A/N:

I have returned. Apologies for the long wait. I am quite sure that book 1 will never see a hiatus again so that's good news.

Hope yall enjoy this chapter. It's another really short one but I hope it hits. Roughly 20 chapters to go.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or its characters. All rights go to Rick Riordan.

Chapter 29

Unbroken

Percy

Percy did not struggle when the guards dragged him away in chains. He did not let an inch of worry worm its way into his heart. It was all part of the plan, he repeated to himself over and over again as they held him in the darkness. Even when the blows came, one after the other, he never let loose a single scream of agony. He would not give his captors the satisfaction. Besides, his suffering was only to be temporary. Soon, he'd be back on the open sea, Thalia, and Annabeth at his side.

Thalia.

He only wished he'd managed to catch another glimpse of her as he was dragged away. If not for selfish reasons, then to at least convey to her that he would be alright. That he had complete faith in her.

Time passed immeasurably. This prison of his completely devoid of light. But devoid of laughter it was not. Laughter that accompanied drunken swings and teetering kicks. It was as if there was an endless queue of guards waiting to get their fill.

Still Percy did not succumb. The longer he endured, the closer he was to freedom. And for Thalia and Annabeth's sake, he would ensure he'd emerge from this darkness unscathed. Barring the bruises that would eventually litter his face and line his abdomen, of course.

Annabeth

Annabeth and Thalia found themselves lying flat on their stomachs on a small overhang that protruded from a cliff surface. The city that Annabeth had loved so dearly, and now the cause of all her pain, sprawling magnificently beneath her. Cobbled and gravel pathways twining around limestone houses and their red brick roofs. Pathways that were now littered with blue refugee tents that somehow made the city look more complete than it had ever been. A couple of paces beneath them, was the cave that contained the Desmeterion.

"This is where they're keeping him?" Thalia's voice, utterly devoid of emotion.

The climb down had been precarious to say the least and during that time Thalia had stopped shooting Annabeth that poisonous glare. Instead, she had resorted to something much, much worse. Unless absolutely necessary, Annabeth was invisible to her, a non-being. Even then, Thalia refused to look her way. That fiery rage of hers had forged itself into an icy calm.

It was almost too much for Annabeth to take. The guilt of what she had done weighing her down. The strength in her steps, one of necessity. She would do anything—even withstand an eternity of Thalia's hatred, if it meant saving Percy. She was not ready to lose him. He who had snuck his way into heart so suddenly.

"The Desmeterion is the only jail in Athens," Annabeth said. "He has to be here."

"The place of chains," Thalia whispered, that icy calm of hers fracturing to reveal a barely contained fury.

"It's not as bad as it sounds-"

"Easy for you to say," Thalia scoffed, still refusing to meet her gaze. "It was not you who was taken prisoner. Only a coward refuses to accept her mistakes. Stop trying to justify your actions with gentle words. I've had enough of that for a lifetime."

So, 'icy calm' was now completely out the window. Annabeth could not blame Thalia. She deserved every word. Even if Thalia had not meant them for only her.

The plan was a simple one. It would work. It had to. Thalia would send in a blast of wind that would hopefully extinguish all torches and braziers in the cave and with the darkness on their side, they would stealthily take out the guards.

"You know the plan. We move on my mark," said Annabeth, gathering her nerves so as to face Thalia's fury. "And Thalia…try not to cause any permanent damage. The guards are only following orders." Annabeth didn't know why she felt the need to say it. But such was the storm that was brewing within her companion.

"Who do you think I am?" Thalia asked coldly—not even flicking her eyes Annabeth's way.

"Someone who would do anything to save Percy." Annabeth replied simply. Thalia ignored her.

A heartbeat later, Annabeth felt her hair shift as cool wind wafted her way. Shouts echoed from the caves. Thalia had done it. Before Annabeth could react, Thalia was already leaping of the rock and landing at the mouth of the cave with a feline grace. It was as if the air itself cushioned her fall. Seconds later, Annabeth was beside her—the years of training making it a menial task. She grabbed Thalia's wrist and held her back.

"Don't do that again. We stick together."

"You mean like we did when we came up with a plan that would get one of us captured." Thalia hissed as she tore her wrist free.

"Please," Annabeth sighed. Thalia was a master of harsh words. Blaming her was one thing. But insolence would not be tolerated. Not with what was at stake. "We need to be on the same page for this. You can go back to despising my existence after we save Percy."

Thalia nodded, still refusing to offer Annabeth anything more. She turned on her heels and slid into the cave. She had one hand braced against the rough stone to guide her. Annabeth followed closely, the endless darkness of the cave a reminder of the horrors she'd survived only yesterday. She was infinitely grateful that this time she was not alone.

