I'm so sorry it took so long to update! This is a bit of a short chapter. I do have a life outside wattpad people! (I wish!)
I also wanted to say thanks to all those who responded to my question last chapter. For those who didn't read it, the question was, "If you were a demigod, who would be you're parent, and would you be Greek or Roman?" Thanks to all the responses!
This chapter is dedicated to greek_freak1 for her comment, "I'd be a daughter of Nyx, the goddess of night. And OMGS!!! I cried at the end of this chapter! Stupid Percy and his brave acts!!! :.(. PLEASE UPDATE BEFORE I CRY MY EYES OUT FROM HAVING TO REREAD THIS CHAPTER AGAIN STILL WAITING FOR NEXT ONE!!!!!" Thanks greek_freak1!
So, this is chapter 14. I hope that the chapter name sounds mysterious, I thought heaps about it ...
Chapter 14: Plans of Fate - Luke's POV
Four days later and we still had no plan.
I was starting to get panicky. Thank the gods Clarisse was there. I don't think I could've handled it without her, constantly supporting me and threatening to beat me to a pulp ever few minutes.
Some things never change.
At least we knew where Percy and the others were being kept ... sort of. We knew that they were at Destruction's fortress. Super! Now we just had figure out where that was.
Ever night, I had dreams.
And every dream was the same. I saw Percy, Leo, Bianca, Annabeth, Frank and Piper in a cell. They would all go to sleep, except Percy. He would pretend, and then, when he was sure everyone else was soundly sleeping, he would get up and roam around. I was sure that he was scared of nightmares.
I felt sure that this was Chaos' way of telling me what was going on. He couldn't communicate, so he was sending me dream messages.
The campers and Chaos warriors met every day to discuss anything new. But there wasn't anything.
We'd employed the help of the gods, who weren't eager to let their children dwell in their enemies prison, being tortured.
But even with our supernatural parents, we couldn't find them.
Until they came.
We were walking out of the Big House after our meeting on the fourth day. Looking around, there was not a single cheery face, all were depressed and glum. We'd found nothing.
But as we came out into the early afternoon light, we saw that we had visitors.
Three old ladies sat, knitting. I felt everyone around me shiver and I did the same.
The fates.
They looked up calmly as we approached. I could see that they were knitting a pair of giant socks.
Do they always knit socks? I thought to myself, remembering how Percy told me of his first encounter with the fates.
But what really scared me, was that the colour of the yarn they were using to knit the socks was a deep sea green.
The exact colour of Percy's eyes.
I swallowed and I ran forward. I paled as one of them raised scissors to cut a line of string.
'No!' I yelled, 'Please, don't cut the string. I beg you.'
The fates looked at me quizzically.
'Please,' I said again, 'Let him live. He has done nothing to you. Please don't kill him.'
'Soon, it may not be our choice,' one of them rasped, 'We may not have any say.'
'Destruction is a powerful force,' said another, 'His power is greater than even ours.'
'Which is why we have come,' the third one added, 'To ensure that you succeed.'
By then, the others had crowded around me. I was sure that they hadn't heard me asking them to spare Percy's life, but they had definitely heard what the third fate said.
'To ensure that we succeed?' Hazel questioned, 'Does that mean, you'll help us?'
Two of the fates began bundling up the sea green string and I breathed a sigh of relief. The third fate looked directly at me.
'Do not let your mind be eased yet,' she said to me, 'As I said before, things are in our hands no longer.'
'That fates no longer have control,' Jason muttered, 'We're doomed.'
The fates had radar ears, rather like Chiron.
'Not quite yet, son of Jupiter,' one said, 'We are still of use.'
'If Destruction prevails and civilization fades,' the second added, 'So will we.'
'This battle cannot be won without Chaos' commander,' the third finished, 'Yet he cannot hope to be rescued if you do not know his location.'
'And ... you're going to tell us?' Clarisse asked hopefully.
The fates nodded in sync.
A smile broke out across my face. Finally, we had a chance. A small chance, but a chance none the less.
'We don't need that wimp,' Xavier exclaimed, pushing through the crowd, 'I can lead us into battle. Leave him and the others there, I say. If we win-which we will with me leading-we can get them back anyway.If they're not already dead.'
The fates glared at him coldly.
'It is not your fate, son of Ares,' the first whispered, 'It is the fate of the Chaos Commander to save everything.'
Xavier crossed his arms, 'Thats not fair. I'm so much better, so why does he get the cooler fate.'
'You were beat by someone who wasn't as powerful as him,' I growled, 'And you honestly think you're better than Epsilon?'
Xavier was about retort, when a small bolt of lightning came form the sky and zapped him in the rear end.
Everyone assembled (except for the fates) laughed their heads off as he jumped up and down all over the place, clutching his butt while his jeans smouldered.
