Chapter 7: The Past and Breaking

That night, I cried into my pillow. I couldn't believe that Zoe was actually gone. I had kept it together for my brother but now I couldn't contain the tears I had wanted to shed when she had died.

Why did Zoe have to be the one who had died? She was one of my best friends and now she was dead. And this time, we couldn't get her back. I wish that I had been with her. I could have saved her if I had been with her. But I had been too busy fighting Hyperion and monsters. I should have had Zoe with someone else. I should have put Bianca with the Hunters and had Zoe with Luke. If I had done something differently, she would be alive.

With these thoughts in my head, I fell into a fitful sleep.

When I woke up the next day, for a moment I didn't remember what had happened the previous day, and then it hit me like a train. I started to cry uncontrollably. The day after someone dies is harder on you then the day they actually die. At least for me it is.

It took forever for me to pull myself together. Handling death was hard for me, especially when it was one of my lieutenants. I only left my room when I was sure that I could handle being in public without crying.

I walked into breakfast really late. Most of my warriors, a couple of my lieutenants, and my brother were shocked that I was only coming out now. I took a seat beside my brother and he asked me.

"Is something wrong, Max?"

"No, everything's fine, baby brother." I replied after shaking my head.

Percy's eyes narrowed and he asked me mentally.

Something's wrong, what's going on, Omega?

Nothing's wrong! Just leave me alone. I mentally snapped back at him.

Percy stared at me in shock. I just looked away. I hadn't meant to snap at him, I was just upset. Zoe's death had hit me harder than both my mom's and my step-dad's deaths. It had hit me harder than another one of my lieutenant's, Lee Fletcher's, death. Zoe was my best friend next to Key and my brother.

I ate breakfast quickly and then I left for the arena. I took out my sword and I started hacking away at dummies. Soon I had destroyed all of them and I quickly replaced them with more before continuing to train. This continued for at least an hour before I heard footsteps behind me. I gripped my sword and spun around to see my brother. I sheathed my sword and then I turned away from him.

Suddenly, Percy was in front of me and gripping my shoulders.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

"Nothing's wrong." I replied not meeting his eyes.

"Don't give me that, something's wrong and we both know it." Percy snapped. "What's wrong, Mckenzie? You actually snapped at me, and you never do that."

"I'm fine." I said firmly. "So leave me alone and go talk to the soldiers or something."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong." Percy said narrowing his eyes at me. "So start talking."

"Percy, I appreciate your concern but I'm fine." I said but that only seemed to make him more determined.

"Ah-ha, you're not alright at all." Percy said getting a triumphant but slightly concerned look in his eyes. "Come on, spill your worries to you're favorite little brother."

I shook my head and said.

"I'm sorry, Alpha, but I'm not going to tell you what is bothering me."

Percy stared at me for a moment and then he must have realized something because he said.

"Is this about Zoe?"

I turned away trying to hide my tears but Percy spun me around and saw the tears in my eyes. His gaze softened and he wiped the tears out of my eyes.

That was it, I couldn't contain my tears anymore. I started crying uncontrollably for the second time that day. Percy held me in his arms as I cried and when I was finally able to stop, he asked.

"Why did you pretend that there was nothing wrong?"

I took a deep breathe and then I said.

"I try not to get overwhelmed by my emotions, baby bro, but the truth is, Zoe's death hit me hard. And when I say hard, I mean like I just got hit by a train hard. But the thing is, I try and stay strong for the warriors and even if someone's death hits me, I try and keep my sadness under wraps."

"But that doesn't explain why you didn't tell me." Percy said.

"The reason I kept it from you was that I try to stay strong for you as well." I said avoiding his gaze.

"WHAT!" He exclaimed after staring at me in disbelief. "Why would you do that?"

"You're my baby brother. I've always felt like I have to protect you and I try to shield you from the things that I deal with." I said meeting his gaze for the first time. "And Zoe's death hit you hard enough, I don't want you to have to deal with my pain as well."

Percy stared at me in shock and then he slapped me across the face. I put a hand up to hold my cheek as I stared at him. I couldn't believe that he had just done that.

