Chapter 5: Our First Enemy
Annabeth
"That was way too close…"
A pair of heavy breathing and rasped voices filled the empty stairwell. It really amplified how desolate one could feel when classes were in session, almost as if they were the only ones at school when it hadn't passed one in the afternoon yet.
"Ugh! I wished she stop staring at me like that," I grumbled.
"Do you think we might have let her get too close?"
"I don't know, Percy, but it's bound to happen anyway, not to mention stupid Thalia asking her to get involved, so of course she'd get suspicious about your incident."
"Still, I never thought she would have that many questions about it. It's almost like she knew we are lying about it from the beginning."
"Yeah. I am a bit surprised too."
While I was a pretty good judge of character most of the time- minus only that one instance- I didn't feel I have to be as wary as I should be around Rachel. Despite her status as a regular mortal and an all-around sweet girl, Rachel was dangerously perceptive, almost on the same par as my best friend, Piper McLean: the daughter of Aphrodite.
What's worse, she seemed to have us figured out, and it's quite impressive how her keen intuition could tell her something was amiss. It really felt like our secret lives were being put up on display.
"But let's leave it alone. It's not like Rachel can figure out anyway."
Percy agreed, "Right. The mist…"
Once we made sure the coast was clear, we rushed away from the stairs leading up the roof. It would be a bad idea to let someone see that we had access. When we were far enough away, I stopped in the middle to catch my breath. Percy did the same beside me and he was crotching with both hands on his knees, panting heavily.
"Anyway, I guess you are right about Rachel…"
A huff exclaimed from my rasped throat, "I am always right, seaweed brain."
Annoyed, Percy sure knew how to annoy me even more as he sighed nonchalantly, "Yeah, Yeah… I know it already, wise girl."
Before I could pout or maybe give him a glare, we felt eyes on us from our left. A little startled, I hadn't realized we stopped right in front of a packed classroom. The horizontal curtain blinds weren't shut like always, there was no cover for me and Percy to hide.
About everyone was staring at us, even the teacher assumed a half-frozen pose with his right hand holding an English literature book. They were all befuddled by the appearance of two students roaming the halls when they should have been in class. Vice versa, Percy and I were staring back the whole class blankly.
The teacher finally tilted his head in confusion and smiled.
"Let's go, wise girl…"
Percy grabbed my hand suddenly and dragged me away.
"Whoa! Hey-yy… Don't pull me like that!"
We disappeared down the halls. With Percy leading the way, he held my hand close until we settled back to a normal pace. As I followed behind him, an irresistible smile plastered my lips and refused to go even when I chew on them.
I looked forward at Percy's back and felt my lips grow wide.
Soon, the momentarily pause of the whole class began to pick up again with the professor's words as he resumed his lecture.
"Did Owlfred tell you where we should go?"
Elated as he led me forward, I feigned an irritated huff and pretended to be grumpy. It might have been unintentional, but Percy totally ruined my perfect attire when he dragged me away. I had to fix my pleated skirt a bit, tug in my white blouse, then pull my white stockings back up until I felt comfortable once more. I brought my phone out from behind my grey school blazer- it was a brand new one because I utterly destroy my last phone after it submerged in my bath... and of course, also subjecting it to more undeserved violence.
"Yeah. Owlfred is sending their location on the screen. It seemed like they want us to—"
We stare as Owlfred pinpoint where we were supposed to go. We were shocked when the screen stopped its echo pulsing of a 3D environmental map and revealed the spot where Thalia, Jason, and Piper were waiting for us.
…..
We reached the secret room.
This was the place, an abandoned dead-end that became a deathtrap for us. Standing here again, it was as unpleasant as being reminded of what occurred.
"Gosh, I never thought I'd be here again. Are you sure they are inside? Maybe Owlfred got the meeting place wrong and he somehow malfunctioned."
Percy peeked over my shoulder. Surely, the locator was pointing them in the right direction because everyone's beacons were clearly past the brick wall, but why? Why did it have to be this place?! Out of all the other spots in school, they couldn't have picked somewhere more livelily than this dreaded place?
This place smells like death… I hate it.
"I don't find that amusing nor very nice of you, Percy." Owlfred suddenly projected himself as a talking sphere through my phone's Holo-phase capabilities, "Are you saying I am wrong somehow? That a half-sentient AI millions, maybe even trillions of times more advance than your tiny phonetic brain is wrong about something as simple as GGS?"