The cave was eerily quiet and equally empty. At the far end of the chamber, shadows danced against the wall.

Shit! The sharp bend in the cave meant that Thalia's blast of wind had not extinguished all the fires. That was why there were no guards to be found. They had retreated to the light. This was once again Annabeth's fault. How could she have not factored in something as simple as that. It was unlike her. What was like her though, was her quick improvisation.

"Thalia," Annabeth pulled her across the chamber and to the wall that bordered the bend. "One of the guards will surely come to relight the braziers. Be prepared." They pressed their backs against the jagged stone walls and waited, weapons at the ready. Just as she had predicted, a guard wielding a torch tiptoed his way from the upcoming chamber. Judging from how the shadows seemed to flicker in erratic motions, his hands were trembling. Good, they had sent the most cowardly guard into the fray. The fool stepped into the chamber and surveyed it, never once thinking to check his rear. Once satisfied, he walked over to the nearest brazier to light it.

Annabeth slipped close to him, grabbing him into an expert chokehold that would knock him out in a matter of seconds. Seconds that rather unfortunately, allowed him to struggle. A coward he may have been, but weak he was not. He sent her crashing into the brazier. The sound of metal clanging against stone echoed through the cave. It was followed by the hissing of still-hot coal. Annabeth held in a scream as a cluster of said coal landed on her calf. So much for the element of surprise.

Gods. Nothing was going right today. Perhaps it was she that was the fool. Thalia helped Annabeth to her feet and whispered harshly. "We do it my way now."

"Fair enough," Annabeth grumbled.

The rest of the guards streamed into the chamber, each wielding a torch in one hand and a weapon in the other. Two against five. Annabeth liked the odds. Thalia must have liked them even more, seeing that she was already in an amongst them, the butt of her xiphos slamming into a guard's helmet and sending him crumpling against the nearby wall.

Thalia was surrounded now; the rest of the guards having whirled her way-

"Now," Thalia shouted, a sudden blast of air extinguishing their torches. Unlike before, Thalia had not simply redirected the wind. It was more like she had created some of her own and blasted it outward. At least that was what it had felt like to Annabeth.

In the confusion, Annabeth and Thalia unleashed hell upon them. Annabeth sent two of the guards to the floor with a low-sweeping kick and slammed their helmets together. "Sorry," she whispered, hoping that she had not caused any permanent damage.

Thalia having dealt with the other guards, was already running into the next chamber. She lit a torch with a spark from her finger and called for Percy, her voice echoing and reverberating through the cave. A desperate cry if ever there was any.

No reply. Nothing.

Annabeth, having finally caught up, surveyed the chamber. It was completely cylindrical—the walls lined with metal brackets that were attached to cuffed chains. There were a handful of prisoners chained to those brackets by both the ankles and wrist, forced on their knees by their restraints. None of them, Annabeth realised to her horror, resembled Percy in the slightest.

Thalia was absolutely distraught. One hand running through her hair roughly as her head hung low. A broken whisper croaking from her lips.

"Have any of you seen a boy? Black hair. Green eyes. Stupidly selfish."

Only silence followed. A silence that was broken by a choked sob. Annabeth made to close the distance between them but stopped when she realised that she was the one person Thalia did not want anything to do with.

Thalia stiffened, hands brushing sloppily across her face as she sniffled. A shallow breath later, and she was pulling the closest prisoner up by the collar. The chains groaned and Annabeth winced as she saw the cuff cut into the man's skin. Thalia did not seem to care.

"Where did they take him," she growled. Shaking the life out of the lifeless man. "I will not ask again."

"Thalia," Annabeth shoved her away from the man. "Stop this now. Percy would not-"

"Percy-" she glared at Annabeth, head tilted slightly in challenge, deep blue eyes piercing through her soul, "-is not here."

"And that is exactly why we should stop wasting our time. We'll find Khnurn. And he will lead us to Percy."

The sprint back home felt like an eternity. It was the not-knowing that was the worst. Percy could be anywhere now. Was he even-

No. Don't go there. Please don't, she begged her mind to stop its spinning. Annabeth barreled straight into the hallway and called for Khnurn. Silence. Not again. Where was everyone in this damned-city? Why was nothing going according to plan?

Her thoughts were reigned in by the sight of note. It lay unassumingly on the kitchen counter. A small, crumpled piece of parchment filled with Khnurn's wild scribbles. She reached for it wildly, hoping that those words were one of hope. They weren't.

Annabeth. I'm sorry. We couldn't stop him. Right after you were dismissed, Ithaca called for a vote that passed in favor. Percy is to be put on trial within the hour and if he is found guilty, will be executed. I came to look for you, but you were already gone-

A surge of pain, shooting through her ribs.

