Thank you guys for being so patient :)

Let it commence.

Octavian

It took nearly an entire day since Annabeth Chase locked Octavian in the cell before someone finally rescued him. Wrists rubbed raw and throat raspy from screaming, he collapsed into the praetor's quarters, refusing anyone to see him. Not that anyone saw him, anyway.

"She will pay," he muttered, rubbing nectar on his wrists like lotion. "She will be the sacrifice...along with Jackson."

He tossed the bottle of nectar on his desk and watched as his red wrists slowly returned to their normal color, the blood seeping back into his veins, the chafed skin healing. Soon he wouldn't have to use nectar or ambrosia ever again. The extent of the promises that Gaea gave him were infinite. He would soon be a god.

That is...if he fulfilled his end of the bargain.

The thought jolted him out of his senses. Time was running out, and Jackson and Chase were still running wild. They broke into camp, caused an explosion, drained out one of their weapon stashes, and locked him away. Their time of fun and games was over.

Octavian hurried over to the trickling fountain in the corner of the room and tossed a silver denarii into the rainbow. Would this work if he prayed to a Greek goddess?

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Percy Jackson."

The image shimmered, as if Iris was considering processing the request. Finally, the picture fizzled into view.

"—Your best to keep her away from the Field of Mars," Percy was saying.

Nate—the traitor—stepped into view. "I'm sure I can keep her distracted," he smirked.

"Good," Percy replied. He shifted on his feet. "Now, what we'll need to do next is—ah!"

Percy jumped backwards, landing on Nate's foot. His sword was instantly in his hand, and he started to swipe through the image.

"Not so fast," Octavian said, grinning. "We need to talk."

"Not likely," Percy growled.

Annabeth pushed past Nate to stand next to Percy, and Octavian could also see Jason Grace, his Indian girlfriend, and the annoying Latino kid behind them. Unfortunately, he couldn't see where they were. Too many people were in the way.

"Percy, let's hear him out," Annabeth said, grabbing his wrist and lowering his sword.

Percy glared at Octavian for a few seconds before he spat, "What do you want?"

"I have a proposition," Octavian said disinterestedly. "You might want to hear it."

"Get to the point, Scarecrow," the Latino said.

Octavian clenched his fists, nearly drawing blood with his fingernails. "Surrender Chase and Jackson and I let the rest of you live."

This threw Percy off. He opened his mouth and glanced behind him, looking unsure.

"Not a chance," Jason said, stepping forward. "You're not actually considering—"

"I don't know," Percy snapped.

"There's no way we're giving you up to Gaea," the Indian said firmly.

"Are you crazy?" Latino said.

"Looks like that's a negative," Jason said. "Anything else?"

"I was hoping you would say that," Octavian said gleefully. "I'm afraid it means that the only option left is attack. You don't seem to understand. When I want something, I get it. And you've been hiding like rats in a sewer for too long. It's time for you to be exterminated. Gaea doesn't have much use for you anymore. You've proven useless." He started playing with his nails for dramatic effect.

"I couldn't agree more," Percy said. "It's about time that I send your scrawny podex to the Fields of Punishment."

Octavian smiled. "Empty words. You and I both know that you could never kill me."

Percy opened his mouth to retort but Octavian plowed on. "My forces and I will be waiting..." He thought of what Jackson was just saying earlier. "...At the Field of Mars." Percy paled slightly. "Fail to show up by sundown tomorrow, and one of your followers will be killed until you do."

And with that, Octavian swiped his hand through the Message, ending it abruptly on Percy's white face.

Annabeth

As soon as the image of Octavian disappeared, Percy rubbed his face with his hand, dragging down the cheek with his fingers. He looked over his shoulder at me, his face haggard. I just reached out and took his other hand in mine.

"Don't," I said. "Whatever you're thinking, whatever you think we should do, don't. Stick with the plan."

"Annabeth, he—"

"Are you honestly going to take what he said seriously?" I said. It was time to give him some tough love. "Have you seen him? He's going to fall apart before you do. And that's not saying much."

He smiled weakly, and Jason clapped him on the shoulder. "Dude, we've got your back."

Reyna stood up next to Percy. "I'm sorry. I should have helped."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's fine. If he saw that I was with you, I'm sure his threat would have been a lot worse."

"At least he was the one that issued the challenge," I said. "Now we don't have to do it."

"We do have something to our advantage though," Percy said.

"What?" Leo asked.

"You," he said. "Well, you." He gestured to the small group of kids from Camp Half-Blood—Jason, Leo, and Piper. "When we played the war games, the Romans had no idea what hit them when we fought. They aren't used to our fighting style."

"And remember," I put in, "We saw that some Romans will switch to our side. We might have a chance."

Everyone gave half-hearted smiles, but they didn't reach their eyes. We were in pretty much no condition to fight, be we had no choice.

"Do we still have the weapons in your toolbelt?" I asked Leo.

He patted it. "Still here. We were able to nick some more nectar and ambrosia too. You know...just in case."

Everyone went quiet, thinking about what was going to happen tomorrow. There was no avoiding it. I tightened my grip on Percy's hand, making sure that he was still here and that this wasn't some horrible dream. As much as we said that we had a chance, we really didn't. We were walking into this battle like a pig to be slaughtered.

Reyna cleared her throat, breaking the depressing silence. "I'll go tell everyone else."

She walked away, her braid swinging against her back, still managing to hold herself high.

"We should all get some sleep," Hazel said quietly. She and Frank hadn't said a thing since Octavian had appeared. I honestly couldn't blame them.

Jason nodded and placed an arm around Piper's shoulders, drawing her close. They gave us one last glance before walking away to a place where they could rest. Leo gave us a sad, small smile and followed his friends. Hazel and Frank took each other's hands and slowly left, leaving me, Percy, and Nate behind.

"I should get back to Bethany," Nate said. "Tell her what's going on."

"Thank you, Nate," I said. "For helping us."

He nodded and left the room. Percy and I were alone.

"We can't do this," Percy said, sinking to the ground. "I can't lose anyone else. If someone dies, it will be on my head."

"I know we can't," I said, sitting next to him and putting his head in my lap. I rubbed his head, trying to calm him down. "But we have to. And I'll be by your side."

"Annabeth..." he said quietly. He tried to say more, but he trailed off. But I understood what he was trying to say.

"I know," I said softly. "I know."

I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next. I worked on this chapter over the span of a couple days, so sorry if it seems really choppy.

Thank you guys for keeping up with me. It truly means a lot.

Hopefully I'll see you all soon!

~littlebitclever