Percy was still missing come morning. Neither Frank nor Jason had really slept well; the slightest sound outside their door had them wide awake and waiting for several minutes only for nothing to happen.
Breakfast came and went without any answers. The two of them were forced to sit there in ignorance, thinking the worst.
Hours ticked by.
Their door was unlocked around noon, and Percy was shoved inside. He fell to his hands and knees, his face towards the floor.
Frank was off his bed in an instant and at his side. Jason only managed to sit on the edge of his bed, a hand wrapped around his torso in pain, and watch anxiously.
"Percy!" Frank said, putting a hand on Percy's shoulder.
Percy finally looked up, revealing a beaten and bloody face.
"What happened?" Jason asked.
Percy started shaking his head as he told the story. "After my fight, I started attacking the guards. I knocked a few of them unconscious…I don't think they were prepared for a surprise attack like that. But then reinforcements came, and…there were just too many…"
Jason and Frank both looked away. Frank helped Percy to his bed and then sat down next to him.
"As punishment they hung me from the ceiling by my wrists all night. A lot of them took some swings at me while I was up there."
Jason clenched his fists. This place was terrible. They were all getting horribly beat up, and there was nothing they could do about it, despite all their training. No matter how many times they said they had to find a way out of there, they couldn't seem to actually find one. They were helpless and completely at their captors' mercy.
They didn't really talk for the rest of the day. Percy spent most of it sleeping, and Jason and Frank found themselves dozing off more than once because of their terrible night's sleep the night before.
Before they knew it, their dinner had been delivered and then it was lights out. Another day had passed. Somehow they were all still alive, but they were beginning to wonder how long that statement would hold.
None of them woke up until breakfast the next morning, and they weren't happy about it. Jason was able to sit up now at least, as long as he didn't lean his back against anything. The guards had also provided another shirt for him, though he was loathe to put anything on since it would irritate his back.
A few hours later, they came back for a fighter. The boys glanced at each other. They had assumed all of them were off the roster for the moment because of injuries. None of them were really in fighting shape.
"We want the blonde one," the guard said.
Their jaws dropped.
"Are you kidding me? He can't fight!" Percy exclaimed.
"You send him in there he'll just be killed!" Frank added.
The guard smirked and nodded. Jason closed his eyes and sighed. His hands started trembling.
"If he doesn't come, he'll die in here. At least in the coliseum, he has a fighting chance," the other guard said. He lowered his spear so it pointed at Jason.
Percy and Frank both jumped off their beds. "You'll have to go through us first," Percy stated. Frank nodded beside him.
Jason regretfully pulled the shirt over his head. It itched against his back, but at least against the dirt it would offer some sort of protection. He then used Percy's and Frank's shoulders to pull himself to his feet.
"Guys, it's alright," he said. He was proud of himself for keeping his voice even. "Don't go getting killed because of me."
"Yeah, but," Percy started, glancing back at Jason.
Jason gave him a level look. "Like they said, I stand a fighting chance in the coliseum," Jason said.
Percy just looked back at him, finally setting his jaw and nodded. He stepped out of Jason's way.
"You're not seriously going to do this?" Frank asked.
"I'm not letting you two get hurt because of me," Jason said, stepping past him.
"Let him go," Percy said. He turned away, crossing his arms.
Frank glanced between the two of them. "You better come back," he threatened.
Jason gave him a small smile. "See ya guys," he said before walking out the door with the guards. He gave Percy one last look as the door was shut and locked.
"Alright, let's go," the guard said, pushing Jason forward.
He stumbled, cringing in pain as his back twisted. He walked calmly through the halls to the armory, grabbing a sword and a shield. How much good they would do him when he could barely move his arms he wasn't sure, but it was better than nothing.
Jason stood in front of the portcullis, his whole body trembling. Guards stood on either side of him. The crowd was loud, even from here.
"I'm not expected to survive this, am I?" Jason finally asked.
The guards chuckled. "Let's just say that sometimes the audience likes to see the kid get eaten by the monster," one of them said.
Jason locked his jaw and nodded, readjusting his grip on his sword. He stood with his head high and tried to control his shaking. If he was about to die, then he was going to do it honorably, and he wasn't going down without a fight.
His back already ached just at the thought of the coming exertion.
The portcullis was raised, and he stepped into the coliseum without any prodding from the guards.
Xx
Frank pounded on the door again as a bear. The metal held firm, which only made him angrier and made him hit it again and again. He managed to gouge four furrows into the metal, but the door was still stubbornly keeping them locked in.
"Frank, take it easy!" Percy said.
Frank morphed back into a human and rounded on Percy. "Jason is about to die out there and you want me to take it easy?" he demanded, advancing on Percy.
Percy backed up with his hands up. "I agree we can't just let him die, but this isn't helping anything."
"Yeah well at least I'm doing something!" Frank snapped. He morphed again and went back to attacking the door.
