CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE ESCAPE PLAN

Hazel was at Nico's side pretty quickly—after freshening up, and making sure that Nico wasn't alone when she was gone, she was there in an instant.

The boy still had his head in his hands, with Will at his side trying to calm him down. "She's okay." Will said. "She's gonna be okay." His voice was soft and comforting. He didn't say it out loud, but he was glad Nico wasn't shutting himself out. Nico was allowed to feel scared, or worried, or anxious because it was his sister. He didn't need to hide that he cared for her.

"Nico." Hazel crouched in front of the boy. Nico made no move to show he was listening, but Hazel knew he would be. "Go take a break while you can. Use the washroom, eat something... just trust that the Fates will keep their word."

For the first time in ages, Nico spoke. "She's gonna be different when she comes home." His spoke softly. Slowly, he glanced up to meet her eyes. If he was being honest, that's what worried him. What if Layla never got her memories back? What if Layla changed so much that she didn't want to see him?

Will seemed to know where Nico's mind was going, and took his hand, rubbing small circles on his palms. "She misses you, even if she doesn't know you yet." Will sounded absolutely positive of that. "You wanna know how I know?" Nico remained silent, but nodded. "Think about how many times she mentioned you, even without knowing who you are. Think about the time she said she wanted to get back to you—and Percy and Hazel." Nico suddenly felt ridiculous for thinking that Layla didn't care, but Will wouldn't let him feel that way. "It's okay to worry. But she's coming home, and I know she'll be glad to see you."

     The faintest smile appeared on Nico's lips. Slowly, he looked down to his feet and exhaled. "Thanks." He muttered to both Hazel and Will.

     The two smiled at him, before Will stood up, offering a hand. "Let's go." He left no room for debate. He was fully ready to help Nico clean up before getting him something to eat—but Nico had enough energy to roll his eyes and say he could do it himself, all with a smile on his face.

     Leo, Piper and Jason had found their seats again. The two boys were thankful that the snack tables reappeared, and were happily stuffing their faces with popcorn chicken. "When we meet Layla," Leo said in between bites, "you think she'll like us?"

     Jason and Piper turned to face him with frowns, but nodded nonetheless. "I hope so." Piper said, "why?"

     Leo looked at them as if it was obvious. "Because she looks so cool. Who wouldn't want to be her friend?"

     "You could say that again." Percy interrupted, snatching a few pieces of chicken from Jason's plate, much to the blond's surprise. Annabeth and Grover weren't far behind, the latter of the two chewing on a tin can.

"Dude—" Jason stared at the blank spaces on his plate with his jaw dropped.

Percy grinned, despite his worries for Layla. "Thanks." He nodded. Jason glanced up, amused by the boy's behaviour. Still, he grumbled on about his missing chicken.

"You said she was the mom friend?" Leo asked, curious—there was a mischievous look in his eyes.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah." She pointed at Jason, "she was almost as bad as him."

Leo shot up, dropping a piece of chicken on the floor. "That was my joke!" He exclaimed, causing the others to break out in laughter. It was a nice change of pace after all the worry they had been feeling while going through the book.

Grover gazed off, his eyes landing on The Maze Runner, and was glad to see the first book was almost finished. Still, the other two looks laid their, keeping him on edge. What else would happen to Layla?

     Then, his eyes went over to the snack table, and his jaw dropped. Percy followed his line of sight, pointing to it with a smile. "I think that's for you, man." His chewed up sleeve hung limply on his arm, due to Grover's nervous habit.

     Everyone else turned to see what they were looking at, before Grover began bouncing around. "A sofa." He stared at the old, blue sofa with a smile. Before anyone could say anything, he ran off, excitedly munching on the sofa. At the sound of soft laughter, he looked up, meeting Annabeth's eyes. "What?" He asked, fabric falling from his lips.

     "Nothing." Annabeth waved him off, "go ahead. Eat your sofa."

     Grover didn't need to be told twice.

A small section of the theatre was occupied by the gods, who spoke in much more relaxed conversations. Still, Hades was clearly upset with Zeus' behaviour, and the fact that his daughter was stuck in another world. He was, however, glad that Persephone wasn't complaining about the fact that she existed in the first place.

Hades couldn't exactly blame her for being upset, because he was the one who cheated on her, but now was not the time for her to voice her opinion—and she knew that. Hades was one insult away from letting the dead crawl back to the land of the living. It was clear that everyone was wary around the god of the dead.

It was a surprise that Poseidon was the first to speak to him. Hades glanced to his right, staring at the sea-green eyed god, who looked far more sure of what he wanted to say to Hades than the others had. "She'll be all right." Hades was also surprised by the amount of truth in Poseidon's tone, like the god really meant it. "Percy has spoken... very highly of her. I believe that she will return home safely."

