Where we last left off...

The kids found themselves dangling off a cliff that spanned over a huge lake. The birds (California condors) had them completely surrounded. Jacquelyn said to Ron, "You just had to know what they were thinking, didn't you?"

Ron was about to respond when the rocks slid off the cliff, sending everyone careening into the lake.

*****

"Well, that's just freaking great!" Grover cried out as everyone else rose from the water. "I never asked for this!"

"And neither did we," said Annabeth. "It was just bad luck that we had to run into those birds."

"And what was the point of their singing?" said Ron. "I can appreciate a good song, but this was too much."

Just them, a huge yacht pulled up next to them. A boy stood on the deck, saying, "What are you doing here, Weasley? Did you ditch your friends for good?"

"Malfoy," Ron and Jacquelyn snapped as they stared at the boy in question.

-----

After the rescue, Draco Malfoy said to the group, "Out of all the people I had to go rescue, it just HAD to be the weasel and the bitch. Why?"

"Because we're here and they are not," said Jacquelyn. "What's it to you, Evil Faith?"

Draco laughed and said, "What do you know?"

"You don't know anything about Ron," said Jacquelyn. "You don't know that his parents are not Arthur and Molly Weasley. You don't know that he's a demigod. You don't know about me either, but that's for a different time."

Draco shook his head as he watched the kids go below deck. Who were they kidding? Draco knew that Ron wasn't fooling anyone with that demigod crap.

Or was he really a demigod?

Something had to give here.

-----

Within a few hours, the yacht was quickly moving towards Los Angeles. Ron had sat up while the others rested; he needed to think. Nothing in his life made sense at all, not if he discovered that his mother was a normal, non-magical human and his father was the Sea God Poseidon.

I've been living a lie, Ron mused as he watched the ever-changing atmosphere. I've lied and I'm been lied to. I wonder if there is a God out there who can wipe away the memories that I've held on to almost my entire life.

Just then, there was a rumble in the water. The others woke up and they all rushed to the deck, looking out into the ocean. There was a huge yacht ramming towards them.

"Is that the Andromeda?" Percy snapped as he gazed at the yacht.

"It is," said Annabeth. "That's Luke's yacht."

Jacquelyn turned on them, glaring, "What the hell did you guys do?"

"We escaped from him?" Magnus offered by way of explanation.

"Indeed," Jacquelyn snapped. "Why?"

"Luke captured us and he was going to take us back to Camp Half-Blood by force," said Grover.

"Or he was going to put us on the Andromeda," said Clarisse. Everyone glared at her. "Either way, he had captured us."

"And he made it so that you couldn't stop him or save us," said Percy.

"How did he do tha..." Jacquelyn began, but then she knew. "The Hermaphrodite! Luke used him to put a spell on me and that's why I couldn't help you guys!"

"That's right," said Annabeth. "That's why the Hermaphrodite was chasing us! He wanted Jacquelyn, and he waited until we let our guard down before kidnapping her!"

"There he is!" Hansel cheered as he stared at the angry boy in question standing on the deck of his own yacht.

"He looks pissed!" Francis cheered as well.

"You brats are in so much trouble!" Luke snapped as he approached them. "Not only did you escape, but you had to squeeze past my brother just to get the spellcasting bitch as well! What makes you think that I wouldn't find out about what you have done? You weren't thinking, were you?"

"OK, what's going on here?" Jacquelyn snapped at him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Same reason why I left the camp," Luke snapped. "Do you know that most demigods don't get a chance to live past their 12th birthday? That's because monsters are everywhere trying to kill them! I know you're glaring at me, Annabeth, but do you remember what happened to our friend Thalia? Do you remember how and why she died? It's because of the monsters had gotten to her just as we were at the borders of Camp Half-Blood! Did our fathers and mothers help us? No! They left us to die!"

"Just because you're mad at your parents for not helping you when you needed it doesn't really give you the right to take your anger out on the world," said Jacquelyn.

"What you know is foolishness, spellcaster," Luke ranted at her. "You don't remember your brothers Sam and Alex? You don't remember how they died? They were slain by monsters, monsters that feed off the bodies and souls of bastard-born children! Ask your mother about her children if you refuse to listen to me!"

"What is he talking about?" Ron said to Jacquelyn.

"You should recall an incident that happened when you were 7 years old," said Luke. "You, your parents, and your brothers and sister were camping near Camp Half-Blood. Your friends were with you. But monsters attacked and two of your brothers were killed. They would have gotten you too if you weren't a trueborn child of a spellcaster; and standing at the borders of the camp solved most of the problems, as the monsters that chased you were struck by lighting and died. But it brought your mother no comfort knowing that four of her children was trueborn and the bastards she bore were torn to pieces and devoured. But that's not why I'm angry."

He pointed to Ron and said, "This is the straw that broke the camel's back. He's the one who started all of this! Now, I'm going to capture all of you and bring you onto my ship, by force. But before I do, I'm going to make an example of him so that you'll learn what I'm capable of doing if you decide to defy me again."

Luke pointed a crossbow at Ron and fired. Everyone else was too shocked to react. Tyson threw himself between Ron and the arrow, with the arrow piercing his chest and him falling into the ocean.

"Tyson, no!" Percy cried out as he watched his brother fall. "Luke, HOW COULD YOU???"

"Silly, silly Percy Jackson," Luke laughed at him. "When are you going to learn that it's much easier to join me than to defy me?" To his troops, he said, "Apprehend them!"

This time, Ron went with his captors without a struggle. So did Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, and Grover. But Jacquelyn refused to be recaptured, and so, she decided that the quickest way to stay out of Luke's hands was to jump off the ship. Dudley, Magnus, Hansel, and Francis followed her.

With the capture of the demigods, Luke sailed away from the Malfoy yacht. Jacquelyn watched until the yacht disappeared from her vision, then climbed into an emergency life raft that was behind the yacht. She dispatched Magnus to retrieve her bag (which contained Ron's book, the POV gun, the diary and the rosary beads, and the wand) as the others climbed into the raft.

When Magnus returned with her bag, Jacquelyn started up the raft and the raft quickly sped away from the Malfoy yacht. She felt guilty for not being able to stop Luke or help her friends. Magnus said to her, "You did the right thing; Luke was foolish to think that he could take on both you and them. Plus, we can't be on his ship, as we're not demigods."

"You're right," Jacquelyn said as the raft shuttled towards Los Angeles. She knew that it was not over yet, as Luke was planing to go after her as well...

To be continued...