Most of the characters belong to Rick Riordan.

The map I used for this is a modified European map.

Link in the summary

Lukas Castellan

The city of Rome was one of the most stunning sights in the world, Luke knew this and threw a couple of glances towards his champion. They couldn't have more spectacular things to see in the North, but if she was impressed she didn't show it. She had a small frown, as if she was thinking of something and Luke was sure she did- her eyes looked too intelligent to not think of strategies all the time.

Luke had long since figured out that something had irritated Percy because he was quite, he guessed it was something about Percy's boots and their champion who he still didn't know the name of. He had to find out sometime, he planned to do it while he was teaching her the common tongue during their daily lessons. But first they had to get to the Elysian court, the most fashionable one- what you wore literally affected who talked to you. If you didn't keep up with the trends- which could change from day to day, everyone would look at you like you were a barbarian, a northerner. In Luke's eyes the court in Rome was more poisonous that the olympian one, even though people didn't try to kill each other as often as in the olympian court. In the Elysian noble you were forced to spend your money, always keeping up with the trends. This was easy for the rich, like Percy and Luke, but was almost impossible for the poorer nobles. If they couldn't afford a new attire for a feast then they would be thrown out of court and then lose their only way to get a better life. If they had just enough money they would struggle and as soon as they ran out of money they would lose their place in the court. The people who had money didn't care about the poorer, as always, and only focused on getting the most fashionable clothes.

As they rode into the city he heard Annabeth talk with Chiron, and was surprised when he heard their tone. He was no expert on the northern language but he was certain that that was not the tone someone talked with their guard with, not even if the guard was guarding them from people instead of making sure that they didn't run away. She laughed at something Chiron said and her white teeth flashed in the sun. Gods, he thought, she was beautiful. The way her body moved- with the agility and balance of a cat, the way smiled when she laughed. All perfect, like if she had practiced it, but he guessed she didn't. Although an old rumour came to his mind, one that spoke of the people of the North before magic was banned in the kingdoms- they had traded more with the kingdoms, and some merchants even travelled to the North. It was the only reason that Atlantis created a port in the Outlands, the rise in trade. When magic had been banned in the kingdoms the trade stopped, the North closed up- like if they were scared of something.

People didn't know what it was about but a rumour had started to spread that the people of the North were horrible beasts, that they slept with the children of the forest and created various half-breeds. No one knew where the rumour was from, many suspected that Zeus had bought the witnesses of the merchants who travelled to the North. The rumour said that the children of the men and the forest spirits had enhanced abilities compared to normal humans- they could use magic, were more agile and were stronger. It was also said that they had slightly pointed ears and sharp canine teeth, but none of it could be true. When Luke looked at Annabeth he saw no evidence of sharp canines, pointy ears or magic, and the agility part could be explained by her just being agile. He decided not to think about it too hard. Life was meant to be lived, and they were justheading to the biggest party in existence.

They had arrived to the court just after lunch, when everybody was relaxing. The courtiers had led them to the throne room to be presented to the king and queen. The ceremony had been dull, too many names and titles and formalities for Annabeth. The only thing worth noting was the crown princess, Piper. She had been sitting beside her father's throne in a smaller one, but she had been nervous and shy, wriggling away and blushing red with every compliment. Especially from Perseus. Perseus. Annabeth still didn't know how to handle herself around him, one moment he wanted to be treated as her equal and the next he wanted to rape her. She guessed that he wanted to be seen as a mature royal, not the spoiled brat that she suspected many of the children of the courts were. After the presentations they were led to their chambers in order to clean up and dress to formal attire, instead of their travelling clothes.

Annabeth was in the bath when a servant entered. She instantly scrambled to hide herself, unsure how she should act around the older woman. The servant was old, her clothes were the standard servants clothes- white linen instead of silks and other luxuries that the ladies of the court used, this was because she was employed by the king to serve the court and thus her clothes had to be paid for by him, it couldn't be too expensive. Her face was wrinkled, her hair gray and she seemed calm and grandmotherly.

She said, "Count Lukas sent me to help you get dressed," she paused, looking at Annabeth curled up in the bath. "But look at you, you're so skinny milady! You look almost like a skeleton, we have to get you on a nice diet. Oh, and by the way my name is Chariclo. You've already met my husband," she said. Annabeth thoughts went spiralling, who had she met that seemed remotely this age?

