Prophecies and Lies

Chapter 3: Leo

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Leo asked as they entered the Labyrinth. "And didn't this place burn down a while ago?

"It's fine." Annabeth said quickly. Ever since they had left Camp Half-Blood, she had seemed... different.

Leo shrugged. "Okay."

Suddenly, it got darker.

"Um, guys?" Percy said. "We're trapped."

Leo looked back the way they had come to see that the exit had been blocked.

"Well," Annabeth said. "It looks like we can't go back."

Leo turned towards her. That hadn't sounded like her. She looked the same. Her eyes were as gray as they always had been.

Percy was frowning. He had also sensed a change in Annabeth. But he turned and started walking into the tunnel. "Come on."

Leo and Annabeth followed close behind.

"So where are we going?" Leo asked after they were walking for a while.

"To the next exit, I guess."

                                                 ---------------------------------------------

"Maybe we should stop and rest," Percy suggested.

"Wait," Leo said, walking ahead of Percy and Annabeth, his hand bursting into flame. "I hear something."

He waved for his friends to follow him.

"I think I hear it too." Annabeth said.

"Hear what?" Percy asked.

"I don't know, voices maybe?" Leo said.

After a few hundred paces, the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. It was like an underground Colosseum. People and monsters filled seats that faced and arena in the center of the cavern. At the far end of the room was an elevated platform, where a man sat on a large satin throne. The man was tall, and he definitely wasn't human. He had dark red skin and glowing black eyes. Flaming wings stretched from his back.

Why don't his wings catch anything on fire? Leo thought.

Then he looked in the arena. Two people were locked in hand-to-hand combat.

One was a large, strong guy with chainmail armor. He had longish brown hair that looked burned on the ends. The other was skinny, and he wore no armor. He had short blond hair, and he wore a purple sweatshirt. Anyone who saw the two of them beside each other would place bets on the bigger man winning, but the boy in purple seemed to have the advantage.

"What is this?" Percy asked.

"Seems like some sort of arena." Annabeth answered.

"Well I got that, Wise Girl. And Leo, your hand is on fire."

"Oops." Leo quickly extinguished the flame.

Luckily, no one in the crowd had noticed them, as they were too busy watching the fight.

"Let's go down. We might find things out about the prophecy." Percy said.

"Or the god." Annabeth added. She went ahead and pushed through the crowd.

There were growls and hisses from monsters and curses from humans as they looked for empty seats.

"You're blocking the fight!" "Get out of the way!" 

"Sorry." Leo said. "Yep, leaving now."

The trio sat down in the first empty seats they found. The man and the boy were still fighting in the arena. The man kept swinging his fists, trying to hit the smaller boy, who easily dodged all his attacks.

"Get back here!" the big man yelled.

"Swords." a voice rang through the cavern. The people stopped fighting, and two hard, iron swords fell from the ceiling.

The bigger one caught one sword, laughing. "I will squish you, termite!"

The boy in purple ignored the sword at his feet.

"Not even trying to fight? Good choice." the chainmail-clad man walked towards the boy, raising his sword.

The boy jumped. An explosion at his feet threw him higher in the air. He leaped over the bigger man.

The man stood shell-shocked for a few seconds before whipping around. The boy plunged his sword into the bigger man's chest. The man stumbled back, surprised, before roaring and slashing out with his sword. A shield appeared on the smaller boy's arm, blocking the sword.

How is he doing that?  Leo thought. He didn't seem to have any magic items on him.

The boy in purple lowered his shield and pulled his sword out of the bigger man's chest. Both the shield and the sword disappeared from view. Another small explosion sent the boy flying over the bigger man. Before he landed, he pulled his sword back out and slashed it through the big man's neck. The boy landed, his sword disappearing. The other man dissolved, leaving only his armor and the heavy iron sword.

The crowd was silent.

"Well," the voice from earlier said.

"Who's talking?" Leo whispered.

"There." Annabeth pointed to the back wall, where the man with flaming wings sat on his throne.

The man laughed nervously. Then he clapped his hands. "Grayson wins. If you placed bets, make sure you get your money." he shook his head. "Grayson. Humans have such strange names."

The boy with the purple sweatshirt, Grayson, walked to the far side of the arena, where a doorway opened to let him through.

"Next pair! Place your bets. And this time, start with swords. The beginning of the last one was boring." 

From the doorway came first a large cyclops. A smaller human followed.

The cyclops almost could have passed for human, with his black motorcycle jacket and and sweatpants, if it weren't for his one large, black eye in the middle of his forehead.

The human had a blue beanie on his head. He wore a matching blue jacket and black sweatpants.

The cyclops picked up a fallen sword from the previous battle. The human simply stood, smiling broadly.

"Begin!"