AN: Hey guys, I'm back. Here is another chapter for you as we draw nearer to the end. I think you're going to enjoy this one. Also, I just want to say to everyone, stay safe and healthy, and wash your hands. Corona virus is a spooky thing. Thank goodness I've always hated human interaction anyways, right? Anyways, here's chapter 11 of "All That's Left"
XxXxX
Over the past few weeks, there had been a lingering sense of turmoil clinging to the air. For now, they were trapped in close quarters with one another, forced into a tightly knit group thanks to their lack of numbers. The only issue with that was, every one of them knew that a traitor had let Luke's men into the base, and that meant everyone knew the person next to them could be that very same traitor. The suspicion that knowledge brewed amongst them was palpable, and Hazel was afraid it would tear them apart faster than Luke and his little spy could ever hope to.
During the passing weeks, she did her best to convince herself there was no traitor among them, but it was futile. The mere possibility of one of the others being the one to have betrayed them had planted the seeds in everyone's minds, leaving them all to watch each other with poisonous scrutiny. Every action someone took, every word someone spoke, was constantly being dissected by the others as they all scrabbled for the truth. The animosity that was brewing between them all was far too dangerous to be ignored forever, but she was too afraid of what might happen if she mentioned it to be the one to bring it to the light.
In all this strife, Percy and Beckendorf should have been the rock that everyone could cling to. The only two people that everyone could place their trust in. They were absolved of guilt, as there was no way they could have been responsible for Luke's men getting into the base. Neither had privileges in the database to allow such a thing, nor the ability to even access the base themselves. Despite their proven innocence, they were garnering a different sort of suspicion. One causing a divide between the two of them and the rest.
As much as they'd provided shelter to them, Percy and Beckendorf had not welcomed them with open arms. While the others waged their silent war of glares and less than proper thoughts, the two of them continued their work on whatever their secret project was. Percy had promised to explain everything about it to Hazel when she first met Beckendorf, but that had been before the attack. Now he wasn't being so forthcoming, instead hiding whatever their secret project was from everyone, even her. Leo was most keen of them all to know what Beckendorf was working on through the night, but everyone was at least somewhat curious as to what the two were up to. Unfortunately, nobody was getting the answers they sought, causing distrust even for their host.
Hazel shook her head, trying to shake the unpleasant musings of her small groups worries from her brain to no avail. Luckily for her, the sound of distant shouting was able to cure her pain, pulling her completely from her muddled thoughts. She frowned, displeased with how commonplace arguments were now. Everyone was so irritable right now. When the hostile yells didn't stop after a decent while, she decided to see what the fuss was about, as this was clearly no regular fight. If she had to guess, she'd say it was all the turmoil of the past weeks finally rearing its ugly head in full form. By the time she got to the source of the shouting, she was certain she was correct. The simmering pot of resentment had boiled over, and now everything was out in the open.
"It has to be you!" Leo was shouting, jamming an accusatory finger towards Annabeth as Hazel entered.
The blonde, for her part, looked furious at the accusation. Her cheeks were aflame with rage, and her piercing grey eyes were burning coals searing into Leo's chest. Normally, a look like that from Annabeth Chase of all people would have been more than enough for the tiny mechanic to run away, tail between his legs, but apparently this was not a normal situation. Instead of backing down, Leo was standing his ground, looking back at Annabeth with all the anger it took to match hers.
"You think I'm the traitor?" Annabeth hissed, pointing at herself incredulously.
Her mouth hung open as if her body couldn't even process the thought. Her eyebrows were raised in shock, and her eyes were glowing with hurt, betrayal, and righteous fury. Hazel wasn't sure what to think at this point. She had her suspicions about Annabeth as well, but they were hardly well founded enough to make an open accusation. Besides, based on Annabeth's reaction, she was either not the traitor and genuinely affronted by the accusation, or she was a tremendous actor.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do." Leo shouted, waving his hands emphatically. "You've been cold since I've met you, you're probably a sociopath. You never had any friends with us, so you have nothing to lose by letting Luke's men in. And ever since we got to this stupid factory, you've been shifty and cagey. You don't talk, you just sulk and hide away. You really don't think any of that is suspicious? You really can't see why I'd think that you're the traitor?"
