I'm really sorry. You poor readers have been waiting for far too long. I have many reasons as to why I didn't update sooner, but I'm sure you don't want to hear them. So I hope you enjoy this extra long chapter! Love you all! (SHOUTOUT TO azhou1 FOR BETA READING THIS CHAPTER!)
Chapter 11: Separate Spirits
Katie's POV
It was the morning of our quest. We had just finished eating our breakfast and were patiently waiting for Argus to pull up with the van. Chiron had instructed us to travel to Mount Olympus so that we could have the "privilege" of being thrown into the Pit by those disgusting Olympians.
The silence was beginning to become awkward for Annabeth as she nervously avoided the death glares Nico and I were sending in her direction.
Stupid Annabeth.
Always trying to be the "hero" by volunteering for every single quest.
I was so tempted to tell Chiron to choose someone else in my place, but my mind immediately screamed at me, reminding me that Percy was suffering in Tartarus. So I steeled my nerves and told myself I was going to accept this quest and hopefully rescue Percy from his punishment with the help of Nico.
I bet Annabeth only volunteered so that she could regain her fame. Or maybe she planned on causing Percy even more anguish by shoving her face in front of his so that he could be reminded of the betrayal.
My jaw clenched tightly as I growled angrily at the thought.
If she even dares touch a single hair on his head, she's never going to see the light of day again!
Before my mind could explode from rage, the familiar sight of the camp van approached at the bottom of Half-Blood Hill.
We raced down the hill towards Argus, greeting him and jumping into the back of the van.
The ride toward Olympus was silent. The tension in the air was so thick that it could've been sliced in half with a sword.
After a long, boring car ride through the city, we finally arrived at the Empire State Building and began to pile out of the van.
Before sliding the door closed, I sent Argus a grateful look before telling him, "Thank you for the ride Argus. You know, I don't know why you're so underappreciated. You do so much for the camp, yet you don't receive recognition. Well, I just want you to know that I'm thankful for all you've done for us. Have a safe trip back. Bye."
All of his eyes twinkled with unshed tears before I closed the car door and watched as he drove off.
When the van was completely out of sight, I turned around only to discover that Nico and Annabeth had ditched me. I groaned in annoyance before running into the lobby of the Empire State Building.
Inside, I found them standing by the elevator, waiting for me to rejoin them. Nico was casually holding the special key card used to expose the 600th floor button.
Together, we crammed into the elevator as Nico inserted the key card into the security slot. As soon as he did, the card disappeared and was replaced by a red button displaying "600."
Nico pressed the button, causing it to light up just as the elevator doors closed.
Immediately, our ears were pierced with the sound of horrifyingly terrible elevator music.
Are you trying to torture us Apollo?!
Well, now he's in my list of the top 5 gods I want to murder, so he better keep an eye out, 'cause I will be coming for him. Actually, I had forgotten that he was already in my murder list after he had lied to Zeus to save his godly behind instead of being honest and proving Percy's innocence.
Either way, he's dead.
After what seemed like a never-ending eternity of listening to "Friday" by Rebecca Black, the elevator doors finally peeled open with a pleasant ding! (A/N: No offense to anyone who actually likes this song. I have nothing against it. I just needed a song for this scene.)
I sighed in relief, knowing that my ears would no longer have to bleed. Honestly, that girl really needs to learn how to sing. Her voice sounds like her nose is stuffed with cotton and the lyrics seem like they were written by a first grader who recently learned about the days of the week. And how difficult is it to choose which car seat you want to take?! Ugh, it's so annoying!
Taking my mind off of that awful song, I focused my attention on my surroundings. Spread out before us were countless of newly constructed Greek-style buildings that were designed by the worst girlfriend in existence, also known as Annabeth. Past all of these buildings was the "mighty" palace of the gods sitting atop a mountain.
I was the first one to step out of the elevator, briskly making my way up the main road that led to the grand palace.
I didn't bother to glance around, even though many of the citizens were throwing me strange looks as I marched angrily up the mountain. I didn't understand why I was suddenly brimming with so much fury. Maybe it was because I was about to be in the presence of the beings who banished my cousin.
From behind, I could hear Nico and Annabeth rushing to catch up with me since I was literally speed walking.
"Katie? You mind slowing down a bit?"