Chariclo must've realised it was a little vague as she said, "My husband's name is Chiron, he told me about you and that I shouldn't speak with anyone about you, so you can be open to me. I know you've had it rough here but don't judge the royals, it's in their blood to behave this way, to think that they own the world. Honestly I think that not all of them are bad, especially not Perseus- his father is one of the few royals who actually talk to his subjects and help them out. He must've taught his son some of that. But you should be careful around King Zeus' kid. The prince, Jason, is just like his father- strong, handsome and spoiled. He takes what he doesn't get, and pretty ladies should never be alone around him."

Annabeth wasn't entirely sure how to react to this, Perseus hadn't really been respectful, but everyone could have a bad day. She let the older lady help her out of the bath, scrubbed clean from all of the filth of the trip. Chariclo stopped when she saw Annabeth's back.

"I–I–I'm sorry, b–but how?" she asked, memories of the mines rushed over Annabeth and when Chariclo saw her pained expression she decided not to ask more. "Never mind dear, don't worry about that."

Chariclo left huffing something about "interrogating that old man" and came back with a midnight blue dress. Annabeth touched the expensive silk fabric and purred at how soft it was. The material itself must've cost more than Chariclo earned in a year.

"Who paid for this?" Annabeth asked.

"I would guess lord Lukas did, but I'm not sure. Your entire wardrobe is filled with dresses like these in all different colours and shapes," was the old woman's answer. Annabeth wasn't really that surprised, Lukas had to dress his champion properly, and though the dress wasn't to low-cut in the front it was sure to show a bit of her breast to everyone who looked. The dress would serve as a reminder to her- that he legally owned her, and to everyone else- that she was his. She hoped he wouldn't take advantage of his rights, and that she would gain her freedom without killing him- but if it came to it, she would do whatever it took to be free again.

Dressing up in the dress was harder than she remembered. She had hardly worn anything this fancy in the North or as an assassin serving the rich in the kingdoms. The corset- Chariclo said- was unnecessary since she was so thin, but when she started getting some curves again she would probably need it- lest the trends changed again.

When she was ready Chariclo pushed her into the corridor and told the guard to lead her to count Lukas' chambers. The guards escorted her around in the endless maze that was the palace until the arrived at a big double door. A few knocks from the guard and a voice inside shouted "Enter". The guard left her outside as she opened the door and walked in.

Reyna Ramirez-Arellano

Reyna didn't care much for the court. She had arrived there a couple of hours ago- at the same time as lord Lukas' entourage entered the city and the stream of gossip was already enough to suffocate her. From what she had heard and seen at least one other champion was there, a skinny girl who seemed confused about how to act in a palace and who only spoke a few words of the common tongue. Reyna didn't think much of this champion, she seemed more like a lover to lord Lukas than his actual champion. From what she knew she guessed that Lukas would have an ace up his sleeve and his real champion would arrive in the last second- from what Bianca had told her prince Perseus also supported Lukas' champion and it would make sense for them to do something like that, Lukas was rumored to be a trickster. The gossipers of the court also had snapped up that Lukas was buying dresses and jewelry for her, supporting the argument that she was just another conquest. They also had "lessons" in the common tongue in the lord's private chambers, Reyna knew just how well lessons could become something more intimate.

Luckily for Reyna and Bianca no one suspected them to have any sort of special relationship. Reyna hoped for her lover's sake that it took some time for the gossips to figure out why Bianca hadn't married someone yet. Bianca had explained to her, in the aftermath of their first time, that it was legal and socially accepted for a woman to marry another woman in Hades. To Reyna- who at the time was confused about her feelings for the princess, this was surprising, but she didn't complain. The kingdom of Hades was a far better place than the kingdom of Olympia, in more than a few ways, the marriage laws being only one. Maybe the world would've been better if it was allowed in the other kingdoms. If the public opinion of the kings and queens had been good they maybe wouldn't have to be so paranoid and angry towards each other. Maybe Zeus would've won his war if his soldiers would want to fight for him, but maybe it wouldn't have made a difference- the warriors of the North were said to be trained from the age of two. They didn't feel pain like most men, and women. They continued to fight even if they lost arms and legs. Then again- maybe the winter had been the biggest killer. The winters of the North were said to be so harsh that no one who hadn't been raised there would never survive.

