A/N: Thanks for everyone who put up with the mess last week. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter as it's been one of my favourite ones to write! ~ Emma
Emma knew how to hold a sword properly. Her mum had signed her up for sword fighting at one point during her childhood. It had been fun, but she'd been a little confused as it wasn't a particularly normal hobby for a child to have. However, if she really was gonna pull off Malcolm and Annabeths strategy, she was going to have to hold it wrong.
Emma was to wait by the border with Kit, the Apollo boy who had winked at her earlier, and stop any Ares kids they found crossing it or aid the Athena kids to get over. Kit had introduced himself with more confidence than Emma had experienced in her entire life, he shone with it. It made the task seem doable, but she didn't really like the part about feigning being incompetent, especially next to Kit, who was talking about how he could shoot a walnut from a hundred feet away. She wanted to prove herself if she had the chance.
Despite Annabeth's faith in her, Emma was seriously unsure of how she was meant to beat the Ares kids. They had a supernatural control over their weapons and while she was near the creek she wasn't used to fighting with a sword.
As the final light faded from the sky, the whistle sounded and various monster growls answered it. Emma has been pre-warned that the woods were stocked with them, but she still didn't feel like encountering any. She though the camp was meant to be a safe place for demigods but lots of these activities seemed to have a fatal edge to them.
Kit found a rock to perch on and started to hum a melody, as Emma leaned down next to the creek. She slipped her fingers in the water and let it run up her arm. The water relaxed her as she listened to the sound of it ebbing and flowing.
"How did you not know you were a daughter of Poseidon with powers like that?" Kit mused from where he sat.
"I didn't know I had them for the most part. There were a few… incidences. Since then, I've just been getting used to them." She replied. "I managed to stay out of fights so they didn't often get triggered and before Percy found me, I was just fighting monsters with my dagger."
"Why did you mom not send you here?" He asked. She didn't really feel like playing 20 questions but she could understand his curiosity.
"My mums been pretty sick since I was around 12. I'd been having monster attacks for years before, but they hadn't been that bad. I would fight them, kill them and as soon as I had a bath, any injuries would heal up. I thought I was crazy so I didn't tell her or anyone else. When they did start to get bad, she was ill and I couldn't burden her with that. We only talked about it recently. She thought I'd been fine all these years."
It felt odd to open up about all this when she had only just met Kit, but she supposed everyone in this camp had gone through similar things.
"I'm sorry, that's awful." He said gently.
"What about you?" She said, eager to change the topic. "How long have you lived here?"
"Oh I don't live here, I'm like Annabeth. I come back on weekends sometimes. I live in New Canaan, my mom used to teach at Juilliard." Kit said, pushing his wavy golden hair back from his face.
"A musician? Makes sense for Apollo, I suppose." She said, making shapes with the water absently. "How many other for the boxes do you tick. I mean from medicine, art, poetry, knowledge, archery or even the sun."
Kit gave a small laugh.
"Well, I can't control the sun yet, but I rival even Kayla with my archery skills." He said, raising his bow as if to prove the point. When Emma raised her eyes in question at the name, he added, "Kayla's my half-sister."
"Ah." Emma said. "And I take it by your incessant humming you are also a musician?"
She actually found his humming rather pretty, but she wasn't going to tell him that.
"I write songs, sing and play a plethora of instruments." He remarked. "And my humming is wonderful, I'll have you know."
She was impressed at both the achievement and the way he managed to make it sound like he wasn't even bragging. He was just stating facts. She liked how straight forward he was, even with the insane level of confidence. She wondered if that's what made her warm to him.
Before she could respond she heard shouting coming from deeper in the woods that got louder as it approached them. Emma readied her sword and raised her shield before she could even think about playing weak. Sorry Malcolm.
When she caught sight of Annabeth's golden hair, she moved toward the fighting while being cautious not to stray too far from the water. Emma tried to weigh up their chances. Malcolm, Annabeth and two kids she didn't know the names of, were running towards them being chased by around six people from the other team. The Athena kids were fast, but the Ares kids were faster. Annabeth spun around before the really tall and built guy chasing her could knock her down with the butt of his sword.
Emma was by Annabeth's side before she knew it, her blade clashing against another of the Ares kids. The girl wore a bandanna to keep her hair out of her face and snarled at Emma in a way she found almost comical. Emma let her instincts take over as they fought, but made sure to stay on defence. The girl was stronger than her by a mile, despite being a few inches shorter. She felt a tugging in her gut that she was starting to become familiar with, but pushed it down. She let the other girl stay on attack as she moved back toward the creek. Closer… closer…
Emma let go and a wave rose up behind her, dowsing the other girl who howled in protest. Emma directed the current, dragging the girls feet out from under her and sending her sword flying. Emma scrambled to pick it up and threw it in the creek.
"Ben, stop her!" The Ares girl shouted, between coughing up water. Emma felt like she should probably apologise, but now wasn't the time.
As she turned to go back, she was met with ones of the Hephaestus kids raising his sword at her, presumably Ben. She braced herself for the blow, but it still sent shockwaves down her arms. She remembered being good with a sword, but that had been years ago. Now an energy thrummed through her veins that allowed her to block and parry Ben's moves. She felt heat rippling off him as wind started to whip around her face. Their sword sparked each time they clashed but they didn't burn Emma like she had expected them to. Emma tried a disarming technique she had once learned, but he was a good swordsman and she was rusty. Something told her that if it wasn't for the water she would be on the ground.
