Chapter 11
A/N: Really quick, I can explain the reasoning behind the cliffhanger from last chapter. Chapter 10 had already exceeded 4k words and I wanted to do as much as I could for the school battle without feeling repetitive. I wanted the fight to cover one whole chapter and if I had the actual fight start at the end of chapter 10, that would've been more annoying than what I actually did. I don't think you all would have liked the chapter to end in the middle of the fight. I hope that explains why I wrote it as I did. Now, without further ado, enjoy Chapter 11!
...
-Annabeth-
Luke had snuck up on her. She did everything she could to avoid him the past two weeks and was doing really well. Piper, Rachel, and all her other friends even started covering for her. She didn't want anything to do with Luke, but he keeps insisting that she's his girlfriend. The dark gymnasium, lit up only by the various lasers moving around in the space, and the occasional spotlight flashing on for a second, and the speakers playing various Halloween themed songs at high volumes, all made it harder for her to evade him for long. And due to her white outfit, she was easy to spot.
She wanted to get away from him, but she backed into the snack table she and Piper were talking at. Percy was right next to her, but he only stared at him. But she was able to catch his gaze for a moment and that's where everything changed.
"Stratós!" he shouted. His voice was loud enough to be heard over everything - loud and full of authority. The same cry was heard a second later from Jason, not too far away, and within several seconds, almost a dozen students dressed as ancient Greek warriors were lined up between her and Luke.
"Jackson," Luke snarls. "I should've known that was you."
"I thought it was obvious," Percy replies, his tone is dangerously calm.
"I told you not to show up," Luke reminds him.
"And I'm not afraid of you, Luke. Now... I'm only going to say this once and you'd better listen for once in your pathetic life. Leave Annabeth alone!"
Next to Annabeth, Piper grips her arm. "What is going on?" she asks her quietly.
"This is their secret," she whispers. "Mock battle between the four Greek classes. Four classes, two larger groups. Two small armies."
"You're kidding!" Piper shouts. "Mr. Brunner wouldn't-"
"Mr. Brunner and I made this an exception. So long as nobody will get hurt," the principal says, approaching Percy's group and Luke's, whose own team started trickling in from all over the gym, flanking Luke in an intense face off with Percy's group. "I expect that agreement to be honored," he adds, looking between Percy and Luke especially.
"My group will honor that rule, sir," Percy says, not taking his eyes off of Luke.
"Good. And you?" the principal says, looking at Luke. He snarls at Percy and says nothing.
"Mr. Castellan," the principal asks, sternly.
"Sure. Whatever."
"Good. Now, have fun. Don't actually kill each other," the principal says, walking away and settling in the corner.
Luke turns around and motions for his pals to follow him.
Annabeth spots a few of Luke's guys have bows and quivers filled with rubber arrows.
"Percy," she whispers, and he falls out of the formation, the rest of his group smoothly shifting to close the gap in their line. The large group of students in the middle of the gym part ways, leaving a large open area for the two small armies.
"Are you okay? This is happening much sooner than I wanted," he says. His eyes are focused. Determined. But also filled with concern for her.
"I'm fine, thank you. Did you see what some of Luke's guys have on their backs?" She feels giddy that he's starting sooner than he planned for her, but also a bit guilty.
"Bows and arrows," he says grimly. "We didn't prepare for that."
A few spotlights are turned on and light up a small portion of the gym between Percy's group and Luke's. Mr. Brunner's voice is heard on the speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he begins. "Do not be alarmed. From the Greek Mythology classes, we bring to you an improvised simulation of warfare from ancient Greece. We ask that anybody not involved in this to please stay within the shadows to avoid any accidents. Thank you."
There's a lot of chatter about this.
Annabeth pulls off Percy's helmet and kisses him on the cheek before putting it back on.
"For luck," she says. "Be careful, Percy. Luke seems pretty intent on hurting you tonight."
Percy stares at her in shock for a moment before he snaps out of his trance and smiles. "I'll be fine. You just get somewhere safer, okay?"
She nods and Piper leads her towards the side of the gym that's not lit up. Everybody's eyes are on the two groups of students about to battle it out. A line of tridents and lightning bolts on her left, and blank plastic shields on her right.
"You kissed Percy," Piper whispers giddily next to Annabeth, making her blush.
She tells Piper to be quiet and to never mention that to anybody right as one of the trident shields steps forward and turns to face his line. His voice too quiet for anyone to hear at first, but Annabeth knows who it is.
There's banging heard from her right and Annabeth looks to see two lines forming, one in front of the other. They're hitting their shields with their fake spears while one of them paces in front of the line. He's the only one with a plume on his helmet.
Luke...
She remembers why he's so familiar now. When he touched her cheek, she got flashbacks about the last time she was in New York, two years ago. A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes wanted to court with her and her mother approved. At first, she just rolled with it, not really telling him anything. He never so much as gave her his name, but he insisted on getting to know her.