Thalia

Thalia's vision was a flash of red as she moved. Boiling within her, a wrathfully misguided fury. There was no one to blame. But then again there was everyone to blame. It was Annabeth who created the plan. Percy who agreed to it. And she who had put that stupid notion of heroism into his head. One that was equally misguided as her anger.

That sense of reason, however, did not stop her from doing what she did.

Annabeth was pinned to the wall now, Thalia's arm across the girl's neck.

"How could you?" Thalia fumed. "I told you-"

It was Annabeth's loud sobs that finally pulled Thalia out of her fervor. Annabeth had been right. Percy would not want this and perhaps more importantly, this was not who she was. She would not lose herself. That she would not forgive. Not after Cyril's sacrifice.

"I care about him too," Annabeth whimpered. The flickering fear within her gaze a reflection of Thalia's. "I don't know what I would do if-"

"Hey," Thalia released her. "I'm sorry. I'm scared too. Forget every word I have said today. That was someone else. We will save him. We have to. And for that, I will need that magnificent mind of yours. So, what's the plan?"

Thalia was grateful for that glorious glimmer of grey that returned to Annabeth's eyes. Why was Thalia so good at snuffing out the light of those she cared for? What was wrong with her?

"Executions always take place in the assembly hall. It's the large building beneath the Acropolis that resembled a temple."

"The crumbling green one you pointed out when we were descending the cliff?"

"Yeah," Annabeth nodded. "Percy will be tried before the Boule—a council of five hundred citizens. If I can cause a commotion, you should be able to sneak in and out without notice. Until then, find a good place to hide till the chaos ensues. When you have him, meet me at the port. I'll make sure our boat is ready for us."

Thalia had to give it to her. Annabeth was a genius. To come up with such a detailed plan in a matter of seconds under such duress. It truly was remarkable.

"Then I'll see you there. And may the gods be with us—with him." And for the first time in her life, Thalia prayed to Zeus.

Percy

The last words Percy remembered before the darkness consumed him were this.

"It is time you incur the wrath of Athens. Treason is treason. The gods demand justice."

Those words had accompanied an ugly sneer and beady eyes. Ithaca. The damned bastard. Not the way Percy would have liked to go. Thank the gods it wasn't. Sometime later, he regained consciousness before a tribunal. Hundreds of pairs of eyes staring hungrily at him. Some with hatred, others with gleeful anticipation.

And still, tied to a board before these soulless cretins, Percy did not break. Nothing could or would cause him to do so. He was sure of it. Even when the verdict passed unanimously. When he knew this was to be his end. That he was to be executed.

Why? You may ask. Because he had done right by Sparta. And perhaps a little selfishly, he had done right by Thalia.

Percy was grateful to Khnurn for trying his best. He had suggested execution by the barathron, a large pit where people were thrown from the cliffside and into to die. Though gruesome, it would have been the best of the rest, and at least that way…that way he would die away from the watchful eyes of hundreds of strangers. A small mercy, but one he would have gladly accepted. And maybe—just maybe Thalia would be there to catch him. She could command the winds, slow his fall. A final hope.

A hope that vanished with Ithaca's next words. Percy was to be executed via hemlock. A slow and painful death was to be owed to the people, for he had wronged them. Percy fought. He really did. Refusing to break was entirely different from accepting death. There was still so much to live for. His mother-

Oh gods, he had not told a soul. No one would go looking for her. Percy was her final hope and here he was dying. And if even if she were safe, she would never know that he'd lived every moment exactly as how she would have wanted him to. Another selfish thought. Her safety was all that mattered. But selfish thoughts were all he seemed to have now at the end.

When the executioner tilted the chalice of poison to his lips, he had tried everything to wield his power. To halt the liquid from spilling into his throat. It had worked for a second, but the executioner pinched his nose and slammed his head against the board. That was all it took for the sweet poison to run down his throat and to his heart.

A few minutes of peace was all he had left as he stared out at the world one final time. He ignored the people, looking past them. Breathing in the sky and the sun. The smell of the air. But then, off in the distance, something or rather someone garnered his attention. A cloaked figure darting through the others and sliding from one cover to the other. That was all it took. The final straw. Percy broke. This he had not wanted. For Thalia to have to witness his death-

Searing pain flooded through his veins and consumed his mind. Pain like he had never known before, coursing through him and running rampant. He bit back his scream, drawing blood from his lips. One final gift for the girl that had saved him in more ways than one. But with that final gift came a final selfish thought. To lose himself in those remarkably stunning and ethereally brilliant eyes of hers. But darkness came first. His final request, denied.

Am I evil? Perhaps...

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