The Son Of Hercules Chapter 7: We Fight Death Matches, a percy jackson and the olympians fanfic

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, or Trials of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

7. We Fight Death Matches

The crowd of monsters surrounded the ring. I held my spear tightly in hand.

They held batons, clubs, and some just using their claws. Even the monsters without the security shirts were thinking about joining in.

There had to be hundreds. A lot to deal with, but I didn't care about these consequences. I wasn't letting that girl die.

Old Joe glowered at me, his pet cyclops' growling, inches away from attacking, and I wouldn't have a choice. I'd have to defend myself. So much for getting drachmas.

Tension filled the air, like the pressure from a rising volcano. Everyone stood in their place, waiting for the other to make the first move.

But that tension broke the moment I heard gunshots ring through the air.

I turned quickly and saw Talon with a revolver in hand, shooting round after round at the ceiling. The monsters all roared and howled with fear and anger at the sudden sound, but I glanced back at the two cyclops, deciding they were a much closer threat.

The chaos was interrupted by the booming voice of Old Joe, "ENOUGH!"

He looked enraged, holding back the cyclops' with his bare hands. Once he got them under control, all of the fighting died down, leaving a standoff between he and Talon.

"I thought I smelled the filthy assassin." He smirked, "Here for a rematch?"

Talon gave a wicked smile and pointed the revolver at Old Joe, "I've changed a little since then, you old bastard."

He shot one round at the old demigod, but Joe was quick. He pulled out a sword, only a little bigger than Percy's, and deflected the bullet, sending it behind him to ricochet on the wall.

The monsters got uneasy; the cyclops' started to growl.

But Old Joe only laughed, "Relax. As long as little Talon knows his place, there won't be a problem. Why are you here? Want a drink? Come to earn some money?"

Talon spun the revolver on his finger a couple of times and put it in the holster on his side. Huh, I didn't notice that before. He must've been hiding it underneath the jacket.

Talon's grin only grew, "Money. I've come to enter these four in the matches." He pointed at each of us individually.

Old Joe considered them, and did a double take. "Wait, those two...were you in that Battle a few years back? The one in Manhattan?"

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other uneasily, but Percy said, "Yeah." Just loud enough to hear.

Old Joe seemed pleased with this, "Hmm, indeed. You'll make good entertainment." He thought for a moment, hand on his chin, then exclaimed, "Very well! I shall let the scuffle aside and allow them to compete!"

A lot of the monsters and demigods in the audience (Now mostly on the floor with weapons in hand) groaned and roared in complaint.

Old Joe boomed, "SHUT UP! DON'T YOU WANT ENTERTAINMENT?! HERE IT IS!"

His voice echoed everywhere with authority; the cyclops' ready to pounce. Although I felt he didn't need them to silence the crowd.

They shut up, some still murmuring. But they went back to their seats and sat down.

"We'll have one more match," Old Joe said, "Then we'll let the newcomers show what they've got." He turned and shouted in a new direction, "GOAT BOY!"

I didn't know if he'd lost his marbles or what, until I saw a skinny teenager with furry hindquarters energy timidly from the doorway next to Talon. He had a blue shirt that said staff on it, and his horns weren't visible through his curly hair like Grover's. He must be young in satyr years or something.

He clopped nervously to face Joe, legs trembling. "Y-Yes sir?"

Old Joe spotted him, "There you are, worm. You are to get these four demigods their numbers, then show them to the preparation chamber."

The satyr nodded rapidly and big, as if making sure the gesture was visible so he wouldn't be reprimanded. I noticed Percy glaring at Joe, but he was already announcing the next fight like a sports commentator.

We all followed the satyr, including Talon, into a small office that looked like it belonged at an abandoned gas station. It was awful, there was mold on the walls, a tiny bed in the corner, a desk with holes in it, and cobwebs everywhere. It took me a bit to form out the word displayed on the old wooden door, but when I did, it said assistant.

The satyr searched frantically, we all stood there awkwardly, except Talon of course, he looked mildly annoyed in fact.

"Ugh, come on kid! We don't have all day!" He yelled at the satyr.

Annabeth turned and glared at him, "Stop it! He's doing it as fast as he can!"

Percy stepped forward to the satyr and said calmly, "Hey, it's alright, take your time, man."

The satyr turned, his eyes were watery. "I-I'm just looking for the numbers. I have to get you guys ready for your matches before the current one ends, or else Master Joe-"

Percy interrupted, "Wait, Master Joe?"

The satyr nodded, "Yes, the sign says assistant, but I am his servant. I must do what he says the moment he says it. If I refuse..."

"What?" Harper asked gently.

The satyr's eyes went wide, like he just realized something awful, he began punching himself, "Oh! I've said too much!" He banged his head on the old desk, "STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!"

Annabeth grabbed him gently and stopped him, "STOP! Just talk to us, It's okay"

He tensed and trembled, but then relaxed, he looked at Annabeth extremely surprised, "Y-your hands are gentle. I-I've never been touched with care. Or spoken too with kindness."

Annabeth let go, then shook her head, "You poor thing, what the heck happens around here?"

The satyr whimpered and shook his head like crazy, "Nothing at all, it's fine. W-we really should get you ready for the matches-"

Talon nodded, and started nudging the satyr, "Yeah, he's right. We need to find these damn stickers and hurry this up-"

Harper stopped him, "Just shut up, hitman. If that Old Joe has a problem, he can take it up with us."

I expected Talon to pull out his revolver and aim it at Harper's head, and I was prepared to break his arm if needed, but he just sighed with annoyance, and held his hands up.

I stepped toward the satyr, "Tell us what's going on. We can help you, bust you out of here."

He shook his head with shame, "No. I need this job. Even if it doesn't pay well, I have to be here. It's my only purpose."

Percy spoke up again, "No way, satyrs love nature. Don't you want to do something with that? You could be in the forest saving plants and stuff."

The satyr's shoulders slumped, "I do love nature. But I'm horrible at it. I'm no good at woodland magic, and I ruin almost everything I touch. I couldn't find a place, so I had to start working here to avoid dying of starvation."

"Nonsense" Annabeth said, "I'm sure if you had some training, you could be good at it. I've got a friend like you, his name is Grover. He wasn't very good at first, but eventually he became a lord of the wild! Maybe we could introduce you to him, he could show you the proper way."

The satyr's eyes lit up a little, "Really?" He said hopefully.

Percy nodded, "For sure. After we win these matches, we can get you out of here and you can find your way to our Camp. What's your name?"

"S-Seth"

"Alright, Seth. You just tell them that we sent you, and ask for Grover."

He then looked confused, "W-why are you helping me?"

Harper then said, "Not everyone's a bad person you know." She then pointed at Me, Percy, and Annabeth, "Them. Not me. They're good people. They have it in their hearts to help any stranger without a second thought. It's what makes them heroes."

I turned to her, the words don't exclude yourself on the tip of my tongue, but something ultimately kept me from speaking. I didn't feel like it was my place to say that or offer comfort, considering that at the end of the day, I don't know her well enough to reassure her as a hero. Hell, calling me a hero is a stretch. I'm not. That applies to Percy and Annabeth, yeah, but not me. What have I done to deserve the title? Get people killed?

Talon spoke up about his exclusion from the hero list, "You know for damn sure I ain't a hero. I kill people for a career."

"We're gonna help you," I told Seth, "Let's just win these stupid matches first."

He nodded nervously, but I caught a hint of hope in it. He turned and searched in a cardboard box on the desk and pulled out stickers with the numbers 401, 403, 405, and 407 on them. He fumbled for a moment then handed them to each of us. I got the number 401.

After he handed them to us, we all placed them on our bodies. Percy and I put ours on our chests, while Annabeth put hers near her shoulder, Harper thought for a moment, then placed hers on her right thigh, I guess she didn't want to mess up her leather mini jacket.

"O-Ok, the numbers skip once because your opponent will have the number that comes after." Seth pointed at me, "You'll be first, and your opponent will have the number 402."

I nodded.

We stood in silence, waiting for some direction, when Seth sniffled and looked at the four of us teary eyed.