'It will be fun,' he had said to her one night. 'Come on, babe. You won't have to do anything.'
She shudders at the memory and the sound of wooden spears hitting the wood gym floors bring her back to the present.
Slam! "HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!"
Even with only ten people, that sounded intimidating.
Percy says something else she can't quite make out and everyone on his side strikes the floor with their spears again.
"This is intense and they haven't done anything yet," somebody next to Annabeth says.
"I know, right? Like, I don't care much for that stuff but this is seriously cool to watch," another girl says. "At least, it's better than the other years."
Annabeth keeps her eyes on Percy and he turns around and points at Luke with his spear, saying some more words before there's another cry from his group. A few seconds pass and he faces Luke's side completely.
"Are you idiots done over there?" Luke calls from his side of the gym.
"Stratós! Form up!" Percy calls. His entire line compresses and his Trident group advances to his side, stopping next to him. Jason's Thunder group lines up right behind him.
Luke shouts a command and his lines raise shields and advance, steadily marching across the gym floor. He then raises his spear and calls out another order. A few guys in his rear line draw their bows and shoot off a salvo of rubber arrows.
Percy shouts an order and his entire group raises their shields, blocking the arrows. Luke orders another salvo and the same thing happens. Arrows fly only to bounce off shields.
"Stop hiding behind those shields, cowards!" Luke shouts.
"Why don't you come here and take them from us!" Percy shouts.
Luke looks angry through his helmet and he tells his group to charge at them. One of his friends, Charles Beckendorf, loudly protests the order, but Luke doesn't listen to him. He shouts for his pals to run them over.
A few of them charge, while the rest just advanced slowly.
"Phalanx!"
"HA-OOH!"
Percy's group set up their phalanx just as the first guys connect with them. Instead of getting run over, though, Percy's line holds their position, the only thing pushing them back is the smooth ground that their shoes can't grip to. Because there's no formation with them, Leo and another one of Percy's guys flank them and stab at them with their spears. At first, they don't leave, but Mr. Brunner calls through the speakers that two of Luke's guys are out and should stand aside. They begrudgingly comply, but they don't seem too upset. Percy's phalanx advances to meet Luke's lines, who doesn't have a solid phalanx.
"It's even, now," Piper says.
"Only in numbers," Annabeth states. "But Luke still has stronger guys on his team. Percy will need to be careful."
"You don't seem concerned for him now," Piper notices, glances at her friend.
Annabeth smiles softly. "I've seen him just a couple days ago. You know Jason's good with a sword, too, right?"
"Yeah," Piper says.
"Percy took on him and Travis at the same time and won. They didn't wait one on one, either. They double teamed him and Percy still won."
"That's crazy!" Piper exclaims. "Percy?!"
Annabeth nods, not daring to take her eyes off the mock battle. By now, their shields have clashed and Luke's archers hung back and started firing rubber arrows again, but Jason's group holds their shields over their formation and successfully block the arrows.
A few students overheard Annabeth and start murmuring to each other.
"So he really is a weirdo, isn't he?" somebody asks.
Annabeth's face hardens and she glares in the direction that came from. "How about you all just shut up and think for a moment! This isn't happening because Percy wanted to show off or to be a weirdo. This is personal not just for him, but to everyone standing next to him. It's personal to many of you who are sick of Luke's harassment and bullying! If you're going to hate Percy just because you were told to, then you're all delusional! Who would you rather support? Someone who just happens to be interested in Greek mythology and history? Or somebody who's actually hurt people for fun!"
A bunch of students stare in shock at Annabeth. Rachel speaks up in favor of Annabeth.
"She's right. Percy hasn't done anything to deserve this," she says. She starts telling the truth about Percy and many of the students seem to be listening, but Annabeth isn't worried about that right now.
She glances back at Percy and sees he's looking in their direction. He almost gets smacked with a spear, but he turns his attention back to the fight and blocks it just in time.
She ignores the chatter around her and watches as students on both sides of the battle walk away defeated. While Luke's side slashes and stabs at Percy's, trying to knock their shields away, Percy's line just holds formation. Due to a couple of his guys being taken out of the fight, some of Jason's group pushes forward to keep the line filled. Those remaining in the rear watch the sides of their formation, foiling any attempt to flank it.
Eventually, to Annabeth's surprise, Luke's team starts to pull back and Percy orders a steady advance until they get halfway across the gym. Then they stop advancing and wait. Luke's team then surges forward again, his remaining six members going against Percy's five. Right before they connect again, they break into groups of three and run around each side of Percy's formation.
...
-Percy-
"They're flanking!" Frank shouts.
"Hold together!" Percy calls out. "Back to back!"
