Shoutout to BlueCiffee and startx07 for creating the most accurate theories.

Shoutout to AaronSonOfChoas for correctly guessing the Unknown POV.

Shoutout to hermoine_chase and Samant456 for correctly guessing the Unknown POV AND creating the most accurate theories.

Sorry about the slow updates. Happy New Year to all of you! I hope 2018 has been proving to be a better year so far. And I want to personally thank all of you supportive readers. You people are truly awesome! Hope you enjoy! :)

-BlueFangirlStreak (SaraFangirlofPercy)

Leo's POV

Katie's face rippled with many different emotions at once. But the one emotion that stood out the most was grief.

I could tell she was trying to stay strong. Either for herself or for us.

Annabeth didn't take it too well though. She was a hot mess. As soon as the news spilled out of my mouth, she let out a strangled sob and excused herself before momentarily stepping out of the cave.

A few seconds later, we heard the sounds of vomiting coming from outside.

After that she didn't want to come back in. She simply curled up into a ball right next to her nauseating puddle of barf.

She didn't even want to talk to anyone either.

I was kind of okay with that though 'cause we were technically no longer friends.

Katie breathed in and out slowly, trying to stay calm and cool.

But then she also got up and went deeper into the cave. We weren't able to see her anymore, but we could all clearly hear the loud thuds. She was obviously releasing her emotions through violence. She had to let it all out in one way or another.

And then there's Nico. How could I put this into words?

Well, the poor kid turned even paler than usual if that was possible. His eyes seemed to lose a bit of the light that existed within them.

And then he froze, as if paralyzed.

He didn't move from his spot. He simply just stared off into space motionlessly.

As usual, he showed no emotion. I guess everyone had their own ways of coping with grief.

On the other hand, Lysias and I respectfully kept our distance, sitting in a dark corner of the cave.

We didn't speak. The silence was unnerving.

How could I comfort the trio? There was no way I would ever be able to do this. No joke in this world would bring a smile to their faces in a moment like this.

Right when I began to weigh my options, Lysias pushed himself off of the ground wordlessly.

I was about to ask him where he was going, but he walked away from me. I was almost about to yell out "Rude much?", but immediately bit my tongue when I noticed what he was doing.

Lysias walked over to Katie in the obscure distance, engaging in a secretive conversation that I wasn't able to eavesdrop on.

Curiously, I watched as best I could. Out of nowhere, they shared a hug that completely caught me off guard. What the heck just happened between them?

The suspense was freaking killing me! I had to know what was going on or else I would die.

Together, they slowly made their way back to the rest of us. I noticed that Katie no longer looked like she was going to explode into tears at any moment.

In fact, she had a small smile on her face.

I seriously wonder what Lysias could have possibly told her that would have this effect on her. The girl had such a fierce spirit.

"Katie, why the change of mood all of a sudden?" I teased jokingly, only to receive a death glare.

But then she surprised me when her glare melted into a genuine smile. "It's just, I didn't know Lysias could be so uplifting. I mean, he would make an awesome motivational speaker!"

I raised my eyebrow at this, but didn't make a sarcastic remark.

I casually strolled over toward Lysias and muttered into his ear, "Since when did you become so inspirational? All you seem to do around me is drown in your sorrows and rant about your miserable life."

Instead of giving me the evil eye like I expected, Lysias simply chuckled. "She looked like she needed some comfort and reassurance. I had to do something."

I shrugged nonchalantly in reply before plopping back onto the ground.

"STYX! Everybody scatter!" Lysias cried out in alarm before everyone did as they were told.

I threw myself behind the nearest boulder, expecting to see some sort of monster. Instead, I saw something worse.

I was confused as to why Lysias had wanted us to scatter until my eyes landed on the Primordial.

Tartarus.

He was holding Lysias in a choke-hold, obviously furious about Lysias's disobedience.

"You will come with me boy and you will learn how to obey. Say goodbye to your friend, demigods!" Tartarus hissed before being engulfed by shadows.

The last thing we heard before they completely vanished was Lysias's yelp of fear.

And then they were no more.

They were gone. Tartarus had actually taken Lysias.

He would be punished.

And we were to blame.

......

Katie took it the worst.

She was frustrated with the fact that the people she warmed up to were constantly stripped from her life.

First, she had lost Percy Jackson.

And now?

Lysias, a friendly stranger she had just met, had been taken from her in order to be punished.

She blamed herself for all of this, for this mess, saying that it was all her fault. She couldn't forgive herself for something she had no control over.

Katie even started to believe she was carrying some sort of curse. We told her it was nonsense.

But did she believe us? Of course not! That girl could be stubborn when she wanted to.

Shortly after witnessing the capture of Lysias, we decided to somehow trespass into Tartarus's headquarters and rescue Lysias.

Obviously this meant I had to lead the way, since I was the only one who knew where Tartarus kept his palace. Perks of being a former prisoner/Lysias's friend.

