They showed up at the coliseum a good twenty minutes before their 'match', escorted by guards Percy didn't know. He wished it had been Jason and Dakota again, as the guards didn't really talk to them, but everyone seemed okay with that arrangement. People stared at them as they were led by, taking the long way to likely advertise the upcoming match. Which probably meant the Romans were pretty sure they'd win. Percy wished he had a phone to record their reactions when that didn't happen.

Naturally, once inside the coliseum, they were taken to the rooms underneath the stands and given their choice of leather armor and weapons. Annabeth grimly took more daggers and knives before scrunching her nose at the shields. Eventually, though, she picked a smaller one that she could lift and move around relatively easily. Percy also chose a smaller shield, but refrained from any more weapons. The only other thing he insisted on taking was a canteen of water that he'd brought with him from the boat. The guards watched him empty and refill it with pure water so they could tell he hadn't 'slipped anything into it'. He even took a sip of the water, and then had Annabeth and Tyson both drink (after thoroughly cleaning off the spout) so they could make sure it wasn't poisoned. Percy couldn't help but think that Zeus'… er, Jupiter's paranoia was rubbing off on the camp. Maybe they should consider changing the name to avoid any more paranoia? He chuckled at the thought but refused to voice it aloud, even when Annabeth shot him a questioning look. He liked living.

They both took leather armor vests and even though he could tell Annabeth didn't like them, the leather belts and strips hanging from them to protect their hips and legs. Annabeth opted for a vambrace on her sword arm and she was not happy when their selection of grieves didn't fit her. They weren't common in Roman fighting, though Percy had never really understood why. Of course, he'd never really cared to look up the reason, just encouraged people to wear what would protect them, Roman or Greek.

He didn't bother with vambraces himself. They hadn't been super common in either style, but he liked them when fighting with Greek weapons and armor, not so much with Roman. He did manage to find grieves that fit him and strapped them onto his shins while Annabeth glared daggers at him. Then they both found helmets that fit—Annabeth grumbling about how it didn't sit right for several minutes—and picked up their shields.

After that, they were about as ready as they'd ever be. Exchanging glances and nods, they turned to the guards, both nodding in satisfaction. Then they led them through the giant, double doors and into the arena.

It was already pretty full. While the stands weren't as full as if the whole city had turned up for it, Romans of all ages had taken seats and a low murmur floated over the arena. After a moment, the guards indicated for them to stop and stepped to the side. Meanwhile, Annabeth and Percy both turned to the large box where the two praetors sat. It reminded Percy of the time they'd needed Bacchus' help during the Giant War and he had to withhold a scowl. That was not a fond memory. And even though he'd been in this very coliseum multiple times, he'd never been in the position of fighting before. Gods didn't do that.

At ten on the dot, Mia stepped forward, face neutral. Next to her, Jacobs smirked, reminding Percy of a drakon about to pounce. He frowned as warning bells went off in his head.

"Challengers, Delegation of Neptune, you are here to prove your worth regarding your claims. If you are to prove that you can teach us or fight next to us, you must prove that there is something you can teach us."

And she was supposedly on their side. Great.

Romans.

"You have challenged three people of our choice. You must win all three matches for your offer to be seriously considered."

Wait, what? He blinked and felt his lips tighten in frustration.

"I thought you said it would be best two out of three," Annabeth hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"It should be," he said back.

"Each of you will alternate fighting our chosen opponents in three one-on-one battles each. Declare your weapons." They both did so.

"Now, pick a number to see who goes first," the praetor continued. From the glance they shot each other, both Greeks noted she didn't announce their opponents' weapons.

"Percy," Annabeth's voice had more anger weighing it down than before.

He cleared his throat and stepped forward. "As the leader of my father's envoy, I claim the right to go first."

"That's not how it's going to go," Jacobs said, causing Mia to roll her eyes. He didn't seem to care though, focusing his gaze on the two demigods in the arena. "You came here, challenged us, insulted us by saying you know better, and if you want to prove it, you'd better be willing to play by our rules or go running back to the sea and your daddy."

Annabeth let out an angry huff next to him. Percy, himself, had to count to ten to keep from exploding at the boy and telling him exactly how stupid he was being. That wouldn't help them here. (It rarely helped him anywhere else, to be honest, but that had never stopped him before… which made stopping here all the harder.)

"We will recall you did not give us that honor," was all he could say. It was a bigger threat than most there probably knew. Thankfully, the Senate members should understand. If they won now, there would be a disgraced element added to the loss. It wasn't as much as he'd like, or as much as Jacobs deserved, but it was something.