"I've been shifty because I'm being watched like a zoo animal." Annabeth growled in protest, gritting her teeth together. "Anyone would get nervous if they were clearly being singled out as the number one suspect for something they didn't do."
"Sorry if I find it hard to believe that the girl whose best friend is a computer has a regard for human life." Leo retorted, not even sounding vaguely apologetic.
"Oh, I'll show you disregard for human life." Annabeth cried, grabbing Leo by the collar. The mechanic reached up to tug her hands away, but her grip was iron, holding fast against the wiry mechanics struggles.
"Enough." Piper interjected, entering the verbal battlefield for the first time. She wasn't laying on the charmspeak, at least not yet, but she placed her body between the two, forcing Leo and Annabeth to separate all the same. "Leo, Annabeth isn't a traitor just because she wouldn't play action figures with you. She's always been… less than amicable, but a few weeks ago that didn't matter. A few weeks ago, you trusted her implicitly. You only think who she's always been is suspicious now. Honestly, if there's anyone here that's a traitor, it's not Annabeth, it's you."
Leo took a stunned step backwards; clearly surprised Piper wasn't taking his side on this. Frankly, Hazel was too. Annabeth's cold demeanor had never really made her any friends, and Piper and Leo were usually joined at the hip like twins. It was remarkable to see Piper so vehemently against Leo and so staunchly in support of Annabeth. Not for the first time since meeting all these people, Hazel's entire world felt backwards.
"Me?" Leo screeched, his voice an octave higher than normal. "What idiotic logic would make you believe that?"
Piper narrowed her kaleidoscope eyes, stepping towards Leo with a confident air. Annabeth looked on confusedly, obviously as caught off guard by Piper's accusation as Hazel was. If it weren't about something so serious, Hazel would find amusement in Annabeth being so surprised by something. She usually had a plan for everything, but Piper turning on Leo clearly wasn't included in everything.
"Because." Piper insisted, staring intently at the shorter mechanic. "You're the only logical answer. I know I didn't do it, and Annabeth has too much damn pride to stoop as low as subterfuge. If she wanted us dead, she'd be upfront about it. She'd want us to know it was her that did it. But you, you're the one who started throwing the baseless accusations and to me, that's suspicious."
Hazel spared a glance at Annabeth, curious to gauge her reaction. Annabeth was nodding along in agreement with Piper, though whether it was because she truly believed in Piper's argument or because she was just glad she wasn't being accused this time, it was unclear.
"What about Jason, or Hazel, or you?" Leo argued. "I mean, you saying 'I know I didn't do it' is hardly a defense."
"Me?" Hazel interrupted defensively, cutting off Piper's own retort. "I wasn't even there to let anyone in. I was with Percy and Beckendorf when it happened."
"Well, technically, you could've rigged the doors to allow Luke's men in at a specific time and then left to make sure you weren't there, thus appearing innocent." Annabeth said helpfully. She didn't look accusing, in fact, she looked more like she was simply reading a fact from a book.
"Wow, thanks Annabeth." Hazel mumbled, shooting the girl a glare, though it was with little venom. "I didn't even know that was possible, and I doubt anyone but you and Leo would know how to do that."
"Fair enough. I didn't think it was you. I was just putting it out there." Annabeth said with a shrug, turning back to Leo.
"Okay, so maybe it wasn't Hazel." Leo said nervously, holding his hands in front of himself innocently. "But her innocence doesn't make me guilty either. It just as easily could've been Jason or Piper."
"Leo, we're your best friends. You really think one of us did this?" Piper said, sounding affronted. It was rather hypocritical in Hazel's eyes considering she'd just accused Leo moments ago, but she let it slide. Everyone was fighting to prove their innocence here, and when tempers ran hot, things like hypocrisy were bound to show.
