CHAPTER TEN:
MERCY KILL

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KIT DIDN'T STAY PROUD of Leo for long, not that anyone expected anything different. The second the four demigods returned to the sky on Festus' back, Kit lost his proud tone and reverted to his usual deadpan self. Jason stayed knocked out for close to an hour since they left Monocle Motors behind, his head resting peacefully in Piper's lap. In front of Kit, Leo chatted away like he'd never have the chance to speak again if he stayed quiet, giving Kit the headache of a lifetime. In the end, when Jason woke with a frantic cry of 'Cyclops' he was actually happy to hear the blonde boy's voice.

"Whoa, Sleepyhead," Piper giggled down at him.

Jason blushed, though remained incredibly confused as he stammered out, "D-Detroit. Didn't we crash-land? I thought..."

"It's okay," Leo assured him. "We got away, but you have a nasty concussion. How are you feeling?"

Kit watched as Jason lifted a hand to his head, wincing when his fingertips ghosted over the prominent bump on his temple. "How did you... the Cyclops..."

"Leo ripped them apart," Piper said, sounding just like Kit had before. "He was amazing. He can summon fire--"

"It was nothing," Leo cut in sheepishly.

"Bullshit," Kit scoffed then. "Controlling fire isn't nothing." Sure, it was supposedly a curse for the Hephaestus Cabin, but what was a little curse in the face of impending doom?

Piper went on to explain everything to Jason; from Leo defeating the Cyclops family (and not even needing Kit's help to do it!) to how they freed Jason, then fled Monocle Motors as soon as the monsters began to re-form before their eyes. For a moment, Jason was quiet, clearly stunned into silence. Kit watched as surprise followed by concern flickered across his face. The expression only darkened once Piper told him about the other demigods they believed the Cyclops family had eaten; demigods with purple shirts, just like his...

"I'm not alone then," he said at last, smiling with relief. "There are others like me."

Piper frowned at him. "Jason, you were never alone. You've got us."

Kit didn't like how she looked at him when she said us, but he didn't comment on it as Jason murmured, "I know. But something Hera said... I was having a dream, Hera was in this cage..."

Kit's mood only worsened as Jason explained what the Goddess had told him. Jason had been exchanged for something, or someone, and Kit had a feeling he knew who.

"An exchange?" he voiced into the silence that followed. "Did she say what?"

Jason shook his head and sighed. "But Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way–"

"Or save us," Piper said, and Kit snorted at the foolish hope behind it. Piper glowered at him, continuing stubbornly, "That bit about the sleeping enemy. That sounds like the lady Leo told us about."

At that, Leo turned his head to meet Kit's eyes. For a second, Kit thought back to Monocle Motors, to the face that appeared in the mud, and Leo's reaction to it. He nodded then, encouraging the boy to tell them.

"About that," Leo sighed, prompting Piper and Jason to turn to him curiously. "She kind of appeared to me and Kit back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge."

Jason blinked at him in disbelief. "Did you say... Porta-Potty?"

Kit smirked. "I know it sounds hard to believe, but just hear him out."

Leo's foot tapped anxiously against Festus' side as he spoke. "I don't know if she's completely unkillable, but she can't be defeated by toilet seats. Kit and I can vouch for that."

Before he could say much else, Piper interrupted, gaze locked on Kit's torso. "Does it have anything to do with why Kit's wearing your jacket?"

For a moment, Kit stammered in shock, unsure what to say. Leo, amused, nudged his arm and winked at Piper in a not-so-subtle way. "That's a story for another time, Beauty Queen. Back to Dirty Woman. She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like 'pfft, right, I'm gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.'"

"He definitely said that," Kit scoffed.

"Don't make me tell them how you flirted with me," Leo smirked.

"Guys," Jason heaved a pointed sigh as Kit's face flushed with a combination of annoyance and what could only be described as flustered amusement. "Back on track?"

"She's trying to divide us," Piper said, brows furrowing in thought.

Jason tracked the expression with worried eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I just... why are they toying with us?" she exclaimed. "Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus?"

Kit froze. No one had mentioned Enceladus. Slowly, he turned to stare at the dark-haired girl, who conveniently refused to meet his gaze despite knowing his eyes were on her. Kit's stomach twisted with evident distrust. Piper was hiding something...

And he wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Enceladus?" Jason echoed suspiciously.

Piper swallowed thickly. "I mean... that's one of the giants. Just one of the names I could remember. You know it too, Kit, don't you?"

Kit merely hummed, contemplating his next words. Did he ask her outright what she was hiding, or wait until Jason and Leo weren't with them. In the end, he settled on a sigh, muttering, "The name is familiar. But I must admit, I'm not the greatest with my Greek mythology. You'd want Annabeth for that sort of stuff."

