AN: This is a long one! Hope you like it! It's the moment when Willow and Rye- well, I'll let you find out :)
And guys, MOCKINGJAY PART 1 IS OUT! I have to wait until Tuesday to see it, but oh my gods. I cannot wait. Those of you who have seen it, no spoilers even though I've read the book like 50 times.
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO/HoO or K- gah! So many disclaimers, I can't remember which goes with which story. I don't own PJO/HoO or HG. There!
Willow's POV:
The more time we spent with them, the less I liked them. Sure, those seven people would be good allies, but something was odd about them. They refused to share any personal information. They knew close to nothing about Panem's history. Also, that pretty girl, Piper, there was something unusual about her voice. It was so persuasive, so insistent. I didn't believe the things she said, but somehow, she made me want to believe it. And all of them were so good at everything, they almost radiated power. At times, I even doubted that they were human. Yup. I was definitely losing it.
"So, do you guys know camouflage or medicine?" Rye had taken Percy off to the archery area. Frank had insisted on coming too since apparently he was an archer as well.
"A bit. We're not at healing as some of my friends back home, but pretty much the only one who can heal better than them is their dad. We took some lessons." Annabeth answered. I couldn't help noticing that she was talking as if they all came from the same home. These people….
"Hazel and Frank didn't. We didn't have those courses at Camp Ju-" Piper cut Jason off by stepping on his foot. "I mean, no one she knew would teach her how to do those things in District 1." Hazel nodded.
"How much do you know? And how useful is it in the Games?" Piper asked.
"A decent amount. Healing runs in my blood. My mom didn't get the gift, but my grandma did and so did my aunt, at least, before she died in the rebellion. My dad's an amazing painter, and he taught me a lot. And I can imagine that healing would be extremely useful. Camouflage saved my dad's life. He was a very convincing rock, or so I am told."
"I'm sorry about your aunt doesn't really cover it, but I'm sorry." Hazel looked so empathetic, and the others shared her expression.
"You've lost someone?"
"We all weren't very close to at least one of our parents. We all lost a lot of friends. Leo, Jason, Hazel, and Frank lost their mothers. Piper and I were neglected for a good portion of our lives. Percy's the only one who has a parent who's still alive that he's been close to his whole life." Annabeth looked down. My heart broke to hear that. I thought my family had a bad history.
"Oh-"
"Have you seen this guy shoot? He's almost as good as mom!" Rye interrupted me, arriving back with Frank and Percy.
"Where did you learn to shoot? At some Camp Ju-something?" I could immediately tell I guessed right. Percy and Frank gave the others a look that clearly read You told her?!
"So, did you get any better at shooting, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth quickly changed the subject.
"I managed to hit one dummy in the foot."
"But you didn't hurt anyone this time. Way to go."
"You talk like you've seen him shoot before."
I was mostly like a mix between my dad and my aunt most of the times. Gentle, good with words, artistic. Rye took off after our mom, quick and rebellious. However, Rye was too trusting. He never had any suspicions about anything. Whereas, I, if I didn't like something, I would show no sympathy. And despite how much these people had been through, I definitely didn't like them.
"Training, before you came here this morning." There it was again. That motivational tone in Piper's voice. Rye bought it though.
"Okay. Well, it's your turn to teach us something!" He looked at our seven companions expectantly. "Swords?"
"Um, sure. Percy. You're the best swordsman we have. Just don't show off too much. You'll want to, um, you know, surprise the gamemakers." Hazel gave him a small shove towards us.
"What about the Super Sized McShizzle over here?" Leo pouted. Super Sized McShizzle?
"Shut up, Leo. C'mon. Let's go try knot tying. You'll be good at that." Piper led the other five to the other side of the training center.
"So. Which one of you wants to go first?" Percy asked.
I looked at Rye. I could tell he was worried that Percy was just as good with a sword as he was at archery. I was having the same thoughts. I didn't want to learn to fight with a sword and accidentally impale myself. And as previously stated, I didn't trust this guy too much.