"Sure Nico. Sorry about that," I answered before stopping in my tracks and turning around to face them as I waited for them to reach me.
If Annabeth had asked me that, I would have ignored her and increased my speed instead. But since Nico had asked, I didn't mind slowing down for him 'cause he was a true friend.
Once Nico was by my side, I began to walk again, but at a much slower pace than before.
By the time we reached the palace, I was extremely annoyed. I really wanted to punch someone, preferably Annabeth. If the gods knew we were coming, why couldn't they have just flashed us into the throne room instead of making us walk the entire way up the mountain?!
Not even my own mother was kind enough to bring us here.
With that bitter thought, I pushed open the extra set of double doors reserved for mortals, revealing twelve giant-sized beings sitting on their thrones, obviously waiting for us.
I had a deep scowl etched on my face, which my mother immediately noticed. A worried look began to appear on her face.
If you truly cared about me, you would've defended Percy!
I tore my gaze away from her, refocusing my eyes on the Drama King who was waiting for us to bow or kneel before his presence.
I simply bowed mockingly, but he was too prideful to notice that I was disrespecting him.
The sky god cleared his throat dramatically, rising from his throne as he commanded, "Demigods, recite the prophecy for your quest!"
Annabeth, being the obedient daughter of Athena she is, immediately obliged.
"Three Greek half-bloods will travel alone,
To the Pit they shall be thrown.
The parallel Primordial of Chaos lies below,
And His power will begin to grow.
One must convince Him to return,
Or suffer by watching the world burn."
When Annabeth finished, Demeter suddenly jumped from her throne, a horrified look on her pale face.
"NO! I am not going to let my daughter enter that atrocious Pit! I don't want to lose her!" Demeter exclaimed as tears began to form in her eyes.
The gods around her rushed to restrain her, roughly pushing her back into her throne and holding her in place so that she wouldn't try anything.
Zeus, once again, opened his mouth to speak.
"Demeter, I'm afraid that she must enter the Pit. The three demigods for this quest have already been chosen, and Katie's one of them. You can't alter Fate."
"Besides-" Athena joined in, an annoyed expression on her face, "this is the second time my daughter is going down into that Pit and you don't see me complaining."
For a split second, pain flashed through Annabeth's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
Had I imagined it?
Probably not, but why should I care about someone like her?
She deserves to feel pain. Much more pain than what poor Percy felt.
"Can you hurry up?" By now, I was extremely irritated and I just wanted to get as far away as possible from these arrogant Olympians, even if it meant being thrown into Tartarus.
"Very well then, Katie," Zeus replied before he conjured up his master bolt and thrust it in the area directly in front of my feet.
When the lightning bolt collided with the floor, it immediately opened up, leading down into pure darkness. The chasm was obviously an entrance to Tartarus.
"The prophecy states that these three demigods must be thrown into the Pit. Which god or goddess volunteers for this task?" Zeus asked the other Olympians.
The gods were hesitant, but eventually, one of them began to slowly raise their hand.
Ares.
Of course he would be the one to volunteer. The dude likes violence, especially when it involves throwing helpless demigods into the evilest place known to the Greek world.
He rose from his throne and made his way toward us, a wicked grin beginning to stretch across his face.
Ares lifted us onto the palm of his left hand, randomly choosing Nico from our little trio. He then proceeded to hold Nico in a throwing position.
'I hope Ares isn't crushing Nico too tightly in his grip. The poor kid needs to breathe,' I thought sympathetically.
Ares proceeded to turn his gaze toward his father, expectantly waiting for a signal that would allow him to continue.
A slight nod from Zeus granted him the permission he needed.
With great enthusiasm, Ares pulled back his arm and then swung it forward, releasing Nico from his grasp in the process. Nico immediately went flying through the air and toppled into the chasm in front of us.
He disappeared from sight as soon as he entered the wide gap in the floor.
Surprisingly, not a single sound whatsoever escaped from the lips of Nico di Angelo as he fell into the abyss.
I almost yelped in surprise when I was grabbed by my shirt from behind by the world's largest set of fingers.
It was my turn to be thrown and I was already regretting my decision.
Before I could take a deep breath to steel my nerves, I was thrust into motion.
My surroundings became a foggy blur and soon I was desperately waving my arms in the air as my body was flung forward.
