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Chapter Quote:
"Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive."
~Josephine Hart
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Chapter 26: I'll Survive

Shiloh

For a while, being prisoners at Camp Jupiter was surprisingly not half bad. I mean I was going stir crazy some days but I had Luke to keep me company. Reyna snuck in books for us to read. Our meals were always the same. One day I physically couldn't eat because the thought of eating chicken noodle soup for four weeks in a row made me nauseous. I probably would never be able to look at chicken noodle soup the same again, which really ticked me off because I'd love chicken noodle soup before.

But then Reyna suddenly stopped visiting. Octavian took control of the situation. He ordered me and Luke be in separate cells. We both put up a fight until the praetor threatened to kill us. We shut up and dealt with the consequences.

Living in the cell became nearly unbearable after that. Solitary confinement was not something I could go through much longer. Thankfully, I didn't have to. But that led to another problem: Luke and I were prisoners of war that were being taken with the Romans to Camp Half-Blood. Camp Jupiter was planning an attack on our camp on the orders of Octavian. I knew if Reyna was here, she would never allow this. I wondered where she'd gone.

"Keep moving!" A Roman barked at me. I had no choice but to obey despite my feet screaming at me to stop. They were swollen so badly that each stepped pained me. Luke wasn't fairing much better. I could see the grimace on his face with every step he took. I couldn't talk to him though. Octavian believed that any words we said to each other were plans of escape. Little did that little twit know, I'd already come up with a plan. He was doing me a favor by getting me and Luke to camp. Once we were there, I could make mine and Luke's escape. Of course, my feet would have to hold out on me...

"Halt!" Octavian shouted. The entire Roman army listened. I recognized the sign for Camp Half Blood in the distance. Relief surged through me. Home was so close now. "Bring the prisoners forward!"

Luke and I were shoved to the front of the army next to Octavian. He turned to his troops.

"What's he doing?" Luke breathed.

"Nothing good," I mumbled.

"Are you okay?"

"I've been better. You?"

"Surprised they haven't done anything stupid."

"Can you run?"

Luke looked at me. "Yeah, why?"

"Because I have a plan."

"I have your back."

I smiled. I turned around to look back at camp. I saw figures standing on the top of the hill, watching the Roman army carefully. Octavian began his speech. "The Greeks need to be destroyed! They nearly demolished New Rome with that ship of theirs, and they were able to infiltrate our ranks with Percy Jackson, Shiloh, and Luke Castellan. They turned Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, and Hazel Levesque against us! Tomorrow, we will march on Camp Half-Blood and raze it to the ground! But as our first example of military might, we will take care of the first two traitors that broke into our ranks: Shiloh Carter and Luke Castellan!" Octavian turned to us. "You two are being charged with treason to New Rome, of which the penalty is death. Neil, bring the sword!"

"No!" I heard someone cry out from the top of the hill. I closed my eyes, allowing my anger to wash over me. It would give me more power.

"What the-" Octavian began. The earth was shaking with such a force that Octavian toppled over. The sword clattered to the ground. Luke and I rolled away from our captors. It was difficult scrambling into standing position with your hands tied behind your back with sore feet while the earth is shaking but we managed it. We had to if we wanted to escape. Someone grabbed my foot and I went down. I flipped over to try and kick them off but Luke was way ahead of me. His foot slammed into my attacker's head. Rage filled my boyfriend's eyes. Sometimes I forgot what Luke was capable of, what he'd done, considering I saw a side of him most people didn't. This was one of the times when he reminded me of what he could do.

"Are you okay?" he queried, the anger instantly disappearing.

"Yeah," I said, getting back up. Two campers from Camp Half-Blood rushed over to help us get through their defenses to the safety of camp. I turned around to see Octavian getting to his feet.

"What in the gods' name was that?!" He demanded.

"I forgot to tell you something," I shouted back at him. "I'm a daughter of Poseidon. Shaking stuff up is kind of my thing!"

Luke snorted.

"Shiloh! Luke!" Chiron came cantering up to us. "Are you two well?"

"We still have our heads. Can't complain," I said. "Although if someone could get these cuffs off, that'd be great."

Connor Stoll started working on my cuffs; Travis started working on Luke's.

"What happened?" Chiron asked. "Where have you two been? Why didn't you contact us?"

"We were taken prisoners of war after Leo blew up half of New Rome. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Leo, and Nico escaped. Luke and I didn't. We were thrown into a cell and kept there. We were treated pretty nicely until Reyna left. Then Octavian went into tyrant mode and decided to march on Camp Half Blood. He didn't know I was a daughter of Poseidon. We kept that on the down low so we could use it to our advantage if need be," I explained.

"It's a good thing you did. You probably would've been killed sooner."

"Chiron, we can't beat them," Luke spoke up solemnly. "Not unless the Athena Parthenos is returned by tomorrow."

The centaur grimaced. "We know. We'll have to hold the Romans off for as long as we can."

