AN: Thanks for all the favs, follows, and reviews. This might be just me rambling, but this chapter and the next were really a combination of me watching and enjoying too much anime recently. Sue me, but I loved pretty much every harem anime and also SAO. I fell in love with SAO so much it really reflected on this silly fanfic. For some reason, I don't know why I love writing this story in the PJO fandom when it could be for any fandom. Might just be because PJO was my childhood. In any case, I apologize in advance if you hate harem tropes or dislike SAO. Thanks for reading! Till next time!

Chapter 3: Training

Annabeth

"Again!"

Her joints were screaming in pain. Because of the hot sun directly above her head, sweat ran down all over her body, perspiration stuck throughout her clothes and made them clammy and sticky. She probably smelled disgusting too.

Out of breath, Annabeth groaned, "Thalia… C-Can we get a break?"

Knocked backward by another bout, Annabeth got off the grass and reached backward to pick up her sword. It was a lightweight wooden one-handed sword that wouldn't do any real damage, but right now, it felt as heavy as a block of lead.

So far, this practice sword might as well be the real thing because getting hit with it wasn't fun. It was a solid and dense piece of premium oak so as you'd expected, it hurt quite a bit. In the last two hours, Annabeth hadn't even bothered to count how many times she got smack by the delicately finished wood, leaving her with dull and numbing pain.

"Come on, don't be such a wuss…" Thalia sighed at her.

"But at least let me get a drink of water…"

Exaggerating her exhaustion, Thalia finally gave up after her puppy-eyes pleading expression. She shrugged and sighed exasperatedly, "Fine. Let's take a break then."

Yay!

Maybe her mother heard her prayer and decided to take pity, but if Annabeth was being honest, it's more likely because she was putting up such a pathetic display that Athena didn't want to watch anymore.

Rushing over for the shades, Annabeth picked a spot where it felt the best, the gentle breeze of the wind, the rustling of the tree leaves above, the shimmering golden waves as they hit her skin. She picked up her water bottle and took huge sips one after another.

"Aaahh…." Refreshed, satisfying sounds left her lips.

"Stop being so dramatic, princess…" Thalia stood before her and join her side a second later, "You don't see Percy complaining, and he's been working twice as hard as you are."

Annabeth pouted, "That's not fair comparing a boy to a girl…"

"Huh? That wasn't what I was expecting…" She sat down and took sips from her bottle too. All of a sudden, Thalia screamed and put her face right up to hers, "Hey! Are you saying I am not a girl?!"

Annabeth laughed nervously. She didn't realize what she said sounded kind of wrong taken in the literal sense.

"A-Aahaha…" She waved her hands, "Of course not."

This time, Thalia pouted. Saving herself from certain doom, Annabeth put her hands down and looked afar from the hill they've been practicing on. Her attention drifted from the lake to the cabins, then she looked up at the clear skies.

This was Camp Half-Blood: a safe refuge and home base for all demigods and demi-goddesses. Annabeth could see people walking about, some playing games on the fields, some reading and eating inside in the pavilion, and a lot of heavy shouting from the coliseum.

It looked just a summer camp, not that Annabeth had the chance to go to one though. This was about as close to an experience as she was going to get.

"This is kind of nice…" She absentmindedly spoke her mind.

Thalia didn't react much beside her. Her only response was a soft hum as she leaned back on her elbows and sighed relaxingly. Annabeth held back a chuckle. Despite what she said, the girl certainly knew how to lay back and lazy about when there's nothing to do.

"Oww!"

A sharp scream echoed through the small valley they were on. Annabeth snapped her head toward his voice and found her seaweed brain doubled over and holding his red hand.

"Focus, Percy. That's for not paying attention during a sword fight."

"Sorry. Sorry." Percy went behind him to pick up the same oak sword and assumed his fighting stance to face the son of Zeus once more. Just before they start, Annabeth caught Percy stealing a small and shy glance at her. He pulled away immediately.

A small smile jumped from her heart and it was enough to light up a mental grin within her soul.

Annabeth squeezed back a smile on her lips and decided to watch them instead.

