[ You weren't expecting this, huh? ;) And btw, might be the last update for a bit. ]

in which will dies a little inside.

—
Ow.

Oww.

Owww.

That hurt.

Will could barely move, let alone see where he was. It was dark, very dark. His wrists were tied up by rope, feeling the rope burned as he moved around. And he was sitting on something sharp.

Was it spikes? Knifes? Maybe his butt had just fallen asleep?

Dazedly, he tried to scoot away, but a firm hand grabbed his shoulder. He looked up, terrified, and blue eyes met dark ones.

This person's eyes were like Nico's.

Wait. Nico. Was he okay? Was he alive? Did he know what was happening?

What was happening?

Will's eyes widened as someone turned on a light. He was in the cafeteria, but not only him. At least five others were with him, in the same position he was. Gagged, arms tied behind their backs, and scared out of their minds.

He recgonized them as Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Clarisse LaRue, Malcolm Pace, Michael Yew, and a teacher's assistant, Hylla Arellano, who was also Reyna's older sister.

The man who grabbed Will had let go, going back to a corner where he leaned back, amused as another man who looked similar to him came over to the six.

This man had black dreadlocks, tanned skin, and was holding a gun in his left hand. But Will didn't really notice that at first. What Will noticed was that this man had metal eyes.

It was like he was wearing a mask that covered his eyes, but the mask was made of a metal that Will recgonized as celestial bronze (Leo had said multiple times that his dad's favorite metal to use was celestial bronze, when asked why his trustworthy hammer was so strong), and the eyes were a bright red. The man never blinked.

"Congrats, kids." The man said, narrowing his eyes (how was he doing that?). "You've successfully been kidnapped by the Giants."

Will had heard of the Giants. They were a ruthless gang of siblings led by their mother that wreaked havoc across the world. They had bombed Greece at least twice, and led a massacre in Rome. He also recalled that when he was twelve, the Giants and another powerful group, The Titans, had fought over who could be allied with the Monsters, some lesser gang with more numbers.

The Giants won, taking control over some of the remaining Titans and the Monsters. Will had heard that they started recruiting teenagers, so that explained how two of his classmates were guarding the cafeteria doors. Chris Rodriguez and Alabaster Stone both had guns in their holsters.

"Now, to get to business." The man said. "My name is Orion, and if any of you speak out of turn or even try to escape, you'll have a bullet in your brain within seconds."

"Whoop, yeah! Go Ori!" A man with long green hair braided with silver and gold coins shouted. "Slay!"

The man who had grabbed Will rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Otis." He said, oboviously annoyed. "Let Orion speak."

"Someone's salty, huh? But not as salty as me when I was drowning in the Atlantic thanks to your failed plan, Ephialtes."

"It was only because you--"

"Shut up." Orion said, his tone cold, looking at the two. Ephialtes and Otis looked like twins, except Ephialtes had purple hair instead of green.

The two huffed, glaring at eachother.

Otis turned back to his hostages, holding up his gun. "As I was saying," He continued through gritted teeth. "If you give us good, reasonable, and correct information, we might let you live."

Will chose to ignore the might.

"So. Where is Annabeth Chase?"

The blonde boy frowned. All this trouble, He thought. Over the girl in my English class? He could faintly remember the new girl, and how she was seated next to him and she greeted him with a faint smile. Will had replied a polite 'hello', and nothing else.

Everyone stayed silent. "No answers?" Orion asked, stone faced. "I'll have to kill you, then."

"Uhm, Orion?" Otis said cautiously.

"Whaaaat?"

"They're gagged." Otis answered, and Orion rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers. Alabaster left his post and quickly took off everyone's gags.

"Again," Orion said bitterly. "Where's Chase? And as a bonus, any of you have rich parents?"

Quiet.

"Okay then."

He walked over to Clarisse, who was closest to him, and smirked as he put the gun on her forehead. Clarisse glared at him, flipping him off with both hands.

"And that's why I don't care about killing you." Orion said, about to pull the trigger when Chris Rodriguez cleared his throat.

Orion turned to him, groaning. "What now?

"Maybe, just, uhm.. you know.." He coughed awkwardly. "Give them a bit more time to think? Because, you know.. Annabeth just arrived here today."

Orion raised an eyebrow, and Chris visibly paled, scared for his life. Then Orion laughed, walking over and patting him on the back. "This is why we recruited you. Good thinking, Chrissy."

Will couldn't help but laugh. Chrissy, ha.

Orion raised his gun and pointed it at will, slowly turning his head at Will. "Something funny?"

Silence.

"Answer me."

Will could feel the cold metal on his forehead. "I'm sorry." He muttered.

Orion punched him in the face. "Louder!"

"I'm sorry." Will said again, louder, and he could feel blood dripping from his nose.

"I thought so." Orion said. "What'd I tell you about speaking out of turn?"

"But I didn't spea--" He answered without thinking, interrupted by Orion punching him again.

The Giant raised his fist to punch again, but Hylla shouted, "Enough!"

Orion turned his attention on Hylla. "Your turn, I guess."

"It's nobody's fucking turn. We did nothing wrong! Let us go, or so help me--"

Orion rested his gun on the top of Hylla's head, shushing her. "You and what army?"

"I have connections with Artemis." She said, deadly calm, her eyes meeting his. "You know? Artemis, the one who destroyed your heart, the one who knows exactly what to do to destroy you."

Artemis was Will's aunt, who was on the USA Olympic archery team with her brother and Will's dad, Apollo. Orion used to be on it too before joining the Giants. Will remembered cheering the three on, dreaming that maybe one day he'll be where they were.

Artemis had refused to date, marry, or love, wanting to be alone for the rest of her life. She had allowed Orion to get close to her, the two becoming best friends and knowing everything about eachother. It ended with him falling in love with her, resulting Artemis to reject him. He went crazy, and tried to kill everyone on the team, eventually running away to his mother.

That, my friends, is how my dad retired at 25.

The Giant paused, staring at the woman. "Reason to kill you sooner." He whispered, just loud enough for everyone else to hear.

Then Orion pulled the trigger, and Hylla's blood stained the walls.

[ Carme out. ]