Variance [A Percy Jackson/Divergent Crossover]

Chapter 26

Piper's P.O.V.

I wake in a blank white room, blinking spots from my vision. The lighting is strange, and my head pounds. I wince at a sudden pain in my left calf.

The dart.

The events of the previous night came back to me in a rush. I'd risked a visit to Candor headquarters to warn Jason. The conversation I'd heard between Max and Johanna. The call to war.

My friends are probably fighting right now, and what am I doing? Wasting away in a cell.

I struggle to my feet, my headache worsening. I spot a white door hidden on the edge of a wall, the small doorknob the only indication that it was a door. I jiggle the knob and curse. Locked. I was no lock picker. I'd seen--and been on the set of--movies where people use their trusty bobby pin to click open locks. They were just movies. I don't have the time or the smarts to find someway to escape.

I search the room for a fault in the system--a crook or indent or the slightest of cracks. No such luck. Security is tight.

I sink against the corner of the room, giving up. The Candor have designed such a simple torture for me, yet effective. It pains me to be separated from my friends, slowly going mad in this stupid white room. I kick the wall and yelp in pain.

At the same time, there is a faint click, and the door opens soundlessly. Jack Kang walks inside, wearing a business suit and a stoic expression. His mouth opens in something like amusement when he sees me making a fool of myself.

"Before you exhaust yourself trying to escape this room," he says, "you might want to hear what I have to say."

I meet his eyes with some difficulty. He reminds me of a lawyer. He also scares me mortally.

"I am going to ask you a few questions," Jack tells me. "I want you to answer them truthfully."

I suddenly feel like a cornered squirrel does. Trapped and exposed.

Before I can object, he drives a needle into my arm.

I make a surprised noise and blink. My body throbs, and not just from my headache. I feel like there are words and sentences hanging on the tip of my tongue, eager to leap out. I want to tell him everything about me. My eyes widen.

Is this how truth serum works? I feel terrible for not being there for Jason when he had to endure this.

Jason...Who?

What was I thinking a moment ago?

I frown. The words are there, but I can't hold on to them and connect them to form complete thoughts.

Jack nods, satisfied. "Good. Once you answer my questions you will be sent back to your faction unharmed. I will ask you them now. Do you comply?"

I nod mutely.

"What is your name?"

"Piper McLean," I say immediately. I cover my mouth. The answer just slips out, and I have no control over it.

"Why were you sneaking about in a private wing of our headquarters?"

My eyes flit around the room, I'm trying to focus on anything other than Jack's face. I want to tell him, I do, but I don't. I remain silent, and sweat begins to bead on my forehead.

Jack eyes me disapprovingly. "Resisting the serum will only make it harder for you, Miss McLean."

"I-I wanted to warn Jason."

Jack's impassiveness does not change. "And of what did you see fit to warn him?"

"Max and Johanna. They...They were talking about a war between the factions. Max said Erudite plans on eradicating Abnegation. Dauntless are their allies. I wanted Jason to know."

"How close are you to this initiate Jason Grace?"

"V-very close. I'm his girlfriend. I wanted him to be safe," I say, my voice raising an octave.

"Do you have any other relations with people outside your faction?"

I hesitate, and Jack notices it. "Come now. I will not use this against you," he promises me.

He very well will, but I have to answer, willingly or not.

"Six other connections."

"And what are their names?"

"A-Annabeth Chase, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Percy Jackson, Frank Zhang, and Nico di Angelo," I respond shakily.

"Thank you for your honesty," he recites. "I will notify Johanna that you have left without permission and send you back to Amity. That is all, initiate."

"Th..Thank you."

Hazel's P.O.V.

I sit with Frank under the protective branches of a weeping willow tree, my head on his shoulder. The birds are silent, strangely enough. The wind rustles the grass and the leaves, and the sun dips low on the horizon. The sky is tinted pink and orange. Sunset.

"Wouldn't you love to live like this?" I murmur.

He looks startled by the question. "What? Forever?"

"Yes," I say. "It's so peaceful. No fighting. No monsters. No deities set on revenge. Don't you like it?"

"Of course I do," he says slowly. "But it's not for me. I thought we'd settle down in Canada, somewhere nice. Maybe a little house close to where Grandmother lived. Have children and grow old together." He appears faintly embarrassed, his cheeks tinted pink and hand self-consciously scratching behind his ear.

My heart swells. "I would love that even more."

"You would?"

"Yes."

"I--"

He never finishes his sentence, because something loud and horrific echoes through the park.

Gunfire.

Doors from houses in the neighborhood are thrown open, Abnegation are screaming, children are being fiercely guarded by parents. Frank and I leap to our feet, and my hand rests on the hilt of my spatha.

And there, lying in the grass, not ten feet away from us, is an Abnegation child, a boy no older than six. He is motionless.

My stomach turns. Blood pools around the boy, and on his chest is a deep crimson wound. A gunshot wound. I loose a demented sob and fall to my knees. I grab his hand, and it is cold as ice.

Tears flow freely from my eyes, mingling with the boy's blood in a puddle. Why? Why the Abnegation? Why a child?

Dead.

I glance at Frank, who wears a grim expression. "It's a warning," he says heavily. "The war has already begun. The Abnegation don't know it yet. But they will."

Relationship goals, right? What's a romantic evening without a few gory deaths? Yeah, I ruined a Frazel moment. Big deal.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, SORRY for not giving you guys a new chapter until, like, three months after the last one. I'm a horrible person, but you still like me anyway. You're either nice people or frothing-at-the-mouth insane.

I just started fall break, and I had this chapter as a draft for a while, so I decided, "Hey, why not publish it?" I've probably lost you guys on this, since I haven't updated in forever. I bet you took this off your reading list and felt like that Christmas gift you always wanted was never given to you. Sorry.

Yes, I'm wrapping this up soon, because I think going over 30-40 chapters is really exceeding the limit for me. Revising wouldn't just be a bore, it would be a chore.

Thanks if you cared to read this update!