"Not really. I told you, I think it was Annabeth." Leo insisted, jabbing an accusatory finger at the blonde once again. "But it could've been Jason. It could've been you. I don't know who to trust. The only thing I do know is that I didn't let any of Luke's stupid goons in."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Hazel said, looking between the three of them slowly. "Maybe it was Annabeth. Maybe it was Piper or Jason. We just can't know."
"Well I didn't do it!" Piper shouted, crossing her arms. "And neither did Jason."
"How can you be so sure it wasn't Jason?" Annabeth pressed, looking at Piper accusingly now. "The only way you'd know for sure it wasn't him is if it was you."
"I know because there's no motive for him! For either of us!" Piper wailed, throwing her hands to the sky in disbelief.
"Oh, and I have motive?" Leo asked in disbelief.
Hazel let out a groan. She could tell that this was the beginning of the four of them arguing in circles, and she wanted to stop it before things took a turn for the worst. Luckily, when she opened her mouth to try and calm everyone, the job was done for her. From across the factory floor, the sound of a slamming door silenced them. In seconds, the rest of their little group was on them. Beckendorf, Jason, and Percy approached, an intimidating trio, all with frowning mouths and furrowed brows.
"What the hell is all this about?" Jason asked angrily, sweeping his gaze disappointed over the four of them.
All of them went to speak at once, trying to get the jump on the conversation. It was a brief flash of garbled words before Percy held up a hand to stop them. Reluctantly, all four held their tongues, waiting for his to speak.
"Don't toy with them, Jason." Percy said, turning a cold pair of sea green eyes towards all of them. His eyes softened slightly when they hovered over Hazel, but they were still more brutal than he'd ever seen them, a clear sign of his frustration. "We know damn well what this is about. I think the whole city heard you arguing. We're in a secret hideout for crying out loud. If you're going to argue, at least have the decency to do it quietly."
"I won't apologize for arguing. It's an argument we need to have." Annabeth shot back, crossing her arms. "If there's a traitor in our midst, we need to weed them out before it's too late."
Percy was silent for a minute, glancing between Jason and Beckendorf for a moment before looking back to them. He seemed to be calculating what he was going to say. Without a word, he sauntered his way to a nearby stool, patting his leg gently as he took a seat. He stared silently at his hands for a moment before finally looking up, a small smile on his face.
"Why should we?" He asked giving an exaggerated shrug.
"What do you mean 'Why?'" Leo said, clearly confused. "Why wouldn't we want to get rid of a spy who got everyone killed?"
Percy gave an unimpressed nod, tongue in cheek as he reached into his holster, drawing out his pistol. He played with it in his hands, tossing it back and forth as his eyes trailed over everyone in the room. The cold metal glittered in the light, not so subtly drawing everyone's wary eyes. Subconsciously, everyone in the room took a small step away from the man. They didn't really think he was going to shoot them, but their primal instincts didn't care what they thought. They all knew what he was capable of with a weapon in his hands, especially now. He was a predator through and through and their instincts knew it, damn what their minds thought.
"The way I see it." Percy began, finally letting the pistol grow calm in his hands. "We've been holed here in this for weeks and haven't seen or heard a trace of Luke's crew. Jason, Beck and I have been raiding and destroying every single base Luke has, one by one. Even now, only one remains. If he didn't already before, he definitely wants us dead now. So, trust me, if he knew we were here he'd have stormed this place already."
"Meaning?" Piper said carefully, eyes still trained on the gun held so casually in his grip.
"Meaning he doesn't know we're here. There are only two reasons he wouldn't know where we are. Either there is no traitor among us, and you're all fighting over nothing, or there is a traitor, but they're not giving him any information. Either way, it sounds pretty safe to me."
