"Try again Austin," said 14-year-old Adriana, breathing heavily as she disarmed Austin again.
Austin's grey eyes narrowed, then he smirked. He ducked, kicked Adriana's ankle, and a second later, he had gotten Adriana pinned onto the floor with his knee.
"129-129," he said as he got off her.
Adriana grunted, "stupid son of Athena."
"Did you just call the son of Wisdom stupid?"
"What if I just did?" She challenged, wriggling a finger at him.
Austin was about to respond when suddenly a scream echoed from the woods.
Then another.
Then another
The two friends exchanged a sharp look.
"Go tell Chiron," Adriana said immediately, "I'll go help them."
"I'm coming with you."
Adriana's eyes blazed dangerously, "Go get Chiron," she repeated before she picked up Elastikótita, and ran towards the woods.
She knew she was going to get into trouble when she gets back to camp, but she couldn't just leave that poor demigod or person there to die.
"Thalia! Luke!" She heard the voice of a little girl call.
She inched further into the woods, and she found a little girl, tied by her ankle crying and screaming.
The girl had blonde hair and grey eyes that were cascading tears. She looked around 7 or 8 years old, much too young to survive on her own. Which means she has company.
As soon as the girl saw Adriana, she screamed even harder, which left Adriana no choice but to surge up and clasp her hand over the little girl's mouth.
"If you want to get out of here, then be quiet," she hissed, a little harsher than needed. But when she saw the fear in the girl's eyes, her tone softened down a little.
"I'm Adriana, what's your name?"
"A…Annabeth," she choked out.
"Okay Annabeth, I will lead you safely to camp, okay?"
Annabeth shook her head, and Adriana's brows furrowed.
"My friends Grover Luke and Thalia as trapped," she said, standing up, and picking up a heavy dagger when I finished untying her ropes.
Grover, ah. The little satyr that had big dreams.
Then sounds of huge footsteps echoed in Adriana's ears.
Annabeth's eyes lighted up, "they've escaped!" She said as she started to run…downhill.
Adriana did a mental facepalm before she followed her.
They didn't have to run long before she met the two other people. Luke and Thalia.
The boy, probably Luke, looked around Adriana's age, with sandy blonde hair.
The girl, probably Thalia, looked a little younger, 12 maybe? A punk girl with spiky black hair carrying a terrifying shield. Adriana had spent enough time with Austin to recognize the shield Aegis.
What they were facing was terrifying enough, and began to make Adriana regret not training in the night as well.
A large Cyclopes that was two stories high, with ragged clothing and foul-smelling hair.
"I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!" It bellowed.
The girl, Thalia, obviously spotted Annabeth (and Adriana) for she lowered her guard for a split second.
Unfortunately, the Cyclopes chose at that moment to swing its overly-large bat. It clashed against Thalia's body and sent her flying.
"THALIA!" Annabeth cried.
Adriana sighed, she hoped that she wasn't going to sacrifice herself for 3 total strangers.
Then, summoning the electric currents in her body, she charged.
The Cyclopes was momentarily too shocked to see a 4th demigod come charging into death. Adriana took that chance to thrust her sword into his left thigh and zap electricity using it.
The monster howled in anger as it swung its bat again. If it were two years ago clumsy Adriana would have died. But this is Adriana 2.0. she rolled away, and took her chance again, to stab the Cyclopes' arm.
Liquid goo, oozed out of the monster's wound as it howled again.
"Are you two going to help me or what?" She yelled at the dazed Luke and Thalia.
That seemed to snap them out of their daze, the boy Luke charged in first, then Thalia, who's just recovered from her being-thrown-on-a-rock state.
All was well until another herd of monsters appeared from nowhere.
"Holy Olympus! How many monsters did you three attract?" Adriana exclaimed, this was her first time since the accident 2 years ago she faced real monsters.
"Happens when you're the daughter of Zeus!" Thalia yelled as she disintegrated a random monster.
"Ugh," she muttered, demigods should never just announce their heritage, you never know what enemies your parent made.
"You guys head for camp, Grover will lead you…THALIA WATCH OUT!" Adriana yelled.
But too late.
The Cyclopes' bat hit Thalia again, and this time, she didn't move again.
"THALIA!" Annabeth screamed as she rushed to the girl's side.
Adriana gave Thalia one look of sympathy before she turned to Grover.
"Grover, lead Luke and Annabeth to camp, now," she hissed.
"What…what about you?"
"I will, unfortunately, have to face these monsters alone," she said, raising her sword again.
"How? You don't have the strength Thalia has," Luke spoke, for the first time.
A growl formed in Adriana's throat, take any camper in camp, and they would have backed away, but Luke didn't.
"I don't have time with children," she hissed.
She was about to defend the two of them all by herself when the sound of a conch horn sounded.
Austin's finally got help.
"You are so getting grounded," Austin chirped as the four of them, Austin, Adriana, Luke, and a crying Annabeth headed toward the big house.
Adriana grunted, "Thanks for reminding me, Grey."
"Always for you, Francis," he said smiling.
Luke and Annabeth didn't say anything as they trotted behind the two. Annabeth was on a breakdown, Luke had an arm wrapped around her but all the emotion he showed was hatred on his face. Curious, Adriana slowed down her pace.
"I understand your loss," she said. She saw in the corner of her eyes Austin smirking and wriggling his eyebrows at her, but she ignored it.
"How?" He croaked.
"I lost important people as well, but I moved on, and so will you."
He shook his head sadly, and as dense as Adriana was about love, she understood it immediately.
Thalia Grace was his first crush.
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