"Sorry, best I could do," he whispered to Annabeth. She nodded minutely.

"So, pick a number," Jacobs taunted.

"Tell your fellow praetor what the number is," he shot back.

Jacob's red-brown eyes narrowed. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"No," Percy shrugged, "but you did just deny me a reasonable honor. You set the stage for this confrontation, not me."

The older boy's jaw set, hard, but he knew he'd been backed into a corner. So he leaned over and whispered into Mia's ears. Unfortunately, Percy couldn't hear—he missed the more divine hearing he'd had—or see what he said. This would be a genuine game of chance.

"The number is set between one and twenty," Mia announced.

Was it just Percy, or did this seem very un-Roman-like?

"He's proud," Annabeth whispered. "He'll probably choose a higher number. You guess higher, and I'll guess lower."

Percy nodded. "Eighteen," he said.

"Three," Annabeth said.

He knew they'd miscalculated when Jacobs' grin returned. "Eight."

"What?" the blond asked quietly, shocked.

"Battle strategy," Percy said through gritted teeth. Then he turned to her, meeting her wide, fearful gaze. She'd been thrown off. "They want to see your prowess in fighting and strategy. They don't think you can fight and don't know if your strategy applies to fighting. They will underestimate you, but even if they didn't, I know you can do this, Annabeth."

"You're saying that because you knew her," she said, voice panicked. "I'm thirteen."

Percy frowned. That sounded like something she'd been hiding for a while. He shook his head. "At the age of twelve, you still came with me through the sea of monsters to help me find the fleece. It was your idea that worked there. You still came here with me. You have all the knowledge you need.

"You can do this, Annabeth Chase."

She didn't answer, but that steely look had come back into her eyes with his words. Thankfully.

"Are you done yet?" Jacobs asked, mocking.

That just seemed to help her determination solidify, because she nodded firmly to Percy. He smiled and turned to follow the guards who had come to escort him to somewhere he could watch the fight.

"Then let this match begin!" Jacobs yelled. He got several cheers and Percy rolled his eyes. Dramatic much? Yes, he knew that was the pot calling the kettle black.

Then, across the arena, the large doors opened to reveal a demigod. A very large demigod. He had to be at least six feet tall with muscles that would impress Arnold Schwarzenegger. They'd really stacked the odds, hadn't they. Percy's hands closed into fists and he shot the praetor box a dangerous look. Mia shrugged at him apologetically, but Jacobs' eyes didn't leave the arena, nor did his smirk leave his face.

Taking a deep breath, Percy studied Annabeth. She seemed to be calming herself down. He noted a definite gulp, but she didn't look away from her opponent.

"Wait!" Percy called. "What are the terms for winning?"

Thankfully, Mia heard him. From the smirk on her lips, the oversight hadn't been accidental. Another test. Yay.

"Nothing intentionally lethal, fight to incapacitation or clear kill shot, no head, neck, or reproductive organ targets. Any questions?"

"For both of us?" Percy asked. He knew Romans. Out-sneaked anyone but Hermes and Athena kids. They loved their loopholes and were good at creating them.

Another smile while Jacobs scowled. "Yes."

Percy nodded and stepped back. "Good luck," he whispered under his breath, resisting the temptation to call her 'Wise Girl', even out of hearing range (old habits died hard). She wouldn't need luck, but it wouldn't hurt. Still, he was glad he'd gone over some basics with her that morning. They needed to earn the Romans' respect to get them out of this siege and prepare for Kronos' war. He didn't think they could truly beat Kronos without Camp Jupiter's help. Those kinds of stakes would make anyone nervous.

Fortunately, he and Annabeth both worked better under pressure.

Mia shouted for the match to start and the crowd picked up, calling out and cheering. Percy tuned them out. From the look on Annabeth's face, she did too. She took a defensive stance behind her shield, eyes narrowed and already searching for openings to take advantage of. The guy they'd sent for her was probably twice her height and three times around. Not fair by any means. Good thing they hadn't expected fair.

In her opponent's favor, he didn't seem to be the type to rush forward blindly. He also took a defensive stance and inched forward with his own narrowed expression. That was good because Annabeth had time to make plans, but also very much not good as it meant he was taking her seriously and playing defensive.

The crowd didn't seem to like the fact that Annabeth wasn't moving at all, and that her opponent was being careful. The cheers turned to boos and other less than pleasant shouts.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Annabeth squatted down. With her position and the shield she rested on the ground in front of her, Percy couldn't see what she was doing. The crowd quieted down for a second before shouting even louder.

