Chapter 2

Percy was fighting like a mad man. His trident was spinning in his hand as he made it through his fourth fight of the day. The bracket was stacked against him, but he was devastating the first, second, and third cohort. Jason similarly was marching through the bracket, and Percy was thrilled to see his next match was against Octavian, one of the optios of the first cohort.

Percy stood across from Octavion who was grinning madly like he had somehow deluded himself into the possibility of him winning this match. 'He won four matches already Percy, don't underestimate him.' He heard Jason's voice in his head, and closed his mind to focus on the lessons Triton had given him.

Flashback

"Faster Perseus." Triton said, swinging his trident at Percy's head hard.

The young man ducked underneath the strike quickly, and rolled around trying to sweep the immortals' legs out. Triton however whirled his weapon around stabbing it into the ground catching Percy in mid roll knocking him over making his eyes spin in pain. The water lifted him up and Triton was standing ten feet away suddenly, "Again."

It had been a long day for Percy. He had been learning the hard way over the past two years that Neptune was not the beloved God that he should have been, and the bullying from some of the younger demigods, and legacies was becoming a little much for the boy. Triton seemed to sense his weakness, and by the aggression he was currently exhibiting; it was clear he didn't like it.

The heir to Atlantis motioned for Percy to attack again, and Percy looked at his brother in disbelief, but shook it off, and charged. This time he took two fast strikes at his brother's waist, and followed it up with a quick thrust to the face. Triton however batted each strike away with ease, "COME PERSEUS FASTER."

This time Percy caught a foot in the chest, and he went flying backwards. He coughed hard on the ground wheezing and trying to catch his breath. Triton roared, "You want me to give you a moment to rest Perseus?"

This time Triton charged him swinging his trident quickly in rapid attack motions. Somehow Percy managed to deflect the first few as Triton roared out, "You think these Romans are going to give you a moment to catch your breath."

The weapon was struck out of his hand, and he summoned the nearby water to help deflect the strikes of the trident, "YOU THINK THEY WILL PITY YOU. YOU ARE A SON OF THE SEAS. THESE ROMANS HATE YOU. THINK YOU ARE A CURSE."

Percy tried to dive into the water to escape, but the water threw him back to the ground hard and suddenly three prongs were at his throat, and a calm voice spoke to him, "You can't let them see your fear brother, your weaknesses will get you killed by these sycophants."

Triton withdrew the weapon and offered his hand to Percy who took the help up nervously. Nothing was said between the two and Triton said, "We will go again."

"Yes brother." Percy said obediently.

Percy would never complain about his lessons being too hard. The only connection he had with his father was Triton coming to train him, and he refused to give up on them. They trained a lot on trident combat, and his hydrokinesis. Percy learned from Triton that his father was allowing the heir to Atlantis more privileges and leeway in the Kingdom for payment of their training, and apparently Triton was even allowed to court a young woman that Neptune had previously forbidden. Percy wished he could learn more about these undersea politics, but Triton had always been pretty tight lipped about those things.

The training went at an intense pace for the rest of the night and when it was over Triton was walking towards the sea, "We will meet again next week. Same time. Don't be late."

"Thank you brother." Percy said gratefully.

Triton turned to face him, "For what?"

"Never going easy on me. Never taking pity on me. I want to be strong like you, and dad. I don't want what happened to my mom to happen to me." Percy said, turning away and looking at the ground.

The young man heard a sigh, and then felt a hand on his shoulder, "You are going to make us all proud one day Perseus. Never give up. I told father the first time I heard you complain I would be out. Here we are two years later, and no complaints so I am still here. Keep working, and just maybe you will bring honor to the House of Neptune. Never surrender, and most certainly not to any of these Romans."

With that his brother launched into the water and vanished.

Percy opened his eyes, and he knew they were flashing sea green with power. Never give up, and never show weakness. Weakness was for family, and Jason was the only family he had in this camp, and maybe Gwen...

His cheeks heated up a bit at the thought of the beautiful daughter of Ceres. She had been one of the few genuinely nice people to Percy since day one. The day she had vouched for him at camp. He had always been in her debt, and did whatever she asked without question or complaint. Jason always teased because he figured out that Percy had a bit of a crush on the girl, and he had to admit he was jealous of his cousin getting to spend all that time with her as the other Centurion of Cohort five.

