Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter- in which Percy is kickass and also highly traumatized- do not call her princess it does not end well, and Percy could be utterly terrifying if she was evil.

It wasn't the largest arena Percy had ever been in- but it was pretty big considering it was underground.

The dirt floor was circular, just big enough that you could drive a car around the rim if you pulled it really tight. In the centre of the arena, a fight was going on between a giant and a centaur. The centaur looked panicked. He was galloping around his enemy, using sword and shield, while the giant swing a javelin the size of a telephone pole and the crowd cheered.

The first tier of seats was twelve feet above the arena floor. Plain stone benches wrapped all the way around, and every seat was full. There were giants, dracaenae, demigods, the monsters from the volcano, and stranger things: bat-winged demons and creatures that seemed half human and half you name it—bird, reptile, insect, mammal.

But the creepiest things were the skulls. The arena was full of them. They ringed the edge of the railing. Three-foot-high piles of them decorated the steps between the benches. They grinned from pikes at the back of the stands and hung on chains from the ceiling like horrible chandeliers. Some of them looked very old—nothing but bleached-white bone. Others looked a lot fresher. In the middle of all this, proudly displayed on the side of the spectator's wall, was something that made no sense to Percy—a green banner with the trident of Poseidon in the centre. What was that doing in a horrible place like this?

Above the banner, sitting in a seat of honor, was a familiar figure- and Percy felt her skin crawl at just the sight of him.

"Alabaster." Her voice was barely more than a whisper and she could see his eyes going wide when he spotted her, even from a distance- see his face pale and his mouth drop open in shock.

He looked just as he had when she'd last seen him, and there was a look of anger and hunger on his face as he stared at her- Percy felt the urge to throw up.

Next to him sat the largest giant Percy had ever seen. Much larger than the one on the floor fighting the centaur. The giant next to Alabaster must have been fifteen feet tall, easily and he was so wide that he took up three seats. He wore only a loincloth, like a sumo wrestler.

His skin was dark red and tattooed with blue wave designs- it wasn't hard to figure out that he must be the brother that the draecaena had mentioned.

There was a cry from the arena floor and Percy jumped back as the centaur crashed to the dirt beside her.

He met her eyes pleadingly, gasping out- "Help!"

And Percy reached into her pocket- cursing under her breath when she realized that Riptide hadn't reappeared yet- that meant that Kelli still had it.

She crouched down quickly as the centaur struggled to get up as the giant approached, his javelin ready.

A taloned hand gripped Percy's shoulder before she could tug her jeans up. "If you value your friendsss' livesss," the draecaena hissed, "you won't interfere. This isssn't your fight. You chose to rush into the arena. Now you must wait your turn.

The centaur couldn't get up. One of his legs was broken. The giant put his huge foot on the horseman's chest and raised the javelin. He looked up at Alabaster. The crowd cheered, "DEATH! DEATH!"

Alabaster didn't do anything, his gaze was too busy focused on Percy, but her tattooed brother arose. He smiled down at the centaur, who was whimpering, "Please! No!"

Then her brother held out his hand and gave the thumbs down sign.

Percy closed her eyes and looked away as the gladiator giant thrust his javelin. When she looked again, the centaur was gone, disintegrated to ashes. All that was left was a single hoof, which the giant took up as a trophy and showed the crowd. They roared their approval.

A gate opened at the opposite end of the stadium and the giant marched out in triumph.

In the stands Percy's brother raised his hands for silence.

"Good entertainment!" he bellowed, "But nothing I haven't seen before. What else do you have, Alabaster son of Hecate."

Alabaster tore his gaze away from Percy, focusing on the giant as he rose to his feet.

"Lord Antaeus." his voice was loud enough for the crowd to hear- and Percy shuddered. "You have been an excellent host! We would be happy to amuse you, to repay the favor of passing through your territory."

"A favor I have not yet granted," Antaeus growled. "I want entertainment!"

"And you shall get it my Lord- but first you have a guest- a girl I am sure you'd like to meet." his gaze swung back to Percy. "Persephone Jackson, daughter of Poseidon and my future bride- it seems she's stumbled into your arena by accident- a lucky one. I would be most grateful to have her brought up here to me-"

"Future what?" that came from Annabeth- and a glance back towards the doors told Percy that her girlfriend, brother and friend had been dragged into the arena too, though they were stood slightly further back- and Annabeth looked very pissed off.

"No thanks." Percy forced her voice not to shake as she turned her gaze back to Antaeus and Alabaster, "I'd rather not if it's all the same to you guys."

"Oh?" Antaeus leaned forward to look down at her, "A sister then- a pretty one too I see. Do you not want to come and sit with your brother and future husband-"

"Alabaster and I have a bit of a disagreement over that- he thinks we're going to be married, I think I'd kill myself before I ever let him touch me again."

That made Alabaster's face flush and a furious look crossed it, but Antaeus laughed. "You have spirit little sister. I like you- but the son of Hecate is my guest-"

"And I'm in your arena." Percy shot back, "Doesn't that mean I should fight?" her mind was racing. "Surely I should be given the chance to fight for myself and my friends freedom?"

"No!" Alabaster's voice was loud, "I won't have her killed Antaeus-"

"If she'd rather death to marrying you then I shall hand her over to you if she loses, yes?" Antaeus looked incredibly amused at the prospect. "If she is a child of Poseidon she must be a fierce fighter I'm sure. It will amuse me greatly to see her fight."

