Percy could've listed several things that could have gone wrong with their plans. He could've deduced countless missteps and mishaps. He could tell how many of his men were not going to make it out alive of Cujo Village. But never could he have imagined having a traitor by his side.
With his knees to the ground and hands bounded behind his back, he stared up at Via and glared at her. Via, whose arms were crossed in front of her chest, only shrugged at him before she crouched down to meet his gaze.
"You could glare at me all you want but it won't change the fact that you're a rat in a trap"
It was a setup. All of it. All of the information Via had fed them were lies. They manipulated Percy into thinking the only way towards Cujo Village was through Lithuinia, without even knowing that they would never reach Cujo Village.
"What happened to you"
Percy asked. His concern was genuine. He might not have grown up with Via but Iavan was her family, her sister. He knew her and knew that she wouldn't have known about the fact that her own sister was a traitor.
Via left for a recon a few months prior to Percy saving everyone in the SDC Bunker. After the destruction of the SDC, she returned. Iavan and Percy personally picked her up from the ruined bunker and brought her to the Pentagon.
She joined the Pearson faction which led her to always being outside on recon and intel missions.
Via only gave her a sigh before she lifted Percy's chin.
"The truth? From the beginning I was a spy for the government. I was never a member of the SDC or your so called Pentagon"
"Why?"
"Because the government is the absolute good and people like you only find ways to ruin a good world"
Absolute good? Percy wanted to spit at her. To tell her that the same government had put in her only sister in the games that they had created. That the absolutely good government she was talking about was the same reason their whole childhood was filled with anxiety and fear of what's to happen for their future.
"Now tell me. Where did you send your little brother and bitch of a cousin off to?"
Percy kept his lip shut tight. It wasn't long after he had sent orders for a recon that he had felt it. The feeling of being watched, of being trapped. It didn't even take long before the government soldiers pounded on them on all corners and Via's betrayal came to light. He did what he could and fought back long enough to get Lyn, Lancelot and other few soldiers into the forest for a chance of escape.
He had instructed Lyn not to bother continuing the mission or saving him. But instead, go straight towards the Pentagon and warn them that Via was a spy.
Their grandmother and the other elders would know what to do with that information and act accordingly. Since Via knows about the other four entrances, the chance of them being attacked was high.
But Percy had another worry in mind.
"Does Iavan know?"
He asked, gritting his teeth. Via flinched before she masked her emotions and stood up. No answer.
"Does Iavan know that the older sister she's been looking up to was a spy? Does she know that you had betrayed her and everyone? Does Uncle Ren know? Does he know that one of her daughters is bringing the whole Pentagon down into its grave?"
Percy continued, his voice laced with the fury that he couldn't dare deny any longer. Because he considered Via as a friend. He respected her because she was an amazing person who wasn't afraid to go out and gather intel that could save them. He respected her because she was Iavan's older sister.
But Via's answer only made Percy more furious.
"That doesn't matter. I don't care what happens to the two of them anymore. They chose the path of rebelling, so they must suffer the consequences"
"You fool!!!"
Percy roared as he shot to his feet ready to tackle Via to the ground when he felt his back being torn apart. He groaned as he fell face first back into the ground. His back throbbing from the sharp sting that had just landed on it.
"You're right. He is a loud mouth"
A soft female voice drowned into Percy's system as he tried to twist to see who had landed the blow on his back. But another lash from a whip made him double over as he bit his lower lip to contain his screams.
"General Achlys"
Percy gazed up to see Via bowing and soon enough, a pair of high heeled black boots came into a halt beside his face. Percy felt the rope tied around his hands being yanked up as he was forced to stand up.
"Will you look at that, he's quite the looker"
Percy glared at the tall female standing in front of him. She was wearing a general's uniform with a whip in her hand. Her braided golden hair hidden beneath a general's cap. But Percy flinched at those red eyes staring at him like he was prey.
Not the same red eyes as Maia but still the eyes of a mutant.
Achlys. A mutant general named Achlys. He recognizes the name from the intel report they have given years ago. She's one of the five generals of the President. The only one whose face was unknown. Her division? Intel and Recon.
"You didn't have to go out here, General. I would've brought him to you immediately"
Achlys waved Via off before lifting Percy's chin with her fingers.
"I wanted to play with this one for a little while before Chaos interferes. You know how the gamemaster likes to do his own method of interrogation. It's different from my own definition of fun"
Percy's eyes widened as he watched Achlys' face turn into an animal. Watched as those canine teeth smiled at him as her face turned into that of a cheetah. And for the first time in a long while, he absolutely felt fear for his own safety.
"You and I are going to have a lot of fun"
Percival had always been a man of patience, and he believes now was the time to prove it.