Percy wiped all these thoughts out of his head, and focused on Octavion standing in front of him. When Praetor Cassie called the fight Percy took a deep breath and slid into a deep back stance preparing for Octavion to come to him.

The Augur in training spat on the ground showing the first sign of disrespect. It wouldn't be the first time something like this had happened. Octavion loved his back handed comments, and took great pleasure in making Percy upset or hurt. Allowing his rage to stir he recalled a memory from the previous day.

Percy and Jason were having a final training session before the gladiator challenge the next day. They had been at it for just under an hour, and the matches had gone back and forth. The two were heaving for breath and Jason said, "I really hope we don't have to face each other tomorrow at the end of a long day's worth of fighting."

Percy grinned, "Afraid I will win?"

Jason glared at the boy, but before he could restart the attacks a voice came from nearby, "Centurion Grace I didn't realize you let your subordinates talk to you in such a way."

Jason held a hand up to Percy to stop their training and turned to see Octavian the Augur, and a Optio of Cohort One standing there with several other members from the first and second cohort.

Jason rolled his eyes, "A good leader can be on the level of his subjects during a training session, and change roles at will. Mother Lupa taught me this Augur. What business do you have disturbing the training I set forth for my Optio anyway?"

Percy grinned loving when Jason went all Roman Centurion on the other cohorts. Jason knew the rules better than perhaps anyone in camp. He learned them certainly younger than most, and Lupa had taken a special interest in his training around the time Triton showed up for Percy's.

Octavion glared at the two, "Well I just think it odd that the son of Jupiter the Optimus Maxmus would befriend an enemy of Rome."

Percy felt rage swell in his veins, but Jason held his hand out again to stop him from handling it, "An enemy of Rome? That is a serious accusation, Augur. Have you seen something in the auguries?"

This caused the boy to flush, "Well no, but…"

"As Augur you may be sacrosanct outside of Wargames, but I would be careful insinuating such things about my legionnaires. Duels have been fought over much less, and unless you are some sort of idiot then you should likely mind your tongue while we are so close to Neptune's domain."

Thunder rumbled in the skies above as clouds began to darken overhead. Neptune was the storm bringer for a reason, and Jason knew the storm above was not from him. Octavion however scoffed at the two, "It will be as you say then Centurion. Just keep an eye on that Graceus of yours."

Jason sighed knowing that bloodshed would be imminent. Percy hated that insult, but instead of losing control Percy just stared at the augur, "I look forward to facing you in the bracket tomorrow Augur. Good evening."

With that Percy turned his back on the group, and looked towards the water trying to reign in his anger.

Octavian gave the young son of the sea a smirk that made a flash of rage go through the boy remembering what had been said yesterday, and when the countdown finished he shot towards Percy with his spatha. The green eyed boy easily dodged under the powerful swing and swept his feet out from under him hard, and knocked him with the staff side of the trident so hard his eyes immediately rolled up in his head.

Percy immediately swept backwards facing the Praetors as two medics rushed forward to look at the augur. 'Pathetic' Percy thought as he gave a short bow to his Praetors much to the amusement of Cohort five who were openly jeering the first cohort. Percy turned to see Jason giving him a thumbs up, and Gwen just giggling behind her hand looking all sorts of beautiful in the son of Neptune's book.

This put Percy in the final 16 fighters, and he recharged as he watched Jason go out and make a bloody mess of the son of Mars from the second Cohort who had spit on Percy's food last week. The poor boy had to be carted off holding his face as the murderous face of Centurion Jason Grace loomed over him. That boy was sixteen and Jason made him look like a child.

Percy's next fight was against a son of Trivia who was levitating his sword behind him in a show of magic. Many had spoken of the fourth cohort's centurion with fear, but the boy had always had a soft spot for Percy. The son of the sea figured it was an outcast thing, and when the two faced each other in the middle there was a nice bow of respect.

This fight was much longer, and Percy had to admit that Dylan (pronounced Die-lan) was much faster than he gave him credit for originally. His stamina however was what was going to cost him the fight as he slowed down and attempted to disarm Percy with what was clearly an exhausting effort. Percy easily parried the disarm attempt and dislodged the sword from his hand and with intense speed Percy spun his trident behind his neck and held the prongs at the boy's throat.

