Percy Jackson and the Dark Elites

XXXXIX

Percy

Percy hadn't moved for six hours. He'd run away when Chaos made a little trip to camp. But they caught him again.

He tried staying awake because Sustenance was still in his blood, but something went wrong. Horribly wrong.

His heart was still freaking out.

They caught him, Chaos enchanted the box to keep him alive, then they locked him in.

His legs stayed pressed firmly together with a rope. His shoulders ached from the pressure the box was pushing on him.

They had tied Percy's legs together. They'd tied his hands behind his back. Then they left him on the cold floor for the night.

When they came back in the morning, they put Percy in a wooden box, small enough for him to shift positions, but not comfortably. Percy's arms slowly filled with splinters as they tightened the box every hour for four hours.

Now, Percy couldn't move. He'd been in the box for ten hours. His muscles went back and forth between being numb and racking with spasms.

Somehow, he couldn't relax his muscles. Something about the box made him tense up.

The lid of the box was pressed firmly against his shoulder. His head slumped against the bottom. He laid like that for a while, the ropes cutting through his jeans and burning his skin.
The edges of his cut jeans were sticking to his legs. He thought it was because of the blood.

****

Later, Chaos came to 'see' him.

Are you ready to talk?

"No," Percy tried to yell, but it came out as a whimper.

Chaos just left. And he didn't come back for hours.

Percy's muscles tensed and spasmed and jerked and fell asleep. He had an ache in his neck from leaning on his side, but every time he lifted his head to satisfy it, the enclosed space grew more painful.

Are you ready to talk? He asked again.

Percy didn't respond. He didn't know how long Chaos had been gone for and if he said no, he would leave him here. Again.

It was so painful. He was so tired. His muscles ached.

He didn't respond. He felt Chaos' presence leaving him.

"... Wait," Percy whispered.

Chaos paused. No. You won't talk now, I can tell.

Then he left again. Using all of his Remaining energy, Percy screamed out. He knew where Chaos was going.

Grover! He cried out, hoping he could use his empathy link in in Chaos' absence. He'd talked to the satyr earlier in a dream, so...

About an hour later, he started shivering.

Chaos came by again. You will break.

Percy wanted to. He wanted out of the box. He wanted to eat and drink. But he couldn't, he absolutely couldn't talk to him about Annabeth.

I don't care about her. She means nothing to me. I want Ruin.

Percy didn't respond. What was the worst that could happen? Other than Ruin himself, who could get hurt?

Exactly.

The lid on the box opened. George and Octavian pulled him out and dumped him on the floor.