A/N: Your pain feeds me. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Nah I'm just joking. To spare all of you the suspense and the cliffhangers, I present to you this chapter.

Zayden StormVoid: Ah, you're back! And, Muahahahaha! On a real, I always enjoy reading your reviews. And if it makes you feel better, I'm in the middle of the uni life as well. So, we're more or less the same. Goodluck and thanks for reading!

RainSoL: Then mission accomplished. :D But nah. I'll give you guys a treat with a fast update.

Dinklebergsc3: That's mean.

Kenneth: Thanks! I'm feeling much better now.

LordAlces: Aha!

RED2017: Wink wink.

I have a bottle of Pepsi by my side and I'm ready to write. Onwards!

Chapter 15

Slight Flashback in the timeline.

Percy and Artemis were in the Rebellion's guest room. Artemis was sleeping soundly on bed while Percy was up. He sat on one of the chairs facing the window with his legs propped against it.

It was the middle of the night and it was raining. Percy was nervous about facing the Hacker at the Rookie Showcase. This wasn't just a game anymore. This concerns almost everyone that uses Olympia. It concerns the world. The Hacker had been targetting the showcase for who knows what.

Percy stared outside the window as his thoughts run wild. Even if they find the Hacker, can they kill him?

"Percy?" Artemis called from the bed. "Are you still up?"

Percy looked back and smiled. Artemis's beauty never fails to catch Percy by surprise. Her auburn hair was a mess, but in a cute way. She looked half asleep. Her shirt hanged loosely on her shoulders. "Yeah. I couldn't sleep."

Artemis got up, straightened her hair and shirt before walking towards Percy and hugging him from behind. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Percy admitted. He didn't want to say he felt scared, because he wasn't. But he did feel . . . agitated. "I'm just a bit nervous."

Artemis wrapped her arms around Percy's neck gently as she rested her face on his neck. "It's gonna be fine." Artemis said. "We're gonna get through this."

Percy smiled slightly as he kissed her hand. A really bad thought went across her head. What if Percy die during this? Moreover, what if Artemis dies?

"Arty," Percy said softly. "Can you promise me something?"

"Anything." Artemis said.

"If you have a shot," Percy said. "Don't miss."

Artemis was confused by his statement, but she didn't ask. "I never miss," Artemis assured him.

"Good to know," Percy said with a smile.

Present Time

Percy was surrounded by darkness. The memory of what happened came back in a flash.

The Hacker got him. He'd managed to kill him.

But the plan worked. Artemis had her shot. It was down to either shooting Kampe or the Hacker, and she fulfilled her promise. Even though Percy was the cost of it, the others were safe.

It was worth it.

Then he woke up.

Percy sat straight up, which was a mistake because it sent all kinds of pain down his body. He grunted in pain as his vision got fuzzy.

"Easy there," A female voice next to him. "Take it slow."

The pain on his head subsided as his vision cleared. It was Annabeth. "Annie?"

"I should knock you to next week." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Feeling better?"

"Where are we?" Percy asked.

"The hospital."

"Artemis." Percy muttered. "Where is she? Is she –"

"She's fine," Annabeth said as she leaned back on her chair. "You gave us quite the scare though. I thought Artemis was going to gut that poor kid in the chest."

"Wait, poor kid?"

Annabeth chuckled. "We kinda sorta maybe caught the Hacker. Or someone who works for him apparently."

"Who is it?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Ethan Nakamura. Ring any bells?"

Percy shook his head. "Never heard of him."

"None of us has." Annabeth continued. "But he works for the Hacker and he's responsible for everything that happened in the Colosseum. He assumes the Hacker's persona under the order of his 'Master'."

"Master?"

"Again, I don't know." Annabeth said.

"Can you explain this in the correct order?"

Annabeth groaned. "You're annoying, Seaweed Brain."

Line Break

Apparently, things were pretty straightforward after Artemis shot the Hacker, or Ethan, whatever his name was. The Hacker's projection collapsed on the spot and they tracked him down to an out of town area, where he was still sprawled on the floor, unconscious. They took him into police custody, where he was interrogated.

