighting to keep my heart beating, even though every beat felt like a stab.

"Shut! It! Down!" Chris shouted again.

I closed my eyes and focused every ounce as energy I had into shutting down the god powers. My whole body started to glow. I concentrated harder, desperate now. The glow stopped, and the pain decreased into a dull pain in my chest and a mild headache. Clarisse's face flashed with worry for about three quarters of a nanosecond, and Chris looked at me in horror.

I stood up shakily, my head still spinning. I looked first at Chris, then Clarisse. "Well what are you two just standing around for? We've got a goddess to save."

Clarisse nodded. "Jackson's got a point," she admitted.

Chris just looked at us with his mouth hanging open. Clarisse grabbed him by his shirt collar and dragged him until he started walking.

As we walked through the Underworld, Chris fell behind. I looked back to see him going through the files Athena had given us. He looked up at me.

"Percy, have you even gone through these files?" Chris asked.

"I've...skimmed them," I defended.

"Well what do they say?" Clarisse asked Chris.

"Titan forces have gone down by as much as two-thirds in the last year. If they're taking that many casualties, how the heck could they be keeping up with the rebellion? If these numbers are right, we're about even," Chris explained.

"So, all the talk about the rebellion being doomed to fail was a lie?" I asked.

"Not exactly," Chris continued. "Casualties maintained a steady and slow rate until about the last few days when–"

"I showed up," I finished.

Clarisse raised an eyebrow. Chris gave me a look that said not bad Jackson.  

I just stared into space, thinking about how I'd single-handedly tipped the scales. I was dangerous.

We reached the Fields of Punishment without any real trouble. A monster or two, but nothing Chris-the-quick-draw couldn't handle in less than three seconds. But when we hit the entrance, Clarisse raised her hand for us to stop. She held her hand out, and Chris handed her the map that showed all the traps in the Fields of Punishment.

"Anything getting in our way?" I asked.

She nodded and handed Chris the map again. "Some security guard, special armaments, nothing we can't handle."

But of course, she was wrong. A whistle hit my ears just as Chris and Clarisse fell to the ground with arrows jutting out of them. These were weird arrows. Instead of normal points, they had injector needles. The tubes that held the poison had a light green coating on them.

The archer stepped out, smiling. "Gorgon blood. Most effect poison in existence."

I turned around and glared at him. "Who are you?" I demanded.