Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Signs of Betrayal

Chapter 2: Signs of Betrayal

A lack of loyalty

Percy stretched his body as he stood up. Dark bags were under his eyes, indicating his lack of sleep. It had been a long time since he had gotten a good night sleep. It had gotten even worse since last week. The images of Luke dying by his hands still haunted him in his nightmares, even if he had killed before that. It was as if his life was the first innocent one he had taken. He knew that wasn't true, though.

He could remember the death of his parents well, especially his mother's. He knew for certain that Luke was the one that killed his mother, but Percy couldn't help but think that there was more to it than it seemed.

Tell Thalia I'm sorry... Luke's last words were the only sounds he heard in his nightmares. Not the screaming, nor the fighting sounds, only those words. It was as if only those words mattered to him. What had happened between those two?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of swords clashing with each other. He frowned and walked out of his tent. At first, he couldn't see what had caused the sounds, but as he looked at his right, he saw Nico and Clarisse sparring. He rolled his eyes and walked toward them.

Nico noticed him first and smirked. "Good morn -", he was interrupted by Clarisse slashing at him with her sword. "-ing", he finished, while blocking the attack. "What was that for?!", Nico asked Clarisse.

"That was for being distracted, punk."

Nico rolled his eyes and continued sparring with the brunette, while Percy just watched them. He leaned against one of the trees, but winced when a sharp pain went through his back. He didn't change his position, though, and hoped nobody had seen him wincing. He realized he didn't have such luck, when he heard a voice behind him. "You should rest, you know. Those wounds aren't healed yet."

Percy turned and saw Annabeth looking at him with her arms crossed. He gave her a weak smile and walked toward her. He was just about to say something, when a loud voice interrupted them. "They're here!"

Travis and Connor, who were on border patrol (to insure that they weren't stealing things from other tents), ran toward them with a pair of soldiers running behind him. Annabeth rolled her eyes and pulled out her knife. More soldiers started to appear all around them and Percy realized they were surrounded. He cursed behind his breath in Greek and pulled out his own sword - the one that he still had from fighting in the Colosseum.

The soldiers didn't attack though, but seemed to wait for the others to join Annabeth and Percy. When everyone was there, Percy felt a strong urge to just attack the soldiers, but Annabeth held him back. He looked at her questioningly, but Annabeth didn't say anything to him. Instead, she addressed the soldiers. "Where is you superior?"

For a while, no one answered. Until a man in golden armor stepped forward. He held a great amount of authority, though Percy didn't know who he was, until Frank muttered something next to him. "Father..." Percy frowned and widened his eyes soon after. Earlier, he had heard from Frank that his father was one of the generals of Rome; Mars. But why would a general be out here in the woods?

"Why are you here?", Annabeth asked the man, who was just smiling at them. She was probably thinking the same thing as Percy, he realized. "Clearly not to kill us, otherwise we would already be dead." Percy raised an eyebrow at that.

Mars just kept smiling. "I have a proposition for you."

Jason rolled his eyes at Leo's antics and kept eating, totally ignoring Leo's cries for help when he sat next to him. "Please, Jace... At least give me one chance to talk to Reyna. She just won't talk to me!", he threw his hands in the air in exasperation, "and I know she's all over me and my hotness..."

When Jason finally finished his meal, he looked at his best friend. He could see the desperation in his eyes and sighed. "You know how Reyna is. She's rejected you five times already... You have absolutely no chance with her." It was a bit harsh, but it was the truth.

Leo pouted and left the table again. When Jason saw he was approaching Reyna again, he rolled his eyes. He just won't learn...

He also left the table and went to the throne room. He still had to talk to his father about the recent events. But just when he was about to open the door, he heard voices from inside the room. One of them, he realized, was his father's. He leaned his back against the door and tried to hear what the voices were saying.

"- eard of them?", his father asked.

"Not yet, my lord, but we're working on it"

"Work harder!", Jason could hear the anger in his father's voice, "I want Mars here, now. He will pay for this treachery." This made the prince frown. Mars was one of the highest respected generals of Rome - not as influential as Atlas, but still - so why would he commit treason? It made absolutely no sense.

"Will be done, my lord", the second voice said. He could hear somebody walking toward the door, as a sign that the other person was leaving the room. Jason looked for a place to hide and saw another door. He ran toward it, opened the door and entered the room. He leaned against the closed door and heard the footsteps going more and more silent. When he knew that he was safe, he looked inside the room.

What he saw made his blood boil in anger.

[A/N]: According to Just Anny this chapter was 'one of the worst' and 'shortest' she's done. Even though she didn't care for it I still did. Anyway its not much of a cliffhanger because you guys can simply look at the story on her profile to see what happens next but I guess it will do.

For now I will probably just update daily so I might have my first chapter that i write ready when I re-post all of Anny's original chapters.

To PJOHOOFan: I was upset as well when Anny said she was putting this story up for adoption, I hope I meet your expectations to continue this stoy well.

If you guys have any questions or comments please review or PM me.

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Next Chapter soon :)

Hagan Son of Nike