The Bonds of Unity || A Percy Jackson Divergent crossover

Just A Talk In The Boy's Bathroom

"Two years ago," said Lauren, the Dauntless-born initiate instructor, "I was afraid of spiders, suffocation, walls that inch slowly inward and trap you between them, getting thrown out of Dauntless, uncontrollable bleeding, getting run over by a train, my father's death, public humiliation, and kidnapping by men without faces."

She paused to analyze the reaction of the initiates (which was largely confusion and slight alarm at how long the list was) before continuing. "Most of you will have anywhere from ten to fifteen fears in your fear landscapes. That is the average number."

"What's the lowest number someone has gotten?" Peter asked.

"In recent years," said Lauren, "four. But you will not find out your number today. The simulation is set to my fear landscape program, so you will experience my fears instead of your own."

Christina looked disappointed. She had voiced her hope of going through Four's landscape before they entered.

"For the purposes of this exercise, though, each of you will only face one of my fears, to get a sense for how the simulation works."

She began to randomly assign the fears until she got to to the demigods group.

"Kidnapping," she said as she tapped on Percy's shoulder.

"Suffocation," she said to Thalia.

Nico's was getting run over by a train. Reyna had public humiliation.

"Uncontrollable bleeding," was Annabeth's.

"Oh thank god," Annabeth said weakly as Lauren moved on.

"No spiders for you today," said Thalia, bumping her shoulder.

"No spiders for me, ever. Otherwise I'm gonna magically summon Leo and burn this place down."

Reyna didn't think she was kidding.

"Okay, how bad can public humiliation be?" she asked as they watched Peter squirm uncomfortably.

Percy snorted. "I think the simulation is going to break for you because it won't be able to find anything to humiliate you."

He was partially right. They observed her reaction through the glass — or rather, lack of one. She was out in nearly no time at all.

"Have fun," she said to Nico calmly once she was out.

Nico, unfortunately, didn't have the same composure as her, although it was just as fast.

"Shouldn't he have been hit by the train by now?" Percy whispered to Annabeth.

That was when Nico flinched and let out an unintelligible shriek before his eyes came back into focus.

"Great job," said Thalia as she clapped his shoulder. "You almost kept the Percy in you at bay until initiation."

"Hey!" Percy complained.

++++

"Crazy how it's almost over."

"Yeah, dinner passes by faster the hungrier you are."

"I mean it's crazy how we're almost at the final test, dummy," said Will, lightly punching Percy's shoulder.

Christina flicked a grape at Will. "Percy's right, though," she laughed.

Tris ground a pea into mush. "Tomorrow we're going through our fear landscapes," she said.

"All of them?"

"Yeah, but transfers go after Dauntless-born," said Uriah from a few seats away. He slid closer and stole a carrot from Thalia. "So you guys have expectations riding on you."

"Fantastic," said Reyna.

No one slept well that night. Rather than the usual steady breathing that filled the room, the noises were uneven; staggered, overly loud, or no sound at all.

Annabeth plucked at her split ends as she walked to the bathroom. She gave the door a tug but it was locked.

The guys bathroom was unlocked. Annabeth wrinkled her nose and quickly relieved herself but stopped at the mirror.

It was still odd seeing herself without an orange tee-shirt or a knife at her belt. The black tank top she wore was too tight and too revealing. Her leggings showed off the curves she didn't have. Annabeth splashed cold water on her face and blew out through her nose, letting the droplets trickle off her chin and into the sink.

The bathroom door opened and Annabeth glanced in the reflection of the mirror, ready to explain her presence in the guys bathroom. But it was Tris who had opened the door and was clearly about to retreat when they made eye contact. She froze, a deer in headlights.

"Can't sleep?" Annabeth asked as she patted away the water droplets with her sleeve.

"Maybe I just got up to take a piss," said Tris.

"That's possible. Are you okay?"

Tris looked slightly alarmed. "What?"

"Are you okay? How've you been doing?"

"You know, you're unusually courteous for a goddess right now."

Annabeth sighed. "I'm sorry about that. Everything, I mean. It's crazy and impossible so I don't expect you to believe us."

Tris shrugged in response.

"There's something on your mind, isn't there?" said Annabeth again.

The signs were plastered on her more vividly than the tattoos. The darkening of her blue eyes, the shadows underneath, the small crease in her eyebrows, and the slumping of her shoulders, to name a few.

Tris sighed. "It's nothing," she said.

Annabeth leaned on the sink. "Are you sure?"

"Something's happening, Annabeth. Something huge."

Her voice was low and she glanced around warily.

"How do you know?"

"Caleb — my brother — he's an Erudite, and I went to their compound the other day —"

"Is this about Abnegation?"

"Yes."

No wonder Tris was so anxious. It was her home faction, after all.

"What's happening?"

"I don't know exactly, but it's something with Erudite and us — Dauntless. Tobias thinks there's going to be a war."

Her voice was barely a whisper now.

Annabeth cocked her head. "Who's Tobias?"

"Four," said Tris hurriedly. "But that's not the point. If you guys really are magical, just get ready to use your magic."

She turned to exit the bathroom again.

"Hey, Tris?"

"Yeah?"

Annabeth smiled. "I know you don't particularly like us, but whatever happens know we're on your side."

Tris gave a small nod in acknowledgement. "Thanks."

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