༉‧₊˚⋆˚( ᵖᵉʳᶠᵉᶜᵗ ʷᵒʳˡᵈ )˚⁺✧₊˚.*

🍦— 013. fight! fight!

IT WAS PRETTY MUCH Percy's worst nightmare. And believe him, he had plenty of nightmares. They were marched down the tunnel flanked by dracaenae, with Kelli and the giant in back, just in case we tried to run for it. Nobody seemed to worry about them running forward. That was the direction they wanted us to go.

Up ahead Percy could see bronze doors. They were about ten feet tall, emblazoned with a pair of crossed swords. From behind them came a muffled roar, like from a crowd.

"Oh, yessssss," said the snake woman on my left. "You'll be very popular with our hossssst."

Percy'd never gotten to look at a dracaena up close before, and he wasn't real thrilled to have the opportunity. She would've had a beautiful face, except her tongue was forked and her eyes were yellow with black slits for pupils. She wore bronze armor that stopped at her waist. Below that, where her legs should've been, were two massive snake trunks, mottled bronze and green. She moved by a combination of slithering and walking, as if she were on living skis.

"Who's your host?" Percy asked.

She hissed, which might have been a laugh. "Oh, you'll sssssee. You'll get along famousssly. He'ssss your brother, after all."

"My what?"

Immediately he thought of Tyson, but that was impossible. What was she talking about? The giant pushed past us and opened the doors. He picked up Annabeth and Vivi by their shirts and said, "You stay here."

"Hey!" Annabeth protested, but the guy was twice her size and he'd already confiscated her knife, Vivi's dagger and Percy's sword.

Kelli laughed. She still had her claws at Rachel's neck. "Go on, Percy. Entertain us. We'll wait here with your friends to make sure you behave."

He looked at Rachel. "I'm sorry. I'll get you out of this."

She nodded as much as she could with a demon at her throat. "That would be nice."

The dracaenae prodded him toward the doorway at javelin-point, and Percy walked out onto the floor of an arena. He guess it wasn't the largest arena, but it seemed pretty spacious considering the whole place was underground.

The dirt floor was circular, just big enough that you could drive a car around the rim if you pulled it really tight. In the center of the arena, a fight was going on between a giant and a centaur. The centaur looked panicked. He was galloping around his enemy, using sword and shield, while the giant swung a javelin the size of a telephone pole and the crowd cheered.

The first tier of seats was twelve feet above the arena floor. Plain stone benches wrapped all the way around, and every seat was full. There were giants, dracaenae, demigods, telekhines, and stranger things: bat-winged demons and creatures that seemed half human and half you name it─ bird, reptile, insect, mammal.

But the creepiest things were the skulls. The arena was full of them. They ringed the edge of the railing. Three-foot-high piles of them decorated the steps between the benches. They grinned from pikes at the back of the stands and hung on chains from the ceiling like horrible chandeliers. Some of them looked very old ─ nothing but bleached-white bone. Others looked a lot fresher.

In the middle of all this, proudly displayed on the side of the spectator's wall, was something that made no sense to me ─ a green banner with the trident of Poseidon in the center. What was that doing in a horrible place likethis? Above the banner, sitting in a seat of honor, was an old enemy.

"Luke," Percy said.

Percy was not sure Luke could hear him over the roar of the crowd, but he smiled coldly. He was wearing camouflage pants, a white T-shirt, and bronze breastplate, just like he'd seen in his dream. But he still wasn't wearing his sword, which Percy thought was strange. Next to him sat the largest giant Percy'd ever seen, much larger than the one on the floor fighting the centaur.

The giant next to Luke must've been fifteen feet tall, easy, and so wide he took up three seats. He wore only a loincloth, like a sumo wrestler. His skin was dark red and tattooed with blue wave designs. Percy figured he must be Luke's new bodyguard or something.

There was a cry from the arena floor, and Percy jumped back as the centaur crashed to the dirt beside him. He met the boy's eyes pleadingly. "Help!"

Percy reached for his sword, but it had been taken from me and hadn't reappeared in his pocket yet. The centaur struggled to get up as the giant approached, his javelin ready. A taloned hand gripped my shoulder.

"If you value your friendsss' livesss," my dracaena guard said, "you won't interfere. This isssn't your fight. Wait your turn."

The centaur couldn't get up. One of his legs was broken. The giant put his huge foot on the horseman's chest and raised the javelin. He looked up at Luke. The crowd cheered, "DEATH! DEATH!"

Luke didn't do anything, but the tattooed sumo dude sitting next to him rose. He smiled down at the centaur, who was whimpering, "Please! No!"

Then the sumo dude held out his hand and gave the thumbs down sign. Percy closed his eyes as the gladiator giant thrust his javelin. When he looked again, the centaur was gone, disintegrated to ashes. All that was left was a single hoof, which the giant took up as a trophy and showed the crowd. They roared their approval.

