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

Chapter Twenty

Jason's POV:

None of us seem to know what to do.

We all silently stand around, examining all the piles of ash on the floor and the bullet and blaster holes in the walls and furniture. I got to admit, I kind of feel bad for Nine. This is like the hundredth time he has to fix his entire penthouse.

I look around and spot Max sitting next to Leo on the floor, their backs pressed against the wall behind them. Max smiles warmly at Leo and he smiles back, and I remember; the visions. The one with Max's betrayal and the one with Octavian and Max at a ruined Camp Half-Blood. I have to tell her about those so she can try to prevent them.

But she'll hate them. Even worse, she'll hate herself after I tell her the one about her betrayal. I can't do that to her, and I can't traumatize her with the vision of Octavian torturing her and Camp Half-Blood destroyed.

No. I always have to tell her everything. I have no choice. Besides, I'm positive she'll find out something's wrong eventually and she'll press me on until I tell her, then she'll get upset that I didn't tell her before. Telling her now is probably the best option.

Before I can stop myself, I call out, "Max!" She looks my way and smiles warmly at me, but her smile fades at the troubled look on my face. I wave her over and she nods her head, starting to get up. She gives Leo a soft kiss on the cheek and another warm smile before heading towards me.

"What's wrong?" She asks me in a concerned tone. Without a word, I grab her wrist and pull her into the nearest bedroom, then close and lock the door behind us. I turn around to face Max again and she looks confused but not surprised. How many times have I dragged her into a room to tell her something?

"I had another vision. Two of them. One when you told me to try to get another vision and the other just a couple minutes ago." I start quickly, my eyes shifting from Max to anything in the room. Max chews on her bottom lip nervously, staring at the floor. She knows that a vision when I'm talking like this isn't exactly a good thing.

"What happened in them?" She asks me, her voice small and quiet. I purse my lips and softly push her onto the bed, where we both sit next to each other, our legs hanging off the side.

And I explain both the visions in full detail to her; the first one with Chicago in ruins and flames, her fighting off Percy and killing him, Setràkus Ra coming from the Mogadorian skimmer, and all the other demigods, Lorics and ally humans and Mogs also dead, all killed by her. Without waiting to see her reaction, I move on to the second vision; Camp Half-Blood destroyed, all the demigods and Lorics besides her and Octavian dead, Octavian blaming her for the deaths of them all, and Octavian badly torturing her and twisting her mind like Remo did.

I look down the whole time. I don't want to see the horrified and anxious look on Max's face, but I force my eyes up anyways. There are a couple tears in her eyes. I automatically wrap my arms around her and pull her closer to me. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and buries her head into my neck. Her breathing is heavy and I softly rub her back, giving her a soft kiss on her head.

"It's okay. They're just possibilities out of millions. They won't actually happen, I promise." I comfort her, softly stroking her hair. She slowly nods her head and pulls away from me. There's a single tear rolling down her left cheek and I softly wipe it away with my thumb. She gives me a small, warm smile before it melts away into a frown of confusion.

"Why...Why did you have a panic attack? When you had the vision in the room?" Max asks me. A panic attack. That's what they are, of course.

"I just...start hyperventilating whenever I have a bad vision. It's fine though, don't worry about it." I answer. Max bites her lip again before I ask her a question. "How do you know I was having a panic attack?" She freezes for a few seconds, her gaze shifting anxiously.

"I...had one. On the Mariot." She replies. I hesitate for a moment before softly grabbing one of her hands with both of mine. She finally looks up and makes eye contact with me.

"Why?"

Max doesn't respond for seconds. She takes a deep breath and looks down again. "Remo."

I think about this for a bit. "That's why you were so shaken up when I had that dream of you in the room?" I guess and Max nods her head. I sigh and pull her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her again. She almost immediately hugs me back, burying her head in my chest. I think about Remo for a few seconds, what he's done to us; he tortured, experimented and killed Max hundreds of times and manipulated her into thinking she loved him, made Max have a panic attack on the Mariot, and tricked Ivan into falling in love with him. He shouldn't even be alive at this point.

He really shouldn't.

"Max..." I sigh again. "Maybe it's best if we...I think..." I trail off completely. I know Max hates him, but I'm not sure how to tell her.

Max lifts her head up to look at me with a confused expression. "What is it?"

I sigh for the third time and take a long pause. "I think we should kill Remo."

Max immediately jumps away from me as if I was on fire. "W-What?"

"Max, I know you don't like the thought of him dying, but trust me. He's done way too much to hurt you, and Ivan. We can't let him get away with that stuff and keep him here." I explain to her. She looks down and is quiet for a few moments.

"And I think you should do it."

Max looks back up at me with wide eyes. She opens her mouth to speak but I place my hands on her shoulders and look her in the eye.

"Max, listen to me. If anyone should get revenge on Remo, it's you. He deserves to die, more than any other Mog out there." I tell her. She stares me in the eye for a few moments before looking down again.

"I know it's going to be hard for you, but you and Ivan have to be free from him. For good."

Max doesn't speak for minutes. After a few more seconds, she takes a deep breath and nods her head.

"Okay. I will."

I nod my head and hug her again. It's finally time for her to be free from Remo.