The Demigod Games

Chapter Thirty-two

Lara clung onto the freshly grown oak tree, her broken and jagged fingernails digging into the bark. In her pocket, a dirt-covered dagger hanging out from her belt loop.

She swore in Latin under her breath as spiders crawled down from the nooks of the trunk, biting her delicate flesh. Tiny bumps appeared where the spiders had injected the venom into her bloodstream.

"I thought that was supposed to be the curse of Minerva," Lara muttered while placing her feet up on the bark. "This is ridiculous."

So is this event, a voice whispered in the back of her head. I must win.

Percy and Annabeth were distracted once more, in the game of looking into each other's eyes lustfully and avoiding death by random Godly creations. Lara knew it was her only chance to take out her only competition and become Poseidon's favorite.

Poseidon may have been father to demigods like Percy and countless of others who have triumphed over monsters and impending oppression, but Lara was ready to defeat even the mightiest forces in the universe to win a throne next to her father in Olympus. Glory was all a demigod could could ever wish for in their short-lived lives. Immortality, rather than a fear of death, was the dream for Lara ever since she found out who she actually was.

It was only those two demigods that stood in her way. They always seemed to come out victorious for whatever trial they faced, despite having serious injuries and loss of hope.

Lara wrinkled her nose as Percy took off his shoe and chucked it in the direction of the strange monster that had been chasing them, and then led Annabeth away in energized sprints. The monster disappeared in a black hole of who knows what, without a single trace.

She leapt off the tree with grace, following the couple. Her determination grew as she carefully traced their steps into the forest.

Neptune's voice seemed to echo endlessly, filling her ears with insults and taunts.

"I am good enough," she growled, not loud enough for them to hear her. "I am good enough to kill Percy Jackson."

"I'm sure you are," another voice cut in.

Lara stopped in her tracks, his fingers grazing the hilt of a knife she had placed carefully in her self-constructed belt loop. "Edward. I didn't think I'd get to see you again this soon."

"Just a few hours ago we were about to kill each other. You're already after those two?" Edward came out of the shadows, looking as if he had been brought back to life. " Lara, Lara, Lara. Always out for the biggest prize of all."

Sneering, Lara unsheathed her knife. "You think you're tough shit? I could send you to Hades in less than a minute."

"I know I'm tougher than you are, bitch," Edward retorted maliciously. "That's why we have to settle this score right now."

"What do you mean?" Lara questioned, ready to lunge forward and pierce Edward's heart at any given second. Of course, she knew he was just as alert and prepared as she was. She had already noticed that his hand clung onto his hip, presumably hiding a sword behind his back.

Edward chuckled menacingly. "The obvious answer is for us to kill each other right now, but we need to be smarter than that."

"Are you trying to say that you'd rather have one us be the victor than Percy or Aelia?" Lara concluded, tossing the idea around internally. It all made sense to her. Glory was the goal for both of them. The rest just wanted to survive and presumably save the universe single-handedly. That wouldn't be enough for Lara or Edward.

He nodded, a dark glint appearing in his dark eyes. "Are you in?"

"Drop weapons in three, two, one," Lara ordered, tossing her knife away simultaneously with Edward. She found herself amused enough to let out a snort. "We both know that these aren't the only weapons we have on hand."