A gate opened at the opposite end of the stadium and the giant marched out in triumph. In the stands, the sumo dude raised his hands for silence.

"Good entertainment!" he bellowed. "But nothing I haven't seen before. What else do you have, Luke, Son of Hermes?"

Luke's jaw tightened. Percy could tell he didn't like being called son of Hermes. He hated his father. But he rose calmly to his feet. His eyes glittered. In fact, he seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

"Lord Antaeus," Luke said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "You have been an excellent host! We would be happy to amuse you, to repay the favor of passing through your territory."

"A favor I have not yet granted," Antaeus growled. "I want entertainment!"

Luke bowed. "I believe I have something better than centaurs to fight in your arena now. I have a brother of yours." He pointed at Percy. "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

The crowd began jeering at Percy and throwing stones, most of which he dodged, but one caught him on the cheek and made a good-sized cut.

Antaeus's eyes lit up. "A son of Poseidon? Then he should fight well! Or die well!"

"If his death pleases you," Luke said, "will you let our armies cross your territory?"

"Perhaps!" Antaeus said.

Luke didn't look too pleased about the "perhaps." He glared down at Per y, as if warning him that he'd better die in a really spectacular way or he'd be in big trouble.

"Luke!" Annabeth yelled. "Stop this. Let us go!"

Luke seemed to notice her for the first time. He looked stunned for a moment. "Annabeth?"

"Enough time for the females to fight afterward," Antaeus interrupted. "First, Percy Jackson, what weapons will you choose?"

The dracaenae pushed me into the middle of the arena. Percy stared up at Antaeus. "How can you be a son of Poseidon?"

Antaeus laughed, and the rest of the crowd laughed too. "I am his favorite son!" Antaeus boomed. "Behold, my temple to the Earthshaker, built from the skulls of all those I've killed in his name! Your skull shall join them!"

Percy stared in horror at all the skulls ─ hundreds of them ─ and the banner of Poseidon. How could this be a temple for his dad? Poseidon was a nice guy. He'd never asked Percy for a Father's Day card, much less somebody's skull.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled at me. "His mother is Gaea! Gae ─ "

The Laistrygonian captor clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Earth, Percy! Soil! Don't you dare put that dirty hand over my mouth!"

The Dracaena put a hand over Vivi's mouth.

His mother is Gaea. The earth goddess. Annabeth and Vivi were trying to tell him that this was important, but he didn't know why. Maybe just because the guy had two godly parents. That would make him even harder to kill.

"You're crazy, Antaeus," Percy said. "If you think this is a good tribute, you know nothing about Poseidon."

The crowd screamed insults at Percy, but Antaeus raised his hand for silence. "Weapons," he insisted. "And then we will see how you die. Will you have axes? Shields? Nets? Flamethrowers?"

"Just my sword," Percy said. Laughter erupted from the monsters, but immediately Riptide appeared in his hands, and some of the voices in the crowd turned nervous. The bronze blade glowed with a faint light.

"Round one!" Antaeus announced.

The gates opened, and a dracaena slithered out. She had a trident in one hand and a weighted net in the other ─ classic gladiator style. Percy'd trained against those weapons at camp for years. She jabbed at me experimentally. Percy stepped away. She threw her net, hoping to tangle his sword hand, but he sidestepped easily, sliced her spear in half, and stabbed Riptide through a chink in her armor. With a painful wail, she vaporized into nothing, and the cheering of the crowd died.

"No!" Antaeus bellowed. "Too fast! You must wait for the kill. Only I give that order!"

Percy glanced over at Vivi, Annabeth and Rachel. He had to find a way to get them free, maybe distract their guards.

"Nice job, Percy." Luke smiled. "You've gotten better with the sword. I'll grant you that."

"Round two!" Antaeus yelled. "And slower this time! More entertainment! Wait for my call before killing anybody, OR ELSE!"

The gates opened again, and this time a young warrior came out. He was a little older than Percy, about sixteen. He had glossy black hair, and his left eye was covered with an eye patch. He was thin and wiry so his Greek armor hung on him loosely. He stabbed his sword into the dirt, adjusted his shield straps, and pulled on his horsehair helmet.

"Who are you?" Percy asked.

"Ethan Nakamura," he said. "I have to kill you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Hey!" a monster jeered from the stands. "Stop talking and fight already!"

The others took up the call.

"I have to prove myself," Ethan told me. "Only way to join up."

And with that he charged. Their swords met in midair and the crowd roared. It didn't seem right. Percy didn't want to fight to entertain a bunch of monsters, but Ethan Nakamura wasn't giving him much choice.

He pressed forward. He was good. He'd never been at Camp Half-Blood, as far as Percy knew, but he'd been trained. He parried his strike and almost slammed Percy with his shield, but he jumped back.

