Movies really made gladiator-ing seem way more fun than it actually is.

Juliette lets out a string of curses in Greek as one of the sphynxes she's fighting manages to rake her claws down her shoulderblade. Thoroughly pissed off by the gasp from the crowd, the daughter of Aphrodite sends an arrow through the offending monster's forehead in return.

The other four sphynxes scream in outrage. Julie isn't paying much attention to what they're saying. Especially after catching the first few words to be "Riddle me this!" from a few of them.

Over the last two weeks, Julie has decided that gladiatrix fame is just not all it's made out to be.

For one thing, the management is absolutely atrocious. Julie has no personal agent, so all her fights are decided by the emperor himself with no go between to be like "Hey, um, actually, let's maybe save the match where she's fighting ten hydras for Tuesday when she doesn't have two broken arms," or "Hey, how about we don't have her fight a sea monster with only one shot in her harpoon gun - that seems like a liability issue."

So, uh, yeah, she has been very poorly represented! These fights are so unbalanced, but whatever. She makes do.

She hasn't died yet, so she must be doing fi-oop, give her just one sec. She's out of arrows.

Dodging a lunge from the biggest of the four lady-headed-lions, Juliette skids to the side into a one handed cartwheel. The moment both feet (Yes, both. Like her new lame ass mortal prosthetic?) are on the turf again, she's jamming the recurve of her bow into the gut of one of her enemies. The sphynx explodes into dust.

Two down. Three to go. Okay, what was she talking about?

Oh, yeah, another thing - nobody prepared Julie for the complete menace that is turf-burn. Seriously, if a genie gave her one wish, she would ask for some well fitting kneepads because damn this stuff burns to slide on.

...Okay, maybe she should actually wish to, y'know, escape, but her point still stands.

Speaking of points, Julie just about takes five sharp sphynx claws right to the face. Last second, she backbends into a walkover and slams the underside of her sandal into the beast's chin. It staggers back in surprise. Julie starts to stab at it, but the other two end up blocking her.

Ugh. Okay, time to actually strategize. Maybe if she takes these three out in a cool way, she might actually get to eat real food instead of whatever ambrosia Bitch-yerses tosses at her through the bars of her cell.

Juliette backs up enough to take a running start at one of the field goals. She can hear her remaining three opponents chasing after her, screaming nonsense like "WHAT CAN BE HEARD BUT NEVER SEEN?!"

Julie shouts back "Your mom!"

She makes sure to put on a boost of speed after she hears the cries of outrage from the cats behind her.

At least Commodus is happy with her. He's been sending her little gifts every time she does something particularly impressive in the arena, which means Juliette finally has some decent weapons and a sort-of bed to sleep on in her cell. She still doesn't have her fancy bronze leg back, but she's getting more talented at running around on her regular mortal prosthetic without faceplanting, so that's progress.

She also gets hella fanmail, but she's pretty sure most of it is from the blemmyae assigned as her guards.

Cheryl and Johnny are her biggest fans. Julie is a little embarrassed to admit that she might just be theirs too. She's decided blemmyae are her favorite species of monster. Call it Stockholm syndrome if you want, but it's hard not to get attached to the only beings in the entire building who are actually nice to you.

Julie takes a running leap for the base of the field goal. She always feels like an NBA player when she gets air like this. She clears the whole end zone with her jump, catches the base pole of the goal in her palms, and swings up and around it. The sphynxes continue running just long enough for her to dismount directly behind them.

The last three monsters are dust before they even realize what happened.

Finally alone in the arena, Juliette lowers her bow and falls backwards to starfish on the bloodstained field, panting. The crowd's roar is deafening.

Gods, she's tired. And, this was only her first fight of the day. She'll probably have another three before she's allowed to go back to her cell for the night.

Pff. Allowed to go back to her cell. Is that really what her life has become? Days so shitty that she's excited to sit in a concrete room by herself?

She opens her eyes to stare up at the cloudy spring skies.

It feels like it's going to rain today.

At least that's something to look forward to.

Juliette breathes in deeply. The smell of the oncoming storm almost breaks her down.

She hopes that, wherever he is, Jason is doing well. That he's happy.

Here...Here without him, Julie just feels...

Empty.

"You look horrible."

