Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been uploading in a while. I mean, it's already been so long since I've last updated anything, you know. I won't say that I've stopped writing and everything, I really haven't. It's just that the thing I've been writing, I feel, isn't good enough for the internet. But that's just me. Now, I'm going to put that theory to the test.
Here's one of the stories I've been so hesitant to upload because the fandom is still relatively small and the crossover doesn't really make sense. If you want me to continue it, just tell me. If enough people like it, I'll post another chapter and we'll see it from there. ENJOY!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot. Anything that's familiar to you guys is owned by either Rick Riordan or James Dashner.
A boy woke up inside a rectangular box, long enough that he can stretch his legs comfortably and yet not high enough to fit him if he stood up properly. From what he had observed in those brief moments of consciousness, it was moving- upward, he guessed. He was never one to be claustrophobic but there was something about that moment that made him feel the least bit apprehensive.
He tried to remember what he could, to calm himself down.
A sense of overwhelming panic seized his heart. He wracked his brain repeatedly, desperate to dive into the deepest recesses of his mind and search for the slightest clue on who he was. He couldn't remember anything about where he came from, what his parents looked like, what his name is. The only thing he knew about himself was his physical appearance, and that was courtesy of the shard of glass he found on the floor beside him.
From what he saw, he had jet black hair. No amount of sunlight could possibly change that fact. It was also the messiest mop he has ever seen in his life, making him wonder briefly what he did in the past to take care of his hair. His features were perfectly proportionate. If he could remember one thing before he woke, it was that he was never teased for being ugly. But what really caught his attention, if anything, were the color of his eyes. It wasn't green, per se, but a beautiful mixture of colors to make it look exactly what he imagined the ocean would look like.
He was glad for the slightest distraction. It still bothered him that he couldn't remember a single thing but he knew that causing havoc will not change anything. He sat down in the corner of the box, trying to absorb everything in front of him as much as he possibly could. He ignored the rapid beating of his heart, the sweat forming at his palms. The fear of the unknown forced him to look for anything to protect himself with. Instinct screamed at him to start running once he reached the top.
The box slowed down as it approached the metal doors right above. From the distance, he heard a loud alarm sounding from the outside, so loud that he had to cover his ears just to prevent him from going deaf. Clanging soon followed the curious conversations he heard as the doors were being opened. He found no weapon to protect himself with and prayed that his fists were enough to keep him alive.
"Someone help the Greenie out." A voice stated from above and he automatically pinpointed the voice to belong to a male.
Two other guys jumped onto the box and grabbed him by the armpits roughly, hauling him up and onto grass and dirt. His brain screamed at him to get away from them as fast as possible. Knowing that he was presented with no other option, he did the one thing he was comfortable with doing. His legs responded to the stimuli and broke into a brisk run.
The cool morning wind blew against his face almost painfully as he moved against it, never looking back once. He heard one of the boys scream at him, another one said, "We've got a runner!"
His eyes stopped staring at the ground and into where he was actually heading, and what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.
In front of him was a stone wall, around a hundred feet high and thirty feet thick. It surrounded the area in a perfect square, effectively trapping him and everyone else here in. The only opening he could find was in the north wall, giving him a perfect view of what lied beyond the stone. His curiosity stopped any train of rational thought in his head. Awe replaced any fear he once felt as he slowly approached the walls, noticing vines growing against the gray stone and moss littering the ground.
He was around five feet away from it when he was tackled to the ground by a large person. The brunt of the force sent them tumbling back and rolling down a small hill.
The man who attacked him landed right on top of him once they've come to a stop. With all the strength he has, which was a lot, he pushed the stranger away and stood up quickly. He brushed himself off, examining himself if he had any wounds that needed taking care of. Thankfully, he was dirty but he was unharmed.
"What the hell man?" He yelled at the blonde man close to him, feeling his anger and panic returning in the second he saw what had happened. "What were you thinking?"
Blondie looked at him from his position on the ground, one of his legs propped up and bent at the knee, his right hand draped casually over it. "Don't ever come anywhere close to the walls again, Greenie. You're not allowed to go inside the Maze."
Maze? That stone wall was actually a maze? His curiosity peaked once again, wondering what could possibly be beyond the Maze. If he got through it, would he see the outside?
"Where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here?" He threw question after question, feeling even more claustrophobic in more-or-less open space than he did back in that box. "Answer me!"
"You're in the Glade, your new home." Blondie answered, although his frustration was still far from being cooled. "The name's Luke and, as for why you're here, no one knows exactly why any of us are here."
The amnesiac took a few steps back, ready to start sprinting once again if it wasn't for the fact that he was surrounded by who he assumed were the rest of the inhabitants of the Glade. "Put him in the Pit till he calms down. He might go rogue and attack one of us." Two men approached him and carried him over to what he assumed was the Pit.
It was nothing impressive, really. Just a hole large enough to fit five bodies with wooden bars acting as a gate. He may have been apprehensive but he was sure as hell he didn't deserve to be put in a time out just by running and staring at a stone wall. He huffed indignantly and started muttering profanities under his breath, a rather childish gesture but it was the only thing he could do.
It was nearing sundown when someone approached the gate. He was dark-skinned, rather muscular in stature with a friendly smile on his round face. "Hey Greenie, name's Charlie but everybody here calls me Beckendorf. Now, promise you wouldn't run if I opened this?"
He shook his head no but said nothing. Charlie untied the knot holding a piece of wood to a hook by the side and opened the gate with ease, crouching in front of the Newbie and extending a hand to help him out.