Hades stared at his brother for a long moment, but found himself feeling grateful for Poseidon's words. "I hope so." Hades said with a nod. It was clear that he was ending the conversation there, but that didn't change how much Poseidon's words meant to him.

After around thirty minutes, everyone began settling in their seats. Without a word, Thanatos made his way to the front, ready to read the next chapter or two. No one seemed to have any arguments, which he was happy with.

As Grover walked to his seat, he frowned at the sofa that he was leaving behind. Ares, noticing, sighed before making his way to the front. He picked up the sofa with ease before dropping it at Grover's feet and making his way to Aphrodite.

Grover beamed, turning to call out, "thank you—"

Ares huffed and sent a nod, as if saying, no big deal.

Thanatos glanced around the room—it looked like everyone had gone back to their original seats, and was waiting on him. "All right." He said, before flipping to chapter eleven.

Layla sat in the slammers with Thomas and Teresa close by, glaring at the floor as her mind wandered to Gally. She couldn't believe that he would blame her for something she couldn't possibly understand. I could've helped? She thought, and why didn't I?

     Many were reminded of the things Gally said, and the things he did, leaving them angry. Though, no one was more angry than Nico, except maybe Hades.

     Layla did, however, understand why Thomas did what he did, but that didn't change the fact that she thought it was incredibly stupid. The boy laid unconscious in Teresa's arms, his eyes moving underneath his eyelids at a rapid speed.

     Layla couldn't believe that he had stung himself. He made the choice, and he did it. She couldn't think of another Glader who would even think of doing it, let alone going through with the act.

It was a clear reminder of the things that set Thomas apart from the others, and why he was so good. He was selfless, determined, and above all, curious. Layla was lucky to have a friend like him.

     Then, Thomas opened his eyes.

     "Hey." Teresa smiled down at him, her hands resting on his face, moving to his shoulders. "Are you okay?" Thomas lifted his head up a little, but quickly lowered it after he realized how tired he was.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck scolded from where he sat. At this, Thomas quickly shot up, turning to face Chuck, Newt and Minho. The small group surrounded the slammer door, eyeing Thomas with varying looks of disbelief and relief. Soon after, he realized that Layla was a few feet away from him.

Thomas looked around at them with his mouth wide open for a few moments before he spoke, "what happened?"

"Gally's taken control." Newt informed. "He said we had a choice. Either join him... or get banished at sundown with you." Newt gestured to the three who were locked away.

Thalia glared at the screen, "that little—"

"Thalia." Artemis scolded. Although, her tone made it clear that she didn't mind Thalia's anger towards the boy. It was more of a way of asking her to save her words for the right moment.

Thomas groaned as he moved around, trying to get comfortable. "And the others agreed to that?"

Teresa sighed, "Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all this has happened."

Ares scoffed, the fire in his eyes growing hotter.

     Thomas nodded, rubbing his hands along his pants. "Well, he's been right so far." The others sent him confused gazes. Did Thomas just admit that Gally was right?

"Uh..." Leo raised a brow.

Piper hummed, "weird."

     "What are you talking about?" Minho frowned, tilting his head at the statement. He leaned forward, looking through the holes of the slammer door.

     "This place..." Thomas started, "it's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison, it's a test. It all started when we were kids. They'd give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us. And then people started disappearing. Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."

Nico already knew this, like the others, but seeing the look on Layla's face made it worse. She had no memory of her time before the Maze, and the shock was clear. Still, as Nico looked at the screen ahead, he saw a glint in her eyes... almost like she expected to hear that, or worse.

     Newt quickly caught on, much like the others did. "They were sending them up into the Maze." He muttered.

     "Yeah," Thomas nodded, "but not all of us."

     Newt frowned, "what do you mean?"

     Thomas sucked in a breath, wringing his hands together. "Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put you here, I worked with them."

Looks of surprise we're exchanged, mainly between the demigods. The gods looked on with interest, while a few others thought back on what they'd read. Slowly, it began to make sense.

"I— I watched you guys for years. The entire time you've been here I... I was on the other side of it." Teresa stared down at the ground in shock, and Thomas sighed. His eyes held a sadness that Layla had never seen before—regret even. "So were you." He mumbled.

     Teresa's mouth dropped open slightly, "what?"

     "Teresa, we did this to them."

Thanatos paused in his reading. He didn't blame Thomas, not after everything he'd done to help Layla, but his words still cut like a knife. He breathed out deeply before beginning to read again.

     Teresa slowly shook her head, refusing to believe it. "No. That can't be true."

     "It is." Thomas frowned, "I saw it." He then turned to Layla, his face grim. There was a glint in his eyes, an emotion she couldn't read. Curiosity? Fear? Layla couldn't be sure, but Thomas began to speak before she could figure it out. "You weren't like the others. You could... do things..." he struggled, unable to put his thoughts into words. "You had power—and they were scared of it. They found a way to contain your power. I don't know how."