Along the way, we were mostly worried about what kind of punishment Tartarus had in mind for Lysias.

A certain phrase kept repeating itself, constantly echoing throughout my head.

Say goodbye to your friend, demigods!

What was that supposed to mean? Was Tartarus planning on killing Lysias once and for all? Of finally getting rid of him?

It was unlikely, but you could never be too sure with insanely evil deities.

But Lysias said they need him alive no matter what, so he's probably okay for now.

I was deeply buried in my thoughts that I didn't notice the edge of the cliff I was about to fall off of.

Thankfully, Katie yanked me backward before I could plummet to my wonderful death.

"Watch your step, dork!"

"You meant to call me Supersized McShizzle, right?"

"Nope. Not a mistake on my part, Repair Boy," Katie countered with her arms crossed and a defiant look in her eyes.

I sadly couldn't think of anything else to say, so I simply gave her one of my signature pouts.

She responded by smacking me on the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?! Sheesh, Katie," I whined, rubbing my head.

By the time we spotted the towering palace of Tartarus in the near distance, we were covered in minor cuts and bruises.

Did I mention we were having trouble breathing the intoxicating air?

No? Well now you know! Oh, and to top it all off with a nice cherry, we were ambushed.

Let's just say we came across a pack of hellhounds along with a giant cyclops.

Let me tell you, not a fun experience.

I nearly died a couple of times, but that's normal for a demigod.

Together we raced in the direction of the gloomy palace, coming to a stop right in front of the outer palace walls.

And then we glanced at each other, asking a silent question.

How were we going to sneak in?

I mean, we didn't have a plan.

And that's when I knew who to turn to for help.

I slowly turned my gaze to Annabeth, who immediately seemed to realize what I wanted from her.

She sighed in frustration. "Ugh, fine! You guys only acknowledge me when you need me," she grumbled the last part.

"Okay, here's the only plan I could come up with at the moment. First, we're going to search the perimeter of the palace walls for any openings we can slip through. Then, Leo will lead us to the throne room. If Lysias is in there all by himself, we'll grab him and run," Annabeth explained.

"Wait, why the throne room? Why not the dungeon or something like that? And what if Lysias isn't alone when we find him?" I asked with utter confusion.

This was the first time in my life I actually found flaws in one of Annabeth's plans. It surprised, yet worried me. And there was no way I was going to tease her about it. I appreciate living, thank you very much.

Annabeth gave me a look that clearly asked, Are you stupid?

"A dungeon is not used for punishments. Its only purpose is to lock up prisoners. Besides, they seem to make all their important decisions in the throne room, am I right? You should know this out of all people. And if Lysias isn't completely alone, then we'll have no choice but to start fighting. It's common sense, Leo," Annabeth scoffed rudely.

I was so tempted to smack that smug look off her face, but I've seen this girl fight. I'm not gonna let her screw up my handsome face.

"Fine, let's go search for that entrance, blondie," I muttered under my breath.

Thank the gods she didn't hear the mocking nickname.

And with that comment, we set out to search for a super sneaky entrance.

......

I could feel the sweat sliding down my face. I was running for my life.

We hadn't been super sneaky as we had originally planned (mostly 'cause of me).

I mean, it wasn't my fault I couldn't hold back my sneeze. Annabeth didn't think that was a great excuse.

I'd like to see her try, but whatever.

We were being chased by cyclopes who looked very eager to devour demigod flesh. Of course Tartarus had stupid guards protecting the palace from intruders.

The throne room doors came into view. With a final burst of speed, I raced toward the doors and slammed them open with my right shoulder.

I collapsed on the ground immediately, a burning hot pain searing through my shoulder. A helpless yelp of pain slipped past my lips. I cradled and rubbed my shoulder as much as I could while rolling around in pain.

I was wondering why the cyclopes hadn't devoured us yet. But when I looked up from my position on the ground, my heart skipped a beat.

Tartarus and Erebus were glaring in our direction while Lysias, who was between them, stared emotionlessly into space.

I found that really strange in a creepy way.

"Leave us!" Tartarus commanded his guards.

And with a look of defeat plastered on their faces, the cyclopes sullenly left the room, grunting on their way out.

I waved my hand to try and gain Lysias's attention, but he didn't acknowledge my presence.

"Lysias?"

I was met with silence.

"What's wrong with him? What have you done to him?" Fear was gripping my heart.

"Oh, he's perfectly fine, Leo. We've simply removed the part of his body we hate the most."

"And what would that be?" Katie questioned in a steely voice.

She was obviously trying to contain her fury.

"His brain, of course!" Erebus announced with an unnecessary amount of glee.

I nearly choked on my saliva. I forgot how to breathe for a moment.

"How is he still alive then?" Annabeth asked the question we all probably wanted the answer to.