I went airborne and then the next thing my mind registered was that I was free-falling through pure darkness toward my imminent doom.
The only thing I was pretty much worried about at the moment was accidentally kicking or punching Nico who was somewhere below me.
Hopefully, none of those scenarios happen.
"Nico?" I called into the darkness below.
I didn't receive an answer, but that was probably because I couldn't hear anything in the first place.
In fact, I couldn't even hear myself.
I didn't know how long we would fall for, but I forced myself to avoid thinking about time.
Instead, I focused on the thought of Percy and what we would encounter below.
Would we come across strange monsters never before seen? The idea unnerved me, but I had a feeling we would get through this... alive that is.
A drawing pad and coloring utensils were in the backpack I had slung over my shoulders. You see, I'm an artist. I found out I had a knack for drawing last year.
I was debating whether or not I should take them out and sketch something to pass the time, but I realized how dumb the idea was.
If I couldn't even see my hands, how could I draw something without seeing what I was drawing?
As I gave up on that idea, I realized just how precious being in the company of others truly was.
I was alone and dying of boredom.
Hours seemed to drift by slowly until a tiny orange-red square of light appeared somewhere below me.
My heart began to race uncontrollably. I didn't know if it was because I was terrified of landing in the Pit of unknown evils or excited about the possibility of finding Percy.
Before long, I sensed a change in the atmosphere. The temperature seemed to drop below zero and the air became dry.
During the rest of my descent, the square of light noticeably expanded.
Before my mind registered what was happening, the darkness around me disappeared and was replaced by a treacherous cavern. I warily glanced above me while I was plummeting to my death and surprisingly couldn't find the opening I had fallen from.
Fear began to bubble up within me as I realized I was going to become a flat pancake once I reached the ground. A shriek of terror escaped from my lips as the ground rushed up to meet me.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the unbearable pain to overwhelm me.
But after waiting for an entire minute, I was confused as to why I hadn't been smacked to death.
Cautiously, I opened one eye, and then the other.
Annabeth and Nico were directly on my left, which surprised me because they hadn't made a single sound.
I quickly inspected them to make sure they were alright when I noticed for the first time that their feet weren't touching the ground.
Slowly, I shifted my gaze to my own feet, yelping in surprise at the realization that I was floating in mid-air as well.
How was this possible?
Fortunately for me, I received my answer when a figure stepped out from the shadows directly in front of me.
Percy/Lysias's POV
Empty darkness.
It had completely engulfed me in its embrace.
Was I dead?
Probably not, but I couldn't even feel my own body.
The only thing I could remember before fainting was the innocent death of Leo's friend. I hated myself for not being able to do anything to prevent it.
What kind of friend was I?
Tartarus was right. I am useless. No one can count on me.
But something about Percy's death had bothered me.
Have you ever felt like you were in two places at once?
That's exactly what I felt. It was as if my body was split into two and I was seeing through two sets of eyes.
Call it freaky, but it actually happened.
One second I was in my own body, and then the next I was directly in front of Tartarus, waiting for my death.
For some strange reason, this body-switching experience happened every time I blinked.
And then when Tartarus thrust his sword into the chest of Percy Jackson, I somehow shared the pain with him.
My own chest had ached and throbbed fiercely.
And then the pain had spread to both my head and stomach.
A piercing migraine had engulfed my head and it had felt like my stomach was doing somersaults, violently bouncing up and down within me. I was even close to throwing up right then and there. But then a new sensation had overwhelmed my body when Tartarus announced that Percy's soul had been added into his armor.
It was as if my insides had been ripped apart and then slapped back together in a split second.
And after that, all I could remember was clutching my head in pain before darkness consumed me.
Suddenly, a horrible thought struck me that made my skin crawl.
If I'm in some sort of unconscious realm, that means that Leo is alone with Tartarus and Erebus out in the real world...
Oh no.
A seed of despair began to plant itself within me, eventually causing me to hyperventilate.
I wanted to escape the darkness that never seemed to end no matter which direction I turned. But how do you break out from your own mind?
Hours seemed to drift by before a blinding light flickered into existence. A sliver of hope was reignited in the pit of my stomach. I immediately jumped to my feet, my curiosity getting the best of me.