Reyna thought about the warriors of the North, stronger and more brutal than any other. Was this only a result of them being handed away when they were young? Both Nico and Bianca had been left at a young age because their mother died and their father couldn't take them to his palace in fear of what his wife would do if he presented them as his bastards. Both of them had lived in an orphanage that took care of children that would otherwise live on the street, the only way they survived was because they learned how to fight. They had been adopted into the royal family a few years after- when a medic proclaimed Persephone barren.

Reyna had met Bianca years later when the circus that owned her performed at a royal banquet. Reyna was a fighter, and had been a fighter from young age. Her sister had abandoned her on the street where she was forced to steal and fight to survive. She had become a slave when the city guard had caught her and decided to sell her on the slave market. She had almost been sold of to a brothel mother- a person who bought young girls, trained them to become prostitutes and then sold them off to the highest bidder for the night. Reyna was close to becoming a prostitute when she decided that it was not the life she wanted- she managed to fight free and got almost 200 yards before they caught her and chained her to the stage. She knocked out five guards in her attempt and a man who was in awe of her skills bought her. She was trained to become a warrior amongst the man's circus. Being able to defeat opponents whilst wearing dresses and being a woman was a nice party trick that many idiotic men would lose money to. And they did. The night she saw Bianca she had defeated almost the entire royal guard of Hades before finally losing to the prince Nico, who was an excellent swordsman.

Bianca had introduced herself at Reyna's training the day after. The blonde girl had walked up to Reyna's owner and with a few words that Reyna didn't hear she gave a bag that seemed to contain coins to the man and the gestured for Reyna to come in.

"This is your new owner Reyna, Princess Bianca of Hades," her previous owner said before walking away playing with his bag of coins. Bianca studied Reyna up and down before gesturing for her to follow. They walked a bit in silence, Reyna taking in every detail of the palace, the garden, the princess she walked beside.

"I want to offer you a place as my personal guard," Bianca said. Had she asked her? was all Reyna could think. Owners didn't ask their slaves if they wanted things. The ordered and the slaves obeyed. Bianca looked at Reyna's surprised face and said, "What? You are free to deny if you don't want. It is your choice, you are free to say no."

"As you wish, milady," Reyna said- her voice trembled a bit. Was she free? No. No one would buy a slave and give the slave their freedom. Bianca's expression changed from serious to delighted.

"Thank you Reyna, I expect you to report to my room tomorrow morning," the princess giggled.

They hadn't gotten romantic until about a year afterwards, when Reyna had settled with her new freedom and gotten used to standing guard around the princess. Bianca had just gotten out of her bath, Reyna guarding her chambers as always, and instead of calling for her servants to come help her dress she jumped into her bed.

"Join me Reyna," Bianca had commanded. Reyna thought she was joking- it was not a guards place to be in the bed of her client. But when Bianca had commanded again she decided it was better not to make the princess angry and climbed into the bed. She was somewhat uncomfortable as the princess began taking her armour off. What would the king do if he found them like this? Would he punish Reyna?

Bianca let out a huffed sound of impatience that brought Reyna out of her thoughts and rolled her eyes before she dragged the surprised guard deeper into the cushions.

It turned out Reyna quite liked it- the softness of the bed against her naked skin, and most importantly, the feeling of what the crown princess of Hades did to her body. It was pure pleasure and Reyna was sure to let Bianca know that afterwards.

The King hadn't found out until many years afterwards when he managed to find them in bed. Reyna had, in the months after her relationship with Bianca intensified, been promoted to handmaiden of the princess- a great honour that many of the ladies at court were jealous of. Reyna pretended not to be hurt by their words but she cried into Bianca's shoulder many nights. Being the handmaiden of the princess meant that you helped her get dressed, fetched food and drinks and made sure she was happy. Reyna liked to make Bianca happy and she loved the excess amount of alone time they now had when no one would bat an eye at them for being together in Bianca's chambers. King Hades had walked into his daughter's rooms during one of her heated sessions with her handmaiden but, as he had explained to Reyna- after the initial shock of being discovered, naked as the day they were born, started to fade- he was proud that his daughter had found love and that she wanted to stay with Reyna even though many people in the other kingdoms would think they were crazy. He walked out and said to them that if they ever wanted some alone time after a banquet he would make sure that they were given it. He walked smiling out into the corridor.

