Chapter 23

Gambling With New Friends

"So," I said, "how's your day going?"

Bianca was sat on the bed where she'd headed as soon as Luke left, her pillow laid across her knees. I got the feeling she wanted to ignore me by staring at the wall, but she was definitely a demigod. Her eyes couldn't stick in one place long. The result was a very thorough scanning of all the room's corners, every direction but the one I was standing in.

"Are you just going to ignore me?"

Silence.

"Alright. You do that. Just means less work for me."

But five minutes in my confidence had evaporated. She wasn't the only one with ADD, and it turns out the only thing more boring than studying walls is watching someone else study walls. You learn something new every day.

I started to inspect the room. It was even emptier than my own down in the Labyrinth, but fuller than my new one. A dresser stood in the corner. There was a table with a lamp beside the bed, and in the room's center was a chair and desk combo that brought me back to my school days. I approached the desk.

A pencil was laying on top. Little x's and skulls had been doodled onto the surface. Some were pretty well drawn. I bent over to look inside and just caught a glimpse of stacked papers before my host spoke.

"Look in there," Bianca said brightly, "and I'll kill you."

"Do you always sound so cheerful when you threaten people?"

She cocked her head. "When they deserve it."

"Well," I said, "at least you're talking now."

She smirked slowly and, most of all, silently. I rolled my eyes.

Next I went for the table. A boxy digital clock gave the time as eight-fourty. The lamp was narrow and topped with a cylindrical shade. I leaned in close to look for anything interesting, but found only a few more doodled skulls. I was about to turn away when light nailed my retinas. I jerked away, rubbing my eyes and growling. When I uncovered them, Bianca was sitting smugly, a hand still on the light switch.

"Thanks," I said. "That was a whole lot of fun."

"You're welcome."

Irritated, I strode toward the final object. The dresser was tall, with twin doors opening to a top section and three drawers making up the lower part. I stopped in front of it and decided which to pull open first.

"Touch that," Bianca said, "and-"

"I'm dead, right?" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, not likely."

Making a decision, I reached for the middle drawer and yanked it open, ignoring Bianca's yelp to stop. I grinned in revenge as it slid open. Then I blinked. Slowly, I slid it closed and took three steps away.

"Sorry," I said softly, looking at the floor.

"Screw you. Who said you could look through my room? Honestly, why won't you guys just leave me alone?"

"It's for your protection," I said, although it sounded weak even to me. "I'm guarding you."

"Guarding me against what, the giant monster that grabbed me straight out of my school? Oh, wait, you work with him." She smiled sardonically. "Hey, maybe you're brothers!"

I shifted from foot to foot. "I mean, it's possible. My dad does some weird stuff. One time, he even changed a lover into a sheep, and himself into a ram, and, well… So not all my siblings walk on two legs."

Bianca looked caught off guard for a second. Then she built up steam. "See? Who's to say you're even human? You're probably hiding a scaled tail, or a third arm or something. I already know I can't trust my eyes after that thing taught me for a whole year. What else can't I trust?"

Sympathy sprouted in my gut. If my own introduction to this world had been rougher, without Dedalus to guide me through it, I probably would've ended up just like the girl in front of me: jumpy, hurt, and totally disoriented.

"I get it," I said, but apparently that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"No," she said, getting up and advancing on me, her pillow swinging menacingly. "You think you get it. Everyone thinks they get it. Well, picture this."

She leaned right up in my face. "You're outside in a snowstorm, some creature that you thought was your teacher dragging you off a cliff. You're screaming, wailing for someone to save you. The creature takes off, and suddenly lightning tries to blast you out of the air."

"It misses, but the creature drops you. You're falling. Straight down through the storm, past rocks, toward the waves, while the person you thought would always protect you watches helplessly. Tell me, do you 'get' that?"

I hesitated. It didn't seem like the time to say, "I'd actually be fine, as long as it was water". She took my pause as something else.

"Yeah, I thought so."

She turned, walked back to the bed, and sat. For the next five hours until my shift ended, she didn't say a word. I didn't try to get anything more out of her, either. I didn't have a clue where to even start.

