Chapter One:

Tournament Day

Emily

I opened my eyes only to be immedieatley blinded by sunlight. I pulled the covers over my head, all I wanted to do was to go back to sleep. However there was no such thing as sleeping in, not in my world.

"Wake up!" the voice sounded in my ear.

I groaned as I sat up, I removed the covers from my head only to look up and see a massive figure standing over me. I had to squint my eyes due to the sunlight shining in my face, but as I blocked the light with my hand I was able to see the person clearly.

"Good morning Nathaniel," I muttered.

"Get up Emily, the Cohort is waiting," Nathaniel said forcefully before he turned and exited the barracks.

I sighed as I rolled out of bed, I stretched and looked out of one of the many windows. Camp Jupiter looked back at me and I had to resist another groan as I saw all the other Cohorts heading to the assembly area, for today was tournament day.

Before I go any further I should explain more about myself. My name is Emily Weston, I am sixteen years old and the first thing you should know is that I'm a Demigod. That's right, my father is a God; a Roman God to be exact.

I was of course shocked when I found out, I always believed my father had died in the Mexican War a few months before my birth. However when I was eleven, I was attacked by my very first monster.

You see they hunt Demigods, my mother was killed trying to protect me from a hellhound. I would have died that day too if it wasn't for Oakley Woolahan, one of the greatest warriors to ever come from Camp Jupiter.

He rescued me and brought me to Lupa, she is a goddess who can transform herself into a Wolf. She is the trainer of Roman Demigods and yes she is very strict. She wanted to put me in the Fifth Cohort, the worst Cohort in the camp, however before she could that's when he claimed me.

My father, Jupiter, God of the Sky and the King of the Gods. For that reason I was placed into the First Cohort, the one that hosted the best warriors in the whole camp.

Yet despite being Jupiter's daughter, I still don't know if I fit in here. But I couldn't dwell on that today, because as I mentioned, today was tournament day. It's a huge Gladiator torunament to be held in the colosseum. Each Cohort chooses four warriors to enter and fight for the glory of their barracks. And yes, I was one of them.

I walked over towards the water basin in the corner and splashed some water over my face, to help wake me up. I looked into the small crooked mirrior which hanged on the wall and looked at my reflection.

I wasn't bad to look at I suppose, my eyes were electric blue, which makes me seem dangerous when I'm angry; or so I've been told. I had a few freckles across my cheeks and my nose, which I think made me seem younger than I am. My hair was brunette and was really long. I tied into a braid as I knew today was not the day to allow my hair to be blown everywhere by the wind. Today I had a tournament to win.

I strapped my armour on, which was gold with lighting bolts beautifully crafted into the metal. I picked up my shield, which was red acomanpied by a golden thunerbolt. Finally I picked up my spear, it was entireley made of celestial bronze, which is the only metal that can destroy monsters. It was the only gift my father had ever given me.

I felt the power of my father as I touched the spear and I knew I could win this tournament. I exited the barracks and ran to catch up with my Cohort, Oakely would not like it if I was late. He expects great things from me, at least that's what he keeps saying anyway.

I pushed people out of my way as I rushed towards the assembly area, I heard Roman curses being said but I ignored them for now. After all they would not say anything to my face, a child of Jupiter must be shown repesct.

I finally made it into the assembly area, which was mostly just a big sqaure facing a stone platform. I quickly sped into my place in the First Cohort, Nathaniel glared at me as I stood next to him; it was obvious I would be in for a stern talking to later.

Nathaniel Buchannan was our Centurion, he was the leader of our Cohort. He's six foot tall, with big muscualr shoulders. He had a dark brown hair, which had been cut short. He looked like the perfect soldier, which was actaully expected from him, as he is the son of Mars, the God of War.

"Nice of you to join us," he whispered furiously at me.

I glared at him, but didn't say anything. Despite how much I despised him, Nathaniel was still my Centurion and I had to show respect to my commander. I looked to the boy who stood next to me, he gave me a stupid grin which instanly put a smile on my face.

The boy's name was Felix Lynes and he was the son of Neptune, the God of the Seas. That made him my cousin and I loved him dearly. He was fourteen with thick brown hair, which grew too long and was almost in his eyes. Only two people made me feel like I actually belong here and he was defintley one of them.

"Are you ready?" He asked me.

"Of course," I grinned back at him.

"Have you heard the news?" He questioned, his face lit up with excitement.

"No, what is it?" I aksed, suddenly curious.

"Abraham Lincoln did it, he's now President!" Felix exclaimed.

I told him to quiet down, not because I didn't want to the hear the news, I just didn't want anyone to overhear him. You see Abraham Lincoln was not a favourite among the people of Camp Jupiter, it wasn't because we cared about mortal politics, it was because he wasn't a mortal. He was something much worse, he was a Greek.

