The second that the door shut behind Percy and I, I whispered harshly, "Who are you?"

"I'm Percy Jackson," he retorted. "Who are you?"

I stomped on his foot. "I'm serious. You're an insurgent?"

He sighed. "Listen, I'll explain more once we get back to my room. I promise it isn't as bad as you think it is."

"I'm pretty sure it is, Percy. How many people have the Insurgents killed? How many villages and kingdoms have they raided?"

"Not even half as many as the Royal Guard has." A pair of sea-green eyes locked on my own. "Listen, the Insurgents are a group of radicals, I know, but not all of us are that extreme. I'll tell you more in a moment, but don't say anything until we are away from everybody else."

We walked back to the common area of the base in silence. I had a lot on my mind, and a lot I wanted to say, but I didn't want things to get out of hand. We continued straight through the room, which was still pretty barren besides a few children and one adult.

Percy led me down the same hallway Luke had departed down earlier, which was by far the longest and busiest hallway. We passed a dozen people along the way. Every room that branched off of the hall appeared the same. There was a twin bed, a dresser, and a nightstand all placed on a beige rug. Some doors were shut, and a few of the open doors revealed people sitting on their beds. At the end of the hallway, it branched off into two more halls, like a T.

Percy took a right and we kept walking a few steps until coming to room 318. He pulled a key out of his boot and unlocked the door. Inside, the main furnishings were the same as all the previous rooms we had passed, but there were a few extra details. A couple of picture frames were on the dresser, his sheets were blue, and a large bronze sword was mounted to the wall.

We made our way over to the bed and I was grateful to be able to sit once more and remove the pressure from my bad leg. Percy quickly shut and locked the door to his room, making me anxious. He came back over to the bed and sat across from me.

"I know you're probably mad and confused," he began.

I huffed, crossing my arms. "I could name a few other emotions, but yes."

"I'm going to explain everything to you, including my plan, but let me start by saying I didn't necessarily choose to become an Insurgent, nor to capture you and lead you back here."

I frowned. "Seriously?"

Percy nodded, looking down at his hands. "A lot of the people here are descendants of the original Insurgent members, including me. Remember all of those kids from the common room? Obviously they didn't choose to join a terrorist group. They're the children of people who created the group and were raised here."

"That makes sense," I commented.

He smiled halfheartedly. "My father was Poseidon Atlanta, one of the first official members of the Insurgents. He had me a little while after the group was created with Sally Jackson, a simple Olympian peasant girl who believed the kingdom needed a wakeup call but not one as drastic as assassin attempts. They fell out of love because of their varying beliefs but chose to raise me with both in mind. I grew up living with my mother and visiting my father every month. He taught me from a young age not to conform to the propaganda plastered everywhere by the Olympian king and queen. He taught me to stay independent and sharp-minded. The assassination of your mother took place on my seventh birthday, and I was devastated to lose my father."

I frowned. It never dawned on me that Poseidon had family members, or that people would be sad to see him go. I only ever thought of him as a heartless murderer, but maybe there was more to him than that. I would never have positive thoughts on him, but perhaps he wasn't as bad as I thought. He could have been a man who had ideas and only knew of one way to execute them.

Percy continued, "I stayed with my mother permanently but the ideas my father had taught me wouldn't leave my mind. About five years after my father passed, so did my mother. I had no family left, but the Insurgents took me in. I had a lot of friends from my time visiting my father and fit right in, but something about their teachings never sat right with me. I realized that I shared my mother's beliefs: the kingdom needed a change, but killing the royal members wasn't the answer."

I nodded, agreeing.

"So, for the past five years, I've been gaining everybody's trust. After getting to know everybody, I have deciphered which members share my father's beliefs and which members share my mother's. Out of all three hundred of us, around one hundred people don't believe violence is the answer. We have met once a month for about a year, trying to start a revolution. We're going to destroy the Insurgents from the inside out."

"Wait," I interjected, "if you don't agree with Kronos' beliefs, why do you do his bidding? So that you don't raise suspicion?"

Percy nodded. "Partially. Kronos definitely doesn't trust me as much as he did my father, but I have done nothing to lose his trust. There are a few people here who are wary of me and wouldn't hesitate to inform someone of my suspicious behavior, so I have to keep up good appearances. Another benefit of running all his errands is keeping up to date with his plans and being able to use his resources."

I narrowed my eyes. "Am I one of his resources?"

The pair of green eyes I was looking into twinkled. "You've got it. We need you for a similar reason to Kronos, although the consequences and the actual plan aren't quite as brutal. I think it's become quite clear that you share my mother's beliefs, right?"

I nodded. "Yes. Olympus needs a new way of ruling, but killing off people will do more harm than good."

"Exactly. The revolters have devised a plan that will fix the corrupted government with minimal death. I want your opinion on the plan and you to help us out."

I sucked in a breath. "I'm listening."

Percy grinned and squeezed my hands, causing my heart to fill with butterflies. "Kronos gave you until the end of the week to give in to his plan, as I guessed he would. Today is Sunday, so we have Monday through Friday to get you well acquainted with everyone here. That will strengthen any people on the fence's beliefs that there is hope. Friday night, Linda and a few other women will take all the children under fourteen to my village with a chunk of supplies that we've gathered within the past month. On Saturday, before you tell Kronos of your decision, everyone that's left will steal the rest of the supplies here in the bunker and leave. The two of us will stay back. I'll make the announcement that the Insurgent's original purpose has gone too far and what the revolters believe before meeting everyone back in my village. You and I will go to the castle and you will explain to your parents what happened. They get rid of the council and start making better choices, and our lives go back to normal." His smile fell a little. "Well, as normal as they can."

I bit my lip, thinking through the plan. "A lot of that is riding on the belief that my parents trust me and will do what I ask. What's the backup? What if I can't convince them to abolish the council and start caring for our people?"

Percy shook his head. "We can't think like that, Annabeth. If we lose, we lose. But if we win, everything we've ever wanted and worked for will come true."

I hesitated. "No killing?" I asked.

"Only out of self-defense when absolutely necessary," he explained.

I nodded. "Okay, I'm in."