hi. i'm edmund simons former 1st cohort traitor to the legion misanthrope, asocial, asexual and i like pie (that last one was a total lie) (i just made a rhyme, see?)
It was supposed to be really simple. Then again, when had anything in his life been simple?
Check out a blimp on the GPS like usual (weird things had been going on with it for weeks), and then come back. Fifteen minute check, done. But no.
At least Cinny had gotten away... hopefully. If not, his little robot would've exploded. Either way, the All Purpose Shredder probably took a few down with him, just by the nature of his defense system. Some was better than none. A fight was better than no fight. Go down swinging. Ed had gotten in a sword swing and couple of punches, but in the end, it was just odds. He hadn't gone down easily, that was for sure. There was no way he was letting himself go down easily. And there was certainly no way they were dragging him there conscious. In his attempts to get away, he was pretty sure he had broken at least one of their noses, bruised someone's rib, and knocked two unconscious. Of course, he got it after that, but it was worth it.
The next thing he remembered was waking up on a stone floor, in the dark. The room had a certain sort of chill, not unlike Orthys. Also unlike Orthys, Edmund quickly found out that it was a small cell (hey, at least there he had gotten a room) and he had no one else with him. Isolation and darkness. Gods. He would be fine. He would always be fine... And then all the pain registered.
How many days had it been since then? Three? Four? Five? This place felt like the infirmary room. Time completely evaded him. Night? Day? Afternoon? Evening? All irrelevant. Nothing but him, his sleeplessness, and his thoughts. Occasionally someone else came in and asked questions. It had happened twice so far. From his masterful deduction skills, Edmund came to deduce that interrogators didn't like getting smart alec answers, spit at, head butted, kicked, or.... any type of resistance really.... He stopped trying to keep track of new, old, healing, or reopened wounds. And since when did they put cuffs on him? At least they allowed him time to heal a little. Or let infections start. Whichever.
His body had only given out on him once after his initial capture. Exhaustion and pain made for a good combination for a black out. Those were just bodily facts. Add on isolation, and it turned into the perfect formula for hallucinations as well. What day did those start? Three? Four? They hadn't started yet... at least he didn't think so.
Until someone came for another interrogation, all Ed could do was sit there, stewing in his thoughts. That just went over so well while he was trapped in the infirmary and at Orthys. But really, when a person was alone with nothing else to do but wait to be stubborn and get beaten seven ways from Sunday, what else was there to do?
COMMENTARIUM: My other threads will be replied to soon! I promise o.o VERBA: 5000
Audrey had heard that they recently obtained another demigod. Joy. Not that she didn't like her work well, okay, she didn't like her work but she had a job to do and it kept her bills paid and her son safe. Granted, her son had no idea who she is and she had never seen him since she left him for the orphanage. She knew of him from the files they had on the demigods at the camp and Avetis made it obvious what would happen to him if she didn't do her work exactly as told. Her work was simple, make sure the demigods stay alive for another interrogation and to run experiments on them to figure out what all they can do and for how long. Then if one of the demigods in captivity had the misfortune of dying then she does a simple dissection on them to figure out what makes them tick and see if anything could be altered. She had an experiment already planned out for some future demigods, if they manage to get them, and she was curious to see if it was possible to change how people view another through a simple laser surgery to the brain. But that was for a different day.
Her steps echoed off the cold ground as she made her way to the boys cell. She had some medical supplies in her back as well as some lukewarm soup in a thermos and a water bottle. She told the guards it was for her lunch break and she was too lazy to walk back to her office to put it away. Luckily he was dense enough to believe her when in reality she had been trying to make sure the demigods here see some kindness. After all, they were in government holding and a majority of them were American citizens. It wasn't right for their government to treat them this way. Besides, many of them were under twenty or not even old enough to vote and they sat in cold isolated cells being questioned and tortured day after day. At least she could bring them some sort of warm food and water to quiet their loud stomachs against the hungry caused by the horrible food they received. Granted not many trusted the person also carrying medical equipment with them. Oh well, never hurt to try.