"Th-thank you for your kindness, there's not enough of that in this world." Then he smiled, "Good luck with your matches!"

He glanced at Talon nervously, and the assassin sighed with annoyance.

"Fine, fine, I'll show them to the waiting room." Then he grumbled, and motioned for us to follow, "Not like it's your job or anything, goat boy."

We followed him out of the doorway and down a hall which eventually led to what I guessed was the waiting room. It looked like a chamber for the coliseum, only with a lower budget. It was smelly, some traces of vomit were on the floor, I figured from the fighter's nervousness. It was a brick room with a single light on the ceiling, there were a few rusty chairs scattered all over the place, at the front was a giant barred gate, that raised up when it was time to exit and fight. I only supposed that it raised up, there was no other way it could move, unless you broke it off. I turned slightly and saw a small tv in the corner of the chamber, it had decent quality and was displaying the current fight in the ring. A centaur was fighting a bony, tall, goblin looking creature, it appeared to have saw toothed spikes coming out of its head and was swinging them wildly at the horse hybrid.

Harper reared back in disgust, "What is that thing?"

Annabeth had her hand over her nose, "It's an Aeternae. They aren't very common around here."

Percy's eyes widened, "Guys, what did I just step on?"

We all looked down, and to our horror we spotted a human intestine.

Percy backed away in a jerk, he, Annabeth and I all screaming. Harper just leaned her shoulders back and curled her lip at it.

Talon gave an even more laid-back reaction than Harper by snorting, literally picking up the bodily organ up and throwing it through the barred gate. He turned to us, almost disappointed. "Just a human organ, nothing to be excited about."

I looked at him incredulously, "How many times have you fought here?"

He sat down on one of the rusty chairs, "Just once. But I've watched a dozen or so from the crowd. Never lost a bet, either. I can always tell which fighter's gonna win."

"Any idea on what our opponents will be?"

He shook his head, "Nah. Joe's twisted, he'll throw something at you that'll make you work, or he'll throw something at you to test your morality. You never know with the old prick."

The next moment we heard screams, and all eyes fell to the outside. The Aeternae stabbed the centaur through the chest, slicing him to bits with the other spikes.

I grimaced. This place was brutal, and these were really fights to the death. I knew exactly what Talon meant by Joe challenging my morality. He's probably experienced enough to tell a person's limits just by reading their faces, meaning he already knew mine. I'm fine with killing a monster, but a demigod? Not so much. I knew my opponent before I even saw them.

The crowd cheered and roared happily at the death, drowning out the few that yelled in outrage at losing their bets for the centaur. The Aeternae relished in the glory for a few moments, then made its way out of sight.

Next thing I knew, the barred gate was opening with a bunch of creaks and hisses, and in came the monster that had just won. The Aeternae was covered in blood. It smiled at us and walked past, going through the doorway. At the last second, I saw that in its hand, it held the Centaur's head.

I forced down the vomit that threatened to rise. The others only winced, and I knew that I had to remain tough for them. I couldn't be the weak link here, I had to be strong, like I've always tried to be. I'm a survivor. I've seen these things before.

I couldn't allow my mental frame to shatter. I was about to potentially be in the same place, either getting my head cut off, or being the cutter.

The crowd died down, and I saw Old Joe smiling and clapping with the microphone tucked in his armpit. The two cyclops sat numbly, drooling on the rug of the presidential box they sat in. Joe grabbed the mic and put it to his mouth, "A fine display indeed, gotta love a good decapitation." That earned another round of applause.

"Now then, on to the next match! This should be an interesting one for sure! Our contestants for this bout, first up, I introduce to you...THE SON OF HERCULES!"

The crowd roared despite my interruption earlier, although I didn't think it was cheers they were giving me, more like anticipation for my body to get ragdolled.

The barred gates opened, and suddenly I became very aware of my body, the things I possessed to defend myself. I had the necklace, as always, good, but something was missing...

The shield! Shit, I left it in the car!

Okay, not big deal, I'll be okay. I'll get through this just fine. Too late for regrets now, Matt.

The gates stopped with a loud creak and BOOM! I breathed in and out, keeping my senses aware. Percy and Annabeth gave nods of encouragement, Talon grunted and said he'd be in the crowd watching, and walked out of the doorway. I took a step forward, prepared to face my potential death, when I felt a gloved hand grab my shoulder.

Harper was next to me, her good eye armored with determination. "Be careful."

I smiled and nodded. She let go, and I moved forward, facing the looming ring, the roaring crowd, demigods, monsters, and mortals alike, stuffing themselves with concessions and getting drunk, enjoying every second of their time.

My feet pulled me closer to the ring, feeling confident and imagining that I looked ready for anything. in reality, I sort of was. There couldn't be many opponents here able to match my brute strength. Then again, I'd never heard of an Aeternae before this, so there could be a bunch of unknown creatures here with powers I'm unable to contend with.

I ducked under the cable rope and walked in the ring corner. Nobody gave me armor or weapons; they just expected me to bring my own. Which was fine, but it made me feel horrible for unsuspecting fighters that didn't know any better.

The crowd finally died down and Joe followed, "Yes, yes. Quite a specimen, isn't he?" Specimen? Can't say I'm surprised. They don't even announce you by name here, they just treat you like prize cattle and send you to either die or kill.

"And his opponent, a fight club veteran...he is the Son of Apollo, DEADEYE!"

The eruption sounded completely different in reaction to my entrance. Everyone burst into cheers and hoots, monsters fought each other to get a better look, while some demigods even looked at the doorway in awe. A few of the girls, or what could pass as girls, giggled and blushed in the stands. This guy was a fan favorite for sure.

I turned my head and saw a figure emerge from the chamber in my line of sight. Deadeye might've been my height, wearing light armor and normal clothes, with a huge bow strapped to his back, a quiver full of different arrows. He had a couple of scars on his face, and long blonde hair tied in a ponytail.

He walked until he entered the ring with me, standing in his corner, cold and emotionless. His eyes alone screamed his thoughts. He wanted to kill me.

I was somewhat prepared for this, but that didn't make it easy. It was in the back of my mind that Old Joe wouldn't give me a huge monster to fight, he would test my morality, see if I would kill another demigod, like Talon said.

I didn't want to kill this guy, I didn't want to kill any demigod. This would have to go a different way. These were fights to the death, and you only win by killing, but I wasn't planning on it. We needed the drachmas, but we didn't need them that bad, we could always try and find another tracker...

Who? What other demigod assassin do you know of?

I glanced and saw Talon in the audience, sitting next to a snake lady and a wolf looking thing. He tucked his sunglasses on his nose and I could see his eyes, he nodded grimly at me, as if saying I told you so.

We'll see about that.

Old Joe boomed in the mic, "Both fighters ready?" He didn't wait for our response, right after he yelled, "FIGHT!"

Before Deadeye could put an arrow on the bowstring, I held up my hands in front of me, and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second."

He looked confused, "What?"

"I'm not gonna kill you." I said plainly.

He scoffed, "You are weak. The only way to win is to kill, which I will be doing to you!" He pulled out his bow extremely fast, and knocked two arrows, he released and fired them, they didn't appear to be made of celestial bronze, so I decided to tank them. I tensed and flexed my chest, and the two arrows hit it directly, they bounced off and landed harmlessly on the ring floor. I felt the contact, but no pain. I was a little surprised, those arrow points looked really sharp...It felt good to test out my durability, see what my body can take.

He was stunned, "H-How did you-" He shook his head, "No matter, I shall use a different approach."

I tried to stop him, "Wait! I don't want to kill anybody! There has to be another way to end this!"

"NOBODY TALKS THIS MUCH DURING A FIGHT!" He shouted, a member of the audience threw him a sword about three feet long, and he caught it. I guess there were no rules in this place. If someone threw a rocket launcher to Deadeye I wouldn't be surprised if Joe allowed it.

He swung the sword with pretty good skill, bows must've not been the only thing he used. This weapon was celestial bronze however, so I couldn't just stand there. I strained my hand, sending a little of my strength to it, and caught the blade. Again, feeling the contact, but not the pain.

He was bewildered, "What in the world are you?"