She hadn't noticed the storm that was brewing around her, but now she sensed the rain droplets in the air. She grasped them and formed them into streams that she circled around Ben's face, serving as a distraction. He tried to swat them away, offsetting his balance. This time when she tried to disarm him his sword clattered to the ground easily. She then tripped him up and sent him sprawling on the ground.
With her confidence running high, she strode over to where Annabeth was still fighting the tallest guy from the Ares cabin.
"Go" Emma said, jumping between them with her sword raised. The guy narrowed his eyes at her before bringing down his blade on hers with such a force, she almost dropped it.
"I don't think we've met." She said with a playful grin. Though the wind still blew, there was not yet enough rain to use, so she would have to use the power of verbal distraction.
"Sherman Yang." He grunted in reply as he threw attack after attack at her. She could barely keep up. "Ares councillor."
His intimidation tactic was paired with a harsh blow that made her lose her footing, but she had been ready for that. She rolled into a crouch before using the full force of her legs to clash her sword against Sherman, sending him stumbling back a step. It wasn't much but it was something. She felt the air hum around her as she parried each of him movements. She almost thought she could see light sparking in the whirlwind that surrounded them, but it must have been the blades sparking again.
Emma didn't even had time to realise Sherman was using a disarming manoeuvre on her before her sword was out of her hand. So much for using distraction. She felt her heart drop but a tugging feeling returned to her gut. The storm picked up around them forming a tornado around them that sparked and crackled. A spark struck Shermans right arm and he cussed as he dropped his weapon. Emma took the chance to kick it away, but it meant she got too close. Sherman tackled her to the ground. He raised a large fist as he panted, but she sent a jet of water into his open mouth. As he choked it back up, she used the self defence she had learnt to push him off. She hadn't crawled far before he grabbed her shoulder with his large hand and dragged her back toward him. She was drained but he still seemed full of strength and he locked his arm around her neck, her legs kicking into the dirt.
A bright light appeared out of nowhere, blinding her. Sherman must have seen it too as she felt his grip loosen as he moved to shield his eyes. She managed to roll out of his grip and shuffle far enough away from him by the time the light flickered out. Emma expected her vision to be spotted but it was as if the light had never been there. In place of the light was a girl with straight black hair and green eyes who stood with her arms crossed.
"The game finished." She said, the corner of her lips twitching up. It was only then Emma noticed the crowd of people who were gathered around them. She caught Annabeth's eye who was almost looking at her proudly.
"Oh, sorry." Emma said, a feeling of embarrassment rising in her chest. She got up and dusted herself off, hoping no one would notice her sudden change in emotion. Emma hadn't expected the game to be quite so… exhilarating. Even now, as the aches in her body became apparent, her veins still felt electric.
"Did we win?" Sherman asked hopefully.
"Not a chance." Annabeth grinned holding up a laurel wreath. Emma felt a smile spreading across her face. She had actually been useful after all.
"Damn." Sherman hissed, but almost half heartedly. She had expected an angrier response form the son of Ares.
As Annabeth started to limp toward her, Emma's face faltered.
"What happened?" Emma exclaimed worriedly.
"Just an arrow." Annabeth said, dismissively. "The Apollo cabin will have me fixed up before too long. What matters is that we won and you were amazing."
"Now that the spectacle is over, are you ready for your leg to be seen to?" Said a blond haired boy, who vaguely resembled Kit, as he came up to them with a broad smile.
"Come on Will, don't act like you didn't want to see Emma kicking Shermans ass." Annabeth shot back joyfully, though the description didn't quite match Emma's memory of the fight. She seemed to remember barely holding the son of Ares off as he tried to kill her.
Seeing Annabeth's elation over the victory made Emma even happier. She had never been that competitive, but she did always like making other people's day better. Almost as much as she evidently enjoyed one on one combat now.
After Will dragged Annabeth back to the big house to make sure the arrow hadn't splintered in her leg, the girl who had stopped her fighting Sherman came up to her.
"You fight too well for someone with no training." She said, matter-of-factly. "But I like fighting that involves tricks. I'm Lou, by the way. Lou Ellen Blackstone. Daughter of Hecate."
Emma was going to have a hell of a challenge remembering all these new names.
"Nice to meet you." Emma said, unsure of how to take the girls words. "If you're a daughter of hecate-"
"How did I cast the light?" Lou said raising an eyebrow. "It was never really there, just an illusion. Chiron deemed it the best way to break up the fight."
She supposed that made sense, especially with the hurricane ripping around them. She had never caused a storm before. She had no idea she could even do that. She looked down at her hands and tried to spark the lighting she had used then but nothing came. She couldn't feel it at all.
"I thought lightning was meant to be Zeus' thing." Emma thought aloud, before realising the jump she had made in the conversation. Lou didn't seem to mind.
"Percy once told me he created sparks when fighting Hyperion with a hurricane." Lou recalled with a shrug. "Maybe it's something to do with that. Poseidon is the god of storms after all."
"Are you two close?" Emma asked, more to keep the conversation going than anything. The daughter of Hecate intrigued her. She seemed like she had a dangerously playful edge, but with an introverted side that matched Emma well.
"Not really, but everyone talks to everyone at camp. Well, almost everyone." Lou said, glaring at some of the Aphrodite girls who walked past complaining about how much effort it was just to walk around in armour. "We should get going or all the good seats will be gone."
"Get going where?"
"The campfire. Come on."
Lou started walking without even checking to see if Emma was following.