Reyna figured it would be a little hard for Bianca to explain their relationship to the other children of the monarchs if they were discovered but she trusted Bianca enough to manage it. None would ask Reyna as she was only a handmaiden- a girl with no noble bloodline and therefore no speech amongst the royals. It was almost like if she didn't exist to them, which she was glad for in a way, but it was still a horrifying feeling that they wouldn't care if she died.

When Reyna walked into the training room she noticed a large crowd gathered around two fencers. They were mumbling as if something was very interesting- which when Reyna moved closer she noticed they were. The crowd stood in a semi-circle around the fencers who danced around on the sand. Reyna recognised every move and every strike- trying to figure out who would win and how she would win.

The first fencer was an elderly man. His long hair was brown with streaks of gray in it. Half of it was sticking to his face and the rest hung loosely- framing in his face. He looked like he had seen much wind a rain in his life as his face was rough and wrinkled like a sailor's. He was the tallest person in the room and in the court. He wore standard guard armour- leather and iron, he somehow made his old and marred armour seem like a trophy and she guessed it was. It proved for how long he had been serving and how many people that never managed to bring him down. The man was Chiron, one of the best swordsmen in the kingdoms and probably the best instructor for swordplay. He wielded his one-hand sword and his shield with expert grace that would be deadly if he decided to use it against someone. And he was.

The second fencer was the girl that was rumoured to be lord Lukas' champion. She had princess hair- blonde and curly, and was tall, perhaps 5 feet 10 inches. The girl was skinny like she had had a shortage of food for a long period of time. She looked like a skeleton compared to many of the other ladies- even though it was custom to be thin. Her eyes were the most interesting part of her physical appearance- they were storm gray and distant. It looked like she was thinking of a million things at a time which combined with her skills with the sword was terrifying for Reyna. Any person that could spar with Chiron and hold their ground was good- but if they could do it whilst thinking of other things like a complex mathematical problem? It was horrifying for Reyna as she realised that she might have a worthy opponent in the skinny girl. The girl fought with control that only an experienced fencer could muster. She only had a sword and was at a disadvantage since she couldn't defend without stopping her attacks.

Chiron was winning and the girl must be realising it since her attacks got more and more desperate until she ended on the floor with a sword to her throat. The girl was panting hard as Chiron helped her to her feet and the crowd dispersed. Reyna just stared in awe at the two people in front of her- a thin girl that could go toe to toe with a master swordsman, and Chiron- a master swordsman. She wondered if she had been wrong when she judged the girl before she saw her.

Chiron looked from the girl to Reyna before he said something in a strange language- the gesture he made with his hands told Reyna that they were going to leave. The girl sent a glare Reyna's direction as if she didn't want to stop training and felt that it was all Reyna's fault that she had to. The girl walked out of the room leaving Chiron and Reyna alone.

"That was quite a show you put up," Reyna said, hoping for any sort of clue to whether or not the girl would be Lukas' champion. Chiron didn't give her what she hoped for.

"Yes, she is talented. But she still needs training- her muscles are too weak and her sense of motion is wrong. I do however understand why milord wants her trained, it would be dangerous for a pretty girl to walk around a foreign court not knowing how to defend herself. Many others might be jealous," Chiron replied with a smile. Something in his tone told Reyna that it was not her place to ask more questions- she decided not to anger him and let him walk away with a silent nod.

She turned to one of the dummies and unsheathed her sword. She knew that if she wanted a chance to beat this champion she would have to practice, a lot.

