End of the Line

#4 - The Other Side

Chapter 4 - The Other Side
published: Wednesday, 2 January 2019

Piper couldn't see anything.

She guessed that she'd regained consciousness around an hour ago, but the blindfold around her eyes and the ropes binding her hands and feet restricted her from checking her surroundings.

Someone was dragging her by a rope around her hands, and she staggered to follow them. Piper supposed it had to be the warrior who had kidnapped her.

She wished she'd taken those martial arts classes Coach Hedge offered her. Maybe she could've busted out some jujitsu moves and taken the warrior down. Katoptris was still back at camp, lying next to a gravely injured Jason.

Jason.

Living without Jason? Especially when she was...

Piper pushed him out of her mind. She couldn't think about him right now - that would only make her despair.

Suddenly, she felt the marching stop, and the warrior shoved her forward. Piper heard the click of a door shut behind her.

Was he going to torture her? Kill her?

Piper could feel her heart starting to palpitate more quickly as she went through the horrifying plausible scenarios in her mind.

The blindfold was pulled off her head, and Piper blinked to adjust to the darkness of the room.

A torch on the wall was the lone illumination and it cast a dim glow over the stone floor.

Piper squinted to make out the figure in front of her. It was a man, his arms chained to the wall and dried blood sticking to the ground around him.

As she slowly started to make out more of his features, Piper realised who he was and her vision tunnelled.

She stumbled forward and fell to her knees in front of him. "Percy!"

He looked up, his expression one of absolute astonishment. "P-Piper?" His voice was hoarse, as if he'd been deprived of water for a long time.

She threw her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could. Tears burned at the back of her eyes as she buried her head into the crook of his neck.

Piper pulled away reluctantly and glared at him. "F-five years, Jackson," Piper trembled angrily. "I'm going to kill you."

Percy's shock seemed to be ebbing away. "I missed you too, Pipes."

The door to the cell slammed open, sending a jolt of surprise through Piper. She glanced over her shoulder to see a man striding in.

He wore celestial bronze armour with words and face sketched into the breastplate. A large, terrifying sword was sheathed at his hip.

But his most prominent feature was the air that he carried around. It was an air of superiority, as if he knew he was stronger than them and showed it. It was an air of arrogance, of evil, of darkness.

Piper saw Percy shuffle forwards discreetly as if to protect her. His eyes flashed dangerously. "Tartarus, what do you want?"