He was a demigod of the Greek gods, a son of Athena. For centuries the two camps of demigods, Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood have been rivals, with war even breaking out several times.

Our camps aren't that far apart, the Greeks are in Long Island, in New York. While the other Romans and I are in Virginia. The Greeks and the Romans hate each other, which means it never takes much to start us fighting.

"Both of you, be quiet," Nathaniel snarled.

I was about to open my mouth to argue back, however at that moment Oakley walked onto the stage accompanied by a female. Oakley was one of the Preator's, the leaders of the camp. He was now in his thirties, but he was still a fearsome warrior. He had a strong build with short sandy blonde hair, he mostly always looked grim and many people expected him to be strict, however he was actually kind. He was like a surrogate father to me and I knew I wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for him.

Next to him stood a woman who was also wearing armour. She was tall, with long blonde hair flowing down her back, her name was Rae Howlett and she was Camp Jupiter's second Preator. She was more stricter than Oakley, however she had been known to show occasional kindness towards us.

"Good morning to you all!" Oakley announced to the square.

Nobody moved or spoke. Everyone had complete respect for Oakley, they would stand in silence for days if he commanded it. That is what made us different to the Greeks, we were more respectful to our leaders; we were soldiers.

"Today is the day the tournament begins, each Cohort has chosen four warriors to represent them, the winner will be granted the victory laurels and will recieve a feast in their honour. Now I believe all that's left to say is, may the best warrior win!" Oakley exclaimed.

The whole square erputed to cheering as the everybody headed into the colosseum. It was modeled after the one in Rome. It could fit thousands of spectators inside, flags of Camp Jupiter as well as flags represinting the Gods were raised from the top.

I could see the flag with a thunderbolt blowing in the faint wind. I closed my eyes and silently vowed that I would bring honour to my father and would make him proud to have me for a daughter.

However I wouldn't have worried about making that vow if I knew what was about to happen, you see I wasn't going to win that tournament, I wouldn't even get to enter the Colosseum.

As I was heading to the entrance, something caught my eye. a figure covered by black robes was standing in the distance watching me, I couldn't see a face as it was covered by a hood. I did see one thing though, a flash of gold from the person's wrist captured my attention, the figure was wearing a golden bracelet.

Who ever it was then quickly disapperead behind one of the Camp's buildings, I turned to go into the Colosseum but I couldn't move. I heard the roar of the crowd as the first match was starting, but my attention was now somehwere else. I closed my eyes before making myself look up to the flag of Jupiter.

"Forgive me, father," I whispered.

I then turned and hurried after the stranger, however I didn't have to look for long. I went behind the mess hall and there they were. The person was stood there, as if they were waiting for me.

"Hello, Jupiter's daughter," the figure said in what was most defintley a male voice.

"Who are you?" I demanded pointing my spear towards him.

The man removed his hood to reveal his face. His skin was pale, like he hadn't seen daylight in a while, his hair was long and black, reaching down to his shoulders. He was smiling, but it was obvious his smile was not friendly.

"I am a soldier, just like you," he said.

"A soldier belonging to which army?" I asked still keeping my spear pointed firmly at him.

"My army," he replied with a smirk.

He then brushed some hair out of his eyes and that's where I finally got a good look at the bracelet on his wrist. It was gold with weird symbols on it, however the more I looked at it, the symbols seemed to be instead some sort of lettering. A language that I couldn't read, that's when I realised.

"You're a Greek!" I shouted.

"Very clever, it seems I have made the right choice" he said.

"And what choice is that?" I asked while trying to figure out how a Greek got into the camp undetected.

"I've chosen you Emily, you will do very well,"

"What are you talking about?"

I hoped I sounded braver than I thought, because I have to admit, he was scaring me. He even knew my name.I wondered if anybody had noticed me missing from the tournament yet and were looking for me. However the roar of the crowd in the distance told me the matches were still going on.

" Don't worry, it will make sense in time," he informed with a smile,

He then threw something which connected with my neck, I gasped in pain and dropped my shield. I pulled the object from my neck and saw it was a dart of some kind. I wondered what the dart was supposed to do until my vision blurred, my legs began to feel weak and eventually they gave way entirely.

I crumpled to the ground and suddenly couldn't move any part of my body. The man came closer and crouched down until his eyes were level to mine, he reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment, which he placed next to my head.

"Give that to your Preator's, tell them Camp Half-Blood send their regards,"

He turned and walked away from me, not once did he look back. I watched him go for as long as possible, until finally darkness took me.

Well here is the first chapter, I hope you enjoy it!