Annabeth Chase

Annabeth had had a bad day. Firstly- the dress she had worn had been tight and uncomfortable, and though its beauty did somewhat make up for it she still hated it. She felt like she was trapped in a cage and she couldn't move. Then there was the fact that when her legs itched she couldn't scratch the irritating spot and she had almost gone mad trying to figure out how to do it. Two- when she had finally wriggled her way out of the damned piece of garment she had gone to the training room with Chiron to finally see how much of her swordplay skills she had lost after a year in the mines. She hated to think that she had lost as much as she had but her movements had been sloppy and her precision off. Her mentor- the mysterious 'Shadow'- would've beaten her up before leaving her on the floor until she got up would she ever be that slow. He wouldn't have talked to her until she had trained her agility up to an acceptable level- something that could take days. But Chiron had only knocked her to the floor and told her 'good job'. She wasn't sure if she was to take this as an insult considering she was supposed to be the best at everything she did- or at least the second best, her mentor would always be better than her- something he was sure to show her in every way possible. Whenever she came to show him some new skill she learned he always showed her he was better by beating her. The thing he'd said was that it was not good for the student to ever be better than the teacher, and that the student shouldn't feel pride for knowing something that everyone else already knew. This had worked well with Annabeth's desire to learn new things. If she wanted to learn he was sure to tell help her- but if she thought she was better than him he would make sure she knew her place.

The training room was silent when Annabeth walked in the second time that day. The competition was scheduled to begin within five days so she would make sure that she was up to par with her old self before it started. The dummy was tucked away in a side room so she had to drag it to the sandy floor. When it was in place she jumped into action- strike after strike, jab after jab- until she lost count of the time and her arm ached. She didn't stop although most trainers would've called a break since she would be too tired. She used the wooden figure to drain out all of her anger over being lazy, slow, weak. She was too focused too notice that someone sneaked into the room.

Duck, slash, roll. Everything went in one motion- faster than many could comprehend. She was feeling the sword- living the dance of steel, at one with the blade. She was flowing. She was like water. Calm and collected. Like a viper- silent and deadly. Swift as a river. She jumped and slashed- splinters flying everywhere. She rolled to the side, hacking into the solid wood of the dummy- sweat was pouring all over her but she felt free and relaxed. Nothing calmed her more than practicing, and nothing would be more fun than to see someone realise just how fast she could be in the competition. Dodging from an imaginary slash she feinted low by dropping her body down but swinged upward in a motion that would decapitate many opponents as they wouldn't realise what she had done.

She was the sword- its motion through the air and the sound it made as it hit the wood. She skipped to the right before jumping to the left, dodging the invisible opponents. Annabeth jumped into a somersault over the dummy- sailing through the air over its head- slashing out with the sword and landing with her back to it and her sword pointing towards its feet. She heard the head clatter to the ground and then silence- eerie silence that would freak out most other people. Then a soft clap.

A girl- no older than 15 walked around the dummy and looked at Annabeth with wide eyes.

"How did you learn to move that fast?" she asked. Annabeth stared in disbelief at the girl who was wearing an expensive dress and perfect makeup that looked natural. She was petite, one word Annabeth would associate with this girl was pretty- she had caramel hair and beautiful eyes that seemed to change colour as she moved. She had a small form, she had probably flowered a couple of months ago considering her chest was flat.

"Your teacher must've driven you hard right? I wish that I would learn to fight like you, but considering what what my—my fiance says that women shouldn't wield swords. That their fights are in the bed- giving life to children, and that men's fights are on the battlefield." She stopped a little at the word fiance, like she didn't want it to be like that and that someone had forced her into a marriage.

"I'm sorry but do I know you?" Annabeth asked, a little confused.

"I am Piper, my father owns this place." The girl looked at Annabeth with those big eyes again. "Who are you?"

"I'm Annabeth Chase, milady," Annabeth said as she realised that this was princess Piper, daughter of Tristan- king of Elysium. "I'm to be lord Lukas' champion in the games."

"Nice to meet you, Annabeth," the princess said. "But please stop calling me lady, or princess, or any title at all. Just call me Piper." The girl eyed Annabeth from head to toe.

"Alright Piper," Annabeth said. "but aren't you the princess of this place, can't you do whatever you want in this country? I'm sure that your father would appreciate it if his daughter started taking lessons."

Piper looked in disbelief at Annabeth. "Is it worth a try? I want to do something other than this endless amount of complimenting people and ladies who are trying to win a favour by befriending me. Can you recommend any teacher or should I ask my father to find one for me?" They continued talking like this for some time, Annabeth giving tips about good fencers and carefully answering questions about where she came from. She didn't trust Piper yet- and she probably never would- she would never trust a person the same since she had been captured. She was certain that she had been betrayed, otherwise no one would've caught her in that market at that time. Someone must've tipped someone to give her up- and she had payed for that mistake for quite some time. After a long time of small talk and various other things Annabeth excused herself and left the princess with the argument that she had a long day of training ahead of herself the next day and that she had to go to sleep.

