Percy's P.O.V.

Four paces around the room, and I want to slap the smirk off his face.

"You won't be facing each other anymore," he announces, and we all breathe sighs of relief.

"You'll be facing your fears." The relief is gone.

"What?" Christina says.

Four stops pacing and clasps his hands behind his back. "You'll be injected with a serum and enter a fear landscape. You will face your deepest, darkest fears. Your goal is to calm yourself in front of your fear. Then you'll pass onto the next one."

Thalia, Nico, and I exchange looks. This will destroy us. Our fears are worse than anyone else in this room. 

"That's not fair," Peter argues. "What if one person has four fears and another has twenty?"

Four's expression doesn't change. "So?"

"So this system is stupid."

Four twirls a dagger and casually angles the blade to Peter's throat. "Insult this faction one more time and I won't hesitate to flick the blade. Besides, when is life ever fair?"

Peter swallows, and his eyes fill with fear. He backs down, and Four removes the dagger from his neck.

"Let's begin," Four says. He nods in my direction. "Percy, you're ranked highest. Come with me."

I follow him.

__________.__________

Four hooks me up to the computer, and I ease myself into a white chair. I drum my fingers on the armrests, ADHD kicking in.

"Remember," Four says. "You'll be facing your worst fears. Relax."

I roll my eyes. "Relax. Right. I'm about to face my fears, and you're telling me to relax."

Four smiles, and I feel like we could be friends, if he weren't so uptight.

"Good luck."

The room spins, and my vision blurs. I find myself in a dark room.

A beautiful blonde walks out of the shadows, a twisted smirk on her face. Annabeth.

I try to run to her, but I'm chained to a chair.

"What's going on?" I demand. "Annabeth?"

"Oh, Perseus," she says, and her voice is not her own. It sounds sinister. My throat constricts.

"Huh?" She doesn't call me by my real name.

"You brave, foolish boy. If only someone loved you."

My confusion increases, and a man steps out of the gloom.

It's Luke.

Annabeth turns to him and kisses him passionately, and my heart shatters into a million pieces.

Annabeth breaks out of the kiss and smiles, and Luke returns the smile. I feel sick.

"Luke's dead," I realize, clenching my fists. "This isn't real."

Anger sizzles off me in waves. I stand up and walk out the door, holding in the tears. What kind of cruel test is this?

The scenery changes, and I'm underwater. But it isn't water.

The water is a poisonous shade of green, the same kind that Polybotes almost killed me with. 

I'm going to die. By drowning in poison.

I try to inhale, but poison chokes me. I writhe in the water, but the pain never ends. It's agony.

I scream, but it's muffled. No one is going to save me. I'll die in the most horrible way possible.

Then I remind myself that it's not real. But how? How do I feel pain and misery? 

I focus on Annabeth, and her alone. I clear the poison from my thoughts and think of her. Her smile, her laugh, her blonde hair catching the sun's rays. Her stormy gray eyes that are so full of intelligence. My heart beats slower, and I exhale. The landscape changes.

My mother, kneeling on the ground, at gunpoint. A whimper escapes me when I realize it's me pointing the gun at her. I try to shift it, but my arm won't move.

"Percy," Sally says, smiling warmly. The skin under her eyes crinkle. "I love you, my son. Do it. Pull the trigger, or the world will end."

My arm trembles, and I shake my head fervently. Sally's eyes turn sad. "The world's fate is in your hands, Percy. Shoot me."

I tighten my grip on the gun and force it to point at me. I raise it to my forehead. "I love you too, mom."

And I pull the trigger.

__________.__________

I wake up in the white chair, breathing heavily. Four stares at me, shocked.

"Three fears? That's it?"

"Yes," I say uneasily. What's the big deal?

Four shakes his head in disbelief. "That...that's a record. I have four fears, which used to be the record, but you just broke it."

I narrow my eyes. "Whatever, Tobias Eaton."

In the next second, Four has a dagger up my throat. "Explain," he growls, a fire in his eyes.

I grab the handle, twist his arm, and slam him to the floor. Four raises his eyebrows. "Where the hell did you learn a move like that?"

"I'll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours."

Jason's P.O.V.

I walk down the hall, tense. I feel like someone's following me.

My footsteps echo through the room, and my heart beats faster for some reason.

There are two sets of feet. 

I break into a run, and someone pins me to the wall. My eyes widen.

I see my attacker more clearly. She has familiar kaleidoscope eyes, and choppy brown hair.

"Piper?" 

"Yes, Sparky! Now shut up and let me speak!"

I shut my mouth and stare at her, dumbfounded.

Piper leads me to a dark corner of the room. "I have news, and not the good kind."

I wait for her to continue.

"I was sitting in an oak tree last night, and-"

"You sneaked out just for that?" I interrupt.

"I said shut up! Anyway, I overheard Johanna Reyes and some Dauntless man talking."

"What did they say?"

"Well, they were talking about a war. The Dauntless man wanted Amity to participate. It looks like they're siding with Erudite, and they have special weapons. He said they got 'a new shipment' of weapons, including a bunch of nuclear bombs."

My eyes become wider. "Bombs?" I squeak.

Piper frowns. "Yeah. They plan on wiping out the entire faction of Abnegation. We've got to warn Frank and Hazel."

I nod. "I know. They could be in danger. By the way, how did you get in here?"

Piper blushes. "Um, I kind of charmspeaked a Candor man into letting me in."

I roll my eyes. "He fell in love, didn't he?"

"Ugh. I hate Aphrodite. I'll see you soon, okay Jason?"

"Okay," I say. "Love you, Pipes."

"Love you too." With that, she turns to leave. 

"What do you think you're doing here?" A voice demands.