𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐈𝐕.
i should hate you, i feel stupid

ᯓᡣ𐭩

𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 throwing herself off that goddamn ship.

But she couldn't, because, once again, she was trapped in her own bed by traitorous arms, as wrong as that was.

Though, this time, it didn't bother her.

She accepted the warmth that Luke's body provided her, resting her head in the crook of his neck, inhaling his salty scent.

She shouldn't get used to this, but it felt so nice.

Luke stirred, and Maisie looked up to see his eyes fluttering open. She smiled.

"Hi," she said, quietly.

"Hi." His voice was still sleepy, softness and roughness merging in his vocal chords. "Sleep well?"

"Mhm," she hummed, affirmatively.

"Good," he replied simply, lowering his face to plant a kiss on her forehead. In response, she snuggled further into him, as he tightened his arm around her.

"We can't stay like this forever, you know," Maisie said after a short silence.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Don't you have things to do?"

"I'm the boss. Things can wait."

"Come on," she urged with a laugh. "I'm hungry."

Luke groaned. "Fine," he dragged out. He begrudgingly disentangled himself from her and got up, allowing her to sit up.

"We're making a pit stop today," he said, pulling a T-Shirt over his head.

"Oh, okay. What for?" Maisie asked, unsure of what his plan was.

"I need to get something. You'll see."

She nodded, the crypticness of this interaction not going unnoticed by her. Maybe a pit stop would give her an opening to leave. Realistically, she still had to go back to camp, otherwise she'd be deemed a traitor, too, and she wasn't one. At least that's what she wanted to believe.

Luke left shortly after, to plan ahead with his accomplices. Maisie would never get used to the fact that he worked with bear-men giants now. Kind of unsettling.

She was left to wander around the ship alone, grabbing something, relatively healthier, to eat. She settled on one of the chairs on the deck, amongst the other passengers who, unlike Maisie, didn't know what they were doing.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

It didn't take them long to reach shore, although Maisie couldn't recognize where they had come.

"Go wait inside," Luke told her as he suddenly appeared behind her, squeezing her shoulders.

"Why?" she asked, getting up, her brows furrowed.

"Because I'm the one with a sword here." The words left his lips but Maisie could see the regret etched on his face as soon as he said them. They still angered her.

"Fine," she said, walking away, not without bumping his shoulder with her own on the way.

She found the stateroom which she knew housed a window overlooking the deck. She stood next to it, shielding herself from view, but still seeing what was happening. Luke was getting off the ship with Agrius and Oreius, making their way towards some kids that seemed to have just come out of the ocean.

He raised his sword, pointing its tip at one of the boys' throat.

With a drop of her heart, Maisie realized that those kids were Annabeth, Percy, Tyson and Grover.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Luke and his giants brought Maisie's friends up to the ship. Maisie saw them talking, no doubt about unhappy things.

Percy was doing most of the talking, soon making Luke angry. His face was turned away from the window but his shouting orders could be heard all over the ship. His crew seemed scared, making Maisie scared in return. Something had really angered Luke and that wasn't good for Percy and the others.

Out of nowhere, an Iris message appeared behind Luke, Mr D, Tantalus and the rest of camp appearing in the haze. Maisie managed a smile. Percy must have tricked him to admit the truth.

Annabeth, Tyson and Grover, who, thank the gods, was okay, were held by the giants, whereas Percy was in front of Luke, drawing his sword. It didn't look good.

Once Luke noticed the Iris message, he started slashing at Percy with Backbiter, channelling his rage through the fight. Percy was defenseless without a shield, relying only on Riptide to buy him some time.

No matter how many hits he could get in, Luke dodged, hitting him back. It didn't take long for Percy to fall to the ground, his injured leg preventing him from standing.

Maisie knew she couldn't stand by and watch anymore. She ran to the security room she'd spotted the day she came, in search of her daggers. Luke had given them to a security guy to store away so this was her best bet.

Silently thanking the gods, she found them on display on a table in the room. Entranced staff couldn't do anything better than that, she thought.

Maisie grabbed her weapons and rushed to the deck. Her pulse was rising with every step she took, every turn she passed. She had to get there on time.

Right as Luke pointed to the giants, who seemed ready to devour her friends, Maisie appeared behind them, a dagger in each hand, shoving them in their backs, stabbing them as deep as she could.

Agrius screamed, whilst Oreius made a more confused sound. The monsters disintegrated, letting her friends fall. Annabeth's eyes widened, relief flooding through her.

Luke turned to see what had happened, his face shifting at the sight of her.

Maisie's mind was rushing through everything that had happened during their time on the cruise ship, every look, every touch, every kiss.

She nearly felt bad about escaping. Just nearly.

Then, the scene changed into the day he had betrayed camp, the first day on the ship when he'd almost fed her friends to a drakon, and this moment when he'd almost killed Percy and fed the rest to his bear-men friends.

Luke didn't have a chance to say or do anything, because an arrow shot right past him, making him lose his balance. Once he had regained his senses, he looked around frantically, searching for the source of the attack.

Right on cue, a dozen centaurs appeared on the ship, running towards them. The ground shook, water splashing up from the sea.

The centaurs, including Chiron, grabbed the kids, throwing them on their backs with unintentional force.

Maisie spared Luke one last glance, her emotions unreadable. She quickly grabbed Percy from the ground and a centaur threw them both on his back. Maisie held Percy tightly, hoping he wouldn't fall off, considering his injury.

Apparently, centaurs were fearless or indestructible, probably, since they jumped off the huge ship like it was nothing.

They ran and ran, and Maisie didn't look back once.

───────

dear reader!

the end for act two!!! thoughts? feelings?