Without any precaution whatsoever, I slowly began to approach the light. Something about it was irresistible and dangerously attractive. Much to my horror, I couldn't stop my own feet from moving towards it.
I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
That's probably the most pathetic thing I have ever compared myself to.
Brushing aside that random thought, I awaited my possible doom as I embraced the light.
As soon as I made contact with it, my vision was immediately clouded with a blinding whiteness.
......
"Lysias? Can you hear me?"
"Huh? Leo, is that you?" I asked, hoping that I was actually conscious again.
"Yeah, it's me. You scared me back in the throne room. Please don't do that to me ever again," Leo pleaded, a slight hint of terror in his voice.
I finally managed to pry my eyes open, only to be greeted by the brown eyes of Leo Valdez staring right into mine.
"I'll try not to, but I can't promise you that. Anyway, where are we? And what happened to you while I was unconscious? Are you okay?" I questioned at full speed.
"Whoa! One question at a time, dude. First of all, we're in my prison cell. And Tartarus locked us both in here while you were out cold. And I'm fine. Nothing really happened to me," Leo explained calmly, which lifted some stress off my shoulders.
"Really? You're not playing some kind of joke on me? 'Cause last time I checked, Tartarus doesn't let the opportunity to punish someone slip away that easily," I asked, completely confused about the situation.
"Yeah, I'm not making it up. He just brought us here and that was it. Maybe he was just tired or something," Leo tried to reassure me.
"The guy's a Primordial. I don't really think they get 'tired,'" I pointed out.
"Good point. But maybe we should just try to forget about the entire thing," Leo suggested, his face clearly sending the message that he didn't want to think of the different ways he could be transformed into Tartarus's personal chew toy.
"Wait a second. Leo, remember how Poseidon is a couple cells down from yours?" I asked as an amusing idea popped into my head.
"Yeah... Why? What are you planning?" Leo questioned, sending an intense look of suspicion in my direction.
I could literally feel his piercing eyes trying to burn through my head. "I say we either torture him or prank him. What do you say?"
Immediately, the look Leo was giving me vanished.
With a devilish grin on his face, Leo responded, "Let's prank him!"
"Well then, what are you waiting for? Come on!" I exclaimed before grabbing his arm and literally dragging him out of his cell and into the dark hallway.
The closer we got to Poseidon's cell, the slower and quieter we became. By the time we finally reached the cell door, we were practically tiptoeing.
I leaned toward Leo and whispered into his ear as quietly as possible, "I'm going to shadow travel us into the cell, okay?"
Leo nodded in response before I placed a hand on his shoulder and we slipped into the shadows.
When we reappeared on the other side of the cell door, I noticed that Poseidon was sprawled on the floor. His back was facing us and he didn't show any sign he had sensed our presence. I approached him slowly, removing a hidden dagger from my sleeve in the process.
Once I was directly behind him, I crouched down, placing the dagger on the back of Poseidon's neck and drawing blood. "Surprise!"
Immediately, Poseidon comically sat up at the speed of lightning and shrieked in pain, clutching his now bloody neck.
I chuckled to myself and noticed that Leo had a crazy grin on his face.
In that moment, my eyes darted across the room. Random, broken objects were strewn about all over the place.
"I see you've been trying to escape. Am I right, Poseidon?" I snarled accusingly.
His eyes glinted with fear, but he nodded his head in agreement. It's a good thing these cells render captives powerless.
Out of nowhere, I gripped Poseidon by the hem of his Hawaiian T-shirt, lifting him off the ground and bringing his face in front of my own. "Be prepared, you sea scum. Tomorrow is when the fun truly begins."
The god of the sea visibly gulped before I released him and he dropped to the ground like a rag doll.
"Not so brave without your powers, huh? You coward." And with those wonderful words, Leo and I walked out of his cell and slammed the door shut with a loud bang!
Once we were out of earshot, Leo stopped me in my tracks. I sent him a look of confusion before he brought something to my attention.
"Thalia Grace, my currently dead friend, is in the throne room. Do you know if she's alone?" His brown eyes sparkled with hope.
This aroused my curiosity. "Probably. I mean, my masters usually don't stay in there too long. Why?"
"I'm thinking of setting a rescue mission into motion. Will you help me?" Leo pleaded while pouting in the process.