Through my laughs, I looked over at Jason who was whistling innocently, and then I cracked up harder.
Xavier eventually ran off to the lake when his pants caught fire. It then took another five minutes for everyone to settle down.
'Ok,' Hazel said, wiping a tear from her eye, 'So, where is Commander Epsilon and the others?'
The fate in the middle waved her hand, and a misty image of a ruined castle appeared. The stones were crumbling and faded grey pillars stood scattered, no longer holding up the rooms that used to be there.
Reyna gasped, 'I know that place. That's Knapp's Castle. Its in the Santa Ynez Mountains, near California.'
The fates did that weird in sync nod again.
Smiles, hugs and high fives suddenly filled the air. I gave every single Chaos warrior a huge hug, which surprised most of them, especially Clarisse. Strangely, she didn't seem to be celebrating.
'Cheer up,' I told her quietly, 'We'll have Percy back soon.'
'But something is wrong,' she insisted, 'It can't be that easy. And there's just ruins. There's no sign that anyone has disturbed that site for years.'
I thought about that. Naturally, the fates overheard.
'That is the start of your journey,' one of them said.
The second one nodded, 'Destruction is too powerful. We cannot find his exact location.'
'But you can find it if you start here,' the third one agreed. Did they do that all the time?
'We have to get moving!' Sally shouted. I'd almost forgotten that she, Rachel and Octavian were here.
The fates held up their hands.
'Destiny has chosen only few of you to go on the quest,' the first announced.
'And they will be,' the second said, pointing, 'Iroas, Drakon and Bandit from Chaos' army.'
Travis walked out to stand beside me and Clarisse, looking both excited and nervous.
'And from the campers,' the third said, 'Jason Grace, Hazel Levesque, Sally Jackson and Reyna Bellona.' (AN: She doesn't have a last name, so I just said her mother.)
Jason, Hazel, Sally and Reyna stepped out next to us.
Octavian and Rachel pouted, 'What about us?'
'The fates have spoken,' Chiron called, 'These seven shall quest to retrieve our missing friends.'
He bowed to the fates and we all followed his example. They nodded politely, then shimmered and disappeared.
I turned to my new quest group, 'Kay, guys. Our friends have been imprisoned for a whole week now. I don't think they can last much longer. We have to get to Knapp's Castle and find where to go next ASAP. So lets get moving!'
We raced off in different directions; Jason to Zeus cabin, Sally, Reyna and Hazel to the Big House.
I led Clarisse and Travis to the Chaos cabin where we burst into our rooms, packed a backpack each at top speed and ran back to the Big House to meet the others.
Chiron, Reyna, Hazel and Sally were already waiting for us. Jason hadn't arrived yet. We waited, and he appeared less than a minute later, huffing from running hard.
'Here!' he puffed, leaning over on his knees, 'I'm here.'
'Good,' Reyna said, 'Cause now we're going to rescue them.'
Jason's eyes flashed with lightning defiantly. We followed him to the lake where an enormous ship was docked. The masthead was that of a huge bronze dragon.
'This is the Argo II,' Jason said proudly, 'Our friend Leo made it ... before he died.'
Strangely, he winked at me when he said that. But then his eyes turned sad. He knows that Flames is really Leo, I realized, And he knows that he's one of the kidnapped.
We climbed aboard the Argo II.
Jason winked at us again.
'Watch this!' he turned to the bronze figure head, 'Festus! Could you please take us to Knapp's Castle in California?'
The bronze dragon roared and the Chaos warriors plus Sally jumped back in surprise. Hazel, Jason and Reyna cracked up laughing.
'That's Festus,' Jason said between laughs, 'Leo's ... friend. He's pretty much the autopilot of the ship. We can't actually understand him because he speaks with strange creaks. But he understands us ... well enough.'
I nodded, not entirely confident with that. It must have showed on my expression because Jason laughed again.
'Don't worry. 'Its perfectly safe,' then he yelled, 'Festus! Let's go!'
The bronze dragon roared again and the boat took off, leaving Camp Half-Blood and everyone else behind.
Annabeth's POV
Over the next four days, they took Epsilon away seven times.
And each time he came back looking a little more broken .
Twice they brought him back unconscious. Every time he came back, he'd accept a little water, and curl up in a little ball to rest. But his breathing never evened out so I knew he wasn't ever really asleep.
He also thought I didn't know how he stayed up at night. I knew he must be dead on his feet, not having slept for days. But I also thought I knew why he didn't want to go to sleep; he was afraid of having nightmares about his torture.
He never told us what happen each time the shadows came to take him. But his pale skin and shaky breaths told us everything we needed to know. He wasn't fooling us, and he knew it.
Currently, I was sitting next to Epsilon, trying to get him drink some water after he'd been brought back for the seventh time.
