You probably hate me for killing Nico. Sorry, but it had to be done! A shout out to PERCY JACKSON, who turned 17...? 18...? on Saturday the 18th! Yay fictional characters!

Also, check out Graecus and Graeca and rangersrock. G&G have great Rick Rioridan fics, including one where Sadie and Carter have to...ahem...murder Percy Jackson. :D

To whoever keeps 'Reporting Abuse' on me: I'm not doing anything wrong, please leave me alone. All I want to do is update, but I can't if my account is suspended, can I?

To everyone that hates me for not updating for a week and a half: Heh. Heh. Sorry! Partly blame the person/people mentioned in the small paragraph above. D:

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. I want to own PJO, but I don't.


I stood there in shock, not comprehending what Ash had said. My brother is dead? He was the only thing that kept me from leaving, from shadow-traveling out of this dump. We could've done it together, just left like Percy and Annabeth, but he reminded me how miserable all of the others are. He wouldn't let me leave: it was last night that he finally decided that if I went, he went with me.

We were going to leave tonight.

Now, with Nico dead—and no one else in this camp able to shadow travel—I could go by myself. I could, but be guilt-ridden for the rest of my life. He was right. We shouldn't be in this situation in the first place, we should've won, but that still doesn't change the fact that me leaving will solve all my problems, or better yet, theirs. Now, there's no way I'm leaving—not without other people. I won't be selfish, I just can't. It's like Nico is pushing me back, scolding me like a big brother should. Scarlett! Why are you being such a jerk? You should help other people! Stop being so selfish!

I stumble past Ashlynn and Cole, my voice frozen. The faces around me range from shocked to distraught to sympathetic, every single pair of eyes watching me as I flee the amphitheater, tears threatening to start streaming down my face.

Campers see me running, running toward the Hades cabin, opening and then slamming the door. What they don't see is me curling up in a ball in the corner, sobbing my eyes out. Grabbing stuff and chucking it at the walls. Just sitting, waiting for someone to tell me that it was all a prank, or that he did survive the arrow. Feeling guilty for not doing as much with him, for rarely hanging out with him at camp. Wondering why I had to deal with this. Didn't I already have enough on my plate, being the daughter of one of the Big Three? Being a prisoner of Kronos? Having almost NO friends? Now chucking stuff again. And then sobbing. And sobbing. And sobbing.

~§~ESCAOE

Eventually, I stopped, but didn't move, just stayed in the corner, fingering my ring. The ring that Nico said our dad picked out for Persephone, but she didn't like it, thinking that it was too dark and gloomy; possibly needing either bright yellow, or a brand new ring altogether.

A soft knock at my door makes me squeeze the sides of the ring, transforming it into a gleaming midnight-blue sword, double-edged, with a black leather hilt and made of Stygian Iron.

Whoever is at my door knocks again, and I still don't get up to answer them, but have my sword clutched tightly, ready to use if needed.

"Scar? Are you in there?" a soft voice calls. "It's just me, Brina."

My grip on the sword loosens, and I nudge the door open with my foot. Sabrina Wells, aka as the only other person I trust other than Nico and Percy, walked through the door, a sad look on her face. "Scarlett, I'm so sorr—"

"I don't want to hear it!" I snap, staring daggers at her. She recoils, and I feel bad. It's not her fault that Nico...that he...

"Sorry...hey, you missed dinner. It wasn't good today, only a biscuit and apple each. I grabbed two of both, though, in case you were hungry,"

The daughter of Triton set down a small, napkin-wrapped package: in it, a deep red apple and a crumbly—but warm—biscuit. I stared at it, but didn't make the effort to grab and take a bite.

"Thanks," I murmured, while pressing a gem at the bottom of the hilt. The sword then curled up, turning itself back into the ring.

Sabrina sighed. "No prob. I know what it feels like, to have a part of your family..."

Her sea-green eyes looked sad, as if she was remembering something she didn't want to remember. I knew what she was talking about: pretty much everyone in camp did, thanks to the Aphrodite girls and their love of gossip.

Brina's dad is Triton, another god of the sea, but her mom died when she was born. Triton ditched my friend, and instead, a satyr and nymph raised her. They live outside camp borders, or at least they did. When Kronos came to power, they left, taking all the dryads, nymphs, and satyrs with them. Sabrina was devastated.

"So, are you just going to stay in here?" she asked, the sad gaze gone.

"What else is there to do?"

"What isn't there to do?"

"Get out of here."

She thought that over. Then, after a few minutes, it was as if a lightbulb lit up above her head, like in old cartoons.

"I've got it!"

"What now?" I said glumly, not wanting to do anything but mope.

Sabrina leaned in close, like how Aphrodite kids did before Kronos took over the camp, to talk about boys, or gossip. Her voice came out a whisper, barely audible.

"We're going to escape!"


R&R!

CCam