"We are Primordials. The first children of the almighty Chaos! Your disgusting human science claims that it is impossible to survive without a brain, but that silly nonsense doesn't apply to the Greek world. If it is our will to keep Lysias alive, then he will stay alive no matter what! Our ancient magic, our power is what's preventing him from dying," Tartarus explained with obvious arrogance.

"You've literally made him into your personal puppet, haven't you? Such great fathers you guys are," I accused them bitterly.

Tears were threatening to spill. I was trying so hard to retain them. Lysias didn't deserve to belong in a family that treated him like this. That took away his free will.

"That's the thing, Leo Valdez. We only adopted him as our son so that he could belong to us. He is our property. We have the power and authority to do whatever we want with him. And none of you weaklings can stop us!" Erebus growled at us, his eyes glowing with eerie, fiery red flames.

His tone clearly suggested that he didn't like being bossed around by anyone.

"No wonder he kept disobeying you guys! You're total control freaks!" I spat in disgust.

I immediately regretted insulting them.

Just as I was 100% positively sure they were going to blast me into oblivion, something worse happened.

Their faces split into identical, maniacal grins, which obviously meant nothing but trouble for me.

They were clearly up to something.

Now that I think about it, I probably have a similar grin whenever I set up a prank...

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. ADHD sure was annoying during serious situations.

"Now that he's our mindless warrior, he obeys our every command. He can no longer think for himself without his brain. I warned you to say bye to your friend for good. Now it's too late. You can't do anything to stop us. Think about it. No matter what you try to do, you'll always fail," Tartarus sneered with an aura of pride.

"He's right," A small voice spoke up from behind me.

Apparently, it had come from Annabeth, whose face was unnaturally pale.

"I mean, I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble, but I'm afraid they're right. If we manage to escape with Lysias, he'll still be brainless. And even if we manage to escape with both Lysias and his brain, none of us are brain surgeons. None of us can properly replant it without causing any further damage. And if we try to escape without him, they'll eventually catch us. There's no escape from the Pit," Annabeth sighed heavily after making us all feel depressed.

"See? Even the wisdom spawn agrees," Erebus mocked.

Katie wasn't going to give up that easily though. I could tell just by looking at the fiery glint in her eyes.

"GIVE ME BACK MY FRIEND!" Katie screeched as she launched herself at Tartarus and attempted to strangle him to death.

She probably would've succeeded, especially since she caught him by surprise.

I would've laughed at the face Tartarus was making, but then the totally awesome scene was interrupted by the shadow lord/idiot named Erebus.

Thanks for ruining the fun, you jerk!

Much to Tartarus's relief, Erebus yanked poor Katie off of him and blasted her into the nearest wall.

Nico immediately ran to her aid to help her up while glaring at the Primordials.

"You want your friend, little girl?! Fine. If that's what you want, you can have him!" Tartarus exploded after regaining his composure.

He immediately turned to his mindless warrior and gave him a single command.

"Lysias, I order you to kill every last one of them. Why don't you enjoy some quality time with our champion, demigods? He's all yours," Tartarus cackled with delight before flashing away along with Erebus.

We were left alone in the throne room with a man who was once our friend, and was now our enemy.

He was their slave now. He would stop at nothing to slaughter us.

I wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. Why were the Fates so cruel?

Without a brain, memories can't exist. Of course he wouldn't recognize someone he can't remember.

"Don't do this, Lysias," I pleaded desperately.

I hated to see him like this, not a single bit of recognition shining in his dark eyes. Which was actually really difficult to see thanks to that annoying hood he's always wearing.

But he didn't respond. His face remained impassive. He simply took a step toward us robotically.

"We're your friends! Fight their command! Please," Katie whispered the last word brokenly.

But there was no reaction once again.

He was now just a fighting, killing machine. He didn't deserve any of this. He didn't deserve this heartbreaking fate.

Everyone has the right to choose the life they want to live. So why couldn't Lysias?

The impending war had never seemed so real to me until now. Whether or not Lysias killed us, the war was going to commence anytime soon. Especially now that Tartarus and Erebus had an obedient minion.

"We have to run. That's not Lysias anymore. We can't just stand here," Nico urged, pushing open the doors of the throne room, ushering us to get out.

I turned to look at Lysias one last time as he unsheathed a black, wicked sword.

A single tear escaped from my eye as I looked away from him and ran from the friend I had lost.

Lysias was lost in darkness.

The question is, would we be able to get him back?

Task of the Day: This chapter's task is actually really simple. Just go ahead and post any question that's been bugging you. If you don't have a question, you can request a specific POV for the next chapter or just make any suggestions in general. Also, have any of you ever wondered how old I am? Leave a quick guess in the comments.

Thanks for reading chapter 12 you wonderful people! I've always wondered what I should call you guys. Should I call you Streakers or something like that? 'Cause I'm honestly horrible with nicknames. As always, please don't forget to vote and comment 'cause it always makes my heart explode from happiness. Thanks for everything. Love you all! :)

-Sara