The Seasonal Guardians (Percy Jackson FanFiction)

º•.Chapter 16.•º

Paenitet

There was silence all around as everyone tries to understand what's happening. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm part of that 'everyone'.

Suddenly, the Synn infront of me tensed up and lunged forward for the knife nearest to her. There was still this crazy glint on her eyes that definitely don't belong to the lieutenant of Chaos that I worked with for so long.

The other Synn moved immediately, teleporting near the other her, and kicking the girl near the ribs. This caused her to double over, coughing violently.

What the Synn who attacked (wow, this is getting confusing) didn't notice was the knife clutched tightly on the other's hand. She swung the blade, but I acted quickly, grabbing my weapon and disarming her quickly.

With this advantage, the Synn standing up roughly shoved the other girl to the ground, dagger held up against her throat. The campers tried to surpress their gasps of surprise as the girl's skin and eyes turned black. Not the dark brown kind of color, but the pitch black one.

"Who sent you?" Synn growled menacingly at the...thing. I took that moment to study her. Her arms and legs are covered with bandages, and she looked like she haven't slept for days. Her skin is smudged with dirt, as if she has been trying to dress up in a 'lost in the woods' style.

Instead of answering, the copy snarled at her before melting into nothing.

With a frustrated huff, the lieutenant stood back up, and studied those around. The campers subconsciously try to move away. I don't blame them. After all, some really weird and confusing thing just happened.

Synn gave them a tight smile, and told them, "You may go back to your cabins. Also, it would be greatly appreciated if you tell Chiron what happened."

"Wait a minute," a boy called out. "We're not leaving until we know what the Hades was that!"

Her smile turned into a sharp glare. "Happy April Fools, from End," she said. "Just go."

They were slightly intimidated by the glare, so they hurriedly try to leave. Soon, it was just her and I alone. Synn has her eyes closed, as if thinking of something. With a start, I realized that she's trying to call the others through mind-telepathy.

Soon, there were shuffling in the bushes, and the four Seasons emerged. Some had twigs in their hair, some panting slightly. Spring's eyes trailed over to Synn, and she gave a confused look.

"What happened to you?" She asked. "Surely, fighting monsters wouldn't be that bad, right?"

"Where's the Army?" She outright ignored the Season's question. I mentally raied my eyebrows, wondering what's going on.

"Here!" A voice answered, as the Army appeared from the trees. There was an unreadable look on Synn's face as she watch them.

They jumped down next to us, and looked at her expectantly. All of them are asking the same question. What happened to Synn?

She held up her hand in a tired manner. "What was the first thing you saw when you were resurrected?"

The Army stopped for a moment to think about the question.

"Dark eyes or something," Castor answered.

There was a small pause as her eyes carefully watch their moves. There was something in her eyes....was it sympathy?

"I'm going to be blunt," she said. "Chaos never created an Army."

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Third Person

The words that she spoke caused a storm of reactions from those who are listening. Confusion, rage, sadness, and demands for an explanation. Half of the Army are rooted in their spot, trying to decipher the news,

"W-what?" Delta stuttered as she stared at the lieutenant with disbelief. "What do you mean? How do you say so? Where did you even--"

Synn held up a hand, and everyone fell silent. They are all looking at her expectantly, wanting to get answers from her. The female inhaled for a moment, trying to think about how she would tell them the reason.

"Remember that time when I left after you guys appeared?" She directed the question to the Army, who nodded hesitantly. "Well, I went to Chaos--wait, no. I told Paenitet that I would ask her why she sent her Army. But that's so that he wouldn't mistrust you because I know that there was no such thing as Army of Chaos."

"Then..." Epsilon stepped up to speak. "Why are we here? As far as I know, Chaos is the only one who could bring anyone back from the dead."

She raven haired girl messaged her temple. "That's partly true," she said. "That's what everyone believes. But the truth is, there's someone else with the ability to do that."

"End," Paenitet finished, looking slightly paler than his normal skin tone.

Synn nodded in confirmation. "When I arrived at the palace, I found out that End somehow managed to take over the the place by possessing everyone inside, other than Chaos," she explained. "Creator of the Universe or not, she was taken over by surprise, and was caught. When I arrived, they took me too and sent someone to impersonate me so no one would get suspicious. Though they didn't expect me and Chaos to work together to escape.

"As of now, she's trying to fix up all the damage that End caused. Before I left, she told me to tell you lot about this."

"But," Autumn, who had been awfully quiet like the other Seasons since the explanation, started. "What would happen to them? I thought any dead person who was not resurrected by Chaos--"

"Will be killed again." Synn's tone is grave as she study the Army of Chaos who looked sick. "They were illegally brought to life, with their memories intact. Best case scenario, their sould would be brought back to the Underworld. Worst case, their souls get erased from existence."

Eyes shifted to the group who seem to be taking this better than expected. Delta inhaled shakily, and said, "Well, I guess that's just our fate."

Synn gave her a sad smile. "I'll see what I can do to convince Chaos to let you go."

"N-no! You don't have to do that. I guess End is doing this to ruin lives. Just do us a favor and don't tell the campers."

Evem without anyone saying it, everyone knew the reason for this. Most campers had been really happy when they found out that their previously dead siblings/friends are alive and kicking, and it would be really cruel to suddenly find out that they were not supposed to be alive in the first place, and that their soul might be deteriorated as punishment.

"Well, moving past that!" Delta said loudly. "You look like you've seen better days, Synn! Why don't we go back and explain what happened?"

She gave the female a wry smile, agreeing silently. It was true, after all. The short battle that happened inside the palace wore her out, and she would definitely not say no for a good meal and sleep.

Glancing at the others around, she nodded her head at them. "Let's go. We still have this war ahead of us."

As they all slowly file out of the forest, Synn looked back at the spot where the replica of her melted away. She gave it a dirty look, before moving out of the place.

"You and your dirty tricks, End..."

**unedited**