Chapter 9 - Beware of the Child of Aphrodite

Christine Galliardo

Piper and I raced past the cabins and campers without stopping to catch a breath.

"I heard that the sword practice will be held at the arena this afternoon. It will be a sparring session for the two camps. The best swordsmen will be there like Percy and Hazel. Oh, yeah. Hazel's my friend too. I will introduce her to you. She's a Roman demigod. A daughter of Pluto. Oh, Percy's a friend too. But I guess, you got already acquainted to him, right?" Piper said.

"Yeah. Just this morning with that Athena girl named Annabeth." I replied.

"Annabeth's a good friend though if you just met her, you will find her a kind of unnerving. But as time goes by, you will find her a kind and supportive person."

"I guess..."

"You know what? When you arrived here, when everyone learned that you slayed three drakons all by yourself in one night, the whole camp went into a buzz. Everyone's talking about you. They're thinking you're a child of one of the Big Three like Percy, Jason and Hazel. Slaying drakons is the specialty of Ares cabin. But you're not as wild as them. So, it's a big chance you're not one of them, more of one of the Big Three's. Say, you have another powers like controlling water or summoning lighting? Or perhaps, calling spirits?" Piper asked curiously.

I frowned. I don't have any except speaking dragon language. But I don't want to tell anyone about it yet, not that I don't trust Piper or anyone in camp. It's just that I just arrived and I don't know everyone well enough. And honestly, I don't trust myself. Not until I know who is my godly parent and who am I really, I can't lay my trust on anyone yet. Or even let them trust me in any terms.

"I...I don't know." I just replied.

We stopped running. Piper turned to me. "It's that so?"

I nodded grimly. Piper tightened her hold on my hand and smiled.

"That's alright. A demigod will not discover his powers by just arriving in camp. It takes time and I guess, a bit of will. But if you discovered some power of yours, don't hesitate to ask for help in improving it, alright?"

I nodded.

"Anyway, the arena's not far. Let's go." She pulled me and we went running again.

The arena was jam packed with campers from both camps. All were focused on watching the demigods in the middle of the arena exchange blows with their swords. Piper and I moved slowly through the crowd as we search for any available viewing spot. The seats were already occupied and a huge number of campers were standing just to watch the swordplay. A loud roar exploded from the audience and I caught a glance of the demigods at the middle. It was a three vs. one match. Three Ares kids were fighting against a demigod whose jet black hair and sea green eyes I easily recognized: Percy Jackson. The Ares kids tried to attack him at three corners which Percy managed to adapt quickly. They were swift but Percy's swifter. Percy stayed a defensive stance as the three attacked him all together. Soon, he found an open and broke through them. He went offensive and quickly defeated them in no time. The crowd went wild as Percy was announced as the winner.

"Percy's great at swords, don't you agree?" Piper asked.

"Yeah. Honestly, this is the first time I saw him fight but wow...I'm speechless." I said.

Piper laughed. "That's almost my reaction when I first saw him fight. But what do you expect from a guy who was the child of Poseidon and saved the world and the gods many times?"

I stared at her at disbelief. No way! Percy's that powerful?!

"Piper!" A voice called out. We turned to see two Roman demigods running toward us.

Piper greeted them with a smile."Hi, Hazel! Hi, Frank! What's up?"

"We're fine. Just enjoying the sword practice." One of the Romans said. He is a tall and handsome Asian-Canadian guy with black military-cut hair and brown eyes. He is lean but muscular. He is wearing a an eagle medal on his purple camp shirts. A bag was strapped on his back which I immediately find odd. He looked over Piper's shoulder and met my eyes. I flinched and looked down. "Hey, Piper. Who's the girl behind you?" He asked.

Piper smiled. She moved a little and gestured. "Guys, this is Christine. Christine, Frank and Hazel."

"Nice to meet you, Christine." Frank said.

"Nice to meet you too." I smiled.

"You seemed familiar..." Hazel looked at me, thinking."Wait a minute...are you, perhaps, the girl that just arrived last night? The one who killed the drakons?"

I gave a small smile. "Afraid I am."

She gaped. She took my hands. "You're that girl! It's very, very, nice to meet you. You know what, everyone's talking about you like crazy. They wanted to meet and know you more."

"Really? I'm very flattered. But, I guess there are demigods here that are a whole lot better than me."

"Sure, there are." Piper said, nodding at Percy. "But, slaying drakons before arriving camp...that's a different story."

"Yeah. Piper's right." Frank agreed. "You know, Percy slayed the Minotaur before arriving here at Camp Half-Blood. But if you compare it to slaying drakons, well...drakons are extremely hard to kill than the Minotaur. No doubt."

