The Extinction of Heroes

Chapter 15: We Are Sorted (Not in a Good Way)

Brace's POV:

"I don't care, go on and tear me apart

I don't care if you do,

'Cause in a sky,

'Cause in a sky full of stars,

I think I saw you."

Coldplay ~ "A Sky Full of Stars"

I groggily open my eyes. I'm sleeping in the fetal position, and Percy is sprawled out next to me. The ground is cold and slightly wet. I can hardly see anything, once again. Percy jerks awake, frantically looking around.

"Annabeth!" he says, loudly but tiredly.

"She's not here, remember?" I ask, kind of concerned. My voice cracks, and I curse myself for sounding so weak. This is Percy Jackson, like the most powerful demigod ever, and I'm a weakling. Not only that, but he's counting on me. He trusts me, and I'm pathetic.

"Yeah," he says, but his voice is monotone.

"Do you-" I start, but I'm cut off by a burst of light so bright I have to choke down a gasp, which some of the others weren't able to do. I force my eyes closed. I hear a few screams. I slowly peel my eyes open, getting used to the sun.

Some guy jumps through a trapdoor in the roof. He lands on the ground, knees slightly bent. He straightens his legs and stands up, looking around the room. He's a few feet away from me, and I hold my breath. He obviously works for Gaea, he might as well be wearing a tee shirt that reads, 'Gaea's Number 1 Fan!' He finally speaks.

"My name is Aaron, you listen as I speak. We are going to take you up, and you will be sorted. You will stand in line. When it's your turn, state your full name and godly parent!" his voice is loud and clear, it rings around the room, practically bouncing off the walls. A rope is lowered down and he climbs up it, his feet resting on the knots in it.

"Follow me!" he orders.People pile out, climbing the rope one at a time. Some of the more injured ones require a boost.

When it's my turn, I set my foot in the lowest knot. Both my hands latch above the highest knot I can reach. My other foot pushes off the ground, I use my arms to pull myself up, but my ribs explode in pain. I realize my injuries are worse than I thought. I bite my bottom lip to avoid crying out. I firmly grab the the next knot. I jump and pull myself up. I grab the next knot, then the next one. When I reach the next one, a hand is hanging out. It belongs to Travis Stoll. I take it and he hauls me up. I stumble, but regain my balance. Percy comes out next, then one more boy.

Gaea's number one fan leads us to a big room. I'm assuming it was once a throne room, because several huge thrones surround the room. Only now, they are torn apart, and there's spray paint graffiti on them, which I think is odd. What kind of villain spray paints?

There's at least a hundred teens in split in two lines. Percy grabs my shoulder and leads me to the line farthest from the entrance. We stand in line, Percy goes in front of me, which I'm greatful for. His eyes scan the crowd, looking for Annabeth, I'm sure. I search for Mason, my eyes skimming over every person. I curse when I don't see him.

"They're probably still in another cell, or maybe they've already been sorted, or-" Percy starts, but I cut him off.

"Or maybe they're dead."

"Geez, I guess you really don't believe in sugarcoating, do you?" he asks jokingly, but his mind is on other things.

We're almost at the front of the line. A few people go up then it"s Percy's turn. A girl, about the age of twenty-one, looks at him expectantly. She has long black hair pulled up and her eyes are green. Her skin is tanned and dirty, and she has scars scattered over her face. She's wearing a white tank top, jeans and combat boots.

"Name, and godly parent," she barks.

"Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon."

She looks him up and down.

"Warrior. Go to the middle group." It's then I notice three mobs in the far corner of the room. Percy looks back at me, then walks to the middle group.

She looks at me expectantly.

"Brace Rivers, daughter of Ares."

"Full name," she orders. A sinking feeling develops in my stomach. They must know I'm from the prophecy.

"Brace Rivers," I say, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Before I know what's happening, her spear slams across my face. The impact makes my head whip to the side, and the tip cuts across my right cheek, which was facing her. The cut bleeds, but i think there might be some bleeding on a tooth or something too.

"Full name," she spats.

"Brandyce Rivers." I spit out. My heart pumps wildly in my chest. I have no idea what they are going to do to me.

"Warrior, middle line. Be expecting a visit."

I walk fast to the middle group. I see a tall blonde head sticking out. He turns around, and his eyes lock with mine. Honestly, this was one of those perfect movie moments where the girl and the boy run towards each other. When I see his face, I take off at a sprint. He moves his way through the crowd, shoving some of the people that won't move. He gets free and I jump into his arms, and he crushes me in a hug. He holds me as if he never wants to let go again. He presses his lips to mine. The kiss is passionate, like it's water in a desert. I put my hands up and run them through his hair, and he keeps his arms around me.

He pulls apart. "You're okay," he says breathlessly.

"Yeah." I grin.

+++

The warriors apparently have a training facility, we're not aloud to have weapons, because we could rebel or something like that. There's various running tracks, weights, and empty spaces to do sit ups or something.

Today is the first training. It's only been about an hour since we were sorted, but now we're here. We start with one hundred push-ups. On command. My arms feel like jello after each one after thirty. Elena, who's next to me, is about to pass out though.

Next we run laps around the track. I think it's five miles we're supposed to do. I try to stay back with Elena, who keeps grabbing her shoulder, but Mason is practically dragging me forward. Percy stays with Elena, which is nice. Mason picks up his speed to get closer to the front, I follow him. My lungs burn, but my feet keep going steadily. I'm really glad I was conditioned so much in training. We finish our last lap, and I latch my arm around Mason. My ribs are practically exploding out of my chest, and sweat drips into the cut on my face, making it sting.

My heavy breathing rasps out as I lean my forehead on Mason's shoulder.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I say, straightening up. I really don't want to seem weak. Every time I inhale a sharp pain shoots through my chest, but I'm not going to say anything. I'm sure everyone's in pain, they don't need to hear my whining.

I look over to see Percy and Elena. Elena is barely breathing, and Percy is holding her up. She leans over, throwing up. I run over to her. Percy is holding her steady, and I pull her hair back out of her face.

"Ugh," she says as she comes back up.

"You okay?" Percy asks her.

"Obviously not," she grumbles. The fact that she's well enough to be sarcastic comforts me.

She looks behind me, and her face pales. I turn around to see a dark haired teen.

"Brandyce Rivers," he calls, his voice loud, "get over here now."