"A guy that doesn't want to kill you, now please talk to me."

He ignored and stepped away in huge strides, he pulled out more arrows, and detached something from his belt and attached them to three arrows. Whatever it was, it was black and circular, he knocked them, jumped in the air and fired. Time slowed down, I could see the arrows coming at me in a slightly slower speed, and I noticed that the black stuff was an explosive of some kind, they were heading for my face.

I shielded my face with my forearms, and the arrows exploded on impact, sending a small shockwave throughout the ring, and black smoke filling the room.

I coughed, the smoke was awful, my nose couldn't take it. I pinched it with my fingers and tried to find Deadeye, but I couldn't see crap.

Eventually, he made his move and I heard the string make a thumping sound, he had released another arrow. I didn't know the direction to dodge, so I just hopped up effortlessly, I ended up ten feet in the air, overlooking the ring, and seeing the arrow hit where I stood, green liquid oozing from the tip.

Poison.

This guy had killed here before, and tried to kill me. Maybe there wasn't a way around this, maybe I would have to do it.

I landed right behind him, he turned and tried to aim at me, but I swatted the bow away, it flew to the other side of the building, shattering on the wall.

I reared my fist back, ready to deliver a punch with about a quarter of my strength. That would be more than enough to make it painless and quick.

But then I saw his face, and he was not fearful, he was almost proud, and stood upright.

I stopped myself, "W-what are you doing?"

"I knew this day would come. I would meet a worthy adversary stronger than myself, and I would die. Well, here I am, I accept my fate. Finish this." He stated, and closed his eyes.

I couldn't do it. I didn't want to. I didn't care if I didn't get the drachmas, I was not going to murder another demigod in front of a crowd and a stupid geezer name Old Joe.

But I had to do something, "I'm sorry man. But I will not kill you, I'll just put you to sleep for a little bit." I pushed him with so little strength to make sure it didn't crush his entire skeletal system. He went flying back into the ringpost, and crumpled on the floor, unconscious, but alive.

I looked up at Old Joe, "I will not kill him. I won, no execution, and that's that."

He stared down at me in fury, his eyes seemed to be turning a color of purple. His fists were clenched tight, but after a few moments, he relaxed and only smiled.

"Showing mercy in a death match... Very interesting Son of Hercules, very interesting indeed. You have won, and will receive your payment as per usual. Only if you don't mind fighting one more match."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Another match?"

He nodded, "Yes. I believe you are one of the strongest competitors we have had, if not the strongest. So I feel that you should be our main event, and receive the special honor of fighting the actual strongest in the world."

I considered this, deciding that as long as I get the drachmas, It didn't really matter. "Alright then" I said.

He smirked wickedly, "Good. Now you may take your seat next to the filthy assassin, and wait until that time."

I stepped out of the ring, almost falling on the steps, but I managed to balance myself. I made my way over to Talon in the stands, and he was looking at me like I was an idiot.

The wolf thing scooted over reluctantly so I could sit, growling something about freeloaders. I brushed the popcorn out of the way and sat down.

Talon was still giving me the look.

"What?"

He shook his head, "You know, these matches are to the death."

"Look, I'm not about to become a murderer in a rinky dink fight club."

He laughed humorlessly, "Technically, you're already one kid. You've killed monsters, what makes that any different?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I desperately thought for a good reason, but I was struggling to come up with one. I remembered seeing the monsters in the bar upstairs, they were drinking, watching a football game, some of them had actual lives, just like demigods. What was the difference really? They both wanted to kill me, they just...looked different.

I finally decided, "The monsters I kill are basically mindless. All they know is attack and smash, demigods are different, they can do good things."

Talon snorted, "I don't know about that. But hey, at least you get the drachmas anyway."

I nodded. What he said still ate at me, but I didn't have time to concentrate on philosophy, because Annabeth was in the ring, and her opponent was emerging from the opposite chamber.

I saw a hairy man approach. Wait, scratch that, a tall hairy man and three hairy kids approach. I knew that in this place anything could happen, but I didn't expect Bigfoot and his family to come out.

Then as they stepped closer, I got a better look. The tall hairy man wasn't a man at all, he was a monkey. A seven foot tall, skinny, man-like Chimp, and the three "kids" were actual monkeys. Black furred chimps making their way to the ring.

Annabeth looked a little confused, She held the bone sword in her hand. I didn't think there were many monsters or creatures that Annabeth didn't know the name or history of, but the monkey monster seemed to puzzle even her.

The monkey man had a smile on his wide hairy face, he walked casually, with both hands behind his back. The three chimps moved at the exact same pace, and moved the same way as each other, they climbed in the ring with perfect symmetry. Wow, I guessed this monster had trained these chimps good.

Two of the chimps held open the middle ropes for him, he ducked and stepped in the ring. I hadn't caught his name, I'm pretty sure Old Joe didn't know it, because I think I remember him announcing it as MONKEY MAN.

He stood directly in front of the ropes, hands still behind his back, and the three chimps sitting expectantly in front of him, staring at Annabeth.

I noticed I wouldn't be able to hear if they said anything, I wished I had super hearing, because the crowd was crazy loud.

Talon noticed and tapped me on the shoulder. He motioned for me to stick out my hand, I did, and he flipped a coin into it. What resulted were two small earbuds that looked inside out.

He leaned toward me and shouted, "PUT EM IN, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR THE RING ONLY!"

I put them in my ears, and sure enough, the sound of the crowd died until it was a faint noise. I could hear only Annabeth and the Monkey guy, I didn't question it, I just had to accept the fact that Talon had really cool coin items.

I listened in on the conversation, the Monkey guy was talking, "-of Athena hmmm, a smart one too. Perhaps you will be the demigod to figure out my game, pretty one." His voice was deep but mischievous, like a burglar or something.

"And what are you?" Annabeth asked, "I don't remember anything about a monkey god."

The Monkey monster mused, "Really? Well, I am quite rare, but think really hard, does anything ring a bell in that blonde head of yours?"

Annabeth thought for a moment, looked at the three chimps, then at their master. The light switched on, her eyes went wide, and she gasped, "You're a Cercopes!"

The Monkey man nodded happily, "Indeed you are very smart. You may very well be the one...yes, child, I am a Cercopes. My name is Sipenious, The son of Passalus, one of the original primates. You could call him the god of monkeys, although it was never official."

Annabeth was stunned, "But that's rare knowledge, I never actually believed in that story...It's like Hesoid's three original cyclops, they're myths within myths."

Sipenious nodded, "Yes, many believe this. But it is false, I am real, along with the Cercopes. And the three original Cyclopes' are real as well, dear. Brontes, Steropes, and Arges existed eons ago, taller and stronger than most monsters. They are the ones that created Zeus' masterbolt."

Annabeth's jaw was open, "I-I thought that it was created by an army of cyclops'..."

"No. It was the three. Alas, they were sadly killed and sent to Tartarus. Ah, they were fine beasts, all three of them together could give Typhon himself a run for his money."

He noticed Annabeth's face, "Oh, don't be discouraged. Not even a daughter of Athena can know everything."

Annabeth's face contorted to sudden determination, "You're trying to get me off guard. Make me think I'm unintelligent and then strike."

Sipenious bobbed his head, "Partly true, although I think the best time to attack would be...NOW!"

The three chimps left their trance and leapt at Annabeth with perfect coordination, she registered quickly enough to roll under and dodge. She came up on her feet, and prepared to swipe with the bone sword. The chimps teeth were bared, they had razor sharp fangs, and their eyes were bloodshot, like they had rabies or something.

They all bit at her at the same time, she managed to kick one away and strike the other two simultaneously. The chimps fell back, but they didn't crumple to dust, Annabeth's attack missed.

She prepared herself, both hands on the sword now, the chimps circled her in the middle of the ring at great speed. They looked like a whirlwind of fur, I was barely keeping up, and considering the fact that I could see arrows earlier moving fairly slow, that must've meant the chimps were really zooming.

They kept this up for a few moments, Annabeth's eyes darted back and forth, her lips shut tightly. Sipenious was standing in the same spot casually, a smirk on his face, both hands behind his back.

