Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or settings in this fanfiction. Some of them I have created, while most are either the work of Rick Riordan, or other fans, whose permission I have obtained for use of their characters. Again, all Percy Jackson characters and settings go to R.R.

Author's Note: This chapter is told from the third-person POV of Lucius Darrow.

Chapter VI: Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?

To say that Lucius was not happy with his brother, Marcus, was an understatement. It had been eight years since the defeat of Terra. His wife had retired from the Legion and had taken up work in the Circus Maximus, working with the horses there. Lucius himself had been promoted to Centurion for a short while, before taking up the role of the first Ambassador of Greco-Roman relations. He had taken up this position as a favor to his half-brother, now Praetor. He was not very happy with the long time he spent away from home, from his wife, and now his children.

Eight years since the war ended and Lucius had a daughter named after the terrible hurricane storm Katrina. Both he and his wife, Carolina, knew that their daughter would grow to be a strong, but powerful woman. Four years later, they had their first son, Jacob, named after Lucius' best friend. Earlier, the son of Mars had made a promise to his Greek friend that he would name his son after him, after accompanying him on a dangerous quest.

And it was because of his wife and two kids, one of them being a newborn, that Lucius was not so eager into doing another favor for Marcus, even if they were brothers through their mutual godly parent, Mars. Still, the Praetor had the authority to request an audience with any member of the Legion. Lucius, much to his dismay, was honor bound to comply.

The Principia in Camp Jupiter has stayed pretty much the same, only updating every ten or so years. The inside, however, changed to fit the personality of each Praetor. During his younger years, when Reyna was the only Praetor, the office had been handled by only one person. Stacks of paperwork. Now, with Marcus North and Jack Copperfield as Praetors, the work had been equally divided amongst the two of them.

Lucius admired Jack's dedication to the people's interests, rather than his own. Marcus sought to preserve his time in office. And Lucius knew that this request was most likely to have something to do with doing just that.

The interior of the Principia was divided between the personal touches of both Praetors. On one side, many plaques and medals were hung up, as well as many decorative weapons, given as part of a ceremony or coronation. On the other, Pictures of family members, travel destinations, with the occasional medal or plaque. But one of them, being made out of macaroni, stood out among the others:

Best Dad in the World - Hannah C.

That had some sentimental value for Lucius, being a father. Both his daughter, Katrina, and Jack's daughter, Hannah, were the same age. They enjoyed playing with each other at the local daycare, so there was hope that they would grow up to be good friends and strong allies. Lucius couldn't imagine them having some kind of rivalry growing up.

Then again, the son of Mars wasn't sure if he was going to be around to see that.

Lucius was suffering from the very first, if not the only, case of mythically-altered schizophrenia. From what Will Solace had told him when he was first diagnosed with it, he came to understand that it was terminal. He was going to die from it. But for the most part, the changes weren't that noticeable. During its most violent stages, an alter ego, which referred to itself as Interitus, would wreak havoc and destruction on everything it saw. The color of his eyes would change from hazel to blood-red, and he would only speak Latin. It was a defense mechanism, from what he cold tell, that acted in order to prevent his death in combat-related situations. Still, when he wasn't in his other form, Lucius suffered from disorientation and massive headaches, making it hard for him to focus.

On top of that, he had to deal with the usual dyslexia and ADHD that most other demigods had. Thankfully, his family was spared from Interitus' interference. He hadn't told his kids about it, and his wife suffered bedside when Lucius went through a stream of violent nightmares. The bruises on her arms were proof enough.

From what he had gathered over the years, there was no cure or treatment. But there were physical symptoms that he had begun to notice over the past couple of years. His skin had begun to lose pigmentation. Not by a whole lot, but he was slightly lighter in skin tone now than he was eight years before. His eye color had also changed over time. They were still hazel in color, but the tiniest bits of red could be distinguished from them.

But his mind slipped away from his condition when he laid eyes on his half-brother, one of the ruling Praetors of the time. The other son of Mars was leaning back in his chair at his desk, which had some paperwork on it. The Praetor himself, was dark haired like Lucius, but had blue eyes like some of his other half-blood siblings. The years of leadership, networking, and political ambition had taken its toll on the young man that sat before him. A demigod that was able to reach adulthood, even its early stages, was considered to have beaten the odds. Each half-blood had their own story of triumph and loss, and Marcus and Lucius were just another.

