no matter how many times a snake shed its skin, it would always be a snake. no matter how hard kit dempsey tried to prove he was no longer a traitor, camp half-blood would always view him as the boy who betrayed them for kronos. but not leo valdez...
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CHAPTER TEN: MERCY KILL
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KIT DIDN'T STAY PROUD of Leo for long, not that anyone expected anything different. The second the four demigods returned to the sky on Festus' back, Kit lost his proud tone and reverted to his usual deadpan self. Jason stayed knocked out for close to an hour since they left Monocle Motors behind, his head resting peacefully in Piper's lap. In front of Kit, Leo chatted away like he'd never have the chance to speak again if he stayed quiet, giving Kit the headache of a lifetime. In the end, when Jason woke with a frantic cry of 'Cyclops' he was actually happy to hear the blonde boy's voice.
"Whoa, Sleepyhead," Piper giggled down at him.
Jason blushed, though remained incredibly confused as he stammered out, "D-Detroit. Didn't we crash-land? I thought..."
"It's okay," Leo assured him. "We got away, but you have a nasty concussion. How are you feeling?"
Kit watched as Jason lifted a hand to his head, wincing when his fingertips ghosted over the prominent bump on his temple. "How did you... the Cyclops..."
"Leo ripped them apart," Piper said, sounding just like Kit had before. "He was amazing. He can summon fire--"
"It was nothing," Leo cut in sheepishly.
"Bullshit," Kit scoffed then. "Controlling fire isn't nothing." Sure, it was supposedly a curse for the Hephaestus Cabin, but what was a little curse in the face of impending doom?
Piper went on to explain everything to Jason; from Leo defeating the Cyclops family (and not even needing Kit's help to do it!) to how they freed Jason, then fled Monocle Motors as soon as the monsters began to re-form before their eyes. For a moment, Jason was quiet, clearly stunned into silence. Kit watched as surprise followed by concern flickered across his face. The expression only darkened once Piper told him about the other demigods they believed the Cyclops family had eaten; demigods with purple shirts, just like his...
"I'm not alone then," he said at last, smiling with relief. "There are others like me."
Piper frowned at him. "Jason, you were never alone. You've got us."
Kit didn't like how she looked at him when she said us, but he didn't comment on it as Jason murmured, "I know. But something Hera said... I was having a dream, Hera was in this cage..."
Kit's mood only worsened as Jason explained what the Goddess had told him. Jason had been exchanged for something, or someone, and Kit had a feeling he knew who.
"An exchange?" he voiced into the silence that followed. "Did she say what?"
Jason shook his head and sighed. "But Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way–"