She turns her head. Lit is standing beside her, hand on his sword and eying the bow in her hand. She rolls her eyes and tosses it away so he'll relax.

Juliette forces herself to throw on a cheeky smirk. "Well, you look very handsome, Prince Charming." She winks.

The pit in her chest feels a little bit deeper.

Lityerses rolls his eyes and nudges her sharply with the toe of his sneaker. "Get up. You're done for the day."

Julie's eyebrows go up. She lifts onto her elbows and blinks in surprise. "I am? Why?"

He stares at her.

"I mean, yay, but, like, why?" She amends.

Lit just scowls and kicks her again. "None of your business. Now, get your ass up. Some of us have actual jobs to do."

He turns on his heel, and Julie scrambles to her feet to follow. The crowd is still roaring.

Juliette tightens the nuts and bolts holding up her smile and waves at them in greeting. She even manages to force out a few blown kisses. And, she doesn't feel like a tool at all. Not at all.

She's a human.

She's human.

"Oooh, I've never been down this hallway before," Juliette notes, in step close beside Lit as he leads her by her elbow in through an unfamiliar dugout into a hallway lined with blue and gold wallpaper. Every so often, they'll pass a big 'C' Colts logo, and Julie will grin stupidly at the white paint where someone added 'ommodus' after it. It's like that all over the building. She likes watching for ones they missed like she's playing a game of Hidden Mickey.

These emperors are something else. But, hey, Julie can't really be one to make fun of other people's sanity.

"That's because this is Commodus' wing."

Wait, what?

Julie frowns. "Why are we going to Commodus' wing?"

Lityerses doesn't answer her. A pit of dread starts to dig into her gut.

It's pretty obvious when they get to their destination. Ten blemmyae are posted outside the entrance, all of whom Juliette greets cheerfully by name until every one of them is pink at the armpits and shuffling their feet.

The doors to the emperor's suite are twenty feet tall and pure Imperial Gold. Laurel branches and warhorses are carved into the hulking structures, but right at the center, Julie's eyes zero in on that same symbol. The axe in the bundle of rods. The same symbol she's now carrying permanently on her body. She points at it.

"What's that?"

Lit hums in question, focused on looking for a specific key out of the hundreds of thousands he carries around on that never ending keyring of his. He glances up where she's indicating. "Fasces."

"Bless you?"

"It's Latin."

"Oh. For what?"

"I don't know, bitch, I'm Greek."

"You are?!"

"Shut the fuck up and go inside," Lit snaps, holding open the now unlocked door to Commodus' suite. "I'd like to keep my job. And my head."

Julie grumbles in annoyance, but relents. She steps around his arm to enter the grand chambers.

If she thought the entrance was impressive, the actual atrium of the emperor's wing is absolutely insane. Just about everything in sight is gilded and gleaming. In the center of the room, a vast circular indoor garden is in bloom, currently being illuminated dimly by what sun is peeking through the large skylight above it. The floor is tiled with murals of the gods-wait, no. That's all Commodus. Depicted in every Roman god's outfit and holding their weapons.

Okay, Julie can't even try to pretend that's not hilarious. She grins down at the image of the emperor in her mother's pink and gold armor atop her white battle unicorn.

Next time Zeus calls Percy blasphemous, she's gonna cite this mural as evidence of her brother's comparative holiness.

"Finally! There you are! I've been waiting ages!"

Julie and Lit turn and take a knee as Commodus comes rounding a corner in nothing but a purple speedo and sandals. Juliette keeps her eyes resolutely down on mural Commodus instead.

It's really annoying when evil people are hot. They don't deserve to be. At least he's not blonde too.

The emperor stops just before them and claps his hands together.

"Cadmea, my pet! Rise, darling, rise, I want to greet you!"

Julie bites her lip as her left arm begins to sear. When the red fog seeps into her vision, she gives in to the feeling, letting it take control and stand her body back up in front of Commodus.

It's been strange to practice leaning into the power of her cuff these last few weeks.

Having only one functioning Tiberii donum means it never takes full control. Juliette is always still thinking. It's a relief to know Nico's plan actually worked, even if keeping her hair down over her right cuff whenever it fails to burn her is the only reason she hasn't been discovered yet. As much as she despises the jolts of heat her left cuff gives her every time an order is issued, it does ensure that she never forgets to uphold her cover. And the fog...

