Greeks, Gladiators, Gore
A Mission
Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan, and therefore I do not own anything he created.
Crimson stained grains of an opaque salt tumbled; tumbled along the concrete floor, its pungent, sickly essence lingering in the frosty air. All was cast into the night's shadows, yet the deep red colour of the sand stood out crystal-clear. What stained the Colosseum's sand was nothing other than man's blood, shed along with tears of grief. Three thousand grains of what comes from beautiful, serene coasts scraped along the dungeon floor, whispering, "We bear their blood..." Oceans of gloom danced around the dank block of iron bars, sweeping up the blood-coated sand, which carried the burden of haunting the young gladiators who were to either perish or slaughter.
In the cell next to Percy's, Annabeth peacefully inhaled and exhaled, but her constant trembling ruined her calm sleep. Percy reached out and clasped her hand in between his own, and her fear was instantly swept away from her. A slight smile crept onto Percy's tanned face; Annabeth looks so beautiful when she sleeps, Percy thought.
"She's lucky, you know," Nico turned to face the couple; however he still looked at his feet as he spoke, "Look, Perce, I know you've been here way longer than us, but I also know that Kronos has a few hidden forms of torture. Trust me. If Kronos was in a bad mood, Annabeth would be facing hell right now."
That last sentence was enough to wake Annabeth up.
"I suppose that makes sense. He managed to successfully find a way to punish us, so he would have been feeling smug," she muttered, running her hands over the sand. "Kronos can do anything he wants. He rules Rome, for the sake of the gods. If he wanted any of us dead, we wouldn't be living right now..."
. . .
"What if they're dead? What if we're just endangering us Greeks for nothing?" Jason hissed at his companions. Five pairs of determined eyes darted around, scouting the wasteland around them for any signs of the enemy. Roman legions were strong, disciplined and somewhat unfair according to his older sibling, Thalia.
"They're not dead," Natasha and Thalia sternly replied without hesitance, their faces bearing grim expressions. Those two had reasonably close relationships with Percy, Annabeth and Nico, and therefore refused to admit the possible but grave truth. Jason decided not to counter their response.
Rome was a few hundred miles north of the refugee camp. For the past twelve hours (give or take a couple) Jason, Piper, Leo, Natasha and Thalia had been trekking through livid blizzards of grass. No buildings of gilded stone were in sight; only a few jagged rocks, none of which forming any architectural masterpiece. To the five's dismay, nothing edible was visible, either. Back at the refugee camp, food was scarce, so the Greeks were familiar to the concept of famine. Jason hadn't eaten in days.
"Hold up, guys," Leo said. "What amphitheater are we even breaking into?" All heads turned to Thalia, who knew more about Rome than just about any Greek – with the exception of Annabeth and her siblings. She shrugged, "The Colosseum is the most popular amphitheater in Rome, no doubts there. Only highly trained gladiators fight there. Percy's been enslaved for two years or so, and that's more than enough time for training to become a gladiator. The three of 'em must be there, I guess."
"What does it look like, sis?" Jason enquired.
"Are you serious, Jason? Let me repeat myself: it is the most popular amphitheater in Rome," Thalia explained, leaving Jason even more confused. He was completely oblivious to Thalia's simplest of deductions. "So it's big, right?" Jason asked, earning him a hard slap on the cheek from his sweet sister. "Ouch, Thals..."
"You're lucky you're my brother. I'd give you a much harder slap if you weren't. Let me demonstrate on Leo," Thalia manically grinned as her flat hand collided with Leo's cheek at a remarkable speed. A scarlet hand-shaped mark remained on Leo's face. Rather than crying out in pain, Leo squeaked like a mouse. Piper stifled a giggle.
"Stay. FOCUSED," Natasha spat at the immature quartet, who all responded with a sarcastic 'Yes, ma'am'. Although all was shaded by the vast night sky, nothing was to prevent loud noises from disturbing Rome's guards.