As soon as I was free I grabbed a quick lunch at the dining hall. After that, it was finally time for my reunion with Dedalus.

Whatever Kronos had him doing, they weren't wasting any time. I guessed it made sense that a job important enough to earn you domain over the dead came with serious time commitments. Still, it had been nearly two days since we'd arrived, and I hadn't seen my teacher once since splitting off to meet Kronos.

Just like Luke said the workshop was on the first floor, not too far past the elevator. Finding the right door would've been a nightmare, except that only one was propped open.

I entered the workshop.

There were surprisingly few boxes. I expected lots to be piled up, either still not unpacked or tossed haphazardly aside once their contents were emptied. Instead there were just desks. One had two separate monitors, both running through long strings of numbers. Another had Dedalus's laptop set up in the middle. Six more were coated in stacks of papers, but these had been pushed to the edges of the room to form an open space.

Dedalus was leaning against one of the rearranged desks, holding the edge with his hands. Behind him was his sword, and he wore the work jeans he always dueled in.

"Look who it is," he said. "If my student hasn't shown his face."

"That's me. Your work must be keeping you busy."

"Quite," he agreed. "We're still in the theoretical phase and will be for some time. So many calculations. It has me quite ready for a break." He grabbed his sword and spun it around. "You've worked hard, spending months with the spear. It makes me shiver… Just think how rusty must you be with the sword? I'll need to straighten you out."

I grinned. "No wasting time, huh?"

"We've got much less to waste these days."

I grabbed Anfisa. We met right in the middle of the cleared space.

Dedalus aimed high and I ducked. I aimed for his side, and he parried. A quick hop and I attacked from a new angle, but he parried that too, setting himself up for an offensive.

Over the noise we talked like always.

"Is the project going well?" I asked around a stab.

"Well enough." He grunted and tried to make space. "Early stages still, of course."

"You think you can do it?"

He chuckled, dodging a grab from my metal arm. "If I didn't at least believe that I could, I wouldn't be a very good inventor. I'm more interested in you. What's this I hear about some Bronze Regiment?"

"You heard that already?" I groaned. A stab came at my shoulder, and I turned out of its path. "Seriously, how fast does gossip travel in this place?"

"Luke comes by often to check for progress," Dedalus admitted. "He's as eager as I am to see me succeed. He also doesn't think much of your choice."

"Save it." I used the back of my hand as a shield before making a grab for Dedalus's hilt. He pulled back just in time. "I already had the conversation with Luke. He thinks they're hopeless. I think they're a fixer-upper."

Maybe it was leftover irritation from my argument with Luke, or maybe I really was rusty with a sword. I overcommitted. The result was Dedalus giving my hand a WHAP! with the flat of his blade. My sword dropped to the floor.

"Potential means nothing if you can't bring it out," he said. "It often takes something specific to see it blossom, and everyone is different. Don't underestimate the challenge of that process."

I picked up Anfisa, rubbing my wrist. "Maybe. But I would be a pretty poor inventor's student if I didn't at least believe I could do it."

Dedalus couldn't hide his smile. "Touché."

We started again.

"I won't judge your choice," Dedalus said as we fought. "Gods know I'm not informed enough to offer an opinion. I only have one stipulation: do not slack on your own training. It wound hang on my conscience if you gave others bad advice, all because I didn't work you hard enough."

I twisted my sword around his mid-swing, going for a disarming maneuver. It was a risk. Anything less than perfect would earn me a gash on the arm. This time, it paid off. My blade caught the corner of Dedalus's hilt and now it was his sword hitting the floor.

I tried to ignore the rush that burned through my system.

"Don't worry about that," I said. "Even if you tried, there's no way I'd let you ditch me that easily."

Hours later with a layer of sweat caked on, I stumbled back up to my guest room for a shower. Like the bed, the shower was designed for something a whole lot taller than me or any other person. The reason for that, I'd learned the night before, was that this room was only temporary.

Demigods slept with their regiments normally. Every regiment had their own base, including dorms, in a different part of the compound. Since I hadn't had a regiment, they'd stuck me in a guest room. What kind of came to Mt Orthrys I didn't know, and likely wouldn't be finding out anytime soon because I was moving.

