CHAPTER 9: LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE

NICO POV:

Consciousness took over and I was met with darkness. The spot between my eyes throbbed, where I'd been punched. A piece of cloth covered my head so I didn't know where I was. I flexed my wrists which were bound tightly with rope.

A hurricane of questions swirled around in my head. Where was Reyna? Who had kidnapped us? How do I find her and escape? I was lying on cold, smooth stone – probably marble. The sound of a metal gate creaking open screeched through the dark. I tensed and felt two hands grab me by my shoulders and pull me to my feet, dragging me away. I felt them hissing in my ears.

Wait, hissing?

I was shoved to the dusty ground and the sounds of cheering erupted around me, like I was in a football stadium. The cloth sack was thrown off my head and I realized I was in an arena. The whole place was underground. The dirt floor was circular, just big enough to drive a car around the rim if you pulled it really tight. Loose crowds of monsters sat in the crowd – giants, dracaenae and others. The whole arena was full of skulls. They ringed the edge of the railing. Meter-high piles of them decorated the steps between the benches. The grinned from pikes at the back of the stands and hung from chains from the ceiling. Some looked very old – nothing but bleached-white bone. Others were a lot fresher and more grisly.

I looked at my captors, which were a pair of dracaena. They had the top half of a woman and the bottom half of a serpent. Both held a pilum in their claws. Their cold, reptilian eyes and barbed tails made them look menacing. I'd faced a lot of their kind in the Titan war.

Two bronze doors on the other side opened up and two more dracaenae guards appeared holding Reyna, who was gagged and tied like last I'd seen her. They threw her to the ground along with her golden sword and went back into the doors.

''Reyna!'' I called out. One of the snake women slashed my bonds and retreated into the bronze doors where I'd come from. I ran towards her and knelt by her side. I took her gag off.

''Are you okay?'' I asked. She nodded, her eyes looking alarmed.

''I'm okay. What about you?'' she asked, looking around. I felt my ring in my pocket and slipped it on, transforming it into an axe and with one swift motion, I sliced her bonds off. She rubbed her wrists. I grabbed her hand and helped her up.

''I'm fine…what happened?'' I questioned. She picked up her golden sword and looked around our surroundings uneasily.

''I was tricked, Nico! My sister, she-''

''Bravo…bravo! Our heroes have arrived!'' a voice sounded over unseen speakers. Anger filled me. It was the voice of Erickthickton. Just hearing his voice made the scar on my right eye hurt a little.

I scanned the crowd of monsters and there on a raised podium, kind of like a Roman Emperor's box sat Reyna's sister, queen of the Amazons: Hylla. It was her, except only her eyes were bright gold. Eric looked down at us with a cruel smile. A microphone stood in front of him.

''Applause for another bastard child of Hades and his side kick!'' she announced sarcastically. The monsters cheered more.

''Eric'' I said angrily. The possessed daughter of Bellona smiled coldly at me. ''Welcome to Antaeus's arena!''

The memory came back to me. ''Of course'' I muttered.

''Nico, you've been here before?'' Reyna asked me.

I shook my head. ''No, but Percy told me about this place. It's an underground fighting arena for monsters. We're in the Labyrinth'' I told her.

Fucking fantastic. Just how long had we been down here? The others must be worried sick. For all I knew, a week had passed since we'd been down here since time moved differently in the magical maze. I'd had my own bad memories of this place and was not anxious to ever return.

''Indeed'' Hylla said. ''A shame Antaeus still hasn't reformed from Tartarus but no matter, this is still a fine establishment for entertainment!'' The monsters in the crowd roared in approval.

''Eric! You swore on the Styx not to possess anyone in the camps!'' I shouted.

Hylla turned her palms. ''I didn't break my oath. Queen Hylla is not technically a member of either camp, she is an Amazon. There are ways around oaths, brother. I fooled you all!''

Reyna picked up an old skull and threw it at her. She caught it in her hand.

''Leave my sister's body, filth!'' Reyna demanded. Her eyes were dark with rage. With a start, I realized she was close to tears. Of course, given what had happened with her father, seeing her sister influenced by a ghost probably brought back some unpleasant memories.

