Chapter Text
Percy had always hated school dances. They were awkward, and despite what anyone might say, no one actually liked them all that much. Maybe it was just that no one had ever asked him. He thought that after today, he would have a much more valid reason to hate them.
Percy found himself sprinting down a dark hallway of a random school in Maine, desperately searching for Bianca and Nico di Angelo. They were just in the gym, but he’d looked away for a second, and they had vanished. Maybe he was too focused on dancing with Annabeth. His hand still tingled from where he’d held her waist, and he couldn’t quite shake the way she’d looked at him. But that wasn’t important right now, because he was terribly failing at his mission.
Ahead of him, he heard a grunt and the sounds of a struggle, so he immediately uncapped Riptide and quickened his pace. The sword glowed golden in the dim light, illuminating the terrified faces of the di Angelo kids at the end of the corridor. Dr. Thorn, the teacher that was most likely a monster, was nowhere to be found despite him being close on Percy’s heels.
He walked towards them slowly, Riptide falling to his side so as not to scare them. “It’s alright.”
“Who are you?” Bianca asked, hand tight on Nico’s arm.
“I’m Percy. I’m going to help you get to somewhere safe,” Percy told them, trying to sound as gentle and comforting as he could.
He was confused, because it didn’t seem to be working. Bianca’s eyes widened, her fists clenched, and she looked like she was about to shout.
It was then Percy felt an explosion of pain in his shoulder, sharp and like someone had set him on fire. He swung wildly with Riptide, trying to collide with his attacker, but his sword only hit air. He was pinned to the wall by a sharp projectile, the same one that had just sliced through his shoulder. Bianca and Nico cowered next to him, and the whole situation was looking pretty hopeless.
As he looked on, Dr. Thorn appeared before him in the dark corridor, a wicked smile on his face.
“Perseus Jackson,” he said, in an accent Percy couldn’t identify. Definitely a monster, Percy thought, eyeing the assortment of spikes Dr. Thorn possessed. Percy prayed that he wouldn’t pass out, that wouldn’t be good for anyone. His shoulder throbbed, his vision going white at the edges as he struggled against the pain.
“You will all come with me,” Dr. Thorn commanded. “Quietly. Try to call for help or fight back, and you won’t live to speak another word.”
Percy couldn’t think of any way to get out of this. He decided the best thing to do was just obey and hope Annabeth and Thalia would find them before it was too late. With a shaking hand, he reached up and pulled the thorn out of the wall, unpinning his jacket. He threw it on the ground before motioning at Nico and Bianca to follow Dr. Thorn.
They looked at Percy like he was crazy, and he supposed he probably was, leading them after a monster like this. But he couldn’t think of another way out of this.
Dr. Thorn moved at an alarming pace, and Percy immediately dragged behind Bianca and Nico, every step torture with his injured shoulder.
“Keep moving, demigod,” Thorn called back. Percy quickened his pace, praying that an idea would come to him soon. Thorn is evil and is trying to kill us! He even whispered in his head, trying to connect to his psychic link with Grover. No luck.
Soon, he and the di Angelos were outside the school. They followed Thorn into the woods, and with every step he felt his chance of survival slipping away.
“There’s a clearing up ahead,” Thorn explained. “Your ride will pick you up there.”
“Ride?” Bianca asked, voice quivering. “Where are you taking us?”
“Silence,” Thorn scolded.
“Don’t tell my sister to be quiet,” Nico whispered. Percy was impressed he had the guts to say anything.
His head was spinning as Thorn growled, leading them closer and closer to the edge of a cliff, waves crashing below. Definitely going to pass out, he thought, stumbling. Bianca caught him, and he silently thanked her before righting himself. He leaned heavily on his non-injured side. He was sweating profusely, and he wasn’t so sure the thorn wasn’t poisonous.
The water, he thought. If only he could get himself and the di Angelos down there. He would be healed, and he’d have sanctuary under the waves. But, Percy didn’t think Thorn would let them live long enough to reach the water. It was common knowledge not to get a son of Poseidon you were trying to kidnap wet.
“What is he?” Bianca asked him. “How do we fight him?”
