Hello to all my lovely readers! I think this update is a little late, or at least it feels a little late to me. Thanks so much! I've officially hit a land mark. 75 REVIEWS! Hello? That's amazing! Thank you guys!

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this one... Fair warning to all...

Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series—actually you don't know if I do or not.

We all know Rick Riordan does... but you don't know who I really am—look, I'm not saying I'm Rick Riordan, I'm just saying no one has ever seen me and Rick Riordan in the same room together...

Piper

Piper awoke with the feeling of someone's eyes on her the back of her neck.

She quickly turned around, fearing the worst, only to find Beckondorf staring at her. She relaxed, but it was short lived. He was looking at her in a way that he never had before. There was a curiosity in his eyes, but also a certain concentration, as if he were trying to solve a difficult problem. She quickly turned away from him, but couldn't shake the memory of his look.

She started having thoughts. Bad thoughts. What if he was afraid of her? What if he would treat her differently because of her win in the arena a few days ago. What if this? What if that? What if? What if? What if?

These 'what ifs' would be the death of her.

Leo both broke them out of their awkwardness, with a few annoying jokes that they had already been told a thousand times. Leo reused his old material, he didn't have much time to come up with new jokes, nor was he really in the happiest of moods to do so.

As they were ushered to work, this time the three of them getting put together to dig holes, she couldn't help the uneasy feeling in her stomach. At first, she passed it off as hunger from lack of being given breakfast, but she had become familiar with hunger in the past few months and this wasn't hunger.

Uncertainty. Doubt. Skepticism. Distrust. Suspicion.

That was what she was experiencing, a nervous pit of butterflies was forming in her stomach. Butterflies. That was a stupid analogy—not to mention, inaccurate. For Piper, it was more like a swarm of angry killer bees; wrecking her calm state (something she had worked so hard on to achieve). As she dug holes beside her two friends, one 'what if' still remained in the depths of the killer bees, making her the most queasy.

What if he knew?

Lunch was a disaster, and with Piper on the frits, it was worse than it should've been.

During work Piper had met two boys also digging, when she'd saved one of them from falling into his own finished hole. She had introduced them to Beckondorf and Leo, and had also learned their names: Calum and Alexander. They were both also from villages that had been attacked by the Romans, but their villages had already been under the control of Rome.

When the soldiers called for a lunch break—and by lunch break, I mean five minutes to eat a half a piece of moldy bread and drink a small cup of soiled water. When Piper went to receive her share, the Romans looked at her with uncertainty, and gave her, her food, which appeared to be less ruined than the others.

Piper gave her thanks to the gods, by burying a piece of her bread and pouring a bit of her water on it's grave, as she apologized to them that she couldn't burn it for them. Very few of the other prisoners gave offerings to the gods, claiming that they had been forsaken and condemned to death by them. Leo and Beckondorf gave their thanks only because Piper requested them too.

Calum questioned her on this, "Why do you give up part of your meal?"

"To thank the gods."

"For what?"

Piper shrugged. She didn't really have much to be thankful for.

"You only starving yourself further." He told her. "So why give it to the gods, who've condemned you to death?"

"I made my own choices. I've condemned myself." Piper answered.

"Well, if you ask me, they don't deserve the offering. What have you got to thank them for?"

Piper looked him dead in the eye, and spoke in a serious voice, "I'm still alive—and that's plenty to be thankful for."

The conversation stopped for a few minutes, Leo tried to pick it back up, but every time he opened his mouth, he closed it as if deciding against what he was going to say. So they just sat there in silence, trying to pick the non-edible pieces of their bread off.

Alexander became bored, and brought the talking back to life, "So, um, you guys all bunk together?"

"Yeah." Leo answered the question.

"We used to have a third too." Calum interjected. "Old man. Travis MaLane or something."

Piper nearly choked on her bread.

"Pericles, are you all right?" Alexander asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Piper coughed out.

"Yeah, okay." Calum continued. "Anyways, so this guy is chosen for the fights that very same week."

"And he gets Ethan Nakumara" Alexander joined in, laughing with Calum as he did so. "Yeah, what a good soldier Nakumara was."

"He wasn't?" Leo questioned.

"No way." Calum said. "He was the worst one—if the old man hadn't done it, Jupiter would've."

"Done what?" Piper questioned, although she already knew the answer.

"Killed him." Calum said it as casually as he would trading spice garden tips. "The old man did it easily, and I thought that was it, and he was a gladiator. Then Luke came down."

"Luke?" Piper questioned, though the name was familiar.

"Yeah. Sandy blonde hair. Blue eyes. Tannish." Calum drew a line down his face. "Has a scar, right about here."

"That's Luke?" Leo was suddenly incredulous. "They sent Luke after him? Damn. They must really hate him."