Well. She'd like to make a joke about it. She could say it's like breathing laughing gas on steroids while looking through 3D glasses.

Honestly, though, even Juliette doesn't find it funny. Being around the emperors, feeling their influence fighting to overpower her own thoughts at every turn...

The only way she can think to describe it is violating.

She feels...dirty having their power attached to her.

Tainted. Like a part of her has been taken away. An innocence that she'll never get back. Even she can't find a way to make that a joke. Because it really isn't one.

She'll never be the same.

So, hopefully, Annabeth can find her a decent therapist if-when Julie gets out of here, because boy is the neurodivergence hitting hard right now.

The moment she's up on her feet in front of him, Commodus pulls her in to plant two huge smooches on her cheeks. "Oooh, who's a pretty cordolium?! Who?" He coos, pinching her cheeks and beaming. "You are! Yes, you are!"

Juliette can practically feel the laugh Lityerses is holding in. She wants to kick him in the face for it. Instead, she just leans further into the red fog and lets the magic respond to this...dehumanization instead. She doesn't want to think about how she's supposed to react when she's treated this way. Better to just let the cuffs handle it.

She's human.

She's a human.

Once he finally releases her, Commodus ends up grimacing down at the dirt and dust now on his fingers. He wipes them on Julie's raggedy brown leather armor. "I want her cleaned up for the show, Lityerses. She needs to be all shining and magnificent when he arrives! I want to rub in his face just what I've built for myself since he disposed of me, and a cordolium is just the kind of status symbol I need on display. You understand?"

"Of course, your majesty."

"Good! Take her to the armory and pick out something for her to wear. I want her in gold-no. Pink! Both! To show her mother's domain has been overshadowed by the might of Rome! And, get her a helmet made. And a weapon. Something custom. Feed her well tonight too. We have so little time to prepare, and I want Apollo to eat himself from envy when he-"

Apollo.

Apollo's coming.

Hope flutters in Juliette's belly.

Is this it? Is this when she gets to finally make her move?

...Is she done sitting in that cell?

"-a rehearsal tomorrow night. She won't be fighting tomorrow, of course, but I want her prepared with her cues memorized when the actual event happens on Friday."

"Understood, sir."

Commodus lets out a squeal and hops up and down. Juliette tries very hard to keep her face blank and her irises red as she watches the grown man skip around the atrium floor like a girlscout.

"Let's go," Lityerses hisses in her ear.

Julie jumps in surprise. Her vision immediately loses its red tint when her concentration breaks. She hadn't noticed him standing up until he was already snatching her arm and pulling her back out the door. Neither of them look back as they exit the room. The moment the grand golden gates shut behind them, the swordsman's shoulders slump in relief. He pulls her past the blemmyae until they're down the bend of a hallway. Then, he puts a hand over his eyes and takes a long, deep breath. Julie blinks at him in concern.

Wait, what? No? Not concern?

Curiosity...? Ugh, it doesn't matter. She is not concerned about him, though. She is not Stockholm syndroming. Not even platonically. Not even if his aura is suddenly feeling really...scared...

Wringing her hands, Julie steps up to Lit's side. "Are you okay?"

He drops his hand from his face, expression controlled and blank. He stares at her.

Juliette swaps out her unexpected sensitivity for an uninterested frown, shrugging. "You're hotter when you're sad."

After a beat of silence, she grins at him.

The fear in his aura wavers. The corner of Lit's mouth twitches upwards. "Shut the fuck up." He snags her wrist again, slinging her to walk in front of him. "Go. I'll tell you when to turn."

"Why not just walk ahead of me?"

"You'll try to escape."

"From your wonderful company? Never."

"Get moving."

Julie smirks over her shoulder. "Fine, fine. I know how much you love watching me from behind."

Lityerses' cheeks flare red, and triumph trumpets through Juliette. He draws his wicked gold saber and glares at her. "Stop talking before I make you."

Juliette just snickers and turns to continue down the hall. "Don't threaten me with a good time."

Lit may make an irritated grunt and poke her sharply in the back with his sword, but his aura is calm now. Settled.

The satisfied relief that Julie feels from that probably isn't a good thing considering their current situation. She pinches herself in the thigh as she walks, shaking her head at her own foolishness.