"DON'T YOU EVER THINK THAT YOU CAN'T COME TO ME WHEN YOU'RE DEALING WITH PAIN!" He yelled at me. "DON'T EVER THINK THAT YOU NEED TO PROTECT ME FROM YOUR PROBLEMS. DO YOU HEAR ME, MCKENZIE?"

I nodded. Man, my brother could be scary. My brother's rage calmed down a bit as he said.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you but seriously you don't need to do that. I may be younger than you but I can help you."

"I know, I guess I just forget that sometimes." I said taking a deep breath.

"You have a lot on your mind." Percy said understanding.

I took another deep breath and then I said.

"There's something else that I didn't tell you."

"What?" Percy asked.

"Percy, I'm-I'm breaking." I said stuttering a bit.

"But you can't be broken!" He exclaimed staring at me in shock.

"You know that I've been broken before, Perce." I pointed out. "Don't you remember the stories of my previous life?"

He stared at me blankly.

"You forgot, didn't you?" I asked and he blushed a tiny bit. I took a deep breath and then I began my story. "As you know, I was once the leader of camp, I led three quests and defeated two of the furies. Camp life was good for me. Key was there and he was one of my best friends even though he never got claimed. Then came one of our sisters. Her name was Aubrey and when we met, she was being chased by hellhounds. I defeated them with Key but when the other campers got there, she said that she defeated all of them and that we did nothing. I didn't expect anyone to believe her but everyone except Chiron did. Over the next few weeks, she made my life terrible and got me into trouble with all my friends except for Key. Then she went on a quest to kill Medusa, when she came back everyone hailed her as a true hero. Even Poseidon did. The only one who stood by me was Key. Aubrey was elected leader of the camp and all the gods, even Poseidon, backed her. I couldn't take it anymore, especially when Julia, one of my best friends, called me a monster when I hadn't done anything. Key and I left Camp Half-Blood, Key because camp just wasn't the same for him anymore. We ran into monster after monster but we killed them all. Until we got cornered by a whole pack of hellhounds. That is how Key and I both died and joined Chaos. That was the first time I was broken and now I may just break again."

Percy stared at me in shock. And then he hugged me tight.

"You're not going to break, I guarantee it." He said once he finally pulled away.

I opened my mouth to say something and then I heard a snobby voice behind me.

"Well well well, if it isn't Mckenzie, still upset over what happened back then."

I spun around and saw Aubrey followed by Julia and another one of my previous friends, Rebecca. They were the hunters that I had been glaring at so harshly. Why did they have to join the hunt? Why them of all people?

"Aubrey." I growled and Percy stared at her in shock. I continued though. "Why aren't you with all your other friends? Though, actually, I'm surprised that you have any considering how you treated your own sister."

Aubrey growled and made to step forward and slap me but Percy beat her too it, slapping her across the face. She held her hand to her face and stared at him in shock.

"How dare you try and even touch my sister?" He growled. "She is Chaos's left hand woman and she can kill you with a snap of her fingers. I'm surprised that you're not dead yet, Aubrey, considering what you did to my sister."

"Your sister? Sweetie, she's just as much my sister as she is yours and technically, I'm your sister as well so why do you defend that disgrace?" Aubrey said in a sickly sweet voice.

"You're the disgrace, Aubrey, you stole away some of my sister's friends but you can't take them all." Percy growled. "You think you're all tough, well I'm going to tell you that she is better than you will ever be. She actually cares about people unlike you. She already disowned you long ago, I'm sure, and after what I've learned, I'm disowning you as well. Because if anyone deserves to be called a monster or a disgrace, it's you."

"You can't talk to her that." Julia said drawing out a hunting knife and taking a swipe at him.

Instantly, I had my sword out and I was holding it against her throat. No one tried to hurt my baby brother and got away with it.

"How dare you do that to my baby brother?" I growled. "You are lucky that you did not hurt him because if you had, you would be dead right now. I don't care if you used to be my friend, you are nothing but a monster and you know what, you deserve to have a friend like Aubrey. You're a backstabber and a monster while she's a disgrace, there couldn't be a more perfect set of best friends. I hope you're happy with what you have done."

And with that I flashed both myself and my baby brother out of the arena leaving the three hunters speechless.

Author's note.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

So we've learned a little more about Max's/Omega's past. I hope you enjoyed it and remember to REVIEW!