The Demigod Games

Chapter Twenty-three

Percy leaned against Annabeth's back as she forged a map in the sand. Although the sun scorched down upon him, his thoughts all formed around the thought of Hazel and Thalia being dead. He didn't want to accept the truth.

"Why is Edward still alive but Hazel and Thalia were killed?" Percy asked, his voice croaking.

Annabeth let out a long sigh. Her eyes stung with sandy tears as they glided down her sun burned cheeks. When she opened her mouth, words refused to escape her dried mouth.

"I'm sorry," Percy whispered again. Perhaps Thalia wasn't as close with him as she was with Annabeth, but sometimes Percy forgot that Annabeth grew up with her, that Thalia and Luke took her in. "I'm sorry, Annabeth."

He swiftly spun around in the sand and planted a reassuring kiss on her cheek. More tears spilled out of Annabeth's grey orbs. But with Percy there, her breathing steadied. Although everything was so wrong, in that moment, Percy made everything a bit better.

--

Nico hid his face under his hands. They scraped against the fragile skin on his cheeks, provoking blood to be spilled in the grass. No amount of pain could match the heart-clenching horror Nico was experiencing.

In his lifetime, Nico hadn't just lost one sister, he lost two. Two sisters he could protect. Two sisters he could never bring back. The Gods simply wanted him to be alone and unhappy, that had to be the answer to this misery.

He fingernails scratched at all of his bare skin, as if he could rip himself out of his own body. Nico wanted to be free from the hell that boiled from the pits of his stomach to his aching heart.

He let out a blood-curtling scream. It was a call for anyone to come and find him, to come and kill him. Angry tears poured from his eyes as he pounded his fists against trees. He desperately tried to find someway to kill himself.

Thankfully, the Gods took pity upon him at last. With barely a flick of the wrist, a blazing fire took over the small forested area. Nico perished amongst the only sanctuary throughout the entire arena.

Nico DiAngelo was finally happy again.

--

The drakon hovered over Leo's dying body, licking its lips hungrily. Its skin consisted of a black color, spreading from its pointed face to the spiked tail.

His leg already ached with a dull pain. It almost felt like nothing compared to the fear of the drakon. Leo knew he couldn't kill it. It was impossible.

Piper attempted fending it off with her blood soaked sword, connecting with nothing but the air with each swing she took at the beast.

She couldn't let Leo die. Maybe they didn't always get along, but Leo had gotten much closer to Piper than she could have ever imagined, or wanted. They knew eachother too well, so to say.

"Hang in there Leo!" Piper attempted reassuring him while she distracted the drakon. "You have to suck it up and run when I tell you to."

"No," Leo protested as he rolled beneath the monster that hovered above him. His eyes followed Piper's sword in amusement. "You can't! Piper, you have to leave me!"

Piper ignored his pleas and lunged forward. "Run, Leo!" she screamed, pain evident in her quivering voice. "Tell Jason I love him!"

A sound of a cannon filled the remaining tributes' ears.