Growing Up In Tartarus: One Wrong Move

Chapter 22

Kronos came back to the room with the servant a few minutes later, his head tilted to the side as he looked at me. I had a feeling the look he was giving me was one full of confusion. I supposed it was justified - he was being summoned, not the other way around.

"Can I take these guys to get some food?"

The people behind me gave a loud, relieved sigh as they realized I wasn't selling them out. I had no idea what I would have even sold them out for anyway. Kronos hummed softly, nodding at the four of us.

"You need to watch them," Kronos warned. "You are in charge of them. If anything happens, you will be held responsible."

"I understand, Lord Kronos."

"I also want you to come straight to the throne room when you finish eating," he said. "We will decide where they will briefly stay while we are having a private discussion."

He left the room, leaving us all there with the servant. Annabeth gave me a worried look, as if something bad would happen to me if I went to that room. I shrugged her off, letting the servant begin to lead us to the throne room.

We got our food almost the minute we entered the dining hall, sitting down away from the crowd of monsters. The servant left us alone, letting us talk on our own. Connor, Travis, and Annabeth all began to eat, scarfing down their food as if they hadn't eaten in a thousand years.

I would have messed with them, but I figured it was only normal for them to eat that fast. Kronos probably hadn't fed them in a while. I decided to eat a little slower, knowing well that I could possibly get eating privileges taken away, and I didn't want to risk it. I needed to savor the food.

The others started laughing as they realized how idiotic they looked, making me smile despite the pain that was rushing through my body. Grover may have been killed, but Annabeth, Connor, and Travis were still alive. As long as I kept my promise to be loyal to them, they wouldn't die because of me.

Annabeth was the first to go to finish her food, and the Stolls were very quick to follow. I continued to take my time, but soon enough I finished. I threw away all of our trash before we started on our trek to the throne room.

Kronos looked up, motioning for a servant to do something as he saw us all standing there. The three prisoners (my friends) were all transported to a new room, while I was told to stand there. I looked over at Luke, who was leaning against the edge of the throne.

"Percy," Kronos started. "You are going to be going to Camp Half-Blood."

"Really?" I asked, shocked.

"You will pretend to be our prisoner," Luke began to inform. "I will announce that I was a minion of Kronos and that you and your friends attacked me after I killed the satyr. You will train iiiwith them and make them believe that you are on their side."

"What about Annabeth and your brothers...?"

"We will make them swear on the Styx that they won't announce your loyalty to us to anyone," he replied, before starting to explain more of the plan. "We plan on resurrecting Thalia Grace from her tree, and upon doing that, we hope that she wouldn't have passed over her sixteenth birthday."

"I haven't been down here for that long," I said confusedly, frowning just a little.

"Perseus," Kronos said, looking down at me. "Time in Tartarus flows differently than time in the human world, especially with a Titan of Time in control. It's been almost two years since you got here."

Luke didn't really give me much time to process that I had been here that long, immediately saying "you will be the one to unlock me on the day of Thalia's birthday, where Kronos will be controlling me."

I took a deep breath and looked back as the door opened for Annabeth, Travis, and Connor. The three of them walked in and stood in front of us, before they were forced to take an oath of silence. The only thought on my mind was the fact that I would be considered a traitor and I had no idea what my mother would think.

9/14/17