A/N: Okay, okay, okay...I suck. Very badly. Yes I do. It's been more than a month since I've updated. But I got kind of stuck. See, I've been trying to write multiple parts all at the same time. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. This is a rare time where it did both. It didn't let me write this quickly or efficiently, but it helped me plan out other chapters. At any rate, I was almost done with this and, since the next book, The Mark of Athena is coming out in less than 4 hours now, I told myself to finish this chapter for the epic unveiling. Hopefully I can write more often. So for this chapter, the group in the Games finally gets together...
Jason hit the ground immediately, rolling to his left as he felt the heat of his enemy's blade crash down behind him. Maybe I should've thought this thing through, he thought to himself. When he had been watching the group with Lyca, he'd known that the guy was big, but he really hadn't expected him to be as big as he actually was. On top of that, the boy was fast, and with expert reflexes. As Jason parried another blow, he thought hard about how those reflexes very well saved the bloodlust's life.
Jason had had the drop on him, sneaking silently under the brush as Lyca had done. When he was close enough, he realized that it would've been harder to take the boy the way Lyca had taken care of her victim, and so he decided to go airborn. Happy he could summon at least a gust of wind to get himself into the air, he plummeted down, blade raised overhead to end him. What he hadn't expcted was for him to turn around, forearm raised to catch Jason, and then fling him aside like he was trash. He'd had the wind knocked out of him and was on the defensive since then.
At the moment, Jason was rolling under another heavy-handed strike, one that would have easily cleaved him in two. What I wouldn't give to run a couple thousand volts through this guy, Jason intoned bitterly, trying to get the upper hand on his gargantuan foe. Jason didn't know if it was because his father was defeated that his powers had diminished so much or some other reason, but at the moment, all he knew was he couldn't roast this guy and keep moving. In the back of his mind, he wondered what Lyca was doing and why she hadn't come and bail him out. He didn't think she'd be the type to break an alliance so easily, so he reasoned that something was keeping her. He wasn't exactly worried though; he'd been in much more difficult fights without a worry.
After parrying a particularly heavy strike and countering with his own, he caught sight of the other two demigods heading towards the tree line. He'd have to end this fight and soon if he was going to have an chance of survival. If the other two noticed him attacking their comrade and all three of them teamed up on him at the same time, he had a pretty good idea of how it would all end, and it wasn't exactly pretty.
Lost too far in his thoughts, Jason was jarred with an unexpected blow to his chin from the bloodlust's elbow. Jason hit the ground hard, his wind knocked from him again. He was lucky; Jason managed to hold on to his weapon, but was stuck on his back, trying to roll away from his attacker.
From behind him, Jason heard Lyca's voice call his name. "Close your eyes!" she yelled at him.
"Are you insane?" he shouted back as he rolled away from a nasty blow aimed at his sternum.
"Just trust me!" her voice called back, and Jason knew he had to trust Lyca.
No sooner than his eyes had shut was there a bright blast in front of his face. It seemed so bright that it almost illuminated everything, even from the inside of his own eyelids. He figured that brightness would have burned his sockets out, it was so powerful. Almost like when the Olympians disappear, he thought from behind his eyelids. But Lyca wasn't a goddess. She was trapped here with him. He'd never seen anything like that before from any half-blood before...
When the intense brightness dimmed from behind his eyelids, he gingerly opened his eyes, noting that the bloodlust was no longer stalking him. As a matter of fact, he was face-up on the ground a foot away, blood coating his neck. Beside him was a little lump that slowly moved, as if it was heaving in deep breaths. Jason stalked it slowly, wary of what it could be when he noticed the brown hair of Lyca.
He knelt in front of Lyca as she began to tip over. "What happened?" Jason asked her. "What's wrong?"
Lyca leaned towards Jason as she spoke, her voice a little more than a whisper. "I'll be fine, just need rest. Go fight. The others noticed."
Electric blue eyes snapped up, scanning the direction that the other two demigods had wandered off to. He noticed that the boy was charging at them, about halfway between Jason and his partner, who was left behind him screaming at him. The boy either didn't know or didn't care that she was yelling and was focused on making Jason and Lyca roadkill. "I've got this," Jason told Lyca, who merely nodded and closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath.
Jason gripped his sword in hand and clenched his other fist, hoping that something would happen. After a moment, he could feel a small electric spark surge in his palm. It's better than nothing, he thought to himself as he ran at the bloodlust who was clambering towards him. He focused on expanding the electric charge he felt and sending it through his weapon, which began to spark furiously.
