Chapter 11

~Percy's POV~

"NO!" A shadow surged forward, and after a moment, the spirits were engulfed in darkness. Nico rose up over his blankets, snapping out his hand. The spirits thrashed for a second before subsiding.

I clutched my head, curling into a ball as the vicious whispers died away.

"Percy! Are you okay?" Nico hurried over to me, crouching by my side and supporting my neck with his arms.

His pale, angular face loomed over me, smooth raven hair sweeping over it as he stared down at me worriedly. A strange feeling stirred in my stomach, but I ignored it.

Mostly because it was the same feeling I'd had with James, the mortal... except stronger. Much stronger.

He slung an arm around my shoulder and helped me to the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Percy?"

I grunted, turning over. Nobody, not even my-...not even Nico, was going to wake me up this early in the morning. "Percy! Get up. C'mon." Groaning, I cracked open an eye, which was soothed by the dim light in the room. "Percy, it's about camp!"

Okay, that got my attention. I quickly rolled out of bed and staggered into the bathroom to clean up. "Look..." Nico waved a hand over the surface of a basin of black water. The shadows swirled and cleared slowly, to form a picture, or rather, a lightning fast slideshow.

Annabeth, eyes red as she sits on her bed, a waterfall spilling over once in a while. Piper sits beside her, patting her shoulder, whispering comforting words to her.

Jason and Rachel talking with Leo, discussing recent events in Bunker 9.

Reyna, watching in disbelief as Octavian sways the campers. Watching as Octavian gains control over Greek and Roman alike, as he whispers sly, devious words in their ears. as they start repeating his words. Soon, he has minions, eyes and ears everywhere. Octavian is a manipulator. He doesn't even have to try. The campers convince themselves in their desperation for a leader, a direction to follow.

Frank, walking the woods alone, muttering to himself, torn. He has nothing against homosexuals, in fact his mother's friend and partner in battle was one. Yet he loves Hazel. He loves her more than he knows, and he would die for her.

But he knows. They all know. Hazel has changed. Octavian has succeeded, even more than he could ever imagine. The persuasive words have planted something in her mind, and the ugly side of her, the ugly side nobody knew existed, was revealed.

She is still the sweet, caring girl they all know, but there's something else. She thinks Percy has betrayed her. Betrayed her trust, betrayed her friends.

And doesn't the saying go:

Once bitten, twice as deadly...?

"Percy..." Nico's voice trailed off for a moment. He laid a hand on my shoulder for a second before withdrawing it. "I-I'm sorry..." He looked at me, eyes slightly apologetic. I sat on the bed for a while. "I can't believe-

"I have to go." I interrupted, walking towards the door. "Nico, I have to go."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

"They're gonna come after me. I know it." I shook my head. "I have to lead them away from here."

He glared. "Are you saying I can't take care of myself?"

"No, I know you can, but... I can't do that to you. I hurt everyone I- everyone around me." Everyone I cared about, I was going to say, but...well, you know.

"I..." Nico glanced away for a second, eyes dark and unreadable. If I didn't know better, I would've sworn that those were tears glimmering in his eyes.

But the guy hated me.

Right?

A/N:

HEY GUYS

I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner, but seriously, the Wi-Fi is FREAKING NONEXISTENT. Also, Wattpad was being a b**** and deleted this chapter so I had to rewrite it, not having any backups.

I hope you've enjoyed this anyway!

~N