Eh, what the heck.
"Sure thing dude. When are we going on this mission?" I had a feeling he wasn't going to wait until tomorrow.
My suspicions were confirmed when a mischievous grin spread across his face before responding, "Right now."
With obvious cheerfulness, I let myself be pulled along toward the throne room. Before long, we were standing directly in front of the grand throne room doors. With only hope by my side, I pushed them open, praying that the Primordials weren't in there.
I guess it was my lucky day 'cause the place was dark and empty.
Sighing in relief, I glided across the room, stealthily making my way over to the glowing, spherical prison that encased the soul of Leo's friend.
Making sure no one was hiding somewhere nearby, I grabbed the orb and literally ran out of the throne room. At that point, I no longer had a care in the world about how much noise I was making.
On my way out, I rushed past Leo without so much as a glance, more concerned about my own safety at the moment.
Eventually he caught up though, which was a good thing, 'cause I didn't want him to die.
Once we were safely back in Leo's cell, I handed over the sphere to him. "Are you going to free her?"
He nodded and proceeded to lift the orb above his head before bringing it back down and smashing it against the ground.
There was a loud shattering sound as the shards of glass furiously scattered on the floor. Thankfully, Thalia's soul was perfectly fine.
Before I had a chance to blink, Thalia's shimmering form enlarged up until the point she was at the height of an average teenage girl.
"Thanks for saving me. But what exactly am I supposed to do now? Fly out of here?" Thalia suggested sarcastically.
"Um, no. Tartarus can sense everything that enters and exits his Pit. He'll snatch your soul before you even get anywhere near the surface. He won't place you in a nice prison cell next time though. Watch your back. You're ten times more delicate as a ghost," I cautiously warned her.
"So what do you want us to do? She can't exactly hide around in my cell," Leo pointed out.
An idea popped up in my head, but it probably wasn't the best one available. It was pretty stupid, but it just might work.
"Why don't you reside within one of us? That way you're not freely roaming around," I suggested awkwardly.
"That sounds weird. But okay then," Thalia shrugged nonchalantly.
"Who's it going to be? You or me?" Leo shot me a nervous glance.
"I hate to say this Thalia, but I think I'm your only option. Leo's life is in the hands of Tartarus, so he can die at any moment. Tartarus and Erebus need me though, so they have no option but to keep me alive." Thalia winced for a split second and then nodded her head in understanding.
"My life just gets better and better!" Thalia sarcastically blurted out.
"But aren't you dead?" I stupidly asked.
"No duh! It's just an expression. Use that brain of yours Seaw-" Thalia roughly slapped her hand over her mouth.
"I'm sorry. I forgot you were someone else," Thalia muttered apologetically.
"It's uh, it's fine." I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "Anyway, you should probably move into my head."
"Yeah, I probably should, no matter how weird that sounds." Thalia prepared to float into my head before I stopped her.
"Wait! I have a couple of rules I want to go over. One, please don't snoop through my memories. It makes me uncomfortable. Two, respect my privacy. And three, just don't mess around with anything in there."
"So you're basically saying I can't do anything. Great! What do you expect me to do? Sit around all day?"
I blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah sure. Sounds good!"
"I was being sarcastic, dimwit." I simply held my hands up in surrender before Thalia dissolved into a fine mist and slipped into my head.
The cold sensation was strange and caused me to involuntarily shudder. Shivers ran up and down my spine, but the feeling vanished as quickly as it had started.
Mentally, I asked, 'Thalia, you in there?'
'Yeah. Now shut up. I'm trying to get comfortable.'
And with that super nice comment, I shut out what was happening in my mind and returned my attention to the external world.
Leo was looking at me strangely, as if I had grown 2 heads. "That was probably the creepiest thing I've ever seen."
I ignored him and voiced the question I'd been meaning to ask, "Do you know how she died?"
"No. All I know is that Percy was falsely accused of murdering her," Leo growled angrily.
'I can tell you if you want.' Thalia's voice murmured in my head.
'I thought you didn't want to talk to me.'
'Do you want the answer or not?' Her annoyed tone pierced through my thoughts and made me wince.
'YES! Please.' I mentally face palmed at how desperate I sounded.
'That cloaked idiot that kidnapped me and brought me down here murdered me during a capture the flag game.'