"Can you give us a demonstration?"
Percy looked like a trapped animal did right before my mom shot it. Almost as if he was afraid to show us what he could do. Of course he was. It was obvious that the "Seven" trusted us about as much as I trusted them. "Um, sure."
He went around lifting all of the swords there were to choose from like he was trying to inspect them for dirt.
"They're all the same." He noted.
"Of course they're all the same. What were you looking for? A magic one?"
"A huge part of sword fighting is choosing a weapon that's well balanced when you hold it. I'm better with my sword," For some reason, his hand moved to his back pocket when he said this. "But these will do."
Percy walked over to one of the dummies that was armored and hacked away at it, slashing and stabbing at it through it's armor as if it were made of paper. I watched in a mix of horror and bewilderment as he pushed the standing dummy to the ground, stepped on its chest, and stabbed it right where the heart would have been.
He turned to us and I could see he's hardly broken a sweat. "So, do you guys want to try now?"
"I-" Rye gaped at him and I could hardly blame him. No one, no one was that good.
"You're out of practice, Perseus Jackson." The swords instructor who had been standing in the shadows all this time, made her way over to where Percy was standing.
She looked pretty normal, dressed in protective armor, her dark hair barely peeking out through her helmet. She was beautiful, actually. I could see Rye's jaw drop out of the corner of my eye. Her voice sounded like a rich girl who had just gotten back from alteration in the Capitol. Despite this however, Percy took a step back, regarding her as if she had crawled out of a sewer.
"Kelli." His hand hovered over his back pocket again.
"You remembered me. I have finally come back from Tartarus after you and your annoying friend killed me once again. Join me, it seems that these dummies are too little a challenge for you. Perhaps you'd like to practice with me and I can finally get my revenge." Her voice has a tone similar to Piper's persuasive one.
"Percy, what's she talking about?" I took a step back.
"Stay back, I've got this." He turned his attention back to the instructor, Kelli. "Why should I fight you? There are all these witnesses, and you know I'd just vaporize you again."
"Then perhaps, you'd like me to feast on those two." She gestured at Rye and me. "They would make delicious appetizers."
"Is this some sort of joke?" Rye gripped my hand so hard I think it cut off my blood circulation.
"Whatever you do, don't try to get help. I've got this!"
That's when things got even weirder, something I didn't think was possible. Percy reached into his pocket, and pulled out an old fashioned pen. When we learned about the history of Panem, they brought in some old relics from when the land was once known as North America. A pen just like that one was one of them. Percy uncapped it, and it turned into- a gun? No, if I concentrated hard, I could see a sword, one that had a strange bronze glow.
"Percy! Where did that sword come from?" Rye demanded.
"You can see it?" He looked at us in bewilderment. Of course we can see it! I thought, but I didn't get to say that before Kelli took Percy's momentary surprise to her advantage and lunged at him, baring her- fangs? She knocked him over, and Percy's sword skidded out of his hands.
I screamed. I was so confused, I must've been hallucinating. I got the attention of the other six of Percy's friends. They saw what was happening, and their eyes widened. They ran towards us, grabbing random weapons on their way. More training instructors left their posts, rushing to Kelli's aid.
"Willow!" Rye buried his face in my shoulder as Kelli and her supporters' eyes turned pure red, their hair bursting into flames.
I was terrified, but somehow, I couldn't take my eyes off of the scene. Kelli and the others disappeared into a blur of slashing, stabbing, and maneuvering so graceful, it almost looked like a ballet. A bloody ballet. Soon, Kelli was the only one left. Jason rose up above all the others, literally. He literally floated up into the air, and sunk a spear point into Kelli's neck. She wailed, and thrashed, the seven- I didn't even know whether I could call them people anymore- backed up, leaving me to watch in horror as Kelli slowly disintegrated into yellow dust.