“I don’t know,” Percy said truthfully. He looked down at the murky darkness, the churning of the waves seemingly louder. It would be so easy. Grab the di Angelos, hit the water, make a bubble. He almost chanced it. Then Dr. Thorn spoke.
“By all means, son of Poseidon, jump,” Thorn said. He motioned at the water, and a sinister feeling came over Percy. The pain in his shoulder intensified.
“What did he call you?” Bianca asked, her eyes growing wider and more confused than they already were.
“I’ll explain later,” Percy told her. There was no quick way to tell someone that the gods were real and his dad was one.
Dr. Thorn pulled them out of their conversation. “You’d be dead before you hit the sea.”
Percy watched in horror as something grew out of Dr. Thorn’s rear. Almost like a tail. Percy’s suspicion was confirmed as the tail whipped back and another flying projectile shot towards them, nicking Percy’s ear. He winced as a small stream of hot blood flowed from the wound.
“Unfortunately,” Thorn said, in a way that told Percy that he deemed what he was going to say next truly unfortunate. “You’re wanted alive.”
“Who wants us?” Bianca asked. She’d moved herself so she was shielding Nico with her body, a protective arm across him. “Nico and I have no one. No one you can get a ransom from.”
“No need to worry, demi-brats,” Thorn assured her. “My employer wants you for a different reason.”
Percy bit down hard on his lip, his mind swirling. He could only think of one person who would want him captured, and the thought was enough to make him vomit at his feet right now.
“Luke,” Percy breathed. The name tasted bitter on his tongue, unnatural and harsh.
“Me? Work for Luke?” Thorn scoffed. “My General will enlighten you soon enough.”
“General?” Percy asked. He definitely didn’t want to meet anyone ranking above Luke. The son of Hermes was bad enough.
Thorn quickly turned away from the three demigods, eyes on the sky. He never answered Percy. Percy followed his gaze, and saw a helicopter, the sound of its blades getting closer and closer. Percy thought he could barely stand for much longer, let alone fight off a helicopter.
“Where are you taking us?” Nico said in his small voice.
“You should be honored!” Thorn told him. “You’ll have the chance to serve in a great army!”
“I don’t want to serve in a great army!” Nico retorted. Thorn’s face turned to a snarl, but he restrained himself.
“Well if any of you are opposed, we have plenty of monstrous mouths to feed,” Thorn reminded them. “The Great Stirring is upon us, and it’s about time you realized it!”
He locked eyes with Percy as he said the last bit.
“Great Stirring?” Percy asked.
“The rise of monsters! The rise of Kronos! Taking back what the gods stole from us!” Thorn explained, waving his hands wildly.
“This guy is nuts,” Bianca whispered to Percy.
“On my signal, jump into the ocean,” Percy told her.
“What?” Bianca asked, now looking at Percy like he was insane.
Percy didn’t have a chance to say more, because he felt invisible arms wrap around him and slam him into the forest floor. Percy immediately recognized the force to be Annabeth, her natural Afro pressed into his cheek.
Percy heard projectiles sail over his head, and he saw Bianca and Nico also cowering on the ground, Annabeth’s other arm wrapped around them. He quickly looked up, and wished he hadn’t. Thalia was deep in battle with Dr. Thorn, her terrifying shield Aegis brandished before her. It was enough to make Percy want to crawl off the cliff and let his body fall into the sea.
Thalia was locked deep in combat, and out of the corner of Percy’s eye he could see Grover playing on his reed pipes. Just as Annabeth removed her Yankees cap and rolled off of Percy and the di Angelos, Dr. Thorn began to change. Percy was correct about the spiky tail, but soon his body transformed into that of a mighty lion, his face still the same but somehow scarier.
“A manticore!” Annabeth yelled. Bianca immediately called out a question, and Nico rambled about points in something called Mythomagic, but Percy ignored them. He clicked a button on his wrist, and the shield his brother Tyson had crafted for him formed. He immediately used it to shield him and Annabeth as they stood.
Thalia continued to fight the manticore, but she cursed as it turned its attention to Percy, Annabeth, and the di Angelos. She raced toward Bianca and Nico, shielding them with Aegis as the manticore advanced.
“Yield!” Thorn called.
“Never!” Annabeth yelled back. Here, Percy had thought she’d never seemed so fierce.