"Percy is he alive?" I asked. I'd been having horrifying nightmares of my brother down in a place I could only assume was Tartarus. He'd had Annabeth with them and I knew that if anyone was to survive going down there, it'd be those two, but I still worried.

"I believe so."

"There!" Connor exclaimed. "You're free my lady."

"You too bro," Travis said. Luke rubbed his wrists, glad to be free of the confinements.

"Thanks you two," he said. "So what's our plan of action?"

"We're going to hold the front lines for as long as possible until the Athena Parthenos arrives. If the Romans break down our defenses, we're charging them."

"I'll lead the charge," Luke offered.

"My boy, I appreciate the-"

"Chiron, I have to."

"Why?"

"Because being the leader of that charge will be a suicide mission. No one here deserves that."

"Neither do you," I growled.

"Luke, we're glad you're on our side again and all, and yeah you did some shitty stuff, but that doesn't mean you have to die to make amends," Connor said.

"There will be other ways to gain the campers' trust. You already convinced them to let you stay at camp, you can convince them you're good again without leading the charge," Travis added. "You don't need to do it."

"I don't just need to do it, I want to do it," he argued.

"Then if you lead the charge, I'm leading with you," I said.

"No-"

"Either I lead with you or you don't lead at all."

"Count us in," the Stolls said simultaneously.

"You're not going to back down on this are you?" Luke asked. We shook our heads, causing him to sigh. "Fine."

"Chiron, if we get beat back, tell the demigods to run into the water. I can create an air bubble for all of them so they can breathe. We can swim to safety and find a way to escape if need be," I suggested.

"I hope it doesn't come to that but if so, I'll allow you to do it. Come, there is still much to be prepared."
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The next day...

It turned out to be a relatively short battle. A few Greek demigods sabotaged the Roman catapults so that they didn't land on Camp Half-Blood but instead collided with each other in midair. Reyna brought the Athena Parthenos, Percy arrived with his group in tow to fight Gaia and finish her off once and for all. He did, but it came with a cost.

Leo died in the fight.

It was a blow to all of us, but especially Piper and Jason. Leo had saved their lives right before he died. I knew the look on their faces: survivor's guilt. They'd be able to be talked out of it but it'd take a while.

I watched the scene unfold before post-battle. Romans were helping Greeks, Greeks were helping Romans. People were carrying the wounded to the infirmary, the dead to be burned. The Greeks and Romans were helping each other, and it was a shocking sight considering yesterday both sides wanted to kill each other.

Luke and I had led the charge along with the Stoll brothers against the Romans until we ended up joining sides with them. In the middle of the battle, I lost Luke. He'd disappeared in the fray. I was searching for him now, desperately. The Stolls were helping me search but none of us were having any luck.

I headed into the woods. The last time I'd seen him he was running after monsters that were heading towards the woods. I scanned the forest floor, searching for any sign my boyfriend had been here. The first sign was his helmet. I picked it up, gripping it tightly as I continued my search. He had to be around here somewhere.

The second clue I came across was one of his flying shoes. Its wings sprouted the moment I approached it. Luke had always said these things had a mind of their own. It was a long shot but I decided to put that statement to the test.

"Take me to your other half," I ordered. The shoe started flying in the direction I'd been heading in originally. Praying that this would work, I followed. It took me deep into the forest. I wondered if I was just being led astray. Knowing my luck the shoe was leading me towards some massive monster we'd missed earlier.

The shoe dropped down all of sudden. Looking down, I saw it's other half. So the thing had understood me. I knelt down to take the shoe so I could put it on. Luke and I had very different shoe sizes but flying shoes would help me cover more ground. However, when I pulled the shoe, it didn't move, only let out a grunt. It dawned on me that the shoe was attached to a foot. The reason I hadn't noticed before was because only the sole of the shoe protruded from the bush.

"Luke," I breathed. I started pulling him out, struggling with his weight. I also wanted to avoid hurting him as much as possible. Once he was fully in view, I cringed. His face was bruised, his left eye swollen shut, he had a busted lip, and his ear was ripped.

"Luke? Hey, wake up. You need to wake up, okay?" I whispered, cupping his face. My boyfriend groaned out a weak, "Hi."

"Oh thank the gods," I said. "What happened?"

"Ambushed. By monsters."

"We need to get you to the infirmary. Can you walk?"

"No... my leg's broken."

"I can't leave you here to go get help. A straggling monster could come and you'd be at their mercy."

"I-I'll be fine. Go."

Suddenly I heard my name being called by familiar voices. I called out to them. The Stoll brothers came charging over to me.

"Dude, what happened?" Travis demanded.

"He was attacked by monsters. We need to get him to the infirmary. Can you help me carry him?" I inquired.

"I'll take his legs. You and Connor take him by the arms," Travis replied. I wrapped Luke's arm around my shoulder, Connor doing the same. Luke let out a strangled cry when Travis lifted his legs. "Sorry brother!"

