"This is not good," I said in an undertone to myself, sweating buckets under the heavy bronze helm and the long broad sword in my arm.
After Percy had given us all a basic introduction on the forearm forward jab, we were paired off to practice on our partner. And my partner was none other than third year camper Xav. He had a superior glint in his eyes as he turned to me in full body armor and a long sword, while I started out with just a helm and a simple broad sword. His first move was unexpected, and I had just moved my body just in time to avoid his hit, before he moved to attack my side, his sword hitting my back hard.
I turned to glare at him through the slits of the helm, before breathing in a deep breath, taking an aggressive stance and retaliated. I jabbed my sword forward, taking advantage of its length before withdrawing and hitting his back while he avoided my first move, the exact replica of his first attack on me. He swung his head up in surprised and turned to where my sword had made contact on his back, and then looked up to the victorious grin I had on my face.
We spared for about fifteen minutes before Percy called in a five minute break. I followed Xav and the rest of the group towards the cooler to grab a drink and rest on the bench by the side of the arena. We had taken off our helms for our break on the bench when he said, "You're pretty good. Where did you learn how to fight like that?"
I was about to answer him when I realized that I can't give him the real answer, which consist of running around Olympus during times when I had nothing to do. That doesn't exactly explain why I'm good at combat either. All I could do was answer as honestly as possible.
"I don't know."
We settled into a comfortable silence after that, resting our bodies to prepare for another great exertion. When we were called back towards the demonstration platform, it was time to show our instructor how we'd been doing, even if he had walked rounds during the fifteen minutes practice that just passed.
"I need a volunteer, show me how far you guys got," the early thirties said, and immediately, a sea of arms shot up, taking the golden chance and bragging rights to say that they have battled with the hero of Olympus before.
Percy seemed to have expected the enthusiastic reaction, and his eyes roamed the room before settling the pair of sea green on mine.
A small gasp escaped me as I realized that this was the person wielding that sword that had saved me from being a monster meal. Suddenly, I felt heat rising up, ashamed that I hadn't even thought of asking their wellbeing and their whereabouts so that I could properly thank them when they were brought up in that conversation with Chiron. I got even redder when he pointed at me before gesturing for me to get up on the platform.
He wanted me to spar with him.
How could I refuse?
I gulped down a much needed breath of air, before stepping up shakily onto the platform. The arena hushed down as hopefuls put their hands down in disappointment while others who knew of my newbie status tried to conceal their glee at a possible total knock down. Percy inspected the crowd as I made my way across the platform to respectable distance from him, and he seemed to frown a little, before moving off to the side, grabbing a bottled water from the below the platform and tossing it to my direction.
Something made me react and catch the bottle before it tumbled uselessly on the platform, saving myself from embarrassment. I looked back up to see Percy holding an identical bottle to me and pouring its content over his head. He gestured for me to do the same. "It'll help, I hope," he said while giving a tentative smile.
I followed his advice, a little curious about why he'd do it, when I felt it. As the water from the bottle poured over my head and wiped away the sweat, a surge of energy ran through my veins and I opened my eyes clearer and more focused than ever. Suddenly, I could feel everything, every single nerve endings in my body were sparking with an overload of sensory. The stream of water that had nearly been all but forgotten ran down my face and touched my lips. My tongue automatically flitted out to taste it. Huh, it's salty.
"Salt water?" I asked across the platform.
He shrugged in response. Ah. I get it. He was Poseidon's son; of course he'd use salt water to his advantage. Why he thought he'd need it, I'll never understand.
Percy raised his sword to indicate for me to start. I glanced at the famed Riptide in his hands, so much more than the used and worn sword in mine. I took a deep breath, reveling in my new found energy, before driving my sword right at my opponent's direction.
He blocked it effortlessly; using my force against me, pushing back and making me stumble. I righted myself, then whirled and raised my sword with both arms to block an attack from behind, which he was now situated. How he got there so fast for someone his size and so silently, I'll never know, but with my senses on high alert, I could almost feel his heat resonating from his position. His stance held strong against my block, but with a last burst of strength I pushed back, using the blocking technique he used against me to make him stumble back in shock, but not before a shower of sparks ignite from the harsh clash of metal against metal. And before he could recover, I had placed myself with his back facing me and did a sudden burst of run before jumping and angling my blade flat against his back, hitting the small of his back, making a resounding slap sound across the silent arena.
The thud of the hero's knees hitting the hard floor of the platform echoed through right after the sharp slap. My rusty sword clanged to the floor as it fell from my previously iron grip, now reduced to a tremor as my whole arm shook from the sudden exertion, making my mediocre physical fitness obvious. Harsh breath escaped through my opened mouth as sweat poured down my face, the sudden burst of energy all gone, now replace with shock and panic.