She left Piper and instantly fell asleep as soon as she touched her bed, not bothering with taking off her clothes.

The next day king Tristan of Elysium announced that he was looking for a teacher that taught swordsmanship. He didn't imply that it was for his daughter but only that whoever got the post would be paid handsomely. Thousands of warriors dragged themselves as fast as they could to try to win the favour of the king. No one succeeded the first day. On the second day a man arrived, he wore old, black clothes and at his side hung a marred sword. Still his presence was unnerving for many of the other warriors who had gathered around the king. He didn't speak with any other man and the only thing he said was that he wanted to speak to the king in private. After an hour the clang of swords could be heard from the king's chambers before it stopped. The fight must've taken only ten seconds maximum, and the the royal guard was called upon. When they opened the doors they saw the man sitting with their king, with a goblet of wine in his hand. In front of him lay a signed contract, signed Theseus. The king soon announced that he no longer needed the other warriors and the city went back to normal, for almost everyone.

Piper McLean

Piper had been excited, it was the first day since her father had announced he was looking for a teacher for her and he had already decided. Her lessons were scheduled to begin within an hour and she was already wondering how this teacher would be. Would he be like Chiron, lord Lukas' old captain? Or would he be a middle aged man with a weather-torn face? To her surprise it turned out she was wrong. It was no old man that stood before her as she entered the room, but a you man. No older than 25 years. He presented himself a Theseus and her new mentor. He was calm and collected when he stared her down- taking in her features. His eyes were like the ocean- blue and deep. It was like you could get lost in them to the extent of never getting back out, drowning you and sucking you down whilst still remaining calm. The were also like the ocean in that they concealed an endless depth of something, in his case it felt like knowledge.

"So," he started. "I will be your instructor in the dance of steel, the fine movements of the sword. My name is Theseus. Nice to meet you Piper McLean."

"How did you know my last name?" Piper asked, not many people knew her full name- they mostly used her title as princess as a substitute, the only people who knew were scholars and her father and mother.

"I have my ways. Now let's not delve in the past and let us get on to training. I expect you to be present here every day, 9 O'clock, starting tomorrow, we will practice until lunch and then you will have the rest of the day off. I want you to be dressed according to the latest fashion as you-" he was sure to specify that she was the one, "- will probably never find yourself dressed for war. It's better if you learn to cheat, to take shortcuts that your enemies won't expect- you must use your size to your advantage."

He continued like this for some time, about how she had to be swift and soft as water whilst still being dangerous like a viper. Then he showed her an obstacle course and told her to finish it in under a minute. She crawled and climbed and rushed but to no avail. She couldn't do what he tasked her to.

Theseus huffed at this and said something about a slow learner. "We will practice this course many times every lesson until you've mastered it.

The next day was the same, continuous goes at the obstacle course, but this time they had onlookers. One she noticed had raven black hair, he was prince Perseus of Atlantis. The other was to her dismay prince Jason of Olympia, son of king Zeus- also her fiance. He had sandy blonde hair and electric blue eyes that seemed to stare at the chests of ladies and who was rumoured to have many lovers in the city- just like his father. She didn't have high regards for him and she was only marrying him because her mother said it- whatever she said was almost always law at her court. She guessed that the two men had only come there for a good laugh over how bad she was and when she heard Jason joking about how fun it would be to see girls fight with swords she wasn't surprised. Someone that was surprised however was Theseus, as he walked up towards Jason with anger in his eyes.

"What did you say, boy? You better hope you didn't say what I heard you say!"Jason flinched at the anger in his tone.

"What did you say lord, you should show respect to your superiors. Otherwise things might not go well for you. We wouldn't want that good health and spirit of yours to disappear would we," Jason laughed. Perseus didn't look amused in the slightest and stared at his friend in disbelief.

"In exactly what way are you my superior, milord," Theseus spat. "I would like to see just how good you are with that fancy sword of yours, if you can stand by your words- since you just insulted my student and personally threatened me. Many men have not been so lucky as you've been. As I said I would like to see you fight, but we wouldn't want you running home crying behind daddy would we, that would be below us." Piper realised how he wanted to play this- he was passively insulting Jason in front of Perseus and Jason would not,considering how prideful he was, take that sort of an insult in front of a friend.