I had a regiment now, and it was time to join them properly.

I didn't have all that much stuff. Aside from my pocket-sized weapon and my clothes all I'd brought was Andi's magical healing kitchen set, all of which could be packed into a single banker's box.

Since I'd never actually seen the place, Victoria said she'd send someone to show me the way. I thought she might do it herself, but when the knock on my door came it was Emmitt.

"Is this everything?" he asked when I'd opened the door.

"Yep. I'm all ready to go."

I bent to scoop up the box, but he threw his hands out to stop me.

"Let me do it!"

"You sure?" I wasn't attached to carrying it or anything, but the kid looked like a couple of towels would have his arms buckling.

He puffed out his chest. "I've got it. Don't worry about a thing."

When he got the box off the ground his eyes widened, like the weight caught him off-guard. But he started walking, albeit slightly shakily.

"Victoria wanted to swing by herself," he said. "But work came up, so she sent me."

That brought up a question I'd been wondering about for a while. "What is it you guys actually do?" I asked.

"Depends. Victoria's the leader, so they give her jobs to give to the rest of us. Small things. Go to the East Bay and eliminate a rogue monster. Patrol the mountain for intruders. The rest of the time we train. Or I mean, we're supposed to. The others, um, they aren't too into that."

"What about you? Do you train?"

"Oh I train!" He beamed over the lip of the box. "I train every day for hours. Sword fighting, archery, first aid, you name it."

"Neat. So a jack of all trades sort of thing."

"In theory?" His response came out more like a question than the statement it was intended as. "Of course, some people also do Feats."

"You mean what you walk with?"

"No, no! F E A T. As in an action that's really impressive."

He hopped with excitement, which nearly saw him topple forward. "And they are! Impressive, that is. And Epic! And action packed! And challenging, and dangerous, and, um, kind of a death sentence for kids like me."

He lost enthusiasm with each word, until he was practically groaning by the end. He looked so beat up that the box started wobbling, like the energy was draining out of his arms. I got the urge to cheer him up any way I could.

"Don't think that way man, I'm sure you'd do fine. Don't sell yourself short."

"I am short," he said morosely. "And scrawny, and weak. I can barely hold a sword. Bowstrings cut my hands. But you! You're friends with Luke. All the regiments wanted you, even if you joined ours. If it were you I'm sure you could achieve a Feat."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said. "It might mean more, though, if you explained what a Feat actually is."

"'Course I can. Honestly it shouldn't have taken this long. I could have led with a description, and then you wouldn't've had to ask again, and this is why I'm such a dummy-"

"Uh-huh," I cut in. "Dude, you're good. Actually, now that I think about it, now is the perfect time to have it explained. Any earlier would've been too early."

He sniffed. "You mean it?"

"Totally."

"Alright. Yeah, alright! So a feat is like those jobs I mentioned. You know, the patrols and stuff. But these are waaay bigger. Top secret missions. Long distance trips. You could face off against powerful independent monsters, or Camp Half-Blood campers, or even gods if things go wrong. The possibilities are way scary.

"Hmm," I said. "So how many demigods have completed one of these Feats?"

"Oh, almost none. Luke's credited with one for something three years ago, before the system was in place. Kurt and Justin both did one and that's why they get to lead. There's one more girl in the Gold Regiment, a daughter of Melinoe. But that's it."

"So, hypothetically, say I were to complete one of these Feats. That would show I was really valuable, right?"

Emmitt nodded. "Hundred percent."

"And everyone would recognize me?"

"Totally."

"Even Kronos?"

"Ye- Well, I mean I think so." Emmitt's eyebrows squeezed together. "Why do you want to know?"

I hummed. "Don't worry about it. I'm just thinking is all."

We made it three floors before we had to stop. No matter how much he insisted he was fine, Emmitt's arms were ready to give out. I told him I could take a turn, but he only shook his head.

"I've got it," he said between pants. "Just… give me… a second."

I decided to drop it, worried that if I didn't he would get that sad look on his face again, the one that made me feel like I'd stomped a puppy's tail.