I just shrugged, anxious to change the subject. I'm not a limelight person like Trisha. I'm not used to all the attention nor do I feel comfortable. I prefer to be at the back of the crowd, doing my own business without any eyes trained on me. Despite that, I often have the urge to step up and lead whenever there's no one leading or I don't agree with the leader. But, often I shun it, not because I'm afraid to commit mistakes and be blamed for it but because I don't want to put others in dangers because of me.

A loud roar of approval rose from the spectators as Percy knocked another pair of Ares kids below.

"That's his 11th win out of 0 losses. Looks like he's aiming to break his current record." Frank noted.

"What's his current record again?" Hazel asked.

"36 wins out of 1 loss." Frank answered. "That one loss was because of Annabeth, right?"

"Yeah. Caught Percy off guard with a kiss. That totally set the whole camp wild for a week." Piper said.

"I don't think wild is the right word. After all, this is a camp swarming with ADHD kids who have immortal war freak parents." Hazel said.

"But I'm lactose-intolerant. Not attention deficient." Frank exclaimed.

"But you have an immortal war freak parent. An immortal war freak dad who is the god of war." Hazel said.

"Right. Thanks for reminding." Frank mumbled.

Another roar of approval. Percy defeated another bunch of Ares kids who limped back to their siblings. Percy reunited with Annabeth and Grover at the sides of the stage below. Connor and Travis, the co-counselors of Hermes cabin, stepped forward. The crowd calmed a bit and focused on them.

"That was spectacular!"

"Awesome!"

"Now. Who of you people is brave enough-"

"To challenge our undefeated champion?"

The crowd grew completely silent. Everyone looked at each other, waiting for anyone to respond.

"Come on now, people. Don't tell me you're afraid getting your asses-"

"Kicked out? Hahahahaha!"

"Why DON'T you go and challenge him?!" A camper shouted.

"Yeah!"

"Why don't you?"

"Don't tell us you're afraid to get your asses kicked out?" The crowd complained.

"One trouble point for Connor and Travis." I said.

"I wouldn't be surprised. After all, they're troublemakers." Piper said.

"Yeah. But still...them fighting Percy? I wouldn't think twice of the outcome." Frank said.

"That's a bit too harsh, Frank." Hazel noted.

"Hey!" Frank raised his hands. "I'm just being honest."

The commotion continued. Connor and Travis seemed to be deciding whether it's high time to run or not.

Percy stepped up and called everyone's attention. "Whoa! Whoa! Time out, everyone." The commotion stopped and everyone looked at him. "This is just a sparring session. No need to get too warmed up. We're here to test our skills and have fun. And besides, Connor and Travis are our hosts. They're exempted." Connor and Travis looked like they're going to cry in joy any minute now. "They will have their turn on the next session, don't worry everyone."

The crown cheered in approval. Connor's and Travis' mouths fell open and stared at Percy in disbelief.

"Right then! Anyone who wanted to volunteer? " Percy asked.

"Hey, how about you Christine?" Piper suddenly asked.

I looked at her, a bit startled. "Huh?"

"Why don't you try?"

"Try what?" She inclined her head to the stage below.

"Me?" I pointed at myself. Piper nodded. I looked at Percy and back to Piper. I gave her a tight smile and shook my head. "I think I'll pass."

"Why not? You're great at fighting. Last night, the drakons."

"But that's-"

"Piper's right." Frank placed a hand on my shoulder. "You're great at fighting. That's evident last night. And besides, this is just a sparring session, just like what Percy said. We're just here to test our skills and have fun. Nothing will be loss. Well, you might lose some limb if you don't think your tactics-OUCH!" Apparently, Piper hit his side with her elbow.

"Frank!" Piper hissed.

"Owww! Sorry! I'm just trying to warn her!"

"Don't mind Frank." Hazel gave me a tight smile. "It's hard being a son of a war god . But seriously Christine, I agree with Frank and Piper here. You should try out your fighting skills. If you want, we can ask Percy to at least go easy on you."

"Ummm...well that's..."

"Please, Christine! Even once!" Piper pleaded. There something in her voice, something powerful urging me to do her bidding. I felt very lightheaded that I didn't realized what I'm saying until I already said it.

"Alright. Fine. I'll do it." I said. I felt like I'm in a trance. Conscious of what I'm doing but cannot control it in my own free will. I tried to keep my cool when the fog in my mind cleared up but deep in my mind, I was screaming, WHAT THE HADES HAD HAPPENED TO ME?! WHY DID I AGREED SUDDENLY?!

