Run | TMR X PJO [ Editing ]

Chapter twenty-nine, in which everyone is restless and things take a turn for the worse. 

The five of them slept restlessly that night—but who wouldn't? Nico's appearance had pushed them back by days, something that they had to risk, although begrudgingly. Percy especially had trouble sleeping because he was constantly wondering where he had seen the little guy before (surely not at their local stand-up comedy show.) He seemed so familiar, but he radiated such a dark aura that he wondered if they had been enemies in past life. Nico radiated something that could loosely be described as death and power. 

Percy woke up in the middle of the night with a start. If he had been dreaming, the said dreams disappeared quickly. He didn't know why exactly he was awake, he just was. For some peculiar reason, his conscience screamed, "Go! Go make momma Newt mad and go outside in the middle of the night! I bet you won't!"

Percy knew better than to go outside. However, this was Percy we were talking about, and he went outside anyways, tiptoeing over drooling boys with the grace and poise of a ballerina. Groggy and slightly dazed, his feet managed to get him out the door, where the cool wind did wonders on his stress.

He stood in the doorway of Homestead like a fool—Percy was awake and had absolutely no idea why. Nothing like wandering around in the middle of the night, he decided, so he made himself useful by taking inventory of their supplies. He was off to Frypan's kitchen, where Teresa had hidden a plethora knives that would not be out of place in a cooking area. It was a smart move on her part, and he silently had to give her kudos for that. 

Just as he entered the kitchen, there was a clang of something slamming shut; it certainly couldn't be rats or some other animal. Only a human could have made that sound, and he couldn't help but wonder why someone would risk Newt's wrath for a midnight snack. Percy crept closer and closer to the sound, trying to match the stealth of a cat (although he looked more like a fumbling elephant sneaking up on a mouse if anything.) 

Nico.

His body language was a sure meaning that he had been caught off guard, and his face contrasted with the shadows as he backed up against a wall. "It's you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Percy hissed, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "And what are you doing here so late at night?"

Nico hesitated for a moment, evidently trying to come up with a sarcastic and witty answer. "I-I could ask you the same thing!"

"I asked first," Percy insisted. 

The boy was backed into a corner with nowhere to go, it seemed. He took a deep breath, as if he were about to launch into a big spiel, only to slump back and disappear into the darkness. Percy blinked once, twice. Nico had disappeared without a trace.

It must have been some trick, he decided. Nico was the wild card in the Glade, so he must have done something while Percy was still sleepy—there simply was no way for someone to melt into the shadows within seconds. Perhaps he was half-asleep and dreaming; maybe Nico being there at all was just a figment of his imagination. 

However, he did not come to see magic tricks. He found the floorboard that cleverly hid the weapons, lifting it with a small grunt. It was an adequate amount of knives, and he decided that he'd had enough sleep-induced hallucinations for the night.

—

In a WICKED lab far away, a small group of scientists huddled over a projection of a young man with eyes the color of the sea. They had been monitoring Percy since he had woken up, and they were amused at his encounter with Nico. A maternal-looking woman, who went by the name of Ava Paige, was overseeing it all.

"Poor boy," she tittered with no humor in her voice. "He looks so confused. Haven't you activated his powers yet?"

One of the younger doctors nodded like a bobblehead, eager to please. "Yes m'am, Janson made sure of that."

"Good. I do hope he figures it out soon, for his own sake. Our little Death Boy here has already figured out that he can shadow travel," she noted mildly. 

Another scientist piped up, taking rapid notes. "He's the only one out of both experiments to figure out his powers. This is taking far too long—the Flare is mutating rapidly and more people are dying every single day!"

"There must be another way to activate all their powers!"

Ava pursed her lips; the man was right. She would have to activate their powers in a more forceful way—triggers. Her extensive research proved that under stressful conditions, the half-bloods' powers would come out of dormancy. She took note of that, writing a meticulous note in her little notepad for later reference.

With a small sigh, she opened up the discussion for everyone to contribute. "So, ladies and gentlemen, any more suggestions?"

The first scientist that had spoken raised her hand, although she looked rather unsure of her idea. "We could trigger the Ending."

"It's far too early for that—Group A is still not matured enough," she explained, making sure to tread lightly when it came to her experiment groups. 

No one had any other answers. Until a man, who had been silent during the entire meeting, opened his mouth to speak. "We still have the Minotaur mutations from last month. We could send them in, no problem at all."

Everyone murmured amongst themselves, suddenly remembering what they still had in their arsenal—no one had ever thought their mutation project would be useful. After a moment's thought, Ava nodded her approval and brought up the Minotaur projection on the screen. It was not the classic Minotaur of myths, but one that had all sorts of features that could be the trigger they were looking for.