"Aa-ahah… Come now, you know I don't mean it like that…"
Owlfred spherical body turned bright orange at Percy's abashed reaction, a color code symbolizing irritation, "I'd expect a written apology from you before I'll speak with you again, prince Perseus!"
Just like that, his projection disappeared back into the phone.
Ignoring that uncomfortable nobility title everyone had been using recently; even some maids had started calling me princess Annabeth, which was so mortifying. In any case, Percy sighed and whined in detest, "Sheesh! Everyone is so snappy and harsh with me today. Seriously, what did I even do to get treated like this?"
While I always enjoyed seeing his childish demeanor when he complained, he just reminded me of something from fifteen minutes ago involving a certain auburn-haired girl. I couldn't pass up this golden opportunity for a sneak attack.
Guh! Ugghhhh… Owww…..
I elbowed him in the gut. Of course, not the left side where he was hurt, but it did plenty of damage and he quickly crotched over, groaning and looking at me like I'd gone insane.
"You too?! Why? What did I do?!"
A smirk moved across over my lips, "You know what you did, Percy. Also, I am not that forgiving of a person, so don't try to do that again."
"Huh? That doesn't even explain anything…"
I turned to ignore him and began examining the seemingly ordinary brick wall. Despite knowing of the secret passage, I didn't know how to activate it nor where the mechanisms were.
"Gosh, you are so violent only toward me wise girl…."
Soon, Percy came beside me and stood there dumbly, "Are you sure you can find it yourself?"
"Or you can help too, you know…"
I knew I was being a smart-ass, but when he sighed despondently, it left me on the cusp of a dumb giggle. I smiled nevertheless.
"Yeah-yeah… I am on it, wise girl." Percy went over to my other side confidently, as if he already knew where the hidden mechanism was, "It's actually over here."
With his right hand, he pressed forward on a specific brick before it rotated around an axis to reveal a small lever hiding inside. This was it! It was the switch that open the secret passageway and would lead them inside that dreadful, poisonous workshop.
"Did you always know it was here?"
I was annoyed. If Percy knew where the activation was, why didn't he do it outright instead of making me look like a clueless idiot?
"No. I just had a feeling that the switch is here."
I pouted because he didn't explain anything at all.
"Plus, it's funny watching you try desperately when I knew the answer before you, wise girl. It's kind of refreshing."
A moment of shock left me dumbfounded. Of course, seaweed brain was grinning ear to ear, and somehow I saw my hand automatically raised high as I smacked his upper arm.
"Jerk!"
Percy didn't even flinch, "Besides, you should know by now how much I love teasing you. I love how cute you look when you get all fluster."
Gasps left me and I couldn't open my mouth from how speechlessly I turned. Percy just openly admitted something so embarrassing. Sure, he might be fine with saying that out loud, but I wasn't remotely ready to hear it, no less in the middle of our hallways.
"Y-Youu are such a seaweed brain…" I whispered. There was no limit to how hard I was blushing. Even my cheeks hurt from how red and heated they were glowing, but in the end….
… I just couldn't say otherwise because the end result: I loved hearing that little admission from him. If anything, I wanted to hear even more now— what else he loved about me, what little details he couldn't take his eyes off of, what being with me meant to him…
I love you and hate you so much…
"Anyway, are you ready?"
I shook the thoughts away and nodded, "Yeah. Let's go."
Once he pulled the lever, a deep rumbling echoed through our surroundings. Luckily, classes were in session so no one should have seen us. What's more, aftereffects of the mists should have blocked their perception even if they stumbled upon us opening a secret passageway.
Like literally, Thalia explained once that mortals- or any normal students in Goode- wouldn't even feel the quaking of the school building.
Thud!
The brick wall retreated and split open like a valley, revealing the dreary and death-riddled place filled with everything that could easily kill you— or rather, it was supposed to.
I tilted my head in confusion.
"Hey, you two!" Thalia stood by the entrance and beamed, "You are late."
Thrown into a momentary daze, words left my mouth in stutters, "Umm… What are you wearing?"
A full set of silver-plated armor decorated her figure. She was wearing a battle outfit that looked like she was ready for war in the middle age where knights used to exist.
"Oh? This? It's just an experiment. Come in, we'll explain everything." Thalia dragged us in and pressed the switch to activate the doors again. I turned around and watch it close with slow rumblings.
