Once and for All- Part Three Of The Conclusion To The United Series

Chapter Nine

Jason's POV:

I try to focus on the visions. I let my mind wander to each one seperately; Max in Chicago, in the bedroom on the Mariot when Octavian and Setràkus Ra walked in, signing the adoption papers, and finally the latest one with the weapon and the endless void. Gods I hate visions. Why do they all have to be so negative?

The blackness around me shifts and I can feel my feet on solid ground again. When I open my eyes, I'm in downtown Chicago again. But my gods.

Everything as far as I can see is on fire. The whole city is burning to the ground.

I look around a bit more and that's when I finally hear something other than the crackling of fire; the sound of metal against metal. The sound of swords clashing together.

I race towards the noise and the first thing I see is Max, her curly black hair pulled back in a short loose braid slung over her right shoulder and holding her Voron sword in her hand, facing off whoever's in front of her- a guy, by the looks of it. His back is faced towards me, so I can't see who it is, but he must be with the Mogs if Max is fighting him.

I rush towards Max and she smirks at the guy she's fighting before charging at him again. He fights back with incredible speed and strength, but Max is a demon. She fights back with moves I've only seen the Mogs battle with, mixed with combat skills both Greek and Roman. It only takes her seconds to disarm the guy and shove him to the ground, pointing the tip of her sword at his throat. I guess living with the Mogs for awhile has its perks, especially with combat.

I smile at Max, actually pretty proud of her until I hear the guy finally talk to her.

"Max, stop! Don't do this!" He shouts and his voice is so familiar it almost makes me sick. He's definitely not a Mogadorian.

I look down at the guy and run towards Max until I'm right next to her and finally able to see who she's fighting. I gasp sharply at the demigod on the floor, his sea-green eyes wide and pleading. Max chuckles darkly, a scary look of shattered glass and a terrifying anger in her dark, emerald green eyes.

"Look around you, Percy. It's already done." She replies, tightening her grip on the hilt of her glowing purple Voron sword. I look around me at the burning ruins of downtown Chicago. She did this. She did all of this.

It's scary, once you find out how much a single person is capable of.

"Max..." Percy trails off, but Max doesn't listen. She shakes her head, raises her sword, and thrusts it back down, driving it right into Percy's chest. Percy lets out a gasp of pain before Max pulls her sword out of his chest again, and he falls on his back on the ground.

I'm completely stunned. I drop onto my knees next to Percy. I check for a heartbeat or a pulse, but there's nothing there. Max actually did this. She burned Chicago- her own home that she risked her life to protect- to the ground and killed her own brother.

With shaky hands, I look back up at Max, but she's staring up at the dark, cloudy sky, and I can now spot the Mogadorian skimmer flying into view. After a few moments, it's landed on the floor and the doors hiss open. I have to force myself to bottle up my rage when Setràkus Ra walks out, smiling proudly down at Max. She sheathes her sword and bows down to him, smirking as he examines Percy's lifeless body on the floor.

"It's done, Beloved Leader. They're all dead. You can continue on with the invasion." Max tells Setràkus Ra and now I'm really confused. 'They're all dead'. Who is 'they' exactly?

But that's when I spot it in the corner of my eye. I whip my head to the left and my breath catches in my throat. There are bodies littering the floor. But not just any random, dead corpses. The demigods and the Garde, the Cêpans, the ally humans and Mogs. Nico, Rex, Reyna, Annabeth, Six, Calypso, John, Nine, Adam, Sam, Malcolm, Conrad. They're all here. Dead. I can even spot my own bloody body on the floor, but it's hard to see when it's under another person- Ivan. From what I can see, we were both hit in the exact same spot from Max's sword. The only explanation I can find with that is that Ivan tried to shield me from Max stabbing me, but her sword went right through him and still hit me.

But the corpse that sticks out to me the most is Leo's. Just from looking at his body, I can tell that it was definitely a close-up stab from behind. But I know Max. Even if she does become a ruthless assassin for the Mogadorians, she would never stab someone from behind. She doesn't let someone die without letting them know who it was first. So the only explaination is the saddest one yet; Leo was hugging her and she stabbed him. Leo probably even told her to stab him.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as Setràkus Ra speaks up again. "Thank you, Daughter. You'll make a wonderful leader starting tomorrow."

Max smirks and stands up again, and she and Setràkus Ra walk towards the skimmer together. Once they're both inside, the doors close and the skimmer immediately flies away from the ruins of Chicago, from the tons of corpses lying on the ground around me.

I want to wake up. I don't want to be in this vision for any longer.

I try my best to wake up, but I can't seem to do it. I can feel my heartbeat quickening as I look around at the dead bodies around me, the burning buildings, and the dark, heavy ash clouds in the air. I can't control my breathing anymore. I fall to knees as my vision tunnels and everything around me seems to swirl. I shout at absolutely nothing, and I'm finally pulled out of this nightmare.

Yeet