Talon had enough, he got up and yelled what I thought to be, "OH COME ON BLONDIE, SWING AT EM!"

If Annabeth heard, she didn't take his advice, she stood there, deep in thought and analyzation, as if trying to figure out an equation.

Then the moment came, all three chimps stopped and swung their arms in a circle, they stretched slightly as if made of rubber, there would be no escape.

But Annabeth had been expecting a sweep attempt, she jumped over the circle and landed outside of it, she turned quickly and caught one chimp off guard, it's eyes widened as she brought down her sword in a deadly arc, the blade hit the chimp on the head, but nothing happened. It didn't even go through or make the slightest cut.

I was shocked, and so was Annabeth. She had put a good amount of strength into the swing, and it should've sliced the chimp in half, but it only stood there, it's teeth still bared.

Sipenious looked pleased, like he'd planned this out.

Annabeth didn't have much time to think because she was bitten on the leg by one of the chimps.

She cried in pain, and the chimp held on, gnawing at her tan flesh. I cringed in horror, I had a feeling Percy was screaming right now, probably trying to break the gate and come to his girlfriend's aid. If this went on, I had no doubt he'd bring this whole fight club to the ground.

She finally smacked the chimp between the eyes and pushed it off, she winced and held her leg. I could see blood coming from the fang marks.

She got up to one knee, and faced Sipenious, who was chuckling.

"Come now, Daughter of Wisdom, you can do better than that. I'm not even stepping in, and I won't have to at this rate!"

Annabeth knit her eyebrows, she seemed to be processing his words, I saw another imaginary light bulb go off. "Wait...you haven't fought this whole time. You've just stood there with your hands behind your back..."

Sipenious looked a little nervous now, "Um, Yes, so what? You are so pathetic I don't have to move."

She pointed at him, "Your hands! These chimps move in coordination, like they've been trained to fight for years. But that's not it..." Then she beamed with victory, "You've been controlling them this whole time! And they wouldn't die when I hit them, because you are their power source! That means...If I kill you, then and only then, will they die as well."

Sipenious looked scared now, but also impressed. "Very smart indeed, girl. I have faced many, but not one could figure out my trick before they were killed. You did, and you have earned my respect." Then he quickly revealed his furry hands, and raised them in front of him, his face turned maniacal, "BUT YOU WILL DIE, EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW THE TRUTH! KILL HER MY CHILDREN!"

The chimps slobbered, and roared with high pitched shrieks, they all leapt at Annabeth, ready to rip her apart. But she only smirked, grabbed her sword and threw it straight at Sipenious.

The blade impaled him right through his monkey chest. The three chimps immediately fell, and stayed completely still. Annabeth panted and winced, her hand still in throwing position.

Sipenious smiled and laughed weakly, blood trickling from his mouth, before crumbling to dust, along with his puppets.

Annabeth nearly fell forward, but she propped herself on her hands, she coughed. Old Joe was announcing the victory, the crowd roaring, when I heard a huge metallic slam.

The barred gate that we had emerged from flew off of its hinges. It fell ten feet from its place, and I saw Percy sprint toward the ring, a look of absolute concern on his face. Harper was close behind him.

I decided to go down there too, I took off the earbuds and jumped out of my seat, Talon yelling behind me, "H-HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

I didn't care, Annabeth was a friend, I had to check on her.

I leapt over the entire crowd and somehow landed in the ring without getting stabbed by the angry crowd passing below. Percy was kneeling next to Annabeth, her head cradled in his lap, while Harper fed her ambrosia.

I stood watching, the god food slowly mending her damaged leg. She smiled at Harper and looked at Percy with glazed eyes, he sighed in relief and kissed her forehead.

The moment was interrupted by Old Joe, who growled down at us, "You disrespect me by showing mercy, then you disrespect me by breaking my gate, huddling in my ring and healing the girl? That is NOT how we do things here. If you aren't tough enough to survive, THEN YOU DIE!"

He pulled out a celestial bronze knife from nowhere at the speed of a blur and threw it at Annabeth, it was heading straight for her neck, until it was blasted out of the air and sent to the other side of the arena.

A gunshot boomed and echoed around the room, I turned and saw Talon with his revolver in hand, aimed in our direction. I then realized that he shot the knife out of the air. A knife moving at probably two hundred miles an hour, and not to mention the size of my hand. Just how accurate was Talon with that gun?

I guessed he was glaring at Joe through his sunglasses, "Watch it, Joe. Their clients of mine, can't have them dying. The girl won fair and square, get on with the next match."

Joe was seething, his eyes turned purple again, which I figured was unnatural, and maybe led to a horrifying ability he possessed, but he bit his tongue and calmed down a little.

"Very well" he said reluctantly, "All will be made up in the main event. Now, on with the next match."

Percy muttered, "I'm next. You guys go take a seat, I'll end it quick."

We nodded, Annabeth and I walked back to the stands, Harper to the chamber, I tried to catch her eye, but she didn't turn.

We sat down, me next to Talon, and Annabeth next to me, she was beside of the wolf thing now, and he was pissed off.

"Where the hell do you get off, girl?" He growled, "I should eat you for dinner."

She was about to smack him when Talon pulled off his sunglasses and glared at the wolf. I suddenly felt the bloodlust, a chill of death and violence, like a battlefield with thousands dead and destroyed, no hope at all, an absolute domination, the air turned a vague red.

Talon said in a mock friendly voice, "Mind your business, Mutt. Or I'll blow your brains out."

The wolf whimpered and scooted away from Annabeth, munching on his popcorn. I was tempted to hide from the deadly tone of Talon's voice and the overwhelming sense of hatred.

Everything went back to normal when he put his sunglasses back on. Annabeth looked at him, "Alright, I'll admit it, that ability is kind of cool."

Talon faced the ring, "Yeah, yeah, it's pretty helpful, now shh. I wanna see your boyfriend in action."

He meant Percy, and stared at the Son of Poseidon in anticipation, like a fan watching his favorite sports star.

I raised my eyebrows, "You've got a man crush on Percy."

To my utter surprise, his ears reddened a tiny bit, he turned to me, "When you hear that many stories about one demigod and it not being your daddy, Hercules. You get a little hyped. Especially if you love combat and notoriety as much as me."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "What have you heard about Percy exactly?"

Talon kept his eyes on the ring, "Just that he's done a lot of crap that most warriors would piss themselves before even thinking about doing. Heard he beat the minotaur at age twelve, fought and wounded Ares that same year, something about Atlas, and the Labyrinth, and defeating a couple of titans, and helping take down Kronos. But I gotta say, going to Tartarus and back? Never been done before. The others I can believe, but that?"

Annabeth's face darkened. "I wish it weren't true. But it is. I was with him, and it was the worst experience of my life."

Talon whistled, "Whoo, you guys are tough cookies. I heard it takes nine days to fall down there before you get to the bottom, that true?"

Annabeth wouldn't meet our eyes, "It sure felt like it" she muttered.

I couldn't fathom even looking into the depths of Tartarus, the hellish pit, let alone falling in it and spending days trying to survive, and eventually making it out. Percy and Annabeth must have been terrified, and I wouldn't doubt they had Post Traumatic Stress from the experience. At least they had been together, acting as each other's life support's no doubt. I didn't know them too well, but just from one glance any stranger could recognize that there was years of love and passion in their relationship, and that in truth, they couldn't live without each other. They were only eighteen, but I had no doubt that if they were a little older, those two would be married right now, probably planning on having a baby or something, a little kid with Annabeth's intelligence, and Percy's power.

The thought was so wholesome, I felt the immense guilt again. The guilt of being their burden, practically making them go on this quest, fighting in a death arena, and Olympus knows what's coming in the future.

Joe had announced Percy with actual enthusiasm, and even called him by name. The crowd booed and hissed, sending death threats and curses Percy's way. Jeez, how many monsters had he killed and made angry?

Joe held his hand up to calm the angry mob, then spoke, "And his opponent, a familiar face to him by the way. He was the Bane of the Labyrinth, The Monster of Crete, I give to you, the one, the only, MINOTAUR!"