The Roman demigod had a head on his shoulders. He paused for a moment when she initially squatted down, but charged forward after only a second. Annabeth didn't seem surprised, gladly rolling out of the way as he practically went barreling past. He took a swipe at her, but misjudged her height and missed nicking her with his gladius by inches. If that had been a spatha, it would have cut her deeply. Percy forced himself to remain still, but he felt his fists clench around his own weapons anyway.

She obviously wasn't used to such a heavy, cumbersome shield, but she still gained her feet and took a stance as her opponent whipped around. Why hadn't she used a throwing knife to get him? He'd been fairly open if a ways away…

Hmm. Probably because she had a plan.

He took another breath and waited.

Her opponent took a large step forward, hand raised to chop down with his sword. It was obvious and projected to anyone who had ever fought before, but he was counting on Annabeth being new to her weapons and unsteady on her feet after something like that. Thankfully, she wasn't. At the very last second, she stepped to the side—his outside—and reached out to slice his arm. Gently, all things considered, but she still drew first blood.

Percy allowed a small smile to play on his lips.

"First Blood," Mia called out, looking thoughtful. The stadium erupted. Annabeth paid them no heed as she knelt down again, but stood up quickly, just in time to meet the Roman's sword with one of her daggers. Percy wondered why she'd done that. She couldn't stand up to him in strength. But, after a moment, she slipped to the side. Anyone else would have stumbled, but her opponent seemed to have expected that as he simply turned to follow her.

Instead of rushing, again, he hunkered down and began to inch forward again. Annabeth crouched down to the stadium ground a third time. This time, Percy saw her grab something from the dirt and then stand up again, far more quickly than before. Her hand disappeared into her pocket. He blinked. She was gathering pebbles? Why?

The man surged forward again, but instead of jumping to his outside as she had before, she stepped inside and met his shield with her own at just the right angle. He stumbled off course, but she also took several steps back. She'd braced herself, but he had to weigh 180 lb at least. She probably weighed 70 soaking wet. There was no contest. They managed to gain their feet about the same time, but Annabeth still managed to brush her hand down and grab a pebble to stick in her pocket before he came charging at her again.

This time, though, he feinted. She went to dive out of the way again, but he shifted weight and used a leg to kick out at her. It caught her in the chest and sent her flying. The crowd went wild. Percy felt his fingernails begin to dig into the palms of his hands, but couldn't make himself loosen them.

The opponent ran after her, and she was obviously coughing. Then she reached into her pocket. The one that held the stones. She looked back at the approaching man, but why wasn't she getting up? Had he hit her that hard? Percy bit his lip, keeping his powers under tight control. Some clouds still began to gather overhead.

Then Annabeth threw her hand out. The calculation for the timing and amount of force she'd have to use was insane, but she'd done it, somehow. Several pebbles flew from her hand, landing just as his foot slammed down on top of several of them. It wasn't much, it only barely caused him to stumble, but it was enough for Annabeth. She launched forward from the ground, into his legs with her shield, managed to slide to the side as he toppled forward, and jumped onto his back. In moments, she held her dagger to the back of his neck under his helmet.

An obvious kill shot.

The arena went silent for a good five seconds.

"Winner, Annabeth Chase," Mia announced, eyebrows mid-way through her forehead.

Percy let out a breath he'd been holding, feeling the tension go out of his body as Annabeth stepped off her opponent, nodded politely to him, and turned to walk back towards Percy.

He grinned.

Elated, she returned it.

After several loud seconds, Mia held her hand up and the crowd died down. "Percy Jackson," she called. Smiling at Annabeth, he strode forward as her opponent retreated, seemingly in a daze. The man that walked through the doors on the opposite side, passing the first guy, was somehow even larger.

They probably thought it would intimidate him. Instead, Percy grinned and swung his sword around. This would be fun.

He didn't know what the Romans thought he'd get when his sword clashed with a guy almost twice his size, but a sharp grin and an excitement whirling around him probably wasn't it. The guy was pretty skilled, but much like with Annabeth's fight, there were ways around it. He could stop the guy's swings, but it took too much effort, so he misdirected, parried, and moved. Keeping part of his demigod brain on his feet, he practically whirled around the guy, overwhelming him with the sheer amount of swings he took.

Swarming was a valid tactic.

He got first blood, and then—even though the guy managed to nick him a couple of times—managed to make him lose his balance and fall back with a thud. He looked up to Percy, holding Riptide to his opponent's throat. A mix of fear, respect, and resentment shot through the Roman's eyes.

"Could you even kill anything with that?" he sneered. "That's not imperial gold."