I gave Piper a tight smile. She smiled happily and called everyone's attention.

"HEY EVERYONE! WE GOT A CHALLENGER HERE!"

All eyes turned and looked at us. The campers whispered at each another, asking who among the four of us will challenge Percy. Percy looked at us but his eyes were focused on me as if he already knew who he will be clashing swords with. Piper nudged at me, encouraging me to speak up. I gripped the hilt of my sword. Sweat covered the back of my neck. My heart thumped twice faster than normal. There's no use of backing out now. You had committed yourself and be committed you must be. I raised my hand.

"Me. I want to challenge him...well if it's okay with him." I said.

Percy smiled like he won a contest of guessing who among us is going to challenge him. "No problem with me. Come on down." Percy waved us over to come down. The crowd grew wild. Piper held my hand and pulled me down the stairs. Hazel and Frank followed us down to the stage.

Percy Jackson

I watched them trudged down the stairs. All eyes were following them but were only focused on Christine. I've seen much last night but I admit I'm pretty intrigued how good she can be in battle.Well, everyone is intrigued. The crowd cheered, encouraging Christine to go on.

Finally, they reached the last of the stairs. The crowd grew wilder. I walked up to them, followed by Annabeth and Grover.

"Hey, guys. 'Sup?" I greeted.

"We're alive and kicking as always." Frank said.

"Where's Leo and Jason?" I asked.

"I left Jason with Leo and Calypso. I hoped he doesn't feel out of place with the lovebirds." Piper answered.

"Nah. Bro Jason won't feel that. But I'm sure he wished you let him come with you. He would appreciate to pull out some sword moves and electrocute people who were foolish to challenge him." I said.

"I'm sure he would. Anyway, your challenger." Piper nodded at Christine.

"Right." I smiled. "Glad you volunteered, Christine. Honestly, the camp was wondering how good you can be in fighting."

She gave me a sideways smile. "To be honest, I was confused on why I volunteered in the first place. I kind of I don't know...fell in a trance. Crazy, wasn't? "

We all turned to Piper. "You didn't use charmspeak on her, didn't you Piper?" Annabeth asked. Piper just gave a naughty smile.

"Charmspeak?" I asked curiously.

"Piper can explain that to you later. For now, let's fight." I said.

"Are there any rules?" She asked.

"Well, the only rule is don't kill anyone. But since this is a sword practice, another rule is implemented. The use of godly powers are limited. Ninety-eight percent of the battle should be focused on the use of swords."

"Got it."

"Good. Now, shall we?" She nodded.

Piper placed her hand on Christine's shoulder."Good luck, Christine."

She nodded.

Piper and the others moved to the sides. The crowd roared in excitement. We walked away from each other and gave each another smiles of encouragement. She drew her sword and I uncapped Riptide. Connor and Travis walked between us.

"The fight between Percy Jackson and Christine Galliardo is about to be commenced!"

Fighters re-"

"WAIT!" The crowd stopped and everyone began searching for the source of the voice. Clarisse walked forward. Everyone stared at her.

"I will engage her in combat." She said. No emotion could be found on her face. The four of us looked at each other.

"Uh...hi Clarisse." Connor said. A hint of nervousness in his voice. "It's good to know you want to fight Christine but-"

"Percy's first. So, you kinda need to wait your turn."

"I will fight her first even if I need to kick some Hermes or Poseidon kid to engage her." Her voice was icy cold. She stared at Christine with hard eyes.

I looked at Christine. She was looking at Clarisse with the same intent. The temperature seemed to drop drastically. I could feel tension building between them. Connor and Travis looked at me as if saying, HELP! I shrugged and looked over at my friends. They looked at me as if saying, Your choice. Right. Thanks a lot guys.

I moved forward and spoke. "Well, if Christine will be okay with fighting you first, then it will okay with me too."

Everyone waited for a response. They stared at each other for a moment before Christine broke the connection and spoke up.

"No problem with me." She said. I nodded. She smiled as if saying, Sorry Percy. But I need this. I smiled back to assure it's okay with me. I bade good luck and walked to my friends at the sides.

"You did her a good thing." Annabeth said.

"I did?" I asked, a bit confused.

"Yeah. If you will just look closely," Annabeth motioned to them. "they badly need this. I don't think talking will work between them, that's why they need to fight. They need this to fully settle things."

I looked at the two of them. "Yeah. I guess you're right. But I do hope, this WILL really settle things between them."

"Don't worry, Percy. It will. Mind betting for it?"

I smiled. "Me doing my homeworks all by myself for half a year for a three stupid dares?"

Annabeth smiled. "You know your thing, Seaweed Brain. Deal."