"That's naive." Annabeth argued. "Just because the potential traitor hasn't taken action yet, doesn't mean they won't. They could be biding their time, waiting for an opportunity. Luke only has one base left, and you and Jason have cost him a lot of men. All it would take is a heads up from the spy that we were coming, and we'd be done for even with you two."
"Sounds like someone has an entire plan for Luke worked out in their head already." Leo said, shooting an accusatory glare towards the blonde.
"No." she spat, staring daggers back at Leo. "I just understand what the smartest thing for Luke to do is. He'd lose less men that way. It's the wisest route. Recognizing that doesn't make me a traitor."
"Maybe not, but it certainly doesn't absolve you either." Piper interjected.
"Whether or not any one of us is guilty doesn't matter." Jason said, pinching the bridge of his nose and scrunching his eyes in frustration. "Because if one of us is a traitor, and Luke is planning to spring a trap whenever we attack his last base, there's no time for him to get warned."
"What are you talking about?" Hazel asked, glancing between Jason, Percy, and Beckendorf curiously.
Beckendorf reached into his pocket, pulling out a small remote. He pressed a button, filling the room with an audible click. In between Hazel, Leo, Annabeth, and Piper, two panels began to recede, causing the ground to open like the gaping maw of a massive beast. The four of them stepped back, afraid of tumbling into the new hole in the floor. Slowly, from the darkness of the newfound gap, a table rose, covered from end to end with dozens of weapons and pieces of equipment, each looking more dangerous than the last.
"Grab what you need." Beckendorf said, gesturing to the weapons. No one moved, all still not quite understanding what was happening. Looks of puzzlement aplenty were thrown between all of them before Jason finally spoke.
"There's nowhere left for Luke to run." Jason elaborated, noticing their confusion. "Percy and I have destroyed his other bases; he's only got one left. There's no more moving the prisoners to keep them away from us. There's no more hiding for him. For us, that means there's no more waiting. Together, we're all going to end this forever. Luke Castellan is going to die, and he's going to die tonight."
Their jaws all fell open, surprised by his words. It was a bold idea. To charge into the lair of their enemy when he could be in league with any one of them. Despite the risk, Hazel had to respect the move. Doing it this way, the potential traitor would have no time to warn Luke without revealing themselves. Still, this sounded suspiciously like a suicide mission to her.
"We're all going. Now? We're going to storm a base completely unprepared with just seven people?" Hazel asked, turning to look at Percy expectantly.
"We are." Percy nodded. "Jason and I could handle it alone like we did the other bases, but I want everyone there. I don't care if one of you is a traitor, because we're all going to be going in together. One of you may stab the rest of us in the back, though I doubt it. Regardless, even if one of you betrays me tonight, I'll be okay. Because if I'm going to die, I'll be damn sure to take Luke Castellan with me."
XxXxX
It was fitting, in some odd way, that the one remaining base left undestroyed by Jason and Percy was the very same base Hazel and Percy had first discovered. Twice Hazel had been inside the cold foreboding walls of Luke's lair, and both times she'd suffered tremendous loss. On her first venture into the building she'd taken a gunshot to the heart, nearly dying, and leading to Percy's departure from her life. The second time she'd delved into Luke's home turf, she'd lost more friends in one moment than most people could ever dream of losing in a lifetime. In both of her ventures, her trip had ended in unmitigated disaster. Perhaps it was those past experiences there, perhaps it was the true gravity of the situation weighing down on her, or perhaps it was something else entirely. Whatever the cause, she couldn't shake the feeling that by entering Luke's base a third time, she was truly walking into the wolf's den.
Hazel looked around at everyone else on the roof of the building with her, all dressed in the same black garb. The dark cloth helped them blend into the night, aiding in their discretion. Far from her, Jason and Piper were whispering to each other softly and fervently, seemingly in a hushed debate. Leo and Annabeth were standing as far away from each other as was physical possible given the confines of the roof, each glaring steely daggers at the other from a distance. Beckendorf, unlike the others, was brightly illuminated, showered in fiery light as he melted his way through the roof using a modified blowtorch. His face was hidden behind a welder's mask while he worked, slowly cutting out a circular entrance into the base. From over his shoulder, Percy was watching him work, tapping his foot impatiently on the ground.