His formation separates and his remaining four guys stand back to back, desperately trying to defend themselves and their friends next to them. He can hear Leo and Grover shouting encouragement for them from the side of the gym, and soon, more and more students start cheering for them.
He jabs at Beckendorf, but it's blocked and he's forced to raise his shield against a downward jab. That leaves his torso open and Luke takes the opportunity to stab at him. But Frank's shield cuts in front of him and blocks it, but that then leaves Frank wide open with nobody to cover him. He takes a jab from another guy and he backs out of the fight. Four vs six.
Somebody cries out in frustration and one of Luke's guys leaves.
Four vs five. That's a bit better.
He stabs at the guy that took out Frank and manages to connect. He walks out of the fight.
Four vs four...
"Push!" Percy orders. He and his remaining three push against the last of Luke's team. Percy pushes against Luke himself and they're able to get enough space. "Fall back and reform!"
He waits until his guys start moving before he follows close behind. Luke and his guys chase after them and Percy's team quickly reforms and surges back forward in another heavy clash of shields. Percy's spearhead breaks upon contact with his opponent's shield so he pushes him back enough to draw his wooden sword. Once his opponent's shield is reconnected with his, Percy bashes his shield, knocking it away just long enough for him to stab with the sword, but he jumps back far enough to avoid getting hit.
One of his friends taps his shoulder, saying, "They got me. I'm out."
Three vs four...
Connor gets taken out.
Two vs four...
Luke and his remaining other three teammates back off a little, trying to catch their breaths.
"Still with me?" Percy asks.
"To the end," Jason replies.
Percy stands up tall and taunts Luke. "Are you done? I can do this all night!"
"In your dreams, Jackson!" Luke snarls. He orders his three guys to surge forward and Percy braces himself as they clash again. This time, he and Jason fight back to back. He's focused. Determined. He trusts Jason behind him.
Luke remains outside the fighting, biding his time until he can get an opening to get to Percy.
That's not going to happen, Percy thinks to himself. He and Jason keep fighting until he gets a stab at one of the guys, taking him out. Two vs three and Luke is still not jumping in. It's one vs one for each of them right now. The fighting is still intense and there's a lot of cheering and shouting. He turns his head for a second to check on Jason in time to not only see him take out his opponent, but also get nailed in his side by a spear. Jason yelps and falls to the floor from the impact. The fight pauses for a few moments while Percy kneels to check on his friend.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
"I'm good. Just got the wind knocked out of me is all," he says.
Percy helps him up and he walks off, but not before he slaps Percy on the shoulder, grinning. "Give them hell for me."
Percy smirks and nods. Jason walks over to the principal, who looks like he was about to call of the rest of the battle until Jason said he's fine.
He gives a warning to Luke to never do that again, then he lets the fight continue.
It's quiet enough for Percy to hear students talking.
"It's him against Luke and Beckendorf..."
"He's going to lose."
"Percy doesn't stand a chance!"
He looks over and meets Annabeth's eyes. They're shining with worry, but her face is confident. She's seen what he's capable of and he knows she trusts him.
"Luke!" Percy calls out.
"Ugh, now what?" he snarls. "Do you want me to fight you 1v1? Two scared to face the both of us? Or are you surrendering?"
Percy smirks and takes off his helmet, tossing it aside. He needs to be able to see properly. With Jason and Travis, he was barely able to keep up with the helmet. He kept it on during their sparring to give himself a handicap. He picks his shield back up and secures it to his arm again.
"No. I was actually going to say something different," Percy replies. His face hardens. He's focused. Determined.
He bashes his shield with his sword a couple times and stands ready. "It's about time I get serious."
His fallen teammates hit their shields with their swords and cry out a loud "HA-OOH!"
Luke nods to Charlie and they charge Percy, eager to end the fight. Percy blocks everything they throw at him. Stabs, slashes, everything. Whenever Luke tries to shield bash to knock him off balance, Percy instead uses it to launch himself backwards, giving him more time to quickly analyze the situation. Beckendorf and Luke get on two sides of Percy and they both attack at the same time. It seems like it's the end of the fight, but Percy isn't done. He repeats what he did against Jason and Trevor and defends himself extremely well. He angles his shield to his back since body shots are the only way Percy can lose this fight now. Luke's sword bounces off Percy's shield and he simultaneously deflects Beckendorf's sword with is own. Charlie attempts an upward slash but Percy turns around and lets his shield take the hit while he then swings his sword to block Luke's downward strike. He uses the momentum from the deflection to spin around again and he strikes Charlie in the side of his armor, taking him out of the fight. Percy whirls around to face Luke, raising his shield and gripping his sword - he's ready for whatever Luke has for him.
The students around the gym go nuts, cheering and screaming. Percy's friends let out another loud and intimidating battle cry as they repeatedly strike their shields with their swords or spears.