After a few moments of deafening silence, he finally decided to speak up. "Luke said that this place was called a Glade or something like that. Why are we all here?"
"None of us really know. Unfortunately, we all started like you did. None of us remembered our names, none of us remember what happened to us before the Box but we did manage to pull ourselves together and fix this place up. And don't worry, you're not gonna be called a Greenie for the rest of your life. You'll get your name eventually, it's the only thing they let us keep."
He had to admit, even when he only met Beckendorf for the first time, he immediately knew that they were going to be friends. Maybe it was the first impression, or maybe because he was the one that freed him from his irrational prison, he wasn't sure.
"They? Who're they?" Greenie questioned curiously as they walked through the grass. "And when will I get my name back?"
Charlie shook his head and shrugged, "The people who brought us here, most likely. As for your name, you'd get it back in a day or two."
Questions swarmed his head but he couldn't decipher one to actually ask. He felt nauseous for some reason, as if the information was too much for him to absorb and his entire body was reacting the wrong way. "Anyways, it's time for me to introduce you to some people. Don't worry, they don't bite."
Another blonde guy approached them, sporting a electric blue eyes and a small smirk. Instead of having a long jagged scar on his face like Luke does, he had a small pale line on his upper lip. "Greenie, meet Jason, Jason, Greenie."
Jason stretched his hand out and Greenie shook it without further questions. "You're taking this better than I did. Surprised to see you all calm now when you were running and rolling down that hill a few hours ago."
He shrugged as a response, not really knowing what else to say or do. "Hey, Jase, do me a favor and look for Grover will you? He's probably just by the farm somewhere."
The blonde nodded and took off to their left, where a few other boys were gathered, planting and harvesting fruits. "See, we have our own working community here. We live independently and, when we do need anything, the Box provides. It's been this way for three years already."
"Three years? And you still haven't tried to leave?" The surprise made the Newbie's voice pitch an octave. He couldn't possibly fathom living in this prison for that long and not go insane.
"Oh we did try. We tried every single thing possible. We tried scaling the wall, tried digging a tunnel, tried hiding in the box and waiting for it to go down. Everything, and it still got us nowhere. The only real way out is through the Maze." Charlie's eyes were focused on the doors and nodded in approval when he saw two people running through and into the Glade.
Before Greenie could ask about them, though, his companion spoke first. "We call them the Runners. The moment those doors open at dawn, they run into the Maze and map it, try to look for an exit. For three years, they've searched and found nothing."
"Maybe they're looking in the wrong places." The other boy said, mostly to himself but if Charlie heard, he didn't say anything.
"Hey Beck!" A rather high pitched voice called from the distance. Their attention turned towards the approaching figure and Greenie took his time analyzing the boy.
He was around the same age he was and yet he looked a whole lot younger. His curly brown hair was unkempt and messy, just like everyone else's, and his brown eyes were filled with mirth. He was skinnier than most of the boys he'd seen but there was something special about him that the Newbie couldn't point out yet. "Hey Grover," Charlie greeted with a friendly smile. "Met our Greenie yet?"
"No. I was in the farm when he arrived but I saw him running to the walls and if it wasn't for Luke, he'd be toast!"
The amnesiac scrunched his nose in disgust at the sound of the man's name. From the start, he knew that Luke was no good. He wished that he didn't have to deal with him all the time but that guy's everywhere he looked.
The loud whoosh of wind made the green-eyed boy's gaze turn towards the Maze's opening. It came from there, no doubt, and he was sure that something was going to happen soon. Since no one else was affected by it, he assumed that it wasn't much of a bad thing. "The doors are closing." Charlie explained when he saw the confusion etched on the new arrival's features. "It always does at night. The walls protect us from what's beyond them."
"Which is?" Greenie asked, his interest piqued once again. There was just something about that Maze that pulled him in, that kept him at the edge of his seat.
"We call them Grievers. From what the Runners tell us, they only come out at night. We don't know what they look like since no one saw one and lived to tell about it. They kill anyone left in the Maze after it's closed."
Before Charlie could explain more, someone called for him by the bonfire they were building. Apparently, there was some special event happening that night and he was the guest of honor, so to speak. He wondered briefly if that was just some other term for roast beef because he was sure that, after everything that's happened today, being eaten wouldn't be much of a surprise for him.
Grover was still keeping him company as he continued to survey the grounds. There was a thick forest to his left and a small lake to his right. Unconsciously, every step he took led him closer to the closed doors. He wished that he could know what it feels like to be there himself, running through narrow passages and fighting off evil Grievers. Maybe it was his less rational side talking, maybe he was just completely insane.
He didn't know how long he just stood there, staring at the stone barrier with wide, unblinking eyes. It was calling to him, breathing out a name in a sweet whisper, Percy… Percy… come to me…
"Percy." He mumbled, noticing how well the words filled an empty place in his heart. His brain tingled at a triggered memory, remembering people from his past crying out his name in enthusiasm.
Grover turned to him in confusion, hearing him with unusually sharp senses. "What did you say?"
Percy turned to his new friend, his heart hammering against his chest in uneven beats. "My name, I remember my name." He cried out in elation, screaming to the heavens and shaking the dark haired boy senseless due to his excitement. At hearing his outburst, many of the other Gladers- as Charlie called them- ran to meet him.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked in confusion, frowning slightly.
"I remember my name." The Newbie said calmer in comparison to his eruption a few moments prior. "It's Percy."
Please tell me what you think guys. It really just depends on you whether or not I'm going to continue this. Love you all!