This 'Hacker' identity isn't just one person. They were a group. He was working for someone else in that group who's like their boss or something. They plan on taking over Olympia for reasons unknown. It was assumed that he wasn't the only one working for the boss of this Hacker identity that he called Master.

Then, everything went surprisingly well. The Rookie Showcase was postponed, of course. Everybody was shaken up. People that were paralysed in the Colosseum were safely evacuated and there were no casualties. The worst they had to deal with were minor injuries.

"Of course, the lawsuits were problematic as well." Annabeth finished. "But I doubt Olympia would have any problems with that since they're filthy rich."

Percy nodded. He stared off into the wall, wondering how the heck he was still alive. He should've been dead. He felt that pain went straight through his heart.

"Yeah, we're wondering that too." Annabeth asked as if she's reading his mind. "You were confirmed dead for like two minutes, which was really cutting it close." She said. "Any longer and I doubt you'd be here again."

"I came back?" Percy asked. "How?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe there was a glitch in the Olympia system? Maybe the Hacker was just full of shit? I don't know." She stood up and stepped closer to Percy. "I'm glad that you made it." She kissed his forehead and leaned near his ear. "But if you do something like that again, I will personally kill you myself."

Percy gulped. "Consider me warned."

Annabeth stood up straight with a satisfied look on her face. "Now get some rest. You were passed out for almost a week."

"You don't say," Percy said, taking note of the pain on his joints for not moving so long. "Well, thank you for taking care of me."

"We took turns." Annabeth said. "Artemis was here most of the time. She should be here any minute." On cue, there was a knock on the door. "And that's my cue. Take care, Percy."

Percy smiled at her as she exited the room. As soon as she left, the door swung open again revealing Artemis. She looked like she barely had any sleep. But when she saw Percy, her eyes lit up.

"Hey," Percy smiled at her. Artemis stormed straight at Percy and slapped him. "Ow! What was that –" Percy was silenced by Artemis crashing her lips against his.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Artemis had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Perseus Jackson, if you ever do something like that ever again . . ."

Percy had the nerve to chuckle. "Never again." Percy promised as he wrapped his hands around her and pulled her in for another kiss.

Line Break

It took a few more days before the hospital decided that Percy was okay enough to leave. In that time, many of his friends came to visit him.

Frank came in with his team, Leo and Hazel. He properly introduced Percy to both of them. He found Leo to be annoying at first, but he grew into Percy real fast. Hazel was slightly creepy, but she was also quirky in her own way. They were glad that Percy was okay and was hoping that Percy would join the Flamers. Percy just said, "I'll think about it."

Then, Jason and Thalia visited him along with Hestia. Thalia and Jason was glad that Percy was somehow alive. Hestia brought some of her home cooked meals, which he was excited about.

"Oh, Percy." Thalia said before they left. "There's something off about Luke."

"What do you mean?"

Thalia scratched the back of her head. "I don't know how to explain it. He seemed . . . bitter. After we won, he didn't look like he wanted to celebrate or anything."

Percy didn't think to much about it because he was still getting over the fact that he was still alive. "I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll talk to him after."

"Thalia, we're leaving!" Jason called outside.

"Coming!" She answered. "Well, I'll see you soon. I'm still waiting on that rematch."

Percy smiled at her as she exited the room. The next ones to visit Percy was Reyna, Nico, and Piper. The one he was surprised to see was Reyna.

"I can't say that I'm not surprised," Percy said after seeing her.

"She wanted to visit you for a while," Piper grinned. "But she didn't want to do it alone. So I decided to bring her along."

Reyna blushed. "I just wanted to see how he's doing." Reyna argued. "And it seems that you're doing fine, I guess. And that concludes my business here." She turned her heel and walked out of the room.

Piper and Nico chuckled. "She just wants to see how are you doing," Piper said. "She admires you, you know. Putting your life on the line like that."

"Yeah, I don't feel like doing it again any time soon." Percy admitted.

"You do kick ass though," Nico added.

"True say," Percy chuckled. "So, what about you guys? What are you going to do now?"

