Son of Fire

Chapter 10

Percy's POV

The Great Escape

I woke up the next day, with a new sight on life. No, I wasn't going to stop fighting. In a different life, with the right circumstances, I would. But in the life I live in, I must fight for the freedom of the rest of my family. But mark my words, I will not kill or maim senselessly. Danny's words still ring through my head.

"So what jobs are in today's agenda" I asked.

Jake or James, I can't really tell, answered. "Depends on what the herder wants us to do." There's that name again; the herder. I was about to ask about it when the barn doors opened. There stood the biggest guy I have ever seen. The guy would've put Paul Bunyan to shame. And to top it off, he wasn't fat, he was muscular.

He looked at me and barked at me in a deep voice "Your the newbie, huh? Well one of you other dumb asses show the pipsqueak the ropes, got it? Today is the just the farm." He then went to the cabinet on the far side of the room. He pulled out a few shackles, and chucked them in the cage.

Then he went on to say, "You know the drill."

Everyone started putting them on except for me. I looked at him and before anyone could stop me, and said. "What keeps me from just staying in this comfy cage?" He gave me an amused smirk. "Go ahead if you want. That just gives me permission to eat your breakfast." I grumbled a reply, and started putting them on. I was hungry. I had a little bit of trouble, so Steph helped me.

After we all had our hands chained, we started putting on our leg chains. They were smart. They allowed the legs to move far enough to walk, but not long enough to get into strides for a run. This herder guy would easily overtake us if we ran for it.

Once Danny signalled that we all had all our shackles on, he came over to us and checked to see if they were firmly on through the cage. Once he finished the inspection, he opened the cage, and we all went out in a single file line. He grabbed a basket and then continued outside, with us following him into the chilly morning day.

Shit I mentally cursed.

The farm wasn't anywhere near anything. I couldn't see anything for miles and miles except the house next to the farm, which was obviously the herders. The herder saw my countenance and chuckled.

"Thought you were going to run away" He chuckled again. This guy was really starting to piss me off. "There is over 20 miles between us and any civilization. The only way there and back is a car, so forget it kid." This situation was getting worse and worse every second. "So hear is your breakfast" He said as he gave each of us a decent piece of bread, cheese, and a bottle of water that he pulled out of the basket.

I ripped my piece of bread and cheese and gave a half to Katie, and ate the rest. She took it gratefully and started stuffing her face. Danny gave me a look of appreciation, and started eating his own. The herder saw this and gave another amused smirk. "You'll regret that later, kid" he claimed, but I paid him no attention. I've gone with much less.

Then, he started listing our jobs. Danny, I and the twins had to manually pull the crops while the girls had to deal with animals. We got started right away (I don't know anything about farming and seasoning and stuff, so this might be off.). I was surprised to find that a little over half of the crops were already harvested. I looked at the guys incredulously.

"How long have you guys been working." They shrugged in unison. One of the twins answered "Let's just say we don't remember not working on this blasted farm" He said bitterly. I looked closely at each individual. They were packed with muscle from working. I frowned. Danny noticed and said "Don't worry for us. There are things in the world that are much worst." With that final note, we started working.

The day was exhausting to say the least. By the time we finished, I couldn't tell we did any work on the crops. When I asked them about this, Danny smiled and said "It always does, but don't worry, progress was made." Once the herder gave us dinner, and put us back in our cage, he unlocked our shackles individually. Then he turned off the lights and we all just sat there while the herder left to probably go to his house.

That's when I got down to business.

"So, is it just the herder with us, or what?" I questioned.

Steph responded "No, he has a wife and daughter. His daughter's age is 21, and his wife's we don't know. She's only ever left the house a few times."

I took in the new information, and started making my plan.

"Okay, so I think I have a plan that would work, but I need a few things first. One, does anyone ever get up at night or in the early morning."

This time Danny answered. It looks like he was the only one who ever stayed up at night. "Yeah, sometimes the daughter comes down at night to give us food, so that we have more energy for the next day's work. It has become less frequent ever since the herder caught her once, but it still happens from time to time."