He took a few sips, and then pushed it away, 'Save it for someone else.'
I shook my head, 'You need the strength.'
'I'm fine,' he argued, 'Frank hasn't had a lot. Give some to him.'
I pushed the water bowl back toward him, 'Frank had some while you were gone.'
'No he didn't. The water is still the same amount, fibber.'
He picked up the water bowl and gave it to me.
I sighed, 'Its for your own good! Until we figure out how to get out of here, they're just going to keep torturing you, and you need the strength to stand up to it.'
'They're not torturing me.'
'Epsilon, you're a terrible liar.'
'I'm fine,' he said stubbornly, 'Share it around. I've had some.'
I glared at him and put the water by his feet. Then I stood up and moved away, sitting down next to Piper and Flames.
When I looked back, Epsilon was asleep-or pretending.
'Piper,' I whispered, 'We have to do something about Epsilon.'
'Thats what I was saying to L-Flames,' she said.
I frowned, she'd almost said a name, starting with L. Did she know who Flames really was? Or was she just confusing him with her lost fire user friend?
Angel disturbed the awkward moment by walking over to join their conversation, 'Flames was telling Piper that he and I have been watching Epsilon. He never goes to sleep at night, he just pretends. And then Piper said that she'd noticed that, too.'
'I have as well,' I added.
'Me too,' Frank whispered, 'But I don't think he knows that we know.'
'Of course he doesn't,' Angel muttered, 'The kelp head has no sense sometimes.'
Silence filled the room.
Frank and Piper exchanged a surprised glance. My heart started racing a zillion miles an hour.
Angel seemed to realize what she'd said. Her hand moved up slowly to cover her mouth. Flames whacked her upside the head and whispered ti her, 'I thought that I'd end up being the one to blow it.'
No one said anything, so I took the bait.
Swallowing, I breathed, 'Kelp head?'
She took a deep breath, 'Uh, yeah. Don't we have more important things to talk about?'
I shook my head. She was right, we were getting off track.
'Ok,' I said, 'This is all very weird, but we can talk about it once we get out of here. What do we know about the place that could help us?'
'Well, we know that Epsilon still possesses the ability to put people to sleep,' Frank murmured.
'And the shadows come at around the same time each day,' Piper added, 'Once to deliver food in the morning, then later to get Epsilon and bring him back. And then again in the afternoon to do the same.'
I looked over at Epsilon, reassuring myself that he couldn't hear us talking.
When I turned back to the others, I dropped my voice to a whisper, just in case we were being watched.
'Ok, what about this; When they deliver the food, Piper, you can cause a distraction. Maybe pretend you're sick or something. Frank and Angel can help Epsilon out, because he can barely stand on his own. Flames, you and I can help Piper get away from the shadows. Then we lock them in the cell and get the Hades outta here!'
'Sounds like a plan, Wise Girl,' Piper grinned.
I winced; Percy use to call me that.
Piper's eyes widened and her smile faded, 'Gods, I'm stupid. I'm sorry Annabeth.'
I smiled and shook my head, 'Its ok.'
She heaved a sigh of relief, then looked at Epsilon. We all followed her gaze.
'Should we tell him?' Angel asked.
Flames shook his head, 'He'd say its too dangerous. Then he'd say something noble, like "Leave me behind! All of you get out!" And then we would argue against him, and our opportunity would vanish.'
I nodded and Piper looked stunned. Flames laughed.
'What? Are you surprised that I'm smart now?'
Piper shook her head and smiled, 'You were always smart.'
Flames seemed caught of guard.
I left them to be and sat down next to Epsilon. I could hear that his breathing was ragged and I knew that he waiting for us to go to bed.
'Sleep,' I whispered to him. My voice didn't have the hypnotic power his did, but I heard him sigh.
I lay down and he shifted so he was facing me.
For a bizzare moment, I wanted to be next to him. I wanted his strong, sturdy arms around me. Protecting me, like Percy's use to. But I didn't know how he would react to that, and I knew that I still loved Percy.
Epsilon's hood covered his face and I wanted so desperately to pull it down; to see. But I knew that it could be terrible for everyone.
So I resisted the temptation and closed my eyes.
AN: 120 VOTES!!!!!!!!!!! This is so exciting! Thanks SOOO much to everyone who voted! I also expected this story to get maybe 30 reads. 2,858 READS!!!!!! I feel loved ...
Anyway, thanks again to everyone who responded to my question last chapter. This chapter I have a new question; What is your favourite ship? For example; I ship Percabeth all the way! But do you ship Percabeth, Frazel, Jasper, Leyna, etc.?
Ending note; please vote and comment! I would really love to raise those votes. I love getting comments, too.
Thanks guys! And don't forget; George is still hungry so give him a rat! :D