Momentary relief flashed across Piper's face before she managed to school her expression into one of indifference. Jason and Leo eventually turned away from her, continuing on with the distraction, but Kit stayed swivelled around in his spot, eyes locked with Piper's own gaze. Later, the look promised. You'll tell me the truth and I'll decide if it's a secret worth keeping. Piper turned away, frowning, and Kit eventually did the same.

"Well, I dunno about enchiladas," he heard Leo say which prompted him to scoff.

"It's Enceladus, genius."

"Whatever. But Old Potty Face mentioned another name to us. Porpoise Fear or something?"

Kit pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Hades kill me now."

"Do you mean Porphyrion?" Piper questioned as the trio ignored Kit's grumbles. "He was the giant King, I think."

"I'm going to take a wild guess here," Jason muttered. "In the old stories, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. That was the first shot in the war between the giants and the Gods."

"I think so," Piper added, encouraged by Kit's nod of agreement. "But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It's almost like nobody wanted that story to survive. I just remember there was a war, and the giants were almost impossible to kill."

"Heroes and Gods had to work together," Jason recalled. "That's what Hera told me."

"Which is kind of hard to do," Leo murmured. "If the Gods won't even talk to us."

Kit's lips tugged up in a sadistic kind of grin. "You get used to it after a while, Leo. A hero could die for a God and the God wouldn't give two shits."

At that, the group went quiet, unsure what to say. Jason seemed disapproving, but like the Gods Kit spoke so sourly of, he didn't care. It was the truth. To Gods, mortals were like ants to humans; disposable, a pest that just kept coming back. They were only convenient when the Gods needed someone to do their dirty work.

Eventually, Jason addressed them again, just as the clouds separated and a glittering city formed below them in the early morning sun. "Look," he said, then pointed to a crescent of skyscrapers that stood along the edge of an endless lake. "It's Chicago."

"Well, that's one problem down," Leo sighed. "We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?"

Before Kit could so much as think of a retort, Jason's eyes lit up with surprise. "How about we follow that one?" he said, eyes locked on the air in front of them. One of the spirits was zipping between skyscrapers, playing some kind of game as Leo hastily turned Festus in its direction. "And see where it goes?"

As it so happened, navigating Chicago on a giant dragon's back was so much harder than any of them imagined. The spirit got so far ahead of them, they could barely make it out on the horizon. Jason sighed in frustration. "Speed up!"

"Bro," Leo shot him an incredulous stare. "If I get any closer, he'll spot us. Bronze dragon ain't exactly a stealth plane."

Piper let out a frightened yelp as a skyscraper formed in front of them, forcing Leo to dodge it at the last second. "Slow down," she cried, then buried her face in Jason's neck.

And speaking of the blonde boy... "Get above the buildings," he commanded, leaning over Kit's shoulder to get a better look in front of them. Kit gave a disgruntled grumble but managed to fight the urge that told him to push him away (more like off the dragon) like he so wanted to. "We'll track him from there."

"You wanna drive this thing?" Leo sighed, but chose not to argue as he did what Jason asked.

They swept over the busy streets, hopefully appearing as a low-hanging airplane to any curious onlookers. Kit could barely see the storm spirit anymore, but just as he was beginning to give up hope entirely, he spotted not one but two balls of energy weaving their way around.

"Uh, guys," he trailed off. "Is anyone else seeing double of those things or is that just me?"

"Not just you," Piper murmured. "There's two of them."

"Jesus," Leo groaned, struggling to right Festus as they swerved around another skyscraper and dipped even lower to the ground. These spirits were certainly not messing around. "Those guys do not need any more caffeine!"

"I guess Chicago's a good place to hang out for them," Piper pointed out, voice slightly muffled by the wind whipping through their hair. The sound echoed in Kit's ears like the rotary blades of a helicopter beating through the air. He could barely hear anything but the wind and his own pounding heart. "Nobody's going to question a couple more evil winds."

"More than a couple," Jason breathed out. "Look..."

Suddenly, the spirits joined what looked to be a dozen or more spirits. They were gathered around a selection of large video screens, seemingly peering up at an art display of some sort.

"Which one do you think is Dylan?" Kit made out from Leo. "I wanna throw something at him."

But Kit was no longer paying attention to Leo or the spirits, for across the video screens, a giant sleeping face formed in its pixels. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"Leo..." Jason began, but didn't know what else to say.

"I see her," Leo sighed as Dirt Woman's face flickered once then twice before the screens went completely dark. "I don't like her, but I see her."

For a moment, they hovered there, gaining a bit of attention before the Mist did it's magic and the onlookers continued on their way. Using the crowd as a distraction, each of the spirits swirled into a single funnel cloud that shot up high in the sky before slithering beneath a drain cover and disappearing underground.

