A Game of Promises

Chapter 35: Gone

I'm going to win worlds worst author for this, but does anyone know if I killed Claire yet? What chapter?

Piper's POV

I listen as a girl screams in agony, somewhere in the distance. I never thought that would become normal to me. I never thought I'd live through any of this. The deaths, the killing, the murder. None of this is what I am.

The screaming stops abruptly, but no cannon sounds.

"Piper, pass me my hammer. I'm gonna go see what that was about," Leo says, standing up.

"Are you sure? I can go if needed."

"It's fine. Geez, it's like you're my mother. I'll be fine. I'll look both ways before crossing the street and everything."

Something isn't right. I'm about to say so, but Leo has already left. Birds chirp happily as he walks away.

Jason is asleep. The cut on his stomach has only gotten worse,  and so has he. He hasn't woken up at all today, but he's still alive. Barely. I've tried to feed him mashed up berries and nuts, but he refuses them.

I hear nothing. The birds have stopped singing. Something is wrong.

"Piper?" A weak voice says softly.

"Jason!" Thank the gods! I thought you were dead."

I hug him, but release him after he grunts in pain.

"How are you feeling? Leo and I tried to heal your stomach, but the cut wouldn't close."

"Not one hundred percent, but better," he replies sleepily.

"Good. I was so worried about you. I thought-" I stop abruptly.

"What? You thought what?" Jason asks, confused.

"Shh. Listen."

There's a sound, not too far away from us. Branches getting crushed, something falling down heavily. Animals rush past us, running away from an unseen threat. I look at Jason. We both hastily throw everything we own into a small backpack. Then, we see it.

The land is falling, disappearing into nothingness. The sun set a while ago, and where the ground used to be is a blackness similar to the night sky.

"Go," I say quietly. Jason doesn't move. "Go! We have to run, have to get out of here!"

I push him forward and he run, following the long gone wildlife. It's not moving too fast, but we have a few narrow escapes. I trip and my foot falls into one of the black places. There's nothing below me. Jason pulls me up and we run faster.

Leo. Where is he?

Jason is sweating a lot, much more than I am. Then I remember his stomach wound. That can't be easy, running with it.

"You okay?" I ask him, yelling as I jump over yet another fallen log.

"No, but it's not like we can take a break," he yells back.

"What's even happening?"

Before he can reply, I see another figure in the corner of my eye. Two others are running against the ominous black ground.

We've been running for a while, for too long. I'm out of breath and my legs can hardly move. My breathing becomes labored and I have unbearable cramps. The cornucopia appears in front of us. Other people are already near it. I dash towards it, joining the others that are climbing it.

Then it stops. The disappearing, the running. Everything just stops.

Jason's face is clenched together in pain. He's clutching his stomach with his hands.

"Here, just lay down. Gently," I direct him to an empty spot on top of the cornucopia.

Right as Jason lays down, a sword comes down from behind me and creates sparks as it collides with the metal. I spin around and come face to face with an Ares tribute.

She raises the sword again, this time aiming closer to Jason. I fumble to grab my knife. I grab it's hilt and stab her in the elbow.

She drops the sword in pain and I take that distraction to push her off the side. The area tribute lands just centimeters away from the nothingness on the ground.

The other tributes look over at me warily. I turn my attention back to Jason.

"You okay?" I ask him softly.

"You...you just...to her," he stutters in confusion.

"Are you okay?" I ask him again, more forcefully this time. He nods and swallows.

A loud sound fills me ears, hurting them. It sounds like thunder, but much louder and more powerful.

"This is the end," a voice sounds. Everyone, including me, winces at the noise. "This is the end of the demigod games. In one hour, it will end. And there can only be one demigod left. Fight now, kill the weak ones before it's too late, or else you shall perish as well."

Many people grab the hilts of their weapons tighter. Some start fighting right then.

"Could you knock it off?" A female voice yells. "They want us to fight, they want this!"

It's Thalia, Jason's sister. She's clutching her silver bow with an arrow already notched.

"They want us to kill each other just because. But guess what, that's a bunch of crap. I'm not going to kill anymore innocent demigods just because some God told me to."

Thunder rumbles warningly. Thalia just glares at the sky in return. Annabeth, whom I didn't notice before, stands next to Thalia.

"She's right! We don't have to do this, we don't have to be the pawns of the gods!"

Percy Jackson joins her. Jason struggles to stand up. I help him and together, we walk towards them. A few others join us, until it's us against two others.

The girl I pushed off and Claire. Claire is casually turning a knife in her hand, palming another.

"So what's going to stop me from throwing this knife in somebody's eye?"
She asks as if talking about the weather.

"The fact that there's like a dozen of us and two of you?" Percy replies.

Quick as a thought, Claire flicks the knife at Percy. He bats it away easily.

"Maybe I'll die from fighting you, but at least I'll go down fighting," Claire says as she takes out another knife.

"That's the spirit," Percy says.

A deep rumbling starts before Percy can charge her. It sounds the same as when the ground dissolved.

I look to where the noise is coming from and see that the ground is still there on the other side of the cornucopia. The same thing must be happening.

From the shadows of the trees, I see two figures approaching. I recognize one of them and my heart stops.

"Leo!" I scream at him. He's running for his life, helping the girl next to him. She keeps stumbling, but Leo stays with her.

"Help her up!" He shouts when he gets to the cornucopia's base.

Percy doesn't look down. Instead, he keeps an eye on Claire. Thalia lowers down her bow and she grabs on. She collapses on top of the metal top, blood running down her arms and legs. She has several scratches all over her body. There's a few paths of clear skin running down from her eyes, most likely marks of where her tears ran.

I remember her. Daughter of Hermes, I think. Bella Marquess.