"So, do you like what we've done with the place?"
I turned back around and met a sight I wasn't expecting.
What was once a closed-off dimly lit room used for making poison knives, the entire workshop had turned into a small studio with huge windows that looked over the river and toward the south, where our campus green park was.
"We did a remodel of this place. From now on, this will be our safe house in school. I've secured the location for us to use ever since we captured the student running this place."
That reminded me…
"Wait! Did you ever find out who he was?"
Uncomfortable, Thalia said, "I am sure you don't want to hear this, but his name was Ethan, the student who had an unhealthy obsession with you."
Ethan? The boy I got assigned to be in a group project with? But why?
Percy listened in without any reaction.
"He's working with Kronos? How is that possible? Is he a Half-Blood?"
"No, he's just a regular mortal, but there was someone else he worked under, and that person was the reason why Ethan seemed impossibly powerful for a normal human being."
I looked at Thalia for more and she paused uncomfortably again.
"Basically, he was imbued with Kronos's power in a temporary state. All the impossible feats he's done since then, it's because of that person's help."
"Who? Who is that person?"
I saw a flickering of emotions behind her blue eyes.
"I don't know, princess." Thalia revealed, "We have no clue who that person is. All Ethan told us is that he's working for him, but he didn't reveal his identity."
It took a while for those revelations to sink in, but when I realized how a fellow student in school harbored such hatred for me and Percy, it made me sick. I've never shown him any hostility, and even consider him a nice person despite his awkward and out-of-nowhere confession. Now, the one student who I could actually tolerate became this merciless killer and targeted me and Percy for death.
I couldn't understand… or rather, I didn't want to understand it.
"D-Did he do all this on purpose?"
Thalia looked at me sadly, "No one told him to do those things to you and Percy. He did them on his own accord."
We fell silent.
"I guess I should say it just as a reminder, but Ethan is no longer infused with Kronos's power, so if you do see him in school, just act natural."
I blinked in shock.
But before I could protest, Thalia cut me off, "He's not what he used to be, princess. Your mother made sure his memories and anything related to us were cut off, meaning he wouldn't remember anything that happened, not even his obsessive memories of you."
"He's brainwashed?"
Thalia nodded, "It is better this way. We don't want to involve a mortal in our affairs because troubles can arise in unexpected ways."
I didn't press for more information, learning about Ethan's plan was already more than I could handle.
"In any case, the case with Ethan is done. I am sure whoever his master is wouldn't bother with him anymore now that he knows we are on to him."
I was doubtful, but I trust Thalia more than anyone else.
"So, why did you call us here? I assumed it's because of our training." Percy spoke, his unusually calm voice seemed to be hiding something.
"Yeah, about that…"
Thalia then led us further into the room where we saw our other two protectors. They were sitting by a solid square table, or rather, it's more of an island since it's in the middle of the room. The island wasn't hollow, so it's looked basically like a block of elegantly carved white marble with holographic glass displays and computerized light.
Sitting opposite of each other, Jason and Piper were tinkering with something and were having a somewhat heated argument. Bots and pipes sprawl out over the table in such a mess that one would have a hard time organizing everything. I was getting anxious just looking at the huge pile.
"What are you guys working on?"
Since they haven't greeted us yet, Jason turned around and said plainly, "We're working on a prototype weapon, but Piper is too naive to think that titanium alloy would do the trick."
Piper made a scowling face and insisted passionately, "It's lightweight, it has the strength we needed, and it's resistant to corrosion. What better material could we find?"
"First of all, that alloy is way too light for it. Can you imagine the recoil if you really made it out of titanium? I say we use steel-tungsten. It's much heavier, has all the properties of titanium, and it's not as brittle against intense forces."
"That's way too heavy! Even if it can better withstand the heat and explosion, there's no way we can keep using it for long."
"Maybe not for you…"
Ohh, that wasn't the right thing to say, Jason…
Now that the fuse was lit, there was no going back as fires burn behind Piper's gaze, "Jason Grace, are you saying I am too weak?"
Jason shrugged and turned back to the table, "I am not saying anything…"
While an angry Piper stared down at an uncomfortable Jason, Percy watched on as the two bicker almost like a couple, "Umm… Are they always like this?"
Thalia hung her head in despair, "Don't mind them… We're just having trouble finding a suitable alloy for a new weapon we are trying to make."
