Dancing with Death

The Main Event

Eliza curled her fingers, long thorn sprouting from her palms. "What main event?"

Otis chuckled. "When we release hundreds of monsters into Rome." The pride saturating the giant's voice made Eliza want to wretch.

Ephialtes shrugged. "We were going to have a public execution, but..." he kicked the large jar over. "He has no entertainment value like this."

The lid fell away from the mouth of the jar and a limp unconscious Nico rolled out.

Eliza didn't know why or how, but somehow she knew Nico was still alive. She glanced over at Percy. The son of Poseidon met her gaze, worry filling his eyes. She simply nodded.

Jason and Percy rushed forward, charging the giants. Piper dashed towards Nico as a plethora of wild animals broke free of their cages, damaged by the fight with the giants. The daughter of Aphrodite struggled to ward off the monsters on her own.

Eliza clenched her living swords tighter and waded into the battle, trying to keep the monsters from reaching Piper and Nico.

The room filled with clamor and chaos as cages opened and wild animals rampaged and the twin giants stomped and smashed everything in their path.

One of the giants jostled a cage right over Eliza's head. She dove out of the way as the massive metal trap clattered to the ground, the door bending and snapping open.

A trio of hellhounds leapt out of confinement, growling and foaming at the mouth.

Eliza groaned. "It had to be hellhounds." Spinning, she sliced through the first as it dove passed her. She ducked below the second as it lunged over her and slid across the stone floor right under the foot of a stumbling giant.

Eliza cringed as a cloud of dust burst around Ephialtes' heel.

The third plowed into her from the side. They rolled across the floor. The hellhound finally pinned Eliza beneath its weight, but Eliza had managed to force a long branch between its jaws, pressing back against the feral canine.

As her arms weakened, she grew a thorn on her knee. Crying out, she kneed the hellhound in the stomach, driving the thorn up into its chest.

The monster exploded into a cloud of dust, leaving Eliza lying on the ground with a chewed up stick and a bloody thorn sprouting from her knee. Both crumbled to dust as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Look out!" Percy shouted from near the wall.

Eliza dropped right as a firework rocketed by and collided with a hydra. The multi-headed monster roared in pain and burst into golden glitter.

Suddenly, Bacchus appeared out of no where.

Eliza couldn't quite hear what all he said, but the next thing she knew, they were standing in a refurbished colosseum with a crowd of people cheering in the stands. She, Jason, and Percy stood facing Ephialtes and Otis, who were struggling to look unimpressed.

Eliza's gaze wavered between each of the giants. "You two pick a giant. I'll try to keep them distracted." Before the boys could answer, she sprinted forward and jumped. As she landed, the earth cracked and vines twisted around her up to her waist.

With a shower of dirt and stones, a massive tangle of vines erupted from the ground, lifting Eliza to the giant's height. Flicking her wrists, long thorns sprouted from her palms, forming swords in her hands.

The vines moved through the earth towards the giants.

Eliza slashed the air with one of her swords, the blade stretching until it cut through Otis' shoulder.

The giant growled, sneering at his tiny opponent.

Thrusting her other hand towards Ephialtes, her sword shot free of her hand and stabbed into the giant's chest.

He ripped the thorn free of his flesh and crushed it in his hand.

The twins lunged forward at the same time.

Eliza willed the vines holding her to scrunch and press together, shortening her pillar.

The giants collided, tackling each other to the ground.

Eliza straightened herself, the vines stretching back to full height.

Jason and Percy were gawking at her.

"Come on!" She ducked Otis' arm and sent a spray of thorns shooting towards his chest. "I can't beat them alone!"

Snapping out of their shock, the boys drew their swords and rushed forward.

Eliza tried to hold the giants' attention as the boys attacked them from below. She turned and saw Otis, arm raised, ready to crush Jason.

"Look out!" She threw out her hand and a tree burst through the dirt, growing up and around Otis' arm. Someone growled and she turned just in time to see Ephialtes slice his sword through her pillar of vines.

The whole thing tipped, the vines withering.

Eliza fell, plummeting towards the dusty arena floor below. Using one of the few surviving vines, she managed to soften her landing, but her body ached as she tried to stand.

Before she got to her feet, a giant hand smacked her across the colosseum. She felt herself rolling painfully across the rocky ground before she finally settled on the right side of her body. Her head throbbed and black rimmed her vision. Her chest hurt when she breathed. It felt like every bone in her body was broken. Finally, the pain overtook her and the world went black.
* * *
Eliza could vaguely see the walls of the arena through the hair hanging in front of her face. Her whole body hurt, but not nearly as much as before. She pushed herself off the ground.

"Eliza!" Jason half ran half slid to her side. "Are you alright?"

"I think so." She reached up to touch her throbbing forehead, feeling blood against her fingertips.

"Good." Jason breathed a sigh of relief. "You were quite the hero out there."

Eliza froze when she saw her bloodied fingers. "No I'm not."

"What?" Jason chuckled, a little confused.

Eliza finally looked at him. "I'm not a hero."

His gaze settled on the blood slowly running down her face... the golden blood.