𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 [Jason Grace]

49

𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬. But nothing like this. In the huge Colosseum, with thousands of cheering ghosts, the god Bacchus staring down at him, and the two twelve-foot giants looming over him, Jason felt as small and insignificant as a bug. He also felt very angry.

Fighting giants was one thing. Bacchus making it into a game was something else.

Jason had been a pawn for the gods many times. His own mother had given him up on Hera's orders just because the goddess was jealous of the mortal and couldn't keep her own husband in line. Then Hera had plucked Jason out of his home, wiped his memory clean and sent him across the country.

Maybe the gods were better than the Titans, or the giants, or Gaea, but that didn't make them good or wise. It didn't make Jason like this stupid arena battle.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much choice. If he was going to save his friends, he had to beat these giants. He had to survive and find his friends

Ephialtes and Otis made his decision easier by attacking. Together, the giants picked up a fake mountain as big as Jason's dorm at Camp Jupiter and hurled it at the demigods.

Percy and Jason bolted. They dove together into the nearest trench and the mountain shattered above them, spraying them with plaster shrapnel. It wasn't deadly, but it stung like crazy.

The crowd jeered and shouted for blood. "Fight! Fight!"

"I'll take Otis again?" Jason called over the noise. "Or do you want him this time?"

"We attack together," Percy said after a short pause. "Otis first, because he's weaker. Take him out quickly and move to Ephialtes. Bronze and gold together—maybe that'll keep them from re-forming a little longer."

Jason had thought dividing was the natural course—fighting the giants one-on-one, but that hadn't worked so well last time. It dawned on him that they needed a different strategy.

This whole trip, Jason had felt responsible for leading and protecting his friends. He was sure Percy felt the same way. They'd worked in small groups, hoping that would be safer. They'd fought as individuals, each demigod doing what he or she did best. But Juno had made them a team of eight for a reason. He remembered Piper's words from their picnic. It seemed ages ago.

The few times Jason and Percy had worked together—summoning the storm at Fort Sumter, helping the Argo II escape the Pillars of Hercules, even filling the nymphaeum—Jason had felt more confident, better able to figure out problems, as if he'd been a Cyclops his whole life and suddenly woke up with two eyes.

"Why not?" Jason smiled dryly. "But Ephialtes isn't going to stand there and wait while we kill his brother. Unless—"

"Good wind today," Percy offered. "And there're some water pipes running under the arena."

Jason understood immediately. He laughed, and felt a spark of friendship. This guy thought the same way he did about a lot of things.

"On three?" Jason said.

"Why wait?"

They charged out of the trench. As Jason suspected, the twins had lifted another plaster mountain and were waiting for a clear shot. The giants raised it above their heads, preparing to throw, and Percy caused a water pipe to burst at their feet, shaking the floor. Jason sent a blast of wind against Ephialtes's chest. The purple-haired giant toppled backward and Otis lost his grip on the mountain, which promptly collapsed on top of his brother. Only Ephialtes's snake feet stuck out, darting their heads around, as if wondering where the rest of their body had gone.