Percy hummed curiously and watched as the fight intensify; it's certainly entertaining as he enjoyed the show, maybe even more so if he had a bowl of popcorn and drinks.
"Again, how numbskull can you be? Are you that much of a moron that you can't get your head out of your ass and admit you are wrong?"
"Speak for yourself! You are the one who is insisting we build the prototype with something so brittle it can fall apart on the first try, why should I agree with you when I know I am right?"
Pretty soon, Piper had enough and gritted her teeth against Jason who was looking away from her in a huff. I sighed. If someone didn't step in, the two of them might potentially start World War III.
"Look, how about we try a compound alloy made from titanium and tungsten? It doesn't have to be either one. Sure, it will take more time to synthesize and manufacture, but at least it's the best of both worlds, right?"
They took turns to look at me with a half-blank expression, likely because they haven't even thought about compound materials in the first place. I let out a hopeless sigh.
"Whatever!" They huffed and turned away. For a moment, I wondered if they were even arguing about alloys or something else entirely.
And even though they totally agreed with me, Piper turned to her side while Jason began to work on his own. They still weren't talking, but at least it was a disaster averted.
"Thanks, princess." Thalia looked relief in more ways than one.
Now that the daughter of Aphrodite and the son of Zeus were calmly tinkering away, Thalia took us back to our previous conversation.
"So, the reason why I called you here is because I want to move up our training schedule a bit, meaning that I want to test your skills with a real enemy this time."
"Wait, what do you mean a 'real enemy'?"
"Look, we've done a lot of training on your defense, but we haven't seen what you two can do with your offensive capabilities. In combat, it's useless to keep on defending if you can't find the opportunity to attack your opponent, otherwise, you'll just wear yourself out."
It made sense. After all, it's self-explanatory to win a fight.
"Right, but how do we work on our attacks? I mean, you and Jason are going to help us out, right?"
Her sudden smirk made me feel uneasy, "Actually, I believe you two are ready to learn on the field now."
I tilted my head in confusion.
"So after school today, you two are going to fight against your first monster."
Percy and I stood there dumbfounded for a moment.
"Eehhehh?!"
-Line Break-
Our friends didn't join us for the rest of the day.
They were busy working on their experiment, and as such, I was able to spend the majority alone with Percy. It was great since I've persuaded our principal to match our classes, meaning I got to spend every moment with Percy by my side.
I knew my seaweed brain feels the same way.
After all, he didn't let me out of his sight since we left our new hideout and went back to our regular schedule, and I mean, he really didn't let me out of his sight.
"Percy-yy…" I was beyond embarrassed, to say the least, "N-Not now…"
He refused.
I grew even redder, "P-Percy… Please, not right now…"
He didn't listen and ignored every pair of strange gazes around us. Everyone was whispering left and right, and I didn't blame them.
"Do you want me to let go, wise girl?"
Pressing us much closer than before, his handsome smirk drew me in and I melted like a soft ice cream cone. I barely had enough brain cells to manage and whispered back, "N-Noo…. but Percy, others are staring…"
He shrugged it off like it's no big deal, "So?"
A pout went over my lips. For whatever reason, Percy had been really possessive of me ever since we went back to classes. Like, almost to the point where he was ready to boast how we were in a relationship to everyone in school.
Of course, most people already knew we were a couple by now, but at the same time, I felt so self-conscious of everyone's stare it was impossible to get my cheeks under control.
Really, what has gotten into my seaweed brain?
I couldn't stop blushing as we walked to our last class of the day.
Luckily, our last class was English Literature, and our professor was a cool middle-aged man who loved to implement was a lot of self-studying. It meant we were to read our assigned books and write a reflection of our impressions. It was an easy class and one that wouldn't draw others' attention.
Except…
Ever since the fifth period, a possessive Percy had been shifting our tables and seats together. Sure, there were no rules against merging your seat with another student, but it easily drew the eyes of all our classmates and even our teachers with strange looks.
As expected, Percy didn't care and even held me close every chance he got. The fact that no one said anything just made it so much more unbearable.
When the bell rang and signal the end of another day, I rushed to grab Percy, dragged him to the front of the class, turned in my work, and rush out the door to escape everyone coming out of their classes. I brought us back to the only place where we could be alone: the entrance of our secret hideout.
