Okay, so...VERY long gap...my writer in me left me...plus I injured my finger...and this is my...third rewrite? Or is it my fourth?

Third Person POV

His veins felt like they were injected with acidic ice.

Everything inside him was just so COLD, yet at the same time sweltering hot. His head pounded with such ferocity that he was sure one more slam and he was going to die. Sweat poured down in salty streams, down his face and dripping onto the stone floor damp with his blood. His ankle jolted pain throughout his body so steadily he was starting to think that that was his heartbeat, reminding him of the few minutes that lay ahead before death.

He laughed bitterly.

Great, now I'm going insane.

Agony ripped through his body at every movement, even stabbing him evilly when he remained still with exhaustion. His hair was tousled and mussed up entirely with the dried blood from the wound on his head when Order had pounded his head into the stone walls. Percy was ready to give up. Order had locked him up in the fiery room, injected with a liquid Percy was sure was poison.

His clothes were in tatters, all drenched in blood and sweat. He clutched at his heart, where every heartbeat sent out poisoned thumps.

It hurts.

His left hand wandered aimlessly around the walls, but barely. After being thrown in, Order had gone ahead and done the honors of snapping his wrist and slashing his thighs with already bloody knives. Percy stumbled as his ripped-through foot caught on a crack. He collapsed, drained of all the adrenaline keeping him up and about. Even the betrayal hadn't hurt this much.

He sat down, and closed his eyes, letting about a barely audible sigh as he felt his consciousness float away, away, away like a balloon. Maybe, at last, the darkness could envelope him and give him the blessed peace he so desperately needed. It was as if the clouds were restricting his balloon's entry, though, because a moment later, he felt as if the balloon had popped and he was staring straight at the next blank wall.

Percy doubled over as he felt his stomach lurch with pain.

Slowly letting his eyes stray up, he found himself face-to-face with Order, with a menacing smirk on his face, a knife in one hand, dirtied with his blood. He had stabbed him.

"You..." He hissed.

"Me," Percy agreed calmly. He couldn't afford to look weak in front of the demon.

"Do you realize now? How much anger and pain you have caused me? I was so close! And now...you shall suffer for it!" Order reached out for collar, stiffening as Percy jerked away from his grasp. It seemed to flick an "anger" switch, if he wasn't already, in Order. "DIE!" He roared.

"Balance." Percy weakly forced those words out. "Balance."

"What balance? You wanna prolong your death, huh? Fine with me!" Order seemed to take it as encouragement. He slashed at his arm, then, tossing in salt, grinned in satisfaction as Percy held a painful grimace. He sealed the cut with saltwater, laughing manically as Percy realized the salt was IN him now.

He squeezed his eyes shut in agony, unable to control the scream that was ushered through his parting, chapped lips. He panted, but refused to let any other things escape him. He looked around in a daze of pain, hoping that Thalia, or Nico, or ANYONE would come.

Order seemed to take advantage of his pain.

He played with him, toyed with the knives and blades on the shelves. One by one, like arrows propelling off bows, they thudded into him like darts on a target. One by one, they flared up his pain and created puddles of blood that soaked the life out of him. One by one, they killed him.

"Percy Jackson...second-strongest...is killed by Order!" Order laughed manically as he continued brandishing daggers and swords, all pointed at one person; one object: Percy.

"You...Balance..." Percy murmured, as pain seemed to take its hands and wrap it around his throat for the kill. "You can't disrupt...balance..." He let out a painful cry as a dagger pierced straight through his heart, following with a blue ripple of energy. With that, Percy closed his eyes.

"Soldiers of the Void! It has come to our attention that our Alpha leader is missing! All shall abandon their positions and start immediately searching for him! Go!" Thalia yelled with panic at the breakfast hall.

As if the room was suddenly unmuted, the once silence-filled room was brimming to the brink with chatter, murmurs buzzing with worry, panic circuiting steadily throughout the room. Almost immediately, the Alpha team had stood up and exited the room, searching for their leader.

"You can't deny it, the Alpha team really loves Percy," Thalia murmured to Nico. He nodded back. Especially those who Percy wanted, like Zoe Nightshade, or Luke Castellan. Those had left almost right after Thalia's very short speech. "They're like his sisters and brother..."

"Technically, Luke sort of is his brother on the godly side...or maybe nephew," Nico gave a small smile, happy to find some humor in such tragedy. "Zoe is related too. So is Lee. And Ethan. Didn't you see how happy he was when he found out that there was a Nemesis Cabin?"

"I know, and now I wonder: How is life on Earth going?" Thalia wistfully asked.

"Probably not sulking for us," Nico replied darkly. "They're probably just still congratulating Samuel I'm-the-best Adams. He'll probably never get old. They probably don't even remember us."

"Nico," Thalia admonished. "Don't get too bitter at them. Channel all that bitterness towards Order. Man, I'll never doubt a dream again..." Thalia beckoned for Nico, and they too began a back-breaking search for Percy.

Chaos's palace was never small. It was always snug and fit. But as Thalia and Nico searched desperately, it only seemed like the corridors grew longer and doubt weighing tons. Stairs seemed to expand and rooms multiply. Several times, they thought they were lost. The castle was searched numerously, only finding nothing but other soldiers. They've abandoned lunch and wasn't planning on dinner, either. Giving up sleep wasn't going to be very hard, either.

"It's hopeless!" Thalia cried. "He's gone!"

"Thalia, we don't know yet," Nico held out a hand, and Thalia gratefully grabbed it, pulling herself off the dusty floors. "We still have hope."

"Hope..." Thalia gazed at Chaos's office entrance. "I hope Chaos would just come back..."

Nico brushed past her, and was tempted to open the door. He heard a scuffle.

Pressing his ear to the door, he heard a weak mutter,

"Can't...Disrupt...Balance..."

Percy.

"Percy! Can you hear me? Tell me!" Nico started pounding furiously on the door after realizing that the door was locked. He tried to bust it with his powers. Nothing. All he could hear was Order's maniacal chuckles and Percy's labored breathing.

"Perce! Hang on! We'll get you outta there somehow! I promise!" Thalia joined Nico, battering her fists with determination. "Stay strong!"

Nico opened his mouth to shout, but it was as if the words were pushed back into his mouth as rippled of blue energy ripped through the air. It carried a salty tang to it, and was starting to fade. It was now starting to become fainter and fainter. Soon, it disappeared.

"We found our Alpha leader at section 3! Hurry up! He's not gonna last long!" Thalia shouted panickedly into the air, her voice magnified by the hundreds. Soon enough, the team was charging with an air of determination.

"Open the door first!" Nico commanded, pointing at the mahogany slab of wood that separated the crowd and Percy. They obeyed instantly, using all they had and tried to burst through.

Still nothing.

"Anyone?" Thalia yelled in frustration and in fear for her cousin.

No one.

The blue ripples ripped through again.

Then, in front of the door, to Thalia and Nico's horror and surprise, appeared Percy in a battered, bloody, unconscious body.

I don't know...should I leave Percy alive or dead?