Only a few more feet, Jason told himself. The son of Jupiter prepared himself and as soon as the bloodlust was about to permanently make him a part of the landscape, Jason leaped, floating over the boy's head. He landed softly, pivoting on one foot while he stabbed at the boy with a loud yell. Sparks flashed and popped as the bloodlust was electrocuted, his life quickly fleeing his falling body. Jason let out a large sigh before turning again, remembering that another bloodlust was still there. He was surprised when he saw, not an angry bloodlust, but a boy with dark hair sucking in deep breaths heavily, staring up the hill at him.
Percy had absolutely no idea what was going on out there. The last thing he'd known was that the two bloodlust had been stalking him and Annabeth, while the other two had been hanging back, probably to take over if the red head and blonde couldn't get the job done. The two didn't seemed that worried about it, and seemed eager to watch as the other bloodlust stalked him and Annabeth. He glanced at her again, watched as her healthy skin began to turn pale. The daughter of Athena began to sweat, and Percy bit his lip to keep from letting any emotions show.
Annabeth's eyes had been far away, as if she had been thinking about something, but she noticed Percy's stare. Weak as she was, she mustered together a powerful glare. "Seaweed Brain, don't worry about me. I won't make it out of here, but at the very least I can help you get out."
"Don't say that Annabeth," Percy told her strongly, more for himself than for her. His grimy hand cupped her sweaty cheek, brushing her face with his thumb lightly. "I'll find a way to get you out of here. Don't give up on me."
"I'm not giving up Percy. I just know my limitations," Annabeth said softly.
"Doesn't matter Wise Girl," Percy told her. "I'm not leaving here without you." Percy grabbed the canteen of water they had, ripping the stopper from the container. He held his hand over it and the water surrounded his hand again. Before Annabeth could protest, he pulled the ripped parts of her pants back and gently rubbed her wound. He watched as her face winced, then softened in relief.
"We'll get out of this Wise Girl. I promise you that," Percy told her, staring straight into her storm-gray eyes. The sincerity of his words stifled anything Annabeth had to say, and she merely nodded.
Percy sat back with a laugh, the first Annabeth had heard in a long time. "That's the first time I've ever shut you up," he said between chuckles.
Annabeth was going to be insulted, but was so happy to see just a glimpse of the Percy Jackson she'd known since he'd shown up at Camp Half-Blood that she let it go without another thought. Instead, she looked towards the opening of their makeshift tree fortress. "Percy, look!"
Percy turned to face the entrance and saw a flash of light coming from behind the bloodlust and tried to see the source of such energy. The light was bright, brighter than anything he'd actually looked at, but it reminded him of all the times that the Olympians had left his presence in a flash of light and divine power. He supposed that the Titans could do the same thing, but he didn't think that any of them would be in the Arena. "What is that?" he asked Annabeth.
She shrugged her shoulders, even though Percy wasn't looking at her. "I don't know! But don't worry about that! Look at them!"
Percy shifted his focus from the light to the bloodlust, who were disoriented, but not blinded by the powerful light. When the light dimmed and finally dissipated altogether, Percy heard the loud roar of the redhead bloodlust, who went charging back in the direction he came in. The blonde remained, screeching at her partner to come back. "What happened? It seems like they might be going to fight each other now."
Annabeth struggled to grasp the bow behind her. "It doesn't matter Percy. Now's your chance to get rid of the other one while he's distracted." She grabbed an arrow and heaved herself up, pulling her way to the entrance of the tree. She leaned her back against the nearest tree, nocking the arrow to her borrowed bow. "Get ready Percy," she managed to bite out. As Percy knelt by her busted knee, sword at the ready, Annabeth muttered under her breath, focusing on taking down her mark. She managed to suck in one deep breath and hold it for the second it took to center her target and let the arrow fly, slipping easily through the air. "Go Percy!" Annabeth told him, not even waiting to see if her arrow hit her mark. "Go now!"