This boy isn't your friend, Julie. Stop getting attached. He'd kill you in a second.

Lityerses is Commodus'. He's a soldier. No matter if she feels like he could be more than that if he tried.

The two of them continue down the hallway towards whatever grand tortures are in store for her today.

Juliette is in the air vents.

She's going to be totally honest, she got this idea from Die Hard. If it worked for Bruce Willis, why wouldn't she try it? She's sure the Stolls will be delighted to have been of assistance when they tricked all the younger kids into watching it instead of The Grinch at Christmas one year when she was little.

Die Hard, while a work of art, is not a Christmas movie. Julie doesn't care how many carols are in the soundtrack. She will die on this hill.

Thirteen year old her would definitely be horrified that she just walked out on that fancy bathtub filled with all those different perfumed oils. She'll admit, sixteen year old her shed a few tears turning her back on it too. But, even Lityerses isn't enough of a creep to stand over her while she bathes, and being left in a room without bars by herself was too good of an opportunity. Julie had to take it.

So, now she's crawling on all fours through an air vent and cursing the directors of Die Hard for way overblowing the width of these things. She isn't particularly scrawny (especially now that she's been fighting four gladiator battles a day), but she really didn't expect this to be such a tight squeeze.

Also, she has no idea where she's going. She doesn't even know if she's left the room yet.

Julie may not have thought this through quite enough.

There's a grate up ahead with a vent on it. Julie shuffles forward until she's close enough to peer down through it into the room below.

Okay, good news, she's no longer in the disgustingly purple bathroom. More good news, she doesn't see any frantic sons of Demeter rushing through these halls looking for her yet. Bad news, she's 100% lost. Julie has never seen this section of the building before.

But, the coast looks pretty clear, so she decides to go for it.

Julie does not have a screwdriver to get the grate off, so she hypes herself up until she has the courage to press down roughly on the still unhealed sphynx scratches on her shoulder. Gritting her teeth to keep from tantruming at the painful sting, Juliette uses the blood from her wound to melt the edges of the vent grate off until she's able to remove it and drop down into the unfamiliar hallway.

If-When Julie sees Leo again, she's going to add funky ninja music to this part of the story. She feels like Natasha Romanov.

Back to the wall, Juliette starts to creep down the hallway.

It's a regular, bland concrete passageway like most of the building she's used to, but the floors lack the telltale bloodstains that mark the "Hall of Gladiators," as Commodus calls it. Julie calls it the "Hall of Kidnapping Victims," but whatever. The lighting up above is dim and yellow, flickering from a few hanging bulbs like she's running through Jigsaw's basement.

Unfortunately, she notes irritably, that comparison isn't all that far off.

She reaches a corner, and that's when she hears voices.

"Hello, Jeremy! Can I relieve you of duty? It's time for our shift change."

"Hello, Christy! Of course, you may! I sure do appreciate you being on time."

"No problem, Jeremy. Thank you for noticing my punctuality."

"You are very welcome, Christy. Have a great day."

"You as well, Jeremy."

Julie almost chokes on her own spit when she hears Jeremy's footsteps heading her way. She puts a hand over her mouth and flattens herself against the wall.

Mercifully, the blemmyae ends up passing by without noticing her. But, Juliette certainly notices him.

He's wearing a different uniform than the blemmyae she's gotten to know these past couple weeks. He's in purple instead of blue and is carrying Imperial Gold weapons instead of just being ready to square up with fists. He looks important, and he carries himself that way too.

Not in an arrogant way, though. No, that would be impolite. He just has impeccable posture.

Once he's gone, Julie gets up the courage to peek around the corner.

Another blemmyae - Christy, she presumes - is standing guard outside a hulking metal door. This one isn't ornate like Commodus', though. It looks like an industrial freezer almost. Just tall and steel. Titanium? Something silver.

Juliette squints at it in thought.

Commodus said Apollo is on his way here. That he'll be here for some kind of event.

Well, there must be a reason that he'd be coming here, right? Something to do with his quests Unless...Unless, he's coming here for Julie.

The thought makes something twist in her chest. Something bittersweet.

He could be. He could be on his way here because he wants to save her...