Hylla laughed a chilling, creepy laugh. ''It seems like you and your family members have a knack for turning into spirits. First your father, now your sister and now you've fallen for the so-called Ghost King!'' she taunted. Reyna's knuckles tightened on her sword hilt. She gritted her teeth.

My anger grew. ''Leave her alone, this has nothing to do with her! It's me you want!''

''Oh little brother, it's the oldest rule of control. Use a loved one as bait'' she stated.

''Enough talk!'' Reyna announced, raising her blade. ''Why don't you step down here and face us, Eric? Or are you scared you're going to get your ass beat again?''

The eidolon sneered at us, crushing the skull in her fist. ''Oh I would love to tear your heads off and add them to the arena, but where is the fun in that? You will fight for our entertainment first. You won't make it alive to face me'' she said. The crowd began to cheer in approval and roared for blood.

''Ladies and gentlemen, monsters and scum! Let the games begin!'' The bronze doors opened and a dozen or so monsters entered the arena – some dracaenae with spears and Roman gladiator net-and-tridents, basilisks and a few stray telkhines. We raised our weapons, ready to fight.

''LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!'' Hylla announced and we charged into battle, the roar of the monstrous crowd drowning our own battle cries. I brought my axe down on a telkhine, stopping it dead (literally) in its tracks and Reyna leaped off my shoulders like a springboard and launched her javelin right into the throat of a dracaena, blasting it into powder.

We fought side by side. A telkhine lunged at me and I slashed it mid-air, vaporizing it. A basilisk crawled towards me and I swung my axe downwards, slicing it in half, its fiery essence causing steam to curl off the ice cold metal of my weapon, hissing like a coiled snake.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Reyna easily sidestep a dracaena's net throwbefore stabbing it in the chink of its armour and with a painful wail the snake-lady disintegrated. Another hissed aggressively at her, baring her fangs before lashing out with her barbed tail. Reyna parried it with her sword before stabbing the snake-lady through the gut.

I side stepped a spear jab from another snake-lady, slicing it in half before lodging the axe into her skull. Each monster we killed, it instantly crumbled into dust. All the while, the crowd cheered the monsters and booed us, while Hylla yelled, ''Encore!''

We slashed and stabbed, blocked and parried and dodging multiple attacks from enemies, years of combat training and demigod reflexes keeping us alive. I struck a telkhine with a downward swing of my axe, before kicking its limp body away and intercepting a leaping basilisk, cutting it in half mid-air.

I looked at Reyna. The girl fought with such elegance and grace. Even while fighting, with her braid messy and undone, her clothes covered in monster dust and slime, her dark eyes fierce like a hungry wolf's, she somehow managed to look beautiful, like some sort of Xena-warrior princess. I saw her stab a telkhine through the neck, killing it and kicking its crumbling body away. She glanced at me, breathing heavily. Her eyes widened in alarm suddenly.

''Look out!'' she called out, changing her sword into a javelin and launching it at a basilisk which had crept very close to my leg, nailing the fiery lizard in the head. I stepped back in alarm.

''Don't get distracted, Death Boy'' she chided, though I nearly caught the hint of amusement in her voice. Focus, you idiot!

''Uh, yeah sure – Reyna duck!'' I yelled. It was my turn to save her and as Reyna ducked, I threw my axe at the dracaena behind her, severing her head clean off. Despite the situation we were in, I told her, ''Don't get distracted, RA-RA.''

That had been the last monster. We retrieved our weapons. The crowd booed us and threw stone, which we managed to deflect.

''Bah, too easy! Time for round two!'' Hylla jeered. The bronze doors opened and this time, two massive cyclopes walked out. One was twenty feet tall and the other was slightly smaller, maybe eighteen feet tall. The bigger one was bald, the smaller one had curly brown hair. Both were equally ugly and wore chainmail loincloths which didn't look too comfortable.

''Come on, Torque!'' the larger one said. ''We're going to make some Greco-Roman stew tonight!''

''Nico…I have a plan; we'll go after the smaller one first, since he's weaker. Can use summon the dead to keep the bigger one preoccupied?'' Reyna asked.