"Well, Olympia still needs the Rebellion. We don't know what other threats that are out there." Nico said. "After Beckendorf and Silena . . ." Nico sighed. "Let's just say, we're planning on making things better.

"Nico and I will start building from scratch. Thalia will be our first recruit, of course." Piper said.

Percy threw his hands up in exasperation. "She gets into a team before I did. That's not fair."

"She is a lot better than you," Nico smirked.

"No she's not."

"That's not what she told me."

"I think that's enough." Piper interfered. "We have to go now."

Nico chuckled. "Oh, by the way, your fa – um, Mr. Don said he'd left you a message. Thought you should know."

"We'll see you soon, Percy." Piper said before they exited the room.

He was glad that he had such wonderful friends. He was glad he had Artemis. And somehow, he was glad that his dad had given some sort of attention towards him.

But none of that answered his question. Why was he alive?

Percy could remember that cold chill down his spine when his death was coming. He was even confirmed dead for a few minutes.

While Percy would like to believe that the Hacker was just bluffing about it, he knew that wasn't the case. Something had brought him back.

And he was going to find out what.

Line Break

When it was time for Percy to leave the hospital, Artemis was there to pick him up. She was waiting inside a silver Audi with a convertible rooftop. When she saw Percy, she smiled and got out of the car.

"You still remember how to drive, don't you?" Artemis asked as she pecked him on the cheek.

"Maybe," Percy said with a smile. They both got in the car. Percy went in the driver's seat while Artemis sat next to him.

"Where to?"

Percy's expression turned serious for a second. "I'm going to see Ethan Nakamura."

Line Break

They went to a place called a Detention Centre. Olympia built this place for players who cheated, violated the rules, and used Olympia for bad purposes. It's kind of like a jail-slash-rehabilitation centre.

"You really want to meet him?" Artemis said with displeasure. "He almost killed you."

"He did kill me." Percy said. "I just want to know how."

The officer in charge led them to Ethan's cell. "This guys is a pretty high profile one." The officer warned. "Be careful if you're in there."

"Noted," Percy said as he opened the door to the cell. Inside, there was no opening except for the steel grate above them. A single hanging bulb was their only source of light in the room. Aside from a mattress on the floor, a sink, and a toilet, there was nothing else in the room.

Well, except for its occupant.

"I assume you're Ethan?" Percy asked.

The boy was Asian and looked no older than sixteen. He had black hair with a slim and wiry build. One feature Percy noticed almost immediately was a black eye patch over his left eye.

"Ah, Perseus Jackson." Ethan said with a grin. "Such a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

Percy could feel Artemis gripping his hand tighter. She didn't like being here, but Percy had to know. "Wait outside," Percy said to Artemis.

Artemis shook her head. "I'm staying here with you."

"Please," Percy said. "Just this once."

Artemis looked like she wanted to argue, but she knew that Percy wasn't going to have no for an answer. "Fine." She said finally. "But if I sense something's wrong, I'm coming here with everyone." She said loud enough for even Ethan to hear before she exited the cell.

Percy turned towards Ethan. "I'm guessing you're here to get some more information from me?" Ethan said. "Alas, I could not do such thing. My Master has limited the number of information he gave me, because he's clever that way."

"Your Master," Percy repeated. "Who is he?"

Ethan sucked his teeth as he wagged his finger. "Tch, tch, tch." Ethan said. "Where's the fun in that?"

"How did you kill me?" Percy said. "They say that you were bluffing, or that Olympia was glitched at the time. We both know that's not true."

"That you are correct, Percy." Ethan grinned. "I did kill you. I did so through Olympia. You were dead."

"How?"

"Interesting, isn't it?" Ethan said as he stood up from his mattress. "How is it that a mere game can end your life just like that?" Ethan snapped his fingers at the word just.

"Tell me." Percy growled. "Or I'll make sure you'll suffer."

Ethan howled in laughter. "Me? Suffer?" He grinned evilly at Percy. "I think I've suffered enough."

Percy gritted his teeth. He wasn't getting anything from this guy. "I'll ask one more time. How did you kill me?"