Alabaster seemed slightly happier with that, "If her fighting pleases you, will you let our armies cross your territory?"

"Perhaps." Antaeus announced.

"If it doesn't her companions can fight too-"

"If I win they don't have to fight!" Percy called quickly, "Come now brother, we're siblings aren't we?" She tilted her head, "If I amuse you enough to earn our freedom then won't that be enough- but- I don't want you to grant Alabaster passage too-"

"Fine- if you win the son of Hecate will have to amuse me more." Antaeus declared- and Alabaster looked downright murderous as he glared down at Percy.

"Percy-" Annabeth's voice was tight as she was pushed forward, "His mother is Gaea-" the Laistrygonian clamped a hand over her mouth and Percy swallowed hard. Hopefully she could figure out why Annabeth felt it was so important to tell her that before things got really bad.

"Well sister." Antaeus' eyes glinted, "What weapon will you use little sister? Will you have axes? Shields? Nets? Flamethrowers?"

"My sword." Percy straightened her back as laughter erupted from the monsters- but Riptide appeared in her hand instantly and she felt a surge of relief- and she noticed that some of the voices in the crowd turned nervous. The bronze blade glowed with a faint light.

"Round one!" Antaeus announced. The gates opened, and a dracaena slithered out. She had a trident in one hand and a weighted net in the other— classic gladiator style. Percy felt a rush of relief. She'd trained against those weapons at camp for years.

She jabbed at Percy experimentally. Percy stepped away. She threw her net, hoping to tangle the daughter of Poseidon's sword hand, but she sidestepped easily, sliced her spear in half, and stabbed Riptide through a chink in her armor. With a painful wail, she vaporized into nothing, and the cheering of the crowd died.

"No!" Antaeus bellowed. "Too fast! You must wait for the kill. Only I give that order!"

Percy gritted her teeth, stepping back and glancing towards Annabeth, Leo and Rachel- she had to figure out some way out of the situation- she doubted Antaeus would ever be amused enough to release them after all. And Alabaster was staring down at her that hungry look in his gaze still.

"Round two!" Antaeus yelled. "And slower this time! More entertainment! Wait for my call before killing anybody. OR ELSE!"

The gates opened again, and this time a young warrior came out. One that Percy recognised, and he looked different now. He had black hair that looked almost greasy, and his left eye was covered with an eye patch. He was thin and wiry so his Greek armor hung on him loosely. He stabbed his sword into the dirt, adjusted his shield straps, and pulled on his horsehair helmet, not looking at her.

"Ethan?" Percy's mouth dropped open in surprise and she heard Rachel's gasp, "What the- Ethan what are you doing here?"

Ethan lifted his head at that, forcing himself to meet her gaze. "I have to beat you."

"What?" Percy gaped at him, "Ethan what happened to you- you look half starved-"

"Hey!" a monster jeered from the stands. "Stop talking and fight already!" The others took up the call.

"I have to prove myself," Ethan told me. "Only way to join up."

And Percy understood- she felt a sinking feeling as he remembered his words when they'd last met. "You're a traitor." she breathed out. "Ethan it doesn't have to be like this."

"I'm sorry but it does." and with that he charged and their swords met midair and the crowd roared.

It didn't feel right- amusing the monsters like this. It was one thing to fight monsters but it was another entirely to fight another Demigod like this

He pressed forward. He was good, Percy had to admit that- she'd never fought him before even when he was in camp, but he'd probably been trained by Luke- most kids who'd been to camp were, and she could see some similarities in the fighting style. He parried Percy's strike and almost slammed her with his shield, but Percy leapt back as he slashed, and she rolled to one side.

It was almost like a dance- but it always was at first, when you first thought a new opponent, they were taking the measure of each other.

Percy was smart enough to know to try and keep on the blind side- and she'd love to know just how he'd lost his eyes- but it didn't help much. He'd been fighting with only one eye for a while that much was clear very quickly because he was excellent at guarding his left.

"Blood!" the monsters cried.

Ethan glanced up at the stands. That was his weakness, Percy realized. He needed to impress them. To impress Alabaster. Percy didn't.

He yelled an angry battle cry and charged her, but Percy parried his blade and backed away, letting him come after her.

"Boo!" Antaeus said. "Stand and fight!"

Ethan pressed Percy, but she had no trouble defending, even without a shield. He was dressed for defence—heavy armor and shield—which made it very tiring to play offense.

She was a softer target, but she also was lighter and faster. The crowd went nuts, yelling complaints and throwing rocks. They'd been fighting for almost five minutes and there was no blood.

That meant Ethan wasn't going to be impressing them very well if Percy was just defending.

He was getting frustrated, his eyes narrowing. "This isn't a game Jackson-"

"Really 'cause it feels like it is to me?" Her voice was almost mocking. She needed to get him off his game.

"Stop mocking me Princess!" he sneered the last word and Percy felt as if she was a normal person and she'd been shoved underwater- the world around her almost went fuzzy, and she could hear a roaring in her ears- she almost seemed to black out for a moment as rage filled her.

"I AM NOT YOUR PRINCESS!" and when she managed to regain her focus there was a stunned silence all around her, and Percy had her hand thrust forward, clenched into a fist and Ethan was on his knees, clawing at his chest, coughing- and water was dribbling past his lips, his face turning scarlet as he tried to breath despite the water filling his lungs, drawn from the water in the rest of his body.