Uniting As The Ten- Part Two Of The Conclusion To The United Series

Chapter One

Max's POV:

I wake up in a cold room on the floor. I don't remember much. All I remember was trying to stop the others from killing Remo, which I quickly realize is a mistake, before knocking out. Now here I am, wherever this is.

I open my eyes and my question is not answered at all. It's a small dark room, completely empty. I'm not tied up or chained, which was a mistake for whoever brought me here.

Before I can try anything, the door on the other side of the empty room is opened and a tall guy with a mop of brown hair and dark green eyes wearing a sadistic, proud smirk on his face enters.

"Morning, Maxy," Bryce Lawrence calls to me. I shake my head, glaring back up at him.

"No, dammit, you're supposed to be dead!" I shout at him and his smirk just widens.

"You injured me pretty bad after destroying the Anubis, but you didn't kill me. You were close, though, I'll give you that." Bryce walks up to and kneels in front of me.

"And what you said was awful, let me tell you," Bryce whispers to me, his smirk widening. I freeze up. What does he mean by that?

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

"To your friends, of course. Gods you were merciless."

"What?!" I shout, jumping up, but Bryce pushes me back down to my knees.

"Well, it wasn't exactly you, but still." Bryce shrugs. "They're pretty upset."

"What did I say?" I ask Bryce, my voice shaking with fear and anger.

"You just called Valdez stupid and told him that you never loved him, told Percy he wasn't really your brother and that he was never there for you, and you told Ivanick that things would be easier and better if he was never there," Bryce explains and all my spirits are crushed. I told them that. I actually told them that. Gods, I'm so bad, I'm awful.

"And believe me, with control over you I was able to do a lot more than hurt them. I was able to...bring a certain someone back to life."

I freeze up. Setrákus Ra. He brought back the Mogadorian leader and now we're really screwed, especially now that Bryce can control me and knows about my resurrection legacy.

"If you're wondering, it wasn't Setrákus Ra. No, we either need a body or a certain son of Hades to let us communicate with him to resurrect him. It was someone else," Bryce adds in as if reading my mind.

I'm both relieved and worried. Who was it?

"Hi, Jackson."

I look up and gasp sharply at the tall blonde standing in the doorway. His dark blue eyes stare into mine and he has his signature smug smirk on his face.

"Octavian?" My voice is full with anger. Octavian smirks and walks towards me, kneeling in front of me next to Bryce. He takes my chin in his hand and lifts it so I'm looking directly at him. I breathe shakily, knowing that there's no way out of this, especially now that Octavian's back.

"And Curtis. He'll be here soon," Octavian replies, skimming my cheek with his thumb. He softly caresses my cheek and I've had enough of him and his stupid soft touches. I lunge at him and pin him to the floor, punching his face repeatedly. Bryce lifts me off of him and slams me against the wall behind me, pinning me there by my shoulders.

Octavian jumps up and wipes the blood pouring from his nose with the back of his hand. He looks up at me and chuckles.

"You don't like to be touched, I see," Octavian points out, smirking again.

"By you," I spit back, then turn to Bryce still pinning me to the wall. "Or you." I push Bryce off of me and he smirks amusingly at me, but they both keep their respective distances from me for now.

Suddenly another unfortunately familiar figure steps into the room- dark brown hair, tan skin, and dark blue eyes. He smirks when he sees me.

"Hey there, Maxy," Curtis calls to me, stalking towards me with a smug and proud look. The moment he's close enough, I lift my leg and kick him in the stomach. He groans in pain and backs away from me, holding his stomach where I kicked him.

Bryce stifles a laugh and Octavian looks impressed. Curtis looks back up at me, smirking.

"Good to see you too, Sweetheart," Curtis says and I scowl at him.

"Do not call me 'Sweetheart',"I growl at him. Curtis just smirks again.

"Whatever ya say, Sweetheart."

Next thing I know, I'm being held back by Octavian while Bryce tries to heal Curtis' bruised and bloody face with ambrosia. What's really scary is that I'm completely calm.

"Dam, Jackson," Octavian mutters, holding me in place by my arms. He doesn't have to. Most of my anger towards Curtis has been washed away for now. Repeatedly punching someone in the face really helps blow some steam.

But my anger towards Bryce and Octavian? Not yet.

Bryce finishes with Curtis and they both stand up and face me again. "Alright. Curtis?" Bryce asks. Curtis pulls out a pair of handcuffs and gladly handcuffs me. Octavian sits me down on the floor, my back leaning against the wall. Curtis, Octavian, and Bryce all sit in front of me.

"Where am I?" I ask them, my teeth clenched in anger.

"Oh no. We're asking the questions, and you're answering them. Honestly," Bryce replies, staring at me with a sadistic glint in his eyes.

"Well what do you want to know?" I ask him bitterly. He smirks before answering.

"How do we get inside their heads? What words will hurt them the most?" Bryce questions me. I chuckle darkly and shake my head.

"You really think I'm going to tell you that?" I reply and Bryce's smirk widens.

"Yes, actually. Unless you want him to die," Bryce says and I'm internally freaking out. Who else is here? What'd they do to him?

"Who?" I ask. Bryce just continues on smirking. Soon I'm going to slap that stupid smirk off his face.

"Did you really think you're the only Garde we captured?" Bryce whispers to me, but there's an edge to his voice. He's lying.

"Yes, because I am the only Garde you captured," I reply, slightly cocking my head to the left. Bryce looks shocked at my answer and I smirk at him.

I'm getting out of here alive.

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Author's Note: There's chapter one of 'Uniting As The Ten'! I really hope you guys enjoyed. This may be the last book in the series :( More chapters will be coming soon!

Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed. Yours in all demigodness and all that. Peace out!