I heard an angry bull huff and the barred gates opened, revealing a hulking figure in light armor, fur around his belt, it was the Minotaur, and he was very mad.

I had already put on the earbuds again and I could hear Percy groan, "Oh, not you again. You think the third time will be the charm, beef head?"

The Minotaur mooed menacingly and charged the rest of the way, jumping over the ropes and into the ring, he landed with a huge THUD! The bull man glowered at Percy, years of hate behind those eyes.

Percy looked a little different though, he was smirking, like he'd been reunited with an old rival, which in fact, he had.

"I know how much you love to talk" Percy said, entering a fighting stance, "But let's cut the chit chat and start round three."

I had a few questions to be honest, like where did Joe get the Minotaur? Did it find this place and sign up? How did it reform so quickly? Because according to Percy's stories, it had been slayed by him around three years ago.

I looked up at the box Joe sat in. He was hauling in Seth by the neck angrily, and threw the poor satyr to the floor, whisper yelling at him for something.

I fought down anger, I couldn't make a scene.

Just then, the Minotaur bellowed and swung a meaty hand at Percy, he dodged it and the hand came crashing down on the ring. That floor must be tough because it didn't even crack from the Minotaur's blow. Percy sidestepped and drew Riptide, the three foot long sword sprang to life from the ballpoint pen and was swiped to leave a cut on the Minotaur's arm. It roared in anger and swung at Percy again, trying to sweep him off of his feet, but he jumped over the attack and rolled underneath the bull monster, casually stabbing it in the thigh, the Minotaur seethed and snarled, trying to grab Percy with extreme ferocity, to no avail.

Talon laughed, "Jackson's toying with him, this is over."

Well he had fought the thing twice already, no doubt he knows his entire move set and how to beat it. The next sequence of events proved this as the Minotaur tried to use its horns to impale the Son of Poseidon, but he missed, and Percy yelled in defiance, swiping at the horn and cutting it clean off like slicing an apple.

Percy caught the horn, the Minotaur looked surprised, then bellowed in fierce anger, as if to say, NOT AGAIN!

Percy threw the horn and it bounced off of the Minotaur's chest, the beast seemed to scoff at that, like it was a pitiful attack, but I knew better, he was trying to distract it, and it worked. Percy leaped up until he was level with the Minotaur's height, and in a fast, powerful strike, he stabbed the Bull monster's throat with Riptide, and it fell to its knees, and in about a fraction of a second, the Minotaur crumbled into dust.

The crowd was for once dead silent, Old Joe looked stunned himself, Annabeth casually sat there, like she knew it would be over this quick, and to my left, Talon whooped and hollered, the only person in the arena making any noise.

"YEAH! NICE KILL, JACKSON!"

The other monsters looked at him with annoyance, but Talon only kept yelling in admiration.

Percy swung his blade in the air to get the monster dust off, he said, "That's got to be a personal record. Definitely quicker than the first two times."

He looked up at Old Joe expectantly, and the old demigod regained his composure, a little flustered and managed to announce, "O-Oh, um, yes. The winner of this match...PERCY JACKSON, SON OF POSEIDON!"

Monsters didn't roar or make a lot of noise, they only murmured in disagreement and uneasiness, like Percy would unleash on them next if they heckled him.

Percy made his way up to where we sat and eventually took the spot on Annabeth's right, and to the left of the wolf thing. Who was so scared he didn't even make a comment this time.

Talon took off his sunglasses, "Awesome man! Knew you were the real deal. We gotta duel sometime! I doubt I'm as good a swordsman, but my guns against that little blade...would be very interesting, whaddya say?"

Percy didn't seem to know what to do with that, he just nodded and said, "Uh, yeah, maybe later Talon, when the quest is over or something."

Talon actually smiled, "Sweet!" Man this guy loved fighting. Although I was kind of interested myself. Percy was really powerful, maybe the most powerful modern demigod of all time, I could feel that much from his aura, and I hadn't even seen his true abilities that I'd heard about. Summoning hurricanes, creating small earthquakes, etc. I figured he'd beat Talon easy. But then again, the assassin had wicked gun skills, and that coin sword didn't look like a toy either, not to mention he could be hiding a ton of abilities, we still didn't know who his godly parent was.

I was called out from my thoughts on the dream match when Annabeth said to me, "Matt, Harper's up."

I turned and saw her emerge from the chamber, Old Joe announcing her parentage and height and all of that. She looked calm and collected, walking with not a care whatsoever, and entered the ring under the second rope. She went to the corner and leaned on it, looking a little bored.

Old Joe continued, "And her opponent, he is..." He looked at his little info card, and furrowed his grayish eyebrows, then just shook his head and said, "Well, it doesn't actually say anything about him. That damn donkey isn't doing his job properly it seems." He then smacked Seth in the face and barked at him to go chew out Earl upstairs and tell him he will have to explain himself. Seth nodded in fear and stumbled out of sight.

Joe forced a smile and went on, "Anyway, here is-erm, Unnamed Demigod!"

There were some half hearted claps from the crowd, and the other chamber opened, revealing an average height guy with short, light, blonde hair. He wore vest made of wolf fur, and no shirt underneath, revealing a lean frame. He had on rugged jeans, a thin sword at his waist, and regal combat boots. He walked to the ring and entered. Harper became a little more alert when she saw him. He stood in their corner, the unnamed demigod's blonde hair looked almost white in the light, he was smirking, and had intense eyes.

After a few moments of prep, the stranger pulled out his sword, and Harper unsheathed her knives, looking pretty serious now, I guessed she considered the guy a threat.

Old Joe announced the start, and at near lightning speed the two clashed in the middle of the ring.

Wow, I didn't know Harper was that fast.

Sparks flew from the metal clash, scraping against each other in a struggle, Harper strained a little, and the stranger only smirked. Eventually, he pushed her back and immediately went for an overhead strike.

She sidestepped with incredible grace, and stabbed at his side, he narrowly dodged the blow and took a few strides back, Harper following him in a zigzagged blur.

She jabbed and swiped at him in what seemed like a flurry of strikes every two seconds. Each passing she delivered multiple strikes, only for them to be blocked. The stranger was sweating a little though, not expecting the pressure.

Eventually Harper knocked his swordhand out of balance and grabbed his arm, judo flipping him, but the stranger was good, he saw it coming and added a little boost to himself, allowing him to land on his feet. Harper must have known this would happen though, because the split second he landed, she kicked him square in the chest and he fell on his butt hard.

She didn't go for the kill, although she could've, but I wasn't sure if she had the capacity for it. Had she killed another demigod before? The way she talked about it with me...I got the feeling it was possible.

She only breathed and pointed a knife at him, she asked, "Who are you?"

He smirked, "Heh, gotta say, I'm impressed. Didn't expect you to be this advanced."

Harper got closer, "Expect?"

He inched his face toward her, like he was gonna whisper something, but he just said slowly, "I know where your brother is."

Every fiber of Harper's guard fell at that moment, her hands dropped, her stance became weak, her eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped. I didn't know how this guy knew about Harper's missing brother, but it was a trick, he was going to kill her while she was distracted. I wanted to yell, let her know what was wrong, but I stopped myself, a few moments passed, yet the stranger did nothing but sit there.

She faltered, but then her look became deadly, "You're lying. Don't you dare mess with me or I'll kill you."

The stranger laughed, "Ha! You wouldn't kill me, or anybody! You're practically still a baby!"

Harper stabbed him in the shoulder, blood trickled, the knife was deep, almost all the way through. I didn't expect her to stab him, and he didn't either. He winced and grunted in pain, Harper's eyes were dead, she made no face at what she was doing, she was only looking for answers.

She twisted the knife slightly, and the stranger howled, "OKAY! Okay, I take it back! I'm sorry!"

She got up and pressed her thumb into her palm, in an instant the knife pulled itself out of the stranger's shoulder, and flew into Harper's hand. The stranger yelped in agony, holding his shoulder to keep the blood from oozing.

I was pretty shocked. I knew Harper could fight, and I didn't doubt that when it came to her brother, she would kill. But seeing her expression so emotionless and deadeyed, made me feel uncomfortable, and...kinda sad. I liked her face best when she was smiling at something funny, or smirking after calling me Shark Boy, or that time when she was asleep in that chair next to my infirmary bed, she had looked so peaceful and cute.