'What cloaked idiot?' My curiosity got the best of me.
'You seriously don't know? I kind of thought you did. I'm talking about the stupid Primordial you serve. Tartarus was the one who killed me,' Thalia revealed much to my surprise.
'How do you know for sure it was him?'
'I have my ways. Plus, I'm a very observant person,' Thalia pridefully explained.
I felt my fists clench at my sides as a low growl escaped my lips. How had I not known about this?
'Well, thanks for letting me know.'
'No problem. I'm gonna wander around. Talk to you later.' And with that, I felt Thalia fade farther into my head.
An unexpected jolt of electricity coursed throughout my body, causing me to yelp and drop onto one knee.
Leo ran up to me, frantically asking, "Lysias, you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It happens whenever something or someone enters the Pit."
"Do you know what or who entered?"
"Yeah. 3 demigods. One's a guy. The other two are girls. I feel like you might know them," I informed him.
"Can we find out who they specifically are?" Leo asked curiously, excitement perceptible in his voice.
"Why not? Besides, I have a feeling I know where they're going to land." I could practically feel the grin spreading across my face.
...
"Looks like we're just in time, Leo." I nudged him on the shoulder, pointing at the three figures falling toward the ground at high speeds.
"Dude, don't let them fall to their deaths!" Leo scolded me.
"Don't worry. I got this under control." Just as I said that, the demigods were about to collide with the ground before I froze them in midair.
Perks of being the champion of two evil Primordials.
Leo was on my left and we were hiding behind a massive boulder, so they hadn't seen us yet.
The dark-haired girl of the trio yelped in surprise, noticing that gravity wasn't pulling her down.
"Leo, I'm going to shadow travel in front of them. I want you to stay behind this boulder until I call for you, okay?"
Leo simply nodded before I slipped into the shadows, reappearing in front of the dark-haired girl.
Immediately, the girl with blonde princess curls, who I recognized as the demigod that wrestled with me at the camp, yelled out accusingly, "You again!"
I raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you greet people?"
"No. I just don't like you."
"Well, I'm glad to know the feeling is mutual. But that's not why I'm here. Look, I know you don't trust me after the incident at your camp, but I want you to know that I don't mean any harm. If you don't believe me, I brought a friend of yours along with me. LEO! Time to come out!" I called out over my shoulder.
Leo's head shyly peeked out from behind his hiding spot, which was adorably funny 'cause he was anything but shy.
He then completely slipped out, spreading his arms wide open. "Miss me?"
Much to Leo's disappointment, I lowered the demigods onto the ground and unfroze them, allowing the feisty girl with brown hair to tackle Leo and repeatedly punch him in the face.
"I'M SORRY, KATIE! I don't want to die!" Leo wailed before the feisty girl now identified as Katie decided to give him mercy and got off of him.
"LEO. UNKNOWN MIDDLE NAME. VALDEZ. Do you know how worried I was?!" Katie seethed with rage.
"Ooh, bringing out the full names. Leo's in trouble," I teased mockingly.
That was a stupid mistake on my part 'cause Katie immediately turned her angry glare on me, pointing an accusing finger at my chest. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you, mister. You're the one who kidnapped Leo in the first place. I couldn't sleep on most nights because of what you did!"
"Look who's busted now," Leo taunted under his breath out of fear that Katie would turn on him again.
I simply gulped and replied, "Yes ma'am."
She shot me one last terrifying glare that had the potential to kill before rejoining the trio.
"So, what now?" the girl with blond hair questioned.
"Well, I have to get you all out of here before Tartarus decides to get involved. He already knows you're here. And he might be listening," I whispered in the lowest of whispers.
"Don't you work for him though? How do we know you're not going to take us directly to him?" The gray-eyed girl asked suspiciously.
"Is Leo not enough proof? You can ask- GAH! He's coming!" I yelled out before frantically telling everyone to hold hands.
I then proceeded to shadow travel us all to a new location. We were inside an empty cave I had discovered while searching for a way to escape the Pit.
I checked to make sure everyone was here and sighed in relief when I counted 4 heads.
"Don't worry guys. We're safe in here for awhile."
"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?" Katie asked with obvious confusion.