We took our break in the corner of a landing, up against the wall to stay out of the way. The wallpaper even smelled musty like a real inner-city apartment. I wondered if the Titan magic would go as far as to start spawning cockroaches for a finishing touch.

I kept quiet to let Emmitt catch his breath, which meant I heard the footsteps when they were still a floor away.

They were heavy enough that I thought a Telekhine might've been slapping its way toward us. But when the source came into sight, it was just a heavily built guy.

"There you are," said Kurt. His voice was as smooth as the night before, but a little bit higher, probably because he wasn't projecting his voice. "I was hoping to catch you on the way down."

Call me paranoid, but the guy I'd just rejected tracking me down set off all kinds of warning bells in my head. "How'd you know where I was?"

"I had someone watch your door. She Iris Messaged me that you were going down, and I came over." He caught my apprehension and held up his hands. "Whoa, I just want a chat. I don't mean anything bad."

"You staked out my room."

Kurt shrugged, still keeping his arms up. "Like I said, I wanted to chat. I had to catch you somehow. But I'm no Justin- I can take rejection with grace. Actually, that's what I'm here about."

I put my hands on my hips (making sure they could slip easily into my pockets) and looked unimpressed. "Fine. Get to it."

"Direct," Kurt said. "Alright. The competition is this week. We'll be facing each other."

"What about the Gold Regiment?"

Emmitt spoke up. "They get a bye since they won the last one. It'll start with Iron versus Bronze, the losers from last time."

"No offense," he added, glancing at Kurt.

Kurt shrugged. "None taken. After all, I plan on playing the final again this time, too. No offense."

"You're pretty confident," I said.

"We're 4 and 0 against you guys. Sorry, but that's good reason for it, new recruit or no. And this time there's something extra on the line… For you."

Kurt rubbed his face like an office worker trying to ward off afternoon drowsiness. When he looked up, his eyes were dead serious.

"I don't like doing this," he said. "I always want my opponents at their best. But you should throw The Competition."

He rushed on before we could interrupt. "Hear me out! Justin takes pride more seriously than anyone, and he sees his regiment as an extension of himself. That goes for recruitment, too. He wanted you, Percy, and you turned him down. Not only that, you stood up to him without giving ground. I don't think you did anything wrong. He's still livid though."

I snorted. "So Mr. Ego had his toes stepped on. Don't tell me he's going to cry."

"Don't take Justin lightly," Kurt warned. "There's a reason everyone respects the Gold Regiment. Ask your friend."

He pointed to Emmitt, who had heard the words "Justin" and "livid" together and lost the color in his cheeks.

"That's bad, Percy," Emmitt said. "Justin's already always looking for an excuse to mess with us-"

"Why?"

It was Kurt that answered. "Ask your leader some time. Maybe she'll tell you."

"Ah, yeah." Emmitt looked at me apologetically. "Not really my place to say. But believe me- he's really got it out for us. Usually it's not too bad anymore, since he feels like we're beneath him. But back when I joined? It wasn't good. If things end up like that again…"

He trailed off, studying the floor.

"See?" Kurt said. "If you won't take my word for it, take his. I know people like to forget it, but the Regiments are all on the same side. It doesn't sit with me to let anything nasty mess that up."

"Nasty like rigging a match?" I asked.

"Nasty like someone getting maimed when they could've avoided it."

"I can handle myself."

To prove it, I pulled out Aelia and spun it around my fingers.

"Sure, maybe you can. What about the others?" Kurt crossed his arms. With his tank top sleeves and stern expression, he looked like a personal trainer watching as I struggled on a rep. "When Emmitt, or Victoria, or anyone else from the Bronze Regiment is lying on the ground bleeding, are you going to take responsibility for that?"

It was a chilling image… and one that did nothing to change my mind.

"Justin's not the only one with Pride," I said.

Kurt sighed like I'd finally failed the push-up. His arms dropped in defeat "Your mistake. Don't forget- you still have to beat us first."

"Oh, don't worry. We plan to." I smiled "No offense."

He snorted, shaking his head. "Want me to at least carry the box for you? Call it a sympathy gift."