I smiled. ''I can do you one better'' I replied and clapped my hands. A jagged spire of rock the size of an eighteen wheeler erupted from the ground in front of the cyclops, pinning it against the wall. The bald, one-eyed giant roared in anger, slamming its giant fists against the stone, trying to break free.

''Sump!'' the smaller cyclops named Torque exclaimed as he looked in alarm at his brother trapped behind a rock. He turned towards us, his one eye narrowed in hatred. He charged towards us and we rolled out of the way at the same moment, the giant's momentum carrying him forward.

We both then attacked while his back was turned, Reyna stabbing him in the thigh and I slashing him across the calf. Torque roared in pain and swung his fist around to swat us. We dodged and seemed to fight in perfect coordination, taking turns acting as bait while the other attacked from behind.

Reyna stabbed him in the knee, bringing the cyclops down. He tried slamming its fist into me but I rolled out of the way. Reyna ran up the back of Torque with the agility of a gazelle and stood on the shoulders of the cyclops.

''Huh?'' Torque looked confused and his single eye looked up at her, standing back up. Reyna stabbed downward, plunging her blade right into his eye, before stomping on the butt of the sword to drive it in further. Torque's body instantly became limp and as his body fell forward, Reyna took her sword out of his skull. The cyclops collapsed face first to the ground and Reyna rolled off, standing in front of me with her sword in hand.

''Alright, now for the other one'' she said, not even out of breath.

''Uh…yeah'' I said stupidly, in awe of epic takedown she'd just done on the grown cyclops. Just then, the other cyclops named Sump broke through the rock, looking royally ticked off having just seen his comrade killed.

''I WILL SMASH YOU!'' he yelled, his single eye blazing with rage. He was charged at us, shaking the ground as the monsters cheered him on. We repeat the same tactic with him, using our superior speed and agility to dodge his blows and then attacking his legs to slow his movement.

Reyna stuck the spear point into the back of his thigh, making him fall to his knees. I charged at the giant, jumping for all I was worth – kicking off his forearm and scrambling up his shoulder like a ladder, standing on his shoulders. Sump raised his head and yelled, ''Hey!'' and I jumped up and raised my axe and plunged it into his neck.

''Aaargh!'' Sump yelled in agony. Reyna jabbed him with her javelin in his ribs and I embedded the axe into the side of his head and jumped down, hanging from the handle of my axe and the cyclops fell down with me. Before he could recover, I struck my Labrys downwards onto his skull and Sump stopped moving.

''Pretty impressive, Death Boy'' Reyna admitted, flashing me a smile which seemed to re-energize me, as the body of Sump dissolved to meet his friend in Tartarus.

''Oh, thanks, you're pretty impressive your-''

Before I could finish my sentence, her eyes widened in alarm. ''NICO, LOOK OUT!'' she screamed.

I turned just in time to see Hylla slam into me with the force of a rhino, knocking the sense out of me and sending me flying away. I hit the wall with a thud and lost consciousness.

REYNA POV:

I watched in horror as Hylla crashed into Nico, the force sending him reeling into the side of the wall. He slid down the wall, unconscious.

''I will admit, you are both capable warriors, but your luck ends today!'' Hylla threatened. It was particularly unnerving hearing that cold, undead voice come from Hylla's mouth. Her eyes; now golden, bored into me and I tried not to shudder under the undead gaze.

All of a sudden, I felt like that scared little girl in San Juan. I tried not to burst into tears at the scene in front of me – Nico hurt and incapacitated, my sister – who had been by my side through thick and thin possessed by a spirit, in some horrible underground place surrounded by death and monsters. It was too familiar to that day in San Juan when my father had turned into that crazed spirit. It was all I could do from keeping my knees from shaking.

''Hylla!'' I called. ''It's me: your sister, Reyna! You can fight this!'' I urged, though I knew it was useless.

''Your sister's body is mine to control, Roman! You want to know what my crime was that got me turned into an eidolon? I murdered my sister and now you will die the same way, by a sibling's hand!'' Hylla snarled, drawing her golden gladius.

Fear now grew into anger. Cold, hard anger and hatred towards this spirit. Subconsciously, I heard the voice of Lupa in my head, urging me to fight. I would not quit. I will free my sister. Raising my blade, I got ready to fight. Hylla had cheap shot Nico so the son of Hades couldn't try to control the eidolon. I had to keep him occupied until Nico woke up, since he stood the best chance of defeating him once and for all or at least I could knock him out.

