Falling for You

Percy: XXVI

Percy: XXVI

Screams erupted around Percy's ears.

His eyes snapped open, rings of green squinting at the sudden awakening. They watered at the light, brighter than any he had seen in a long time. His hands came down instinctively to push himself backwards, scrambling to his feet as the back of his head throbbed-

Percy froze.

What the-?

He was in the middle of a massive arena. Like an amphitheatre.

And there were absolutely thousands of monsters around him, stood in the stands roaring and cheering, a vibrating mass of claws and horns, a deafening echo. The ragged stands were tall; they had to be to fit all the giants, a couple buildings tall, forming a rough circle bigger than the strawberry fields at camp, burning torches glowing gold and alive. In the middle stood Percy, some kind of blood-red sand underneath his feet. Framing the circle were thick walls of blackstone, with barred windows sunk into them at the bottom, possibly leading to some kind of cell block.

Percy turned in a slow circle, restricted by the chains the linked his wrists and ankles together, a stretch of metal links dragging through the sand.

Monsters were quite literally hanging out of their seats to scream at him, writhing with deranged eyes flashing at him, claws curling over the edges of the barriers. He didn’t know what was keeping them in, but he hoped it stuck.

There was a huge barred portcullis gate on the other side of the arena, and above it a sort of platform. Percy could spy a couple large chairs upon it.

"Oh great." he mumbled under his breath, searching his new restraints for any give, but they were the same as the others.

"Jackson! Jackson!"

Percy turned his head, spotting Koios and Krios in the crowd, in the front row. The monsters around them gave them a wide berth.

Percy hesitated. He didn’t want  to be anywhere near them. But it was either brave it, or continue to have no clue what was going on. He was tempted to just live in complete confusion; it felt like that was all he did nowadays anyway. He walked over to them, wincing at the wave of dizziness he recognised as a concussion. He reached the high wall, and craned his neck up at them.

Koios and Krios leaned their ugly faces over.

"Right, Jackson, you were out for a while so there's no time to explain. Basically, you're gonna fight Antaeus and kill him and pay off our debt. We don't have to hand you in to mother for a while."

The words, while heard, slipped right in one ear and out the other.

"Antaeus..." Percy muttered, dazed.

"Oh right, right." Krios disappeared for a few seconds, before returning with a basin. "Stay still."

He tipped the basin over the wall, and a gush of dark fiery water poured out.

Percy's hands shot up to protect his eyes, the water splattering onto his head, boiling hot. He gritted his teeth, knowing that it would heal him, but despising it all the same. The monsters' roaring increased, the noise resounding all around him as rejuvenation spread through his head.