But now, she looked like she was ready to slit this guy's throat.

Even Talon was impressed. He whistled, "Girl's got some serious rage. What's the story?" Before I could even think of an answer, he followed up with, "And what's the deal with that eye? Didn't wanna say anything cause I figured it was a touchy sort of thing. It get cut out or something?"

Annabeth gave him the side eye, "The eye's still intact, Talon, she just can't see out of it."

Talon put his hands up sarcastically, "Okay then, my bad. Did some magical potion fall in it?"

"It doesn't matter what happened," I said, firmly, "Let's just focus on the fight."

I turned back to Harper and the Stranger, her eyes still emotionless. The left one a misty marble of fog, and the right one a thunderstorm of electric blue.

She seethed, "Tell me where he is, now."

The Stranger laughed weakly, "Oh I can show you, and you can be reunited at last. But first, you must come with me."

Harper glared, "I'm not going anywhere with you, just tell me the way, and I'll find it on my own."

"And leave behind your friends?"

Her eyes seemed to regain some life at that, and she turned to the crowd, looked up at us, and then me. She glanced at me directly, and winced.

She turned back to the Stranger, "I-If it means finding Levi, then I have no choice. They'll be fine without me."

The Stranger smirked, "You have determination, you've wondered for years what happened to dear brother, now you can know. But it is not as simple as telling you the directions, he is far away, and only I can escort you to him, he and I know each other."

"I'm not a little kid. You can't lure me into a trap, I know that you'll kill me the first chance you get."

The Stranger raised his hands, "I will not. Here, I'll prove it. I swear on the River Styx that I won't double cross you, and I will take you directly to your brother. If I break this promise, then let Zeus smite me where I stand."

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Harper's eyes widened a little, so did all of ours. A River Styx vow? This guy actually wasn't joking, he was going to lead Harper to her brother, and take her away from the quest...

I knew it was very important to her, and if I stopped her, she'd probably hate me. Part of myself wanted to go down their and punch this guy to oblivion, but another part wanted to sit where I was, and let Harper decide for herself.

The two parts fought for a minute, until the second won. I stayed in my seat.

Percy and Annabeth looked worried too, and I realized Talon must have passed them some coin earbuds as well. The assassin looked mildly anxious, for a second I thought he actually cared about Harper's well being, then I realized that was stupid, and that he was just nervous over losing her share of the drachmas.

Harper thought for a moment, looked at the Stranger, then at me, and then strangely at my necklace. Okay, I had to figure out why the heck she kept looking at that thing.

She shook her head furiously and finally decided, "No! Okay, I-I'm not going with you. I already have a way to my brother." She then pointed at me.

Me? I was the way to her brother? Last time I checked I didn't even know what he looked like, let alone his current location.

The Stranger followed her finger and reared his head back in disbelief, "Him?! The Son of Hercules knows nothing! Join me, Join us!"

Harper caught the last part, "Us?"

The Stranger sweated, knowing he shouldn't have said that, "Uh, yes, us. Me and your brother I mean, of course."

She stepped closer with the knife, "Who do you answer to?"

"Nobody! I have no master!"

She quickly cut his cheek, a thin line of blood appeared, a couple of tiny droplets collapsing down his face and hanging on his jaw.

"Tell me who you work for now." She growled.

The Stranger denied, "NO!"

Harper faked a stab with the knife, the Stranger yelped, and threw his hands up.

"Okay! I work for the new age!"

She looked puzzled, "the new age?"

"Yes! I am a servant of Ouranos! The true King of the Sky, the Ruler of Existence!"

All of our jaws dropped, including most of the crowd, he had said it loud enough for everybody to hear. I mean, we figured it was Ouranos, the face in the clouds, the storm giant in my visions, maybe the soul behind Malachi's body, but to actually hear it? A primordial being on the same level as Gaea? Not happy news.

He noticed Harper's wide eyes, and smirked. "Yes! Soon you will bow to him! After he destroys that filthy palace and eradicates the gods!"

Something about the way this guy said it, made me realize...other demigods were behind this. It wasn't just a two man operation between the cloaked guy and Malachi. They mentioned something about forces, but I never guessed it would be normal looking people like him.

Unfortunately, Harper was also stunned at his proclamation, because her guard was down, and the Stranger took advantage, he quickly kicked her, causing her to tumble back into the opposite corner. He grabbed his sword and leapt at Harper maniacally, ready to cut her down.

I was about to jump out of my seat, hoping I would make it there in time, until at an even greater speed, Harper regained her composure, squeezed her knives, and held them out in front of her. The Stranger only noticed too late, the force of his jump caused him to fall on the blades, they pierced his inferior armor and punctured the skin. His eyes went wide, he gargled and cursed Harper, weakly attempting a last second strike, only for it to miss. He struggled a few more times, then finally fell limp. Harper managed to pry him from her knives and he fell to the floor and lay there. The unnamed demigod was no more.

Harper stumbled, she was dazed, the act had affected her. She only did it out of self defense of course, but she still felt the weight of what had just happened. I immediately leapt out of my chair and headed toward the ring. Talon trying to grab me, cursing under his breath.

I managed to jump all the way to the ring again, only this time, I didn't make such a smooth entrance. The toes of my sneakers caught the top rope and I fell on my hands, into an embarrassing fall. There were some snickers of laughter from the crowd, but I ignored it, only thinking about getting to Harper right now.

Scrambling up to my feet, I darted over to her. She looked like she'd seen a ghost, her skin had turned even paler, her eyes lost while staring at the blood-soaked knives.

I didn't touch her, but I was close enough so she could hear my low voice, "Harper."

She just now noticed I stood in front of her and flinched, "Matt?"

"Yeah, it's me. You okay?"

She looked at the Stranger's lifeless body, then back to me. "Did I-"

"Yeah," I said, "You did. But it was out of self-defense. He tried to kill you."

That didn't calm her down. She shook her head and squeezed her knives so tight I thought she might crush them. "No, no, no, this wasn't supposed to happen. I told myself I wouldn't do that again..."

Her voice was aimed far away, not even at me.

But still, I tried what I could, "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it is! Matt, how can you even stand to look at me? I just killed him!"

I didn't have a good answer. At first, I might've assumed that she wouldn't care or think twice about killing anyone that got in her way, but I guess I was wrong about that. Maybe something happened for her to make sure other people stayed out of her personal quest, to the point where she only wanted to kill the cloaked man, or maybe it was just the fact that we were here, watching her. Either way, she was shaken by it.

I tried to come up with the right words, but I only managed to avoid the topic, "It's okay. Just worry about all of that later."

That was the worst sentence I've ever said, given the context. But I was at a loss for words, in the moment, I couldn't come up with anything on the fly. My mind was blank!

Before she could even respond to my babble, Old Joe started clapping slowly.

"Precious. You have yet again broke the rules and entered the ring to comfort your comrade. Granted, it is your turn, and the main event is here."

Harper's gaze shifted. She seemed more focused after hearing that, "Wait, you're fighting again?"

"Yeah. No idea what kind of freakshow he's gonna throw at me this time."

Old Joe laughed, "Oh, silly son of Hercules. This really is your first time here, isn't it? The main event always involves the strongest fighter, and I said you would be facing the strongest fighter. And that is..." He snapped his fingers, and one of the cyclops brought him a thick set of armor, which he quickly threw on. The other cyclops offered him a sword, which he took.

He jumped down from fifteen feet from his box until he landed in the ring. The armor crashed loudly on the impact. The two cyclops' followed suit, they leaped down and landed with two huge thuds, snarling and beating the ring, forming a couple of cracks on the floor.

Joe was tall, a lot taller than I thought from seeing him in that little box he sat in. He stood about six foot four, and the huge armor didn't help make him look less imposing.

"For the main event, you will be fighting me, Son of Hercules, and my pets." He gestured to the cyclops, and they bellowed, beating their chests and the ground again, forming more cracks.

