Chapter 11: Spectators

Nothing is what it seems

Before Percy could say something to Nico or Luke, the cage opened again. Twelve slaves were pushed inside, before the cage closed again. Percy could see one of the guards nodding at him. Percy believed he was named Frank, who was the one who had told him that there would be new slaves today. Percy nodded back and looked up to the slaves before him.

They all looked trained and well, which was as expected. Apparently, Chiron wasn't the only one who trained slaves. Frank had told him that they were from a place they called the Wolf House, trained by a women called Lupa.

They all sat down in exhaustion and some rubbed the skin on their wrists, to ease the pain. Percy guessed their age was somewhere between 15 and 20, which was still pretty young. Not that that said anything, since Percy was 17 himself. If they were chosen, they could fight. Even if they were young.

An awkward silence hang in the air. Percy took an advantage of that and inspected the group. They were all guys, of course, since no one would want to see girls fighting in an arena.

Three guys were the body-builder types: a lot of muscles. Two had dark hair and one blonde. The blonde one was really small, so his body was complete out of proportion. One of the dark haired guys was huge, as if he was a giant or something.

Percy didn't think he was fast, though. With that enormous body, no one would be able to catch a running chicken. Percy snickered at the thought of the giant chasing a chicken as if it was his life.

The other dude was more lean and he looked like he had some serious skills.

Six of them were less muscles, more speed kind of guys. All around Percy's height, some smaller, and they looked like they could beat some gladiator's asses. Something they would have to do very soon, Percy guessed. Another guard, named Dakota, had said as soon as the new slaves would come in, there would be a new fight in the Colosseum. Percy already looked forward to it (note the sarcasm)...

There were two who looked absolutely terrified. Both scrawny and pale, making Percy wonder why they were there in the first place. That angered Percy a lot. Why would those Romans make those two fight?!

The last one was also the youngest one, Percy guessed. The kid just sat there, half hidden within the shadows. He was inspecting the others, just like Percy did. Percy looked at his face and their eyes locked. The kid frowned as he looked at Percy.

He had brown hair and eyes. A lot of scars from scratches covered his arms, and Percy believed they were also the rest of his body. He was pretty short, even for his age, but he has some kind of air around him that made him look older.

All by all, Percy liked this kid.

There were no times for introductions, though. The cage was opened for the third time that day and the slaves were brought to the Colosseum.


This time, the slaves were already positioned in the center of the arena. The crowd roared when they entered. The fifteen slaves stood there, random weapons in their hands. There had been no swords at the table, so Percy had grabbed the trident. Last fight, he felt a connection with the weapon. As if he was meant to wield it.

The doors opened and five chariots entered the arena. Behind him, Percy could hear a cracking sound of another door opening. He turned and saw another five chariots, with one riding and one fighting gladiator, entering the stage. An arrow pierced one of the riders, making him fall. The chariot bend to the left and crashed onto another chariot. Three other arrows hissed through the air and the gladiators dropped dead in their tracks.

Percy looked around him, searching for the source, when his eyes locked with the kid. The kid lowered his bow and searched for other victims. Percy smirked. I knew he would be interesting...

"Stick together!", the kid yelled to the other slaves, "Form a circle. Long-distant weapons out front! Shields; cover them." The slaves did what he said and soon they were all in formation, except for one.

The black-haired giant held his spear, fearless, but also unknowing about what was about to happen. Two chariots charged him, one charged him in the open, one from behind. Too late, he noticed the second chariot. A hatchet was stuck in the back of his head and he sank on the ground. Dead.

Another slave wanted to break out of the formation, but was stopped by Percy. He shook his head, gesturing that there was nothing they could do for him now. He looked around and saw that seven chariots charged them. The crowd roared in excitement.


Thalia Grace watched as the slaves went into battle. The blood was almost too much for her to handle, but she forced herself to keep looking. To keep watching over them. She recognized Nico, throwing a net over one of the fighters in the chariot. Another slave finished the job by piercing a spear into his chest.

The rider jumped out of that chariot and grabbed the sword of his fellow gladiator. He charged Nico, who was fighting now weaponless. Just in time, a trident was stuck in the rider's chest. Thalia released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

She looked sideways to her father. Zeus Grace looked at the fight with a smirk on his face. He seemed to enjoy the fight. Behind him, she saw Jason frowning and clenching his fist from time to time. He actually had a good sense of justice, even if he didn't dare to show that in public. Unfortunately, he also didn't dare to confront their father from his faults. Even if that meant that lots of people died because of that.

Thalia had talked, or rather fought, against their father about these gladiator fights a lot. He kept looking at the money he would make from these fights. The appreciation he got from the people from his empire. He didn't look at the other side of the story. The story she heard a lot when she traveled across the city of Rome.

That people were afraid to get caught if they talked about it too much, so Thalia would often escape the palace. Incognito, of course. That way, the people would open up more, even if they were still very cautious what to say and what not. But what they said, wasn't just something.

The people who didn't have a high status in the city, would often lose their homes. The taxes were too high. She also heard that people were often sold as slaves, to cover those debts. Others were put on the streets, with nothing left. Forced to survive by stealing from others, who because of that also didn't have enough money.

That circle of suffering was triggered by these fights. The money of the citizens were spend to train the slaves and gladiators. To pay for the guards and armory. In return, her father would get the appreciation of the people of Rome. At least the ones with high statuses.

Thalia just couldn't get the idea out of her head that the slaves who fought could also be citizens of Rome.

She saw her father nodding to Bacchus, before smirking. The guy, Thalia never really liked him, nodded to one of the people in charge of the doors. The ground under her feet shook, only because of that the blood hungry crowd stamped their feet on the ground. Her wine, which sat on the table next to her, almost spilled over the floor.

She looked back at the arena and what she saw made the blood in her veins run cold. The chariots were brought from ten to two, but not without losses. Ten slaves lay dead on the ground, while the others were highly wounded. She saw Nico holding his leg. Probably trying to stop the wound from bleeding.

But that wasn't what made her eyes grow twice their size. A newly opened door revealed a new gladiator. But she knew he wasn't a regular one. He was one of Zeus' champions, one of the best fighters in the empire. Who she saw was Hercules, her best friend's fiance.


[A/N]: And done! Sorry, the exam week asked more of me than I thought it would... Oh well ;). I hope you liked chapter 11! I really can't believe I'm so far... I have the tendency to start something and never finish it... I swear on the Styx that I'll finish this story! *thunder booms over my head*

I really love you guys for the support you give me! It really makes me happy when I see lots of mails in my mailbox. Love it ;D I love to explore the profiles of my reviewers and get to discover more stories! Thank you :D

To Jay-Goh: Thanks and I'll make Percy shine in the next chapter!

To awesomeness: I love OC's almost as much as I love cookies, so please ;D And yeah, sometimes I like to be a little hard on myself ;). Hagan has made his appearance, a little older than your description (otherwise he doesn't fit in the story), but not too much... He'll have more influence further on in the story ;). Hope you like it!

To PJOHoOFan: Humm... I think he'll introduce himself within five chapters, but I'm still thinking about it... I want to give him an epic introduction ;D

To Guest: HoH was awesome! ;) Too much Percabeth feels ;P (And another one of my ships has come true, but I won't spoil it for you ;))

To Di Blythe: Hahaha, thank you ;) I hope you didn't give your mother a headache, because of the screaming ;P More Jiper in chapter 13, I think, so stay tuned ;P

To Lmb111514: I checked out your stories this week (I think you've already noticed that) and I'm glad I did ;D Stay being awesome ;D

'Till next time,

Xx Anny