"Okay, I need to know if I could get my hands on lighter fluids." They all looked at me weirdly, until one of the twins talked.

"Yeah, he has some... Over there" he pointed at the cabinet that he got the shackles from. He continued "He has it so that when he's really pissed off, he can just make a fire and grill some beef to eat it in our faces." I sighed in relief. This was going to be easier than I thought.

"Okay, here's the plan. Early in the morning, we're going to get out of this prison and fill this whole barn with lighter fluids. Then, we get at a good distant away from it and set it ablaze. Then, we wait for someone to come, and take there car back to town. From there we move east." As I spoke, there faces turned from one of confusion to one that said your crazy.

Then I remembered something critical. My stuff. Obviously, I didn't have my backpack, but I checked my wrist, and I cursed. My watch was gone. I turned back to them. "When I arrived hear unconscious, did I have a watch and/or a backpack" Most of them still looked at me as if I was Willy Wonka himself, but Danny shook himself of these thoughts, and nodded. He pointed over to the corner, where apparently, he threw my stuff along with other peoples belongings.

I looked back at him, and asked "Did he look through it?" I asked freighted that he might have taken over a years worth of supplies. The backpack could be opened by anyone. Fortunately, for me, luck decided to be on my side this time.

Danny nodded his head no saying "He was about to, but when he picked it up and jiggled it, he just chucked it."

I thanked my dad for what seemed like the millionth time, for giving me a backpack that has an illusion of being empty. That's when the rest of the people in the cage decided to come out of there trances.

Then Steph asked the million dollar question "How?" She continued, after I gave her a pointed look. "How are we going to break out, and set the barn on fire for that matter?" She asked again incredulously.

I laughed.

Throughout this whole predicament, I forgot to mention my ability, which would easily melt the metal that contains us in our prison.

I was about respond when the door creaked open and the lights turned on, only to reveal a beautiful woman that appeared at the door. She had sun-kissed skin, with a lean body, probably from working on the farm, and hazel eyes, with chocolate brown hair to complement them.

I looked at the other who had looked back at me from the interruption and mouthed tell you later.

She went to a different cabinet that stored food, I presumed. She got some fruits and vegetables out and started to say "I finally got out of the house to give..." She stopped mid-sentence as she laid her eyes on me. She looked surprised.

"Oh... Dad didn't tell me that another has joined your group, Dan." Then she finished grabbing the food, and walked over to our cages. She handed them to Danny, or Dan, who looked as if Zeus himself had come. Anyone could see that he had a thing for the herder's daughter.

That might complicate things I thought. Then I rethought it, and realized that he would follow his family, who would want to escape.

She then looked back at me, and gave me a curious look. "You look as if you've been working here for years, with that body" She commented towards me. The shirt I had on was a tight squeeze, since I don't remember the last time I got a new one, and showed my muscles I had earned battling monsters and humans.

I could tell she didn't mean to say it romantically, or anything, just truly surprised. Danny had the same thought process as I did, for he didn't get mad. Instead, he also commented "That's what I thought when I first saw him yesterday." I blushed at all the attention I was getting. So, I settled with grabbing an apple and looking down at the ground awkwardly, which just caused the group to start laughing. I blushed even more, which set a whole new round of laughter.

Eventually, they stopped and Steph decided to talk "Man, I don't remember ever laughing like that. Thanks Percy."

I smiled at her and tilted my head signalling that I took her thanks.

Then the woman continued "Well, Dan, are you going to introduce us or not."

Danny was quick on his feet, and almost stumbled. Then he said. "Isabella, this is Percy, Percy, Isabella." She stuck out her hand through the cage, and I shook it.

"Pleasure" She said

"Likewise" I replied.

"Well, I'm afraid this is all I can give you for today. I better get back before my dad catches me. Goodnight everybody. Goodnight Dan."

With that final comment, she kissed Danny on the cheek, and left, turning out the lights in the process. The moon shown brightly through the window, so we could still see somewhat. Danny was blushing a storm when I looked back at him.

