Percy POV

No one really spoke to each other after phase 5.

The blue room affected all of us. Elysium demonstrated the amount of power and control that they held. They knew everything about our lives. They knew about our families, friends, and generally what was important.

Fortunately, no one got seriously hurt from the blue room. Drew Tanaka was our only fatality. Without Reyna's jammer key, several of us would've perished (including myself). I just wished that I could've saved Drew. If only I had been fast enough or bold enough, she would still be alive. It was my fault, and I hated it.

However, I couldn't change what happened just like my mom couldn't survive her cancer. Some things just happen even if the people don't deserve it.

I sighed as I pushed through the water.

But, even swimming wasn't helping to lighten my mood. It was the next day, and depression was washing over me like a fog.

I had been preparing for my mother's death for months now, but I never imagined that I wouldn't be there to say goodbye. I wanted to express my sincerest love and gratitude for my mother. I was going to hold her hand when she let out her final breath. That was the plan. That was her desire.

However, I couldn't even fulfill her final wish because of Elysium. Because of Zeus, Ares, and Hera, especially.

I paused at the shallow end of the pool. I breathed deeply as I wiped the water out of my eyes and face. My black hair fell over my eyes, and I ran my hand through it. The clock on the wall read 10:30 pm.

It was getting late, yet I didn't want to go back to the room. I didn't want to interact with anyone. No one was asking questions, but I just wanted to be alone. Regardless, I got out of the pool and dried myself before walking back to the dorm room.

I stared at the empty bed next to Rachel's. Drew's stuff was neatly placed on her bed similar to how Ethan's area was situated.

My hair was still damp as I climbed onto my bed. Jason was already in his bed below me. As I mentioned, no one was talking or interacting. We were all tired and upset.

The group had been getting closer to each other. So, a death definetly rattled everyone.

"Perce," Jason whispered.

"What is it, mate?" I asked. I turned around to face him from above. His hand was resting behind his head as he looked up at me. His expressions were sad.

Jason hesitated before sitting up. I decided to go down to him. Something was bothering him, and he clearly wanted to talk.

"What is it, Jason?" I asked as I sat next to him.

"I'm an orphan. My dad left me, my sister, and my mom when I was a baby. Then, my mom passed away when I was a kid. I lived in an orphanage until college," Jason expressed sadly.

"I'm sorry, Jason. That's rough," I said.

"In the blue room, they showed me something that happened when I was a kid. It was 16 years ago, yet Elysium knew about it," Jason stammered.

I didn't know what to tell him. His admission was surprising. Honestly, I've been through quite a bit of hardship as a kid. Elysium didn't pull those memories on me though. They didn't know about them. However, Elysium knew Jason even when he was a kid.

"I don't understand. None of the others got childhood memories as far as I checked. They all received memories or experiences that were more recent."

"Jason, I think that they've been studying us as subjects for a few months, but you seem to be a special case," I answered unhelpfully.

We were talking quietly on his bed, but our conversation attracted Thalia, who was one bed over. She came over and slept on Jason's bed.

"I had a childhood memory too," Thalia admitted firmly. "Sorry, I'm lying down. I'm just super tired of holding up my heavy baby."

"It's fine, Thalia," I answered.

Jason and I adjusted ourselves so that Thalia had more space to stretch her legs. A few others were watching us, but they couldn't hear us. Everyone was getting ready for bed.

"What did you see, Jason?" I asked cautiously.

"it was a memory. Um, I was very young, so I barely remember it. I only know bits and pieces. Basically, my sister and I were separated. A couple came and adopted my sister but left me behind because they didn't someone so young," Jason said.

It was a sad story, but Jason seemed fine. This was a long time ago, and it happened when Jason was at most five years old.

Jason was looking at the ground as he talked. His voice was shallow. However, my attention fell upon Thalia's conflicting expressions. She had pain in her eyes as tears bristled in them. She sat up and stared at Jason for a few seconds. Then, Thalia quietly walked back to her bed.

It was weird. I assumed that Thalia didn't want to share what she saw in the blue room. However, I felt like this was deeper than that. Thalia was personally triggered by hearing Jason's memory.

I gently patted Jason's shoulder to comfort him.

Another mystery added. Elysium seemed to have a personal connection to Jason if they knew about him as a young child. They seemed to know Thalia as well.

However, I didn't know what to make of it.

"Let's just sleep, bro? Try not to think too much about this," I told him. Jason nodded before we got back into our beds.

This was all too much. I missed my mom, and I felt terrible about life. I was ready to shut off my brain.

And, that's exactly what I did as soon as my head hit my pillow.

...

"MATCH TOWARDS THE CAFETERIA. NOW," the guard barked. His voice resonated through the dorm room as we rushed to the door.

The guards randomly came into the room in the morning. Most of us were still asleep when they barged in and started ordering us to get ready. They only gave us five minutes before they barked at us to march to the cafeteria.

"KEEP MOVING. THE BOSSES ARE WAITING," another guard shouted.

Honestly, I wanted to stall for as long as possible just to piss them off. I purposefully walked like a sloth towards the doorway. Of course, that earned a strike on the back.

Annabeth sighed as she grabbed my wrist. She practically dragged me through the hallway. "This isn't the time to be deviant, Seaweed Brain," she whispered harshly.

"Don't you want to rebel against them, Wise Girl?" I asked.

"Of course, I do. But, I've learned that fighting them isn't gonna do anything. People have died trying to fight them. You- Just don't," Annabeth commanded silently.

"Do you know these people?" I asked.

Annabeth didn't say anything as we approached the cafeteria. Several guards were lining the perimeter of the large room. Their guns were raised as they motioned for us to sit in the chairs that were set up in a semicircle.

