Hello, again! F here, as always. Don't own the characters you recognize from PJO or HoO, blah blah blah, on with the show~~~

Ella's POV~

Sunset came faster than any of us would have liked. We spent the day trying things to escape that we knew would never work. Jason blasted the bars with lightning, only to get shocked so that his hair stood on end. Piper tried to charmspeak the guards, but they had wax in their ears. Leo's attempt to melt the bars to no effect. Hazel's attempt to dig a tunnel out met with five feet of solid concrete surrounding each of the cells. Even Ella tried to pick the lock out of the cell, but "Dang it! Sloped tumblers. Unpickable. It's a bust."

Aliah came for Cas at sunset, or what I assume was sunset. With no windows, we had no way of knowing the time. The guards unlocked the door to Cas's cell and swung the door open. Cas stood up without an argument.

"I'm ready." She said. She looked scared, but her voice was strong and steady. Cas always had been the tough one. "Let's get this over with." The guards grabbed her arms and lead her down the hallway.

As she passed my cell, she gave me a weak smile and a little wave. "It'll be fine Ella. Just wait and see."

Percy tried to say something as she passed him, but she cut him off. "Fine, Percy. Fine." She called over her shoulder as she was lead around the corner. "Don't worry, guys! I got this." But her voice broke. "It'll be okay." You could tell from her voice that she didn't believe it.

A few minutes later, the guards stepped forward and opened the door of the cell Annabeth and I shared. They dragged us out. I tried to kick one in the shins, and Annabeth caught another in the stomach with her elbow, but they dragged us away.

The other demigods shouted from their cells, but they couldn't help us. We were taken around corners and up stairs, until we were lead right into the stands of the arena we had seen earlier. It looked just the same, except the stands were full of cheering and jeering kids and monsters. The youngest of the kids was probably eight or nine, the oldest college age.

We were taken to a box in the stands. The walls and ceiling of the box were made of gold-tinted glass. The door was slammed shut behind us. A few minutes later, Percy and Jason were shoved in with us. Then Leo, Hazel, Piper, and Frank came.

"Break the glass!" Annabeth said. She pounded her fists on the glass, but it wouldn't break. She leaned forward and examined it as the rest of us tried to crack it. "No, give it up guys. This stuff is traced with imperial gold. We won't be able to break through with just our bare hands."

Just then, a roar went up from the crowd in the stands. They jeered and catcalled. I heard the words, "Traitor" and "Deserter" and "Freak". I pressed my nose to the glass to see who they were talking about.

Down below, a lone figure was standing in the middle of the raised platform above the scummy water. A wooden bridge retracted back into the wall. I squinted down. The figure was Cas. "Oh, no." I whimpered.

"What?" The others crowded around to see who it was. "It's Cas!"

On the opposite side of the arena, another box, made of stone instead of glass, was draped in royal purple and silver. Aliah was the only person sitting there. She stood up and raised her hands for silence, and the kids and monsters silenced.

"My friends! My followers! I give you the Deserter, Caspian!" She bellowed out across the room and was met with cheers. When the crowd quieted again, she continued. "She shall now face her three duels, in accordance to our laws. If she fails," Here Aliah let out an evil grin. "She dies." The crowd cheered again. I felt like I might throw up.

"We have to help her." I said angrily.

"There's no way to break this glass without our weapons." Annabeth looked miserable.

"I'm sure Cas could take down any of these losers." Percy said confidently.

Down on stage, another person was being moved into the ring. A strong-looking boy with wispy white hair and watery green eyes. "First match: The Deserter vs. Eileen McGrath!" Cheers and roars tore through the crowd like wildfire.

The first of the duels had begun.

Cas's POV~

Eileen and I circled each other, holding our swords. She swung and I dodged in the nick of time, the blade passing within an inch of my ear. I cursed myself for dropping my sword, but it was too heavy and bulky for me to use properly.

She swung again, aiming for my neck this time. I deflected the strike just in time, twisting up and sending his sword spiraling into the water. But at the same moment he did the same to me, and I lost my grip on the sword as well. Both weapons splashed into the water far below.

The kids in the stands booed and jeered, distracting me long enough for Eileen, a strong girl, to punch me in the stomach. I landed hard on my back but managed a kick to the older girl's gut. I tried to kick her again, but she caught my foot and swung me around. I slammed into the barbed-wire fencing, and sparks of flame peppered my back and neck.

Eileen tried to punch me but I twisted out of the way just in time, and her fist hit stone with an awful crack. She screamed in pain. I wondered if her fingers were supposed to be purple and blue. Probably not.

She doubled over, clutching her hand, and I saw my chance. I ran forward and shoved her over the barbed wire, splashing into the water below.

The crowd booed again. "Winner, Caspian!" Aliah didn't sound happy about it. "Next match: the Deserter vs. Jake Brown!"

Ella's POV~

"Yeah!" I cheered and jumped up and down. Percy and I high-fived.

"Told you she could beat these losers!" Percy whooped. Leo jumped on his seat and Piper clapped and grinned.

"Shh, guys." Annabeth said. She still had her nose pressed to the glass. "Cas is starting the next match."

In fifteen minutes, Cas had won again. This time we all cheered, even though Aliah's army looked even more unhappy. But a closer look down at Cas made me wince with worry.