Right, they didn't have celestial bronze. For a moment, he froze, but centuries of experience made him mentally shove right through that and shrug.

"First, that's not the point." Mia must have announced his win because the stadium erupted. He dropped his sword. "Second, this is something my dad gave me." He shrugged and turned to walk away, keeping half of his attention on the guy. He'd been attacked from behind too many times to do otherwise. Thankfully, the guy wasn't stupid.

"Nice job," Annabeth said as she got back to him, looking impressed.

He grinned. "Thanks. Did that help you at all?"

She smiled. "Definitely."

He shot her his shark grin. "Good. Take the next guy out."

Her smile widened, gaining an amused and far more confident edge. She nodded and walked out into the stadium again.

Her next opponent looked to be on the older side. Maybe in his forties? Fifties? Definitely ancient for a Greek demigod. He noted Annabeth's jaw tightening and wondered if she'd thought the same thing, or if she was just focused on her match. She would have noticed either way, but he wouldn't put it past her to file the thought away to examine later.

The Roman bowed respectfully, and Annabeth did the same, though she didn't take her eyes off of him. He smiled and said something to her Percy couldn't hear. It didn't tick her off, making her tip her head to the side thoughtfully and nodding before retaking her stance.

Mia announced the beginning of the fight, and the man shot forward.

First was strength. Second was skill, apparently, because this man knew how to fight. Almost immediately, he had Annabeth on the back foot just through sheer experience, and while she held her own, Percy found himself biting his lip in worry. She was still just a thirteen-year-old. Admittedly, a thirteen-year-old who had grown up fighting for her life, but still.

This still went beyond unfair.

And then she showed her intelligence again by managing to rip her shield off of her arm and throw it in under a second. Just… how? Then again, that was his Wise…

Styx. He needed to get a handle on that.

Her opponent was not expecting that, knocking it to the side in confusion and turning to see her rushing at him right afterwards. He blinked and moved to stop her, but didn't seem to notice her twitching her arm and allowing one of her other daggers to fall into it, at least not until she'd knocked his sword out of the way with her right hand, but thrust her hand up, pushing the sword out of the way. The guy's eyes widened as he noticed her sacrificing her second weapon. He looked down just in time to see her holding her left hand dagger to his stomach, aimed up towards his heart.

The arena fell silent again.

Percy grinned. The man said something that looked like 'that was foolish'.

She mouthed something back, probably something about how it had worked. He shook his head, somehow managing to give off an air of disappointment and surprised amusement simultaneously. He also looked up at the box and nodded.

"Winner, Annabeth Chase." Even Mia sounded flabbergasted. Instead of cheers and shouts, shocked whispers and murmurs spread over the arena.

Yeah, screw that.

"Yeah!" he yelled. "Go Annabeth!" He clapped for her. That did start applause from the stadium. She turned around to glare at him, cheeks red from embarrassment. Her opponent smiled, said something that had her huffing, and then bowed as he turned to leave. She bowed back, but hurried towards him, not meeting his eyes.

He frowned, wanting to ask what the man said, but then Mia called his name. His mouth clopped closed in frustration, but he tried to look confident as he walked towards the center of the arena.

The girl they put him against was younger this time. Younger and fast. Really fast. No sooner had their match started than she was in front of him, swinging her sword for his neck. He managed to stop her, but she almost seemed to be a blur. It wouldn't be a problem were he still a god, but this was unnaturally fast. Like…

Like Hermes fast. Or Mercury.

Oh.

Well, fine. If she wanted to bring powers into it, he would oblige. He reached for his canteen, twisting the cap open. She noticed and she shot her spatha out to that side. He dodged—barely—but the canteen at his side was suddenly gone. With a metallic thump, it fell to the ground, spilling most of its contents.

The girl grinned smugly. "Oops. Did I spill your water?"

Oh, she was gloating. Percy blinked at her, then smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. She faltered.

He still reached out to the water, easily separated it from the dirt on the ground, not caring if it was a little muddy, and then drew it up to hover over his hand in a bubble.

"Don't worry about it," he replied. Her eyes went wide and her confidence shattered. He didn't wait for her to regain her emotional balance, launching at her and swinging as fast as he could. If he hadn't caught her off guard, he didn't doubt she would have met him blow for blow, easily matching him even if she didn't understand his fighting style yet.

Then her determination hardened and she managed to duck one of his swings and get first blood. He still rolled to the side in time to avoid anything more, but he had to admit he was impressed. She kept an eye on the sphere of water he kept floating around him, but he'd been around the block more than a couple of times. And Annabeth had been his best friend and wife in another life. He knew how to strategize.