"The man of peace graces me with his appearance," Marcus said jokingly, standing up. He moved his arms outward to emphasize his point. "But seriously, I'm glad you showed up. I needed to speak with you."

"Can you make this quick, Marcus?" Lucius said a little impatiently. "I have a wife and kids that I haven't seen in a couple of weeks."

"Ah, yes," Marcus began. "How are they, by the way? Its a boy and a girl, yes?"

"Katrina, my daughter, turned four years old three months ago," Lucius said. She was growing up so fast. It was almost a little hard to watch. "And my son, Jacob, was born last month."

"Building a legacy is good, isn't it?" Marcus asked. "Which is what I wanted to talk to you about. You see, I plan on finishing my political career on a good note."

"At last we will have peace," Lucius said under his breath.

"Yes... as I was saying, I wanted to finish off my career on a good note, before I become a member of the advisory panel," the Praetor continued. Lucius thought that maybe when Marcus was finished being Praetor, Lucius could be at home with his family more often. "I want to do something no other Praetor has done within the last three centuries. I want to complete the Gauntlet."

"I'm... not familiar," Lucius said. He thought he had heard something about it when he was a gladiator. A murmur or something. If he had heard of it, it was only in mentioning.

"Most aren't," Marcus explained. "It hasn't been attempted since William Amos' time. And that was at least 20 to 30 years ago. Its been banned from participation since then."

"Why would they ban it?" Lucius asked.

"Because when Amos tried it, he nearly destroyed the whole Coliseum and almost got everyone in it killed," the Praetor explained. "But that's because our friends from the Order of Romulus had some hand in that."

Lucius thought about it for a moment. The Gauntlet sounded like a death trap, a final means. Fitting, as it may be, he wasn't really too eager for Marcus to take his last moments as Praetor in that challenge.

"If you wanted me to come all the way here for you to tell me you wanted to die in the arena... " Lucius began to say. "Then you're wasting my time, and yours."

"Oh believe me, I am fully aware that attempted this on my own will get me killed," the Praetor replied. "In fact, there is a requirement for only two combatants to enter. They're linked together for the duration of the challenge. And I want you to enter it with me."

This was the point where Lucius had had enough with Marcus. He had been doing him favors for years now, and now he had grown tired of it. In times of war, he was honor bound to fight to the death alongside a fellow member of the Legion. But these were different times. It was a time of building the foundations for the next generation. Marcus' scheme for the Gauntlet was an extracurricular activity, and Lucius had the power to reject offering his aid, even if he was the Praetor. Most would be honored to assist an officer of his status, but not Lucius.

But for some reason, Lucius couldn't just let him die a horrible and tragic death in front of everyone. Then he would have to attend his funeral pyre. Then he would be honor bound again to perform another favor him, even if the benefactor was dead.

It was either doing a favor for Marcus now, or later.

Lucius wasn't counting on being around for the latter.

"Marcus, I am getting real tired, of your sh- " Lucius began to say.

"Great then, so you'll come by for training then?" Marcus interrupted. "Excellent! Meet me at the Wolf's Den tomorrow morning then. We'll go over some... precautions."

Lucius was not very happy with Marcus.

The next morning he was at the Lion's Den, a local gladiator gym that Marcus was sponsored by. Lucius himself had spent some time there during his brief gladiatorial career. There were fighters, some full demigods, others were demigod legacies, or descendants of demigods, training there. And they weren't just from the Second Cohort, there were members from the First, Third, and Fourth Cohorts. There weren't many members from the Fifth Cohort, as far as Lucius knew. Still, the roster from the group was very diverse.

There was already a group working on some cardio drills, completing exercises to the best of their ability within an allotted amount of time before switching to the next routine. The Praetor, dressed in a tank top and shorts, tossed a duffel bag to his half-brother.

"Get dressed, we've got a long day ahead of us," he greeted. Lucius knew as soon as he walked back into the gym, he wasn't going to enjoy it at all. "You've got a lot of catching up to you, being ambassador has made you a little... soft."

"We'll see," Lucius said, heading to the locker room to change.

He found a similar outfit inside, along with something else. It was a small vial, with a dark bubbling liquid. He held up closer to examine what it was, curious as to why it was left in his bag. His instinct told him that it was dangerous, and that he shouldn't consume it.