''Die'' Hylla told me and rushed forward to attack. Our swords met and we fought back and forth. Hylla would usually get the better out of most of our sparring matches and with the belt of Hippolyta around her waist, which gave the wearer increased strength and speed, I stood nearly no chance at all.

It was all I could do to keep up as we fought back and forth like wild animals. Ironically, I heard the voice of Hylla in my head, giving me tips. Our blades crossed and we came to a stand-still. I gritted my teeth as we pressed our blades against one another. My muscles ached in protest as he pushed me back; Hylla was the stronger fighter. I twisted my blade to the right and stepped off to the left, hoping to enter in at an angle to get close enough to smack her between the eyes with the hilt of my sword. I succeeded and my possessed sister fell to the ground with a grunt.

I placed a boot over my Hylla's body and pressed the point of my blade under her chin. Before I could hit her again, Hylla stirred – no, not Eric – Hylla. Her eyes fluttered open, no longer golden. She spoke in her normal voice, ''Ugh…Reyna…? What's going on? Where am I?''

All my defenses went down, replaced with worry. I knelt down to my sister's side, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. ''Sister, it's okay. You are safe now-''

Hylla grabbed my sword hand and kicked me in the ribs, which felt more like a battering ram, sending me rolling through the dirt.

''Ow…'' I muttered, lying spread eagle on the dirt.

''Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…'' Hylla stood up, her eyes golden again and the voice of Eric returned, cold and deathly as ever. ''Works every time'' she said, throwing both swords away to the side. The crowd was going nuts now, chanting his name, though I'm pretty sure at one point some monster asked, ''Who is Ericthickton?''

''I am going to enjoy this…'' Hylla said, walking towards me, cracking her knuckles. I got up, my fists shaking with wrath. I wound my fist back to strike but Hylla, being faster, punched me first; landing three rapid, hard punches; snapping my head from side to side. On the third punch, she launched me off my feet and I hit the wall of the arena. Before I could even fall to the ground, Hylla slammed a knee into my abdomen, making me cry out in pain, before picking me up and throwing me, sending me skidding across the ground.

I winced in pain and looked up to what was once my sister, who flashed a smug smirk at me. I shot up to my feet, ignoring the pain and threw a punch at her, which she dodged. I threw two more punches, followed by a roundhouse kick, all that she avoided and countered with a straight right hand which sent me crashing back on the ground. I got up again, determined not to give up and saw my sister running towards me.

Hylla punched me over the temple with an overhand, landing two more hooks and following with an uppercut which shot my head up skyward, giving me a glimpse of the skull and chain filled ceiling. My knees wobbled and I felt dizzy from the beat down my big sister was giving me. The crowd cheered her on. Hylla grabbed a fistful of my hair and slammed a fist into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I cried out in pain and sunk to my knees, clutching my abdomen in agony, a low painful groan escaping my lips. The tasted the sharp taste of blood in my mouth. Hylla grabbed me by collar of my shirt and lifted me up. I stared into the face of my sister.

''Uh oh. What's wrong Herminita?'' Hylla said in her normal voice, stroking my face. Then her tone shifted and Eric's voice came back.

''Stupid bitch'' she said. ''This is just as taste of the power I possess. With the power of Hippolyta's belt, I can break your neck with one hand, but where's the fun in that? Oh no…I will leave you crippled, if only to see the look on your boyfriend's face…watch your torture drive him mad!'' she said with glee.

I spat blood in her face and she dropped me, staggering back, wiping her face.

''GAH! MY EYES! I CANNOT SEE!'' she protested, wiping the blood out of her eyes. I held my throat, trying to catch my breath. I had a few moments to decide what to do. The crowd of monsters booed at my cheap shot, which I couldn't care less about.

I tried to think, trying to ignore my hurting face and body. Hylla was far too strong with her belt. I recalled training with Annabeth, when she had taught me how to perform a judo flip. She told me it was useful for using the larger or stronger opponent's strength and momentum against them. I had an idea.

