A/N: Here's the next chapter, only it's hella longer. Well, it seems like it, anyway. But enjoy, and don't forget that I'll be posting something special on Halloween.

XXXVII

Reinitiation

Perseus had to clench his teeth firmly in order to not roar out. Annabeth's words had done more than anger him. Why did she care about how he mourned? There was no correct way to mourn, but he supposed that Annabeth, being a technical, orderly person, acted like there was a correct way to do everything. As much as he wished he could turn on his heels and say that she herself didn't know what mourning, true mourning really was, but that would be naive.

She knew full well how to mourn.

Annabeth had lost Lex, who apparently had been more than a brother-like figure to her. Perseus felt jealousy boiling inside him, though he had no clear reason why. It was hypocritical, but he couldn't help himself. While Annabeth was unfazed with his relations with Calypso, here he was fuming over her interests towards Lex.

He supposed he couldn't blame her. Lex had been an accomplished man. Heroic, brave, among other things. But what about him? There wasn't much to his name. He had served his kingdom in a pointless conflict, and his former title of "prince" was meaningless now.

And what would happen now that he was joining Athena's military? It was clear that there would be bloodshed, and if he did somehow take back control of his father's kingdom, his name would be written in the blood from those who he would unavoidably kill. And that would make him no different than his father, and the men that ruled before him. He didn't want to kill anyone, not after that man who had slain Calypso. But that possibility seemed highly unlikely, as he walked to his training that would teach him to do just that: Kill. Kill anyone that got in the way of victory, prosperity. Perseus wanted a way to win the war peacefully, but was that possible, after so many years of fighting?

Perseus approached the pair of guards who paced in front of the massive doors that guarded the palace. He didn't imagine that they would make an effort to tell him his destination, though he hoped that they would have a little heart,

"Do you have any idea where General Chiron might be?"

One of the palace guards glanced at him with an ever so mischievous smile, "I'm not too sure. But do you have any idea where the gods-damned Queen of Athens is?"

Perseus simply glared as the guard gave him a near-matched expression.

"Exactly. You might as well have asked me that. Of course I don't know where the General is, so why don't you go bother someone else!"

Perseus almost immediately stormed off from the guards' post, with their boisterous laughs echoing behind him. He tore down the street, in no specific direction. Perseus glanced around him after a few minutes of this, and realized that the buildings were beginning to thin out. He was slowly beginning to drift away from the center of the city, and towards the beach. Perseus recalled the fact that he had never been to the beach, though he had wanted to for quite some time now.

But upon glancing across the massive field and small hills of sand that made the beach, he saw that there was a massive group of people rallied by the shoreline. Perseus almost instantly broke into a sprint at the sight of it, knowing full well that was where Chiron was. As Perseus got closer, the louder the General's voice became,

"-Fought these barbarians for centuries now. They've come and gone, every fifteen years, as they always have." He pushed his way through, intrigued by Chiron's speech, "They kill our women and children, burn down our homes and pristine monuments. But what stood through the hell? What endured more strongly than any ten of theirs? Our great army!"

Perseus had finally got to the front of the massive sea of people, and found Chiron standing before all of them. He walked up and down the edge of the beach, as light waves clipped the back of his heels on occasion.

"With our army, and with the wisdom of our great Queen, we will finally win this war, and bring peace and order to both sides! Who will join our worthy and noble cause, and do just this?"

The crowd instantly broke into an uproar of screams of agreement, though a few men around Perseus shifted on their feet nervously.

"Going to be just like the last war," One muttered.

"What's the point in it, anyway?" Another questioned.

Perseus found this interesting, the amount of people who weren't particularly thrilled to fight. Chiron had made it seem as though Athens was united one hundred percent, though that couldn't have been possible to begin with. There were always skeptics in everything. But the uneasiness of some of the men only confirmed the suspicions of Perseus.

"Perseus!" A voice called amongst the cheering from the majority. He whirled to face the direction of the speaker, but frowned at who it was.

"Gruev, what are you doing here? You should be resting."

While his friend had practically been reduced to bag of bones through his wait for Juniper, Gruev still retained his height over Perseus. He clapped a hand on Perseus's shoulder, but he nearly swooned from the rapid movement.

"Don't worry about me," He said with a reassuring smile, "Chiron's working towards something worthwhile, and I want to help. But...Juniper told me about what happened. Back home, I mean, with that girl Calypso. I'm sorry."

Perseus shook his head, "I don't want to talk about it, Gruev."

Gruev nodded in understanding, "That's all right. I just can't imagine what I would do in your shoes, Perseus, if it was Juniper who was killed."

Perseus said nothing.

"But thank you, Perseus," Gruev chimed, "I can't tell you enough how grateful I am. I probably wouldn't be alive had it not been for-" Gruev lost his footing again, as he tumbled towards the ground. Perseus grabbed the front of his shirt before he could stumble into the sand, before hoisting him up.

"Easy there, Gruev-" Perseus grunted, "You don't want to be embarrassing yourself, do you?" Gruev chuckled,

"I think you're the one you need to worry about saving from embarrassment, friend."