"Did they just go down a drain?" Piper scoffed incredulously. "How are we supposed to follow them now?"

"Maybe we shouldn't," Leo suggested. "That fountain thing is giving me seriously bad vibes. And aren't we supposed to, like, beware the earth?"

But Jason, like the stubborn idiot he was, wasn't having any of it. "Put us down in that park," he ordered, nodding towards a section of grass and trees nearby. "We'll check it out on foot."

In the end, on foot meant heading down into the sewer because Piper's injured ankle couldn't take the walk, somewhere that Kit Dempsey never thought he'd find himself again. (A long story. And definitely not a pleasant one.) According to the plaque they found on one of the walls, it was called the Crown Fountain. None of the water remained, which was definitely a bonus, but it did stink of dampness, like something sour. Kit merely scowled and covered his nose with the sleeve of Leo's jacket.

"You sure know how to pick your places, Jason," he grumbled, to which Piper hummed in thought.

"I don't know. It's actually kind of nice."

"Well, not all sewers are this nice, McLean," he said. "You can take my word for it."

"And mine," Leo added before he could second guess himself.

Jason frowned at them. "How do you know--"

"Hey, man, I ran away six times," Leo raised his hands in a defensive gesture. "I've slept in some weird places, okay?"

When Jason turned to look at Kit, the dark-haired boy merely raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking at?"

At last, Jason had the sense to turn away, pointing down the South side of the tunnel when Leo asked for directions. "We go that way."

"How can you be sure?" Piper frowned.

"There's a draft blowing South," he shrugged like the answer was obvious. "Maybe the venti went with the flow."

"That's stupid," Kit scoffed at him.

"Well, do you have anything better to suggest?" Silence. "That's what I thought."

And so they started on their way. However, before they could move so much as a metre, Piper stumbled into Jason and cursed at her ankle, a pained expression pulled across her face.

"Let's rest," Jason ended up deciding for them. "We could all use it. We've been going nonstop for over a day."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Kit shrugged, then promptly took a seat on the ground. He was only vaguely listening as the other three conversed. He was too busy looking down the tunnel, the shadows creating monsters that blinked evilly at him through the darkness. It was only when Leo sat down beside him, shoulder-to-shoulder, that he tore his gaze away. Kit Dempsey wasn't scared of any monster the shadows threw at him. "What are you doing, Valdez?"

"Cooking," he said as he rifled through the belt around his waist. "Wanna help me?"

"I don't cook."

"Then I'll teach you."

Kit sighed but didn't argue as the younger boy lit a small fire with his fist. He pulled back a moment later with a proud smile, and Kit struggled to smother the smirk that tugged at his own lips.

It was just instinct...

"Well, Chef Leo," he deadpanned. "What are we cooking?"

"Tofu burgers," the boy declared, to which Kit's nose scrunched up in distaste. "Piper's a vegetarian."

"Right," he sighed. Tofu, in all honesty, didn't sound too appetising but he'd eat whatever if it meant he could sleep sooner. "Well, get cooking."

Leo scoffed. "I'm the Chef here. You're the apprentice. Don't tell me what to do."

"Hurry up or I'll stab you."

"Got it."

It didn't take him as long as Kit thought it would. After several minutes with the hot flames fanned in their faces, they carried four paper plates over to where Jason and Piper were sitting close together, murmuring soft whispers that Kit didn't care to listen to as he handed one plate to Piper and kept the other for himself.

"Leo, Kit," Piper breathed out in amazement. "How did you..."

"Hey, don't include Kit in this," Leo frowned. "I tried to teach him, but he's a stubborn student."

Kit merely rolled his eyes at him, too busy digging into his burger to retort. Okay, so Tofu wasn't as bad as he thought it was. The others seemed to agree. For in mere minutes, their plates sat empty and the canteen of lemonade that Leo had made from water and powdered mix was almost empty.

"You should sleep," Jason told Piper, who didn't need much convincing. Without another word, she laid her head in his lap and closed her eyes, snoozing almost immediately.

Kit snickered at the affronted look on Jason's face. "Never been near a girl before, Grace?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Says you."

"You're right," Kit smirked. "Guys, on the other hand..."

He laughed at the startled look the blonde boy gave him. However, all too soon, the mood changed. Jason was watching Leo like something was bothering him. "Leo," he began, to which the boy hummed obliviously. "About this fire stuff you can do... is it true?"

Leo's face dropped. For a second, he met Kit's gaze, then opened his hand to allow fire to dance across his fingertips. Jason gasped in amazement.

"That's so cool," he exclaimed, though Leo's face remained blank despite the praise. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't want to look like a freak."