"What's so good about this Luke?" Piper asked.

"Luke Castellan is this high and mighty general who thinks he can do whatever he wants." Alex grumbled.

"And he can." Calum added on. "He's best swordsman in the past three hundred yea—"

"Nah." Alex interrupted. "Jackson's the best they got. Luke may be a slightly better swordsman, but Jackon actually uses his head instead of brute force."

"Whatever." Calum continued. "Yeah, so, after he beats Nakamura, Luke comes down into the arena, probably because he's on Jupiter's orders. This guy didn't stand a chance."

"Shut up."

Everyone turned to Piper with a bit of a shocked look on their faces. Piper just couldn't help it. She knew the man they were talking about was her father, and she didn't want to have to re-experience his death by listening to a story about it—especially when the story talked about how helpless he was when he died.

"Why?" Calum looked confused for a moment before returning to his story-telling. "Anyways, the old man never even saw it coming—"

"I said, 'shut up.'" Piper repeated herself.

She started to traced a line straight into the cremated folds of her clay water cup with her finger nail, engraving anger into it. Piper didn't looked away from her water, only staring into the dirty liquid, but she could tell everyone's eyes were on her. She didn't care, she didn't want to hear anymore of it.

"What's wrong with you, today, Pericles?" Calum asked.

"Yeah, Pericles." Alex joined it. "Listen, there's no way the guy could've stopped it. Luke trained with Chiron—gods know wherever he went—and Chiron trained him good. Luke snuck up on him—"

"Please, shut up." Piper was speaking through gritted teeth.

"Pericles, it's fine." Leo spoke, gently. "Let's just pick another subject.

"Why?" Calum asked. "We were just talking about how this guy got completely mauled by Castellan—"

"Just shut up, already!" Piper slammed her water cup down, breaking the clay.

Everyone's eyes were on Piper's bloody hands, cut from the broken shards of her cup. Dirt and bread crumbs were already flying towards the cuts, hoping to infect it. Alex and Calum both looked wildly at Pericles, as were the Roman soldiers. Piper thought for sure that the Romans would whip her for this, but they did not come after her; they just looked at her in fear.

For the first time, Piper realized how deep she was breathed and how angry her face probably looked. She was scary, and she moved her hand away from the broken pieces, and wiped her hand on her tunic. She stood up, and looked to the Romans, who then told everyone that it was time to return.

Piper walked silently at the back of the group separately herself from Leo and Beckondorf. Everyone left quietly that day, no one speaking or asking what had happened, which was a rare occurrence. No one bothered to pick up the shattered clay cup, they just left there, drying in the sun.

It's probably still there to this day—still stained with Piper's dry blood.

It was that time again.

It was time to stand in the large central room, and wait for your fate to be decided on whether you lived another week or whether you died. Even if you were chosen, your fate still wasn't sealed, though it was close. You still had a small window of escape, it all depended on whether you found it or not.

Today, the Captain was more selective, especially after Piper's fight, "You." He glanced around the group. "You and you. You." Only one more left. "And you."

He pointed to Beckondorf.

Leo's eyes widened as he was about to object, but the Captain saw this and put a threatening hand on his sword. Piper clamped her hand over Leo's mouth, keeping it there until he relaxed. Both Piper and Leo were facing Beckondorf, who had a sad look in his eye—one rather different than the one Piper had seen earlier.

Beckondorf shook hands with Leo, and Piper. As he shook Piper's hand, she felt something shift from his hand to hers. Something thin, and dried; definitely not skin. Piper didn't looked at whatever he had slipped in her hand, only concealed it inside her palm.

"Gentlemen." Beckondorf spoke, forcing emotion to leave his voice. "It's been a pleasure."

Both Piper and Leo bowed their heads to Beckondorf, in respect to him as he proudly walked forward to take his place as a tribute. They were led out into the arena with a loud announcement and the cheering of the audience as they longed for blood, not caring who's it was.

It was the usual, Piper didn't even bother reacting as the first four men were shoved forward and killed. She didn't even feel sorry for the new prisoners as they watched the killings, knowing that they could be next. The only time Piper even paid attention was when Beckondorf stepped forward for his fight.

He chose a long sword, that at one point, looked as thought it could do some serious damage. Piper had been curious to as why no on would use the sword and helmet Piper had claimed for the tributes the previous week. Piper came upon the conclusion, that good sword or useless sword, the tributes figured they were going to die anyways.

Piper watched Beckondorf's fight, counting multiple mistakes on his part. His left side was always open, and he practically held it out for his opponent to stab. It was a miracle that the gladiator didn't. Beckondorf's overgrown hands were clumsy on his sword, and he eventually abandoned it to fight with his hand.