She unlocked the cell door of the boy, Edmund Simons, cell and entered it, the door closing behind her. At least she could get out, him, not so much. "Well, you don't look as bad as some of the other people who come through here. I'm Dr. Watkins. I'm here to make sure you stay alive. Want some soup?"
words: 458 notes: Can I steal this? If not, I'll delete this o-o
In a life filled with uncertainty, Edmund knew a few things for certain.
#1: If When he got back, Felicity and Rhia were going to kill him for being an idiot.
He doubted that they'd buy the "I was fine. I had Cinny with me, so I wasn't alone" spiel. And in all fairness, when Josh had gotten back, Ed wanted to kill him. So, he'd try not to die here. It'd take away their moment. Besides, if he did die before they got to him, he could always annoy Pluto so much that the god'd spit him topside. Yeah... if he got back...
#2: If When he got out, no one would buy his "I fell" or "I got into a spar" excuse.
Good thing he didn't have a mirror. He didn't particularly want to see himself; mostly because it felt like he had been repeatedly slammed into a brick wall. Stupid spar. Technically, it had been a spar. Not only in New Rome, but here too. Only thing was either he chose not to fight back (New Rome), and then he couldn't fight back (wherever he was now). Oh no, for certain, he fought tooth and nail... even with all of the initial injuries he had gotten (adrenaline worked great). He had kicked and punched and clawed... until they eventually got the upper hand and resorted to entirely pinning him down. The cuffs must've been snapped on somewhere in there. He still struggled then, even though he knew it was no use.
#3: The cuffs hurt.
Mostly because he had spent hours? Days? Trying to get them off. It didn't get him anywhere, just made his wrists bleed. Other than the wrists though, a headache came with him trying to use his powers. At least it didn't hurt as much as the ruins. But since when did being physically hurt stop him from anything? He had to try to get an edge on the locks, the door, the cuffs... anything but got rewarded with nothing but a headache. At least it wasn't as debilitating as it had been in the ruins (where he had also taken all the migraines as opposed to stop using his powers). He'd take the cuffs over ruin migraines any way. Only negative aspect was.... the entire cuffs thing. He couldn't outright punch, so he was restricted to either a baseball bat punch, squirming around, spitting, sassing, or kicking. He'd do anything to get them angry. It was probably a bad idea but.... it was Ed.
#4: He wasn't getting his recommended dosage of Vitamin D.
He had heard that everyone should spend at least fifteen minutes outside each day. Gods, he wasn't even getting a minute. And how many days had it been? He should've started a cell count.... he could use his own blood. Besides (stupid ADHD) Vitamin D was key in... what again exactly? Bones? Skin complex?
Wait... am I sounding like a Venus child...?
You're losing it....
As if I hadn't been already.
His head snapped up as he heard footsteps making their way down the hallway. Who would they be taking in today? Him? Someone else? Better him than someone else. They stopped outside his door. Great. He glared and stood up, half holding onto the wall and trying to ignore the rattle of the chains around his wrists. And then the door opened. A young woman entered and started talking. Great. A doctor. Just the person he wanted to see. Not. "Fn'tastic," he scoffed. Make sure they didn't die. Hilarious. "N't particularly."
COMMENTARIUM: Of course! I love threading with you <3 VERBA: 593
Last Edit: Dec 21, 2014 22:22:52 GMT -5 by Deleted
Well at least he was still able to talk. Not that most of the prisoners couldn't it was more that they had become afraid to. Like a dog who has been constantly beaten each time it barks will eventually go silent. However, in regards to the demigods it has been that to get them to talk they needed to be beaten and that they better only talk about one thing. It was depressing and Audrey always tried to keep her distance from the torturing. This wasn't what she initially signed up for. She had a degree in medicine, not government torture. These were demigods hurting other demigods, a modern day civil war. What was wrong with all of them? Then again, what was wrong with her for continuing to help out. She could have always let the consequences happen and try to tear down the project as best as she could but regardless she just couldn't. She tried to explain that to Apollo but they never have gotten along, not since that night. Whatever, right now she needed to make sure this little boy in front of her wasn't in too much pain.