I pulled off my necklace and squeezed it until it sprang into the familiar spear, I clenched it and told Harper without breaking Joe's eye contact, "Harper, go sit with the others, I'll handle this."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

She hesitated, I could see out of the corner of my eye that she wanted to help, but she nodded reluctantly, exited the ring, and sat next to the others in the crowd.

"Protecting the girl" Joe mused, "Very heroic, very generic."

"The right thing to do, you mean?" I countered.

He laughed humorlessly, "There is no right and wrong in this world, boy. Only those that are strong and those that are weak. It's survival of the fittest, everyone knows that deep down. Some just choose to ignore it and form this perfect world in their imagination, staying safe in their bubble. But the truth is, that people die everyday, war never ends, peace is just the calm between battles."

"So that's that? The strong rule over the weak, becoming tyrants? Not helping the weak to become strong like them?"

"Weakness cannot be forced out of someone. The truly strong are born, and so are the weak. Life will throw obstacles at you, and the strong will make it out on top, living another day. While the weak are not capable, so the strong use them as servants, or stepping stones if you will, because that is their worth."

"So you have to be inherently strong in order to thrive? You can't be weak, work hard, and eventually become strong?"

He chuckled, "Ha! You can appear to be weak at first, only to realize that you are actually strong later. Take me for example, I am a Son of Dionysus, considered by many to be the weakest Olympian, a joke. But that is far from the truth. My father is the god of madness, mental instability, the human psyche gone nuts. Most of his children are born with some power over wine grapes and other plants, but very few are born with the ability to inflict madness..."

My eyes widened, "You're one of them."

He nodded, "I am. As a child I saw horrible things in my mind, images of people going insane, doing odd things. Such as acting like animals, screaming uncontrollably, jumping off of cliffs to see how many bones would break. I was excluded and bullied for my abnormality, I tried to make sense of it, when one day I found the truth. What I thought to be a curse was actually a powerful ability meant to project, not be kept in. So I enacted revenge on my harassers, sending them visions of atrocious thoughts, they were driven to insanity, most fled in fear, and some even killed themselves. You see? I was strong in the end, and they were weak."

I was horrified, the ability to inflict insanity on another person...I began to wonder.

"Seth. Do you..."

"Oh that vermin isn't worth the mud on my shoes. He is only a half decent servant, he will step out of line occasionally, begging to see his precious nature. And when that happens, yes, I give him a few images of insanity and he shuts his mouth."

I felt a surge of anger, this guy was a monster, I wouldn't need to hold back, I would pulverize him.

"Fine then, Old Joe. Show me what the strongest can do."

He sneered and shouted, "That is more like it Son of Hercules! Show me your father's strength!" He then charged at me with incredible speed, I hadn't expected him to move so fast with all of that armor, it had to weigh a couple of hundred pounds. I figured he trained everyday, pushing his old body beyond limits to stay quick in the heavy armor. He was no doubt physically stronger than the average demigod, I probably wouldn't be able to push him and knock him out...no, it would take more strength.

He shoulder butted me, and I flew back and bounced off of the ropes, he wrapped his huge hand on my face and slammed me to the ring floor.

"COME ON! YOU CAN DO BETTER! SHOW ME YOUR POWER!"

I decided to take him up on that, and kicked his hand off of me, I leapt up and went for a punch to the breastplate, about half of my strength should do, I would destroy the armor first, and then-

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt calloused, meaty hands grab me in mid air, I turned and saw a huge bloodshot eye glaring at me, I was in the cyclops' grip, and before I could break free, It threw me like a baseball at the other cyclops, I soared straight in the air until I saw the other cyclops rearing it's fist back, preparing to hit me at full strength. These guys could crumple trucks and use trees for baseball bats, so I figured I would feel a little something from this blow.

I braced myself, and the cyclops struck, punching me full in the face, all of it's weight and power on it. I felt my neck pop out of place, and I flew back at the speed of a jet, the air whistling in my ears before I crashed through the arena wall, the brick crumbling around me, I continued to fly back, going through two more brick walls, and then finally into the sewer system.

I skidded on the concrete, luckily not touching the sewage. I lay there, feeling a throb in my nose, and my neck stinging a little, I had to put it back in place, before my arms went completely numb. I grabbed both sides of my head, counted to three, and then popped my neck back into place, I heard the noise and winced, the stinging going away thankfully.

I still felt a little throb in my nose, but other than that, I was fine. I had been punched full force by a fourteen foot tall cyclops, flew through half a mile of brick and landed in the sewer system, dislocating my neck, and all I felt was a throb in my nose. Man, I really loved this tough skin.

I prepared myself to sprint through the rubble, I didn't want to walk, that would take too long. If I put some strength in my legs I could make it there in a few seconds and plow through the rubble.

I dashed forward, sprinting at a good speed of fifty or so, plowing through brick and mowing down any stray objects, trying to avoid any onlookers.

Within five seconds I made it back to the ring, Joe was waving at the crowd excitedly, like he'd won, and they were eating it up, chanting his name.

Their faces fell when I showed back up, I saw my friends, they were beaming, and even Talon looked impressed.

Joe turned and jumped back a little, "But you just-I just saw you-"

"I have tough skin, It'll take a little more than that to hurt me. I would suggest giving up now, geezer."

His face turned red with anger, "I see, so you do have your father's durability. Very well then, you can handle one of my pets strikes, but can you handle them both?" He whistled, and the two Cyclops leapt at me, but I was more than ready. I was done playing games, I was done holding back, I was about to use all of my base strength in this next sequence.

At the speed of sound, I met the first cyclops in the air, and reared my fist back, putting one hundred percent of my power into it, with that, I punched the cyclops in the face, just like it had done me.

Only this time, the results were different.

Imagine a giant meat grinder had cut this Cyclops into a million meaty pieces, then an even larger fan blowing away the remains at the speed of a tornado. That was the outcome of my strike. The cyclops burst into a million pieces and the force of my punch sent the remains scattering everywhere, splattering on the walls, landing in the crowd, I had punched it so quick, it hadn't even turned to dust yet.

I then landed back on the ground, the second cyclops still in mid air, only now registering what had happened to the other, and I jumped in the other direction, towards him. I managed to grab his huge arm, clench it, and with a yell of defiance, I took the practically weightless Cyclops, and threw him like a rubber ball onto the ring floor.

The force of the throw sent him crashing on the ring floor with an explosion sound, the ring completely crumbled, the cyclops fell further into the ground, going all the way down until he was barely visible. The remains of the ring, which amounted to a few wooden boards and crumpled ringposts, stood scattered in the middle of the arena. I had destroyed it.

I grabbed my spear, and threw it into the newly made pit where the cyclops lay. It traveled for a few seconds and eventually hit it's target, the golden dust reflecting in the darkness.

I looked up at Joe, who appeared to be having a stroke, and said, "Be right back."

I jumped into the hole, dropping two hundred or three hundred feet perhaps, before landing on the dirt bottom. I pulled my spear from the ground and wiped the soil off of the shark tooth. I then leaned down, and with a boost of strength in my legs, vertically jumped out of the pit, within a couple of seconds I landed back where I stood, nearly losing my balance, but not falling, which would've been embarrassing.

I got in a fighting stance, ready for whatever Joe brought.

I was met with jaws to the floor from everyone.

Joe was drooling, red with anger, the entire crowd was dead silent, my friends were stunned at my display of strength, even Percy, who had bought popcorn and was now eating it excitedly.

Joe stuttered, "Y-y-you j-just punched the- and th-the pit, y-you threw him into the-the pit. Y-you destroyed my ring." He muttered more gibberish, and I got annoyed.

"Come on!" I said, "What happened to that talk of you being the strongest! Aren't you gonna face me now?!"

He actually quivered, and shook his head. "Uh, n-no. I think that we're done here. Take your earnings and leave, just please leave."

I couldn't believe what a coward he had turned out to be. Even If I destroyed his cyclops, at least face me and accept a somewhat honorable defeat.

"We are gonna fight, Joe. You said I have to for the main event."

He begged and cried, "NO! PLEASE JUST GO! PLEASE, YOU ARE TOO STRONG, I DON'T STAND A CHANCE, JUST TAKE THE DRACHMAS AND GET OUT!"