Struggling to my feet, I called out to her. ''Hey, what's wrong? Can't handle a little blood in your face, you sissy?!'' I taunted.

''OH SNAP!'' some of the monsters in the crowd gasped in unison. Hylla, golden eyes blazing furiously, charged me.

''Why, you little bit-'' Right as he threw the punch, I dodged and grabbed Hylla's arm, turning my hips and using her own momentum against him, flipping her over my shoulder and slamming her into the ground. The crowd suddenly went silent.

Hylla let out a grunt of pain. I scrambled on top of Hylla. Taking advantage of her discombobulated state, I quickly unclipped Hippolyta's belt and threw it away and began to punches down on him, while Hylla tried to fight my hands, we rolled around on the ground, wrestling.

''GET OUT!'' Nico suddenly roared and Hylla's body went slack on top of me. I blinked in shock and breathed heavily, trying to catch my breath and pushed Hylla's unconscious body off. I sat up and a few feet away, Nico limped towards me. I struggled to my feet and went over to him.

''Nico…are you alright?'' I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, which made him wince in discomfort. He looked exhausted. Whatever command he had yelled had been taxing, not to mention being slammed into a wall.

''Well…two arms, two legs…'' he said, with a small smile. I snorted.

''What about you?'' he asked, brushing a thumb over the bruises from where Hylla had struck me. His touch felt soothing, like a cup of warm hot chocolate. Before I could answer, Hylla stirred. She groaned and slowly got up to her knees. Her eyes fluttered open. They were no more golden. Nico raised his axe and I raised my fists though we were both bruised and battered.

''Where…am I?'' she asked groggily. It was her voice, not Eric's. She got to her feet and turned to me.

''What the…Reyna?'' she asked.

BAM! I punched her across the jaw, whipping her head back and she fell to her knees with a pained grunt, lying face down unconscious.

''Sorry, sis'' I told her.

Nico looked at me with raised eyebrows. ''Remind me not to get on your bad side'' he remarked.

We faced each other. I was breathing heavily. Both of us were sore, hurting and exhausted from the battle. The way Nico had fought; with such ruthless skill…it was impressive. We looked into each other's eyes, holding each other's gaze. I couldn't take my eyes of him. Gods, I was so tempted to kiss him…

At that moment, someone in the crowd started clapping. ''YEAAAHH! YEAAHH! WHOO! THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!'' A lone telkhine in the crowd cheered, before looking around him and realizing no one else was clapping.

''Uh, I mean…boooo, you suck!'' he corrected himself.

''GET THEM!'' a Laistrygonian giant yelled and the monstrous crowd erupted into chaos, dozens of demons trying to get into the arena to get us.

I grabbed Nico's arm. ''Shadow travel us out of here!'' I told him. He nodded. We quickly grabbed our weapons, Hippolyta's belt and Nico held my and Hylla's unconscious arm and we dissolved into the shadows.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Yikes…sorry for the long wait guys. I know it must have stung like the river Styx being left on a cliffhanger. Still didn't have to wait as long as we did for House of Hades. Talk about torture, lol. We get a cool, action packed chapter. Reyna and Nico both find the other's combat prowess attractive. Adorable little Reyna wanted to kiss him so badly lol. Also, fun fact, Erickthicton yelling, 'LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE' is a reference to Hades in the Disney Hercules movie, lol… don't know how many people picked up on that. Also, once again, my apologies for the late update. I've just been going ham with my A-levels CIE exam prep and I haven't had much time, hope you can understand but the story is still going strong!

FieryFury4: The guy who Demeter cursed was Erisikhthon. Totally forgot about him, didn't realize his name was so similar to Eric-thick-ton's, lol. Erickthickton is my own made up character and I didn't name him that with the other guy in mind. Much appreciate you taking the time to read my story!

Yoshi133: Octavian is dead and we have now found out who it was, thanks for reading my story, much love!

Archangel7431: Thank you very much!

LilBumpkin: Seems like a Riordanverse tradition at this point, lol!

Undeath9087: Yeah, I'm a big God of War fan. I like to add certain aspects from that in here, like the melody and some of the fight scenes in this story are somewhat inspired by the gameplay in the GOW games, which people may or may not pick up on.