"You sure? It's home made. I promise it's not poisoned. Just some chicken noodle soup. It's better than Campbells." Audrey said with a trying soft smile. It wasn't a lie at all. The recipe was homemade, it was the last thing she remembered her mom teaching her before she unfortunately passed away leaving her father widowed. Which she should really call her old man later before he started worrying she was stuck in some magical hotel again. Long story short, a trip to Vegas ended up not going as planned.
"But her, I can't force you to have any soup. We can just cut to the chase then. You in pain anywhere in particular? And please, don't give me the "I'm a Roman so I feel no pain" bull crap. I've had kids come through here only like ten years old trying to hold back tears from the stupid ideals that camp engraves into y'alls head." Audrey said with an abrupt finish. She didn't want to start a rant about how she didn't agree with the camp but it was starting to leak out, something she needed to make sure was screwed close tight. Instead, she focused on getting her equipment together.
It was going to take a lot more than a couple of beat downs to make Edmund keep his mouth shut. Well, in the "I'll insult you" way, anyway. Although he had gone through his periods of muteness, that was more of his volition than from someone making him silent through an outside force. Sure, he may've sounded a bit slurred and looked a bit wobbly, but his vocal chords were still working, and he could still breathe and move, so off to races he went. Of course, he wasn't completely oblivious to what could potentially happen to him if kept here long enough. Stockholm syndrome, insanity, hallucinations, compliance, and yeah... muteness out of fear. There was only so much the human psyche could take, Roman demigod or not. They may've all thought they were invincible or whatnot, but really? They were all just a bunch of teenagers. Kids. No one had signed up for this life. Who in their right mind would? They had just come out of another war! Who decided to muck up their lives this time? Someone with a prejudice against demigods... obviously. And they wanted to know about Camp. So... torturing for inside information right after a war? How inconsiderate.
He looked at her and tilted his head slightly as she smiled. Nope. Don't trust the smiles in a place like this. Don't trust... well, anything in a place like this. Anything done here was just so they could get information. People smiling and offering nice things or punches, it didn't matter. Keeping him alive so they could just continue to try to get information. No difference. None of it was real kindness. If anything, real kindness here would be letting them go. But he didn't see that happening any time soon. It was all for their own benefit. So what if it was homemade soup? So what if it wasn't poisoned?That only told him that she'd been through that ringer a few times. But it wouldn't change his answer. She'd probably be used to the answer too. Trust level: negative numbers.
Of course. He should've expected what came next. She had introduced herself as a doctor for crying out loud. At least they weren't in an infirmary setting. That would just make it worse. Still, the concept didn't make it any better though. Same instruments, same goal. "No, 'm fine." Edmund wouldn't go through with what they wanted when he was tortured, so he wasn't going along with polite requests either. Yes, he was a Roman. Yes, he was in pain and could feel it, just like everyone else. However, he'd rather keep that one under wraps, just like everyone else. Even though he was hurt, he didn't want any treatment. He wasn't going to let himself accept help from the same organization who beat him six ways from Sunday for kicks. His own funeral, but whatever. He was still alive. It wasn't that bad. It could be worse. He knew what it felt like to be on the brink of dying, and this wasn't it. The only times he wanted to get medical attention was if he was going to die. Through a mess of forming bruises and cuts, he glared at her. "'y g'ys got ten y'r olds here? Wha' th' hell's wrong wi'h ya?"
COMMENTARIUM: All good ^^ VERBA: 500
Last Edit: Dec 23, 2014 17:01:46 GMT -5 by Deleted
If this had been her first month back from her unannounced extended Las Vegas vacation then she probably would have flinched at his words and maybe even started giving some irrational explanation to try to amend for her actions. That was the past, when she was still surprised but what she was doing. But no, now she had a purpose and needed to go through with it. She wouldn't face the consequences for failing at her job. Besides, they weren't even fully human. They shouldn't exist. They were the children of mythological beings. Granted, those mythical beings could be looking really attractive and the monsters grotesque, she had seen her fair share of each, but that didn't change the fact that they have chosen to step away from the real world and hide themselves away. Maybe if they had tried to integrate into the community of the progression of the world both humans and demigods would be living in peace by now. But no, they decided to be wimps and hide away from mankind and claim that they were Romans and obviously knew their shit. Whatever. Touchy subject for Audrey. She hated them but yet cherished them. It all depended on the ones she met, the younger ones she cherished more but unfortunately she caused them the most pain than anyone here. Probably made it easier, then they could blame normal humans instead of someone from their own race of demigods.