"So," Another voice cut into their conversation suddenly. Perseus braved glancing at his side, where the voice had come from, and found Chiron staring at him smugly. The recruits around him had made way for the General, including Gruev. And once more, they had fallen silent to hear what the great leader had to say. Perseus could almost feel their piercing eyes stabbing viciously at him.

"So," Chiron echoed, "The mighty heir to Poseidon himself has graced us with his presence. Do you suppose that they share the same about of idiocracy, men?"

A few grumbled and laughed in agreement. Most just glared daggers at him.

Perseus swallowed the sharp knot in his throat, "I didn't come here to be ridiculed by you, sir. And I think you'll find that I might just hold a little more knowledge than my father."

Chiron appeared as though he was going to call him out on him countering his remarks, but he nearly sneered,

"I suppose we will see about that." His line of sight was pointed into the crowd suddenly, more specifically, Gruev. Chiron almost stalked towards him,

"And you," Chiron began, "You served his father, didn't you?"

Gruev looked up, avoiding any eye contact, "Yes, sir."

His friend knew better than to speak out, unlike Perseus. He had become more sensitized to taking orders like a dog more than him. Gruev had been a Captain, after all, rising from a poor farmer that had been forced to become a mere footsoldier to that prestigious rank.

"Did you kill anyone during your time of duty, soldier?"

"I...I did, sir." Gruev hesitated.

The General let out a half-chortle. And before Gruev could react, he struck him in the stomach. Gruev fell into the sand, wheezing.

"Believe me, Son of Poseidon," Chiron barked, turning to him once more, "I would beat you like a dog, but I think I'll leave that up to the rest of the recruits. I think I'd like to spare my hands from being dirtied by the blood of a spoiled prince."

The General glanced behind Perseus, to a far away point, "It appears the training equipment has arrived. I'd think they would very much appreciate your help."

His eyes dipped down towards Perseus at this.

"What are you waiting for? Move!" He bellowed, jarring Perseus from his state of shock from everything that had just happened. Perseus sprinted back up the beach, towards the horse-drawn cart stacked high with crates. This little reinitiation had become more than that. It was more than clear now that Chiron, along with everyone else, absolutely despised him.

"Come on, you swine!" Chiron planted a kick in someone's side, sending them face-first into the sand, "What will you do when the enemy comes? Run home with your skirts hiked up?"

Perseus thrust his fists out in front of him, acting out a slowly-weakening punch. Gruev was just out of arm's reach from his punch, and as Perseus allowed his arms to drop ever so slightly, his friend could barely emulate the same movement.

This training had long since taken its toll on Gruev, sending a fair share of strikes from the General his way, but Gruev hadn't fallen to his knees. Not yet, anyway, but Perseus knew that the time was coming fast. And even Perseus had to admit that the training had been taxing. He had walked in, thinking that Chiron would have the same training regime that Augustus had put them on. Or it would be similar at least.

"If you can't master simple hand-to-hand combat, then you can't master the art of swordsmanship. And if you can't master swordsmanship, then you can't master being able to save your pathetic lives!" Chiron lectured, "More repetitions! If one of you slips just a little bit, I will make you start over. Now move it! Your strikes need to be swift, fast!"

Perseus punched his arms through the air in front of him, panting heavily. By now, the Sun was at its peak height, and its rays beat down on them.

This continued on for what almost seemed like an eternity.

"Stop!" Chiron ordered finally. Everyone's arms dropped to their sides, and as Perseus looked at Gruev, he appeared as though he had turned a light shade of grey-green. He could hear the heavy huffs of breath billowing out of everyone around him as Chiron walked leisurely down the space between the pairs of men.

"It seems as though I have my work cut out for me, men. You see, the fifteen year mark of the next Dekapente Chronia has past now, which means that Poseidon's army must be itching to fight, as their seemingly chronic need for war has now been built up even more. July the second is the day, men. The day that Poseidon will come over those mountains, expecting a fight. It will be the most ferocious fight Athens will have seen in its entire history. Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir!" The recruits answered simultaneously.

"But suffice it to say that I have to count on you poor excuses of men, and I have to pray to the almighty gods themselves that you won't let me down. Will you let me down?"

"No, sir!"

"Well, you're not off to a good start!" His voice escalated in volume once more, "You can't learn proper hand to hand combat if you don't get some live training!"

Of course, Chiron's hardened gaze landed on Perseus.

"You!" He pointed, causing Perseus to frown, "How about you fight your friend here?"

Perseus looked up at Gruev, whose expression was grim.

"Come on, then! Fight!" Chiron demanded.

Perseus shook his head, "I can't fight him. Not in the state that he's in."

The General clicked his tongue, "You think he's too easy of an opponent, is that it? Well, Son of Poseidon, why didn't you say something? I would have been happy to be your opponent, had you just asked."

Perseus began to chatter out nervously in protest, but he knew now that there was no going back. Chiron circled away from the two lines of recruits, his arms up. Perseus clenched his fists as he stepped out of line. The General made to effort to order the recruits back into formation, as they turned to watch the spar. Perseus raised his own arms, fists closed, just high enough that they protected his face.