But, no. Apollo wouldn't do that. It's not like Julie's particularly important. And, besides, Nico would have told him by now that she isn't actually under the Triumvirate's spell. They know she can handle herself. That she can keep herself safe. And she can.

She can.

She's human.

She's a human.

Her fingers are shaking where they're clutched to the corner of the wall. Juliette's mind feels a bit scrambled. The cuffs on her arms are heavy. Unbearably heavy. She didn't realize how tired she was until now.

But, she needs to see what's behind that door. Something about it...It just feels important.

Like it's calling to her.

Juliette takes a quick inventory of her options.

She could kill the blemmyae. It would be really freaking hard without a weapon, though, and would end up making a lot of noise. Even if she manages it, it's likely she'd get caught pretty quickly after. And, attacking one of their own would probably make Julie lose all the progress she's made with getting the blemmyae to like her.

She could try to trick the blemmyae. Maybe if it were Cheryl or Johnny guarding the door that would work. She's never met Christy, though. It's probably more likely that she'd be knocked out and back in her cell before she can even get whatever lie she comes up with out of her mouth.

So, a distraction is likely her best bet. She needs to draw Christy away. But, how?

Thankfully, past her apparently already handled that. The walkie that's strapped to Christy's business casual purple slacks starts to static.

"Hello, Christy?"

The blemmyae jumps to raise the walkie to her belly-mouth. "Hello, Jarold!"

"It's very good to talk to you, Christy. How has your shift been going?"

"It's been excellent, Jarold. Thank you for asking! Is there something I can help you with?"

"Thank you for offering! As a matter of fact, I'm calling you about an emergency red alert!"

"Oh, no!"

"Yes, a prisoner escaped. Would you please check the dungeon you're guarding to see if Cadmea the cordolium snuck inside?"

Dungeon?!

"Of course, Jarold! Thank you for the suggestion."

"You're welcome, Christy. Have a wonderful day."

"Thank you! You as well!"

"Thank you."

The blemmyae hooks the walkie back to her belt and turns to start unlocking the metal door.

Well. It's not away, but drawing the blemmyae inside the big scary room is definitely just as handy. If Julie can slip in behind her, she'll have enough cover to take the monster out without making too much of a disruption.

Christy pulls open the heavy door and steps inside. Before it can swing shut, Juliette does exactly that.

The door shuts behind her, she clears her throat, and then she's a wyvern squished into the tiny hallway while spitting a spray of venom onto the blemmyae guard. Christy gasps, yells "HOW RUDE!" and crumbles to dust.

Alright, that was easier than Julie expected it to be, but now she's exhausted. She turns human again and leans against the wall to catch her breath, looking around.

Eight sets of eyes are staring at her. Julie's own widen in surprise.

She's standing in a circular chamber lined with cells just like hers, except the partitions are reinforced glass rather than Imperial Gold. Because of that, Juliette can see each one of the prisoners inside.

To her left, there are two teenage boys. Two starving teenage boys. Younger than she is and deathly pale. Flashes of Nico fresh out of the jar in Rome haunt her as she looks at them, and she has to force herself to keep taking in her surroundings.

There are six more cells full of prisoners of different races and species. Julie doesn't see any kind of pattern other than the general unkeptness of them all. She sees a young female dracaena. A little demigod girl curled in a ball on top of a bronze suitcase. There's a large young man with dark skin in one of the cells who bares similar wounds to Julie. He must have been fighting in the arena recently.

Most surprisingly, a Hunter of Artemis is in here. Julie recognizes her from the last time she and Jason saw Thalia. Hunter Kowalski.

"Oh my gods..."

Seeing one another makes both of them gasp in surprise and meet at the partition. Kowalski's white hair is tangled in a braid down her back, her young face bruised enough that she must have only recently been captured. She's shouting something to Julie through the glass, face urgent, but Juliette can't understand her.

Frustrated, Julie grunts angrily and looks around for a way to get them out.

She might be a prisoner here too, but that's her own fault. She made her bed. These people don't have a reason to be stuck here, though.

She isn't sure what else to do, so Juliette decides to push her reserves a little further and transform again. Gods, she hasn't been this low on power in years. She's exhausted. She really shouldn't be from just the one fight this morning, but her powers have felt...less stable lately. Like Julie has a block on her endurance almost.

