Luke pushed the knife into his arm pit. Kronos gave an unearthly scream. Then he focused on Percy. "I would have given you the world, but now I will take everything and everyone from you." Percy felt an invisible force throw him. He felt as though he were being squeezed and stretched beyond his physical limits.

Just a quickly as it had started, it ended. Percy hit the ground hard and rolled a few times before he came to a stop. His head was killing him and he managed to roll to his side before the contents of his stomach came pouring out. He shakily moved away from the vomit and propped himself up against a tree. He could feel the sweat covering his face, and yet he felt cold. Percy looked at his surroundings. He was in a forest with tall grass under shade trees. There were wildflowers growing among the grasses. It was nature completely untouched. He thought about what Kronos' last words were. He sat there trying to figure it out. When he finally regained some strength back, he got up. He felt his pen in his pocket, which gave him some comfort.

He wandered the woods for a little while when he heard horses whinnying. He headed toward the sound. He stumbled upon a dirt road. He looked both ways until he saw a small town with little makeshift houses. It looked something straight out of a story book. He began making his way toward it, feeling an uneasiness with every step.

He heard a scream rip through the peaceful air. Percy's instinct kicked in and he ran toward the scream. He saw several men in old looking armor laughing as girls were being rounded up. Men in worn clothing were being pushed back, forced to helplessly watch. If any did fight back, they were quickly beaten into submission. But what caught Percy's eye was a familiar figure. Percy walked toward the scene as though in a daze. A girl took notice of him and called out in Greek, "Please, stranger, help us!"

This caught everyone else's attention. He walked toward one of the figures overseeing everything. "What's going on?" He said stupidly.

"Nothing you need to be concerned with, stranger." The man turned toward him.

Percy's eyes widened in surprise. He immediately reached for his pen. The man or monster showed no recognition of him. Percy thought that maybe he had mistaken him. "Thorne, is that you?"

"How do you know my name?" His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared before recognition dawned on his face. "Half-blood!" He transformed before Percy's eyes into the manticore, his true form, and attacked.

Percy was ready however, and extended his sword just in time to slash at the manticore. He was pleased when he heard Thorne howl in pain and saw a good cut on his shoulder. Thorne let out a growl showing his displeasure. Thorne then whipped his tail at Percy, causing several dagger size thorns to go flying toward him. Percy raised his hand to shield his face. He barely noticed the thorns as they glanced off his body.

Thorne's eyes widened. "You've been cursed." Percy could feel Thorne's eyes wandering over his body trying to determine where his hidden weakness was. Thorne attacked again and swiped at Percy with his tail. Percy attacked at the same time. He used his momentum to slide under Thorne's tail, swiping with his sword at the same time. Thorne roared as his back leg bled gold. Percy dodged another blow with Thorne's tail. "I'm going to rip you to pieces." Thorne roared.

"You can try, ugly." Percy taunted.

Thorne roared again. He came at Percy on three legs with his tail flailing in front of him. Percy barely dodged his tail as he struck the monster across his shoulder and through the length of his body. Thorne burst into golden dust with a final roar.

"I hate that guy." Percy spat out some dust. The fight had exhausted his already tired body. He slowly turned around to see every eye focused on him. What happened next, completely confounded him. The men in armor clambered up on their horses and raced out of the village. The villagers cheered and hugged each other as though they had just won a huge victory.

Percy could feel the adrenaline leaveing his body. He took a step forward, but the earth tilted and the ground rose up to meet him. Then his world went black.