Dylan grinned, "Next time we do this with powers, and I say this fight would be a lot more interesting. I yield."

Percy grinned, "You're on."

The two shook hands and the clapping came in politely. As Percy walked back to the sideline he low fived Jason as he went as the young man followed out for the next match. The nice thing was that Jason and Percy couldn't fight each other until finals since they were in the same cohort. All the others from their cohort were already out too so they were the last one standings with Percy walking into the final 8 and Jason fighting for his spot.

Gwen and Percy made eye contact as he was on his way to the sideline, and he observed that the blonde was waving him over. Percy took a seat not far from where she was standing off too, and she came up behind Percy when he sat down and put both hands on his shoulders causing him to heat up instantly, as she rubbed them, "Awesome fight out there Percy you're doing great. Now you gotta watch out for Kyle Logan. He started just after me, and has been Centurion of the second for a long time. He is the son of Hercules, and has super strength. There is no way to prove his demigod powers cause that so he is at an advantage. You will want to use all your speed, and try to stay out of the axe's way."

Percy nodded glad she wasn't asking him any questions, because he was sure his voice would've come out in an embarrassing squeak. The tall blue eyed beauty with the runners body, and sharp facial features was a heart stopper, and he didn't dare to take a look at her and instead he kept his eyes on Jason who was having a good fight against a legacy of Vulcan a large African American boy from the third who had actually been one of the more reasonable people to Percy as well.

Percy didn't have the heart to tell Gwen that Kyle Logan had been one of his staunchest bullies. Between Kyle and Octavian they had done a good job at making Percy's life incredibly difficult in the legion, but he knew on a day like today it was time to make the score even.

It wasn't long before Jason came out victorious and unlike for Percy the crowd went wild. Jason was one of the crowd favorites, and to everyone but Jason it was obvious many wanted him to ascend to Praetor one day.

Jason walked over to Percy and the son of the sea noticed a slight limp and whispered, "You alright?"

"Yeah Marcus just hit me in the leg really hard with the dull side of the sword. Good thing it wasn't real I'd be legless. Definitely going to leave a bruise." Jason said, wincing when Percy poked it.

Gwen laughed at the two's antics putting her arms around both boys, "I knew having two sons of the three would pay off. I can't even remember the last time our cohort won so many war games, and contests. I think one of you has a pretty good chance to take it today. Someone hasn't won the Gladiator challenge for the fifth in years. Who knows maybe we will be lucky and you two will fight in finals, and the fifth gets the win no matter what!"

Percy blushes, but Jason grinned. It wasn't long before Percy had to make his way back out to the arena to fight his second Centurion of the day. Percy was the only non-centurion ranked person left in the contest and he tried to shake off his nerves as he walked out to the arena. As he walked he noticed the stands were really filling up now. At the start of the day the place was barely a quarter of the way filled, but as the contest progressed more and more people from the city were spilling in. Now was the time for Percy to prove himself.

As he sized up the colossal seventeen year old in front of him he gulped a little bit. The boy was nearly the size of Triton, but Percy reminded himself that this young man was not immortal, and also not near his element that made him even more powerful than normal. He could do this.

Percy held out his hand and summoned his trident from nearby, a neat intimidation trick his brother had taught him. The weapon was forged in the sea therefore there would always be a piece of it within the weapon, and like water Percy could summon it to him. The boy once again slid into his deep back stance as he stared at the tall boy with roman gladiator armor and axe in hand.

When Praetor Cassie finished the countdown this boy rushed forward with the aggression of Octavian, but unlike Octavion this boy was too big to merely trip. Percy ducked wildly under the first strike that could probably have separated his head from his body blunt tip or not, and he heard the crowd gasp. Percy put some distance between himself and the Centurion of the second who had antagonized him on more than one occasion, but usually it was more back handed comments, but Percy embarrassed two people in his cohort earlier on, and this was clearly a vengeance message.

Zoning into the battle Percy pushed out all outside distractions. It was basically a black room in his mind now with nothing but his opponent and the ground below him.

Dodging the son of Hercules' next few strikes was a daunting task, but it wasn't just strength and speed the man had, but control as well. He was trying to analyze the boys' fight pattern, but it wasn't going well as Percy was almost afraid to even intercept any of the powerful strikes. Finally he saw the weakness however, and fortunately he was going to have to hurt the Centurion to win this one.