She shakes off the fatigue and stretches back into a wyvern. She doesn't have time to be weak right now. She needs to get these people out before Commodus comes looking.

This room is way too small for her beastly form, but she squishes in anyway. Hunter Kowalski nods her approval and backs to the rear of her cell out of the way. With one glance from Juliette's monster-sized eyes, the other prisoners follow her example. Julie uses her spiked tail to shatter the glass partitions one at a time.

Alarms immediately start blaring. Which means they need to move quickly.

Transforming back nearly makes Julie pass out. Black spots are dancing in her eyes as Kowalski leaps forward to steady her.

"Juliette! Are you alright?! How are you here?!"

"I'm fine," She pants, blinking the spots away. "Long story. It doesn't matter. We need to get you guys out now."

"Agreed. Thank you," The fellow gladiator nods. He immediately ducks into the cell with the two boys and lifts them into each arm. Juliette scans the rest of the cells for anyone else who might need help.

"The other Hunters, are they nearby?" Julie asks, darting towards the room with the little girl in it. The kid still hasn't uncurled from the ball she's laying in.

Kowalski drops to her knees to sort through the glass. She picks up a larger shard and holds it up. Improvised weapon. Hunters are so cool. "They should be. Lady Artemis sent us to check on her brother, but I got caught while scouting ahead. They should not have been too far behind me."

"Apollo?" Julie asks. "Have you seen him?"

"No."

Deciding to continue that train of thought later, Julie kneels down by the girl. "Hey, sweetie. Time to go, okay?"

The child doesn't react to her voice. Not even a twitch to suggest she heard her. Wide brown eyes just continue to stare at the wall, lips moving like she's mumbling, but no actual sound coming from her.

Julie swallows her dread and reaches out. When she moves the girl, the kid is completely limp.

Worrying. But a worry for later. With a mumbled apology, Juliette slings the girl over her shoulder and turns to leave.

A gleam of bronze catches her eye before she can dart from the cell. She double-takes so hard she nearly falls over.

The suitcase the girl was sitting on. It's Celestial Bronze for sure. That's not all that weird, but...

There's a tiny etching of a dragon on the handle. A very poorly drawn dragon. Like a kindergartener did it from memory with a blunt crayon.

Julie only knows one person who draws that badly.

Leo.

"Festus?!" She gasps.

The suitcase actually rumbles at her, the whole thing quaking like a beatbox. It makes her burst into relieved tears. She drops to her knees, gives the case a one armed hug, adjusts the little girl more securely onto her shoulder, and snatches up her dragon friend's handle.

This day has turned out so fucking weird. But, gods, Julie is so happy to see a few familiar faces.

"Everybody move!" Kowalski orders. She and the gladiator boy lead the charge as Julie brings up the rear, all of them ushering the other prisoners out of their cells and towards the metal door. They tear it open and skid to a stop.

Juliette's heart stops.

Blemmyae. Dozens of them. And Lityerses at the head.

He looks pissed.

"So, this just isn't happening," Lit says lowly, sword raised to Kowalski's throat. Juliette tightens her hold on the girl in her arms. "I'm going to give you all one chance to go back to your cells peacefully. Then, I'm going to start hacking limbs."

He sounds serious. Deadly. It sends a chill down Julie's back and a sadness sinking into her heart.

The Reaper of Men.

She had almost forgotten.

Julie looks to the dracaena girl beside her. She motions for her to take the little girl from her arms. And Festus. The girl does so without protest, but she's shaking, her serpentine features twitching like a nervous bunny rabbit's.

Juliette steps through the crowd of freed prisoners until she's at Kowalski's side. The moment Lityerses sees her, his expression closes off, and his anger triples. The sword is immediately at her throat instead.

"Do you have any idea how fucked you are now?" Lit asks. He almost looks...distressed to see her.

Ha, ha. As he should be. See, Julie knew she could be scary!

Juliette stares him down with a sigh. "What are you doing, dude?"

He laughs bitterly. "Says the girl asking to get killed right now."

"Why are you working for this guy?"

Lityerses looks exasperated. He shakes his head and digs the point of his weapon into her neck. "It's a job."

"Oh, come on," Julie scoffs. "Stock broker is a job. Delivery boy is a job-"

"I deliver my emperor the heads of his enemies."

