The Start of a War - Percy Jackson Fan-Fiction

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

How long has it been? Two months? Three? I had lost count of the days. My wrists have finally healed up. I gave up tugging after the first week or so. Better I die of starvation, which I can't control, than blood loss, which would be my fault. 

I passed weeks just sitting in my corner and only moving to go to the bathroom and eat. I was withering away. Little by little. Lack of sunlight had turned my tan skin into pale nothingness. I couldn't stand the fact that there was nothing I could do. And to add to my aggravation and pain, Luke would come in occasionally to update me on his evil progress and beat on me a bit. I learned to just sit there and take it. I fought back a couple times in the beginning. But that didn't do anything satisfying for me other than giving him a new scar on his arm in the shape of my teeth.

My monotony was broken one day by my jailer. Kampea. She was a pretty sight. Just kidding. She made me want to claw my eyes out. It was tempting. She wasn't there to let me out (yeah, right) or give me a small meal or anything. Just there to gloat at my hopelessness. "It has been almost 6 months. You are not dead yet. I am surprised." 

I didn't respond immediately. I raised my head off my chest and looked her in her eyes. "Shocking isn't it?" I still hadn't lost my sarcasm. I was still pretty good at that. You know that old saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me'? I don't live by that. I can take away your will to live with words. I'm just that mean. 

She hissed at me. I knew I was her only human prisoner. Well, half human. I was half god. Like that was helping my situation. I had tried praying to my dad. He didn't do squat. Kamp\u00ea hissed again. "I have permission to kill you after the sixth month." 

Well. That was nice to hear. Release. Finally. I smiled at her. "You can put a rush on that. How about after the fifth month? I'm really getting bored here." 

She smirked. I could tell that she liked this. She nodded. Awesome. My torture would be over soon. I could go on and see my dad. Maybe he'd cut me some slack. Maybe I could just do the Fields of Asphodel instead of eternal punishment. I could do that. An eternity of nothingness. I'd excelled at it for 5 months. I could so do eternity.

The next day, Luke came by my cell again. But instead of being unarmed, he had his sword, Backbiter. 

Alright. We could end it now. That's cool. Whatever floats his boat. I was done caring or counting the days. I was done trying. I just was. He looked at me. It wasn't the normal 'I-can't-wait-to-pound-on-you' look. It was a 'you're-in-so-much-trouble' look. And it was a pretty scary look. I was sort of cowering in my corner. But if you tell anyone that, I swear I will hunt you down. Got that? Good. "Alright. Let's go. Up you get." He jerked his sword point up, gesturing that I was supposed to stand up. "You're a real pain in my butt, you know that, right?" 

"That's what I'm here for, Luke." I stood shakily, using the wall to the extreme. "That's been the highlight of the last five months of my life. Making yours hell," I said as he walked slowly into my cell. I held out my chained wrists. He slowly unhooked the handcuffs from the chain on the floor. 

"You didn't honestly think that I was going to undo those now, did you?" he smirked at me. I saw that he had my sword belted on. "Oh, yeah. You get to carry that." He took of my sword and belted it on to my thin waist. He looked at my puzzled face. "I decided that you get to fight in the arena today. To the death. Isn't that exciting?" he said as he put his hand on my shoulder and attempted to steer me out of my cell. I had almost forgotten how to walk. But that didn't matter. I could barely hold myself up. He ended up putting his arm around my waist and supporting me almost the whole way.

We were halfway there when I heard something up ahead. I gasped softly. Luke heard it too and looked at me. I jerked my chin up ahead, shook my head, and shrugged. He pulled me in front of him, right up against his chest like a shield, and drew Backbiter. I couldn't help but realizing how ripped he was. It was nice. I used my power to sense monsters underground (Hades thing) and reached out. I shuddered when I felt the mind of a demigod. This demigod wasn't anyone I recognized. I stretched up and whispered in Luke's ear. "Demigod." 

He kept his arm around my waist and across my thin stomach as we slowly shifted forwards. We came to a torch mounted on the wall and stopped, waiting for the half-blood. Well, he was waiting, I was almost passing out. The demigod stepped into the light of the torch. He was skinny. Not like starvation-skinny but built skinny. He had black hair, dark eyes, and wore an aviator's jacket. His sword, Stygian iron, was held out from his side. He took one look at me, looked at Luke and raised his sword, ready to attack. Without missing a beat, Luke swept his sword up and laid the edge not so gently against my neck. I raised my chin for two reasons. One, to show the demigod. Two, to get the sword away from my chin. That second one was instinct. It didn't really help much. Just kidding. It didn't help at all. Luke's arm had shifted to be right above my elbows. I raised my arms and held onto his arm. Again for three reasons. One, support. Two, to show the demigod. Three, to get my feet under me to push my chin up farther. 

"Lower your sword." Luke's voice was deathly calm. He pushed his sword into my neck ever so slightly. I flinched. 

"I'm not going to fight you. I know you. Luke." The demigod sheathed his sword and raised his arms. "I'm just passing through. You never know what you're going to meet in the labyrinth." 

"Nico di Angelo. You ran away from camp." Luke shifted his sword. But he didn't remove it from my neck. "Make a move and I will kill her." 

"I don't even know her. All I've gathered is that she's on her last legs, and she's your prisoner. I want nothing to do with that." He cocked his head slightly and backed up. I was holding my breath. I didn't want Luke to hurt this kid. "I'm going to shadow travel away now. If that's alright?" 

"Yeah. Feel free. But know that next time, I won't hesitate to run you through with this." He twitched his sword. "Go on." 

"What of her?" He nodded towards me. His eyes didn't leave Luke's. 

"What of her? Why does she matter to you?" Luke all but threw me to the ground at the side of his feet. It was all I could do to catch myself. He marched up to Nico and got right in his face. Nico casually rested his hand on the pommel of his sword. 

"Nothing. I don't want to see another useless casualty in your war. That's all." He stepped back and seemed to melt into the shadows. "Good luck." I could see his eyes on me. I got his message. He'd be back. He saw my slight jerk when he said 'shadow travel'. He knows I'm a daughter of Hades. By the time I had gotten through that thought chain, Luke was standing in front of me. He saw my eyes harden. He knew my resolve was strengthened. 

"You know what? I'm going to put you back in you cell. For another five months. But you aren't going to be able to get comfortable in your corner this time." The cruelty in his voice was palpable. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. He basically dragged me all the way back to my cell. When we got back, I was scanning the corners for a chain but before I could scan all the corners, my eyes fell on a chain dangling from the ceiling. I backed into Luke. No. No. I wasn't going to survive this time. Not even close. He pushed me in and jerked my arms above my head. I was almost standing on my tiptoes to reach the end of the chain. He attached it to the cuffs and left. Shaking his head. Scowling. He turned around, as if to say something. In that moment, before he left, I saw something in his eyes. He didn't want to kill me. He didn't want to hurt me. He cared.

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A/N 

Soooo. Do you think Sage can last much longer? What do you think will happen? Leave your comments and then read and see if you're right! Thanks for reading!!!