She let out an annoyed sigh. "Look, I just do what I'm told to make sure I get my paycheck to pay my bills each week. I don't question it because I need the money to survive. Basic economics kid. Do they not teach you anything practical in that little camp of yours? Just kill this, kill that?" Audrey asked, not really caring about the answer. Although it did make her mind wander for a brief moment about rather or not the camp even had pay and taxes or what their economics were like. She calmed her brain from its rambling so that she could continue her task. She pulled out a thermometer and eyed the captive for a moment. She had her fair share of backlash from some of the captives, though she did run into a few lucky ones who understood she wasn't going to cause them any harm at the moment, it sucked when it turned out that the ones that treated her nicely had to see Audrey when they were needed for an experiment, needless to say after that all trust was thrown out the window.
"Look, we can do this the hard way or the easy way. I need to take some quick vitals and then if you have an injury I need to try to mend it. Remember, you're cuffed. Are you going to fight me to take your temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate? Because if so, I have a good right hook to knock you out. But that just makes my day more difficult and I ended up getting yelled at the end of the day for taking too long. So what will it be kid?" Audrey asked as she eyed him.
Even though he justified it in his head, he was an idiot for letting himself get caught. Sure throw him into a fire, training by ancient wolf, a war or two, a quest, or a fortress full of monsters and a titan and he'd make it out without being a POW, but this time? Nah. He guessed sixth time was the charm? Well, he supposed after the fire he had been Em and the hospital's prisoner. Funny, almost. Em was here too. Now, how in hells bells had that happened? Seemed like she had finally found her dream position. Power, politics, and torturing demigods. Fantastic. He wondered why any of them were there. Now that he thought about it, some of them had rather enjoyed running him down to capture him. So... different divisions? Capture, torture, medical? He wondered if they had HR. From what he had seen, they lacked in that department. Since he didn't have someone from there to kick, he just settled on his tortures.
She seemed almost acclimated to this kind of life. The thought of any of the ten year olds getting exposed to his made his stomach churn. To any normal mortal with a heart, the thought of any of the demigods under here would probably make their stomach churn. And then there was Ed. He more or less didn't really care about getting beaten. He saw this as a make up for him not getting the death penalty. Sure, he was under twenty and whatever, but he had gone through worse.... He'd pull through, eventually. His body was too stubborn to die. What he was more curious about was who was here. He had heard other people had gone missing before him. No doubt this is where they turned up. He couldn't remember any names... just... who else, who else? He really hoped there were no ten year olds here presently or they'd have a couple of dead information seekers on the next go around. He watched her as she answered, not like he was going to answer the last question, but... "'nomics?" he let out a scoff that turned into a cough. "People 'r th' wors'.... dec'ded t' ab'nd'n Hippocr'tes th'n, Doc?" Trying to infuriate her and being cynical, angry him. Exactly what he was good at. His head start to ache slightly. Ed blinked in confusion. He wasn't using his powers.... Maybe unconsciously trying to figure out the cuffs? No... all his focus was on her. Especially since she had a medical bag. Huh? All he was doing was arguing with her and trying to make her angry.... Oh. Shoot. Trying to cause her chaos. And, uh, what had Discordia told him while at Orthys that he had refused to deal with? Crap. He would have those powers too, being only a generation down. But this was just so... normal for him.... what...?
He saw the thermometer come out and curled his cuffed hand into a slight fist, all prior thoughts forgotten (or rather, shoved to the back of his mind so he wouldn't have to deal with them). "I n'ver take th' 'sy way," he said with a slight smirk. Cuffed, yes. But he still had a baseball bat style punch and his legs. Her job was to heal, his job was to make things as difficult as possible. Getting her into trouble would just be an added bonus. When was the last time he though that? Oh, yes. While fighting Stone in the Principia. Hitting his face with his head had been an added bonus. Ah, that seemed so long ago. He had walked out with a broken arm. He had a feeling that, if he ever got out, he'd be walking out with more than a broken arm, but for the moment, fighting was the only option.
