Percy groaned as he sat up. His head throbbed as he tried to take in the dynamics of the room. The dynamics of the room? Gods, Annabeth was rubbing off on him. Percy's stomach plummeted as he thought of Annabeth. She was probably worried sick, trying to figure out where he'd gone this time and how he'd gotten there-Blackjack!
Percy's mind raced, he had been knocked unconscious on the flight home, he was unsure by what. He had heard the wailing of Blackjack in his head, yelling at him to wake up. Percy blinked, his head throbbing. It felt like the entire Apollo cabin was palying every instrument they could think of, simultaneously, in his head; And they weren't very good.
Percy blinked, the dim light of the room seemed to hurt his eyes. When he tried to stand, the room seemed to spin uncontrollably.
"I wouldn't stand for awhile." A voice said softly, "You probably got a concussion, the way they threw you in here. I'm surprised your skull didn't crack open."
"I've got a thick skull." Percy said dumbly.
"With nothing inside but Seaweed I've heard." The voice said, chuckling.
Percy became guarded, reaching in his pocket and sighing with relief. His ballpoint pen was still there, which meant he could defend himself, if he could find a way to stand. So he would have to resort to Annabeth's tactic of- 'Talk and find out information while stalling'
"Who'd you hear that from?" Percy asked propping himself up against the wall.
"Oh well, Clary and Annabeth of course." The voice responded.
Percy's stomach felt like it was holding chunks of cement.
"Annabeth?" His voice sounded soft and small in his own ears.
The voice responded with a low chuckle and then said, "Yes, Percy Jackson. Annabeth Chase and Clary Fairchild. They contacted me and asked me if you were here."
Percy searched the shadowed areas, looking for a face to match the voice. It was most definitely feminine, that Percy could tell. That's not very helpful. Percy scolded himself.
A dark haired girl stepped forward, her voice turned whispy, "Helen told me, so I guess I wasn't contacted directly, but you get the point."
Percy stared at her. She was wearing a black crop top, with red shorts. Her bare feet were on the stone floor, but she didn't look cold. She had a few black marks-Tattoos- on her arms and legs. And white scars in various places on her body.
"Is that a rune?" The girl said curiously, seeing the marks on his arm.
"Uh-A what now? This is a tattoo. Got it in New Rome a couple years back."
The girl stepped forward and put her fingers on the tattoo, which had a total of five lines on it now. The Romans decided to let anyone who lived at both camps get the tattoo, providing they stayed at the Roman camp for at least half the summer, and participated in war games and-
"I'm Aline." She said at last, interrupting his thoughts "Aline Penhallow."
"Uh-" Percy said dumbly. "How do we get out of here then."
"It's simple." she said, meeting his eyes. "We don't."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO LINEBREAKKAERBENIL OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Clary was biting her nails, something she hadn't done since she was fourteen and had a really nerve-racking art portfolio to make. Jace was at her side in an instant, his arms wrapping around her as he whispered in her ear, "What happened?"
She turned her head and met his golden eyes. They were no longer a mystery to her, each golden fleck, every line, each held a secret only Clary had access to.
"Isabelle got in touch with Helen, who said Percy was there. She told Aline, Aline is figuring out more now. I just-" Clary sighed, "I feel like it's all my fault and there's nothing I can do to make it better."
Jace kissed her cheek, a quick, light brush of the lips. He barely lifted his head, his lips tracing the words he spoke against her skin.
"Clary, it's not your fault."
Clary shook her head. She was telling herself that all morning, but watching Annabeth's dejected face when Isabelle had shown her the letter, Cary felt there was more she could've done.
Clary was replaying the scene in her mind over and over again.
Annabeth was chatting with the girl that had braided hair, Piper, when Isabelle and Clary approached her. Piper smiled, placing a hand on Annabeth's shoulder before walking to meet Jason.
Isabelle handed Annabeth the letter, and she opened it, her eyes skimming back and forth, until they reached the middle of the page. Her hand fell to her side, the letter crumpled up inside the fist that she made.
"Is he alive?" Annabeth asked, her voice was small, insecure.
Isabelle answered, "As far as we know yes, but he should be-"
"Should be isn't good enough!" Her hands were shaking as she shoved the letter inside her pocket. Clary reached out a hand but Annabeth flinched away. She shook her head, her mouth opening to say something before she took of down the hallway.
Clary couldn't help but think of her eyes, which had shattered the minute she had seen Percy's name on the note. Clary could understand, she would've down the same thing if she had been in Annabeth's situation. She felt the tears gather in her eyes at the thought of it.
"Clary."