"Go ahead, drink up," Marcus said, after he had seen Lucius with the vial. "Quickly, before anyone sees you. You'll need to take that dose every morning before training up until the Gauntlet."

"Marcus, what is this stuff?" Lucius asked, refusing to drink it until he got answers.

"Its drakon poison," he said. A cold feeling ran through Lucius' face. What was this for? He was beginning to feel that he wasn't being told of something very important.

"Why do I need to drink drakon poison everyday before training?" Lucius asked in a very stern voice. Praetor or not, Lucius had Marcus in a slip up. And he was demanding his answers now.

"It helps build a resistance to it," the Praetor admitted.

"You want me to cheat the Gauntlet?" Lucius burst out. Marcus motioned for him to not speak so loud. "Do you have any idea what would happen to us, to you, if they found out about this? There is no honor in cheating!"

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to kill a drakon?" Marcus asked, who was made famous for killing one. "I almost died killing one in the Coliseum, even after developing a resistance to its poison. Imagine what it would have been like if I had go in there without taking that sort of precaution. You'd be a fool to take one on without some kind of help."

"I won't help you cheat, Marcus," Lucius stated. The son of Mars believed that people often find themselves... or find themselves lack through opposition and conflict. But cheating wasn't one of those ways.

"Then I hope your family is ready to watch you die," Marcus said bitterly. The two of them glared at each other for a moment. "Fine. Don't be smart. But at least help me."

"Fine," Lucius muttered.

The two of them got to work with the rest of the gladiators. Getting back into the gladiator training session felt like Tartarus. When he first got into it, it was just as bad. He had been busy raising a family and with work, constantly back and forth between Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter. But he felt good knowing that his work kept the two sides from waging war on each other.

Marcus, as Lucius had observed, was still in shape. He didn't have the burden of raising a family or tending to a job that required a lot of traveling. Plus, he wasn't suffering from a terrible ailment. But as discouraged as Lucius was, he kept up... barely. He didn't like that his half-brother was going into the Gauntlet with an advantage, but as long as Lucius didn't have to betray his own morals, he was fine.

By the end of the day, his legs felt like noodles. Every part of his sweating body writhed with pain. Training sessions started from dawn, and finished by the sun's setting. The only time they got a break was during high noon. It was a centuries-old practice, a proven one at that. Roman gladiators were some of the greatest fighters in Western civilization in their time. The average fighter could account for a half a dozen conscripted soldiers, back in the day.

During their lunch break, after a couple of days into the regimen, Lucius and Marcus had visitors. The Praetor and he were sitting out in the yard of the ludus, or training school, when an old friend of theirs came by, along with two others.

William Amos, accompanied by his son, Howard, and another, whom Lucius was not able to recognize, came up to them. Amos and Lucius went way back, during the Second Gigantomachy, the War with Terra and the Giants. He, Marcus, and Clancy took down the rogue Order of Romulus, a secret society.

"And we are graced by one of New Rome's greatest!" Lucius said teasingly. He got up, despite being roughed up by the training earlier, and greeted his old friend. His gaze switched to Howard, who was growing very quickly. Lucius had to remind himself that Katrina was going through the same thing too. "By the gods, look how much you've grown Howard!"

"Thank you, Mr. Darrow," Howard said politely. "Its good to see you again."

"What brings you to my humble abode?" Marcus asked. Lucius was still curious about the new kid, the one with blond hair, and golden-colored eyes.

"Well, I wanted to present to you the renewed Order of Romulus' first two initiates," Amos stated. Lucius noticed Marcus' eyes brighten. He dismissed it, not putting much thought into it. "Evan Pravus, of the Fifth Cohort, and my son, Howard."

"Strange, I haven't heard of a Pravus bloodline running through New Rome," the Ambassador said. Still, the kid looked respectable enough.

"I come from an old lineage," Evan explained. "Its become irrelevant as of late, but I hope to change that."

"A boy after my own heart," Marcus said. "Say, you two look like avid fans, you feel up to sparring with one another?"

"Sure!" the two boys said in glee.

Marcus led the two future initiates over to a weapons rack and retrieved a wooden sword for both of them. Soon, they were play-fighting. Both boys, despite their age, were very intense fighters. But it looked as though Evan had the upper-hand.

"That Pravus kid sure is something," Lucius said to Amos. "Your son also has some skill."

