Gladiators

Chapter Twenty Seven

They quickly went on their way, eager to return to their friends and family. They also wanted to tell them all the good news. The sky was blue above them, and the winds were on their side as they flew through the sky. We've all missed you, boss. They'll be so happy to see you. Blackjack neighed, flapping his black wings.

"I've missed them, too." Percy said over the roaring of the wind. Blackjack was flying faster than usual.

But it wasn't fast enough.

They were flying too fast to see the clearing before they came in for a landing right outside the gate. But when Percy finally saw it, his mouth was left gaping open as a hole entered his heart, a lump entered his throat, and fear crept into his heart. The other two boys looked just as shocked. A strangled, almost choking sound filled with agony left Percy's throat- it was a guttural, animalistic sound. Anyone could hear the raw hurting- the torment- in his voice. It was impossible to miss.

Percy stumbled off Blackjack, half falling onto the ground. He quickly caught his balance and ran into the clearing. The tents were either destroyed, charred up, or still burning. A few people were trying to douse out the flames, to salvage their homes. He saw Clarisse, Chris, Travis, Connor, Calypso, Juniper, and Chiron among them.

Percy quickly brought water using his powers to the tents still burning, putting out the fires easily. "Mom! Paul! Annabeth! Piper! Leo! Hazel! Frank! Reyna! Thalia! Rachel! Grover! Ella! Tyson! Tris!" Percy began shouting, but quickly ended up screaming. He frantically kept asking people if they'd seen them, only getting head-shakes and apologies. Percy kept shouting his friends' and family's names, growing more and more frantic. Nico and Jason soon joined in the search, both just as upset as Percy.

"Percy!" Annabeth shouted, causing Percy to whip his head towards her. They ran to each other, hugging each other tightly and crying. Leo, Reyna, Thalia, Hazel, Frank, and Rachel behind her. "Hazel!" Nico shouted when he saw her, hugging her tightly. Jason hugged Thalia, relief easily seen on his face.

"Where are the others?" Percy asked, looking at his friends. "Percy!" He heard Grover shout, turning to his his half-goat friend. "Grover!" He shouted, running to hug one of his closest friends. "Percy!" Tyson shouted, and Percy saw Tyson and Ella. "Thank the gods!" Percy signed with relief as Tyson hugged him tightly.

Everyone did their little reunions, relief drowning out their grief over their homes. "Where's Piper? Where's my mom, Paul, and Tris?" Percy asked worriedly once his relief had died down like the flames slowly were. No one answered him. Annabeth avoided his gaze. "Where is my family and friend?" Percy asked again, deadly serious. "They took them." Annabeth whispered, finally breaking.

"What?" Percy asked, the words not registering. "They took them, along with other campers and some adults." Leo stated louder than Annabeth had. "That's impossible, they must be here somewhere." Percy denied, shaking his head as he began looking more frantically through the wreckage, throwing things and even breaking some things.

"Percy, they're gone." Grover said, but it sounded distant to Percy as he kept saying 'no' over and over again, starting at a murmur, but getting louder and louder until he was yelling and screaming. Percy began running, to where he wasn't sure. He soon fell to his knees and began to sob.

"It isn't fair- why did it have to be my family? Why little Tris?" Percy cried out, his sobbing breaking up his speech as he felt his heart be shattered into a million pieces. His friends stood there watching, unsure of what to do. He had just lost family and friends.

Percy let out a yell- a enraged, unbridled, purely instinctual roar that seemed to echo off the trees surrounding them. It reminded Percy of a prison now, suffocating him and boxing him in. The branches seemed to reach for the sky, as if just as desperate to get away from this carnage.

Annabeth stepped forward, falling to her knees next to him. She wrapped him in a hug, sobbing now herself. The others were crying, too. Jason and Nico clung to their siblings, offering comfort to their sisters.

"They won't get away with this." Percy hissed, holding Annabeth in his arms as fury now pumped through his blood, replacing the agony and heartbreak. Hatred now seeped from his soul, awakening the darkest thing he had ever known. He wanted to choke those who had stolen his sister, parents, and friends with their own blood. He wanted to watch them suffer for hours, even days, but keep them alive so he could renew the torture. He wanted to throttle anything that harmed his remaining friends and brother. He wanted to have blood on his hands- the blood of those who took away some of the most precious people to him.

"What do you m-mean?" Annabeth stuttered out through her sobs. "The people who took them- they made a mistake in taking my family and friends." Percy replied, staring at where his family's tent used to be.

"What's that?" Annabeth murmured. "Now there's nothing on earth, on Olympus, or in the Underworld that will stop me from hunting them down and getting revenge." Percy said, rage and seriousness in his voice as his piercing, passionate green eyes stared into Annabeth'a wise grey eyes.