Chapter 16: It's easier to run

It was me that woke up the next morning. Colt had kept his word for once. I didn't remember a thing. I didn't remember talking to Maximus or Luke. I was awake when I heard someone enter the room. I could have gotten up and looked but I couldn't be asked. Heavy steps came down the stairs but it wasn't a heavy person. Male obviously, I heard that because of his footsteps and how the door closed. A girl's footsteps were lighter, less blunt. Pretty much everything a girl did was less blunt than the way a guy did the same thing. But which one of the guys was it?
"Did it work?" I was pretty sure that it was Luke. Who else could it be?
"Angel?" I opened my eyes and sat up straight.
"Did it work? Did Colt say anything at all?" Luke shook his head. I hoped that Colt had let something slip. But by Luke's expression I highly doubted that.
"Colt didn't say a thing of importance. He only got me so mad that Grace pulled me out of here."
"Were you the only one that talked to him?"I asked. I wondered if Luke let Grace try to get anything out of Colt. I hoped not. She had been through enough because of me.
"No, Grace was down here and so was Maria. Both against my wishes. By the way if you're starving blame Grace for that, she denied Colt his meal." I had to say I chuckled a bit.

"I can't say I blame her." I said still chuckling I heard Colt in my mind. He wasn't speaking clearly as usual. Just a name... "What About Maximus?"
"Maximus? They kept him in the basement of the big house. Just one person on guard. He helped before so I doubt he'll do anything."
"You were wrong he was here last night." I said.
"How do you know?"
"Colt told me now open this bloody cage!"

We spread out. Luke checked the cabins, Maria went past the coast line and Grace went past the armoury, amphitheatre and the arena. I took the woods. I needed to take the woods. If I knew Maximus at all that's where he was going to be. It took me an hour before I found him...but I was right. He had gotten a change of clothes...he was wearing all crappy camp half-blood clothes. Don't get me wrong they were...okay. But if you ever get the chance to pick anything over camp half-blood clothes, take it. He wasn't armed, not as far as I knew anyway. The only thing he had was a back pack. He was leaving camp, back to his master.
"You running away?" I asked him. He stopped, he hadn't noticed me yet. It was funny...I hadn't actually tried to be silent. It was like being quiet and unnoticed was part of my personality.
"Do I have a reason to stay?" He didn't look at me at all. I wondered if in some way...he had grown fond of camp. "I tried to help out, it didn't work. I'm useless to me and now that my cover is blown I am useless to him."
"Why are you going back to Phthonos in the first place man. He's going to kill you. Have you lost all sense of self preservation."
"It's what happens."
"Bullshit. You just switched it all off. You couldn't do Phthonos' dirty work if you had any kind of emotion left." Now Maximus was pissed. He turned around and looked about ready to punch me in the face.
"You have no idea Angel. You think you've been through shit I've been a minion all my life. You don't know what that's like!"
"Then why go back to it when you have a chance to change?"
"As if anyone here would accept me after I was a spy for Phthonos."
"They still accept me." He huffed and looked at me with an annoyed look on his face.
"Please, you were locked in a cage." His anger faded. He went back to the emotionless stare he always had. "Anyway...I'm leaving."
"I won't let you. I've tried to talk you out of this...but I can't let you go back to Phthonos. One way or another." Truth was...Maximus and I were quite alike. He was rough but he had a good heart, and I wasn't going to lose that to Phthonos.
"Don't make me fight you Angel...you don't stand a chance." I pretty much agreed with Maximus. I didn't think I could beat him. He probably went through some serious training under Phthonos' regime. But I couldn't just let him go.
"Bring it." Before I could blink I felt the first punch in my face. I could feel the blood dripping from my lip. He tried to punch me again but this time I was quick enough. I knocked away his arm and my left hand went for his sternum. I knew how to fight that wasn't the problem...but he was quicker than I was. The punch never connected. He had knocked away my arm like I did to him. We went on like that. Deflect, counter, get deflected. Our hands moved quickly. I tried to kick once or twice but nothing came out of it. Eventually though he got through. It was a simple combination, I should have seen it coming. Two quick lefts, right to the sternum, left to the jaw and right to the nose. I got all of his punches except for the last one. He hit me right in the nose. I fell down, the blood gushing out of my nose.
"You can't stop me, and you can't stop Phthonos." Now I got mad. I jumped up, charged and punched him square in the jaw. Now he went down.
"Then help us! If we work together we can stop him! There has to be a way to stop him. If it exist we'll find it."
"Why do you even care Angel? Why do you care what Phthonos does to camp or to anyone else? Who do you have in the world to protect? We're the same. We have no one, and no one wants us. You know how they look at you at camp. Nobody likes you Angel. Even Luke doesn't. Why do you fight for them?" It was something I wasn't sure about. Why did I try to stop Phthonos?
"I don't know. Maybe...maybe it's because I believe I can redeem myself. We've both done some fucked up things Max. But this we can fix. We can protect instead of destroy. That's worth fighting for." Max crawled up and stood in front of me.
"I don't understand you Angel. But you have a point. I'll help. I think it's suicide. But I'll help."

