A/N: Just so you know, the song I set this to is Savin' Me by Nickelback. Check out the music video, it's pretty deep. Also, I decided that Percy doesn't have Riptide. Luke took Riptide away when Percy got captured.
One Last Time
By Xander O'Shana
I woke up in a new building. I could tell it was new because it had the latest in security and the walls were… well… modern-looking. To be brutally honest, I was really getting tired of waking up in weird places. Then I remembered what Luke had said to me as I passed out.
"You get to fight to the death…" Fight who? His stupid skeletons? Those things were too easy. They fall apart if you hit them in the right eyesocket. No, it wouldn't be them.
While I was trying to decipher his parting words, a minotaur showed up at the door. He roughly grabbed my right arm, which was unchained, and pulled me to my feet. I swayed a bit, considering the fact that I almost bled out from that STUPID MANTICORE WOUND! The half bull-half man thing looked me up and down, then nodded. Grunting, he told a cloaked figure behind him, "He is fit to fight, Your Titanship, sire."
The figure nodded, then replied, "Thank you Ssibylliss. I will take over from here." The person hissed as the minotaur walked by him. Then the cloak turned to me. "Are you weak, boy?" I nodded, feeling as if I was going to throw up if I actually said anything. "I have water here. Do you want it? It will heal you temorarily." I nodded again. Jeez, how many times do people nod here?
The figure pulled a withered hand out, holding a single bottle of Dasani. He then threw it to me, but before I could catch it, the water burst out. Smiling, I told the water to hover over my wound, and then sink into it. As it did so, I felt relief. Or, at least I did, until the figure spoke again.
"Chosse your weapon, boy." He produced at least ten daggers, two swords, five shields, nine sets of twenty throwing stars, and three things that looked like fans. I immediately reached for the stars, thinking that I would stop any opponents before they got too close, but then my hand was drawn to the largest sword. It was just my size, and the blade was an odd shade of wavy blue and green.
Yes, I need you. Take me, Son of Poseidon, and claim your rightful place as lord of the seas.
I withdrew my hand, and looked at the daggers. They were wavering a bit, as if they were only illusions. When I reached out my hand again, it went through the other weapons. Finally, I took the blade that had called me "lord of the seas."
The walls disappeared, and suddenly, I was in an arena. The figure was standing behind Luke, and seated next to Luke was… Annabeth? She looked down at me with dull eyes, as if whe wasn't at all there. Annabeth was wearing a gown of pure white, with her hair pulled up by an elaborate silver crown. At her throat was a beautiful silver chain with an owl on it.
Luke stood up, addressing the crowd of skeletons. I'm not kidding. He was so pathetic that he needed to waste power like this. "Hello everyone! Today, we have a special hero to entertain us! Please welcome, Perseus Jackson!" The crowd, surprisingly, went wild.
A young boy walked out of the opposite corner, and three others came out from behind me. "And… BEGIN!" Luke yelled.
The young boy charged at me straight off, swinging his shoddy blade wildly. I slashed at his knees, not wanting to kill him, but of its own accord, my hand moved upwards until he was impaled on the tip. His eyes widened, then dimmed, as his soul fled his body. Another boy came at me from behind, but I swept the boy around on my sword so that he hit the other boy with a sickening crunch. No. I thought. I- I can't be killing them. That would make me like… like the people I'm trying to stop. The last boy tried to back off, but for every step he took, I took two. When I had him up against the arena wall, I looked him in the eyes, trying to apologize for what I knew that the sword would make me do. He shook his head, pleading for me to let him live, but somehow, the sword had pushed me into a corner of my mind, powerless to do anything but watch… and cry. I put one hand on the wall beside his head, and ran him through. A tear escaped my eye, and then I collapsed, finally released from the sword's spell.
One of the boys had died when he stabbed himself, trying to escape from me, the monster. Looking around, I saw that all of the boys that had fought against me had died. Their eyes were open, and they had shocked expressions on their faces, as if they didn't think I would kill them.
A clapping sound interrupted my thoughts. I looked up, and saw that Annabeth was clapping. She was smiling, and it wasn't her usual smile. It was one of a person gone mad.
At that moment, I resolved to get the two of us out of here. Even if it cost me my life, I would save her.
Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be
Say it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth saving me.