"Explain yourself right now!"
Percy recoiled and threw his hands up, "Come on, wise girl… Are you really going to interrogate me? I was only…"
I threw my fist on his chest and pouted right into his emerald shining eyes.
"Gosh… I don't think I have felt that embarrassed ever in my entire life."
"Okay, I am sorry, wise girl. Something just came over me and I wanted to hold you as close to me as possible. I probably would have kissed you too if there weren't so many people watching…"
I hit his chest hard.
"You are such a moron, seaweed brain!"
He looked helpless at my reaction. Meanwhile, I was nothing but blushes at what he mentioned. The fact that he said that out loud was already too much for me to handle.
"Really! I swear to the Gods. You look so cute and beautiful today I just want to kiss you again and again and again…"
Short on breath, I wasn't able to resist the butterflies in my stomach and hit his chest repeatedly while calling him a massive stupid jerk every chance I get.
"W-What's gotten into you?!"
Percy tilted his head, "What do you mean? I am the same as always."
"No! No you are not!" I looked up at him all confused by my reaction, "You are... Ugh! I hate you so much."
Before Percy could react, I leaned up on my tippy toes and kiss him right on those soft lips.
Oh my God! He tasted as sweet as honey, and as I pressed further for more of this delightful contact, he finally responded and kiss me back. His arms wrapped around me as I held him close by his chest.
We had a full make-out session in the back of an abandoned hallway—
...
"Okay, something definitely happened between you two…"
We couldn't say anything as we walked away from the school toward the park.
"Right, Pipes? Do you think something might have happened when we weren't looking?"
Piper had her lips sealed tightly shut but she clearly knew what was going on, and her gleaming eyes revealed all there was to know, "Come on, Thals. Let's not bother the lovebirds too much. They are already so embarrassed."
Thankful, I was glad Piper didn't blabber out what we did alone in the secret corner of our hide-out entrance. Flushed from head to toe, I couldn't stop thinking about what I started with Percy or how we ended up afterward.
Embarrassed whimpers left me as tingles rolled through my delighted body, though I desperately resisted letting others see my uncontrollable reaction.
Thalia shrugged, "Fine. I'll find out sooner or later…"
Jason sighed out of exasperation as he walked side by side with Thalia. Meanwhile, Piper made a small nudge on my left shoulder as she walked beside me and Percy. Not saying a word, I could tell what she was saying just by her expressions alone.
I shivered and turned away.
Leading us down a few more pathways until we were in a desolated area out of sight, Thalia came to a full stop and turned around, "Well, like I've said, we need to measure your combat abilities. Don't worry too much, we'll be observing you two from a distance, and we'll help out when we see you in any sort of trouble, okay?"
Letting out composed sighs, we nodded. No matter what happened and whether we win or lose, Percy and I were ready to get through our first battle together.
"Okay." Thalia reaffirmed our determination, "Call your weapons. We're going to start."
Percy and I held out our hands and chanted the simple spell to activate our Dekura.
"Ririsu."
The tiny crystal clear gem on the bracelet flashed blue, and our weapons streamed out as meta-physical data into the palm of our hands.
"Good, you ready?"
Percy held up his one-handed longsword- it was a simple weapon, the celestial bronze edge had been refined, but there were no distinctive craftsmanship nor any fancy patterns on it indicating a higher-level sword. A starter weapon, we weren't allowed to get our custom-made weapons until we passed through a few more trials first.
Namely, this first battle we're about to face.
"Ready!" Percy put his left foot forward in a fighting stance- just like how they've practiced- and held the hilt with both his hands.
I tilted my eyes back on our three protectors.
They were ready too.
I smirked. With the small celestial bronze blade Thalia had gifted me, I flipped it around over my palm- it took a bit of practice but I was now able to quickly switch between holding the dagger in a regular grip and a backhanded grip- I took my fighting stance and put the sharp edge horizontal to my chest.
"Ready!"
"Okay! Here we go! Three…"
Percy and I tensed.
"Two…"
We held out blades at the ready and prepared for the moment we'd been waiting for.
"One!"
Holding her right hand out flat, Thala released a vibrant red gem. It floated in midair as she guided it in front of her with an opened palm. When it was within reach, she crushed it with a fist before a ruby-red glow flashed in her hand, then a pillar of circular white light rose from the pavement before us.
Something appeared and stepped out of the magic circle….
