~Playlist: "Secrets" by OneRepublic~

"I'm gonna give all my secrets away~

Piper's POV

The crowd erupts into cheers. The sight of it should make me happy, but it makes me sick. Before Silena revealed her love story, they were all too happy to let her face any punishment, no matter how cruel.

The only ones that don't seem to have a reaction are the guards standing near us Selected. They have more weapons than any guard I've ever seen before. If they're here to make us feel safe and protected, it most definitely isn't working.

Judge Michaels bangs his gavel a couple of times before the audience falls silent once more.

"Silena Beaugard is cleared, and her case has been closed. Will Charlotta de Rosa and Willow Livingston come to the stand?"

I automatically recoil at her name, and even more at the sight of the girl. It consoles me slightly to see that her hands are binded together with handcuffs.

The two girls are escorted to the stand by two guards, both of which I don't know. More guards join them, and they surround the stand. As Willow walks, I see her wink at one of the guards, who gives her a half-smirk in return. I watch the exchange baffled. Why is she friendly with the one holding her captive?

"Willow Livingston, you are charged with assault, battery, and murder. What do you plead?" Judge Michael's voice rips me out of my thoughts. I return my focus back to the trial happening in front of me.

Willow gives the judge a white smile. "I plead to be released."

The judge clenches his teeth together. "Do you plead innocent or guilty?"

She bats her long eyelashes. "Innocent, your honor."

My nails dig into my palms as I ball my hands into fists. Many others mutter about her arrogance, and it takes all of my self-control not to join them. Judge Michaels bangs the gavel before continuing.

"Tell us all we need to know," he says, and it sounds almost like a threat.

"With pleasure," Willow says conversationally, as if she was at lunch with a friend. "I was never anything more than a victim, you see."

"Shut up!" a voice calls out from the crowd.

"Liar!" another voice agrees.

Several shouts ring through the courtroom. I exchange a look with Annabeth, who has determination in her gray eyes, and I know that it's reflected in my own.

"Silence!" Judge Michaels bellows. "Continue, Miss Livingston."

"Thank you," she says with a winning smile. "As I was saying, I never had any say as to what I did."

"Elaborate, if you will, Miss Livingston," the judge says.

"Of course, your honor. You see, I was trained ever since I was a little girl to become something dangerous, a weapon, of sorts. I was trained to be a lethal assassin."

The audience gasps collectively. Some people go so far as to lean farther away from her, as if Willow would kill them right then and there.

A sour taste fills my mouth. It's no wonder that she was able to harm so many in a such period of time if she had training.

"I was trained," Willow continues, her voice cutting through the air like a blade. "In order to fight a growing issue, a disease, of some sorts, in Illea: the DI. The members of the DI are not like you and me, you see. They are...different. Different in the way a witch is different. They have special abilities, ones that can harm anyone, but they aim mostly towards children."

"What is the relevance?" Judge Michaels demands.

"If you allow me to continue, then you'll see," Willow responds firmly. She takes his silence to be permission. "The DI wanted to get to me, and my step-brother. But my father would never let that happen, so he trained me in the arts of battle and killing. Ever since then, it's been my duty to protect Illea from the cruelty of the DI."

"That has nothing to do with your multiple crimes. You stabbed one of the Selected, Piper McLean." I fidget with the bracelet around my wrist as the crowd stares at me. "You killed many guards, and maid, as well as keeping Bianca di Angelo captive, where you also harmed her. How, Miss Livingston, do you explain the reasoning behind those actions?"

Willow remains poised and calm, but lethal fury shines in her green eyes. "It's rather simple, your honor. Piper McLean was in position to be the next victim of the DI. The only way I could think to protect her is by harming her. That way, all of her visitors would be closely monitored, and the DI would have no chance to see her. I'm very rueful over the deaths of the guards. A large sum of money was donated to the conduction of their funeral, and it was I who made that donation to show my remorse. The maid, however, was not an accident.

"She was in cohorts with the DI, and I had to stop her immediately, or else all of the Selected would be in great danger. Bianca di Angelo is a much different story."

Her words echo through my ears. Had her sick, twisted mind warped her sense of reality by claiming that she was trying to protect me? Or was in all in her plan, cleverly connived by herself and her father? Either way, it was a lie.

I can feel a gaze pinned on me. I turn my head and see that Reyna is giving me a long stare. I return the look, trying to convey my sympathy towards her.

"Miss di Angelo," Willow continues, drawing my focus back towards her. "Came from the royal Italian family, but she was already exposed to the DI. Her mind was filled with diluted knowledge, and I'm afraid that I went too far in trying to convey that message to her. She ended up, regretfully, getting injured."

"So what you are saying," Judge Michaels says in a voice that sounds more like a growl. "Is that all that you did was an accident?"

Willow nods her head, beaming brightly.

"I see. Charlotta de Rosa, do you have anything to add?"

"No, sir," the darker-haired girl chirps. "I stand by everything Willow Livingston said."

"Thalia Grace, please join them at the stand."

Guards bring her to the stand, and she takes a seat. Handcuffs decorate her thin wrists.

"Thalia Grace, you are charged with attempted murder. What do you plead?"

"Innocent," she says through clenched teeth while shooting Willow a glare.

"What do you want us to know?"

"I was forced to do what Willow wanted," Thalia says. "I was forced to throw that knife at Reyna."

"Is there anything else?"

"Yes. It's a rather long story. When I was younger, a long, long time ago, I had a little brother. He was taken from me by the palace. They wanted to make him a guard because he was so strong and talented. They didn't ask: they came one night, and took my little brother away from me. I tried to find him, but they wouldn't let me in at the palace. They told me to go home. That was when I realized I had no home."

