Hey guys. Found out what the cake was for…the hard way.
002: 003! Get back here!
Yoink! It's JJATSOOC4 time! I'll leave you geniuses to figure out what that stands for. Anyway, this day we venture into the ugly pit of evil that is…well, The Pit. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to beg my girlfriend for my life.
"Let me go!" the boy screamed as he struggled violently against the two massively built members of The Pit. "Let go of me!"
"Shut up!" Evan ordered. "Set him up with the rest," he instructed to the two handling the boy. They nodded, and dragged him off to a group of others.
The group of young half-bloods, about seven strong and none of them older than sixteen, was forced into a line with their backs to the river behind them. Keeping them in line were several gray armored soldiers of The Pit.
"Let's move people," Evan ordered. "I don't need security ghouls breathing down our necks."
This was a legitimate concern, considering The Pit had worked their way into the Underworld and was now situated at the bank of the River Styx. The plan was simple, if not extremely cruel and risky. Dump as many members of the Pit into the Styx as possible, and hope for an invincible army.
An army Evan felt sure would crush any resistance Camp Half-Blood might offer. If just one of the dunkings proved successful, The Pit would have a powerful weapon at their disposal. A much more easily controlled weapon at that.
The only problem was finding volunteers amongst the young, inexperienced, and even cowardly ranks of the Pit. So rather than waste time with that, Evan Nakamura had come up with the time efficient idea of simple tossing people in by force.
"Everybody ready?" Alice, the shape shifting daughter of Artemis asked the seven chosen recruits. There was a ripple of no's, shaken heads, and attempts to get away. Alice responded by kicking the closest recruit into the river herself.
The body splashed in, and everybody there anxiously looked on to see if the poor sap would come out alive. After a minute or so, it was clear he wasn't. Alice simply turned to the remaining six and called out, "Next body!"
Almost sure of her own doom, one little daughter of Athena attempted to run. She was caught by the very same Pit soldier who'd dragged her to the river, and was promptly hurled in.
Similar processes were repeated for the other five. Only three however, managed to make it out of the cursed Styx alive. Evan swore under his breath at the results and ordered everyone to clear out. The survivors of the Styx, Alice, and the other Pit soldiers all began clearing away signs of their having been there, while Evan himself scanned around for any form of Hades' minions. Fortunately for him, there were none.
"All clear," Alice reported once she'd made sure they'd left no trace.
Evan didn't respond, merely stared off into space. His gaze never lessened in intensity however. It constantly maintained the hard glare that stuck on one's face if their childhood involved murdering their own father.
My father is here somewhere, Evan thought. In the Fields of Punishment, rotting like the scum he is. It's too god for him.
Part of him accepted he would likely end up in the Fields as well if he was somehow killed before Olympus could be brought crumbling down. But the rest of him stubbornly refused to believe that anything would be able to kill him.
Not anymore at least. Not if that dream was as half as powerful as it felt…
"Sir?" Alice asked again, trying to get his attention.
Evan snapped out of his trance. "Huh? Right, right. Let's move."
The trip out was only slightly easier than the fight in, but they made it out without making any serious ruckus or losing anybody. A successful mission all in all. So why did Evan still having the feeling something wasn't right. Not that exactly either. More like something was…different now. He'd been getting that feeling more and more. Ever since the dream.
Evan opened his eyes, but all he could see was black. At first he thought his eyes were still closed. He tried shutting and opening them. A simple blink. And yet the darkness remained. What was worse, he hadn't felt his eyelids open or close.
He couldn't feel anything. Not his hands or his feet, not the ground or any other part of his body. He was encased in a cold, black, lifeless void. Everywhere he "looked", there was nothing. Nothing but emptiness and cold oblivion.
And then, from the darkness emerged a single gray light. A tiny glimmer of light, so small amidst the bleakness Evan almost missed it.
But that issue quickly faded as the light grew bigger and brighter and closer and colder. The gray sphere of light hovered in front of him, shimmering just out of reach. Evan groped forward with arms he didn't have.
That got things excited. The light exploded in a swirl and whirlwind of color and chaos, all the while the chillingly cold sensation it radiated penetrated deeper into Evan's very being. He wanted to cry out, but had no mouth with which to scream.
Then, slowly, the wild light show began to slow. The chaos of it all slowly gave way to control and order. But not Evan's. It almost seemed like it was Evan's own will which calmed the light, but at the same time he knew it couldn't be. He could never hope to control the light.
The light re-condensed, this time into a real shape. A silhouette of a man soon stood shimmering before Evan now, an arm extended toward him. Evan wished ever so desperately to reach toward it. He wanted to more than anything.
And yet, there was still doubt. Some small nagging voice told Evan it was a bad idea. The light would bring him nothing but trouble. The cold void it seemed to radiate was testament to this. Evan laughed at the voice. What harm could the light possibly do?
Evan accepted its chilly embrace. The cold chilled his blood and froze his very soul, it was so powerful. Evan briefly felt as though he possessed a body once more. But not his own, weak, demigod body, but a stronger, invincible, almost god-like body. It was a feeling more empowering than anything else Evan had experienced.
And unlike the other experiences in this dream, this feeling of strength did not pass quickly. It only grew and intensified, until it numbed all else. And a voice whispered.
"Allow me."
Ever since that dream, Evan hadn't quite felt like himself. He felt more detached. Doing things he didn't remember doing. His reactions to situations seeming more automatic. And, every now and then, he got a weird headache. For some reasons, all these very, very bad signs added up to him feeling good, better than himself.
What could possibly go wrong?
Two thousand points go to whoever can figure out what or who the light in Evan's dream was. What is the truth Percy and Annabeth want to hide from Jake and friends? What dastardly plan has The Pit cooked up this time? And, can Camp Half-Blood and Olympus really handle this without help?
By the way, I'm totally sorry this chapter took so long. For some reason I couldn't edit any PJO stories for like a month