Emmitt nearly hissed at him. "I've got it!"

New plan to take Justin down: get him to try and help Emmitt with something, then watch it all come together.

Actually, on second thought, that would probably be more difficult than just beating him up. He didn't seem much like the charitable (or even mildly helpful) type.

Kurt shrugged and walked away, heading up. "Your loss."

I wanted to come up with something witty as a parting shot, but 'No it'll be yours!' was the best I had, and that didn't really fit the criteria. I settled for watching his back defiantly.

A few minutes later we started moving again. Mercifully nobody else interrupted us, and Emmitt's shoulders held on for the full trip, all the way out into the courtyard.

The fog had rolled in, thick enough to feel almost like rain. The tiny drops gave me an instant energy boost. That was good, because I would be needing all the energy I could get in a minute.

"So, where to now?"

"There." Emmitt nodded to a building built straight into the walls. It was probably thirty feet up, with a spiral staircase going up from the ground and suspended walkways connecting it to a two other smaller buildings, one in either direction. The room itself would've gone for a few million in Manhattan with the size of it, though the volcanic exterior might've turned off some buyers.

If there was one thing the Titan's base had taught me, though, it was that appearances could be deceiving. The Bronze Regiment's base was no exception when Emmitt and I poked our heads through the trapdoor entrance.

Two of the walls were painted copper, probably to signify the Bronze Regiment, but whoever'd done it had dropped the project halfway, so the other two were still a bleak grey. There was a skylight in the ceiling, water dripping from hairline cracks that hadn't been fixed. Thick rubber mats were laid out over half the floor, the type you might see in an Olympic arena or maybe a school gym. The other half of the room, though, was a complete mess.

The mats had been pried up and piled in a corner. In their place was a whole assortment of items- A bookshelf loaded with Steven King paperbacks, Japanese style paper walls leaned against the most comprehensive makeup station I'd ever seen, even a couch and leather recliner. Someone had superglued a Do Not Disturb sign onto the front a yellow sleeping bag. I would've completely missed Aurora bundled up in the sleeping bag, only her mouth showing, if Vera hadn't been hovering nearby.

"We're here," Emmitt announced, although he might as well not have bothered. Everyone was already there.

Behind Aurora and Vera was Alyssa, staring longingly at the makeup station with a sword clutched absently in her hand. Today she'd gone all in on the eyeshadow, so it looked like she was sporting two black eyes. The guy in the ski mask was, well, still in his ski mask, and still at the edge of the group. He was sat lotus style, facing away. Which left a… trench-coated Werewolf?

"Welcome!" Victoria said, trying to split her attention between us and a scroll stretched out in front of her. She had a mug of coffee balanced on her knee, filled to the brim. "Good to have you here- Hey! Lucas, what did I say about masks?"

The gaunt figure pulled off the over-realistic wolf head, careful not to smudge the bloodstains on the teeth.

"Did I frighten you?" Lucas asked.

There was so much hope in his eyes that I said, "You got me. I'll have trouble sleeping tonight."

He giggled. "Wonderful."

"No, not wonderful," Victoria groaned. "Can't you at least act diligent for two seconds, when they first walk in?"

Lucas pointed at the sleeping bag. "Aurora is asleep."

"Please do not remind me. But I'm still going to try. Anyway! Percy, what do you think?"

I looked from the girl fanning her friend's face to the various clutter, wondering how to word my answer.

"Actually," Victoria said quickly, "don't answer that. I got everyone together, but… that was all I could manage. Sorry"

"Don't worry," I said. "That's all I need."

She looked at me curiously. "You have something planned?"

"You could say that."

I had heard a lot about how hopeless the Bronze Regiment was. I had talked a lot, too, about how I was going to whip them into shape. First, I had to see what we were starting with. "Everyone here is free to train right now, right?"

Something in my voice must've been suspicious. Alyssa looked like she wanted to set her sword down before I got any funny ideas about making her use it.

"Myself excluded, yes," Victoria said. "I've got reports to finish."

"Perfect." I clapped my hands. "Hey everyone, let's play a game."