Part of her couldn't understand Percy's desire to get inside Luke's base so quickly. There was only of seven of them, and any one of them could be a traitor. This place had already proved itself beyond dangerous twice, and she wasn't looking to relieve those experiences especially with the added peril a potential betrayal brought. Despite her understandable trepidation, the other part of her was as eager to get inside as he was. Sure, she had her doubts about what lay ahead of them, but she was more ready to see this thing through. No matter what, everything would end today. It may see ominous, but there was a strange comfort in the finality of it all.
Suddenly, the light from Beckendorf's torch died down, replaced by the inky black of the night. The sudden shroud of darkness enveloped them all, drawing their attention to the newly created entry point with bated breath. Everyone gave a synchronous sigh of relief when there were no alarms or sounds of pounding bootsteps. Beckendorf rose from his squatted position, sliding his welder's mask off his head and returning to the rest of them with Percy in tow. The others gathered around them, looking to the pair expectantly. The two had quickly established themselves as the leaders of the operation.
"Alright." Beckendorf said, sliding his blow torch into a bag at his side. "It's open. You're all good to go."
Hazel frowned, tilting her head to the side in confusion. The way he said it made it seem like he wasn't coming with. She knew he wasn't much of a fighter, but neither was Leo or Piper, yet they were coming all the same. His proposed absence piqued her interest.
"You're not coming with?" Piper asked curiously, speaking on the issue before Hazel had the chance. Beckendorf shook his head in confirmation.
"Can't." he said tersely, sounding a bit disappointed. "I have something else to do."
"Something more important than this?" Annabeth pressed, raising an accusing eyebrow.
All eyes turned to the blacksmith, waiting for him to give an answer. Percy, Hazel noticed, was not sharing in the suspicion towards the large man. The two of them had something planned. If Hazel were a betting girl, she'd put everything she had towards Beckendorf's secret mission revolving on the mysterious project the two had been working on.
"Yes." Percy said, answering for Beckendorf before he could retort. "Beckendorf has something much more important to do, so it'll just be the six of us. Hazel, I need you to take care of the security systems. Find the control room and shut everything down. We don't want Luke pulling that magical wall trick again. Take Jason with you, it'll be dangerous, and you'll need his skill. Annabeth, Leo, Piper, the three of you wait here for five minutes for things to clear up, then go in and head for the lab. Get all the prisoners out as fast as you can and get as far away from here as you possibly can. With luck, we'll meet you all back at the factory tomorrow morning."
"What about you?" Hazel wondered aloud, not missing the fact that he'd omitted himself from his plan. The others nodded in agreement, wondering exactly what it is he'd be doing during all this.
"I'll be the distraction. I'll try to draw as much attention away from the labs as possible, it'll make things easier for you guys. Remember, speed is key here. The longer we're in there, the more likely it is we never come back out."
"A distraction? That seems…" Hazel trailed off, taken aback by the riskiness of his plan.
"Dangerous." Piper finished.
Instead of addressing their concerns, Percy turned his back on them, walking back to the hole Beckendorf had cut in the roof. He turned to face them, a dangerous, almost crazed smile on his face.
"Oh, I know." He said, eyes shining with some glint they couldn't discern. "I live for danger."
And with that he took one small step backwards, dropping into the building like a weighted shadow. As he disappeared from sight, it truly struck Hazel how little time there was to prepare herself for what was to come next. The time for action had arrived. The time to save her mother had arrived. This was it. This was everything. She wasn't sure exactly what would happen on the other side, and that was what scared her most. With one last breath, she stepped over the hole in the building. In a flash, she too dropped into the unknown.
