The Demigod Games

Chapter Seventeen

Edward Cooper ran his pale hands under the stream of water, looking for relief from the scorching rays of the sun. He sighed in relief as the sun burned skin had a cooling sensation running across them. For about the seven hundredth time that day, Edward checked his backpack for supplies. It was his worst fear to see all of them gone in the blink of an eye.

His supplies remained, as well as his axe. Edward grew up chopping down trees with his step father before the monsters went after him.

No one at Camp Jupiter would have ever expected Edward to act like this in the games. He was actually a friend to many as well as a protector. He was among the strongest at the camp. He was also respected, but never feared. Edward could almost see his friends at home, gasping in horror as they watched Edward kill so many people ruthlessly. Normally, Edward would have been mortified of his own actions as well.

Edward imagined his mother, breaking into tears after seeing what he had done. She would never forgive him for that. But Mars, however, was already pleased. Of course, he was still pissed from the incident in the Titan War, but Edward was slowly winning back his respect.

Mars didn't even contact him until he was fifteen, two years before the games. The God spoke arrogantly and rudely to his son, basically calling him a mistake to his face. Since then, Edward had been working furiously hard to win glory in the name of Mars, but he didn't have any luck.

Edward glanced up into the sky, knowing full well that Mars was watching him. Whenver Mars was observing his son, Edward would get a feeling in his gut, a feeling of stress and pressure bearing down on him all at once. It would distract him from whatever he was doing.

Behind him, Edward heard footsteps. His fingers wrapped around the heavy axe with one hand. After couting off in his head, Edward quickly rose from his crouch to face the owner.

With a sharp intake of breath, Edward took a step back. Before him was the son of Jupiter, Jason Grace. The boy he had tried, and obviously failed to kill. "J-Jason," he stuttered, nearly running back into the small stream of water.

"Edward," Jason hissed through his teeth, obviously angry. "You tried to kill Piper."

"Did I?" Edward did his best to fake a laugh, but stopped abruptly in response to Jason's unchanged expression.

Jason's face wasn't scrunched up in anger, his anger was definitely controlled. His lips pressed into a thin like across his face, his eyes were narrowed, his sword in his hand, ready to break into Edward's skin at any moment. He looked so calm, yet so menacingly strong at the same time. Edward didn't remember Jason acquiring a sword, he must have gotten it in his search for Edward. He must have stolen it from another tribute while they weren't looking.

Edward, however, was nearly shaking from fear. He knew full well that Jason could kill him in a matter of seconds. He knew if he didn't act quickly, he'd be dead. "You deserve to die," Jason continued. "You already killed three tributes."

"W-well..." Edward couldn't finish his sentence, Jason lunged forward with his imperial gold sword. Edward fell back into the water just in time. His body was immersed in the cool, soothing water. He felt safe.

But Edward realized too late the powers of the son of Jupiter. His body erupted in pain as Jason shot a bolt of lightning into the water, instantly killing the fish surrounding him. In a matter of seconds, Edward blacked out, then rose to the surface of the water.

Jason found himself disappointed when the canon didn't go off; that bastard was still alive. Just as he raised his sword over his head, one blow to finish him off, he heard a cry in the distance.

Immediately, Jason turned his head, eager to see the owner of the voice. His eyes widened when he saw Piper, sprinting towards him, her feet kicking up sand. "Jason stop!" Her voice was scratchy from being out in the sun all day.

Behind her, Leo Valdez followed, heaving in gulps of sandy air as he did so. Jason lowered his sword, then threw it to the ground. He couldn't control himself as he engulfed Piper in a hug, then brought his lips to hers. It felt better than getting water to kiss her after being away for so long.

Piper kissed him back, wanting to distract him from his previous ambitions. Her heart raced, remembering the first time she got the stupid boy to kiss her, or was it only a memory planted in her head by Gaea? She didn't know. "I missed you," Jason murmured against her lips.

Leo coughed, making them pull apart abruptly. "I know you guys haven't seen each other in while, but..."

"Right," Piper got back on track. "Jason, you could never kill another demigod. Even if he's a brute or a murderer. This isn't you."

Jason's face softened a bit, realizing what he had done. He glanced back at Edward's body, seeing it float further down stream, but still unconscious. His breath caught. "You're right," he sighed, his shoulders slumping over. "But he tried to kill you!"

"But I'm still alive," Piper said, using a bit of her charmspeak to calm her down even more. "We broke up," she remembered, then covered her mouth as the words left her mouth.

"But I still love you," Jason told her softly enough so Leo couldn't hear.

"I still loved you when I broke up with you," Piper replied, brushing a sticky strand of hair out of her eyes. "But we need to stay broken up," the words hurt as they came out of her mouth, each tearing up pieces of her heart.

"No, please," Jason begged, his voice weak.

Piper kissed his cheek gently. "I'm sorry, but it's for you. I hope you win Jason." She quickly collected some water from the screen then ran off, leaving Leo and Jason alone.

"Sorry, man," Leo slapped Jason on the back. His heart broke all over again. "She's only doing this so you won't be hurt when we die. She doesn't want you doing crazy things like this for her."

"But..." Jason let out a pained sigh. "Please just let me know where you shelter is. Just in case if anything breaks out, I need to protect her."

"About half a mile away, there're trees and other actual wildlife. We're half way up a tall oak tree with a small engraving on a tree. You'll probably miss it if you don't look carefully enough," Leo told him. "Be careful, Superman."

--

"Percy?" Annabeth called out, her voice weak. "Percy?!" She became more urgent, ignoring the pain she felt jutting through her arm.

Percy wasn't in the cave though, he was lying unconscious in the middle of the woods, exposed and easy to find. Annabeth jumped to her feet, frantically searching for her boyfriend. "Percy!" she yelled, daring to scream louder if she didn't find him soon.

Out in the woods, she saw some black sticking out from the green and brown. It had to be Percy's jet black hair. Pumping her arms in pain, Annabeth sprinted out to the opening and nearly threw herself on top of her boyfriend. "Oh my Gods," she muttered, tears nearly coming to her eyes. "Who did this to you?"

Using all of her strength, Annabeth lifted Percy and lead him back to the cave. With a faint sigh, Annabeth collapsed from her spot and onto the ground. But as she fell onto the ground, she found a single strand of hair on Percy's shirt. It was black, coarse, and long. It had to be a girl's, but not just any girl's. Thalia's.