COMMENTARIUM: Woot! ^^ If you need me to translate any of Ed's slurred phrases, just give the word xD VERBA: 639
Now that he had talked enough, although it was somewhat obvious, she had decided to try to figure out the reason behind the slur in his speech. From what she had seen from patients in the past the torturers and guards never treated the prisoners with any dignity instead their courtesy to the guests was to punch their nose in. That's why she never blamed the prisoners when they fought back. Sure, a few guards with broken noses would walk into her office ranting and raving about how some stupid child got lucky or whatever nonsense they decide to spur out, either way she couldn't help but smile at the prisoners work when the guards would go away.
Luckily none of his words were actually bothering her. After all, no words could be worse than what Apollo had called her those times they had met up after she abandoned their child. he just gave a shrug. "Keeps food on the table is all I care about." Audrey said as she watched the young man in front of her hold a face of confusion, or was it pain, sometimes they were similar. Yet, she couldn't help but sigh as his fist clenching and his words made it obvious that he had no intention of making her day any easier. Fine.
Audrey put the thermometer back into her bag and instead started to pull out a stun gun. She hated using this. Really, because then she couldn't ask the patient what was actually bothering them. However, before the gun was visible she decided to stop and leave it in her bag. "What caused all the slurring in your speech? Did someone hit your mouth, your throat, what? If you don't want any help the least I can do is try to tell you how to heal yourself so that you can actually produce insults people can understand. Otherwise they're not really effective, now are they?" Audrey said with a pleased smirk at her cleverness. Hopefully he would at least tell her the cause of the slurring problem that way she could make a complaint to the higher ups about whoever did that to him. Yeah, didn't seem likely she would be able to do that but if his speech was slurred they wouldn't really be able to get any useful, audible, information from him now could they. See, it was brilliant, they didn't call her a genius for nothing.
Ed tried his best to return the favors when he was punched. He never did take kindly to bullies, even though he could be quite one himself at times. Although, after his initial capture, he had been getting less and less hits. So far he had gotten one in the nose, one on the eye, and another in a rather sensitive area. They had returned the favor, but oh well. Any shots were better than none. He'd rather get as many in as he could now, before he was entirely held down or tied to a chair. If anything, his questioning rounds reminded him of when he was in mortal schools. He'd get into fist fights a bit more often than his parents (eventually Em) would've liked. One even got him expelled. Although, that time, he had fist fought and then killed a monster. But was that what the other people saw? Oh, no. They saw the troubled new kid beat another kid to death. Try explaining that one to his parents. His mom had taken it better than his dad, no wonder why now. He wondered how on earth his mom had lived so normally, without letting his dad know anything. Ugh, look at him now. Chained up, thinking about his parents... he hated going near the subject. Although, that's where his mind would go when he had nothing else to think about... His old family, how much of a failure he was, and how his life had gone at the Legion. Aka how dreadfully bad.
He rolled his eyes slightly under cuts and bruises that were spread across his face. Of course. All for money because they needed to live. Yeah yeah. Well, couldn't she've found some other place in a different medical practice? Something more... dignifying than torturing children? He glared at her as his headache continued. Seriously, is this how his strife power worked? But he was just being him! Ugh. Stupid... stupid... no, no... He was just being him! (Even though the headache was telling him otherwise.) He didn't even dare to relax after the thermometer was put away. She seemed almost as stubborn as him, and knowing a stubborn mind, she'd have a backup. A different way of persuading him. He couldn't exactly see what she reached for, but she was reaching for something. And by the way his head started reacting, it was something of a mechanical nature. Curse these cuffs!
Before it could come anywhere near his eyesight though, she seemed to have dropped it back in. Instead of whatever she had been reaching for, she decided to try words of persuasion instead. Great. Mouth? Throat? Chest? Stomach? Head? Arm? Leg? Try everywhere. He honestly had no idea. He had stopped keeping track. Only last time he woke up, it had started to hurt to breathe and trying to talk had become somewhat of an effort if he actually wanted to be understood. "N'idea. But I d'n't really wan' th'm to." Insults, heard or not, where still insults. He still got his piece in. Their loss if they couldn't understand him or not. In a way, it added even more tension between them. Besides, the faster he infuriated them (whether from words, them not being able to understand him, or him actually getting a hit in), the faster they would knock him out of frustration and leave him alone.