He stared back at me and chuckled. "What, you never liked anyone before?" He teased.

They all started chuckling and doing their own thing, but my mind wandered to the last thing Danny had said.

The answer was no, I never was attracted or liked someone in my childhood, much less in my years on the run. I was always alone or with a friend, but a friend only went so far. I turned away from the group and made to go to sleep. But in reality, I was awake. Wide awake. A frown appeared on my lips.

I never really had the chance at a more than friend. And I felt alone. Maybe, I jut need some one to love. It doesn't have to be in a romantic way, but it could.

Someone who would stick with me through thick and thin. Someone I could talk to for a lifetime, and still find something to say at the end.

A best friend.

A more than friend.

Someone that I would die for without a second thought. That reminded me of a memory of Beck. It was one of the few memories that I could think of without breaking into tears. It was just before he went to the trip that lead to his death...

flashback

Beck and I were walking down to the Training Arena. When we got there, we found it empty, to our delight. More room for us Beck always said.

I got right down to business and started hacking away at some straw dummies, Beck following my lead.

At this point in my life, I could only fight with a sword.

After a few minutes of warm-ups to get our blood running, we started going into complicated sets. Stab down, block, feint one way, go the other, that type of stuff. We were getting really into the mood, when a girl around our age came in and told the Beck the fatal news.

She told him that they were leaving tomorrow, and to be ready.

I looked at Beck. "Please let me go with you" I begged.

He just chuckled. "No, Perce. Man, I've never seen a man so eager to go on a quest that leads to possible death."

I just continued my argument. "That's exactly why I want to go. If you die then...I-I don't know what I'd do honestly."

He looked at me and said "You'll come on them soon, once you're more experienced"

I huffed in frustration. "How the heck do I gain experience if I can't get into the real world"

He just smiled "Patience is a virtue."

I just grumbled about it not being a good one, and then accepted defeat. "Okay, Beck. But don't get yourself killed, got it?" I told him.

Then his face turned serious, and he started to talk "If I die, then promise me you will not allow yourself or anyone else to go into a slump. I go on this mission knowing that I might meet death, but I still do it. Why, you might ask. Why would any of the five people go to a mission that they know more than likely will kill you. Well, the answer is quite simple to us. It's as clear as day. It's because we are ready to die for our loved ones."

He stopped and looked straight into my eyes, and said "Life isn't worth shit, if you have no one that you would lay your life on the ground for."

flashback over

I smiled at the memory, but it left as quick as it came.

I had no one to die for.

Man, if this thing ever ends, I need to find a person to travel with me.

So, instead of contemplating this, decided to try to fall asleep. I really did, but I just couldn't manage it. After thirty minutes of tossing and turning, I gave up, and just settled for looking up at the stars through the window.

"There beautiful, aren't they?" Said a voice to my right. I turned to look at the new voice.

It was Steph.

I gave her a curious stare."I didn't know that you would still be up."

She just continued to look at the stars and said "You haven't answered my question, Percy."

I looked back at the stars "Yes, the stars are very beautiful."

She was quick to respond

"Why?"

I looked over at her in confusion. She saw my look and reiterated. "Why are the stars beautiful?"

I was about to respond, but I came up with nothing. I mean, you'd think that the answer would come easily, but why are they beautiful. They're not that pretty, I mean they're just shining dots. I just gave her another confused expression, and she chuckled.

"Many people don't." She said. Then she continued as if afraid that I wouldn't let her talk. "I have a theory. Do you mind if I rant to you?"

I just shook my head no, and waited for her to go on.

"I believe humans treasure stars, not because or their actual beauty, but because they represent something to us; our dreams. Stars are like our dreams. The dreams that are so close, yet so far away. The ones that you can see yourself in, but are hard to accomplish. Like making a change in the world. And sometimes, I don't understand. When, I was a normal girl, and wannabe Hitler hadn't taken away our rights yet, I had dreams, ambitions. I wanted to take the world by storm, and make a difference. I didn't really know how, but I wanted to affect the world in a positive way. But everyone always told me otherwise. Everyone told me that you wouldn't do that, change the world. And for some time, I believed them. That not one human could change the world by themselves. Then, I'm just confused. And I think more people in the world were just lost like me."