"What kind of game?" Emmitt asked. He'd set the box down, and the possibility of something fun had him vibrating with excitement.

"Ah, apologies, but there seems to have been a miscommunication," Lucas said. "This afternoon I have a movie marathon planned- the best of John Carpenter."

"Don't be like that. It'll be fun, promise. We'll all have a little spar."

"Pass," said Vera. She was fanning the only exposed part of Aurora's face with a little paper fan. "We're busy. And there's nothing in it for us."

Something told me appealing to the beauty of self-improvement wouldn't change their tune. Luckily, that wasn't all I had.

"Who said there's nothing in it for you? Victoria's always bugging you guys to train, right?"

Everyone nodded except Emmitt, who actually trained, and ski mask dude, who never reacted to anything as far as I could tell. Well, and Aurora, but she didn't count.

"It'll be all of you against me. If you win, Victoria won't bug you once for an entire month."

"I can still hear you," Victoria said. "I never agreed to this."

"Not yet. That's why you're going to now. Trust me on this."

She stared at me. Then she took a long sip from her coffee and sighed. "Alright. Deal."

"What do you get out of this?" Vera asked suspiciously. "It's a good deal for us. I don't trust those."

"Maybe I just really want practice?"

She snorted.

"Fine. If I win, you all work your butts off for a month instead. I'm talking everything you can give."

Emmitt raised his hand like he was in class. "I'm okay with that."

"Of course you are." Alyssa said. "You always train anyway. What about the rest of us? It's too risky, I'm out."

"Two weeks, then. If a month is too much, we'll do two weeks instead. Just until the competition is over."

"Still too much," Alyssa argued. "I'm not doing it."

"I'd have to agree," said Lucas. "We are quite content with things the way they are."

"Are you? Are you really?" I stepped into the middle of the room- front and center. "Look, I get that you guys do your own thing. I think that's awesome. But can you look me right in the eyes and say that you're okay with things? I know Justin harasses you."

"Emmitt, you told him that?" Alyssa demanded.

"Don't blame him," I said. "He didn't mean anything by it. And besides, he wasn't lying was he? How the Gold Regiment only leaves you alone now because they think you aren't worth the effort."

Victoria hummed distractedly as she wrote. "It's a bit complicated… but you aren't really wrong, either."

"See?" I took a deep breath. One shot, Percy. You've got this. "I'm sick of Justin's smug face, and I got here a few days ago. Don't tell me you guys aren't interested showing him up."

"I believe the problem is, we can't," said a guy's voice at the back of the room. I hadn't even noticed him tucked mostly behind Vera, but there was… um, what was it again, Jack? Jerry? John! John Smith, the nondescript brunette. "Even if we give it our best, he'll win."

"Exactly what I'm talking about. Right now, your best isn't good enough. That just means your best needs to get better. And the first step is to come at me right here." I shrugged. "Or who knows. Maybe you all beat me, and then you can go on living like you are without any nagging for a whole month. It's all on the table."

The room was dead quiet. Eventually Vera glanced between me and Aurora's sleeping mouth, running calculations on just how many minutes of extra sleeping time she could win for her friend. "I'll take you on," she decided.

John shrugged. "I will too, I guess."

Lucas reached into his trench coat and pulled out huge, spiked cleaver and a ketchup packet. He began decorating the blade with condiment, positioning the smears like bloodstains. "For my movie marathon!"

"You guys are all going to help, right?" Alyssa looked around. "I guess with everyone… Fine! Let's get this done."

"I agree too!" Emmitt said. "I mean I already did, but just for the record, I still agree!"

I broke into a grin. Maybe not the sanest response when outnumbered five to one, but I couldn't help it. From here on out, I actually felt I knew what I was doing.

I chose Anthea to start with.

Lucas came first. His weapons bulky blade didn't slow him down as he swung his cleaver in wild rapid arcs.

I sat back, focusing on defense. Every strike was hard, and there were a lot of them. A few even forced me backward. But I wasn't worried.

For one thing, he fought like she was on a time limit. It was all rushed. No breaks or subtlety. That made blocking easy, not to mention there was no way he could keep it up long. Which he would have to, because his swings were keeping his teammates out of the fight.