"'Cause I'm sick and tired of being their puppet. They're only using me. They don't care about me at all. That's why I'm tired of being the obedient little servant who always follows their orders. I'm tired of doing what they want. I'm tired of saying yes. I'm not fighting for them. No, not anymore," I explained in a bitter tone.
"But won't they punish you severely?" Leo questioned with concern.
"Yes. But I don't want to live in fear anymore. I want to run free. And I have a plan." A wicked grin began to stretch across my face.
"And what is that plan?" Leo was practically in my face by now.
"I can't tell you. Or else you-know-who will find out. But if I start acting hostile toward any of you, just remember it's part of my plan. It won't mean I'm betraying you though," I warned them in advance.
"Okay, moving on. Why are you all here?" Leo asked the trio.
Katie was the one who spoke up. "We're here on a quest. We're supposed to find and convince an unknown Primordial to reunite with Chaos to prevent the entire universe from ceasing to exist. You know, it's no biggie," Katie sarcastically explained.
I sensed she wasn't telling me everything. "Your best option at the moment is Nyx. Her mansion isn't far from here. But is that the only reason why you're down here?"
With a sigh, Katie confessed, "No. We're also here to try and rescue both Leo and Percy. Percy is a demigod hero who was banished down here about five years ago. Since you've probably been down here for such a long time, do you happen to know where Percy is? He has messy jet black hair and sea-green eyes."
I immediately glanced at Leo nervously. He gave me a look that clearly said he would tell them.
"Um, Katie?" Leo's nervous tone caught her attention.
"What's the matter, Leo?" Her concern was quite noticeable.
Leo exhaled a shaky sigh.
"I hate to say this Katie, but Percy's dead."
Unknown POV
I spotted Athena coming out of her temple and ran after her. "Athena! I have some top secret information I want to share with you."
"Yes?" the goddess of wisdom asked expectantly as she turned around to face me.
"You remember Lysias, right?"
"Of course I do. What do you know about the boy?" Athena questioned with a curious glint in her piercing gray eyes.
"I will tell you. But first, you must swear on the River Styx that you will not tell anyone, especially Zeus, what I'm about to reveal to you," I urged her solemnly.
Athena raised an eyebrow with obvious suspicion, but she was clever enough to know that I wouldn't tell her anything unless she swore.
With a small sigh, Athena nodded her head in understanding.
"I, Athena, goddess of wisdom, swear on the River Styx that I will not share the information I'm about to hear with anyone, especially Zeus."
The sound of thunder that boomed around us officially sealed her oath.
Athena proceeded to cross her arms, expectantly waiting for me to spill the beans.
"Lysias is Percy Jackson."
I hope I answered some of your questions in this chapter. Like how Tartarus was Thalia's killer. But I have a task for you all. Create a theory as to what you think happened between Lysias and Fake Percy and share it in the reviews. And try to guess who the unknown POV belongs to.
Moving on to reviews!
CandyK1ng24: I am so confused... Is Percy dead or alive. I THINK that the "dead" Percy is a fake. I think he's a mirage. Lysias is still Percy. Also, WHO IS THALIA'S KILLER?! You are an amazing writer and I can't get enough of this story. Amazing plot! PLEASE UPDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Thanks for writing!
I already private messaged you about this. But once again, thanks for the generous compliment! And thank you for reading my book and giving it a chance! Sorry for keeping you waiting. Stay awesome! :)
irene2005: Haha! That is ironic.. I haven't thought of it like that. Also, why would you do this to my heart?! You evilly amazing person!
Yep, very ironic. And I'm sorry about your heart. Here's some blue cookies to heal your soul. (:::) It's not my fault. Most authors can't resist being evil. But you're amazing too! :)
azhou1: Is this getting me back for Nyssa...? Great chapter by the way. Never would've thought that you would kill one of the main characters.
Nope. Has nothing to do with Nyssa. But thanks for the constant support! Well, I technically didn't kill Percy... Oh, and thank you so much for beta reading this chapter! You are freaking awesome! :)
Death Fury: Great job!
Thanks for reading and boosting my spirits! :)
Thank you all for reading and I will do my best to update again. Don't forget to leave a review. And don't hesitate to ask me any questions! Love you all! Keep on being amazhang! Have a wonderful day/afternoon/night!
-BlueFangirlStreak