Cas drenched in sweat and covered in dirt. There was a slash on her left arm, scratches all over her back and neck, and trickle of blood tracing down her chin from her nose. She was in no condition to fight a third opponent. In this state, she was going to lose.

Cas's POV~

I breathed heavily. I had to sit down on the ground, because I hurt all over. I couldn't fight like this. "Break!" I yelled to Aliah, who leered and shook her head.

"Alright, this is the final fight. This time, the Deserter's opponent shall be…. me!" Whispers spread through the crowd. Aliah didn't often step into the fights.

I grimaced. Aliah was the best fighter I knew. She was better than Percy and Jason combined, and she was ruthless. The last time I had fought her, I had barely escaped with my life. But I was already injured… how could I face her? I was going to lose. I was going to die, and my friends would go with me.

"No." I whispered. "Don't think like that. I am going to win, because if I don't, my friends will die." I set my jaw. I had to win; there just wasn't another option this time.

I stood and tore the sleeve off of my shirt. I tied it around the cut on my arm to stop the bleeding. I used the other sleeve to tie my hair out of my eyes in a ponytail.

Aliah stepped onto the platform. "Um, don't I get a sword too?" I asked nervously as Aliah drew her wicked sword. She laughed as if I'd just said something funny. The crowd jeered. At the top of the benches, I spotted my friends. They were the only ones cheering me on. I had to win, for them.

"No." She lunged with her sword. My senses kicked it into gear. The entire world seemed to slow. I turned sideways and the sword passed my by a centimeter. I grabbed Aliah's sword hilt and tried to wrench it away from her, but couldn't. She pulled back and slashed my gut with the sword. I looked down at my stomach in shock. My shirt was torn. A thin line of blood ran across my stomach.

I couldn't feel it. I remembered reading something once about bad burns short-circuiting nerve endings so that you couldn't feel the pain they caused. I wondered if this was something like that. I could tell it was bad, but still, I couldn't feel it. Why couldn't I feel it?

Aliah advanced. I backed away. I knew my only chance was to poke Aliah's pride with a stick and hope it helped.

"If you're so strong, why do you cheat by using a sword?" I shouted. I tried to look confident and not like I might hurl from pain. "Put it down and really fight me you coward!" Aliah growled, but we both knew she couldn't appear cowardly in front of her army. She sheathed her sword with an angry grimace.

She punched me in the face so fast I didn't get time to blink. I felt my nose break. Literally, I felt it, something inside me just…. cracking.

"Really, Caspian." She jeered. "I expected better. You really are pathetic." I doubled over as she punched me again, and then again. I fell to my knees and she kicked me in the back. The crowd roared its approval.

High in the stands, my friends were shouting my name.

"Cas, get up!"

"Come on, Cas!"

"You can still win, Cas!"

Then I realized. "No. I can't win." I sobbed. I was on my hands and knees, bowing to Aliah without meaning to. "I can't."

"Get up, Caspian." Aliah roared. She kicked me again. I tried to stand, but I couldn't. "Get up, little girl." Another punch. I was sobbing now, crying, trying to crawl away from her. "I wanted a challenge, Caspian! Now get up!" She kicked me in the side and I fell on my stomach. I couldn't stand. I just couldn't.

Aliah's foot came down to rest on my neck. She raised her arms over her head and jeered. "I win!" She bellowed, but you couldn't hear her over the roaring of her army. "I win!"

The crowd drained out of the stands, but still I couldn't rise. A couple of guards came, grabbed my arms, and dragged me away. I was already half unconscious when they dropped me in my cell and walked away.

"Ow." I croaked. "That hurt."

Ella's POV~

When Cas was gone from the arena, the guards came back for us. As we were dragged down the hall, we passed Cas's cell. "Hey! Cas!" I called, but she didn't even raise her head. "Is she okay?" I demanded from the guards. One laughed.

"Of course she's not okay, wasn't you watching the fight?"

"Wait, please, can you put me in Cas's cell, I know first aid." Annabeth said. "And I'll need Percy to help me."

The guards shrugged at each other and let Annabeth and Percy into Cas's cell.

Annabeth and Percy rolled Cas over onto her back. She let out a whimper of pain, but she didn't open her eyes. There was a gash across her belly, and it was bleeding, staining her shirt a deep red. "Cas?" Percy whispered. "C'mon, sis, wake up…."

"Percy, give me your jacket!" Annabeth said. He gave it to her without question. Annabeth tore the jacket into long strips of cloth. She tied one around Cas's stomach. Cas whimpered again from pain.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Percy asked, puzzled, as Annabeth wrapped another strip of cloth around Cas's cut arm. "You haven't done anything."

"I'm sorry." Cas whispered again. "I'm sorry I lost. I lost."

"It's okay. You have nothing to feel sorry for." Percy said.

"Yeah, Cas. You did what you could." I chimed in from across the hall.

"I guess. But I still lost." She closed her eyes. I could tell she wasn't going to forgive herself for this one. "I should have won." Percy tried to say something, but Cas just shook her head at him. "I should've won."

"So what happens now?" Leo asked. "One of us fights tomorrow night, someone else fights the night after that?"

"Not exactly." Cas shook her head. "I lost. So tomorrow, one of us will fight. Then someone else. At the end, those of us who have lost-" She looked sick. "Will be executed. Those of us who won will be kept here until they either die or join Aliah."

Nobody said much of anything after that.