Clarisse

"That was too close. What were you thinking? If you attacked him, he would've killed you!" Malcolm shouted once we were back in our underground hideout. 

I turned away from the son of Athena, breathing hard as I tried to push my anger away. The sight of Percy's smirking face made me want to punch a hole right through his head. 

"I know. But....ugh, he heard everything! Everything we talked about, he knows that Nico went into Tartarus to find Atlas and the other Olympians!" I growled as I tugged at a strand of my dirty brown hair. Malcolm clicked his tongue as he sheathed his sword at his waist. 

"I know he heard everything. We didn't even know he was there. But there's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to pray and hope Percy doesn't do anything to Nico while he's in Tartarus." 

I scowled murderously before I sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I know. That son of Hades can do it, I believe in him. Plus, he is the leader of our ragtag army." Malcolm managed a faint smile before he walked past me towards a small door at the end of the hallway we were standing in. I put my spear away before following him. 

Malcolm pushed open the door to reveal a large room with demigods crowded around a table in the middle. Heads turned towards Malcolm and I and smiles broke out on several people's faces.

A girl with brown hair left the table to walk over to them, her smile growing steadily bigger as she stopped before Malcolm and I. "Well? Did you both find anything unusual?" 

Malcolm swallowed as he glanced at me. I exhaled before turning to face the daughter of Demeter. "Well, there was a problem we encountered, Katie." The smile slowly disappeared  from her face. 

Katie's gaze flickered between Malcolm and I, her eyes narrowing. "What is the problem?" 

I paused before I gave in and told Katie everything. "We.....We encountered Percy while we were scouting." Disbelief and horror overcame Katie's expression and she took a step back, her hands going to her mouth. 

"You what!?" Another demigod shouted. I gave him a steely glare. "You heard what I said, Will Solace." 

"What was he doing there? You guys were so far from Olympus, how is that possible?" Katie whispered. "He had that stupid daughter of Atlas with him, Zoe Nightshade. I think they were probably going out for a date or something when they saw us." Malcolm said miserably. 

Katie gritted her teeth and she shook her head. "What happened after that?" "They heard everything we were talking about. We were talking about Nico going into Tartarus to see if Atlas and the Olympians had reformed yet. Now Percy knows about our plan to get Atlas and use him to free Zeus from his burden." I muttered.

Silence settled upon the many demigods in the large room. Will broke the silence by slamming his fists onto the table, startling many others. The son of Apollo turned to face Malcolm and I, a grim look on his face.

"We can't let Percy ruin what we worked so hard to accomplish. What Nico worked so hard to accomplish." Will lifted his fist off of the table and crossed his arms. "If it weren't for Nico's idea of gathering an army to oppose Percy, then we would've all been wiped out already. We can't give up, we have to fight against Jackson for as long as possible." 

"If anyone can get out of Tartarus alive, it's Nico." Travis said in agreement. "We just have to stay strong and fight against anything Percy plans to throw at us. We're the only hope the Olympians has left." 

Will tilted his head back, his blue eyes staring straight up at the ceiling. "And we also need to free    Zeus, Poseidon, Hestia, and Ares. Along with Jason, Reyna, Frank and Annabeth."

Malcolm flinched when Will mentioned the name of his half-sister. Nico had occasionally gone to spy on Percy up on Olympus, and to also check up on the eight of them. The first time Nico had gone up to Olympus, he'd come back and told them what had happened to the Gods and demigods Percy had imprisoned. 

Zeus, forced to take Atlas burden. Poseidon, reduced to nothing more but a personal slave to Percy and Zoe. Hestia and Ares, they both had taken the roles of being slaves to Percy'a army. 

Annabeth, dragged down to the dungeons in Olympus and tortured. Reyna, a punching bag for Percy's soldiers to practice on. Jason and Frank, cleaning the halls of Olympus.

I never knew Reyna, Jason or Frank very well, but no one deserved to be treated the way the eight of them were. I wondered how Percy Jackson, the saviour of Olympus, could've turned so cold-hearted. 

Over a betrayal. A betrayal that caused the son of Poseidon to go on a rampage for more power, a rampage to destroy Olympus and make the Olympians fade. A rampage to claim Zeus's throne as his.

"This isn't going to be easy. The Gods and demigods Percy has on Olympus, they'll be under high security 24/7. Don't forget the guards Percy always has on patrol. The first step we have to make is to hope Nico gets out of Tartarus, preferably with Atlas and the Olympian Gods." Connor, the twin of Travis pointed out.

I nodded at his words. "Yes, we will have to wait until Nico comes out of Tartarus. And he will get out." "Of course he will. He's Nico Di Angelo, he's never let any of the members of our army down." Katie said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I glanced at her just as her expression darkened. "Once we come face to face with Percy, what do we do? Do-Do we......Do we kill him?" Silence echoed one more in the large room. I looked around and I saw many of the demigods lower their heads, their expressions varying from horror, determination and terror.

I remember the first time I had met Percy. I had grabbed him and tried to shove his face in the toilet. Then over the years, Percy and I had developed a mutual friendship. We respected each other as warriors, as who we were. 

Then I thought back to when Malcolm and I had been face to face with him in that park. His eyes, which had been so lively and full of warmth, had been cold and unforgiving. So different from the usual warmth in them.

But if we did meet once again, I probably wouldn't know what to do. If the choice comes between killing him and saving everyone that I care about, or just capturing him and having the risk of him escaping, then I would choose to kill him. 

I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palm. "There's no other option that I know." I said, making the demigods in the room look at me. Malcolm's eyes narrowed at my words. "You'll kill him, then?" 

"There's no other choice." I retorted. "Percy....Percy has to die. Think about this. He's slaughtered the Roman demigods and half of the Greek demigods without mercy. He doesn't care if he's spilling the blood of innocent demigods. If he doesn't care, then why should we?" 

"He was once our friend." Travis murmured. "I-We, I'm pretty sure we all respected him. I mean, he's the fucking saviour of Olympus. He and Luke killed Kronos. Then he helped to fight off Gaea, and jumped into Tartarus willingly to be with the one person he loved, which was Annabeth." 

"He's done a lot more things than that." Will interjected, lowering his gaze from the ceiling. He uncrossed his arms and planted both of his palms on the table. "But now.....Look at him." 

"There's no way we could think of something to keep Percy imprisoned. He'll eventually find a way to escape with the power he wields." I continued. "Therefore, he has to die. Then we.....Then  we would be free, and the Gods will be back. We won't need to hide anymore." 

Malcolm took a long, shuddering sigh before he crossed over to an empty chair and sat down. He stared at the floor, his hair falling into his eyes. "Clarisse is right. Percy Jackson has to die." 

"If that's the only option, then so be it. We'll be aiming to kill." Connor agreed. Katie's face was full of anguish, but she shook her head and sat down on the floor, putting her back against the wall. "I can't believe we're going to kill our friend." 

"You mean, he used to be our friend. Now, he's our enemy." I said. Katie didn't respond, she merely put her head in her hands.

Malcolm raised his head, his steely grey eyes locking on me. "Once Nico gets back, we're going to try and free the Gods and demigods Percy has imprisoned." 

Word count: 1490

Writer's block. Really kills me.