She stopped, to see if I was still listening. The fact was that I was enraptured by her thoughts. How could someone who is so young, think thoughts that are so deep.

I voiced my opinion to her, and she laughed.

"Since when has age ever defined wisdom. Age might define knowledge and intelligence, but not wisdom. Wisdom is a mindset, I believe. It's the way we think, speak, carry ourselves. It's how we perceive things, and how we don't. The way I think will never change." I was amazed.

Then she shook her head, and continued her speech

"You got me off point, and I wasn't finished, mind you. Where was I? Oh yeah, being lost. So the point is, that I think I finally understand. Our dreams, our stars, they're not just dreams. They're achievable, but not by hoping. By doing. By working towards it. Half the world wishes for their dreams to come true, but do they? Probably not because they just wish. No work done. And I'm not going to be like that. I'm going to work to make a change. Even if it's one person, I'm gonna do it."

She stooped again, and looked at me, with eyes that shone with pride.

"I'm gonna touch the stars, Percy. Believe me, I am."

With that final note, she closed her eyes and dreamed.

I don't remember how long I stared at her, but eventually I tore my eyes off her, and looked back at the stars.

And I realized that she was right.

My dreams are like the stars. They were so far away, but I could picture it, I could see it. And that's the beauty of a dream. I looked around me at each individual and realized something.

These people are just as special as me, if not more.

They believed in more than me. They believed in the magic that is the world. And no I'm not talking about the magic that is illusions and fairies.

The magic in humanity. How special each individual is. How special everything is in this world. They lived with a chip on their shoulder, because they might be trapped, but there were somethings you couldn't take away from humans; their brains.

Their creativeness.

Their thought process.

Their everything.

No matter what prison that humans might be in, be it captivity or a corrupt society, they will always have their brains. I smiled. With that final thought, I got into a comfy position, and went to bed.

I woke up right before was the day we were going to escape. I woke up each one individually. They were all drowsy, and still half asleep, but I couldn't care less right now. The only one that was awake like me was Danny who was getting everyone ready.

One of the twins spoke up. "You still haven't told us...What the." He was cut short by my hands turning on fire. They all looked at me in awe. I smirked back at them.

"One of the only perks of being a demigod." And before anyone could talk I went to the door of the cage, and grabbed the lock with my burning hot hands. They all were still looking at me, gaping like fishes out of water.

Danny, Steph, and Katie all stopped looking at me, and looked at the twins.

"Can you do that?" They all asked on unison.

I looked back at them as the lock finished melting. "I'll explain everything once we're on our way out of this place. And done" I said as the lock completely melted and I opened the door. I walked out with them right on my trail, still looking at me as if I was going to sprout a bunny out of my ass. The first thing I did was go to the corner of the room to get my things. I put my backpack over my back, and put on my wristwatch. Daybreak would be in a few minutes. T

he others got some stuff of theirs from the pile. Danny and Steph had a backpack, but they quickly discarded it when they found nothing in it.

The twins had nothing since they had been their since birth, and same with Katie.

Then, I walked to the food cabinet and started dumping food into it my backpack.

They watched in amazement as I put over half the contents of the cabinet.

Then, I zipped it up and went to the cabinet across our cage; the one with the lighter fluids. I took out three bottles of the stuff, and tossed one to each of the twins, keeping one myself.

"Cover this place with this stuff, especially the wood and hay, got it?" They just nodded, looking confused. Then Danny came over to me.

"How are we going to ignite this once we're out of here? I smirked. "Leave that to me." He nodded and left to go stand by the girls, as I emptied the contents of the lighter fluid bottle. Once I finished, I realized that the twins had also.

"Come on, daybreak is almost on the horizon. We need to go while we can still use the the dark, as a shield to wandering eyes." I headed for the door, with the rest of the group following. Then, I turned to them. "We're going to have to run to do this, so we can make it before daybreak." Danny nodded and put Katie on her back. Then, I started to run through the path back to civilization, the rest of them right on my trail. We ran until we were about 100 yards away from the barn.

