A special shoutout to Poke Tekken Critic for their amazing review.
Chapter 6: Jason vs. Octavian
Tears wouldn't stop pouring out of Jason's eyes. He was usually the calm, brave leader of New Rome who always kept everything under control. But here, in his cell, sadness and angry had overcome all priorities and problems. The need for vengeance was beating hard in his heart. The only way he could do that is if he killed the one Percy loved most. Annabeth. With a sneer, Jason realized that she was just sitting there, staring into space while he held his gladius. He could kill her right now and not get in trouble. It's not like he had a family, other than Jupiter and Thalia, and since Thalia was here, he doubted she would be killed. And frankly, Jason didn't give a dam about Jupiter right now. All he wanted right now was to stick his sword right through her back. He wanted to make Percy feel like he did, and even if Exodus killed him for it, he could be with Reyna for eternity in Elysium. He smiled grimly; revenge was going to be sweet. He began moving towards Annabeth, ready to strike her down. Until the guards came. Out of nowhere, a guard grabbed his waist and began pulling him towards the exit. "No" he screamed, staring into Annabeth's eyes. Just before he was dragged out, he sent her a murderous gaze. "I will kill you Annabeth Chase". With that, he was gone.
Octavian was shaking in his room, as he leaned against the wall. He looked warily down at his knife. It was usually used for ceremonies, so he could foretell the future, but today it would be used for combat. Against him. Against Jason Grace. Octavian smiled bitterly. He had always dreamed about killing Reyna or Jason and taking power of New Rome, and leading them to a victorious win over the Greeks. Now Reyna was dead, and Jason was about to kill him. His dream was turning into a nightmare. Octavian looked around the room, at the others. They all thought he was a lunatic. He was turning into one, admittedly. They didn't understand what he had done, and he barely understood it. He had resurrected Exodus. By spreading his name, Exodus had come to power quicker. After he was done with the sixteen he had brought here, he would kill the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. It was all Octavian's fault. He grimaced and put his hands over his head, finally realizing what he had done.
The guards dragged Jason's screaming, angry body to the arena. Jason wished he could get out of the hold and go kill Annabeth, and then Percy. Then himself. Jason gave up a couple seconds later. He stopped moving and just sighed, anger still deep in his heart. There was no point in resisting. He would have to take his anger out on the augur that had been annoying him his whole life. Jason smiled and began cackling evilly. Octavian's death would be fun.
Octavian was sweating buckets as he was taken to the arena. He was nervous as heck. He didn't want to fight Jason Grace. He was outmatched and he knew it. Jason had anger driving him. Octavian had no confidence, and no drive. Why did he have to resurrect Exodus? Why hadn't he been a normal boy and not hated the Greeks so much? His plan all along had been to make Exodus kill the Greeks. He failed with flying colors, he thought with bitterness. He was destined to die in five more minutes, and Jason Grace would kill him.
Jason was thrown violently into the Arena and was blinded by the lights. He literally couldn't see anything, so he just stood and waited for the fight to begin, his grief threatening to tear him apart. He wanted to roll up in a ball and cry. He wanted to be with Reyna. He wanted to hold her in his arms, and kiss her, but he couldn't she was gone. Dead. A Skelton. A member of Pluto's realm. Then anger overcame him again. Then sadness. Then revenge lust came over. He was a carousel of emotions, a soup of grief, with a mixture of sadness and anger, and a pinch of vengeance. "I'm sorry Apollo" he said softly, knowing what he was about to do.
Octavian was thrown into a room he couldn't see, because of the blinding lights. He tried shielding his eyes to see, but couldn't see sill. Octavian shrugged. Whatever. He thought about how he'd wronged the Greeks and other Romans over the years. Memories came flooding back to him. Shoving a young Frank to the ground. Calling him an outcast and a graceus. Making fun of Reyna before she became a praetor. Calling her swear words, Latin curse words. Yelling at Hazel. Calling her a bitch, the n word. Making other Romans feel bad about themselves. Being a power hungry demon. Trying to make Reyna make him the praetor to no avail. There were a lot of bad memories that he wished he could apologize for. Suddenly, a loud voice rang out and the bright lights went away. "Let the match begin!" Octavian looked at his surroundings, stunned. He then smiled. It was good to be back.