I kissed Luke on the head, telling him everything was going to be all right. To be honest I was worried about him. I'd glanced into the bushes I'd found him in and saw a pool of blood. How much blood had Luke lost? How much more could he lose before he went into shock?

"You really need to stop nearly dying on us Luke," Connor said.

"We're getting too old for this," Travis added.

"You're barely twenty-two and Connor just turned twenty," I pointed out. "You're hardly old."

"How many kids do you know can say they fought in two great wars?" Travis argued.

"About a hundred."

"Don't you feel old?" Connor asked.

"Mentally? Yes. Physically? No."

Our conversation was stopped short when we exited the forest. Healers rushed up to us, putting Luke on a stretcher. I followed them to the infirmary. I stayed with Luke until I knew he was going to be okay. After taking some ambrosia and nectar, my boyfriend conked out. I kissed him on the head and went out to find Percy. I wanted to see him, to ask him if he was truly okay.

"Percy!" I shouted, running towards him. My brother turned around, just in time to brace himself for my hug. "Thank the gods you're all right! You're are all right, aren't you?"

He chuckled. "I'm fine. Better now that the war's over."

"You look terrible," I remarked.

"Well I did just get out of battle."

"No, I mean you look gaunt. Did you really go into Tartarus?"

Percy glanced down at the ground. "Yeah... but I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm not asking you to. I just wanted to know if it was true. I can never fathom what you went through but if you need someone to talk to about it, you know I'm always here for you right?"

"I do. Thanks Shi. How did you find out about me being in Tartarus? Last time I saw you, you and Luke were being held captive by the Romans."

"I had dreams. Annabeth was with you, wasn't she?" He nodded. "Where is she?"

"Talking to Reyna I think. Why?"

"Because I want to thank her. For keeping you safe."

Percy smiled at me. "I missed you."

"I missed you too little brother." Giving him one last hug, I went to find Annabeth. She had just finished her conversation with Reyna when I approached her. Without saying a word, I gave her a hug. For the first time in my life, Annabeth actually returned it.

"Thank you for protecting Percy in Tartarus," I said. "I'm so sorry you had to-"

"Don't. It's okay. I'm out of there now, that's all that matters. How are you? How's Luke?"

"I'm fine. Luke is in the infirmary but he'll be okay."

"Good. I'm glad you're both safe. I know Percy was excited to see you again."

"Luke will be excited to see you when he wakes up. Hey, I've never been one for sappy moments or anything like that, and I know you and I have never really seen eye to eye on things, but for the sake of Percy and Luke, I was wondering if you'd maybe like to try being friends? I think we have more in common than we think."

"You mean besides boyfriends who are probably going to be the death of us?"

I smiled. "Yeah, besides that."

"That sounds nice. When everything has settled down, why don't you and I hang out in the city for a bit?"

"It's a plan. What do you say we go check on our troublesome boyfriends?" I suggested.

"Let's make sure they're not getting into any more trouble," she agreed. We threw our arms around each other's shoulders and walked off. I had a feeling this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship, full of love, laughter, and more sass than anyone would know how to deal with.
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Three weeks later...

The Romans had left relatively soon after the battle had ended. Jason was the emissary between the two camps, making sure relations remained healthy and friendly. Annabeth and I became closer than we ever imagined. I think Luke and Percy were rather shocked by that.

Luke was out of the infirmary a week after he was admitted. He and Percy had a long talk. Neither of them ever told me or Annabeth what it was about but the boys suddenly seemed to have a mutual understanding about something. We went on a lot of double dates with each other, with Piper and Jason even joining in once in a while.

Luke and I were in a much better place. He had finally begun to accept his past wrongdoings and was working to make sure people knew he'd changed. He welcomed new campers, he trained them, and was genuinely a good guy overall. Annabeth remarked how he was acting like he did before Kronos twisted his mind. I took that as a good sign. The campers that remembered him as Kronos even began being friendlier towards him. I know he appreciated that.

For the first time in a long time, I was genuinely happy. Before Luke came along, I was always content, but my curse by Aphrodite always weighed me down. With it gone, I could truly say nothing was bothering me. With it gone, I was genuinely happy.

Everything was right in the world, at least for a little while. I knew bad things would happen in the future. That was life. But as long as I had Luke, Percy, and Annabeth by my side, I knew I could get through it. I knew that no matter what came my way, I'd survive.
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Wasn't a very climatic chapter which I apologize about- I don't have the Blood of Olympus book with me so I couldn't accurately describe the actual battle or else this would've been much longer! I hope you enjoyed the story- this is, unfortunately, the end :( But fear not, I have other Percy Jackson stories up for you to read in case you haven't discovered them already (and those are even more heartbreaking and angst-ridden than this one). Thank you so much for reading this story and I hope to see more of y'all reading my stories and reviewing in the future :)

Much love,
Wisegirl502