Beckondorf left a few good blows, and dents in the gladiator's armor. Piper could see the wheels turning in his head, and she knew he wasn't stupid. The gladiator swung his sword in a fatal arch, when Beckondorf caught the man's wrist and turned into him. He was copying Piper's movements that had won her own fight, but he wasn't trained like Piper, nor was he as observant.

Beckondorf didn't noticed the concealed knife hidden in the man's sleeve, poking out. The man held it out in front of his chest, and Beckondorf swung himself right into it. Beckondorf collapsed, the knife pulled out of his back, but he wasn't dead yet, just really close.

Beckondorf tried to sit up, but the gladiator put his foot on Beckondorf's chest, holding him still. The gladiator looked up to Emperor Jupiter, who gave his classic thumb-down signal. The gladiator raised him sword, and plunged it into Beckondorf's heart.

Leo almost surged forward to attack the gladiator, but Piper's hand clamped down on his wrist in a tight death hold. Leo was blinking back tears, for the loss of his friend, Piper was too, internally. She refused to cry on the outside. Now she had lost her friend and her father to the arena. It was two deaths too many.

As the gladiator circled around Beckondorf's lifeless body, Piper's grip tightened on Leo's wrist—not to keep Leo from rushing forward, but to keep herself from murdering that gladiator.

That night, Leo went straight to bed, but Piper knew he wasn't asleep.

Piper pretended she was asleep as well, but not because she didn't want to talk, she was curious. She held the object Beckondorf had given her in her palm, discovering it as a piece of parchment. Unsure of how he even found parchment, let alone ink, she opened the letter.

Pericles,

Although I haven't known you for but a few short months, I must ask a favor.

Tell Leo not to worry, I'll be fine, win or loose. (Trust me, I know, the boy's a mess.

Piper chuckled silently, as she heard Leo sniffling from his sleeping mat. Even from the grave, Beckondorf still had a sense of humor.

I know what you've been thinking when I speak of my girlfriend, Silena. Sadly, I've heard you speak to some of the other men, about where their wives and daughters have been taken. I have a sinking feeling in my stomach, as I write this letter, that Silena won't last long in a place like that, and if I had a choice between Hercules, Achilles, and you. I'd choose you to find her.

And if she's already gone, I'll find her down here. Not even Hades could stop me.

I would like to tell you something, that only Silena knows, but I want someone who will live to know. I am a son of Hephaestus. Yes. Demigods exist, but we are few and far between. I have never met another, and I doubt I ever will, but now that you know my secret, I must tell you that I know yours.

Dear Piper McLean,

Do not worry, I know secrets should be kept. I entrust you with mine, and do not be afraid, no one will ever know yours. I've kept it hidden for weeks, and have even lied to the other men who have grown suspicious.

Don't worry about Leo, he is too heavy a sleeper to know that you talk in your sleep.

I'm sorry about your father, and perhaps I'll meet him in Hades, and tell him of your greatness. I'm sorry about your village, and perhaps I'll tell some of the your village men that the great Pericles is a woman.

Now I must ask you for a real favor.

You are the only man here, who could defeat a gladiator, and you must do it. I understand your hatred of violence and killing. I understand that you are honorable in every way, but I want you to understand that killing doesn't shame you and remove your honor.

Senseless killing does.

I wish I could be alive to see it—to see you, freeing Rome and all those who suffered under the rule of it. I know you will become legendary in whatever you decide. Protect Leo. Volunteer in all the fights. I know you can, and in the end, you will be proud you did.

Piper, I thank you, and Leo, for your friendship during my living days, and no matter what you decide, I know you for who you are.

You are a Pericles.

~Charles Beckondorf

It only took death for her to learn his given name.

Piper closed the letter, unsure of what else to do when she noticed it was addressed. She hadn't seen that at first. The label was simple, written in his shaky handwriting , yet he didn't address her by her name nor her pseudonym, but by something else.

To A Man With Honor

At that moment, Piper had to resist ripping the paper to shreds, and instead she hid it under her sleeping mat and laid against it. As she heard Leo's quiet snores turn louder, she knew he had fallen asleep, and she allowed a fear soft tears of her own to fall for her friend. She had come upon a decision

She was going to do what he'd asked.

She'd kill the emperor, for he'd ordered Beckondorf's death. She'd kill the emperor, for he ordered her father's death. She'd kill the emperor, for he'd ordered the death of thousands. She'd kill the emperor in revenge for all the lives he'd destroyed.

No. Not for that. She wouldn't kill for her own need or the revenge of others.

No. She'd kill the emperor, simply because he had a cold heart.

I killed Beckondorf. Ha. ha. Haha. Didn't see that coming did you? I wasn't planning on any demigods, so Beckondorf might be the only one. Piper is most certainly not (for now), and neither is Jason. I think Beckondorf will be the only one.

So what'd you think? Let me know

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