Ethan sighed as he shook his head. "As the son of Olympia's creator, you really know nothing." At the mention of him being Poseidon's son, Percy tensed. "I guess Daddy didn't tell you everything, did he?"

Was Poseidon hiding something from him? He'll have to confront him about it later. "I hope you rot in here." Percy said.

"Ah, but my time here is limited." Ethan crashed down to his mattress. "Soon, Olympia will be under our control. There's nothing that you, your friends, or even your father can do about it." Then Ethan started to sing in Latin. Percy doubt he would get anything else from him after that, so he left.

Artemis met him with a look of worry. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Percy lied. Artemis saw it as well. Percy looked shaken up. "I'm good."

"Then let's get out of here." Artemis said. "I missed Hestia's cooking."

Line Break

After an amazing day with Artemis at the Orphanage, Percy headed home. It felt like so long ago since he'd last slept on his own bed. He crashed onto his bed and let out a contented sigh.

Percy took out his AR Glasses. He felt nervous about putting it on, even though most of his friends say that it's okay. Percy put the AR Glasses on.

He had a ton of new notifications. Most of them were emails from his friends, asking whether he's okay or not. Some were friend requests from his new friends.

Percy scrolled through the Olympia News website. He read headline after headline.

Rookie Showcase invaded! Is Olympia still safe?

Rookie Showcase postponed until further notice.

Rookie Showcase Wildcard Percy Jackson saves the day!

Star Studded Lineup Saved Hundreds.

A New All Star Team?

Massive Attack on Rookie Showcase. Olympia to Blame?

He wasn't going to read all of it. He didn't care. He was just happy that everything turned out well.

Well, kinda.

Percy noticed an unread email in his inbox.

To: Percy

From: null

Only once, Perseus. After this, I can no longer help you. Stay safe.

P.S. This will help you understand.

Even though the sender had no name, he knew it was Poseidon. Somehow, Percy felt grateful that Poseidon's been watching him.

But what did he mean by only once?

Attached to the email was a link with a label:

CUT CONTENT

CONFIDENTIAL

"What the heck . . ." Percy wanted to open it, but he hesitated. What if it was a virus? What if it's some sort of trigger to make his Glasses explode?

He calmed himself down. He was getting paranoid.

Percy opened the link. It opened into a series of files with various labels.

"Classes . . . Spells . . . Items . . ." Percy read each label one by one. When he opened each file, it was filled with information that Percy wasn't familiar with.

Spell: Chilling Touch

Effect: Chill target to the bone. Slows down movement and speed. May inflict Freeze.

Class: Arch Angel

Description: Capable of dealing high amounts of burst damage while healing itself at the same time.

Item: Styx Water

Effect: Grants invincibility for a set duration, but drains health within use including excruciating pain.

The more Percy read, the more he realized what he was reading about. He now understood how Ethan had the ability to kill him and did what he did. He knew how he was brought back to life.

This was Olympia's cut content. They are things that's programmed in Olympia, but never made it to the official game. They can't be found in the public domain of the game, where most of the players are in. They can't be conjured into the game, at least not without proper abilities.

All of the stuff that Percy read was stupidly overpowered and ridiculous. Olympia had been a balanced game where no one had an edge if they pick a certain class or used a certain item. Everyone was equal with only their skills as a player put to the test.

Some of these cut contents are just too ridiculous that Percy was surprised someone even thought about it. Like the spell Boiling Blood. It literally makes someone feel like their blood is actually boiling, which isn't something Percy look forward in doing so.

As he scrolled through everything, one caught his eye. The pieces fell in together as soon as he saw the spell. Someone else aside from the Hacker and Percy knew about this cut content.

Spell: Resurrection.

Effect: Resurrects a dead teammate. Only works within three minutes of death.

A/N: It's a bit . . . anti-climatic. I know. In my defence, I can't end things well. It's a habit of mine. The Rookie Showcase arc is almost done. There's two more chapters after this that sets up the sequel. So, we're going to wait for that. Nevertheless I hope you enjoyed this, even though it's pretty shit. And I'll see you guys soon.