"Remember, a fighter's stance is the most important. You have to have a solid footing to execute your moves correctly." Jason said, "As such, try to keep your balance…"

"Keep my balance? But I am…"

A sudden heavy swing swiped in from his left side. Percy lifted his wooden sword and instinctively went to block it. It was a successful block, but he did much more than that because they found themselves locked in a duel, yet Percy might actually be pushing Jason back.

"What was that?!" Percy exclaimed, "I thought you want me to…"

A sneering smirk moved across Jason, and in the blink of an eye, Percy was tumbling forward before he crashed into the dirt face first. Jason stood behind him unfazed and placed his own sword on his right shoulder. He was suppressing his smug smile.

"You weren't keeping your balance, Percy…"

Eyebrows scrunched over, Annabeth didn't realize she was making a face until Thalia spoke.

"Remember this, princess. When you are held in a deadlock with your opponent, never use your whole body to push through their sword. If the enemy has half a working brain, all they have to do is tilt their body away from your sword trajectory, pull their own sword back, and you'd be tumbling on the floor before you know it."

Annabeth stared at her best friend wide-eyed. After all, her eyes were closed and she was laying back on the soft grass, hands behind her head in a relaxing pose.

"How did you—"

"That's why if you want to avoid doing the same thing like Percy just did…" Thalia's lips curled into a small smile, "Use your arms instead. Though that comes with a bit more physical training first…"

Annabeth couldn't even guess and chalk it up to her years of experience.

"Anyway, why are we training with swords to begin with? We can't pull out a sword in school or in the street, you know?"

Annabeth was genuinely curious, "Besides, I thought self-defense meant being able to defend against attack with some martial arts technique or something like that?"

"That part comes later, princess…"

Instead of replying, Thalia uncharacteristically ignored her question and soaked in the sunlight. It was rude on so many levels, but watching her drift away in her own world, Annabeth couldn't get mad.

Another bout of shouting brought Annabeth's attention back on her seaweed brain. The two boys have locked in the heat of combat again.

It looked like Percy was getting better at it. The way he moved, the way he kept his stance steady unlike before, the way he was getting serious as he swung his practice sword, Annabeth felt goosebumps as she watched.

"That's a lot better, Percy." Jason complimented, "Now, let's see how your reaction is with some simple attack. Just so you know, I am not going to hold back anymore."

Percy smirked, "Bring it."

A series of heavy thuds of oak wood hitting oak wood echoed through the small field they were practicing on. Both Percy and Jason made heavy battle cries when they swung at each other, but with just a brief glance, Jason was definitely on the offensive with Percy barely able to defend himself against his attack.

Annabeth gulped. The much more experienced demigod was swinging his sword so fast, the wooden blade seemingly teleported from one space in time to the next, any movements were quick enough that her eyes couldn't keep up; which was why she was surprised Percy could even keep up at all.

"Haha… You are much better than I thought you were. Maybe that's why you were kept alive when facing Clarisse."

Annabeth's eyebrows twitched.

"Good, you are holding your sword and your ground." Jason spoke blithely as he kept the pressure and did not lose up one bit, "But you won't be able to defeat me if you keep defending like this."

Even from a distance, Annabeth saw Percy grit his teeth as he blocked another attack head-on. Despite a self-defense lesson, Annabeth really hoped Percy could do something, not lest to shut up the son of Zeus.

"I am not that weak, Jason." Percy shot a sarky smirk and angled his block in a way that lock their swords once more, "So don't underestimate me."

Mimicking the same gesture he saw only once, Percy pulled his body sideways after predicting his next swings, then he narrowly avoided the wooden sword from hitting him.

Jason blinked his eyes wide in surprise.

Taking advantage, Percy used that moment of hesitation and lunged forward with a quick attack: his sword held firmly in a horizontal position as he made a risky jab. Aimed right for Jason's head, Annabeth gasped.

Suddenly, the earth boomed.

An ear-splitting scream echoed over the fields and no doubt reached the main camp ground below. It was accompanied by a white flash. Momentarily blinded, Annabeth rubbed her eyes and she was eager to catch the results.

"I am impressed, Percy."

What she found was Percy knocked backward on the grass, the premium oak sword he held lie shattered into a million different pieces, some parts of it was charred and smoking.