Just as it seemed like it was about to get really bad for Percy and the demigods, the sound of a hunting horn blew in the distance.
Dr. Thorn froze. All of them did. Percy didn’t exactly know what was going on, but he followed his friends’ lead.
A silver arrow flew from the treeline, landing in the manticore’s shoulder. He ripped it out with a howl of pain, just as dozens of women came rushing out of the woods.
“The Hunters!” Annabeth exclaimed. Thalia mumbled something indistinct to Percy’s side. Percy didn’t know who the hunters were, but the manticore seemed horrified.
“This is direct interference!” the manticore explained as a young woman wearing a circlet stalked forward.
“Permission to kill, my lady?” She asked the woman next to her. The woman standing beside her was shockingly beautiful, but her face was stern and fierce.
“Permission granted, Zoe,” the woman answered.
The woman called Zoe moved forward, but just as quickly, the manticore lashed out towards Percy and his friends.
“If I cannot have them alive, I will have them dead!” He yelled. He lunged at Percy and Thalia, and Percy knew he wouldn’t have time to dodge, his wounded shoulder almost unbearable.
Before Percy could react at all, Annabeth dove forward, bronze dagger raised. “No!” she cried.
“Get out of the line of fire!” Zoe called, just as Annabeth leaped on the manticore’s back. She stabbed wildly at the monster, unable to penetrate its thorned back. She clung for dear life as the manticore thrashed around, desperately trying to throw her off.
“Fire!” the hunter that seemed to be in charge yelled.
“No!” Percy screamed. He couldn’t let Annabeth get shot. He found himself sprinting forward, pain in his shoulder ignored. He jumped onto the manticore next to Annabeth, raising his shield just as a rain of arrows came down on the beast. Annabeth huddled close to him until the fire stopped, but it was already too late to jump off the manticore. Before Percy could move, he felt the monster run forward underneath him, leaping off of the cliff and into the depths below.
He clung tightly to Annabeth as they fell, landing with a splash that soaked both of their clothes. Any shouts that might’ve been uttered from the world above were lost to the waves. Percy gripped tightly to a thorn on the manticore’s back. He hadn’t expected the manticore to float, to swim. But he also hadn’t expected to plummet off a cliff this morning, so what did he know?
“Annabeth,” Percy breathed. “We need to jump. Now.”
Annabeth nodded, bracing herself to leap off the beast. But before either of them could move, they were soaked all over again as the helicopter hovered just over the water. Percy screamed as hands grabbed Annabeth's arms, pulling her off the manticore’s back and into the helicopter.
Another pair of arms reached for Percy, and he was faced with a split-second choice. If he went for the water, he would be protected in his father’s domain. But if he jumped, Annabeth would be captured and alone. It was no decision. Percy allowed himself to be pulled into the helicopter.
The arms were rough, and Percy winced as he was thrown onto the hard floor of the helicopter. His injured shoulder collided against the ground and he cried out. Before he could take in his surroundings, he was pulled up again, this time thrown into a seat next to Annabeth on the side of the helicopter.
Percy looked up, blond curls falling into his eyes. He soon realized that the man standing before him was Luke, grinning broadly.
Percy lunged for him, but he could barely get his legs straight before another pair of hands he didn’t recognize pushed him back down, binding his hands together and tying his legs to the seat. Annabeth had received a similar treatment, and Percy could see a bruise blooming on her cheek from where she’d been thrown into the helicopter.
“This is how you treat her?” Percy said, exasperated. “After all you’ve been through together?”
“Don’t make me gag you, Percy,” Luke warned. He reached forward, ripping the shield Tyson had given Percy off his wrist and throwing it out the helicopter window. Percy winced at the splash, guilt washing over him at having lost the gift.
Annabeth looked over at Percy with the saddest eyes he’d ever seen, and that shut Percy up. Luke moved to sit in his own seat at the front of the helicopter, leaving Percy and Annabeth alone in the back. Their situation seemed pretty hopeless, but Percy was prepared to try anything if it meant saving Annabeth.
For now, he settled on moving his bound hands close to hers, entwining their pinkies and trying to project everything he felt, everything he would risk.
He was going to get out of this.