The few time Vera and John tried to join in they were forced to back off or be cut by their teammate's blade.

Roughly three minutes later, with the others still forced to hang back, Lucas started to slow down. I retreated again, multiple steps this time, and when he tried to follow he stumbled over his heavy feet. One step to close the distance and I slammed his wrist with the shaft of my spear, forcing him to drop his weapon.

"One down," I said.

The others hesitated. Seeing one taken down without landing a single hit, they seemed to be seriously considering the possibility of losing… and all the hard work that would come after. They shared a look, and I knew that I wouldn't have the luxury of a one-on-one again.

John, Alyssa, and Vera all came at me together. They're teamwork wasn't seamless by any means, but they at least stayed out of each other's way well.

Vera was the main attacker, facing me head on while the others took potshots. Alyssa's clumsy attempts weren't much of a threat, but John's spear was a challenge to dodge. For some reason, every time I took my eyes off of him, it took conscious effort to remind myself he was there, skulking around my blind spots. When one of his stabs came close enough to shear off a few of my hairs, I realized I needed to do something quick.

Targeting the weakest link, I suddenly leapt at Alyssa. Every attack she'd thrown was a stab, like she was scared to get close to. I got rid of her ability to choose.

She squeaked and swung wildly. Too late. I barged a shoulder into her chest and sent her tumbling. Her sword came free, and I kicked it clear across the floor.

A spear came for the side of my head as John tried to capitalize on the opening from my attack. Unfortunately for him, a bowling balls and blunt trauma had gotten me pretty good at dodging things I couldn't see. I ducked, grabbed his wrist, and squeezed. He dropped his weapon with a yelp.

Vera was looking on cautiously, apparently realizing a sneak attack wouldn't end well. I used the pause to catch a breath before spinning Anthea and tapping the point once against the floor. My spear whirred and shrunk into a sword.

Vera's eyes widened. "No fair."

I smirked. "Who said anything about fair?"

Emmitt was standing back, apparently content to wait. So I took my time.

As Vera and I traded blows, I felt her out. She wasn't hopeless. She had a solid guard, and there was real power in her strikes. But compared to Dedalus she might as well have been an amateur.

She fought like winning wasn't on her mind. All she cared about was repelling me, forcing me back, keeping me away. Even her attacks didn't seem intended to disarm as much as to maneuver. When I felt I'd seen all I needed to, I caught her sword with my left hand and finished things this a hilt strike to the solar plexus.

My strike landed. Vera grunted in pain and dropped. After that, it all happened so fast.

Pressure washed over the room. Air felt like mud. My eyelids got heavier and heavier, drooping even as I fought to stay alert, and through my blurry vision I saw it: Aurora was sitting up.

I had never seen her pupils before, but they were kind of impossible to miss now, glowing sleet-blue as they were. With the sleeping bag still around her head, she looked like an extremely ominous inchworm.

"Get away from her!" Aurora commanded.

The words hit me like the silkiest lullaby I could imagine. If Peneus ever put me in a headlock, I imagined this is what it would feel like- strength sapping away, my body refusing to do a thing I wanted as sensation faded. My legs gave out, and I topped forward.

SPLASH!

My hand came down in the puddle under the broken skylight. All at once energy flooded back to me. I sprung up, ready to defend myself…

Aurora was asleep again. As soon as the command was issued she had dropped straight back down and rolled over on her side, snoring soundly like the whole thing had been a figment of my imagination. The others' looks of shock told me it wasn't.

"How did you do that?" Victoria said, her work forgotten. "Nobody's ever resisted one of her commands before."

"Trade secret," I said. "For now. I'll explain after we finish. We're not done yet, after all."

Emmitt looked left, right, and seemed to realize he was the last standing. "Ooh," he said. "Is it my turn?"

I frowned. "Why didn't you attack with the others?"

"I know we were supposed to," he said. "But I don't like that. It doesn't feel fair to gang up on someone else."

"That's… kind of you. Anytime now."

He charged, holding his sword overhead with two hands. He swung down, I stepped out of the way, and he immediately lost his balance, toppling forward. I trapped his sword against the floor with my foot.