"Not that many people could be on the offensive sparring with me on their first day, much less sneak an attack right through my guard."

"I could say the same thing about you, Jason..." Percy laughed and grabbed Jason's outstretch hand to help him up, "You weren't kidding when you said you'll work me to the bones."

Once standing upright, Jason threw his arms around Percy and grinned like a big brother, "You should be proud of yourself. I bet at this pace, you'll be able to protect the princess in no time."

Despite his body was dripping with sweat after training underneath the hot sun, Annabeth saw Percy heated up with red cheeks, "S-Shut up…"

Jason smirked and nudged Percy, but her seaweed brain wasn't having it and soon enough, they were having another bout, except this one wasn't with oak swords but with their elbows and hands.

"Come on… Tell me all about it…"

Boys…

Annabeth sighed tiredly, yet, she was incapable of looking away….

Her eyes were instinctively drawn toward Percy as he tried to nudge Jason away. They were having an impromptu wrestling match, and amid their silly battle, Annabeth couldn't stop herself from staring at Percy's fit and tone body. She wandered aimlessly but filled with a drive that drove her gaze to be fixated on his waist. The sweat on his shirt made it transparent, enough for Annabeth to make out the little details of his toned abs. Sure, they weren't anything too impressive, but it left Annabeth with a hard-to-swallow gulp.

Their heated exchange grew, his shirt was momentarily thrown up and showed his bare abs for everyone to see. Annabeth almost squealed at the tantalizing sight.

From that point, Annabeth couldn't resist as her gaze from traveling all over his body; from his board shoulders that made her heart skipped whenever he flexed, his muscular biceps and strong arms she wished would wrap themselves around her forever, his long and slender legs that made his figure so attractive, down to his bare navel and reaching dangerously close to exposing more and more beneath the hem of his pants…

Percy…

Her imagination went wild. Eventually, she heard a voice over the distance calling out for her.

"Oiiii…. Oiii….. Are you awake, princess?"

Annabeth snapped away when she finally realized what she's been doing. Her voice stuttered.

"W—What?"

"Geez… You were spacing out."

Relieved, Annabeth tried to reply nonchalantly, "Sorry."

"Hmm…" Her blue eyes brimming with curiosity, "What's so interesting that caught your attention so much?"

Her voice cracked under pressure, "Umm… It's not…"

Thalia smirked.

"Perhaps you were daydreaming about someone from over there?"

Shattering all her hope, Annabeth's lip turned from a nervous smile into an annoyed frown, though she could barely keep it from crumbling, "N-Not at all… What makes you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe because you were drooling all over your mouth when you stare like a hungry lion at your boyfriend?"

Annabeth squealed, "Ahhee! Don't say it out loud!"

Despite denying her daydream, Annabeth wiped around her lips just to make sure Thalia wasn't joking about her drooling.

Thalia laughed and escaped her reach before she could grab her, "Seriously, you've been staring at Percy like that for a few days now. Did something spicy happen?"

Annabeth cringed when Thalia put so much emphasis on those words. She made sure the boys weren't paying attention, heaved a long sigh, then glared coldly at her best friend who was still amused by her fluster display, "Just so you know, nothing happened between us. We just…. Anyway, it's none of your business."

Luckily, Thalia decided to leave her alone with a wry look. Annabeth was glad, but at the same time also suspicious of her best friend.

"Sure-sure…" She lifted herself off the ground and reached out, "Now let's try something else. We are not done yet."

Annabeth smiled and took her hand.

After swearing on that promise, Annabeth wasn't going to get left behind while Percy got better and better. If she wanted to keep her promise, she needed to work hard too.

-Line break-

As a group, they stumbled up another hill and reached the big house.

"Ughhhh…." A heavy breath escaped her as she clutched her knees.

Catching his usual amused look, Percy held her tighter and she blushed out of nowhere. Lacking the energy to responds, she forgot to give her seaweed brain a cold glare, "You okay, wise girl?"

No! No I am not, seaweed brain… Her empty voice turned hoarse and dry. But I wouldn't mind if you keep hugging me like this though…

Honesty, Annabeth was so glad training ended.