So he broke off a small bubble, a fraction of the size of the water from the canteen, when he blocked the floating ball from her view. Then he just had to wait for her to step near it… there. She didn't notice it rising into the air behind her, or him hardening the outside into ice so the middle was still liquid and easily controllable.

The crowd sure did, yelling and screaming at her, but she'd tuned them out. Good.

He waited until she jumped back to regather herself, and then stood straight, holding his hands up. She blinked, surprised.

"That's game."

"What do you mean?" she asked angrily.

He raised an eyebrow and tapped his neck. One of her hands rose to her neck to find the small knife he'd made out of the ice floating there. She grabbed it and paled when she saw what it was and looked back up at him.

"But… you…"

He shrugged and glanced at the box.

"Winner, Percy Jackson."

Jacobs looked like he was about to pop a vein. Percy didn't quite bounce or skip back to Annabeth (who had folded her arms and smirked at him knowingly) and their guards, but it was close. Meanwhile, his opponent, looking at him thoughtfully, turned and walked out of the stadium, head held high. Good for her. No, really, that showed a lot of character.

"And as for the final round," Jacobs' voice suddenly announced as the crowd died down, "Annabeth Chase will be fighting me."

Silence once again fell over the stadium as he stood up and took his praetor cloak off. Mia didn't look surprised. Percy really needed to have a talk with her about what being on someone's side (or at least not against them) means. Romans.

He paused at that thought and had to amend it. The majority of demigods. Even with his demigod domain, he could admit that. People could do and overlook some pretty awful things while trying to survive.

Like him with Akhlys…

Even 300 years later, that still haunted him.

Yeah. Focus on the here and now.

"You have a plan?" he asked his partner.

Annabeth snorted. "Athena always has a plan."

Percy raised an eyebrow at her. "You're not Athena. You're Annabeth." She rounded on him, offended, so he hurried on. "You can think things through that she can't—understand things she can't, just because of who you are and how you were born. I think that will come in handy here."

She closed her mouth, blinking at him. A slight red tinted her cheeks.

"You can do this," he affirmed, softening his voice to show his sincerity.

She looked down. She didn't say anything, but he knew what she was thinking without having to tap into any of her emotions.

"Everything I said before still applies. It always will." He took a deep breath and looked back out to see Jacobs striding into the center of the arena. "You cannot be the woman I remember. You never will be. And that's okay. You'll be your own Annabeth, and you will be just as amazing—will shine just as bright, but in your own way."

She scoffed and began walking away from him. "Of course I will," she said, but he could hear the touch of gratitude. It seemed she'd need a lot of reassurance. And that was fine. In her shoes, he'd probably need the same.

She stopped several feet in front of Jacobs and crouched down. He said something to her, but she didn't respond. He just grinned wider. Percy did not like that grin.

Mia called for the combatants to prepare. Annabeth dropped her shield, letting it rock back and forth on the ground at her feet. The cheers in the crowd fell to a confused murmur, before increasing again. They didn't sound happy. Percy breathed, trying to dispel his anger. Annabeth breathed to focus.

The praetor seemed to get over her own shock, and finally dropped her hand.

The match began.

xXx

AN: So, why is this a month late? Dunno. My available spoons (look up spoon theory) and/or bandwidth (mental equivalent to spoons) plummeted in December. Part of it was how my family got sick and so I couldn't spend Christmas with the fam, and part of it was everything in the last year catching up, and part of it was trying to secure a contractor to come and fix my house so it's safe for hubby to eventually come home, and part of it was just the winter lack-of-sun blues (despite having a sunlamp, I'm trying here). So yeah. It was either take a spontaneous break, or push myself and burn myself out and risk never finishing this. So yeah.

On the bright side, Hubby's trake hole/wound is healing well and we're working on him being able to take a couple of steps by himself (as long as he's leaning on something) so yeah. Life is... yeah.

Anyway. Wish me luck! 3

Hope you enjoyed this. I'd like to post another chapter this week-today if I can-but no promises.

Thank you for reading!

Also, thanks to my beta readers and a particular group of generous supporters: Srinikha, Snow, Asterius Daemon, Shadow Slayer, Starlight3, The Chromancer, Fiah, Pan_theytic_idiot, aaron E., Rayanne E., Splashbear, Shelby A., Rodger44777, and Quathis for their help on this!

Check out my discord for a link (#announcements or #Obis-podfics-and-youtube) to my youtube and my original book on Amazon! Still looking into finding another place I feel I can trust for book publishing outside of Amazon, but life has been... hectic. ^^;

Discord: www. discord .gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)