"Indeed," the former Praetor agreed. "Training at home goes a long way. Pretty soon, he'll be in the Legion."

"Just another reminder that we're getting old," Lucius muttered to himself.

"Which is why we need our children to keep up with the city's interests," Amos said. "A happy New Rome makes for easy relations between the Greeks and Romans. In time, I would hope that your children would join the Order. If they're going to be anything like you, we'll need them."

Lucius didn't entirely agree with that. While he had hoped the best for them, he didn't want them to go through some of the things that he did when he was growing up, like watching his half-sister die, having a terrible relationship with both his mortal and godly parents, among other things.

"In time," Lucius said.

"In time," Amos repeated. "I think I've held you up enough. We'll be looking forward to the Gauntlet tomorrow. We'll see if you can beat the standard I set."

"But you didn't complete the Gauntlet," Lucius said, a little confused.

"Exactly," he teased. "Good luck."

The Gauntlet would take place on the 4th of July. Lucius remembers spending one or two of America's birthdays at Camp Half-blood, where they would have fireworks to celebrate the national holiday. As far as the Romans were concerned, there were to be no fireworks. Instead, there was going to be a huge public display of courage, endurance, and teamwork.

Lucius sat in the locker room in the Coliseum's hypogeum, or underground. He could hear the different kinds of monsters shrieking and roaring in anticipation. The drakon, actually... drakons, were not making any noises, as far as he could hear. That made an unsettling feeling in his stomach. Still, he had to put faith in his abilities, as well as in Marcus. It was going to take two of them to get anywhere to completing the challenge.

With all of his armor on, save for his helmet, which was being readied for him while he waited, Lucius sat in the locker room until his wife and kids came. Carolina was holding their newborn son, Jacob, wrapped in a blanket. Katrina was reading a t-shirt that read: Team Darrow.

"We wanted to wish you good luck," the daughter of Neptune said, kissing Lucius.

The son of Mars picked up Jacob and looked at him. When Lucius first joined the Legion, he had no idea what kind of future he was going to make, but in that moment, he saw it. He was a father, a husband, a peace-broker, a warrior, a soldier, but most importantly, he belonged. There was a place for him, and it was here.

"Kick some butt, Daddy!" Katrina cheered. After handing Jacob back to Carolina, he hoisted up his daughter, who was getting too big for her. "Bull and lion, side by side!"

Lucius' original gladiator name was Taurus Proditor, or "Traitor Bull," but now he was going in as Taurus Rubeus, or "Red Bull." It was a bit of step up.

"Jacob came by the other day," Carolina told Lucius quietly. "He said he was concerned about someone's disappearance. But that can wait for now."

"Agreed," Lucius joked. One of the crew people came in to tell him to get ready. "Looks like this is it."

"Hey, you do good out there, okay?" Carolina instructed Lucius. With one last kiss from his wife and daughter, he headed down the hall.

The corridors of the hypogeum were very dark, but there were few adjoining corridors, so he didn't need to worry about getting lost. Still, he could feel the roar of the crowd grow louder and louder with every step he took.

It wasn't long before he could begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, where a figure stood. A pair of hands handed over his helmet to him, which he kept off for the moment. It was so large and bulky that it would be difficult to navigate in the darkness of the hypogeum.

Marcus stood by the entrance, holding a helmet adorned by a very large mane of brown and weathered hair.

"So the [i]Taurus Rubeus[/i] arrives at last," Marcus said, putting on his helmet. Once he had it on, it made him look like a lion with a huge mane. Lucius put his special helmet on and feel the weight and bulkiness take hold. He imagined he looked like a minotaur. The sound of a collection of horns blared from the Coliseum, initiating the start of the competition. "Victory or death, as they say."

"I prefer not to die," Lucius said sarcastically, as they both walked out onto the sands of the Coliseum.

It had been awhile, but Lucius was just now remembering how awesome and loud the crowd could get. And with an event that hadn't been competed in more than a couple of generations, it was easy to get the crowd going wild.

"Ladies and gentlemen, legionnaires and plebeians, I present to you, your contestants - the beasts of the Second Cohort!" an commentator announced. "For the first time in over 20 years, these two warriors will take on the dangerous and terrifying Gauntlet challenge!"

A pair of workers, wearing armor, came over with chains and bound the sons of Mars in a chain that connected to a gurney-like structure on the back of their armor.