Annabeth practiced fighting so much her legs might fall asleep any second now. If Percy wasn't holding her up, she would have collapsed a long time ago; on second thought, maybe that wouldn't be so bad because Percy might actually give her a piggyback ride.

That imagination brought a playful smile to her lips… Hehe.

But of course, being in his arms made her melt just the same too.

After hours on end, Annabeth learned a lot of valuable lessons from Thalia and even Jason too. Aside from learning how to block and deflect incoming attacks and keeping their stance steady, they also taught them the beginning of something called Obliterating Art: an overwhelming technique that could turn the tide of a battle if used correctly.

Of course, they were nowhere near the level to successfully activate it, but it was a concept that would bring them closer to their goal; to be able to protect each other.

"Anyway, here is it."

A rusty double door slid open and brought forward a cloud of dust. Annabeth covered her mouth while Percy waved his hand before his nose. He coughed as the dust particles got stuck in his throat.

Standing before them was an old little shack in the back of the big house. Strange, Annabeth didn't see Alfred in Camp today.

"We never used this place anymore, but it still serves a purpose."

"For what?"

Thalia grinned, "A demonstration…"

Annabeth tilted her head and looked visibly confused. If it was demonstrating anything, it just showed how this place was worthy of being called the dirtiest pigsty in the world. There were dozens of sharp objects laid out across a huge worktable. Organized by their weapon type, there were also working tools and other utility equipment hanging on every side of the walls as well.

"This is our recycle armory." Thalia gestured proudly.

Annabeth made a face. Certainly, this place wasn't one where someone should be proud of. It looked like this little shack never had proper maintenances for decades. Being eerily dead inside, it somehow withstood against all odds and was still standing upright. For real, if she stumbled upon this little storage stack by herself, she would have thought it abandoned to cobwebs.

For a moment, Annabeth tensed and nudged herself closer to Percy.

"Basically, all our broken and malfunctioning equipment are thrown in here, it included our weapons and everything that can be melted down for new items."

"So? What about it?"

Percy followed Thalia in, but Annabeth stood outside and left Percy on his own.

"Wise girl?"

"You go ahead, seaweed brain… I'll just watch from here."

Percy tilted his head and narrowed his eyes in confusion. From behind Percy's figure, Annabeth could make out a sliver of a smirk on Thalia's lips. A grumble left her own.

"Anyway, you don't need to come in if you don't want to." Thalia told Percy, "Stay with the princess, Percy. I just want to show you two how Dekura works."

Annabeth was stunned, "Wait? What do you mean by that?! Why is it in—"

Missing a proper explanation, Thalia raised her hand and a solid metal bracelet that wasn't there before glowed silver around her right wrist. Even from far away, Annabeth heard her best friend speak in Japanese. It was Kite, which literally means come forward.

Then it happened.

Organized by their weapon types: some daggers, some maces or axes, some spears, but mostly swords… A pair of grey eyes darted from one end of the table to the next, intrigued and surprised to find every single weapon on the worktable dematerialize into polygon digital squares, it looked like transparent digital data flowing in real-time, which followed in an arch pearl white streams and flowed into the center crystal of Thalia's bracelet.

Not breaking a sweat as literal magic happened naturally before her eyes, Annabeth couldn't speak a single word. Just when she thought she couldn't be surprised by this world and what her mother was capable of creating, this happened.

In essence, Thalia somehow absorbed dozens of dull and rusting weapons into a single bracelet which was no bigger than… well, a plain silver bracelet which was only two centimeters wide.

When everything was stored inside her bracelet, Thalia whispered softly and again in the same Japanese tongue, which means release this time.

"Ririsu."

The broken weapons streamed out like data back onto the worktable. It was incredible.

"H-How…" Percy's voice was completely dry.

Instead of piling up into a mess on the floor, the strange meta-digital data squares organized themselves back into their individual weapon groups.

Now Annabeth was intrigued. She wanted… no, she needed to find out more about this neat little gadget and how it's supposed to work.

"Your mother made this for us." Thalia beamed and reached into her shirt pocket to take out four of the same silver bracelets, "Here you go. A pair for the two of you."