The five fugitives continued to stagger through the fields, when they eventually came across a rather large amphitheater. Intrigued, Jason edged forward, despite his comrade's orders to stay low and put. Jason gazed at the Colosseum in awe, studying its delicate carvings and large arch-shaped windows. No wealthy spectators were in sight, but there were (obviously) guards flanking the entrance to the marvellous building.
"Jason, come back. Right now. We could be discovered any second, and I am not gonna live life as a slave."
"Coming, Pipes. It's just... Wow..." Jason's voice faltered as his vision was, once more, captivated by the apparent beauty of the Colosseum. Right, Jason, get your priorities straight, Jason mentally chided himself. People are forced to fight to the death here. No matter how awesome the amphitheater looks, its purpose is disgusting.
"Okay, guys, we need to make camp. Leo, you make the tents and tend to a campfire. Piper, fashion all of us some Roman-ish clothing, because we're going undercover. Nat, you and Jason keep lookout," Thalia ordered in a hushed tone. Immediately, Natasha, Piper and Jason set off to fulfil our duties. Leo, on the other hand, stayed to annoy Thalia. "Yes, my lady, I shall bow down before you and grant your every wish. You just sit there; laze about, while we do all the gruelling work. Sound good?" Leo said with a mischievous smirk plastered on his already-red face. Thalia – well, you guessed it – reddened the other side of Leo's face.
Thalia rolled her eyes and smirked, "Eh, I am gonna do something useful. I'm gonna slap you every time you get on our nerves. I'll also formulate a decent plan to infiltrate the place where Percy, Annabeth and Nico are being enslaved."
"I thought you already had a plan."
"Well, it wasn't exactly, ah, complete," Thalia explained.
"And you're leading this little, err, quest?" Jason asked, hoping that his sister would be merciful and not murder him on the spot. Thalia smirked once more as she nodded her head. Great. Just great, Jason thought.
. . .
Morning had arrived, and the slave-keeper thundered into the dungeons to unlock the cell doors. Once all of the cells were open, the slaves within began to march single-file towards the kitchen, where they would each be served a minute part of a stale loaf of bread, along with a wooden cup of mulled wine. However, the slave-keeper disapproved of their actions and chuckled. "Emperor Kronos wanted 'o speak with all o' you lot. No breakfast today, boys – and girl, of course," he said, satisfied with the slaves' disappointed groans.
Kronos stormed in seconds later, his regal purple cloak billowing behind him. The slaves respectfully bowed down before him, and Kronos ordered, "Stand." Immediately, the slaves straightened their postures and looked Emperor Kronos directly in his eyes.
"Now, you all are, presumably, wondering why I have cancelled your morning meal. Well, I have planned an exciting event in the Colosseum for you to all participate in. Actually, it is a collection of events. Each day this week will hold a new arena design, along with new gladiators and threats. Use everything we have taught you to survive. There can be multiple winners, as long as they are all either slaves or gladiators; no combinations. The first event shall commence in half an hour," Kronos informed the horror-stricken slaves. With that, Kronos left the dungeons and headed up to his balcony that overlooked the entire arena.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Percy's pulse rate abruptly rose, hammering; hammering against his well-muscled chest.
Naturally, Percy began to feel guilty about the Emperor's decision. What if this is my fault? Should I have been so violent with Kronos? Yeah, I should have, actually – nobody touches my Wise Girl. But I've practically made a death wish, as well as putting all of us slaves in danger... Gah, I hate those stupid Fates.
Before Percy's mental debate could continue, Nico tugged Percy to the armoury and followed the small crowd of slaves towards the table of weaponry. Annabeth jogged alongside them, struggling to keep up. She still looked pale from the blow she'd endured from Kronos. Worried, Percy gently pressed the back of his palm onto Annabeth's throbbing forehead. "Does it hurt, Annabeth?" Percy asked as he wrapped a protective arm around her. It was a rather stupid question to ask, considering how hard Kronos struck her.