"Did you just insult me!" Jason screamed. "No one insults me! I will meet you in the arena in an hour! Hopefully you will have learned your lesson by then and you will grovel before me and kiss my feet asking for my forgiveness!"

"See you in the arena then, princeling. Hopefully you will not be too foolish." Jason spat at the ground before Theseus' feet before rushing away, his anger showing in his brightly red face.

Theseus turned to Piper before saying, "Class dismissed. I would like you to attend this duel, perhaps you'll get some ideas as to how you will beat the course." He turned and walked away.

Jason had been waiting in the arena for twenty minutes, warming up his shoulders and legs- making sure that he was fast. Piper had only been there ten minutes before, but it seemed the entire court had heard the word about a duel. The king was laughing in his pavilion, watching Jason warm up with a goblet of wine in his hand.

Perseus had filled her out on just how much Jason wanted to win it, how he had turned up in full armour, brightly polished until the golden metal glowed and how he said he wouldn't spare this stupid peasant if he didn't grovel at his feet instantly.

Theseus entered the arena at the very time the clock chimed marking the hour that had passed. Jason's smile faded when he saw the man take his stance. Theseus didn't have any armour on, he wore black leather clothes and at his side hung his old sword. He walked up to the king and bowed with grace before settling his eyes on Jason.

The king held up his hand and the arena went quiet. He held up a napkin that was to symbolise when the fencers would start. He dropped it and Jason charged instantly, releasing a flurry of strikes that went too fast to recognise- only a blur could be seen by Piper.

Perseus leaned in and whispered to her, "Jason is at a disadvantage and he knows it, any man wearing full armour will lose to a man not wearing any. He will get tired too quickly and then he will get picked off easily- so he's trying to finish this as fast as possible."

It turned out Theseus seemed to know this to, as he didn't even draw his sword- relying on his extreme reflexes to dodge all the strikes Jason threw at him. One moment he was standing up, the next second he was leaning so far back his head touched the ground before throwing himself left.

When he finally drew his sword he was sure to do it dramatically, letting everyone see its blade as it was drawn soundlessly from its sheath. The blade looked nothing like the hilt- it was not marred, or withered. It was like ice- white, and it seemed to ripple as he moved it around. It was also thin like a snowflake. The temperature seemed to drop drastically in the room once it was out, everyone froze in their seats and awaited the next progression in the fight.

To their surprises it didn't help waiting for the strikes that were about to come, since no one reacted fast enough to see them. One second the prince was standing up facing the man, the other second the man was walking away- out the exit that the prince had come in from- leaving the prince on his back with a clear red line across his throat. Blood was seeping out of the chink in the armour across his throat- which the prince wiped off before screaming at everyone to leave.

While everyone left Piper, Perseus and the king all hurried to the furious prince's side. They helped Jason take his armour off before he shoved them away, throwing his helmet in anger. His delicate ego had been hurt and there was nothing he could do about it since everyone at court had seen it happen, or at least they had recognized the pattern of motion that had been used against him, no one had been fast enough to notice the motion or the strike that brought him down.

"That was one of the best duels I've seen in my days," Piper's father bellowed, "You sure you don't want a rematch against him kid, I'm sure everyone will be glad to see it happen." Jason just stared at him, probably considering shutting him up for good and the realising that that wouldn't do any good with the other kingdoms if the loser of a duel was to kill someone who congratulated the victor.

The king walked off, Jason storming in his trail leaving Perseus and Piper alone. Perseus looked at Piper before gesturing in the direction that Jason headed.

"I—I'm sorry but I have to go after him," he said with a blush, before turning rushing after Jason. Piper was left alone in the arena, not even noticing that her cheeks burned until she noticed the blush fading…

A/N: Back from Pchum Ben holiday! Another term in hell is starting, sadly :(

Notes about this chapter: It's longer than my chapters usually are, so don't expect more of these long ones in the future. Reyna/Bianca is happening and I'll probably not change it in this fic, maybe in sequels(if they are planned(*hint hint)). I've also been thinking of where I want to take this story and I've pretty much gotten it down. The plot will move along very soon, a prophecy might appear in the next chapter. Review if you enjoy!

/mOsbricka