Annabeth took her pair and her hands were shaking a bit from the excitement. On the other hand, Percy snapped one on his right wrist before he even asked how it was supposed to work.

"This is so cool!"

Already ready to snap the other bracelet on his left wrist, Annabeth smacked his shoulder hard and almost made him drop the bracelet, "Are you seriously not going to ask how it works before putting them on?"

It was clear that the thought never cross his mind at all. Percy bit his lips and laughed sheepishly.

"You are such a stupid seaweed brain." Annabeth heaved a sigh of despair.

Percy rubbed his messy onyx hair on purpose, "Aahhahaha…. Well, at least I've got you here to remind me whenever I do something dumb, right?"

A karate chop right into his neck missed its mark and landed on his collarbone instead….

"Guuuuehhh…"

Percy doubled over on the grass, clutching his stomach and groaned out loud. Annabeth grinned and giggled brightly at his dramatic act, "I didn't even hit you there, seaweed brain."

"Doesn't matter… It still hurts."

It was times like this that made Thalia want to smile at the sweetness enveloping the couple but at the same time crawl into a hole to avoid how infectious it felt. Jason coughed uncomfortably, not that anyone could blame him for it. Thalia began to sigh too as she shook her head which Jason mimicked as well. The twins were completely left out by the lovebirds.

"Anyway, I hate you interrupt your little PDA moment, but let me begin to explain this."

The Dekura, driven from the Japanese word Detekuru meaning to come out or emerge, was an item in the shape of a regular-looking cuff silver bracelet.

"Before we have this handy phantom cache available, we used to carry all our supplies for missions outside of the city. It was a drag, and we've had instances where someone lost their lives because they lost their weapons during a supply drop. A monster attacked him, and that was it…"

A sad frown took Thalia's expression, although it didn't seem like it was a Half-Blood she knew very well.

"Anyway, that's why Lady Athena was looking for ways to limit the number of supplies a Half-Blood had to physically carry in order to travel for missions."

Thalia detached her Dekura. It came off with a strong squeeze around both ends of the solid band. It fell loose and somehow the material was easy to pull off her wrist without twisting it around.

"As a result, she made this for all Half-Bloods so tragic situation like that wouldn't happen again." Thalia snapped it back on as easily as another squeeze, "And as far as where she even thought of this…."

Annabeth felt a shiver and an uncomfortable lump in her throat. She knew what this was going….

"It's because she took some free time to read through one of your novels and manga, and that's where the idea came from." Thalia grinned at a flustered Annabeth, "What's more, she spent a significant time with the author of the book, all the way in Japan just so she could get the concept right. It wasn't long before she came up with a prototype, and the one you are holding now is the final version."

Annabeth bit her lips. Even if there wasn't a reflection, her face was on fire without a doubt.

"Wait wait wait… So you are saying this Dekura gadget is basically a magical item that came straight out of a fantasy novel Annabeth loved?"

Thalia nodded amusedly.

Exactly one second later, uncontrollable laughers roared from the massive jerk next to Annabeth who was clutching his stomach in tears. Too embarrassed to react, Annabeth quivered with heated red cheeks between all of them. She was dumbfounded but at the same time, her seaweed brain crossed a line and she had just about enough from him. Her trouble containing her anger crumbled. She was ready to kick Percy in the balls for his merciless reaction.

"Hahaha…. I can't believe it! You are saying this thing is from a manga?! Hahaha, we are literally living inside a fantasy right inside another fantasy world! Hahahaha…."

Annabeth swung around and kicked as hard as she could, "Knock it off, Seaweed brain!"

THUD!

Following that rough kick, Percy grumbled and bend over on his knees, "Owww! Owwehehe— Oww-hehe… Hahaha..."

Annabeth had no idea whether Percy was crying in pain or laughing with joy anymore. He collapsed and rolled around on the grass, clutching both his hand between his legs.

"Hmph!" Annabeth crossed her arms and looked away.

On the sideline, Thalia and Jason stood dejected and heaved a visible breath of air filled with despair. It was only in the afternoon, and teaching them anything serious was beginning to look hopeless.

Maybe they should start with something more worthwhile.