Salvation.

16. Consolation

!!TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE IS IMPLIED/MENTIONED!! DON'T READ IF IT TRIGGERS YOU

Nico 

I sat on the floor in the middle of the training arena, watching Clarisse and Reyna bicker about something.  We had just finished cleaning the majority of the weapons, and there was nothing left for us to do. 

Jason, who was sweeping the floor, sighed and propped his broom up against the wall. He cast a glance over at the two girls before walking over to sit next to me. 

We sat in silence for a few seconds before Jason cleared his throat and asked "What are you thinking about? What's bothering you? You have this scary look on your face." 

I blinked before forcing myself to smile. "Nothing. It's nothing. Don't worry about it." 

Jason raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying my answer. I wanted him to leave me alone, but it was obvious he wasn't going to. 

"Fine." I groaned, tilting my head back to stare at the ceiling. "I'm just thinking about the fact that we're going to be stuck in here for the rest of our lives." 

Jason scoffed at that and looked down at his hands. "I've already accepted my fate. As long as Perseus is King, there's no way out of here."

I stayed quiet, my thoughts going back to the time when I had first met Percy. I remembered how amazed I had been when he showed me his sword, Riptide. 

"I want to say that you're wrong, but I'm not going to give us false hope." I said after a few seconds of silence. "Plus, you've been stuck in here way longer than I have. If there was a way out, you would've taken it already." 

Jason fiddled with the bracelet on his wrist and smiled thinly. "Yeah, exactly. This place is a literal fortress. We're constantly under surveillance, and did I tell you about that time when I had tried to escape?" 

I raised an eyebrow and turned to face him. "No, you didn't. What happened?" 

"I was literally caught before I could even leave the palace. Perseus showed up and told the two demigods that had captured me to take me to the dungeons. I was whipped around 15 times." 

I winced at that, and Jason chuckled at the look on my face. "Exactly. After that lovely experience, I lost hope in ever getting out of here. Until you......"

He stopped talking and pursed his lips, keeping his gaze locked on the bracelet. I frowned and reached out to poke him on the shoulder. "What were you going to say? Don't worry, I'm not going to judge you or anything." 

Jason hesitated, but after I poked him again, he caved in and continued to speak. "When I saw you running towards me, and telling me that you were here to rescue us, I felt hopeful again. I genuinely thought that we were able to escape after being slaves to Perseus for several years." 

I bit my lip and turned away from Jason, trying to hide the guilty look on my face. I remembered that all too well. 

I had spent a good amount of time on finding and recruiting demigods that had managed to escape from Perseus' radar in an effort to oppose him. 

Why did I think that I stood an actual chance against my cousin? I knew he had been blessed by half of the Primordial Council, but I still attempted to fight him. What the Hades was I thinking? 

All that I had managed to do was to get myself captured and imprisoned. 

Go me. 

"Hey." Jason said softly, grabbing my arm and startling me out of my thoughts. I turned back to face him, and I was surprised to see that he was smiling at me.