She rolls her eyes. "Okay, edgelord. How about you deliver some fucking prisoners their freedom? Hmm? Or is that not punk rock enough for you?"

Lit narrows his eyes at her and nods his squad of blemmyae. "Put them back in the cells." He grips his sword tight enough that his knuckles turn white. "J-Cadmea goes to Commodus. Alive."

"Hang on!" Julie protests, raising a hand.

Maybe her efforts with the blemmyae did pay off after all. They actually pause when she asks them to, waiting patiently for her to say her two cents. She nods at them gratefully and turns around to address her fellow prisoners. Kowalski specifically.

"Take them and leave," She commands in a whisper. "I'll stay here and buy you time."

The Hunter's eyes widen. She shakes her head. "No. I won't leave another maiden to fight alone."

Julie crosses her arms. "You will, because there's three more behind you who need to get to safety."

Kowalski looks back at the little girl, the dracaena, and another quiet demigod who looks to be barely holding herself up. A pained resignation crosses her face, and she turns to Julie with sad eyes.

Juliette offers her a hand to shake. "Don't worry, they won't kill me. I'm valuable around here."

Kowalski clasps their hands together. She squeezes gratefully. "You are valuable everywhere, Julie. I will tell my commander you're here." The thought of Thalia makes Julie want to cry. She misses her friends so much. "We will return for you."

"You won't be leaving to begin with!" Lit snaps.

Julie rolls her eyes and turns back to him. "Honey Bunch, the ladies are talking right now. Be a gentleman, would you?"

"Put them back in their cells," He orders angrily. "NOW!"

The blemmyae don't move. They're looking at each other. Then, back at Julie. She smiles at them and waves.

"Hey, Jim! Chelsea! Jacob! Charlotte! Jeremiah-!"

With every new name, more of their faces light up, and more of their weapons drop. Lit looks like he's going to throw a temper tantrum.

"I'll do it my fucking self," He growls, raising his sword back up and stepping towards Juliette in stance for combat.

She grins and puts a pause on greeting his small army, letting what little remains of her powers bleed into scales on her cheeks.

"Go," She tells her new friends.

Kowalski and the others take off through the crowd of now docile blemmyae just as Lityerses aims a strike of his sword at Julie's head.

She's shocked she manages to dodge. He's so fast, his limbs look like a blur. While she avoids the first blow with his sword, she doesn't manage to step around the kick he sends at her gut. She takes an off-brand Van to the stomach and lands hard on her back a few feet away. Lit's sword is slashing at her face before she can even gasp. Just barely, she manages to roll out of the way.

She can't get a full transformation in. Her powers are too low, and he's too fast. She'd have a blade buried in her chest before she could even sprout wings. So, instead, she uses what dregs of strength she has left to summon some claws she can block his strikes with.

This is not a fight Julie's going to win. Not even Jason could beat this guy, and he's way stronger than she'll ever be. She's very aware of how outclassed she is here. But, she doesn't need to win. She just needs to hold out long enough that the others can make it away from this hellhole.

The fight lasts longer than she expects it to, honestly. Probably because none of the blemmyae are willing to help Lit take her down. They aren't helping Julie either, to be fair, but them just standing there with wide nipple-eyes is more than she could have hoped for. She'll take conscientious objection over hostility without complaint.

By the time Lit finally manages to slash Julie across the midsection, the sounds of her friends' retreat has long faded. She yelps at the burn down her abdomen and doubles over. He takes that opportunity to slam a fist into her cheek and knock her to the ground.

Before she can get up, his shoe is on her sternum, and his sword is at her neck. He looks pissed. He's panting, curls sweaty. Julie finds satisfaction in that. He can't claim she isn't a challenge to fight now!

But, Juliette's been caught. She's not getting out of here today. She expects to feel that emptiness in her chest again. Surprisingly, though, a giddy laugh bubbles out of her.

Her friends got away. They got out, and Leo is here. Leo's going to come save her for sure.

Leo will save her, and then she'll see Jason again. This will all be so worth it in the end.

Julie grins up at Lityerses around the blood on her teeth.

"I like you from this angle," She teases.

Lityerses shakes his head, something frustrated and...strangely pained in his eyes, and then the pommel of his sword sends Juliette's vision to black.