Seriously what was with this kid? All the other kids she talked to eventually took the help she offered. But this kid, he might as well have a death wish. Which if he kept up this behavior his wish would most certainly be granted. Why wouldn't he just take her help. It was infuriating, she was a doctor first, scientist second. "Oh come on, I don't believe that. You probably come up with really good insults that would make any guard mad and angry but yet you don't want them to be heard or recognized? That's like throwing your own piece of art or handiwork away. It's something to be used and valued. Give you bragging rights. Can't really brag about it if you can't perform the task now can you?" Audrey said trying to go for a different route. Sometimes one needed to play around with ideas before they found one that worked. Part of the scientific method, if one way didn't work go back and try a new theory until you find one effective towards your experiment.
Plus if she could find something he would agree with that might lead into a more bonding conversation so that he can trust her to make sure he isn't dying from injuries or who knows what else. At least this kid had it easier than some of the others in here too. There was a disabled girl locked up without a wheelchair, Audreys heart cried out for her because every time she saw her she just wanted to give her a wheelchair and let her go free or even try to find a way to give her mobility again. But even with that little girl at least they weren't the subjects of a crueler experiment she had been told to perform on certain demigods, mainly the children of big three. It was a long process even to do one and she wasn't sure how long it would take her to do all the ones they currently had in custody. Years maybe. Of course the government has always been impatient and will probably rush her work, like always. She hated that because it put too many risks on the demigods, thats why she has had so many failed experiments because of lack of patience and funding from the government. They order her to do something and expect good results, the least they could do is give her the time and money to pursue them safely.
#22. Trust no one #23. Be wary of all things positive #33. Never underestimate your opponent
Could it be said that Ed had a death wish? Yeah, pretty much. He'd probably had one since the fire, only his body was too stubborn to die. It had gotten rather tiresome, really. Fighting to live, then expecting to die, coming to peace with it, and then miraculously making it through. The cycle just went over and over... What life was he on now? His eighth? My my... lose this one and he was on his last cat life. Edmund was like any other Roman, bull headed and stubborn. In other cases (like this one) he could be an extreme idiot and completely irrational. Though, to him, this was logical. Don't take help from the people working with the people who were beating others up. Now, what kind of hypocrisy would that be? If anything, Ed would've thought it cultivated the Stockholm Syndrome. Besides, even though she was a doctor, and anyone did come to trust her, Ed was pretty sure she could come up with at least a trillion different ways to break that trust. Who else knew what they did down here? There was more than one method of torture, after all.
#29. Never involve medics #32. Always FIGHT through the pain
He looked up at her, a slight smirk flickering across his face as she went on another rant tangent, presumedly on trying to convince him accept help. Only this time, all her words went in one ear and out the other. Take credit or bragging rights? He hated taking credit and getting attention. Throwing away handiwork? Well, too late for that one, toots. Been there done that. Value? Him? He would've laughed if his chest hadn't hurt as much as it did. How many times had he gone through this sort of convincing as well (as in trying to accept help)? Too many. Well, she'd just have to be disappointed. So would his interrogators. Because really, it was a lose/lose situation. He realized that it didn't matter if he insulted or not, stayed quiet or not. If he didn't tell them what they wanted, he'd get punched anyway.
#19. Stares and silences are equally as effective as words.
It'd still be a "I'm not going to tell you anything" attitude, which they didn't seem to take kindly to. So, one could argue that spewing insults would just get the guard angrier and therefore hurt him more. Which would make her come back and try to force more treatment which was definitely a no no for him. Of course, on some sort of level, he knew he deserved all the pain that was coming to him, but this was to refute the doc's argument. Sure, maybe it'd have the opposite effect and make the torture drawn out, but as he had said before, insults or silence, it was lose/lose.
