End of the Line

#10 - Escape From the Castle

Chapter 10 - Escape From the Castle
published: Wednesday, 30 January 2018

"What was that down there?" Leo asked quietly.

He and Jason were walking along the hallway to the meeting point.

Jason was fiddling with the coin in his pocket, his face a pale shade of white. He refused to meet Leo's eyes.

"You said to kill them," Jason said monotonously.

Leo shook his head. "Before that." He sighed. "Jason, I've never seen you like that."

Jason stopped walking and turned to Leo. His eyes were haunted with fear and regret. "Remember when I asked you about night terrors?"

Leo slowly nodded.

Jason looked down at his feet. "Well, recently, I-I've been having, well, nightmares about what happened at Camp Jupiter."

They shared a moment of silence.

"What are they like?"

"I see ghosts," Jason said miserably. "Old friends, people I didn't save. Everyone I love dead."

"Everyone?" Leo echoed.

"Everyone," Jason confirmed. "And theres always someone – a good friend – who tells me I could've done more. It was you once."

Leo didn't know how to react. He still wasn't the best at human contact or comforting friends. Was he supposed to hug Jason? Reach out and pat him on the back?

"I have them almost every night," Jason said hollowly. "And I-I guess the maid reminded me of it." He turned away. "I can't lose Piper too, Leo. I just can't."

"You won't," Leo promised.

Jason gave him a weak smile. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

Leo was suddenly reminded of Calypso. She'd told him the same thing before they'd left for the quest.

"You'll see her again," Leo insisted. "And when you do, I want you to tell her everything you just told me."

Jason frantically shook his head. "No. You're the only one who knows. If Piper knew..." He sighed in frustration. "She'd find out that I'm not as strong a person she thinks I am."

Leo frowned. "Well, she'd be better than me at this by far."

Jason chuckled.

"Tell her," Leo said. "Seriously, man–"

A sudden flash of orange in the window next to them, followed by a deafening splash of water snapped Leo and Jason back to reality.

Leo rushed to the window in alarm and glanced back at Jason in panic.

"Annabeth," Jason breathed.

They sprinted through the hallway and burst through the castle doors.

"Annabeth!" Leo yelled. "Annabeth!"

He hurried across the drawbridge, towards where he'd seen the splash, Jason at his heels. They came to a halt.

Jason shook his head, a slow grin spreading across his face. "That son of a gun."

Like something out of a movie, Percy Jackson had resurfaced, his arm wrapped around Annabeth's waist as he manipulated the currents to push them towards the shore.

Annabeth slid out of his grasp and pulled herself onto land. She wrung her hair and her clothes dry.

Percy followed suit and dried her instantly with a touch to her shoulder, though she flinched at it and backed away.