"The rules are simple," the commentator explained. "Both contestants will stay linked for the duration of the contest, where they will have to work together to survive ten rounds of fierce opposition. If their link were to somehow be broken, they are eliminated. If one of the contestants dies, then they are both eliminated. Both fighters can choose to forfeit at anytime during the challenge. But enough with the rules, lets get ready for the Gauntlet!"

A group of horns sounded through the Coliseum. The crowd's anticipation shot up tenfold, as did Lucius' anxiety. All eyes were focused on one of the closed gates, which had some gears turning, signaling that it was soon to be opening.

The gate's doors swung open, revealing the duo's first obstacle. A single Cyclops stumbled onto the sands of the Coliseum, suggesting that it may have been freshly caught for the games. The two sons of Mars exchanged a look.

"This is what we're up against?" Lucius said to his partner, the Praetor. Marcus shrugged.

"It's supposed to get harder " Marcus responded, cuing toward the advancing Cyclops.

Lucius sighed.

"I'm getting too old for this stuff," Lucius said under his breath. The two of them moved forward, albeit clumsily due to their linked bond. They had to maintain the same pace, otherwise the person in front would get pulled back by the person lagging behind, or the person behind would get pulled forward, creating dead weight.

Thankfully, the two had been training intensively before entering the competition. They kept up with each other, mostly Marcus slowing down to Lucius' pace, who was just a step behind. Lucius had other priorities, and they had taken their toll on him.

With a bit of luck and good timing, the two half-brothers were able to move and attack from both sides of the monster, running around it with their chain link, tripping the monster and attacking it while it was down. When the Cyclops did end up dissolving into golden dust, a horn sounded, signaling the end of the first round.

"That wasn't too bad," Lucius said. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"We've still got nine more rounds to go," Marcus said. "We're far from over."

Just before Lucius felt like he could relax, a series of horns sounded again, signaling the start of the next round. A squadron of telekhines scurried out onto the Coliseum. They quickly moved to completely surround the two fighters.

Lucius began to feel like he was fighting Terra's forces again. Not too long ago, he was a soldier, fighting for the fate of the world. It was the demigods of both Camp Half-blood and Camp Jupiter up against the forces of Terra, which included a variety of monsters and revived mortals and villains from the old world of mythology. The telekhines were just some of the monsters he had faced at one point or another.

But this only motivated Lucius to cut them down faster and harder than when he was fighting for survival. Now he was the predator, and his prey, the telekhines, had walked into his cage, his territory. Fighting alongside with Marcus proved that even outnumbered, the two sons of Mars would overcome any opposition.

They were all cut down in a rapid succession. Lucius was getting back into his battle-mode, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. It was easy to let martial skills go to waste during the peacetime, for there was no need for them, but there were other priorities that came up. Lucius could feel his mind wandering again, away from the fight, so he tried to refocus himself.

The next couple of rounds met the same result. The two sons of Mars had overcome whatever was thrown at them. It was how well hey could overcome it was what degraded over time. Their endurance was beginning to deplete, Lucius' faster than Marcus'. It wasn't until they could feel the energy of the crowd building up, anticipating the next round.

The two warriors could feel it as well. Lucius' heart was pounding from strain, completely covered in sweat underneath his armor. He guessed that his partner, Marcus was probably in the same condition.

"Get ready," Marcus said in between breaths. Lucius was too busy breathing to speak.

Then the horns for the next round sounded, causing part of the Coliseum's floor to open up. A roar from the opened surface sounded, followed by another. The sounds of gears shifting and turning then took precedent, marking the sound of the two beasts being lifted up from the hypogeum to the Coliseum's presentation level.

Lucius stood like a stone as he watched his next competition being raised from the floor below.

The beasts were like giant serpents, with faces and eyes that could turn ordinary men to stone. Lucius was feeling paralytic just looking at it from afar. He was dreading having to actually engage not one, but two drakons at once. He could feel a similar sense of dread coming from Marcus.

"Should've taken the venom when I gave it to you," Marcus muttered between his breathing.

"It wouldn't have mattered," Lucius shot back. "There's two of them."

"All the more fun," Marcus said back. "Now lets give these people a show!"

Lucius groaned before advancing with Marcus. The drakons were only beginning to approach the two warriors, after having examined their surroundings. Safety nets and transparent barricades had raised during the drakons' entrance. Lucius thought that the Coliseum executives must've learned from last time.