"What kind of move was that?" Luke asks, shouting over the screaming and cheering. He sounds genuinely impressed, but he's also angry that he's being shown up by Percy.
"I'm a Greek geek," Percy replies with a grin. "I know how to fight with a sword and shield."
Luke's face twists into another snarl. "Don't get cocky, Jackson."
"Never," he replies, not even a hint of smugness in his voice.
Luke charges and Percy stands ready. Luke raises his shield to bash him with it, but Percy drops onto one knee and uses Luke's momentum to launch him over top of him. Luke rolls over Percy and lands on his back, his sword falling out of his hand. He scrambles to his feet and looks for his sword, but Percy stabs at Luke's chest. Luke blocks the strike and bashes Percy's shield, knocking him back. He takes that time to pick up his sword and glares at Percy.
"What are you waiting for?" Percy asks him, taunting him.
Luke snarls at him and charges into Percy's shield. His momentum forces Percy to slide back about a foot before his shoes catch grip on the gym floor, making Percy stumble and fall on his back. He's wide open for a moment and Luke swings at Percy's stomach, but he brings his sword up to meet Luke's and kicks his feet out from under him. While Luke scrambles back to his feet, Percy jumps up on his and stands at the ready once again.
"You're so annoying," Luke grumbles.
"The feeling's mutual," Percy replies.
Luke stabs at Percy, who swipes his sword away. Luke uses the deflection to spin and shield bash Percy, who predictably blocks the shield with his own. Because Luke is stronger than Percy, it knocks him off balance so Percy pivots on his heel and spins around, swinging his own sword to block a heavy swing from Luke's. Percy pushes against Luke's sword and twists it. Luke tries to counter, but Percy smacks the flat of his blade and disarms him. After bashing Luke's shield away, Percy is able to level his sword to Luke's neck, finally ending the fight.
"Checkmate," he says, simply.
Everybody on the sidelines cheer as Luke's face just goes slack with shock.
He actually lost a fight.
Percy sheathes his sword and walks towards Mr. Brunner, who is trying and failing not to smile.
"As promised, nobody is hurt," Percy says.
Mr. Brunner and the principle both smile and nod.
"Congratulations, Percy," the principal says. "That was quite a spectacle. Maybe we should do this again next year. Same rules apply."
Percy smiles. "That would be fun."
"Alright then. Let's get this dance back on track!" he announces and Percy turns around just in time to receive a hug from Annabeth. She laughing as he spins around, holding her tight.
"That was amazing, Percy!" she says.
"Bro!" Trevor shouts. "That was even better than our fight the other day!"
"Really?" he asks.
Jason walks up and pats him on the back, hard. "Dude, you're such a show off! Where the fuck did you learn to fight like that?"
Percy laughs. "I'm self taught."
"No fucking way! I don't believe it!" Jason shouts.
"Jackson!"
Percy turns and Luke is marching towards him, his spear is back in his hands.
And he looks pissed.
He marches straight towards him. "I'm not done with you!"
Percy stands between him and Annabeth protectively. Even though he's tired, he stands ready to defend. Jason stands next to him, also ready to defend and pretty soon, both Trident and Thunder groups form their line and block Luke. They're not raising shields or holding out spears or swords, they're just standing between Luke and Percy. Even some of the guys from Luke's team pull him back.
"Let it go, Luke," one of his teammates says. "It's over. Don't be rash. You have a football scholarship to consider. Just take this loss for once."
"The fuck do you know?" Luke shouts at him.
"Luke!"
A few students run up to him, smiling and laughing.
"That was incredible!"
"We didn't know you could fight with a sword!"
"That was so cool!"
Luke looks confused and just looks at everyone. Percy catches his gaze and smiles.
"It was fun, Luke," he says with honesty. "We should do it again sometime."
Luke blinks once. Twice. Eventually, a smile forms on his face and the anger dissipates from his eyes. "Yeah... it was fun. But don't think this changes anything, Jackson. Next time, I'm going to win."
The girls around him grab his arm and drag him away from Percy's group. Everybody in armor stand up, relaxing from their formation.
"If you don't mind," Leo says. "I'm going to sit down."
"Yeah, me too," Frank agrees.
"Don't sweat it guys," Percy says. "Do whatever you want to do. If I need you again, you know what to listen for."
Everybody groans and complains and he just laughs. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"
"You're a jerk, you know that?" Travis shouts.
Everybody laughs and the dance continues. All the students enjoy their time, eating snacks, dancing, a few guys still sparring every once in a while after resting for several minutes.
Percy stands off to the side and watches everybody having fun. Every once in a while, a few guys and girls walk by him and chat, or just pat his shoulder and compliment him on his fighting. But for the most part, he stands alone. And for once, he's not actually bothered by it.