I hear sniffles coming from both sides of me. Reyna has tears shining in her dark eyes. It surprises me: I didn't see her cry when she got stabbed. Annabeth is also fighting to keep tears from coming. Her fist is pressed against her mouth.

"So I journeyed to Carolina, where I found a boy that looked almost exactly like my brother had," Thalia continues. "The same blonde hair, the same blue eyes. He had run away from home, just like I had, so we decided to team up together. His name was Luke Castellan. A few months later, we stumbled upon a little girl that was much like us in the sense that she left her family. She was named Annabeth Chase, and she became my little sister."

I find Annabeth's hand, and hang on tight to it. Through her glassy eyes, I can see that she's grateful.

"One day, Luke was visiting his mother, and Annabeth and I were there. He wanted us to meet his step-sister, who was named Willow Livingston. We were playing a stupid game, and Luke was dared to kiss me," Thalia's voice broke on the word 'kiss'. She clear her throat and continued her story. "Willow told her father. He slapped Annabeth hard, and I tried to defend her. But he was too strong. I was thrown into a tree. When I woke up, Willow and her father were gone, and Luke's face was bloody. His step-father used a tree branch to scar his face."

Thalia's voice is shaking, and tears are running down her face. There's not a dry eye to be seen anywhere, albeit Willow.

"We stayed together for years, even after Annabeth agreed to stay with her parents. Then came the Selection. Luke, for some reason, wanted us to enter it. We agreed, if only to keep him happy. Then, we were Selected. And everything changed.

"Luke Castellan was a guard here, so we were still together. But during this time was when I realized something. I loved Luke more than I loved the Prince. I found out around then that he was working with Willow.

"And then he was killed. The night Willow captured Annabeth, Luke died. And I killed him."

Her tears cannot be ignored anymore. Thalia is forcing herself to talk through the gasps she takes in between breaths.

"I was trying to save Annabeth...and I had to fight him. I was so angry at him that I fought him. We were outside near a cliff. He tried to grab my weapon, and...and I pushed him. But we were too close to the edge, and he fell."

There's a thick silence as she struggles to get herself together.

"Do you have anything else to add?" Judge Michaels asks gently.

Thalia nods and takes in a deep breath. "Weeks later, Willow pulled me aside, threatening to kill the Prince if I didn't go with her. She told me I was to get rid of one of the Elite so that she could take their place in the Selection. I didn't want to, but then Luke came. Luke was alive, somehow."

"Miss Livingston forced you to do this?" Judge Michaels asks for clarification.

"She threatened to kill the Prince if I didn't go with her. I threw the knife at Reyna in order to obey her."

"So she never forced you to throw the knife?"

Thalia licks her lips anxiously. "She could have killed Luke. I wasn't going to do it. But then, I saw what happened to Bianca. I was scared, okay? I was scared about what would happen to me, to Annabeth, to Percy."

"He doesn't believe her," Annabeth whispers, panic lining the edge of her voice. "He thinks she's just like Willow."

I glance over at Willow, and see that she's smirking triumphantly. It's almost as if she planned this.

Realizations dawns on me as everything is registered. Willow winking at the guard, the heavy weapons decorating the guards only near us and not anyone else.

"Annabeth," I hiss urgently. "We're in danger."

"What?"

"Willow planned something. Look at the guards around us."

She does as I say. "So?"

"Their weapons. Why do they have so many?"

Her eyes widen.

"And I saw Willow winking at one of them earlier. She's planned something, I'm sure of it."

"We need to make a plan," Annabeth insists.

Before we can do anything, the sound of breaking glass echoes throughout the room. Several people scream and duck.

I stand up, and Annabeth does the same. At once, all of the windows shattered. Black cords are shot inside, and people are coming down them.

The large doors bang open, and three people walk through them. They appear to be around my age, if not a little older. A girl walks in the middle with another girl on her left, and a boy on her right.

The leading girl has auburn hair, and is holding no weapons. However, a whip is coiled around her wrist threateningly. She has a friendly face, one that I feel that I've seen before, but I don't know where.

The boy has messy brown hair, and two swords are strapped to his back while a bow is clutched in his hands. It hangs loosely by his side near the quiver full of arrows that's strapped to his leg.

The final girl has curly black hair and a warm complexion. Several knives are stored on her leg, and she's holding a long spear.

Together, the three look dangerous. They're all clad in all black, just like those that came in on the lines.

"Willow Livingston," the dark-haired girl says. "I was rather surprised when you referred to us as evil, considering what you are."

Willow had stood up upon their entrance, and she now bared her teeth at them. "You aren't allowed to be here," she growls.

"We are here," the auburn-haired girl says. "Because of what you threaten to do. You've hurt too many, Willow Livingston, and I won't have you hurt any more demigods."

The unfamiliar words echoes in my mind.

Percy stumbles as he tries to run through the crowd. The guards stand there, not running to protect the civilians. No, they continue to stand around Willow, as if protecting her. And the guards around us have turned to look at us. They wear dangerous smiles on their faces, and the weapons that were on their bodies are now in their hands.

"What is happening?" Reyna asks, sounding as bewildered as I feel.

With a growl, Willow shoves her hand forward. Somehow, a shadow comes out of her palm, and charges at the girl standing in between her two companions.

She calmly raises her hand, and a flame burns on her fist. The shadow dies at the presence of the fire.

"Surrender, Willow Livingston," the girl continues to say.

"Never," Willow says. "I won't have you take me."

"Then we have a problem," the darker-haired girl says with a smile. "Sam?"

"Go," the boy says quietly. The group of intruders surges forwards towards Willow.

And in front of me, a supernatural  battle begins.

A/N
Another cliffhanger. Sorry.

Today's shoutout is to @LunarWiseGirl for her comment on my last chapter. Thank you!