Percy hung his head and looked away. Things were not going well, not well at all.
Xx
A hydra. A three headed acid-spitting hydra. That was what was waiting for Jason in the coliseum.
"Gods, really?" Jason demanded, almost losing his resolve at the sight. Hydras were difficult to beat on a normal day when he wasn't as badly injured as he was. They were fast, and with all three of their heads and a swinging tail they had their whole body covered. Chopping heads off only made it worse, but they were the only things Jason could even get to.
The crowd was roaring for action, and the hydra had spotted him and was already charging him. Jason darted around the edge of the arena, hoping to buy himself some time to figure out a plan. He was too stubborn to go down without a fight, and part of him was convinced he could still somehow win this.
The twinges of pain from his back said otherwise, but he was choosing to ignore that for the most part.
He slid to a stop and faced the monster, slowly backing up and readying his sword behind his shield.
The middle head shot a quick spray of acid at him. He ducked down under his shield. The metal clanged as the saliva hit, and a sizzling sound erupted as the shield started to decompose. Jason abandoned it and ran for it again. The hydra again pursued.
Jason glanced back as he ran and made up his mind. He'd be faster in the air, and it shouldn't hurt his back too much more than running was. But he was going to survive this day, if it was the last thing he ever did.
He jumped and turned in the air, but he didn't land. He soared up and made a wide arc to the hydra, using his sword to deflect a snapping head and landed on the beast's back.
The crowd's reaction was to go silent in surprise before hushed whispers and then cheering. They probably thought it was some sort of stage trick. Jason was content to continue ignoring them.
There wasn't any way to hold on once he was on the back of the hydra, and his feet slid right down its back. He twisted to try and stab the monster as he fell, but his back flared in pain and he curled in on himself, falling to the ground. Fresh blood poured out of reopened wounds. His sword fell out of his grasp.
The hydra rounded on him, all three mouths open and snarling. Jason forced an eye open to watch and started crawling, digging his fingers into the ground to pull himself along. The hydra snaked all three heads towards him.
A bolt of lightning hit the beast, stunning it long enough for Jason to force himself to his feet and fly to the other side of the arena. He collapsed against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the ground and panting.
It took a minute for the hydra to recover, and when it did it had another head. Jason groaned and dropped his head back against the wall. Shield gone, sword on the other side of the arena, back flaring in pain every time he moved…he was screwed.
The hydra started coming towards him again. He used the wall to push himself to his feet, still panting hard. His hands clenched into fists, and he launched himself into the air above the hydra's heads.
The crowd went wild again, but Jason couldn't care less about them. He made a beeline for his sword, but his landing was sloppy. He ended up tumbling head over heels, sliding to a stop on his side and still unarmed. He had scratched up his back too, so for a good thirty seconds all he could do was curl into a ball and try not to scream.
The sound of the hydra coming closer was what got him up again. He staggered to his sword, somersaulting out of the way of snapping teeth, and then launched himself into the air again.
The crowd's screaming intensified again. Jason gave them a glance. He could make out dark doorways around the seating, but they looked like they led to hallways. He'd likely get lost in the maze, but he could handle anyone that tried to stop him.
But first, he had to deal with this hydra. He couldn't just let it loose on all these people, no matter how bad of a shape he was in.
The hydra paced under him, the heads twisting around and hissing. Finally one of them spit acid up at him. Jason only just barely avoided it.
He took a deep breath and steeled himself. Hovering around up here all day wasn't going to solve anything. He needed to move, now, before he passed out.
He dive-bombed the hydra, twisting around in the air to avoid its four heads and landed on its back again. Prepared for the slippery surface, he let himself slide as he stuck his sword into the monster's back and let gravity drag him and the sword down.
The hydra roared in pain, all four heads reaching for the sky and howling. Jason dropped to the ground, losing his sword in the hydra's flank. He smirked up at the beast. The wound alone wouldn't be fatal, but given time the monster would bleed out. He just needed to outlive the monster.
He could actually survive this.
He didn't see the flailing tail behind him until it was too late. The scaly limb slammed into his back, knocking him face-first into the ground. His screams were muffled by the roar of the hydra, and his body curled in on itself again.
The hydra finally stopped howling and took a few steps back to reexamine Jason. One head reached back and grabbed the sword still stuck in its flank and threw it across the arena. The other heads eyed Jason and snaked towards him.
Gunshots filled the air. The sound was so surprising Jason opened his eyes to see what was happening. The crowd erupted into chaos in the stands, but he could hardly pay attention to that because of the hydra. It was ready to strike again.
He jumped to his feet but fell to his knees again, his back unwilling to cooperate anymore. He nearly stopped breathing as he blinked up at the monster, realizing that this might be it for him. He had gone into this fight assuming he wouldn't come out, but he had still dared to hope he might find a way to win.
It didn't look like that was going to happen though.