Jason heard Exodus say the match was beginning, and immediately the bright lights went away. Jason checked out his surroundings and was surprised. He was on a cloud. He was surrounded by other clouds, and the ozone air felt electric on his skin. He cracked the first smile since Reyna's death. He liked his power area. There was only one way up for Octavian, and it was a long ladder that leads from the ground to one of the clouds in the distance. Jason looked over the edge of the cloud and was surprised at what he saw. Octavian's temple from Camp Jupiter sat on the ground. It made sense to give Octavian his temple. It was probably the only place he felt powerful. Jason whipped out his coin and flipped it. His lance was his hand. He wanted the length. Jason grimaced and looked to the ground once more. He had an augur to kill.
Octavian smiled at his temple. It felt great to be back. He saw a pile of stuffed animals, just sitting there, almost beckoning to him, to be cut open. He saw a stack of knives, like the ones he used at Camp Jupiter. He smiled, and a crack of thunder changed his mood immediately. Jason was coming. Octavian had spent too much time reminiscing. He quickly scooped up three knives and tucked them into the waist band of his jeans. He scampered deep into his temple, searching for anything that could help him kill the son of Jupiter.
Jason flew down to the earth, and Octavian's temple. He quietly opened the door, lance ready if needed. No one was in sight. He glanced around, his sense keen as ever. Where was Octavian? He saw a couple beanie babies or something like that, and a single knife lying on the ground. Why would Octavian leave his knife on the ground? Jason watched for signs of trickery and slowly advanced through the temple. He had an augur to find.
Annabeth was crying in her room, watching Jason advance in the temple. A bad part of her was rooting for Octavian to kill Jason, but she ignored it. She was deathly afraid of Jason now. He had promised to kill her. He would most likely attack Percy next, and he wasn't confident in her boyfriend's odds. Please Octavian, she thought to herself. Kill him.
Percy was watching Jason Grace advance through the temple, an angry glint in his eyes. He felt horrible for killing his girl, but it was necessary for their survival. He needed Annabeth to make the championship match, so they could either die together, or hopefully escape and spread the word. He really liked Jason and really despised Octavian, but he was rooting for Octavian. Jason was more powerful than Octavian, and Annabeth would have an easier fight against him. Not that he doubted his wise girl, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Octavian hid behind a bookshelf, watching Jason move through the temple, slowly making his way towards the open door. Octavian smiled at his trick. He had a chance at killing Jason. If he fell for the trick and went through the door, then Octavian would leap out from behind the bookshelf, and stab him in the back. C'mon Jason, Octavian thought to himself. Go through that door.
Jason slowly advanced towards the door, eyeing the bookshelves warily. Was Octavian over there? Jason hoped not as he walked more briskly towards the door. He reached for the handle and paused just before touching it, feeling eyes hit the back of his head. He smiled, knowing exactly what Octavian was doing, and where he was. He grinned and reached for the doorknob, waiting for Octavian to strike so he could kill the augur.
Octavian grinned; Jason was falling for his trick! He was going to kill the son of Jupiter, and survive. He slowly crept towards Jason and the end of the bookshelf. Jason paused and tilted his head as if he were listening to someone. He smiled and reached fully for the doorknob. Octavian jumped up and sprinted Jason's way, a knife glinting in each hand. He raised both up and screamed "FOR APOLLO" as he brought both Knives's towards Jason's head. Only Jason's head wasn't there. It had moved. And instead of Octavian's knives buried in Jason's skull, Octavian had a lance buried in his chest.
Jason smiled cruelly as he grabbed his lance and hefted it up, a mostly dead Octavian still on it. He raised it sky high and screamed "FOR REYNA". Lightning bolts arced from everywhere in the sky and struck his lance. Octavian screamed in pain, and a bright flash of light sparked. When the light went down, Octavian was gone.
Percy grimaced when he saw Octavian get stabbed. Jason had known all along that he was there. It was a nice move, Percy had to admit. He watched Jason raise the lance to the sky, and scream something about Reyna. Lightning came from everywhere and hit Octavian's body. Percy winced. Torture didn't seem necessary. Only it wasn't torture. Octavian's body was gone.
Annabeth sobbed when she saw Octavian's body disappear. When Jason came back to the room, he would surely kill her. She would never see Percy again, or her friends back home. She began to sob, praying to Athena, that she would be protected. She was scared of Jason's power too. He had made a body disappear with lightning. What else could he do, when his emotions were leading him?
Jason felt the tears prick his eyes, as he looked at the now empty lance. He didn't feel like himself. He felt more sinister, but liked the feeling. He almost…..craved it. He brushed the tears from his eyes and spotted a camera that was live feeding the match to the others. He sent a maniacal grin to the camera and said "Jackson and Chase are next". With that he threw the lance at the camera and the camera exploded.