"My head feels fine, Seaweed Brain. I just have a minor headache," she replied with a weak smile. Of course, Annabeth was just saying that to ease Percy's concerns. Of course, Percy's concerns increased rather than decreasing.
When the slaves arrived at the armoury, a rather peculiar set of weapons lie before their eyes: fish nets, a trident, some spiked maces and a wooden club – no swords, no daggers. After eyeing the set of weaponry suspiciously, Percy took a look at the armour. All he could see was a bunch of leather chest-pieces.
He glanced at his dear friends. Nico stared in disbelief at the eccentricities, whereas Annabeth was clearly formulating a plan (Percy knew this as sparks flew around her irises when she had a genius idea). Nico was frowning, Annabeth smiled. And Percy, after observing his options once more, figured out why.
Nothing amongst the weapons and armour was particularly heavy. Leather is reasonably light-weight. Fish nets and tridents were used to hunt in the seas. Maces aren't the heaviest of weapons, and neither are clubs.
Rome's citizens were to witness a three-way-battle; the slaves were up against not only the gladiators, but the tide.
. . .
Dawn broke and a few beams of white light gazed down upon the five Greeks' temporary camp, meandering through the treetops of the forest. Jason was the first to wake, and decided to spend his spare time hunting for edible berries or roots. His knowledge of plants wasn't the best, but he did know a few types of forest food that was anti-poisonous. In just a few minutes, Jason located a patch of edible roots that could help satisfy Piper's, Leo's, Thalia's, Natasha's and his own hunger.
The other four fugitives had woken up when Jason had returned. Jason shared the roots out between the five of them equally, and they chewed on the plants, savouring every bite. When they had finished eating, they decided to discuss their plan.
"So, Piper has the outfits completed. Jase, you and Nat fell asleep, and we're lucky to be living. All we need to do is dress up and accessorize, sneak into the Colosseum and see if Annabeth, Nico and Percy are there. This plan could end in a few ways, so we'll just have to improvise if something goes horribly wrong," Thalia explained while Jason listened attentively.
An hour later, a buzz of laughter and anticipation sounded from inside Rome's walls. Thousands of spectators walked through the Colosseum's gates. How on Earth can those people be so fascinated by death?
Leo and Jason examined their new Roman-ish outfits. They both wore cotton togas with leather sandals, which looked expensive, even though Piper made them out of scavenged materials. Shortly afterwards, the three girls rendezvoused with the boys at their camp. They all wore similar dresses; Thalia's was pale blue, Natasha's was deep crimson and Piper's was a light sepia colour. She's gorgeous, Jason thought.
"Jase, I doubt we're actually gonna carry out this plan if you're gonna keep drooling over Piper all day. Hello? Jason? Are you there, Jason?" Leo asked, waving his hand in front of Jason's face to break his trance.
"What?" Jason asked.
"We're on a mission, Jase."
"Oh, right. Got it. Let's go and watch people murder each other."
Hello, people of the Earth! I am back after a month of not updating. You have every right to be mad at me. No amount of virtual waffles can make up for this great sin...
Well, there's your chapter! It took a while, as I kept re-writing parts, and stuff. But it's done now! Yeah, I'm too lazy to get this thing proof-read, so if you spot any major errors (I've noticed a few plot mishaps, which I have tried to fix, by the way) let me know.
I tried to make this chapter longer than most, as I truly regret not updating sooner. Next chapter will be about the first event. I'm certain of it.
I'd like to thank all of my amazing readers who have been really patient with waiting for this chapter to arrive! Your reviews, favourites and follows make my day. : )
Well, that's it for the "Author's Note" of this chapter. I will be writing some Gallagher Girls (Ally Carter owns that series) fan-fictions in the future, as I have fallen in love with those books.
Bye-bye for now!
Love, Ze Piglet.
Oh, yeah. I forgot to bake you waffles. JUST KIDDING; I remembered, but I wasn't bothered to bake them. No, I'm not that mean. Here are your well-deserved waffles! (#) (#) (#) (#) (#) (#) (#)