I was stunned, this guy acted all tough, but was actually a big baby. It was kind of funny, actually.

I forced down a laugh, "Fine. I'll go, but I'm also taking Seth with me. You won't be controlling him anymore."

He shouted again with extreme volume, which pissed me off. I hated loud noises.

"OKAY, TAKE THE GOAT BOY! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, PLEEEEAAAASEEEE!" He started weeping and sobbing. Jeez, I thought, what's the matter with this idiot?

I shrugged and turned to see my friends and Talon waving at me with urgency, I knit my eyebrows, trying to figure out what they wanted.

Then it hit me, but it was too late.

In an instant I felt like my mind was getting squeezed by a giant invisible hand. The image of the arena faded, and I soon saw a dark field, hundreds were being punished in the acid grass, their skin melting, and being whipped by demon looking creatures, each lash leaving a bloody trail. I saw a river of fire, hundreds more were being pushed into it, screaming and wailing in agony, their bodies burning, unable to die, but able to feel all of the pain.

I winced and yelled in pain. I felt like my head was going to explode from a migraine, I saw more things, the images of a hanging, a shark attack, a man going crazy and turning on his own village, grabbing a machete and hacking as many people as possible. I saw more disgusting and awful things, things that I'd really rather not describe.

This went on for a minute, I could hear laughter, it was Joe. He was giggling in my consciousness, and he said, "Showing mercy to an old man is weakness, Son of Hercules. Now, experience my wrath, feel the insanity, get lost in it."

The images amplified, the screaming and sounds of torture getting louder, I could feel my own brain buzzing and ringing, trying to resist, but it was too much, the images were all coming at me in unison, never giving me a chance to breathe. I resisted the urge to throw up at a few, and stumbled onto the ground, breathing heavily.

I heard Joe laugh again, "Yes, Yes. Drown in the madness, embrace the unstable, love the craziness. Become a puppet, you stupid boy. I will have so much fun-"

He was interrupted by three rounds of loud gunshots.

The images immediately went away, and instead they were replaced with happier images. Images of warriors after winning a battle, cheering and eating together, another one showed a general giving an inspiring speech, another showed three demigods on a familiar island, sitting by a campfire, making a vow to always be friends and stick together no matter what.

I felt a sense of strength and peace, then the images went away all together in an instant. I saw Joe stunned, glaring at someone in the stands.

It was Talon.

His arm was raised, the revolver in hand, the barrel smoking. He had shot the three rounds and hit Old Joe in the armor, breaking the trance. And if I was gonna guess...he was also responsible for the happier visions as well.

Joe's eyes were deep purple, "HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT, YOU FILTHY ASSASSIN! HOW DARE YOU RUIN MY FUN!"

Talon had his sunglasses off, and his eyes were red, contrasting to Joe's purple. Only Talon's were far scarier, he was emitting bloodlust at Joe, and for once, he wasn't using it to make a path or get attention, he was using it to get his actual point across. That he wanted nothing more than to kill.

Talon glared at Joe with deadly gaze, "And how dare you, you old twisted bastard, act like an idiot, beg for mercy, only to strike your opponent in a cowardly manner. Abandoning any level of honor to the duel."

"HONOR?! YOU KILL PEOPLE FOR A LIVING, STRIKING FROM THE SHADOWS! DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT HONOR, YOU WORM!"

Talon seethed, "I care about the art of dueling. And I always face my enemies head on, unlike you." He then put his revolver back in the holster, reached in his pocket and gathered two coins, the same ones from the park. He flipped them and they transformed into weapons. Within five seconds, he was holding a sword, and a black Mossberg shotgun.

He held them and raised his eyebrows at Joe.

Joe laughed maniacally, hefting his sword. "FINE! YOU WANT TO DO IT THAT WAY?! SETTLE THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL? BRING IT ON!"

Talon leapt from his spot in the stands and made his way to Joe, who laughed like a lunatic, and swung at the assassin.

Talon did something very clever, he shot a slug in the air above him, and the force of the blast pushed him downward enough to dodge Joe's strike in mid air. I was impressed, he knew how to make strategies on the get go.

Talon landed next to the old demigod, pumped his shotgun once, and just as Joe turned, he aimed it at his head. Talon pulled the trigger, the celestial bronze slug erupted from the barrel and hit Joe directly on the helmet, knocking it off of his head. I figured Talon hadn't meant to do that, but he did, he wanted the helmet out of the way. In the next second, the helmet clanged on the ground, Talon flipped the shotgun back to a coin, and clenched his sword with both hands. Joe's eyes widened, and Talon smirked.

"Sayonara, Old Bastard."

And with one clean, powerful, yet graceful strike, Talon sliced Joe's face. Cutting across horizontally, blood flew everywhere, and the old owner of the fight club fell like a sack of potatoes, the area around him turning a color of an ironic red.

Talon wiped the blood off of his sword and flipped it back into a coin as well, putting the copper piece in his pocket. He turned to the crowd, and yelled, "ALRIGHT, EVERYONE OUT, NOW! IF YOU DON'T SCRAM, THERE'LL BE MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM!" He emitted a little more bloodlust, and everyone of the crowd, demigod and monster alike took a hike, some shrieking and running like it was the end of the world.

Soon enough, it was just Me, Talon, Harper, Percy, and Annabeth.

They were wide eyed and in utter disbelief of what all had happened. They couldn't even form words, they just decided to keep quiet and talk about the chaos later.

We all stood in silence, staring at the scene around us, the arena nearly destroyed, it's owner laying dead on the ground.

The quiet streak was broken when Talon said, "Well, that didn't go as expected."

"Y-you saved me man." I said, hardly believing the words.

He waved his hand dismissively and grunted, "Ah, he was being a cheatin' bastard. Couldn't have him killing my client with a low blow. Besides, that Cyclops' stuff was impressive, I kinda wanted to see more of that, so I decided saving you wouldn't be so bad."

I nodded, taking what I could get from this guy, "Thanks."

Annabeth shook her head, "What about the money?"

Talon smirked, "Well, damn. Whole place is to ourselves now! We can get the drachmas out of the vault in Joe's little office."

"And rescue Seth!" Percy added.

Harper nodded, and looked at Talon, "So does this mean you're officially our tracker now?"

We all looked expectantly at him, he considered, putting his hand on his chin in mock thought.

He finally said, "Yeah, I'll help you on your quest. You guys aren't all that bad."

We all smiled, while I did a little fist pump of celebration. Couldn't help myself.

"Alright, alright," Talon said, "Let's not get carried away, just get the money so we can go find the...what was the first one?"

"The Hydra."

He nodded, a little surprised, "Oh, well that's easy. It's at the Central Park Zoo."

We all stared at him.

Annabeth nearly shook him by the shirt, "You mean to tell us, that it was in the Zoo this whole time, and we literally met at that very Zoo earlier today?!"

Talon held his hands up in surrender, "Hey, I was worried about the money. That's rule number one, money first, job later. And besides, we got it now, the Hydra ain't going nowhere."

I agreed, concentrating for a moment, I tried out that aura sensing thing again, and sure enough, there was this ping on the radar, like feeling a tingle in your neck, or a thermal warmth of body heat off a living creature. It's hard to explain. "Yeah, I can feel a strange monster aura nearby, I'd say that's it."

Annabeth nodded, "Alright, so we get the money, wait until the Zoo opens, and then find the Hydra without alerting mortals."

Percy shrugged, "Piece of cake."

Harper started walking towards the doorway, a bit quickly, as if she wanted to get away from us, "Alright, I'll check Old Joe's box for the money."

"I'll go with you." I said, catching up with her.

"We'll be waiting upstairs!" Annabeth called.

Harper didn't turn around, but I nodded at her, and we made our way to collect the drachma.

We had finally gotten the money issue out of the way. Now came the tracking and killing monsters part of the deal, but the most challenging tasks were yet to come. Malachi and the cloaked man, still mysteries.

But I knew, even after only a couple of days, that I had a good team. I could trust them. And as long as it stays that way, I say bring it on, Ouranos.

(000)

Thanks for reading!

Until Next Time.