Zeus, Hera, and Ares were waiting. Zeus and Ares looked annoyed by the delay, but Hera was dangerously calm and collected.

As soon as the twelve of us sat down, the meeting commenced.

The guards came closer and trained their guns on us. Honestly, they waved around guns so much that I wasn't even sure if they would use them. Regardless, the weapons elicited forced obedience.

"DO Y'ALL KNOW WHY YOU'RE HERE TODAY?" Zeus snapped. He looked so angry that I could imagine steam blasting out of his ears.

It seemed like Zeus was always mad. Mad as in angry. And, mad as in crazy.

"Annabeth, you're apparently the intelligent one. You don't have any thoughts?" Ares commented slyly. Annabeth glared at him but didn't say anything. "Well, I guess someone's pride is unreasonably inflated."

My hands clenched into a fist. They had no right to insult Annabeth. She was by far the most intelligent one in this room.

"Stop playing, Ares," Zeus snapped. "I want them to be punished for meddling with the game."

The guards immediately straightened their guns. I felt a narrow pressure against the back of my head. It was the barrel of a gun. I looked around gently to realize that the guards were aiming at everyone. They seemed ready to fire.

"Honey, you know that we can't exterminate them all. Besides, technically, only one of them broke the rules," Hera stated.

Her cunning eyes settled on me.

Everyone's attention shifted onto my face. My glare fixed on Hera as I resisted the urge to jump out of my seat and punch them and pulverize them. I knew what they were talking about, but the others did.

I did break the rules by jamming the electricity in the last phase.

"Seaweed Brain, what did you do?" Annabeth whispered. Her eyes were full of concern as I looked at the group.

Suddenly, a punch landed on my cheek. I hurt the terrible SMACK before I even felt the pain. I spit out some blood before glaring at Ares. My gaze intensified on his smirk.

My friends yelped in surprise.

Annabeth's hand shot forward and held mine. She squeezed gently, but I pulled away. I was afraid that if I held her hand, then they'd hurt her too.

"Is that all you can do?" I asked boldly. I wiped the blood off of the corner of my mouth. "You can't do anything else, can you?"

Another punch pounded against the same cheek. This time, I was expecting the strike, which only intensified the pain. The blood splattered out of my mouth and fell on Jason's lap. He was sitting on the other side of me.

"Stop, stop hitting him," Jason shouted.

"Stay out of this, Jason," Zeus said firmly. Zeus's voice was strong, yet expressive as he looked at Jason. It was a weird change in vocal tone.

Hera stepped forward in front of Ares, who was getting ready for another punch. Clearly, he was enjoying this too much.

Hera leaned forward. Her gaze pierced into my eyes, and I glared right back. It was because of her that I couldn't be with my mom in her final moments. It was because of them that my mother died alone like a nobody.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Perseus?" Hera asked dangerously.

"I have no regrets. I broke the rules on purpose. For my survival and everyone else's survival," I said firmly. My jaw hurt while talking.

"Who gave you the jammer?" she asked seriously.

I shook my head before smirking. Hera had no idea that there was still a spy in their organization. "I believe Ares gave me the key," I said slyly.

"SHUT UP, YOU IMBECILE," Ares roared.

Hera leaned back in annoyance. Zeus, Hera, and Ares stood in the center of the semicircle and glared at all of us. They seriously had a God complex, especially Hera. She controlled everything, and she believed that her ways were always correct.

I hated their stupid God complex.

What they were doing was not right. They were awful to simulate this sick game for the pleasure of others.

"We're not going to get any information from him. Let them go," Hera commanded.

"Leave him with me for five minutes, and I'll get him to talk," Ares said angrily.

"Brute force will not affect Percy. Let them go. We can absolve the traitor on our own," Hera commanded. Zeus nodded as he gave the final word.

Everyone was ushered out of the cafeteria, and the doors slammed shut behind us. Will checked my jaw and deemed that I was okay. My face would be battered for a few days is all. But, they were all curious about what I did.

However, I didn't trust all of them. Furthermore, Sector 3 had cameras and microphones everywhere. I couldn't just explain everything to them even I wanted to. I definetly wasn't going to reveal Reyna's name.

"Percy, what just happened? What did you do?" Hazel asked curiously.

"I cannot say. Someone in Elysium is a spy, and they gave me a jammer. I used the jammer to block some of the electricity coming out of the chain in the blue room. You guys can go see it if you want," I said firmly.

"Wait, so Drew-"

"She was electrocuted to death. Those simulations were made to raise our cortisol levels. Honestly, I was surprised that I didn't pass the threshold (due to the things that I saw)," Will expressed.

"Wait, we possibly did pass the threshold. I definitely did because I saw my biggest fears come to life," Piper explained.

"We all might've died if you didn't block the electricity," Frank finished.

Everyone looked at me in awe. They looked grateful. However, it didn't make me feel any better. I was using a cold pack from the first aid box against my face. Even though I helped them, I couldn't help Drew.

"Why did they choose you?" Luke asked.

He was the one that I didn't trust. I wasn't going to give him any sort of information that could ID Reyna Arellano. I shrugged and ignored his question.

"ANSWER ME," Luke barked.

"Leave him alone, Luke. Just be grateful for whoever helped us," Piper said firmly.

Her voice commanded the room to be grateful. Everyone took a moment of silence. I was grateful, but I also felt completely messed up in the head. However, if I wanted to survive and escape, I had to uncloud my mind quickly.

Mindlessness leads to mistakes, and mistakes lead to death at Elysium.

...

Author's note: Even in the books, I hate the gods. The only god that I appreciate is Hestia. Literally, all the others can just leave.