XxXxX
Whatever Percy had done to garner the attention of Luke's guards, it had worked splendidly. As Hazel and Jason traversed the halls, they faced little resistance, easily dealt with by Jason before Hazel could even think to raise her weapon. Most of the men they encountered in the halls were running away from them, presumably headed towards Percy, wherever he was.
As her and Jason continued their search for the security control room, the faint sound of gunfire crackling through the building rang incessantly, giving her a small bit of comfort. It may have seemed odd, being heartened by the noise of battle, but she only found herself worrying when the gunfire stopped. As long as Luke's men were still shooting, Percy and the others were still alive and fighting.
"Do you have any idea where this control room is?" Hazel breathed out, looking to Jason as they ran through the halls.
"Not really, this place is a labyrinth, you know that." He admonished. "Our best bet is to run the opposite direction of all Luke's men."
"The opposite?" Hazel questioned.
Before Jason could answer, they rounded a corner, coming face to face with another of Luke's men. He was running at them, just a few feet from a head on collision with Jason. The man noticed them quickly, but Jason reacted faster, not even slowing as he dropped himself into a baseball slide. He passed underneath the man, leaning back in his slide to deliver a bullet to the back of his head before the man could even turn to face them. His body crumpled to the ground, landing with a dull thud as blood splattered the walls.
"The opposite." Jason confirmed after popping back up from his slide. "They're all running to kill Percy. If he were somewhere particularly important in the building, the thugs would already be there guarding it."
"Which means wherever they're running away from is important." Hazel finished. It wasn't the most foolproof deduction, but she had to admit it had merit. Besides, the shoddy idea beat just wandering the halls aimlessly and hoping they'd stumble across the control room.
After a while longer, Jason's theory proved to be successful. By running opposite the soldiers on their way to kill Percy, they'd found themselves rounding the corner into some dead-end hallway. In a split second, she took in the sight of a heavy metal door guarded by two soldiers at the very end of the hall. On the wall behind one of the soldiers, Hazel could just barely make out a keypad, probably to open the door. Realizing a quick assault wouldn't do, Hazel yanked Jason back around the corner and out of the soldiers' sight before they could notice either of them. Jason, with a confused look on his face made to protest, but she clamped a hand over his mouth, pressing a finger to her own lips to warn him to be quiet.
"The door is locked by some key-pad." She whispered, explaining quickly. She'd rounded the corner before Jason, and thus had more time to take in what he couldn't. His eyes widened slightly in understanding.
"Damn." Jason muttered, shaking his head in disappointment. "That complicates things, if only slightly."
"You think we can get one of the guards to cooperate?" she asked hopefully.
"Maybe. But it would take too long to convive them." Jason paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts.
"We can't just break the door down." Hazel complained. "That thing was solid steel."
Jason smiled at her, a devilish smirk that she wasn't acclimated to seeing on his face. It was a look much more accustomed to Percy's more wild personality. Rather than explaining, Jason just raised one hand, balled into a fist, smiling all the while. She realized what he had planned and had to fight the urge to facepalm for not thinking of it herself.
As she watched on, his hand shifted and changed, peeling itself back to reveal a metal cannon. The barrel glowed with a lightning blue light, humming with power. A smile of her own graced her face as quickly as the electricity gathered around Jason's not so humanoid fist. With a growl, Jason rounded the corner once again, raising his arm towards the door at the end of the hall, and let loose a massive ball of electricity.
Hazel covered her ears, having experienced the deafening noise of Jason's arm cannon once before. Even through her palms, the noise of the explosion was ear-wrenching from this close. The explosion lasted only a moment, but the ringing and disorientation that followed took longer to dispel. When the ringing in her ears finally died down and she'd regathered her bearings, Hazel rounded the corner once again, placing herself at Jason's side. Looking down towards where the soldiers and imposing metal door had once stood, she was met with a pleasant sight.