Ethan slashed. Percy rolled to one side. They exchanged thrusts and parries, getting a feel for each other's fighting style. Percy tried to keep on Ethan's blind side, but it didn't help much. He'd apparently been fighting with only one eye for a long time, because he was excellent at guarding his left.

"Blood!" the monsters cried.

Ethan glanced up at the stands. That was his weakness, Percy realized. He needed to impress them. Percy didn't. He yelled an angry battle cry and charged Percy, but Percy parried his blade and backed away, letting him come after.

"Booo!" Antaeus said. "Stand and fight!"

Ethan pressed Percy, but he had no trouble defending, even without a shield. He was dressed for defense ─ heavy armor and shield ─ which made it very tiring to play offense. Percy was a softer target, but he also was lighter and faster.

The crowd went nuts, yelling complaints and throwing rocks. They'd been fighting for almost five minutes and there was no blood. Finally Ethan made his mistake. He tried to jab at Percy's stomach, and Percy locked his sword hilt in his own and twisted. His sword dropped into the dirt.

Before Ethan could recover, Percy slammed the butt of his sword into his helmet and pushed him down. His heavy armor helped Percy more than him. He fell on his back, dazed and tired.

Percy put the tip of my sword on his chest.

"Get it over with," Ethan groaned.

Percy looked up at Antaeus. His red face was stony with displeasure, but he held up his hand and put it thumbs down.

"Forget it." Percy sheathed his sword.

"Don't be a fool," Ethan groaned. "They'll just kill us both."

Percy offered him a hand. Reluctantly, he took it.

"No one dishonors the games!" Antaeus bellowed. "Your heads shall both be tributes to Poseidon!"

Percy looked at Ethan. "When you see your chance, run." Then he turned back to Antaeus. "Why don't you fight me yourself ? If you've got Dad's favor, come down here and prove it!"

The monsters grumbled in the stands. Antaeus looked around, and apparently realized he had no choice. He couldn't say no without looking like a coward. "I am the greatest wrestler in the world, boy," he warned. "I have been wrestling since the first pankration!"

"Pankration?"

"He means fighting to the death," Ethan said. "No rules. No holds barred. It used to be an Olympic sport."

"Thanks for the tip,"

"Don't mention it."

Rachel was watching Percy with wide eyes. Annabeth shook her head emphatically, the Laistrygonian's hand still clamped over her mouth. Vivi screamed with her eyes not to do it.

The son of Poseidon pointed his sword at Antaeus. "Winner takes all! I win, we all go free. You win, we die. Swear upon the River Styx."

Antaeus laughed. "This shouldn't take long. I swear to your terms!"

He leaped off the railing, into the arena.

"Good luck," Ethan told me. "You'll need it." Then he backed up quickly.

Antaeus cracked his knuckles. He grinned, and Percy saw that even his teeth were etched in wave patterns, which must've made brushing after meals a real pain.

"Weapons?" he asked.

"I'll stick with my sword. You?"

He held up his huge hands and wiggled his fingers. "I don't need anything else! Master Luke, you will referee this one."

Luke smiled down at me. "With pleasure."

Antaeus lunged. Percy rolled under his legs and stabbed him in the back of his thigh. "Argggh!" he yelled. But where blood should've come out, there was a spout of sand, like Pecy'd busted the side of an hourglass. It spilled into the dirt floor, and the dirt collected around his leg, almost like a cast. When the dirt fell away, the wound was gone.

He charged again. Fortunately Percy had some experience fighting giants. He dodged sideways this time and stabbed him under the arm. Riptide's blade was buried to the hilt in his ribs. That was the good news. The bad news was that it wrenched out of Percy's hand when the giant turned, and he was thrown across the arena, weaponless.

Antaeus bellowed in pain. Percy waited for him to disintegrate. No monster had ever withstood a direct hit from his sword like that. The celestial bronze blade had to be destroying his essence. But Antaeus groped for the hilt, pulled out the sword, and tossed it behind him. More sand poured from the wound, but again the earth rose up to cover him. Dirt coated his body all the way to his shoulders. As soon as the dirt spilled away, Antaeus was fine.

"Now you see why I never lose, demigod!" Antaeus gloated. "Come here and let me crush you. I'll make it quick!"

Antaeus stood between Percy and his sword. Desperately, Percy glanced to either side, and he caught Vivi's eye. The earth. What had the girls been trying to tell him? Antaeus's mother was Gaea the earth mother, the most ancient goddess of all. Antaeus's father might have been Poseidon, but Gaea was keeping him alive. Percy couldn't hurt him as long as he was touching the ground.

