I had some free time on my hands, so it resulted in this.

Jason's P.O.V.

My friends and I met at the wall today, but I notice that someone's missing.

Piper.

I'm worried about her. She may be a headstrong girl, but she has her limits. 

If she's dead—

No. I can't think like that. She's probably planning her escape.

"It was awesome," Percy is saying. "We ziplined through the city, and I almost hit a building. It was like flying, and really fun." [A/N: I didn't know hitting a building was what you called fun, Percy.]

"I'm working on my fear of heights," Thalia adds. "I'm not as afraid of them as I used to be."

"I'm glad you had fun," Hazel says. "Abnegation council meetings are...interesting. They strive for peace, but they aren't that good at making decisions for the city. They aren't very smart, either. Explains why I passed for sixteen even though I'm only fourteen."

Frank turned to Leo. "How is it living homeless, Valdez?"

Leo scowled. "Factionless. And it isn't that bad."

"You smell like dead animal and freeze-dried peaches."

"Thanks, Zhang. I have some shocking news, actually."

"What?" I say, on edge.

"Evelyn Johnson, Tobias Eaton's scary mom. She's a Roman demigod."

I suck in a breath, incredulous. 

"You may not believe me, but it's true. She told me herself. Daughter of Bellona. She asked me to design her weapons, and I said yes."

The others stare at Leo in shock. "So Four is a legacy?" Percy asks.

"Yeah. And Evelyn doesn't just want to abolish the faction system. She wants to overthrow the gods."

"It's Luke all over again," Percy mutters. "Did she say anything else?"

"We've got another rogue demigod on our hands. None other than Jeanine Matthews. Daughter of Athena gone psycho."

"So that's why they're rivals," Nico says. "It's Greeks versus Romans. Again."

Annabeth, who's been silent the entire time, says, "You don't have a chance against mistress. She will take down that silly army. They are pretending to be soldiers at war, a revolution, but their mission is futile. Your mission is futile."

Percy places his hand on her shoulder, concerned. "Annabeth, are you okay?"

She blinks and flinches, conflict written across her face. It's like she's at war with herself. "I'm fine," she snaps. "Stop hovering over me like a lovesick puppy."

Percy withdraws, looking hurt. I feel sorry for him. 

Something is really wrong with Annabeth. She isn't acting like herself. It's like she's being controlled.

Controlled. 

"Styx!" I curse.

The other demigods look at me like I'm crazy. I might be. "Dude, what's wrong?" Leo inquires. 

"Guys. Doesn't every faction have a serum they inject into people?"

"Yeah," Frank says. "What are you getting at?"

"Truth serum for Candor," I ramble. "Peace serum for Amity. Memory serum for Abnegation. Fear serum for Dauntless. But Erudite...What's their serum?"

"We don't know. Annabeth is the only one who might, and..." Hazel trails off. "No!" she cries.

We all look at Annabeth, who is twitching uncontrollably. "I think we're seeing what their serum can do," Thalia whispers. 

Annabeth passes out, and Percy catches her. "What do I do?" he says, panicking. "She can't go back."

"Is it like a rabies serum?" Leo asks. Percy casts a cool glare in his direction, and Leo huffs. "What? It was a reasonable question!"

"I think we should let her be," Nico intervenes. "Chiron, she can't stay at Camp Half-Blood, right?"

Chiron finally speaks. "She can't. I'm afraid Jeanine's and Evelyn's plans run much deeper than Chicago. For now, you must continue to investigate. Try to heal Annabeth. If she was injected with one of their serums, there must be an antidote. Find it."

"Is she going to be okay?" Percy frets. "We...College in New Rome...I wanted...She's not going to be poisoned with rabies serum her entire life, is she?"

"Find an antidote," Chiron insists. "If not, she might be this way forever. It will cause her to go mad."

Percy shivers. "I will."

"There might be a listening device attached to her," Hazel points out. "Did you notice that satchel she's carrying?"

At Annabeth's hip, a small satchel is strapped to her body. Percy opens the pouch and finds several shots of glowing liquid. He puts the contents on the ground. "Is that the serum?"

Thalia counts the containers. "Eight. She was going to inject us all."

Percy searches the satchel. "That was it. No recording device."

"I think Jeanine knows that technology attracts monsters, I guess," Nico says.

"How does she live in a faction that's all about technology?"

"They have a wall several hundred feet in the air that encircles the city. Pretty hard for a monster to get through. Maybe that's another reason why they built it."

"That's so confusing."

"You're always confused," Nico says bluntly.

"Hey!"

 "Guys," Hazel interrupts. "That's enough. So, what's the plan?"

"We send Annabeth back to Erudite. Leo makes weapons for Evelyn and finds out what she's up to. Frank and Hazel, have a talk with Marcus. Percy, Thalia, and Nico, you hang with Tobias. I'll try to smuggle a truth serum and inject Jeanine. Piper—" I falter, realizing that Piper isn't here.

"What happened to Beauty Queen, anyway?" Leo asks.

"I don't know," I admit. "Captured or worse."

Percy gazed into the distance. The wasteland that had no end. "Let's hope she's alive."

You're free to throw tomatoes at me for not updating in so long.

But, seriously. Please don't. I hate tomatoes. They are the lettuce in a world full of cookies.