Then, I took out my bow form my pack. At this sight, they looked at me incredulously, again.

"How do you fit half the cabinet and a bow in that backpack."

"It's magic" I simply replied.

Then I turned around and all I heard is Steph say. "Again, do one of you guys have one of those."

I just chuckled, before pulling out the arrow tip close to my hand. I burned my hand on fire and gently caught the tip on fire. Then, I knocked the arrow, and took aim. I looked at the group with the corner of my eyes.

"Ready" They all nodded, although I could still see the look of uncertainty on some of their faces. They don't think I can hit the barn I said mentally. I focused on the bow and shot it straight and smooth. It flew like an eagle as it caught wind. It disappeared a second later, going into the barn. The group just watched as the barn went up like the Fourth of July, but I clapped my hands to get their attention.

I motioned to hide in the crops, and they did as I asked. Then we waited, watching as blurbs came out of the house next to the now destroyed barn. The only thing left was the house and the fenced in area with the animals.

We didn't have to wait long. About thirty minutes later, I heard the sound of an engine, that couldn't be more than three miles away.

"Okay, here's the plan, Danny you stand in the middle of the road, I'll do the rest." When I saw his look of uncertainty, I said. "I promise I won't kill them, okay?" he nodded and I disappeared into the crops. I put the bow into my backpack. Looks like I'm doing this the old-fashioned way I thought.

Soon enough there was, what looked like a jeep in view. I went farther down the crops, so the jeep would pass straight by me. As soon as it passed me, Danny stepped into the road. The jeep stopped, and the guy in the passenger seat got out, and pointed a gun at him.

They had recognized him.

As quick as a cheetah, I leaped out of the crops and was upon the men in mere seconds. I hit the guy in the driving seat in the temple, before he could react, making him unconscious. The second guy turned around, but I was upon him almost as fast. He started to point the gun at me, when I round house kicked him in the chest making him drop the gun and making him stumble back, and then clopped both of his temples, making him also lose consciousness.

Danny looked pained but went to the body on the ground, and started to drag it to inside the crops. I took the other one from the driver's seat and started to haul him into the crops. The others came out of the crops gaping at me like fishes out of water.

I looked at them. "Like I said before, I'll tell you when we're safe from harm. So let's go. I got into the drivers seat and they looked surprised for the billionth time.

I rolled my eyes and said "I've been driving since I turned fourteen. And plus, what am I gonna crash into? The crops?"

They couldn't argue with that logic and all of them jumped into the car, Danny taking shotgun, with the rest in the back. Katie was in one of the twins lap. They buckled up, and I started to drive. We went normal speed as to not be suspicious. We cruised for a while until we got back into civilization. Before anyone realized anything, we were driving out of that town, heading back east. Once we were a good thirty miles out of town, I pulled over.

I looked back at all of them and said. "Okay, it's time you guys know what is going on with me and the world. I will tell you guys my story, although I will refrain from telling you things I find uncomfortable to talk about. Then, I will allow you to ask me questions, and I promise I will answer to the best of my ability." Okay, deep breaths. I was about to tell some people about the life that I kept guarded for so long.

My thoughts were interrupted Katie. "Yay! Story time at last." She said dramatically. She jumped off the twin she was on and on to my lap. "Ommph" I said as she landed on me.

She grabbed one of my hands and looked up at me as if I was going to hand her a million bucks. I smiled down at her. And started my tale.

"When, I was a boy, I lived a normal life, just like..." I lost my voice as I realized something.

"Hey James, Jake, when were you captured?"

They gave me a strange look, but answered nonetheless "We were captured at birth, like we told you."

That doesn't make sense I told myself. "But the revolution started only a while ago, not even two years ago..."

The others seemed to realize this too, and then looked at them questionably. I turned all the way in my seat to get a good look at them. That's when I saw it. Something that sent chills down my back. After all, It's not everyday you see the eyes of an automation...

My longest chapter. ever.

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