Maximus left for the big house. It's where we were supposed to meet when we found Maximus. I didn't though. I went to the beach. I thought about what Maximus said. I still didn't realize why I fought. What I told Maximus wasn't what I believed. I couldn't redeem myself. So why did I fight? I thought about it for a long time. Eventually I lay down in the sand still pondering...until sleep got the best of me.

I was on the roof of Jake's apartment. It was a stormy night, many nights were when I lived there. Jake was there...and he wasn't alone. Phthonos was there too.
"I was wondering when you were going to stop by." Jake said. He was looking over the skyline. I wondered when this was. Jake looked exactly the way he did when I left his place.

"So how was my little boy?" Phthonos said.
"He's fine. Mentally fucked up...but that's the way you like it isn't it?" Phthonos laughed slightly. It was more like a sinister chuckle or something.
"Not quite the guy you knew so well is it."
"I don't even want to know what you did to him Phthonos."
"Oh come on. You're not even a little curious how I turned him from your good old buddy into Samael?" Jake looked at Phthonos with intense hatred.
"You're not here to talk about your son. You're here for this." Angel tapped his necklace. It was one he always wore. It was a small pendant in the shape of an owl. He said it was something that he would protect with his life. I always wondered why.
"Ahh Messor. The titan slayer. The blade you used to defeat Hyperion given to you by Athena herself." I had no idea that his pendant was a weapon. Learn new things every day.
"You're not getting it."
"Don't be so foolish Jake." That's when Jake attacked. Phthonos summoned a blade to his hand and defended himself. If he wasn't a god he wouldn't have stood a chance. Jake was a warrior, he was a master of puppets. He always had his slaves to do his dirty work. I wondered how long it had been since Phthonos held that weapon. Jake would have defeated him no doubt about it, but Phthonos wasn't a mortal man.
"I will get Messor Jake." Phthonos said. He was badly wounded. Jake was a far better fighter then he would ever be.
"Don't be so foolish Fiffy." Phthonos looked at Jake with intense rage. He was done with playing fair. Jake was going to pay for this.
"Do you know the story of your father? How Zeus tied him to a rock and had a crow eat out his liver every day and then it grew back blah blah blah. Well...the apple never falls far from the tree." With one twist of his wrist Phthonos removed Jake's liver. Jake crumbled...crawled over the floor in pain. He screamed for a while...then he got a hold of himself.
"You won't get it Phthonos. You'll never get it. I've made sure of that."
"What...you're going to haunt me? I'm terrified." Jake just laughed...he just laughed. Then he threw himself off the roof.

I woke up sweaty and panting. I knew what I just dreamed. I remembered everything of it. I hadn't woken alone. Beside me stood a girl...about seventeen. She had long waving black hair, hazel brown eyes and wore casual clothing. She didn't smile...it looked like she hadn't smiled for a long time. "Hello Angel." She spoke. I didn't know who she was. I didn't know how she knew my name. But one thing I did know...I knew why I was going to beat Phthonos: Vengeance.