Hades gripped his seat, denting the armrests. They had no right to take her power from her. She was worth more than all those scientists combined. Somehow, they would pay for what they did—he would make sure of it.

     Layla stared at him for a long time, "Thomas, what do you mean?" She asked. Despite her confusion, a gut feeling told her he was telling the truth. Her stomach felt like it had been tied in a knot. She felt sick—still, she yearned for more knowledge of who she was.

Many of the demigods were reminded of when they found out who they were. The curiosity and innocence on Layla's face, it was something they had seen before, and felt too.

There was a time where they wanted to know who they were, as well.

     Thomas seemed uneasy, like it was a difficult thing to say. Like he didn't understand it at all, but he still wanted to help her. "I don't know. None of us ever knew much. We weren't supposed to know anything about your power at all, but you told us." He frowned, "I only have pieces. I... I can't remember."

     I can't remember. The sliver of hope that Layla had was gone.

Nico shrank in his seat as he watched her face drop. He didn't like seeing his family sad.

     It was like Teresa hadn't heard any of it. Her mind spiralled with the shock that she had worked for them. "Why would they send us up if we were with them?" She stuttered, bringing the attention back to her. Her tears were shining in the dim sunlight.

     Thomas shrugged, "it doesn't matter."

     "He's right." Newt nodded. "It doesn't matter. Any of it. Because the people we were before the Maze, don't even exist anymore."

Newt's words solidified Nico's fears, but he didn't speak. He was too focused on staying calm.

"These creators took care of that. But what does matter is who we are now, and what we do... right now. You went into the Maze and you found a way out."

     Thomas frowned deeply, "yeah, but if I hadn't, Alby would still be alive."

     Layla felt like she had been punched in the gut at the reminder. She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry at all the loss, all the death. Layla blocked out the feeling of death around her, but the voices were still whispering into her ears. She wanted them to stop, because she knew the voices, and who they belonged to.

     She wanted them to leave her alone.

     Layla's close friends frowned. They could see the tears building up in her eyes on screen, and how she tried to hide them. It was a cruel reminder of how terrible the scientists had been to them so far.

     "Maybe." Newt's voice was soft, pulling Layla out of her own head, "but I know that if he were here, he would be telling you the exact same thing: pick your ass up and finish what you started. Because if we do nothing... then that means Alby died for nothing, and I can't have that."

     Thomas stared at Newt for a long time, the frown on his face never leaving. He slowly nodded, "okay." He sighed, letting Newt's words sink in. "Okay, but we gotta get through Gally first."

     Thalia and Ares rolled their eyes in unison.

Layla let herself be dragged by two of the Gladers who had sided with Gally, battling every instinct to fight back. Teresa was in the same boat as her, and Thomas pretended to unconscious, leading to him being dragged across the ground.

     "Looks like they have a plan." Reyna nodded in approval. She was interested to see how it played out.

Gally sighed, "this is such a waste." He mumbled softly, glaring at Teresa and Layla. His eyes were narrowed, as if even looking at them was a waste of his time.

     "Oh, my gods." Percy huffed, running a hand over his face, "he's so fucking annoying."

     Thalia hummed, "you got that right."

"Gally..." Winston interrupted, and Gally looked up at him, surprised that he dared to speak up and possibly go against him. "It doesn't feel right, man."

Jeff nodded in agreement, "yeah, what if Thomas is right?" Gally took slow steps towards the boys. "Maybe he can lead us home."

Gally pursed his lips, "we are home." He sighed, "Okay? I don't wanna have to cross any more names off that wall." He pointed to the nearest wall in the Glade, which was littered with names—a gut wrenching amount of them were crossed out.

     "He's in denial." A demigod near the back of the theatre muttered.

"You really think banishing us is gonna solve anything?" Teresa questioned, one of the Runners held her arms tightly so that she couldn't run away.

Gally shook his head, "no." Layla narrowed her eyes at him. "But this isn't a banishing. It's an offering."

     "WHAT?"

     "He's nuts."

     "There's no way—"

     Layla stared at him in disbelief as her arms were lifted above her head, and tied tightly to the wooden post she had been slammed against. The rope scratched against her skin, causing her to grit her teeth. "You're insane!" She called out, which earned her a glare from the two boys tying her up, and Gally.

     Layla's skin turned red upon being scratched, and Nico and Percy glared harshly at the screen. It was becoming increasingly more annoying that there was nothing they could do about it.

Teresa stared in shock as she was pinned to a different wooden post, "what are you—" her wrists were tied just as tight as Layla's. "Gally, what are you doing?"

Gally began to raise his voice, "you really think I'm gonna let Thomas back into the Maze after what he's done?"

"Still don't see what's so wrong about killing a Griever." Ares raised a brow, unimpressed with whatever Gally's motive was.