He tried to skirt around him, but Antaeus anticipated his move. He blocked the path, chuckling. He was just toying with him now. He had Percy cornered. Percy looked up at the chains hanging from the ceiling, dangling the skulls of his enemies on hooks. Suddenly an idea came to his mind.

The son of Poseidon feinted to the other side. Antaeus blocked him. The crowd jeered and screamed at Antaeus to finish the boy off, but he was having too much fun.

"Puny boy," he said. "Not a worthy son of the sea god!"

Percy felt his pen return to his pocket, but Antaeus wouldn't know about that. He would think Riptide was still in the dirt behind him. He would think Percy'd goal was to get his sword. It wasn't much of an advantage, but it was all he had.

He charged straight ahead, crouching low so he would think Percy was going to roll between his legs again. While he was stooping, ready to catch Percy like a grounder, the boy jumped ─ kicking off his forearm, scrambling up his shoulder like it was a ladder, placing his shoe on his head.

Antaeus did the natural thing. He straightened up indignantly and yelled "HEY!"

Percy pushed off, using Antaeus' force to catapult himself toward the ceiling. He caught the top of a chain, and the skulls and hooks jangled beneath him. Percy wrapped his legs around the chain, just like he used to do at the ropes course in gym class. He drew Riptide and sawed off the chain next to him.

"Come down here, coward!" Antaeus bellowed. He tried to grab, but Percy was just out of reach.

Hanging on for dear life, he yelled, "Come up and get me! Or are you too slow and fat?"

He howled and made another grab for the boy. He caught a chain and tried to pull himself up. While he was struggling, Percy lowered his sawed-off chain, hook first. It took him two tries, but finally he snagged Antaeus's loincloth.

"WAAA!" he yelled.

Quickly, Percy slipped the free chain through the fastening link on his own chain, pulled it taut, and secured it the best he could. Antaeus tried to slip back to the ground, but his butt stayed suspended by his loincloth. He had to hold on to the other chains with both hands to avoid getting flipped upside down. Percy prayed the loincloth and the chain would holdup for a few more seconds.

While Antaeus cursed and flailed, Percy scrambled around the chains, swinging and cutting like he was some kind of crazed monkey. The son of Poseidon made loops with hooks and metal links. He don't know how he did it. Sally always said he has a gift for getting stuff tangled up. Plus he was desperate to save his friends.

Within a couple of minutes the giant was suspended above the ground, hopelessly snarled in chains and hooks. Percy dropped to the floor, panting and sweaty; his hands were raw from climbing.

"Get me down!" Antaeus demanded.

"Free him!" Luke ordered. "He is our host!"

Percy uncapped Riptide. "I'll free him."

And the boy stabbed the giant in the stomach.

He bellowed, and sand poured out, but he was too far up to touch the earth, and the dirt did not rise to help him. Antaeus just dissolved, pouring out bit by bit, until there was nothing left but empty swinging chains, a really big loincloth on a hook, and a bunch of grinning skulls dancing above Percy like they finally had something to smile about.

"Jackson!" Luke yelled. "I should have killed you long ago!"

"You tried," Percy reminded him. "Let us go, Luke. We had a sworn agreement with Antaeus. I'm the winner."

"Antaeus is dead. His oath dies with him. But since I'm feeling merciful today, I'll have you killed quickly." he pointed at Annabeth. "Spare the girl." his voice quavered just a little. "I would speak to her before ─ before our great triumph."

Every monster in the audience drew a weapon or extended its claws. They were trapped. Hopelessly outnumbered.

Then Percy felt something in my pocket ─ a freezing sensation, growing colder and colder. The dog whistle. His fingers closed around it. For days he'd avoided using Quintus's gift. It had to be a trap. But now. . . there was no choice.

Percy took it out of his pocket and blew. It made no audible sound as it shattered into shards of ice, melting in his hand.

Luke laughed. "What was that supposed to do?"

From behind me came a surprised yelp. The Laistrygonian giant who'd been guarding Annabeth and Vivi flew past the boy and smashed into the wall.

"AROOOOF!"

Kelli the empousa screamed as a five-hundred-pound black mastiff picked her up like a chew toy and tossed her through the air, straight into Luke's lap. Mrs. O'Leary snarled, and the two dracaenae guards backed away. For a moment the monsters in the audience were caught completely by surprise.

"Let's go!" Percy yelled at his friends. "Heel, Mrs. O'Leary!"

"The far exit!" Rachel cried. "That's the right way!"

Ethan Nakamura took his cue. Together they raced across the arena and out the far exit, Mrs. O'Leary right behind them. As they ran, Percy could hear the disorganized sounds of an entire army trying to jump out of the stands and follow them. 

niki speaks!

sorry for the late update,
we were celebrating my mom's birthday.
been sick for the last
four days, but i'm good now.
still will not go to my friend's bday party
tomorrow, and kind of sad because of that.

have a nice day/night!
bye!