Percy waited for the sideways slash to come in, and this time Percy intercepted it with the center of his trident twirling it around the blade letting go of his weapon for a split second and walking forward as he ducked under and grabbed his twirling weapon with the staff side side and slammed it into the back of his head as he walked through him knocking the boy out old.

The medics were on the field at a moment's notice, and the one who broke the silence was a familiar male voice, "FIFTH COHORT!"

It was Jason who led the outcry, and many started slamming their hands into the sides of the arena, and stomping their feet below causing a frenzy of noise and celebration. Percy was in the final four.

He walked back over to the sideline where Jason and Gwen were sitting both pounding him on the back, "That move was amazing! I don't think anyone would have blocked that."

Jason was clearly in awe of his last trick, but a voice from his left caused both of their heads to turn so fast it almost caused whiplash, "You know when I taught you that trick it was more of a party trick not one to use in gladiator combat."

Triton was standing at the entrance to the competitors area with a beautiful woman he didn't recognize, and he had an incredibly forced smile on his face. Percy spoke in surprise, "Brother? You came to watch me compete?"

"Not exactly." Triton said looking uncomfortable.

The woman cleared her throat and Triton coughed, "Sorry Perseus this is Thetis my fiance."

Percy's jaw dropped. Not only was the woman an absolute bombshell with her long black hair and slender figure, but he recognized the name instantly, "As in the mother of Achilles Thetis?"

The woman's eyes lit up, "Oh yes, the greatest hero of all time. My pride and joy, but there will be time to get to know each other later. Can we speak with you in private for a moment?"

The young man looked around and shrugged, "Sure."

The three walked away from Jason and Gwen who were watching the trio curiously and when they made it into the tunnel and out of every possible person's ear shot Triton spoke, "Perseus I am afraid we are going to need you in Atlantis right away."

Percy's heart dropped, "But can't I finish the contest? There should only be two more fights left for me at most."

Triton looked like he really didn't want to do this, but put a hand on his shoulder, "I am sorry Perseus. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

Looking back at the stands and the roars of applause as Jason went out to fight he felt his heart being crushed. He had wanted to win this contest so badly, but...he owed too much to Triton to turn him down, "Very well, but we must inform the praetors that I am being summoned to Atlantis."

Triton looked like he wanted to protest, but Thetis put a hand on his arm, "A few minutes won't kill your father Triton."

The Immortal sighed and nodded, "Go ahead Perseus we will wait for you in the Tiber."

Taking a deep breath he watched as his brother and fiance walked out towards New Rome. He couldn't believe he wasn't going to finish the competition, but he knew what had to be done. He went back to the arena, and jumped the fence into the spectators area. He walked over to the center of the crowd where the Praetors sat, and got on one knee respectfully as the crowd watched the fight with rapt attention he went almost unnoticed by all but the two, "Praetor Cassie, Praetor Mark, I am being summoned by my father to Atlantis. I was told it was urgent and that it can't wait. I regretfully withdraw from the Gladiator Challenge, and seek permission to temporarily depart camp."

Both praetors frowned, Mark spoke first, "How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know sir. Triton and his fiance Thetis came down into the arena to speak with me. I know nothing other than that it's urgent." Percy said sadly.

Both could hear his disappointed tone, and neither commented. Cassie spoke next, "Well I don't want Neptune to drown our camp, so if he is summoning you then you have my permission to leave camp. I would like a report back in forty eight hours to know of your well being or we will send emissaries, and not be happy."

"Yes praetor." Percy said bowing and getting to his feet. Before he left he turned, "Praetor Cassie, I have one last request."

The female Praetor raised an eyebrow, "Yes Optio Jackson?"

"Will you tell Gwen and Jason of my departure? I know most will think me a coward for departing in the middle of the contest, but I owe too much to the sea to not pay my debt." Percy said weakly.

The woman studied him and nodded, "I will pass it along Optio. Good luck."

Percy bowed again and departed out of the arena with the eyes of Gwen and Jason on his back.

(A/N) Sorry for the two day delay. Got stuck on a covid rampage at work. Will definitely get the next update to you on Friday afternoon. Cheers, and please review!

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