It turned out that getting in was the easy part.

Reyna suggested they split up and go around the enclosures, looking for a way in. Jason had immediately shut down that idea, and Gem had to agree with him. The password that hadn't worked, 'Ludum Venatorium,' had been ominous. Gem had literally just escaped a pirate ship a few days ago. She wasn't in the mood for any more fighting for her life. Or for watching animals fight for their life. Or any mix of the two.

It was Jason who spotted the employee entrance. It was a white door against a white wall, probably to blend in - not that it was special. Scar had gone off all the time about the secrets of keeping the employee entrances hidden, before he died. He'd wanted to build an amusement park.

Maybe he'll build one in Asphodel, Gem thought, and smiled to herself at the thought. Knowing Scar...

A/N Yeah I'm sorry I had to bring him up again aaaa

They found that it was locked. Of course it was. Jason tried and failed to pick the lock. Reyna tried and failed to break the door down. Gem tried and failed to just turn the handle and open it.

So they just sat there, scratching their heads. At a door.

"Uh... Ludum Venatorium?" Jason tried, finally.

The lock clicked.

"Oh, now it works," Gem grumbled.

"I'm confused," Reyna declared. "I think we, like... used the wrong formula but got the right answer."

"At least we got AN answer," Jason said, and opened the door.

Behind it, they found a storage room full of foul-smelling meat - not rotten, it just smelled bad - and various tools. There was a trapdoor that led down a staircase to some sort of basement. And there was another, sturdier door that Gem assumed went into the enclosure.

They found a key dangling on a hook next to the door.

"This feels too easy," Reyna observed, taking the key off the hook and examining it, then approaching the door.

"Don't jinx it," Jason said as she slid the key into the lock, slid the chain out of the latch, and carefully opened the door.

"Hey, uh, leopard," Jason said, entering the enclosure. "Here, kitty kitty."

Gem entered the enclosure as well. Above them, in a perfect position to pounce, the leopard lazily opened one eye.

"Bacchus sent us," Jason continued.

The leopard turned its head away from them and went back to sleep.

"Alright, come back out here," Reyna said. "We gotta think of a better way to do this."

Gem and Jason glared up at the cat for a moment. Then they went back into the shed. Reyna shut the door behind them.

"Maybe we could lure it with the meat," Gem suggested.

"People aren't going to like it if we just walk through the city leading a giant deadly animal around with a piece of meat that it could lose interest in in any moment," Reyna said. "I think we should wait until nightfall. Then steal one of those zoo trucks-"

Gem shuddered. "I hate zoo trucks."

"-find that son of Mercury again, and get back to Camp Jupiter," Reyna finished.

"Good plan," Jason said. "How do we find the son of Mercury?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Gem decided. "So what do we do? Camp out here and hope nobody walks in on us?"

"Head down into the basement," Jason said.

"I don't know, I have a bad feeling about that basement," Reyna said.

"It's a basement. Basements won't hurt you," Gem said cheerfully. "It's only what's in them that will."

She promptly hopped down the stairs, smirking at the disturbed glances that Jason and Reyna shared behind her.

Jason was the last one down. As soon as he did, the trapdoor closed behind them, seemingly of its own accord.

"That's spooky," Gem commented.

"And concerning," Jason said, pushing on the trapdoor. "It's locked."

"Even spookier," Gem said.

The room was in darkness. Gem kept her hand on the wall and walked along it, looking for another exit. She immediately tripped over something, causing a loud clatter. She reached her hand down to attempt to set it back upright but quickly drew it away with pained grunt. The objects that had fallen out of the crate were sharp and glowing faintly. Probably weapons of some kind.

"Gem?" Jason's face was illuminated. He had his sword out, and it glowed as well. Gem thought that was a good idea, so she pulled out her own cutlass. Her New Rome tourist jacket had been tied around her waist to hide it, since it didn't have a sheath.