The drakons were easily ten times bigger than Marcus and Lucius, if not fifteen or twenty times their greater. Their eyes pierced Lucius' courage and determination. He wasn't so much afraid of their teeth, rather their ability to spit venom, which also had corrosive properties. At best, his armor could take one hit from it before it ate through his only defense.

Lucius didn't think those were good chances.

"Let them go for the first attack," Marcus said to his comrade.

"From which one?" Lucius asked, noticing that one of the drakons' was starting to rear its head back.

"Whichever one wants to attack first!" Marcus said tugging him to the side. "Look out!"

Dashing to the side, Lucius felt a heap of burning guck fling past him. He heard a prolonged sizzle as he laid out on the ground. The drakon's poison was going to be the end of him if he wasn't careful. At the same time, Marcus lunged for an attack at the beast's chest, giving it a deep stab before retreating. On retrieval of his weapon, he pulled out in an arc across the beast's chest, widening the wound.

The Praetor's weapon was sizzling, leaving trails of smoke. The blade was covered in a gooey green mix. Luckily, the blade itself hadn't been dissolved, but should Marcus or Lucius come into contact with the poison, they would be in severe danger.

"Now I can kill the other one," Marcus said, admiring his poisoned weapon. "No two drakons have the same poison."

Lucius nodded, trying to keep an eye at both of the drakons, who were going for physical attacks this time. The other drakon dove in and snapped at them both. Lucius and Marcus jumped out of its way, but not too far since they were still linked by their chain bond.

Just then, Lucius had an idea. With the drakon's neck exposed between he and Marcus, Lucius jumped over the appendage, taking the chain with him. The action resulted in their chain bond tightening down on the drakon's neck, choking it. Unfortunately, Lucius hadn't thought much on the possibility of the drakon being much stronger than both of them.

The two competitors were lifted from their feet, their chain still around the drakon's neck. Lucius fought to regain control, clinging to the surface of the drakon's neck. The other drakon raised it head to eye them both, lunging at them, but clamping down at the choking drakon's neck. Lucius was only inches away from being chewed down by the drakon's massive and deadly sharp teeth.

But with Lucius maneuvering away from the other drakon's teeth, his weight shifted, pulling down on the drakon's neck. They were soon reunited with the ground with a hard smack. Lucius was dazed from the impact, unable to immediately get up. To make matters worst, his legs were trapped.

The drakon's neck moved a little, causing Lucius to panic. He was in the worst position possible, only seconds away from being eaten in one fell swoop or worse, being disintegrated on the spot by their poison.

"Lucius!" the ambassador heard from the drakon's neck. In the next moment, a blade pierced through the drakon's neck. Marcus had tore his way from the other side. "Come on, we're only half done with this fight!"

Marcus helped Lucius out, while the drakon dissolved into not golden dust, but rather a large pool of corrosive poison. Lucius was glad he hadn't been there a moment longer.

The crowd exploded into cheer. The two warriors had just slain a drakon together, something only the greatest of heroes come close to doing. The last person to do so was a Greek, a mutual half-sister of theirs by the name of Clarisse la Rue. Still, Lucius had to admit that the deed was still very great, if not epic. Unfortunately, his celebration would only be short-lived, as he was son knocked down by the burning and corrosive embrace of a drakon's poisonous spit.

Lucius felt his armor being dissolved in seconds, only to then drip onto his skin, where it felt like being laid against a furnace. He was hit on his left shoulder, where his skin felt on the fire. He screamed in agony, writhing in pain. He couldn't move or think, but only feel the pain of poison slipping into his body. He was soon helped up by Marcus, but he almost collapsed afterward.

The drakon with the wounded chest lunged at them both for a final attack, but Marcus hit Lucius' blade and his own together, sending a single spark that lit up the pool of poison that the drakon had leapt over. For a moment, the sky above Lucius was illustrated by just the drakon leaping in a blaze of fire. It slammed to the ground behind them in a form of flaming liquid. Again, the crowd reached new heights in the volume of cheer.

"That's it?" Lucius asked Marcus, he had a weary look on his face. "We did it? We finished the Gauntlet?"

A cascade of horns sounded. But it sounded like the previous horns, the same ones used to initiate the next round. Lucius was confused. He thought the challenge ended when both of the drakons were slain. How could they be asked of more?

"Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen!" the commenter announced. "For the first time in centuries, the challengers have slain the two drakons! This is a remarkable achievement indeed, but there is still more! Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for the final round!"

Marcus tossed Lucius' weapon back to him.

"Pick it up," Marcus said solemnly. He didn't make eye contact with him when he said that. "Pick it up so I defeat you with some glory."

"LET THE FINAL FIGHT... BEGIN!" the commentator exclaimed.

Marcus went for the attack, even though Lucius had not retrieved his weapon. But it did not matter. Instead, by instinct, Lucius dove for his sword, rolled to his side and booted Marcus in the face. The ambassador was back on his feet by the time Marcus had gotten himself together.

The Praetor went in for another attack, while Lucius stood to defend himself. He felt Marcus' weight with the strike, holding it there for the moment.

"Why didn't you tell me about the last round?!" Lucius shouted, his shoulder burning with extreme pain. He felt a voice within his head trying to surface, but he suppressed. Lucius couldn't risk Interitus getting loose. Not here, in front of everyone.

"I knew you would be too honorable to drink the venom," Marcus admitted. His betrayal felt like a knife being stuck in his back. "And I knew you too strong for the poison to finish you off. So I let you get hit, so I could finish you off in your weakened state."

"You would go so far as to use your own brother for your own gain?" Lucius barked. "Is there even a shred of dignity in there? Or are you as vile as the poison that creeps through me now?"

"This city's legacy was founded on the success of one brother over another," Marcus replied, withdrawing before attacking again. Lucius stood his ground. He wasn't able to move forward, but only stand there on the defense. "My name will be engraved within the history of all of Rome!"

Lucius couldn't believe how far Marcus had gone. He felt so hurt and betrayed. But he also felt a burning anger growing within him. He felt Interitus trying to assume control over Lucius. But he had to fight for control from within. If he didn't, then he would destroy everyone. Interitus would.

"KILL HIM!" Interitus shouted from within Lucius' mind.

"Stop, Marcus," Lucius warned. "Stop it before its too late."

"I've come too far to turn back now," Marcus said in retaliation. "My fate has already been sealed."

"Your fate is what you make it," Lucius pleaded. "Please, Marcus. Don't throw away the honor and dignity you have left."

Marcus stood there a moment. He seemed internally conflicted. Meanwhile, Lucius felt his strength his dark passenger slipping away moment by moment. If Marcus were to strike now, he would lose any kind of control. Interitus would be unleashed.

Marcus raised his weapon to strike. Lucius closed his eyes as he struck. It was over. For him. And for everyone.

But he didn't feel anything. He still felt his shoulder burning from the poison, spreading across his body, but not much else.

Instead, he saw their chain bond broken, split from his attack. Marcus had disqualified them both. A single tear fell from the Praetor's eye, but he was quick to remove it before anyone else could see it.

"I didn't do this for you," Marcus said to Lucius, he was starting to black out a bit. "I did this for me. I want to be remembered as a great hero. A great hero whose had the greatest strength of them all - restraint."

And like that, Marcus dropped his sword and raised his hands, showing that he had forfeited. He then went over to check on Lucius, who had just collapsed.

Lucius laid in the clinic bed. He had been recovering from his poison wound during his attempt of the Gauntlet with Marcus. Since he was there, he considered things ended well, at least better than how they could have ended.

The Praetor stood by the entrance of the room, he had his arms crossed, like he had been waiting there for some time.

"Marcus?" Lucius called out from his bed. He was still a little weary from the recovery. "What are you doing here?"

"For something I should've a long time ago," Marcus said. "I shouldn't have made you do those things, and for that... I'm sorry."

"I accept," Lucius said roughly. "So are you going to finish your career off even with these turn of events?"

"No, unless you want to take another shot at the Gauntlet?" Marcus asked jokingly. "No, I didn't think so. It seems I will have to remain Praetor for a little while longer."

"Ah, well at least you'll have your new record," Lucius commented. "The only person to slay two drakons in the same fight."

"No, that's not my record," the Praetor corrected. "Its ours. I'll see you around, brother."

Marcus then left the room, leaving Lucius to contemplate in solitude. He pulled out one of his recording scroll devices and booted it up.

Katrina, we need to talk...

End log 104.