Kit's heart definitely did not ache at that.

"I have lightning and wind powers," Jason reminded him with a soft sigh. "Piper can turn beautiful and charm people into giving her BMWs. Kit... well, I don't know what Kit can do, but it's probably something cool. You're no more a freak than we are. And, hey, maybe you can fly, too! Like jump off a building and yell, 'flame on!'"

Leo snorted, encouraged by Kit's disbelieving eyeroll as he said, "If I did that, you would see a flaming kid falling to his death, and I would be yelling something a little stronger than 'flame on!' Trust me, Hephaestus Cabin doesn't see fire powers as cool. Nyssa told me they're super rare. When a demigod like me comes around, bad things happen. Really bad..."

"Yeah, but bad things are happening all the time, Valdez," Kit let out a sigh. "Trust me, Camp Half-Blood has faced a lot worse than a demigod who knows how to create some fire."

"Yeah, and maybe it's the other way around," Jason added. "Maybe, people with special gifts show up when bad things are happening because that's when they're needed most."

It was clear Leo didn't believe them. "Maybe. But I'm telling you ... it's not always a gift."

Jason went quiet then, for once meeting Kit's eyes in a knowing stare instead of a distrustful glare. "You're talking about your mom, aren't you?" he said, turning back to wait for Leo's answer. "The night she died."

"Leo, please tell me you don't blame yourself," Kit said, scoffing when Leo stayed stubbornly quiet. "Look, man, whatever happened that night... it wasn't because you can summon fire. Dirt Bitch has been trying to ruin your life for years. She said as such to you. She's trying to make you feel like a failure, but you're not. You're..." he hesitated. Leo looked up then, eyes brimming with a pain that Kit could understand and relate to. He tried not to think of his mum often, but he'd been through all this before, back when Camp Half-Blood first became his home and he lost her for good. "You're important, Leo. Don't let her shake your confidence."

"But that's what she said," Leo said, glowering. "She said I was meant to do something important, something that would make or break that big prophecy about the eight demigods. That's what scares me. I don't know if I'm up to it." Kit didn't know what to say anymore, so he sat back, listening as the younger boy continued. "You ever wonder about the other four demigods? I mean ... if we're four of the ones from the Great Prophecy, who are the others? Where are they?"

"I don't know," Jason piped up at last. Subconsciously, one of his hands ran through Piper's hair, soothing her into sleep. "I guess the other four will show up when the time is right. Who knows? Maybe they're on some other quest right now."

Leo grunted, eyes slowly drooping with physical and emotional exhaustion. "I bet their sewer is nicer than ours..."

Kit snorted. "If my suspicions are right on who one of the eight is, then it definitely is."

Neither of the boys responded, too tired to question what he meant.

"Get some rest, guys," Jason insisted, though he sounded like he'd rather be the one sleeping himself. "I'll take the first watch."

Not needing to be told twice, Kit shuffled away from where he'd been leaning against the wall beside Leo, uncaring of how uncomfortable it was as he laid out across the ground, one arm under his head as a pillow. Leo laid down beside him, face merely inches from his, but neither of them questioned it as the warmth of the flames and the soft sound of each other's breathing slowly lulled them into sleep.

Waiting on the other side for Kit was Luke. He smiled as Kit's eyes opened, bearing razor sharp and bloodied teeth, then lunged as the younger boy screamed.

Behind him was Kit's mum. She stood and watched as the blonde-haired boy tore her son to shreds, a gaping wound in the shape of claws and fangs pulling at the sinew of her chest. She didn't move to help him, not that Kit expected her to.

It was only as Luke's hands wrapped around his neck, choking the life out of him as Kit's blood joined the red stains around his mouth, that Kit's eyes snapped open. He was back in the sewer. Not even an hour had passed since he first fell asleep. Jason didn't notice he was awake, too busy snoozing himself despite being on first watch, but Leo had noticed. His eyes flitted open for the briefest second, barely taking in whatever he saw in Kit's face staring back at him. Instead, he reached out, resting an arm on Kit's.

At the touch, Kit sighed. Leo's skin was warm, unlike Luke's. Just as quickly as he woke, he went back to sleep, prompting Kit to do the same.

And this time, when he opened his eyes again, Luke wasn't there to greet him. His mother hadn't left, but she looked younger now, and with her was a smaller Kit Dempsey, who beamed from ear-to-ear as his mum wrapped him up and pressed a kiss to his laughing face.

Kit honestly didn't know what kind of torture was worse.

But at least Leo was there.

He stayed the whole time as Kit Dempsey was taunted by what he'd had and lost, his hand not once leaving its place on his shoulder.

Kit would never admit it, but when he woke the next morning, feeling even worse than he had the night before, he was grateful for Leo.