"Don't be afraid, Perseus!" Gruev called in encouragement.

"I'm not," He called over his shoulder, just loud enough that Chiron could hear, "I think the only thing I need to worry about is his egotistical thoughts getting in the way of a good fight."

Chiron narrowed his eyes to the reduction of slits as Perseus turned to face him. They stood still, frozen in position, for a moment or two, until Perseus began to skirt slightly around Chiron's stance. The General shot a punch suddenly, striking him in the face. Perseus's head was sent back from the force. He almost fell completely, but just barely managed to regain his footing as he returned a hit. And though he had managed to hit him across the face, it barely phased Chiron. Perseus had put so much effort into punching the air earlier that his ability now was practically diminished. Chiron landed yet another punch, and Perseus let out a grunt of pain as his head snapped backwards a second time, and a spurt of blood spewed from his nose.

There was a loud uproar of cheering from the recruits at this. When Perseus mustered up the strength to face Chiron again, his raised arms nearly faltered as he saw his father's face staring back at him. Poseidon's poisonous green eyes stared back at him.

"Well, boy?" Poseidon's voice growled. Adrenaline coursed through Perseus at this. His father grinned. Perseus's breaths turned to heaving, though he wasn't sure if it was out of fear, or pure hatred towards his father. But the clean, swift jab that Perseus managed to land across Poseidon's portly face gave him a newfound sense of strength. Poseidon's image flickered once, revealing a shell-shocked Chiron. Perseus landed another punch, only this time, it sent Chiron to the sand dunes. He fell, and staggered back a few feet to nurse his nose,

"You sniveling little bastard...You broke my damn nose!"

Perseus pointed to his own, "An eye for an eye, no?"

He was more than tempted to say a nose for a nose, but he supposed that would get him more trouble than he was going to be in with Chiron for the next few months.

"You're lucky Chiron didn't smash your teeth out," Gruev muttered as he finished up the bandages on Perseus's nose, "He's going to be out to get you now."

"You mean he hasn't been for the past day?" Perseus asked in mock-surprise. Gruev managed a weak smile as he flopped back beside their fire.

"This is nice," Gruev commented, as he stared up at the glittering stars above.

"I don't see what's so great about camping out on a cold, sandy beach when we could be sleeping in warm beds," Perseus grumbled.

"It's better than sleeping in a dark cave with the threat of getting your throat slit in the middle of the night," Gruev retorted, "If anything, I'm just happy being able to know that Juniper is finally safe."

Perseus's conversation with Annabeth returned to his mind. His jealousy had completely slipped from his mind, after the fairly interesting events of the day. But he knew now that there wasn't a single reason why he should be envious of Annabeth's love towards Lex. He wished he could've had something like that with Calypso. Perseus glanced up at the stars, wondering, almost hoping, that she was up there, watching over him.

"Hmm, it seems as though we have a visitor." Gruev muttered, followed by the occasional catcall from a few of the recruits nearby. Perseus's eyes trained down from the glittering lights, back towards the ground. A smile broke out instantly on his face as Annabeth walked towards them, kicking up sand as she went,

"I've been looking all over for you," She muttered, tossing a basket to him. He caught it before it could fly into the fire.

"Why?" He asked, "So you could come and apologize?"

She smirked, "No. I thought I would do you a favor and show up so you could do me that honor."

"Fine," Perseus stood, "Annabeth, I am very sorry for what I said. It wasn't my place to make those remarks."

"And Perseus," She said curtly, "I'm sorry as well for what I said. It wasn't my place to make those remarks, either."

She frowned after a moment, "What happened to your face?"

"The General demanded that I fight him, so I had to comply. It was an order, after all."

"Well," She hummed, "Who won?"

Perseus looked over at Gruev, who just shrugged at this.

"I think it was a draw, in all honesty," His friend answered.

"It certainly doesn't look like it," She retorted as she looked his face up and down.

"Never mind that," Perseus grumbled as he glanced down of the basket, "What's in this?"

"How about you look?" She responded, before pivoting on her heels and heading back up the beach. Perseus quickly tossed the basket to Gruev, and went after her.

"Wait a minute!" He called.

She stopped in her tracks as she turned back to him, "What is it, now?"

"You're already leaving? I was expecting that you would want to stay."

She looked around the encampment with a scoff, "Please. What makes you think that I would want to be around a howling group of sweating men?"

He nodded, "Fine, fine. But I was hoping that you would at least stay so I could thank you for whatever in in that basket."

"It's just some food. But you could thank me now." She proposed.

"But I wanted to ask you something, as well. Why...Why are you doing all of this for me? You barely know me, as it is."

"You're a fellow human being in need, that's all," Annabeth answered, turning on her heels once more, "But I am interested in getting to know you, in case you were wondering."

Annabeth walked off, ignoring the last of the hungry calls from the other recruits, leaving Perseus alone. He was curious about her life, and now, she had hinted that the feeling was mutual. As intimidating as she was, maybe she could hold up and stand him for an hour or so and tell her a little about herself. But for now, it would have to wait.

A/N: A little better than last week's chapter, I hope?

Leaded-Pegasus