chapter 28: the fighting ring

Nico's commanding voice got the sword away from under her chin. The empousa didn't let up, still trying to bind her, but Hoa refused to move.

"Nico," she muttered. "I can handle this."

"Yeah, Nico," Luke scoffed. "Let her handle this."

"Fuck no."

And that's when she realized that he was pissed.

Nico never curses.

He raised his sword, taking a fighting stance. The air grew colder as Nico waited. The empousa charged at Nico, trying to disarm him the way she tried with Hoa, but he simply sidestepped and kicked her metal foot.

CLANG!

The sound echoed in the narrow corridor as the empousa dropped.

"Oh, damn," Hoa muttered. She couldn't help but feel bad for the empousa. You never want to fight an angry Neeks.

Nico turned to Luke, a glint of determination in his eyes. "Come on now, what are you so afraid of? Fight me."

Hoa's mood went from proud as hell to what the hell. "Nico! There is no way you beat him!"

"I can do it."

"Hell no! Not even Percy beat him! He was the greatest swordsman at Camp! You're fucked—!" She cut herself off when she saw the death glare Nico gave.

You never want to fight an angry Neeks. Right.

Nico rushed forward, ready to stab him, but Luke smirked. He locked hilts and twisted.

The Stygian Iron sword went flying.

There was no way he used that move, she thought. That is so petty.

Luke kicked Nico's shin, forcing him to fall to the ground. "Yield," he commanded.

"Fuck," Hoa muttered under her breath. "That was anticlimactic."

"Stop acting like there wasn't something you could've done."

"Like what? Get knocked down another time?"

He didn't respond to that, turning away from her instead.

Another kind of monster walked up to Luke with two large sections of rope. He walked over and yanked Hoa's hands up, tying them together. With the rest of the rope, he tied Nico's wrists.

Luke smirked again, gripping Hoa's arm tightly. "You two are in for a real treat. Buckle up, kids."

~•~•~

Oh, holy mother of all bad shit that happens.

They were flanked by dracaenae with the empousa in the back and Luke in the front. Up ahead were large bronze doors—about 10 feet tall and emblazoned with a pair of crossed swords. Behind them came a muffled roar, like from a crowd.

"We'll have fun with thessssse two," a dracaenae laughed/hissed.

Hoa turned toward her, ready to hiss out insults, but one look at her shut the demigod up.

Her face would've been beautiful, but her forked tongue and yellow-slitted eyes kind of ruined the image. She wore bronze armor that stopped at her waist. Below that were two massive snake trunks, mottled bronze and green, in place of where her legs should've been. She moved by a combination of slithering and walking, as if she were trying to walk on skis.

Hoa bit her tongue and forced herself to act more tame. "What do you want from us?"

She hissed, which might've actually been a laugh. "Oh, you'll sssssee. You'll enjoy it if you like fighting."

Luke pushed the doors open, revealing a wondrous yet horrendous sight. "Please enter."

"What?"

"Oh, come on. I know you like fighting. It'll be a fun... learning experience!"

"Excuse me?"

"Just go through the doors."

"Fuck no—"

She was cut off as she was pulled through by Luke, cursing as Nico was dragged with her.

Hoa scanned her surroundings as she tried to figure out what was going on. The arena was relatively spacious, considering it was underground and in a maze. The dirt floor was circular, barely big enough to drive around the rim if you pulled the wheel super tight. There was already a fight going on between a dracaenae and a giant. The dracaenae looked like it had the upper hand, the net and trident doing wonders against the giant's javelin.

The first tier of seats were about twelve feet above the arena floor. Plain stone benches wrapped all the way around, and every seat was full.

Every. Single. Seat.

There were so many monsters: giants, dracaenae, telkhines, and stranger like creatures that seemed half human and half anything—bird, reptile, insect, mammal. Even several demigods came to watch.

But the most prominent feature in the arena were the skulls. The arena was full of them. They ringed the edge of the railing, three-foot-high piles of them decorating the steps between the benches. They grinned on pikes at the back of the stands. They hung on chains from the ceiling like horrible chandeliers. Some looked so old—nothing but milky white bone. Others looked fresher.

Weirdly enough, the banner of Poseidon was displayed on the spectator's wall. It made absolutely no sense—something that represents the gods in the place the gods would want to avoid as much as possible. What was that doing here?

Above the banner was an empty seat that she assumed belonged to Luke. Next to that, however, was the largest giant Hoa had ever seen. At around fifteen feet tall and so wide, he only took up three seats—far larger than the giant fighting the dracaenae. Like a sumo wrestler, he wore only a loincloth and his dark red skin was tattooed with blue wave designs.

THUD!

The giant that was fighting on the floor collapsed near her, making her jump. He was so close that she could nudge him with her foot.

Luke's grip on her arm tightened. "You will not intervene."

"Right," Hoa muttered.

A look of fear on the giant's face as the dracaenae slithered closer, getting ready to make the kill.

The giant struggled to get up, looking around at the audience. Hoa could tell what he was thinking: this is an embarrassing way to be sent to Tartarus.

Hoa watched as the dracaenae whipped him across the face with the net, forcing him to back down. She poised the trident at the dazed giant's heart and looked back at the giant in the stands.

The crowd jeered. "DEATH! DEATH!"

The tattooed sumo dude rose, smiling down at the fallen giant. "You fought well, but not well enough."

Then he held out his hand and gave the thumbs-down sign.

Hoa closed her eyes as the dracaenae stabbed the giant. When she looked up again, all she could see was a pile of dust.

"Good entertainment!" the standing giant exclaimed.

The grip on Hoa's arm increased. She was pretty sure that her blood circulation was starting to get cut off. "Get them to the back while I handle negotiations. Kelli, stay with me."

"Yes, Master Luke."

The firm hand on Hoa's arm loosened as Kelli the empousa and Luke walked away. The dracaenae prodded their backs with their javelins as they were forced to a dark area heavily guarded by monsters.

"You will ssssstay here," the dracaenae hissed.

Hoa muttered, "Not like we could go anyways."

Nico snorted besides her. "We're unlucky to have stumbled here."

"We're demigods. Of course, we're unlucky."

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hi im madi, your loyal author ♥️

luke is a dick

i mean he got better at the end but like rn hes a dick

anyways

check out muse! its a jax x reader (from tadc--the amazing digital circus) and doesn't have many chapters yet, but still! plsplspls take a look.

and that one murder drones book is (still) popping off.

anyways

how was the chapter?

also, what are some questions of your own?

anyways, tysm for reading this crappy book! 😃