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The girl's back is drenched with sweat, the bodily fluid dripping from her forehead and all down her chest as if she had just ran a marathon. Percy Jackson hoists the girl to the next level, the duo barely avoiding a wooden plank that would surely send them tumbling to the hard dirt below the spinning arena.
"Thanks." Cassia Orion murmurs, glaring at her scarred knee that was reminder of her bed ridding injury that she had just gotten an approval from Dionysus that she was allowed to participate in the weekly physical challenges.
"How you holding up?" The raven haired boy asks, breathing heavily as they stand to rest on a beam.
Before giving a definitive answer, the brunette grips the moving plank and hoists herself up and over, landing flawlessly on the next level, winking down at Percy with a gleaming smile, "come on. We're almost at the top."
After hearing the cheers from her friends below, the duo begin to climb their way to the finish line, Cassia already feeling the tingling of an ego boost after she finishes before the undefeated champion Clarisse. But, as they were mere inches from claiming their victory, one of their opponents and close friend had taken a brutal beating from an oncoming beam; the force knocking him into the climbing net where he continues to spin by his ankle.
Cassia, knowing herself and the price of being such a caring person, sighs; she shakes her head with a groan. Percy grips her hand, begging her to keep moving but she refuses, "go get that flag, Jackson. You know me, always gotta be the hero."
"Cass, wait-"
The girl leaps from the platform with ease, ducking and jumping to avoid Tereus's same fate. The brunette reaches down for the struggling boy, "Tereus, grab my hand." As the two make contact and she hoists her comrade to his feet, and with the sudden loss of concentration, she fails to realize the plank of pain barreling right towards her face, as well as the boy willing to save her.
"Cassia, watch out!" Percy encloses his arms around her, allowing the beam to knock into him first before the two get sent tumbling down to the dirtied floor, the brunette landing flat on her friend with a grunt; and the cocky girl ends up victorious, celebrating a little too extra as the crowd roars in appreciation for the reigning victor.
"Are you two okay?" A blue eyed girl, someone Cassia has grown towards immensely in the past year, hoists her to her feet, followed by a protector named Grover who also plays a big roll in the girl's life.
Clarisse, noticing the battered duo had gotten to their feet, trots over with a cocky grin, "so, what I'm wondering is, Percy.. Cassia.. that first quest you went on.. beginner's luck wasn't it?"
"Why I atta-" Percy grabs ahold of Cassia before she could land a huge blow to her boastful grin as Annabeth steps in with a glare: "Clarisse, they saved Olympus. That's more than you've ever done."
