River Island

Eighteen

Jasper

"Well if it isn't my favorite nephew." Zeus said patting me on the back when I arrived in Olympus.

"You say that to all your nephews." I laughed even though I wanted to squeeze the life out of him right then and there.

"But I mean it when it comes to you." He smiled. "You want to tell me why you dropped out of the competition?"

No I don't asshole.

"I just thought I'd give you a chance to win this one." I smiled. "It must be embarrassing that the king of the gods has never produced a winning champion."

"My sources tell me Ares' daughter is a force to be reckoned with. Have you ever met the girl?" He asked scanning my face for any information.

"More than once. Have you?"

Please say no

"No not yet unfortunately."

"Well as much as I'd love to stand here and talk about her all day with you I need to get going."

"Of course." He nodded stepping aside for me to pass.

Getting as far away from him as I could I made my way to the rooms beneath the arena. You probably already know this but I hate Zeus. Despise the man with a burning passion. But that is a story for another time.

Just as I was about to enter the room I was a hundred percent sure Thalia would be occupying, I was stopped by the six idiots I was hoping would be far away from here.

"Where do you think you're going hot stuff?" Eros smirked.

"We could stand out here and waste each other's time or you could step aside and let me through." I said.

"We can't let you bother our sister before this whole thing. You might distract her." He responded stepping forward.

"Why don't I rephrase my sentence? Get out of my way or that big fight people are dying to see will happen right here." I said glaring at him.

I liked the kid. He was my friend. But I was willing to end him if he stood between me and Thalia. A sly smirk crossed his face and he chuckled.

"I f*****g knew it." He announced. "Didn't I tell you guys?"

"I never thought I'd see this day." Anteros said next to his brother.

"Look fellas can I just see her? Five minutes." I said in defeat.

"We want you to see her trust us. But she threatened us not to let you through." Deimos said.

"And honestly we're more afraid of her than we are of you." Phobos put in leaning against the wall.

"You're scared of her? Sweet defenseless Thalia?" I chuckled.

"How about this? You see her in action then we'll consider letting you see her if you still want to." Eros suggested.

"Okay fine. I need to get to my seat anyway. Tell her I said good luck." I said turning away from the band of buffoons.

I dragged myself up to the stands and took my place in my father's box. He wasn't here for this one. Never attended the winter games and luckily neither did my mother. He rarely left the underworld during winter come to think of it. Only when it was absolutely necessary. And now I was thankful for that. He had asked too many questions about Thalia after Ares' stunt last week. Luckily my mother's hatred for her made him stop, seeing as her name was forbidden to be uttered by anyone. Hades is always one to please.

I took my place on his seat, soon to be mine, and watched as people filled the arena. These things were always fun to watch. The bloodshed was always entertaining despite the constant knowledge of the outcome. I was pulled out of thought by Thanatos' arrival. He took his spot beside me and looked over the crowd.

"I take it your reapers are here too?" I asked not looking at him.

"Someone has to do the collection." He said.

"Is she on your list?"

"I can't tell you." He sighed "But I can tell you that she's come a long way from the last time you saw her."

"I can't help but worry. She's an important asset to us."

"Us? Not just you."

"Where's Ria?" I asked avoiding his eyes.

"I'm right here idiot." My amazing sister said taking a seat next to her boyfriend.

"Nice to see you in the land of the living sis." I smirked.

"Just because you're on your way to world domination doesn't mean you should forget which one of us is older shithead." She said glaring.

"At least I didn't show up looking like a have a case of bubonic plague."

"You swore never to talk about or make any reference about Paris." She gasped.

"And you swore never to mention or joke about my plans out loud."

"And I swore never to associate myself with you two and yet here we are. Again." Thanatos sighed.

"Not everything is about you buddy."

"Yeah babe. Stop being so full of it."

"I should have moved out ages ago." He grumbled under his breath.

Macaria and I smiled at each other and sat back just as Zeus stood to make his usual boring speech. Not like any of us ever listened really.

"Why can't you just kill him now?" Ria grumbled under her breath.

"Dad won't hand me the throne if I murder his brother. And I don't want to kill him for it. Plus we still need to rally some of the other gods and goddesses. Killing them for not joining us will be a waste. I'm not in the habit of wasting recourses." I explained.

"This is why he's in charge." Thanatos told her smiling.

"........ and so let the games begin." Zeus' annoying voice boomed across the arena.

"Here we go." I said sitting up.

"I love this part." Ria whispered just as the arena started shifting.

Everyone loved this part. The walls and seats where rolls of people sat were pushed out making the centre ring larger. Around the ring, were everyone would be fighting for their lives, was an assortment of weapons. From elements to actual physical weapons. The champions had taken a potion before entering the ring. It made them mortal but didn't affect their abilities. I hated that potion. Just as everything locked into its new position, twelve identical holes opened up in the centre each with a champion coming up from the bowels of the arena.

I spotted her immediately. Which you'd expect since I was looking for her. I've been good at reading people. It makes what I do that much easier. I hadn't seen her in over a month and I could already tell she had grown out of her mortal shell. She stood taller than any of her opponents. And she glowed like the freaking sun.

"I see why you like her brother. She's almost as powerful as you." Ria said. "If you weren't so possessive I'd pursue her."

"Not that we've been together for over half a millennia?"

"She's only joking buddy." I chuckled.

The horn was blown and everyone was silent. I could already see what was happening as the game actually began. Ten of the twelve had become allies. Their objective seemed to be to take out house Hades and Ares. They actually believed they'd win?

My eyes remained focused on Thalia as the ring started to spin. She grabbed a small silver dagger from her boot and dodged the wave sent in her direction by Poseidon's champion. He brought up another wave and I saw the slightest movement of her lips.

"Drown"

A simple command. A fatal one seeing as how the young deity sent the deadly wave in the direction of five others. Engulfing them in the cold harsh water and sucking the air out of their weak bodies. Just as he snapped out of his trance his head was sliced off his head by Abaddon. By the small nod he gave her I understood completely what he was saying.

Kill the others then we'll deal with each other. A plan she seemed to agree to. For his sake that head demon shouldn't think of winning.

With half the group gone the real fun was going to begin. The croaking of metal beneath the arena could be heard above the excitement of the crowd. They knew what was coming now. Every game Athena and co chose a monster to throw in the middle of the ring in hopes that maybe one day no one would win. I knew what it was going to be. I always did. So when the ground opened and the chimera reared its ugly head, I saw it coming. And by the smirk on her face so did Thalia.

"Ares you son of a bitch." I smiled as the real fun began.