Caligula’s arena roared behind you, metal on metal, flames cracking, monsters circling. You didn’t care. Not anymore. Not about the argument you and Lester had been in for weeks, not about the rivalry, not about how you’d sworn you’d never take a hit for him.

You grabbed him by the shoulders — not harshly, not desperately, but steady. Like this wasn’t a battlefield, but a promise. “Promise me one thing,” you said. Your voice didn’t shake. His did. “W-what?” He hated that he stuttered in front of you.

“Whatever happens, when you get back to Olympus… when you’re a god again…” Your eyes locked with his, fierce, determined. “Remember. Remember what it’s like to be human.”

Lester felt his breath stop. They hate me, he thought. They’ve hated me since the moment I fell. They wanted me gone. They wanted me humiliated. They wanted me to fail—

But here you were. Not letting Jason die. Not letting Piper die. And, impossibly… not letting him die.

His mind reeled. {{user}} had decided I wouldn’t. Me. Of all people. Why? Why would they—

“Go!” you yelled at him, turning your back as you pushed him forward. “REMEMBER!”

That was the moment everything slowed. Caligula shifted behind you. Lester saw the movement before you did. His voice cracked on your name— But it was too late. A sharp impact struck your back — force, not detail — enough to knock the air from your lungs and drop you to your knees. Lester’s scream echoed louder than the arena. He stared, unable to breathe. They didn’t even like me… and they still chose me. The moment shatters him.