"GO SPARTANS!"

"YOU CRUSH THEM GLADIATORS!"

The din was nearly overwhelming, the noise level outrageous. One would think they had ended up in the middle of a war, rather than the center of a football game. A college football game no less. Yet that did nothing to lessen the evident levels of intensity.

The two biggest rivals were facing off. Long Island's Spartans versus the San Francisco Gladiators. The two most competitive colleges in the nation, both on equal footing. The colleges were virtually empty, every member watching the game. Even the members of the Minerva and Athena sororities and fraternities had come to cheer on their teams.

One Athena Sorority girl in particular was cheering loudly, considering her hatred of sports. However, she had not forgotten the previous year. Her boyfriend was the quarterback of the Spartans, and last year's victory had brought euphoria to the both of them, particularly her. For a girl who's fatal flaw was pride, having her victorious boyfriend grab her in for a searing kiss in front of the whole world was particularly enjoyable.

And she was looking forward to the same thing tonight. The Spartans were one of the best teams out there, and the flames born from the fiery rivalry between the two colleges had been fanned. When the Roman Gladiators had stolen their mascot, an ewe painted gold, the Spartans had been outraged. Annabeth Chase, girlfriend of Perseus Jackson, quarterback of the Greek Spartan football team, had all but lost her boyfriend to the football team. She herself had contributed somewhat, by helping Percy create new football plays to use at the championship.

However, for some reason, against all odds, a freak storm had hit. It seemed that water and lightning were at war with each other, just like the Greek and Roman football teams. Annabeth noted that, looking up at the black sky, pushing her slick rain poncho back a little. She had made sure to look nice, actually putting forth effort into her make-up tonight. The fact was, she had an attractive and athletic boyfriend, a combination that made the Aphrodite Acrobats do flips. And yet he chose to be with the geeky yet pretty blonde. What a heartwarming cliché Cinderella story that just fit so perfectly into the college stereotype.

Annabeth was startled back into focus as a roar of sound hit her, and she realized that her team had just scored another touchdown. She jumped out of her seat and cheered wildly for the Spartans, but one in particular.

"Jeez Annabeth, you hate this sport!" Her friend Thalia grumbled beside her, pushing her choppy dark hair out of her eyes. Annabeth rolled her stormy grey eyes, and met Thalia's electric blue ones with logic on her side. "I don't hate it Thals. I just find it to be a pointless recreational activity. I hate how much time it takes away from Percy, but he loves it, so therefore, I can't hate it."

Once again, the electric blue orbs were rolling in their sockets. "You are so whipped Annabeth." She muttered. "See, that's why I joined the Artemis Sorority. That way, I'm not alone, and no boyfriends for the duration of college."

Annabeth shook her head, causing the hood of her rain poncho to fall off, and her blonde curls to get wet. "Nuh uh, no way. I have worked way too hard to get Percy to finally ask me out, and over the past year, things have been perfect. Not everyone gets lucky enough to fall in love with their best friend."

Thalia snorted at the statement. "Annabeth, the only reason you worked so hard to get Percy to fall in love with you was because his head is just full of kelp. And I'm pretty sure everyone who's besties with someone of the opposite gender falls in love with their best friend at one point or another."

"True." Annabeth conceded to Thalia's point, before continuing with a grin. "But not everyone is lucky enough for it to actually work out." As for Percy and her, their relationship was just falling into place, making the both of them extremely happy.

Annabeth turned her attention back to the game, and that was when everything went horribly wrong.

The Spartans were on defense, while the Gladiators were on offense. Their left tackle had been hurt, which was good news for the Spartans. From what Annabeth could see, it would prove to be a huge advantage, one the Spartans would be sure to explore. However, they did more than explore. They destroyed.

The ball was sent shooting back to the quarterback, but before he could even move, one of the football players, an Ares fraternity member, tackled the Gladiators' quarterback, sending his head smashing to the ground. There was a collective gasp among the crowd as everyone waited for him to get up. But he never did.

Whispers began going around the stadium, the Gladiators' side stirring angrily. Annabeth sympathized with them though. If something happened to Percy, she would probably kill someone trying to get to him. As it was, she saw a very distressed girl pushing her way through the crowd, though whether it was the quarterback's girlfriend or just a fangirl, the blonde didn't know.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Thalia asked her wise friend. However, Annabeth was at a loss for words. "I-I don't know Thals." She said shakily, and the dark haired girl bit her lip in worry. Annabeth hated not knowing, and having her willingly admit that was never good. Both of the young women turned their attention back to the football game, and watched as a horrible scene unfolded in front of them.

As the teams bent down, preparing to catch the ball, a flash of light shot through the sky, and thunder roared barely a millisecond later. Annabeth knew that the lightning had been close, dangerously so. It was as if the sky were trying to take revenge on the Spartans for hurting their player. Though Annabeth tried to dismiss the silly notion, it became impossible a second later, as her worst nightmare came alive on the football field.

A crack of lightning shot down from the sky, directly on Perseus Jackson.

A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read my story! I've been hooked on HoO fanfiction for the past few weeks, however, I noticed that they all seem similar, give or take a few. To be quite honest, when I reread TLH, I struggled with deciphering what was an actual part of the book, or what was fanfiction. So in light of that, I decided to write an AU fanfiction. If you haven't guessed yet, it will be taking place in college, between the Greek Sparta College, and the Roman Gladiators College. Yeah, I failed at creating names. If anyone has better ideas, lemme know, okay?

Anyways, it will retain some of the same things from TLH and PJO, but for the most part, it will follow my own original plot. I know it isn't the typical, Percy's side of TLH, or the fanfiction sequel, but give it a try please!