Layla had to force herself not to lash out at him right then and there.

"Do it, Layla." Leo whispered.

Piper snickered as Jason lightly tapped the boy's arm. "Leo." He held back a laugh.

"Look around you! Look at our Glade! This is the only way. And when the Grievers get what they came here for... everything goes back to the way it was."

Clarisse stared at the screen in complete confusion, "that's the dumbest thing I have ever heard, and I've had to deal with Percy for six years."

Percy whipped his head around, "hey!"

Thanatos was unbothered by his shouting, and continued reading.

     "Are you listening to this?" Teresa looked around at the Gladers with wide eyes, "Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy!"

"Yes, he is."

     Gally raised a brow, "you shut up?"

     "If you stay here, the Grievers are going to come back." Teresa reasoned. "They're gonna come back, and they're gonna keep coming back until you're all dead!"

     "Shut up!" Gally shouted, "tie him up!" He pointed to Thomas, who laid on the ground, limp. The boys just stood there, beginning to rethink what they were doing, so Gally yelled at them once more. "Do you hear me? I said tie him up!"

Just as the two boys began to lift up Thomas, he yanked one of his arms out of their grip and elbowed one of the boys in the stomach. He quickly grabbed a wooden spear and smacked the other one in the head, knocking them down.

"Damn, Thomas!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Ares was pleased, nodding his head in approval.

"Yes!" Drew sat up straight, her eyes glued to the screen.

     Minho and Layla's eyes met in the distance, and she watched as he lifted up his crossbow, aiming it between her hands. Layla pulled her hands as far away as she could, and he released the arrow, hitting the rope dead on. Layla pulled her now freed hands down, taking her compound bow from him when he was at her side. She took her quiver and readied her bow.

"Okay," Leo held his hands up, "I love this Minho guy. He's so cool."

Percy stared at the screen, leaning forwards with his eyes open wide. "Agreed."

     Of course, she would never fire an arrow at any of the boys. They were all she's ever had in the Glade, but if any of them tried anything, at least she was prepared.

Eventually, Gally and his small group of Gladers began to realize that they wouldn't be able to put up a fight.

Gally stared down Minho, who had his crossbow pointed between the boy's eyes. Layla wasn't concerned, because she knew Minho wouldn't do anything unless he needed to, and Gally didn't show any sign that he would be putting up a fight.

Layla made her way over to Thomas, keeping her bow steady.

Gally sighed, looking over to Thomas who held his spear pointed to Gally. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

"You don't have to come with us, but we are leaving." Thomas' face was twisted up in anger. "Anyone else who wants to come, now is your last chance."

"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to scare you." Gally held up a hand, glancing at the Gladers around him.

"Shut uppp."

"No, I'm not trying to scare you." Thomas shook his head, "you're already scared. All right, I'm scared." He paused as he sucked in a deep breath, his grip on his spear tightening. "But I'd rather risk my life out there than spending the rest of it in here. We don't belong here. Hey, this place... isn't our home. We were put here. Okay, we were trapped here. At least, out there we have a choice. We can make it out of here. I know that."

In silence, a few boys began to make their way over to them, leaving Gally to watch them in shock. Gally nodded slowly with his lips pursed. "Gally," Thomas called out to him, "it's over." He held the spear at his side. "Just come with us."

Gally looked at him for a long moment, an emotionless expression on his face as he thought of what to say. "Good luck against the Grievers." He decided, causing Layla to sigh softly.

The theatre was dead silent after hearing Thomas' words, and watching how sure of himself he was. He would've made a good demigod, but wishing that on him would've been cruel. He didn't deserve that.

Maybe that's why it hurt so much to have to watch Layla deal with all of this.

Slowly, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her as the others ran into the Maze. Layla frowned softly, "goodbye, Gally." She muttered, watching as the boy frowned. The two hadn't always seen eye to eye, but there was an unspoken sort of respect they had for each other. It was hard to leave him behind, even after everything he did to her.

Layla had always been a respected person—even after she was claimed. People grew scared of her, but she was still liked. It was clear that she took other's views into account, so watching her say goodbye to Gally was bittersweet.

     Then, Layla followed the others into the Maze.

Thanatos flipped the page, his eyes staying on the book for a long moment. He then looked up, looking Hades in the eye. "It's the last chapter." He said, as if telling the god to prepare himself for what could happen. The chapter looked to be a long one, which meant a lot could go wrong.

Hades silently nodded his head, and Thanatos began to read after a few seconds to think.

—————
lizzie speaks...

"goodbye, gally" lol sure, you'll see him in, like, two minutes <3

sorry for the break. writing didn't feel fun anymore, more like a chore, but now i'm back and i'm ready to write :))

also, gave grover that couch as promised

Gally: You really think I'm gonna let Thomas back into the Maze after what he's done?

Layla: