Azra

I hated this.

We ran for what seemed like hours, never safe. At every rustle of leaves, or snapping of twigs, we would set off again. We ran until I could taste blood in the back of my throat. "Wait." Hazel wheezed. "I can't... go any longer."

She leaned against a tree, where she slid down and immediately started crying. Guilt filled me, consuming me with every one of Hazel's wracking sobs.

Why hadn't I tried to fight Loki? Because I was too scared that I would die.

Why hadn't I realised that Nico was being consumed? Because I wasn't thinking about him. 

Why hadn't I tried to save him? Why hadn't I tried to do a million other things that could have helped?

Will touched my shoulder, breaking me from my thoughts. A small wave of calm washed over me. "How do you do that?" I asked.

"Sunshine. Cheers everyone up. Most of the time anyway." He looked over at Hazel. She wasn't sobbing as much now, but tears still streamed from her eyes.

"We need to get out of here." I declared.

"How? We're all too tired to move, let alone run."

An idea floated into my brain. I wasn't sure that I could do it, but I didn't have time to hesitate. Loki's taunting voice could be heard now. "Come on you three. We're gonna catch you anyway. You might as well make this easy for yourselves."

I grabbed Will and Hazel's arms and imagined us in Olympus with Chiron and the rest of the campers. That was the only safe space I could think of. In an instant, we had appeared.

The gods scrambled back in shock. Zeus aimed his hand at us, his palm glowing with power, when Hazel screamed "STOP!"

Everyone froze. "Lord Zeus, please put your hand away." Chiron advised from behind us. I turned around. Every camper was there, either looking disgruntled or in shock.

Out f nowhere, my head spun, and I swayed slightly. My breath caught in my chest. Will caught me before I fell and gave me some water. "Thanks." I muttered. What was that?

"Listen." Hazel commanded. "Some weird creatures have escaped, and they can possess people. So far, they've taken over Loki, Thor, Doctor Strange, Percy Jackson (at his name, many people gasped) and," she took a deep breath. "Nico Di Angelo."

At the mention of his name, Hades flashed into the room, his eyes deadly. They also had something else in them. Fear.

"I have bad news." He announced. "Chaos has take over Tartarus  and is slowly rising upwards with his army."

"What about the dead?" Hazel asked.

"I've brought the ones who want to leave back to life. The ones who don't are staying."

"How do we stop Chaos?" One camper asked.

"We cant!" another yelled.

"We're done for!" Someone panicked.

"Wait." Ares' gruff tone was quiet, but it still could be heard over the shouting camprs, silencing them immediately. "We have something we can use." He stood up. "Someone we can use." He stepped towards me. I stepped back.

"No." Hades, Hazel, Will Chiron and Athena all spoke at the same time. 

"It'll anger Chaos even more." Athena explained.

"She's our friend." Hazel ventured. Will nodded enthusiastically next to her. I shot her a smile. I had barely known her for more than a few days, and she already considered me an ally. More than an ally. A friend. My heart warmed at the thought.

"She is technically a child of the Underworld." Hades growled, daring anyone to contradict him.

Ares scowled. I felt him send waves of hate and violence towards everyone in the room. I held up my hand, palm facing towards the god. I willed the waves to stop. Ares struggled to regain control for a while. He suddenly stopped, and he smirked. He shut his eyes, and I could feel him sending his children a message. I intercepted it within seconds.

One of you needs to take her. If she's out, she can't fight. Whoever does it will have the gifts of being my favourite child and also you get to keep my chariot. He whispered.

Do that, and you'll have a big gang of people after your blood. I contradicted.

Ares' eyes snapped open. He glared at me. His children mirrored him. They stepped towards me, and I stepped away, bringing out my pata and pointing it at them menacingly. My head spun again, and I fought to stay upright.

Suddenly, I heard Chaos' voice in my head. Child. You've used up too much power for one day. If you do anymore magic, you might pass out from exhaustion. Or worse, you could die.

Why did you declare war on them in the first place? I asked angrily. I heard no response. 

"Listen! Did you hear that? That monster is communicating with Chaos at this moment. She's a spy!" Ares yelled. 

"What?" I asked Hazel. "What's going on? How did Ares know that I was talking to Chaos?"

Hazel looked at me sadly. "He asked Athena to make your thoughts become audible, just for a bit. We all heard your conversation. Now Ares knows that you might die from one more trick. He's probably gonna use that against you."

Oh no. That was my only thought.

A swarm of Ares' children surrounded me. "Surrender monster, or we will be forced to kill you." One of the campers growled.

"A. Why does everyone think I'm a monster? B. Last time a demigod tried to kill me, I exploded. Ask Hazel." I replied, my voice steely, but weak.

The circle stepped closer. They sure learned a lot about organisation of the troops form the Romans.

"Further proof that you are a monster." 

There was no way out, and my body was too weak to do anything big, like teleport out of here. But I had no other choice. As I prepared to teleport, another camper shouted "STOP!"

The Ares cabin made a small alley for the camper to get through. It was the son of Zeus, and he was holding Hazel at gunpoint. Another camper held Will, but I couldn't make out his face. From what  I could see, Hades had gone poof. The other gods had disappeared as well.

"Where are the gods?" I snarled.

"Somewhere special." A familiar voice replied. Nico Di Angelo stepped out from behind the Zeus-kid, still holding Will.

"Now," The Zeus-spawn commanded. "Surrender, or your friends die."

A thousand ideas spun around my head. All came up dead. I sighed. "Fine. Let them go first."

"And lose our strongest leverages? I think not." He sneered. "Lower your blade and turn around slowly. Then I'll let them go."

"How do I know that you'll actually let them go? I can't see what's going on if I'm facing the other direction."

"I swear on the River Styx."

"The Styx is as good as dead."

"Then you'll just have to trust me, won't you?" He have Hazel a violent shake. "Now hurry up. There's a war going on."

Cursing under my breath, I put my pata on the ground. "Don't pick it up." I warned. "It's made of Chaos-Metal. It'll kill you."

"Quit stalling." Nico spat.

I slowly turned around staring every camper dead in the eye. A few campers rushed towards me once I was completely facing the opposite direction. One tied my hands behind me. The other took off my glasses and blindfolded me. 

I heard Hazel gasp as she was pushed away from the Zeus-spawn. I could just about sense Will being moved off Nico as well.

According to my senses, the Zeus Spawn stepped in front of me. "Good monster." He cooed. I resisted the urge to kick him. I heard his footsteps walk around me. He suddenly whispered into my ear "The name's Cosmo by the way. Cosmo Spark."

I felt him push my headscarf away from my neck, and I jerked backwards. Something sharp pricked my neck, and I started to lose my balance. Within seconds, I was out.