COMMENTARIUM: Twas great :D And he's gotten asocial >.< Sorry! VERBA: 491
She looked at him waiting for him to say anything. The only she got was a creepy smirk. What was wrong with this kid? She's dealt with tons of demigods in the past few years and all of them had to be a pain in some way or another. She took a deep breath and just looked back at him. Fine, he wanted the quiet game, he'd get the quiet game as she gave him her own signature smirk that sent shivers down a few peoples spin with how diabolical it looked. True, he wouldn't get treated, not today at least. She'd find some way eventually. Maybe put in a chemical to induce sleep in his food or water. He would have to touch either of those eventually in order to sustain life. Or, worst gas she could always gas bomb his cell and then treat him while he's unconscious from the gas. Either way she'll win in the end. She always does even if her methods are a tad controversial it would at least end up with her patient not dying.
That was her sole profession she could care less about the experiments. Although, the pay she had received her has pretty much set her up for life without having to work anymore. But she couldn't just leave her job now even if she wanted to, which part of her did. Not with the threat Avetis had over her and not with her personal mission to try to keep the demigods as alive as long as possible. Even after all this she is seen as a crazy, mad scientist who hurt multiple children at least she'll know what she did to try to help them. Her conscious was clear from all of this.
Since the kid didn't want the soup she'd just have it for herself. Audrey opened the thermos containing the warm soup, letting the scents of the warm food leak out into the open. It even made her stomach grumble slightly. And since it was cold in the cell and the soup was warm it was awfully inviting. She fished out one of the plastic spoons in her bad and took a spoonful from the thermos and let it enter her mouth, the warmth of the soup filling her body with warmth as it went down her throat and into the digestive tract. The kid was definitely missing out.
All Roman demigods must've been pains to these people. They were trained and raised from age ten and up to be tough, strong, stubborn Roman soldiers. No wonder the interrogators had so much pent up anger. They rarely got anywhere at all. Besides, some of them had to have issues themselves. C'mon, really? They were torturing mostly kids under twenty. Not that Edmund or the Legion considered them kids at eighteen or anything, but to the rest of the world, they were still minors. Kids. Yet they stubbornly persisted through all the pain. Physical injury. Heartbreak. Wars. Training. Quests. Torture.
How the hell am I still alive?
Other people, sure. But after what he had done? Wasn't there any rational justice in the world? Surely there were people. Good people. Those who stayed actually loyal to camp. Some of them had been killed during the war. Yet he, a traitor, jerk, and an unpleasant, negative person as he was, walked free. He was able to continue life in New Rome. Thoughts like that ran through Ed's head daily. If anyone autopsied him, he'd swear all they'd find holding him together was duct tape, safety pins, screws, stubbornness, and denial. What could he say? He made his own life hard.
Death wish... he could say to some extent they all had one. Heck, life was a death wish. Once you were born, you were fated to die. How much pain, joy, anger, and so forth varied from person to person, but everyone alive would inevitably die. Natural, accidental, murdered or unknown, Pluto took them all in the end.
Edmund could honestly say he "died" a couple of times. Some were more near death experiences, others were more psychological. After each death, he had seemed to change. He wasn't sure if it was drastic or not, but each time, he felt something snap. He wondered how many more times he'd be able to rebound... or if one day both his body and mind would agree and just...stop. A part of him wondered if he'd end up leaving a part of himself here in the cell. Probably. He already knew that he had the blood covered.
He waited, expecting her to start ranting again at his asocial behavior. Instead, she caved into his pattern and ceased talking as well. Ah, back to peaceful silence. Her voice had been starting to get rather irksome. She gave him her best creep out. Which Ed would've found creepy, if he hadn't lived with Em or attacked by monsters. He knew things that could give him nightmares. A woman with a smile that said "I will do anything to get my way and get you healed" wasn't necessarily one of them. Creepy? He'd give her that, but not exactly his haunted house. And then she started with the soup. Nope, he didn't regret refusing it at all.
CENTURIONS:
FIRST COHORT: Kit Albright
Christopher Ashby
SECOND COHORT: Michael O'Connell
Lucius O'Connell
THIRD COHORT: Bruno Steinmetz
Mattan Ballas
FOURTH COHORT: --
--
FIFTH COHORT: --
--
SPQR
CREDITS
Percy Jackson and The Olympians, and Heroes of Olympus, and their characters belong to Rick Riordan. All original characters belong to their respected owners/players.
LJ icon cred: poptartmuse