In place of the soldiers, there was only ash. In place of the door that had once barred their entry, there was a gaping hole, the edges seared and burnt. Slowly, the pair approached the hole in the wall. As they drew closer, the air became more charged, almost sparking. It felt like she was walking into a car battery, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
Ducking through the hole in the wall, careful to avoid the jagged and heated edges, she found herself in a dimly lit room. There was one body against the far wall, probably thrown there by the explosion. She eyed him for a second, making sure he wasn't alive before turning her attention to the rest of the room. When she finally did see exactly what they'd found, her heart leapt.
To her left, there was a wall lined with various screens, each one showing the display of a different security camera. Below the screens there was a large table decorated with various buttons, switches, and touch screens. Rushing over to the wall of screens, she sat in the chair placed there, resting her hands carefully on the control panel in front of her. She felt Jason join her at her side, but her eyes were trained to the various screens, searching each of them for signs of their allies.
"Can you find them?" Jason asked, eyes also scanning the dozens of screens.
"I'm not sure." Hazel admitted. "Here, I'll look for them, you disable the security."
Jason nodded, moving away from her and beginning to work the various switches and buttons on the massive control panel. While he worked, her eyes were scanning the screens. After a few more moments, she felt Jason return to her side again, just as she found what she was looking for.
"Jason, look." She said, pointing towards her discovery.
Jason followed her gaze, looking up to the image in question. It was the security camera from the lab she'd been to twice, only this time, the lab was fully occupied. Piper, Annabeth, and Leo were there, surrounded by a group of exhausted and pained people. She scanned the crowd, hoping for a glimpse of her mother, but found none. Still, the weight that lifted from her shoulders knowing they'd finally freed their loved ones was enormous.
"They've got them!" Jason said excitedly, lightning eyes dancing.
In his excitement Jason wrapped her up into a hug of celebration. Hazel almost went to reciprocate, but something on another screen caught her eye. Pushing Jason off, she ignored his confused look, instead leaning towards the screens frantically.
"Jason…" she muttered, looking over to him.
"What?" he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
She nodded towards the screen in question, unable to speak.
"Is that?" he trailed off, unable to finish the question.
Once again, she nodded mutely, still too full of fear to speak. On the screen, in clear view, Percy Jackson was standing face to face with a sinister looking Luke Castellan, the both of them surrounded by bodies. Percy was drenched in blood, and if the way he was favoring his left arm was any indicator, at least some of it was his. He was injured, and about to face a mad man with nothing but desire to harm in his heart. Hazel's blood chilled in her veins like a frozen river in fear for her friend. For her brother.
"Where are they?" Jason said desperately.
"I… I don't know. And even if I did, we'd never get there in time." She said hopelessly, eyes unable to leave the screen.
"Well I'm not going to stand here and watch him fight that maniac alone. I'm going to find them." Jason growled, rising and leaving the room with haste. He didn't even look back to see if she was following.
She wasn't following. She didn't even turn to watch him go, still glued to the sight before her. Percy and Luke still hadn't moved, both still locked staring at each other with hatred in their eyes. Frantically, she pressed a few buttons on the control panel, pulling up the image onto all the screens in front of her. It went on like this for so long she began to wonder if the image was frozen. That's when Percy decided to speak.
"Luke." He hissed with malice. His voice was staticky and faint through the camera, but still audible enough that she could hear the pure hatred in his voice.
"Welcome to my lab once again, Percy Jackson." Luke said, raising his arms in greeting. His grin was as cold and poisonous as ever. "Or should I say, welcome home."
AN: There it is, Chapter 11. Sorry, I had to do it to you, another cliff hanger. I know it's annoying, but honestly, I think building the suspense is what this story is all about. The whole thing has always been about me keeping answers close to the vest, so I wanted to dangle them in front of you one more time before everything is revealed in the next chapter. That's right, you'll finally get your answers. Good for you, because I know you've been waiting, but also sad, because that means this story is nearing its end. Hopefully you all agree. Also, I know some of the characters may seem out of character at the beginning of this chapter, but hey, the stress of one of your friends potentially betraying you can change anyone. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and until next time,
Peace