"I'm fine," Gem said, crouching down to get a better look at what had toppled over. Daggers - at least two dozen of them. Celestial Bronze. There was a thin line of blood on her left hand from being cut by them.

She carefully placed the knives back in their box and set it upright.

"Over here," Reyna called. "I found a tunnel."

Gem followed the wall towards her voice. Her hand hit something on the wall.

Immediately, light flooded the room.

Torches lit along the walls of the basement and the hallway Reyna had found. Gem had gotten lucky - her corner just had crates, but the side of the room Jason was on was scattered with cages big enough to hold a person, and bones. Lots of bones. Some of them were animal, but some of them looked human. There were also the remains of monsters - spoils of war. Horns, teeth, pelts, battered old weapons.

Jason went pale.

"This does not look good," Reyna said, peering down the hall.

"It seems very not smart to leave rotting prisoners in the same room with weapons," Jason observed.

"Maybe we should leave this off," Gem said uneasily, reaching for the thing on the wall again. Now that she could see it, it was a large lever.

"If anything is down here, it already knows we're here," Reyna said. "Might as well be able to see."

Gem walked over to Reyna. Her step crunched loudly on something. When she looked down, she wished she hadn't - her foot had plunged right through the skull of what looked like some species of dog. Possibly a small hellhound. Her stomach churned, and she hurried to free her leg.

It reminded her painfully of her old friend Cat. Where was that hellhound? Possibly still wandering around the Underworld. Possibly killed by some demigod. Possibly adopted by someone else.

Someone else who was not Gem. That thought made her mad.

She finished making her way to Reyna. They went into the tunnel, with Jason only a step behind.

The tunnel didn't really go that far, but it seemed long because of how monotonous it was. Torch, tattered banner. Torch, tattered banner. Oh, look, a decapitated human skeleton. Torch, tattered banner. Every few rotations of torch and banner there was a doorway that led to other parts of the catacomb, but they stayed on the main path. It was most likely to lead them to an exit.

The end of the tunnel was a circular room with several more halls branching off and a couple more cages. There was something alive in one of them, but it was hunched over in the corner so Gem couldn't tell what it was. She wanted to free it.

"We don't have the time," Reyna muttered, as if she read Gem's mind.

Jason spotted the staircase first, because Gem was looking at the thing in the cage and Reyna was peering down one of the sides.

"Daylight," Jason said. "I found our exit."

Gem glanced at the cage one last time before she stood next to Jason and looked up the staircase. It was indeed daylight. There was sand scattered around the stairs, and they saw blue sky above the exit.

Reyna charged past them and up the stairs.

"Oh- okay, bye," Gem grumbled, as she and Jason followed the daughter of Bellona in a much more civilized manner.

When they emerged back into the light, they immediately crashed into Reyna. She had her sword out. A hidden portcullis slammed shut behind them. Gem wasn't about to complain about that.

"Reyna, move," Gem grumbled. "I can't get through the doorway."

Reyna stepped out of the way.

"Oh," Jason said. "Ludum Venatorium."

They were in an arena, surrounded by monsters and people and probably even some mortals. The sky was harshly blue. It wasn't nearly as big as the Colosseum in New Rome, but it was big enough for a big brawl.

"We walked into a trap," Jason realized.

Reyna gulped. "You know how some zoos do shows with the animals?"

Gem bit her lip and nodded.

On the other side of the arena, another portcullis opened, and a creature strutted out.

"Ladies, gents, and everything in between!" A voice called out. Gem couldn't locate the source. "Our next contenders: Geminitay, daughter of Ceres! Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona! And Jason Grace, son of Jupiter!"

The crowd roared, although Gem wasn't sure whether it was in support of them or just in support of murder.

"And on the other side of the arena, the Leopard of Dionysus!" the announcer cheered. The crowd went wild again. Yep, definitely in support of murder.

Reyna pursed her lips. "Well... we've just become the show."