Jace's voice jolted her from her thoughts, it's worried tone making forcing her back to reality. She remembered when he had said to her once, "Sometimes I wish I could follow you to your head" and she had so badly wanted to tell him that he didn't have to, that he was already there. She turned fully, facing him.
"Jace-I-kiss me." She said suddenly, pulling his face to hers. His lips weren't ready for the contact, but they softened quickly, moving against hers perfectly. Clary felt calm overtake her, thinking only of Jace in front of her, his arms around her, lips moving with hers. He loved her and for the moment, that was all that mattered.
When she pulled away, Jace made a sound of surprise.
"Not that I'm complaining, but where did that come from?" He met her eyes, knowing that she wasn't okay, knowing full on that Clary wouldn't have done something like that if she wasn't feeling completely overwhelmed.
"You didn't see her face when she found out. She reminded me of me. If I had lost you-"
Jace interrupted her, "You'll never lose me, remember. I will always be here for you. "
Clary felt tears fall down her face, she unsure of where this emotional outburst came from, but the words spilled form her mouth.
"I lost you once already, I-I couldn't-Can't handle loosing you ever again. And I know in our 'line of work', It isn't uncommon for something like that to happen."
Jace cupped her face with his hands, "Clary, It's okay. Shh-Don't cry." He pulled her into a hug, her face buried in his shirt. She felt useless, she felt-felt like when she had seen Jonathan's green eyes. She wanted to crawl into her closet, put her arms on her knees, and cry until her throat was sore. Jace's left hand moved in comforting circles on her back, then the right was smoothing her hair.
Jace pushed her forward, his arms out and his hands on her shoulders. "Clary." He said, his eyes meeting her's. "What's going on with you?"
Clary felt the words slide off her tongue, "I'm fin-"
"Clary?!" Isabelle's voice called into the hall, sounding excited.
"Yeah Izzy?" Clary called back, as she ran into the room.
"They found him. Aline is with Percy now, talking to him."
Clary sighed, "And this helps us how?"
Isabelle shook her head as if this were obvious, "Helen planted a bug on Aline, we are listening to their conversation right now. You should hear this."
Clary could feel her pulse in her fingers, which were intertwined with Jace's.
"Okay, I'll meet you in there."
Isabelle looked from her to Jace and then shrugged, walking down the hall to the second door on the left.
Clary turned back to Jace, "I'm fine, okay. I just need some sleep. "
Jace raised his eyebrow, putting an arm around Clary's waist.
"You and I both know that I'm not buying that story. But-" Jace sighed, "A good nights sleep might help you. So I'll drop the questions... for now."
Clary smiled at him, shaking her head slightly. He took her hand and said, "Ready."
She replied with a simple, "Nope." before they walked down the hallway and entered the doorway, neither person knowing, or expecting, what was behind the door.
"Agh! Izzy! Simon! Could. You. Not." Jace said, covering his eyes. Clary let out a laugh, seeing the sight before her. Simon and Izzy, both in beanbag chairs near a low table. Simon's cards sprawled on the floor, all from Simon's hand. He must have jumped and thrown his cards when Jace entered the room.
Simon raised an eyebrow, utterly confused, "What's wrong with us playing cards?
"Some game of cards." Jace muttered, "You, totally touched her hand there. I think you should get a foul for illegal use of the hands."
Clary chuckled, pulling Jace forward. "There is no such thing as a foul for 'illegal use of the hands' In cards."
"I think you are mistaken." Jace said with a smirk, "Next you are going to tell me there's no such thing as touchdowns in monopoly."
Clary rolled her eyes, "Izzy, what's going on with Aline?"
"She's been chatting with Percy, talking about his camp and the other one in California. Nothing major."
Magnus made a sound of surprise and turned around, pulling the headphones off of his head.
"Isabelle, Clary, you're going to want to hear this."
He unplugged the speakers and was about to turn up the sound when Isabelle said,
"Turn the sound up, Magnus."
Magnus muttered something about shadowhunters and demanding bitches... but he turned the sound up. Clary inched closer to hear the Aline's voice blast through the speakers, making her jump.
"No! You've got to let him go, he's not a shadowhunter! The runes could kill him!"
Clary felt her stomach drop before there was a sound of static and the signal was lost. Magnus' voice rung out, "Well, I guess we're going to need a new plan."
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
Hey guys! So sorry I haven't updated! So I binge wrote for like a day and I've been writing so fast my fingers are sore.
I've had paly rehearsal every day until five since January and I haven't had time to breathe! So I hope this update makes up for everything, though I know it can't possibly make up for all of the time i put you thorough without an update!
xoxox,
SG2000