A second chance.

33. Desperation

Nico

Percy paced around, twirling his hunting knives between his fingers. I watched him warily, my legs still pinned to the ground by celestial bronze chains. 

He stopped moving and turned to look at Artemis, Ares, Hestia, and Hades with a sly smile on his face. The four remaining Gods glared right back at the King of Olympus. 

My heart pounded painfully against my ribcage, and I once again tried another useless attempt to free my legs from the chains holding them down. Gritting my teeth, I looked up and saw Frank looking at me, his face pale with fear. 

Percy snapped his fingers and instantly, a blue haired girl appeared in front of him. My lip curled when I recognized her from earlier, the girl that had been harassing Jason. 

"Yes my King, what is it?" Crystal asked, turning and gazing around at all of us with a hungry look in her eyes. "Do you need me to dispose of them, because I'll gladly do it." 

Jason growled in anger once he saw her, and the demi-titan smiled at him. "Why hello, Grace. Trying to escape? I'm sorry, but no one has ever left here..... alive." 

"Crystal." Percy's voice cut through the tense atmosphere, and she quickly dropped into a sort of half bow. "I'm sorry, My King, I got distracted. What do you want me to do?"

I stiffened as Percy gestured at Jason, Reyna, and Frank. "Put all three of them into the dungeons with dear Annabeth. I'll come by and deal with them later once I'm done here. I'll show them why they should've never tried to escape." 

Jason and Frank swallowed nervously as a wicked smile stretched across Crystal's face. "Of course." She strode forwards, stopping by Reyna's limp body first. She grabbed the daughter of Bellona by the arms before effortlessly slinging Reyna over her shoulder. 

Crystal then grabbed Jason and Frank by the arms, and once she had done that, Percy made the chains holding Frank down disappear. The blue-haired girl nodded at her King before disappearing in a burst of mist with the three demigods. 

"This isn't happening." I whispered after seeing Jason, Frank and Reyna disappear. We had worked so hard to try and free them, and just as quickly, Percy had destroyed everything we worked for. 

"Oh it certainly is happening." Percy said, looking down at my defeated form. "I must admit that it was a good try though." 

I glared bitterly at my cousin as he turned in a full circle to look at all of us. "Let's see.... Four more Gods to take care of, and a cute little couple." 

Percy paused, lifting his hand and pushing it under his chin to make it look as if he was thinking hard about something. A cold smile appeared on his face and he walked over to my dad, who was still lying on the ground with the scythe embedded in his shoulder. 

"You know, I was thinking about what to do with you once I've caught you. Should I put you under the sky to help Zeus with his burden, or should I just shove you into the dungeons to rot? Or should I make you my personal slave along with dear old Poseidon?" 

Percy stood right over my father, that smile never leaving his face as he told Hades about the possible punishments that he might receive. My blood boiled with rage, and I dug my fingernails into my skin to prevent myself from doing anything stupid. 

I couldn't even move if I wanted to anyways. 

Percy reached out and gripped the handle of the scythe. His eyes flashed pitch black for a second before he yanked the scythe out of my dad's shoulder. 

I winced as golden ichor came pouring out of the wound, and Hades gave a grunt of pain as he struggled to sit up. Percy chuckled and twirled the scythe around before letting it rest over his shoulder. 

"So many choices to make. I'll just put you in the dungeons with the rest of them until I've decided what to do." 

The ex son of Poseidon cast his gaze over Artemis, Ares and Hestia, his lip curling in distaste. "Actually, I'll just put all four of you in the dungeons for now. Jake, Alex!" 

Fire erupted from the ground next to Percy, and two young men appeared from the flames. I recognized Jake from earlier, when Percy had asked him to take Athena away. 

"Take all four of these Gods into the dungeons. I'll decide what to do with all of them once I've wrapped up here." The King of Olympus ordered. 

Jake and Alex bowed before approaching the four weakened Olympians. Jake walked over to Hades, and before my dad could do anything, Jake touched his shoulder and both of them disappeared in a flash of orange light. 

"Of course he leaves me with three of them." Alex grouched, standing in front of Ares, Hestia and Artemis. Sighing, he grabbed all three Gods before vanishing as well. 

Once they were gone, Percy turned his attention to Will and I, the only ones left in the corridor with him. I was terrified, and I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around Will for comfort, but we were separated. 

"The only two left standing." My cousin said in a mocking voice. "Now, what should I do with you two?" 

I watched with wide eyes as Percy looked over at Will, a sneer replacing his smile. "Nico, maybe I should pay you back for giving me so much trouble these past few years." 

Anger surged through me and I struggled against the celestial bronze chains pinning me down. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!" 

Percy raised an eyebrow at my sudden outburst, before he lifted his scythe off of his shoulder. "Last I checked, you're the one at my mercy, not the other way around Nico." 

Percy moved the scythe forward so that the sharp blade touched Will's arm. "Ah, this is going to be so much fun." 

"STOP, YOU HEARTLESS BAST-" I was interrupted as Percy's fingers twitched, his scythe cutting a deep gash into Will's arm. I growled in anger as Will cried out in pain. 

Percy's face twisted into a demonic smile as he brought the scythe down again onto Will's arm.

"This is going to be so much fun."

Word count: 1067

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