Death and Madness|| Nico di Angelo

Percy and I kill his half brother (Not Tyson, obviously)

In the stands, the sumo dude raised his hands for silence.

"Good entertainment!" he bellowed. "But nothing I haven't seen before. What else do you have, Luke, Son of Hermes?"

Luke's jaw tightened. I could tell he didn't like being called son of Hermes. He hated his father. But he rose calmly to his feet. His eyes glittered. In fact, he seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

"Lord Antaeus," Luke said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "You have been an excellent host! We would be happy to amuse you, to repay the favor of passing through your territory."

"A favor I have not yet granted," Antaeus growled. "I want entertainment!"

Luke bowed. "I believe I have something better than centaurs to fight in your arena now. I have a brother of yours." He pointed at Percy. "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

The crowd began jeering him and throwing stones, most of which Percy dodged, but one caught him on the cheek and made a good-sized cut.

Antaeus's eyes lit up. "A son of Poseidon? Then he should fight well! Or die well!"

"If his death pleases you," Luke said, "will you let our armies cross your territory?"

"Perhaps!" Antaeus said.

Luke didn't look too pleased about the "perhaps." He glared down at Percy, as if warning him that he'd better die in a really spectacular way or he'd be in big trouble.

This was crazy, I couldn't believe this was Luke. The guy that had tea parties and acted out plays with me. The guy that protected me from my mom when she came home drunk. The room started spinning. 

"Luke!" Annabeth yelled. "Stop this. Let us go!"

Luke seemed to notice her for the first time. He looked stunned for a moment. "Annabeth?"

Then we locked eyes. "Maeve.." He breathed out. 

For just a second some emotion flashed across his face, but it was soon gone. Replaced by a hideous sneer.

"Enough time for the females to fight afterward," Antaeus interrupted. "First, Percy Jackson, what weapons will you choose?"

I couldn't hear anything after that. My throat closed up and my heart started beating fast. Oh gods, not now. I couldn't have a panic attack now. I had gone almost two weeks without one, and I was stupid to hope that they had stopped. 

My vision fogged and I kept hearing the monsters in my ear. 

We were all going to die

"We're not" I mumbled, trying to convince myself and blinking back some tears. "Percy's gonna get us out of here" 

My palms became sweaty. I was going to die here. Percy, Annabeth and Rachel were going to die here. There was nothing we could do, death was imminent. 

"Percy!" Annabeth beside me."His mother is Gaea! Gae—"

Her Laistrygonian captor clamped his hand over her mouth.

I was vaguely aware of the fight going on between Percy and some monster. I was too busy trying to breathe, which I discovered I couldn't. 

"No!" Antaeus bellowed. "Too fast! You must wait for the kill. Only I give that order!"

The gates opened again, and this time a young warrior came out. He was a little older than Percy, about sixteen. He had glossy black hair, and his left eye was covered with an eye patch. He was thin and wiry so his Greek armour hung on him loosely. He stabbed his sword into the dirt, adjusted his shield straps, and pulled on his horsehair helmet.