"You can't know that," Piper stuttered, unsure of herself.
Octavian smiled at the stutter in her voice. "I've been working with the god who's been plotting for the past many months to finally get rid of him. He's hard to kill, I'll give you that."
Annabeth's hands clenched at her sides. Octavian had never seen Annabeth act like this; he loved it. The rush of power that came from her grief. But that didn't mean she wasn't still dangerous. She took her dagger out from her waistband and pressed it to Octavian's neck, enough pressure on the blade to draw blood. "You tell me everything you know about my son or I will kill you where you stand," she stuttered with the anger of a mother's love and a mother's loss.
"If you kill me, then you'll never know," Octavian managed to squeak. He knew Annabeth's curiosity would keep him alive. He knew the Greeks rarely resorted to death, so he also had that. He could tell them, it would be the final straw to break them. He could control their emotions. He could make Percy Jackson cry. The thought excited him.
"But since I'm so generous, I'll tell you anyway. A sign of good faith," he offered. He paused for dramatic effect.
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Percy said, his voice deadpan and low.
Octavian shrugged. "You don't."
Percy gritted his teeth. He hated everything about what was happening. "Did you have anything to do with it?"
"With what?" Octavian asked innocently.
"With my son's death?"
Octavian shrugged his head in regret. "Unfortunately, no. That honor went to our dear old friend, the goddess of misery." Octavian watched in delight as Annabeth's hand went to her husband's wrist. He watched the color drain from their faces. How could he make this as painful as possible? He may be captured, but that didn't mean he was done making Percy Jackson suffer for all he'd ever done to him.
"How do you know this?"
Octavian, again, shrugged. "I have a cyclops friend. Nyx is in charge of them, but that doesn't mean I don't get notified when our biggest problem is finally taken are of."
Annabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She couldn't stop thinking about Luke. The pain she felt now only rivaled to when Luke had betrayed her. But still, she had to know. She was a daughter of Athena after all. "Tell me everything," she finally said. Nobody protested.
Octavian sat all the way up, and nobody stopped him. Nate tried to tug Casey from the door but quickly resisted. He wanted to know too. Octavian cleared his throat and spoke, "The monsters under our command quickly learned that surprise was the only way to injure the boys. They always seemed to come up with another stupid way out of everything, and it was driving me insane. So I had them tailed. I know their entire journey once they were on their own, all the way to their deaths. Well, almost. I don't know how the second one died, but I'm sure he didn't last long on his own."
"Wait," Leo interrupted. "Are you saying that you knew? The entire time our boys were down there, you knew exactly what was happening?"
Octavian's eyes glinted. He always hated Leo Valdez. "Every monster knows. Your son may have lived the longest, but he suffered the most that day."
Calypso had to hold Leo back. He was stuttering with anger and tears but finally relented in his wife's arms. "You'd better start talking, I want to know everything," he croaked.
Octavian rolled his eyes. "I was trying to! You parents, always so emotional. Makes me glad I never had kids. Anyway, as I was saying. The boys were already in bad shape, they couldn't put up much of a fight. It's your fault, Perseus, what happened. When Achlys learned of his name, she attacked. She held Jason around the throat, her claws digging into the skin on his neck. He didn't die immediately. Charlie jumped in. After Jason was thrown to the ground, the kid flipped out. The cyclops who witnessed this was fire resistant, yet even he had to step away from the heat. The fire was so hot, it was white the whole way through. Achlys didn't last long in a flame of vengeance like that. But it was too late for Jason. He was already dead. Charlie did try to resuscitate him. The cyclops watched for as he tried endlessly for twenty minutes straight. He was still going when the cyclops left, probably got himself killed by refusing to move on. Jason's ribs were broken, his neck was broken. Ironically enough, he may have drowned in his own blood," Octavian spoke slowly as if telling a horror story.
Percy stomped forward and raised riptide, but Octavian raised a finger and continued. "We would have taken the body, but then Charlie Valdez may have had a chance to move on. You should have heard his cries, Leo. The cyclops listened to them, was able to recite them to me as cyclops do. He was so scared, so alone. There had only been one person there for him all those months. Jason Jackson jumped into Tartarus to save your boy, and now he's dead because of it. Your child died alone, scared, with no hope. Maybe if you'd done something diff-"
"Enough!" Calypso boomed. "You do not talk of my family like that. These people may have held back to kill you but I will do no such thing. You say one more word about how he suffered and I will kill you myself," she warned.
Octavian raised an eyebrow. He didn't admit that Calypso actually scared him. How had Leo married a goddess? Let alone one this terrifying. "Don't you want to know that you had a chance to hear from him? This time, it wasn't even your fault."
"No, I don't want to know. I don't want you to say another word!" Calypso shouted. Annabeth set a hand over hers. Her eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks red.
"Let him speak," she said softly.
"But Annabeth-"
"No. I want to know everything our sons went through. I want to know every step they took, every thought that went through their heads. It's all we have left of them," Annabeth admitted. Calypso nodded, for Annabeth's sake.
Octavian rolled his eyes. "Reported by an empousa in the first month or so, Jason and Charlie made it to a shrine that's connected to your camp. They learned quickly what it was, and after they ate they wrote a note. We don't know what it said, maybe a proclamation of love, maybe an apology. But they didn't burn it. What was their reason? Ah yes. Hope. What if they shouldn't have hope? What if we don't get out? What if we get their hopes up for nothing? Jason had said. Charlie had agreed, It's better they don't have hope of us coming home if we don't end up getting out of here. No matter how you let them down, at least they did care for you."
This didn't make anybody feel any better. The only person not in tears was Casey. "That means the warning was real," she said quietly. All heads turned to her.