No, Jason thought. I won't give up here.
He could still use lightning again. It would drain him, and if it didn't work this time he would be a goner, but it was still something.
There was movement behind him against the wall, but he was too focused on the hydra to look back. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated all his effort into a single blast of lightning.
A white bolt snaked down from the ceiling and struck the hydra on the back. It roared again, stumbling from side to side before falling.
Jason realized too late that he was too close. As the hydra fell, its heads fell right towards him. With his vision doubled because of the exertion, he hadn't been able to accurately tell where it was. At least, not until it landed on him. He was pinned to the ground, the hydra's head on his back. The teeth gouged into his back, and he screamed as the burns were torn open.
"Hey, you still with me kid?" someone asked.
Jason opened his eyes in surprise and turned his head to see a man wearing a SWAT helmet and a rifle.
"Just hold on, we're getting you and everyone else out of here," the man said. He swung the rifle to his back and then went to lift the hydra's head just as it crumbled to dust. "Um…"
Jason tried to push himself to his feet, but the pain in his back sent him back to the ground.
"Here," the man said, taking one of Jason's arms and putting it around his shoulders. "Ready?"
"Just do it," Jason said.
The man stood up, dragging Jason with him. Jason grit his teeth against the pain, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Alright, stay with me now," the man said. "Are all the other kids under the arena?"
"Yeah…go through the portcullis. Watch for guards," Jason managed.
The man nodded. He led Jason to the wall where several ropes had been dropped down. "Can you hold on or should I tie it around you?"
"Better tie it," Jason admitted. He barely trusted himself to stand by himself right…holding onto a rope while he was pulled up just wasn't going to happen, and he didn't have the energy to fly.
"Alright, this'll just take a second," the man said. He looped the rope under Jason's arm and tied it loosely behind him so it would rest against his chest and not his back. In another moment, Jason was being lifted up the wall.
More SWAT team members helped him over the edge and then took his arm around their shoulders to lead him out. His vision went hazy and he stumbled more than he walked. Only the SWAT man kept him upright.
Before he even knew it he was outside. He shut his eyes against the sunlight. It had been so long since he'd seen it, but it was so much brighter than anything he'd been in during the last few weeks.
He was taken right to an ambulance. "This one needs a hospital, now!" the man helping him walk said.
Jason was laid down on his stomach on one of the stretchers, and despite all of them telling him to stay awake, exhaustion overcame him and he passed out.
Xx
Frank was forced to take a break to catch his breath. The door was dented and bent out of shape, but they were still trapped in their cell.
"Damn…it…all," Frank panted. He had his hands on his knees as he panted, sweat beading on his face.
Gunshots echoed down the hall. Percy and Frank glanced at each other. Guns weren't something usually used in their half of the world.
Guards shouting followed the gunshots, and then kids in other cells were shouting to demand to know what was going on. For a while, there was nothing but chaotic noise. Then, a voice echoed down the hall.
"Everyone calm down! We're getting you out of here, but we need you to be calm and cooperate with us!"
Percy and Frank glanced at each other again. "What the hell?" Percy asked.
Frank shrugged.
Most people in the hall were having the same reaction. Jingling keys silenced most people, and the constant sound of doors opening was riling everybody up.
When the SWAT members reached their door, they eyed the door with a strange look but then unlocked it. It barely opened because of how beat up it was, but Frank and Percy squeezed through.
"What about our friend Jason?" Percy asked the man with the keys before someone else started pulling him along. "He's fighting in the arena!"
"We got him out," someone else said. "He'll be fine."
Percy and Frank both visibly relaxed and went along quietly with the SWAT team, doing what they asked. They along with all the other kids were shepherded outside. All together there was over twenty of them, all males around their age. Many of them had various injuries as well. A couple of them, Percy noticed, had the Camp Jupiter tattoo on their arm.
People went around looking them all over, cataloguing their injuries and taking their names. Once everyone was accounted for, various ambulances were filled with kids and drove off to the nearest hospital. Those with the worst injuries went first. Percy and Frank insisted on being some of the last, along with many of the kids with the Camp Jupiter tattoos.
The hospital was chaos incarnate. The emergency room was already full of patients, both from the new coliseum and from the general community. Some kids were put immediately into rooms with promises that a doctor would be in to see them as soon as they could. Percy and Frank were separated, Percy being taken to have his head looked at because of all the bruising all over his face. Frank was taken with many others to have his burns looked at.
Everything was too much of a mess for anyone to tell them what happened to Jason. All they could do was pray that he had survived long enough in the arena to make it here.
Alright just a few more chapters. I really appreciate everyone who's been reading and definitely everyone who's been reviewing!
Also, I apologize if some of the logistics of how the SWAT team handled things is off. I'm not familiar with how they operate and I don't have time to look it up. Hopefully it was believable enough for you guys.
Please review! It really doesn't take long!