haunt me ꩜ kotlc + pjo

Chapter 22: Fitz's POV

"Percy?" Fitz croaked out, his voice crackly and tired. 

"Oh my gosh, you guys are in here." Percy sighed in relief, slipping in. "That jerk didn't lie." 

Annabeth filed in behind him, taking in the room. Fitz mentally sighed in relief - someone had come to save them. He still felt bad, though, that he hadn't been able to do anything. 

Sophie, who had just stared, burst out in, "Oh my gosh, thank you so much. I don't know how much longer we could have lasted." She gave a meaningful glance in his direction, and he nodded. "On that note, being united would be nice." Fitz pointed out. 

"Oh, yeah." Percy said, pulling out his pen - Fitz remembered it was Riptide. It sliced easily through the ropes binding his legs and arms. With that, Fitz was able to untie his gag himself and help Annabeth with Sophie. 

Sophie, unlike him, was literally attached to a desk - and there was a machine with a bunch of buttons beside it. 

"It's no use." Annabeth cried out in frustration. "I can't read any of this."

Percy went over to his girlfriend, comforting her, and Fitz continued to study the buttons. "I got it." He said, pressing a few. 

Suddenly, the metal pieces around Sophie's neck, arms, and legs retracted, and she was free. "Finally." She sighed, moving her arms around. "How'd you do that, Fitz?" 

"I spelled out Gisela." Fitz shrugged. "She's like, leader of this whole thing or something. It was just a guess." 

"Gisela?" Annabeth asked, gently peeking at her name tag - and then Fitz realized they were wearing Neverseen cloaks. "I guess that's who she is then." 

"Anyone know a Gethen?" Percy questioned, showing them his name tag. 

"Yep." Sophie said grimly. "Had encounters with both more than once. On that note, we should get out of here." 

Percy nodded and turned to Annabeth. "You said you found an exit?"

"Yeah. Two lefts, and a right. But how are we supposed to get through?" 

Percy smirked, pulling a card out of his pocket. "This, maybe?" 

Fitz examined the card, a confused look on his face. "Where'd you get that?" It looked oddly familiar - but he couldn't place it. 

"The Alvar dude." Percy shrugged. "He's pretty easy to steal from." 

Fitz's heart clenched at the mention of his brother's name, and he took a few breaths. "Oh." 

He saw Sophie glance at him worriedly, probably also picking up on the casual use of his brother's name. Could he even call Alvar his brother anymore? 

"Come on, let's go before they find us." Annabeth advocated, heading out the door and checking to see if anyone was there. "I don't know how to hide both of you - meaning we're going to have to go quick." 

"Got it." Percy agreed, and Sophie and Fitz also nodded in agreement. 

Sophie attempted to stand up - only to fall back onto the metal bed. "I don't think I can walk. . .?" She said, embarrassed. 

He grinned at her. "I got you." He gently lifted her up as she tried to balance on her feet. "Reminds you of the old times, hmm?" 

She blushed. "I didn't fall that often." 

"Sure." He said, slowly helping her towards the door. 

They made their way down the hallways, Percy and Annabeth flipping their hoods back up and scouting.

 "Here it is." Annabeth said, pointing towards the door. Percy hesitantly walked up to it and pressed the card gently on the sensor. 

The door slid open with a resounding click, and every one of them breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." Annabeth said in a hushed voice, slipping out and scouting. "I don't see anybody - we're good."

Fitz stepped out, and took in a breath of fresh air - he hadn't been outside in what seemed like ages, and everything seemed so brightly colored. The green of the grass popped, the blue of the sky was brighter than it had ever been , and the sunlight beat down on him. 

"Wow." Sophie breathed, relishing the outdoors just like Fitz. 

"I know, right?" He said with a grin, his arm still wrapped around her, supporting her every step. 

"What do you think happened to everyone else?" Annabeth thought to question. 

A pang of painful realization hit Fitz. "I asked Keefe to come find us." He said, his face turning pale. "And if he's smart, he's already made his way into there." 

Sophie's face contorted in worry, turning back. "We have to get them." 

"Not by ourselves." Percy said, a determined tone to his voice. "There's no way we're beating a whole army like cult thing by ourselves." 

Annabeth nodded, all the while studying the area they were in. "Yeah. By the way, does anyone know where we are?" 

"No." Fitz said, but still looked back at the building. "What's your plan?"

"Head back to Camp Half-Blood." Percy said, walking deeper into the forest. "For now, scavenge around for clues of where we are. And think about whether it's worth the risk to use a phone." 

And with that, Percy took another step into the forest - and suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the forest. 

"What was that?" 

 #cliffhangersrule who agrees teeheeee

well this chapter was kind of sucky, it's a filler mostly haha. im not super happy with it tbh :/

thanks to TheNerdBehindtheMask and Halfbloodkeeper for the support on this story ! ur comments are seriously awesome :))  

love u guys, have a great day/night !! 

with love, naomi