"You're out."

"Aww man."

I glanced around. Lucas was brooding at the floor. Alyssa was flat on the ground, her arms stretched out. John and Vera were sitting up, cradling their wrist and side respectively. Emmitt was sprawled on his stomach, Aurora on her side. I looked across the room.

"You wanna try?" I called to the guy meditating in the corner. He hadn't moved since I arrived, but when I addressed he looked over his shoulder, his eyes cracking open. Very slowly, he rose to his feet.

"Your senses are sharp to have noticed me," he said.

"You were kind of just sitting there."

"Indeed, even in my camouflaged state… impressive. Who am I turn away a worthy challenger, especially one who- SNEAK ATTACK!"

He flicked something out of his sleeve and hurled it like a miniature frisbee. John yelped and ducked just in time as a throwing star whizzed by and embedded in the far wall… at least five feet wide of me.

"So you can evade me."

"Dude, you just missed."

"I suppose I will need to meet you, LIKE THIS!"

He drew two short knives, holding them in a reverse grip, and charged with his arms out behind him.

The stance was so goofy that I thought it would be over as quickly as Emmitt's attempt. But when I tried to knock him out with the hilt of my sword, he dodged sharply to the side.

For a second I was worried he was going to hit me. Instead his stab was clumsy and slow, not anything like how he'd dodged. I frowned. Did he not know what he was doing after all?

We fell into a pattern. I would attack, he would slip out of the path, and he would launch a weak attack back at me. After a few minutes, I got sick of trying to figure him out.

Taking advantage of how he hadn't been paying attention earlier, I left my left side open. He jumped at the chance, only for his eyes to widen when I smacked his blade away with the back of my hand. Before he could react, my sword was at his throat.

"Give up?" I asked.

He stared at me. I imagined it had to be steaming hot for him fighting in that goofy ski mask, but for some reason he didn't even seem to be breathing hard.

"A ninja never admits defeat," he said. "But that is only in battle. For spars, to not accept loss is most dishonorable. I yield."

"Uh, cool." I lowered Anfisa. "Are you not used to using knives?"

"Kunai," he corrected. "A knife is a far less stealthy weapon. I will have nothing to do with them. Why do you ask?"

"The way you were moving, you clearly know how to fight. But every time you attacked it was super clumsy. I wondered if you learned with a different weapon."

Even with how much skin he was hiding I saw him tense. "Never. Shuriken and Kunai are my weapons. My only weapons. Now, you were a worthy spar, but if you will excuse me I must return to my meditation. Enlightenment will not achieve itself."

I grinned. "I don't think so. You've got another commitment."

"What would that be?"

"It's training time, everyone!"

Realization that they'd lost swept the room. Alyssa covered her face. Vera punched the floor. I hoped she didn't get a splinter doing it. I wasn't looking to take an impromptu nap courtesy of an overprotective narcoleptic.

"I did not agree to this," Mr. Ninja said.

"The others did though. If you all beat me you got the month off, but if I won everyone trains till The Competition is over." I smirked. "You tried to fight, right? That means you take the forfeit too."

It wasn't necessarily the fairest thing to do, but we needed as many people as possible if we wanted to win. I was willing to be a little underhanded for that.

"…Fine. My honor would not allow me to shirk a deal."

Around the room only Emmitt would meet my eyes. Victoria was back to scribbling on her reports, but I could see a small smile on her face.

Two weeks wasn't a lot of time. But it was something.

Time to get to work.

(-)

There won't be a chapter next week, as I'm on vacation. With luck there'll be one the following Friday, but a delay of an extra few days is also possible. Hopefully this chapter being the longest one yet makes up for the break.

As a side note, this story just hit 100k words. That's a first for me, by quite a margin, my next longest story being only 60k. That's a major milestone... and not the last, considering this story is still well under halfway done. We also broke 200 favorites last chapter, which might even be more exciting for me. It's not a perfect measure, but seeing the favorites rise always feels like a sure sign people are enjoying the story. Feels good to see it increasing.

Anyway, enough babbling. Will be back in two weeks. ish.