Percy didn't waste a second, sprinting off after the arrow. The son of Poseidon heard instead of saw the girl cry out in pain as the arrow sank deep into her thigh. Percy focused on the arrow and the leg that it pierced, trying to make it the focus of his onslaught. He took a quick leap into the air, swinging his foot towards the bloodlust's thigh, but she had caught on to his plans. She pivoted away from his foot and ducked under Percy's first strike, aimed high for her head. Percy heard a snap and a groan and knew that the girl had broken the arrow shaft to keep it from hindering her as much as possible. On instinct, Percy dropped his head and felt heat flow over him before he back-stepped, turning his blade behind him and jabbed strongly, stabbing her in the sternum. Slowly, the son of Poseidon turned, watching the bloodlust slowly fall to his feet. As soon as he knew for a fact that she was dead, he let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. His body sagged, worn out from being on alert for hours on end, worried about himself but also about Annabeth, who was a girl with a strong will, but with a body that was continually weakening. Percy lifted his head up, no longer hearing the sounds of battle and tensing, remembering that there was at least one more fight waiting for him at the top of the hill. He tightened his grip on the sword in his hands so tight he felt that he might crack the hilt in two, waiting for someone to come down towards him. After waiting for a minute, he noticed a boy with blond hair that was neither of his former assailants staring down at him, his weapon dangling from his hand. Percy's gaze tightened on the boy when he saw brief flickers of light flash along the boy's body. The boy turned away from him and he muttered loud enough for Annabeth to hear him. "Wise Girl, did you see that?"
Annabeth groaned slightly from where she leaned on the tree. "I saw it Percy. But don't go up there. Don't attack him; he hasn't come down here to challenge us, so don't exert yourself." As she spoke, she watched the familiar body of Percy tensing up as if ready to charge the hill and ignore the daughter of Athena. She grit her teeth against the pain as she tried again. "Please Percy! Don't go!" she called after him as she watched as the son of the seas ran headfirst at the hill.
Jason stared down the hill at the boy with the dark, unruly hair, as the boy looked back up at him. The boy looked tense, but from the way he looked, Jason assumed that he had been one of the unlucky prisoners of the Games, being attacked far more than once. Jason turned to the side, looking for any sign of Lyca. He noticed her walking slowly towards him, clutching an unstrung bow, breathing heavily. He drew his eyebrow up in concern. "Are you okay, Lyca?"
In the midst of her gasping, Lyca leveled her amber eyes at Jason, but she nodded an answer. "Just gonna need a little more rest." She sighed, brushing her hair away from her face. "What I wouldn't give for a square of ambrosia." She allowed herself to slowly, rather clumsily, collapse to her knees near her ally, drawing her tapered fingers over the bow, tracing the intricate designs carved into it. Lyca glanced up at Jason, noticing blue sparks flickering shortly around him. "What's up with you?"
Jason looked down at his body. "Oh. I finally got my powers to work. Or, at least some of them. I can't call down lightning or fly or anything."
"Lightning? Fly? What are you talking about? How can you do that stuff?" Lyca asked incredulously. "Who is your godly parent?"
Jason sighed, almost wearily. "My father...my father is Jupiter, lord of the sky and god of the thunderbolt."
"The Roman god of the skies right?"
"Yes, but why do you insist on using Greek names? He's Roman now."
Lyca looked at Jason, prepared to respond, when movement down below them grabbed her attention. "Jason, what's he doing?" she asked, pointing at the dark-haired boy charging at them. Jason didn't answer, merely gripped his blade and began to rush down the hill at their assailant. "Wait, Jason! Stop I know him! Jason!"
Annabeth watched Percy charge up the hill, picking up speed as he ran. She cried out again, hoping to dissuade the half-blood from going through with his current mindset. "Percy!" she called to know avail. She watched, helpless from the grove as the other boy began to charge down the hill at Percy. She gripped the bow in her hand tightly; if she couldn't stop Percy, she had to help him. Annabeth bit down on the inside of her cheek as she stooped to grab another arrow, relying on the tree to keep her upright. Fighting through the pain, she nocked her arrow and took aim at the sparking attacker. She was just about to let the arrow fly when she noticed a girl standing atop the hill, screaming for the two of them to stop. fighting. Annabeth held off firing for just a moment, and in that moment the daughter of Athena saw Percy and his opponent slam into what she thought was each other, then ricochet off each other, bouncing into the dirt around them. The force of the collision was so powerful, Annabeth was forced to her knees, and she watched the girl on the hill collapse, rolling to a stop down the at the foot of the hill.
A/N Pt 2: I don't usually do two Author Notes, but I figured, why not? So the next chapter is the big unveiling of Lyca's father and the big reveal of the differences between the two types of demigods. A new perspective might be in the works for the new chapter, but there will definitely be some more Reyna and Nico in it as well as the Games. Hope you guys enjoy it.