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

Chapter Nine

Jason's POV:

Ivan and I jump up and glance at Michael's legacies- ice and fire.

And suddenly I feel myself get lifted from the ground. I look up and Octavian has his arm pointed at me. He looks down at Ivan and smirks and I can see why Ivan is afraid of him. He has that insane glint in his eyes, like he's ready to do anything to anyone, and that he will and won't hesitate to. I can actually feel my heartbeat growing faster by the second.

"Where's Jackson?" Octavian asks Ivan and I know exactly what he's going to do- use me to get answers out of Ivan. But Ivan's strong. I know he can handle it.

Ivan doesn't answer. He just leaps towards me and tries to grab me to pull me down, but Octavian flicks his wrist and I go flying across the room, slamming into the wall. Hard.

I groan in pain and try to hear through the ringing in my ears. When my hazy vision clears after awhile, I expect to see Ivan fighting off the four Demigods of Death. But instead I see Ivan on his knees, leaning over an unconscious Eight. There are bloody whip marks on his bare back and he's breathing heavily. Looming over him is Octavian, holding a familiar blue snake-shaped whip. Max's whip, the one Leo made for her. But that's not what worries me. I really start to get worried when Octavian lifts the whip and strikes Ivan in the back again. Ivan shouts in pain, but he protects Eight the best he can. This idiot.

I bite my lip and stumble to my feet again, but not before there's a cold chill down the back of my neck. I look that way and a sharp dagger of ice is pointing at my throat. I glance to the left and Michael is pointing at me, nonchalantly leaning against the wall with Bryce. Curtis rushes over to Octavian, probably to help him torture Ivan. Gods they never give this poor Mog a break, do they?

I growl at Bryce and Michael, who just smirk at me. Michael moves the ice dagger away from me but, with telekinesis, slams my back against the wall and lets the dagger hover an inch away from my neck again. Bryce walks up to me and lies against the wall right next to me, his body only inches away from mine. I glare at him and clench my hands into fists. He chuckles and smirks smugly at me.

"Where's Max, Jason?" Bryce asks me. I slightly shake my head, careful to not let the dagger slam into my neck.

"As if I'm ever going to tell you that." I reply and he chuckles darkly again.

"You will. If you don't want to see him get tortured even worse." Bryce whispers back, his eyes flickering to Ivan and back to me, and my anger fuels. If we get out of here alive- no, when we get out of here alive- I'm going to protect Ivan with my life. I swear on it.

I look back at Ivan and there are too many whip marks on his back to count. His back is soaked in blood. He's shaking so horribly I almost flinch and I can see him biting his lip and a few tears of pain rolling down his cheeks. I actually feel bad for him. Like seriously bad for him. I just want to hug him and wrap him in a bunch of blankets and give him hot cocoa and cuddle him.

Wait, what?

Octavian grabs Ivan's shoulder and hauls him to his knees. Curtis twists his arms behind his back and keeps it like that. They turn to face me and when Ivan meets my eye, he slightly shakes his head at me. I know what he means. He means that no matter what they do to him, I can't tell them anything.

I nod my head but I can just barely feel tears forming in the edges of my eyes. I don't want to see him like this. I can't, I really can't.

"Where's Max?" Bryce repeats the question, unsheathing his Imperial gold sword. Michael retreats the ice dagger from my neck and I'm ready to lunge at Bryce the moment I get, but I know I can't do anything without getting Ivan killed or tortured even worse.

I shake my head at Bryce, avoiding his gaze. He chuckles darkly and gestures to Ivan at Octavian and Curtis. Octavian smirks and flips Max's whip, then catches it as a blue necklace and shoves it in his pocket. He unsheathes his gold sword and Curtis pushes Ivan so he's lying on his back. He's breathing heavily and still shaking badly, but he glares up at Octavian. Octavian smirks at him before starting.

I look down the moment he starts. I wish I could plug my ears, too. Ivan's screams of pain ring throughout the Lecture Hall.

Bryce grabs a handful of my hair and forces me to look back up at Ivan. I almost throw up at the sight. I'm not even going to bother describing it. I don't want to.

I bite my lip and Octavian raises his sword from Ivan's bloody, scratched chest. Ivan looks back up at me and his black eyes are so pained I have to restrain myself from running up to him and embracing him in a tight hug.

"Where is she, Jason? It's a simple question." Bryce tells me, smirking wider. I hesitate for seconds before shaking my head again. Bryce scowls at me. I love Ivan, but he'll hate me forever if I tell them where Max is. And it's not just Max- John, Leo, Percy and Annabeth are there, too. I can't let them down.

Bryce gestures to Michael and I hear a terrifying crackle of fire. I turn to him quickly and a small flame is alive in his palm. He walks towards Ivan as Curtis shoves him so he's lying on his back again. Ivan turns his head to look at me and shakes his head again. I don't answer him.

Michael kneels next to Ivan and smirks then stares up at me. "He doesn't have to go through this, Jason. Just tell us where she is and we'll leave him alone."

I bite my lip and stay silent. Bryce leans in close to my ear, his lips just barely brushing my cheek, so close I can feel him breathing down my neck.

"You're the one doing this to him. Not us." Bryce whispers to me. I clench my hands into fists again and Bryce smirks against my cheek. He gestures to Michael again and Michael smirks at me one last time before lowering his flaming hand onto Ivan's stomach. The moment the fire touches him, Ivan screams and writhes in pain, but Octavian holds him down with telekinesis. I can't watch this.

I'm not letting him go through this any longer.

-INSIGHT-

Michael Varus was brought back by Remo Helmer with his resurrection legacy.