I ordered my tired limbs to move and scrambled over to a kneeling Percy, where he must be in pain, I realized, as he haven't even attempted to get up yet. I knelt and pushed some hair that had gotten stuck on my face because of sweat out of the way and asked if he was okay. A rough "Yeah, I'll be fine," was all I got before he groaned lowly, filling me with guilt. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know what I was doing, this is my first lesson and I didn't know where I'm not supposed to hit and," I babbled out an embarrassing rush of excuse, all the while with my hands flitting around his crouched form trying to see what I can do to help. Upon finding none, I ended up asking him, "What can I do to help?"
"Could you –" another groan, "help me get Annabeth?" he barely looked up from his fixated stare on the ground while he grounded out his request through clenched teeth.
Annabeth. Was she the girl with him the other night? I didn't dwell on that passing thought, instead yelling out for someone to search for Annabeth, sure that they would be more effective in that seemingly crucial job than me. But Percy didn't need to wait for long. Not a minute after his request had been passed through the throngs of campers gathered in the arena had Annabeth burst through the gates and rushed to where Percy and I were kneeling on the raised platform which she jumped on with ease.
I was standing to the side while Annabeth tended to Percy when a familiar voice spoke to my side.
"You really got him good, Rose. I consider myself very lucky to have witness this scene," Xav said, making me jump up in fright.
"Oh my gods, couldn't you have made a noise?" I whined, but internally sighed in relieved that it wasn't just some random person who just happened to know my name.
"Do you whine this much? I might have to reconsider this whole friend thing we have going on," he raised an eyebrow humorously.
"No, don't leave me alone now. I've got this thing to deal with; I'm pretty sure Annabeth has got something to say to me," I said as I glanced towards the couple's direction warily.
As if she had heard me, Annabeth's hauntingly familiar grey eyes flitted to mine amidst the crowd and she gestured for me to follow them.
"I guess that's my cue," I gulped and said my byes to Xav before heading out of the arena, following the couple's retreating form that was heading tom the Big House, presumably to the infirmary.
Annabeth reached the Big House and kicked open the door, leading a leaning heavily Percy into the infirmary that I had occupied only just last night. Percy plopped down with a heavy grunt and rolled over to curl into a fetal position, while Annabeth fussed about, rearranging the sheets and whatnot.
"Could you please go and get Chiron for me, kid?" Annabeth requested without breaking her concentration on adjusting the sheets.
"Yeah," I replied guiltily and stepped out of the room to go and search for the Director. I hadn't needed to search far, as he came bursting in the front door just as I stepped into the living room. Words travel fast here, and it has only been late morning.
Chiron passed my petite form with the clopping of his hooves against the hard wood floor, not having changed back into his human disguise in haste of getting to Percy. I peeked in between the space of the door which was left slightly ajar, and it hadn't been a second before Annabeth's eyes expertly locked on mine and motioned for me to come in. I pushed the door opened wider to make way and shut it quietly behind me to avoid disturbing Chiron whom was treating to Percy's back.
As Percy was being treated, I couldn't help but noticed that his posture seemed a bit… odd. I was quickly distracted by the sudden break in silence by Annabeth.
"So, you got a hit in?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Uh, yeah," I answered nervously, a hand coming up to rest on the back of my neck self-consciously before I noticed what I was doing and quickly shoving it back down into the claps of the other hand.
"You must be quite good, but you're a beginner, so how'd you manage to do that?" she questioned out loud, a serious expression on her face, as if she really wanted to know.
I tried to think back to how I had bested the hero, and I answered as I thought, not being one to think things through before speaking. "I guess Xav showed me some moves by demonstrating them on me and I caught on, the one I used was one I just learnt today, and then Percy offered me some salt water, and after that was just a blur…"
"Xav? Xavier Dangelo?" she asked with an incredulous tone, but her eye had tightened slightly, a nervous edge to a strong front she had been putting up.
"What's wrong with Xav?" I asked, confused by the questioning of Xav's name.
Those previously tensed eyes softened and she turned her focus back onto Percy, saying a small, "Never mind," that floated in the still atmosphere in the infirmary.
I gave a long sigh, and prepared myself for some more interrogation that I'd be subjected to, I'm sure.
Shoves and pushes could be heard as the protests that followed echoed down the vast hall, reaching the ears of a very annoyed goddess. Hadn't they learn that they couldn't possibly best her in her methods after all these years, she wondered.
Up the hall, a determined Percy was pushing open heavy, ornate doors, banging them against pristine walls in the process, more often than not making a dent in the flawless paintwork. Annabeth methodically pulled open all drawers and cupboards, making sure to scan every nook and corner before leaving the vandalized room in dust and moving towards another. As Percy prepared to ram his beyond bruised shoulder into another priceless door, the clicking of expensive heels could be heard as it rang down form the end of the hall.
The couple stopped their movements and landed their gaze on the goddess walking at a leisure pace towards them.
"Demigods never do give up, do they?" questioned Hera as she picked up a rose daintily from a beautifully arranged bouquet placed on the side table in the hall.
"Guess that's why gods need us, don't they?" Percy retorted silently with a slight shift of his head, an intimidating move against the goddess nonchalant behavior.
Hera narrowed her eyes into slits and stepped forward, towering over the two defiant heroes' forms. "Leave, you won't find her here, as I've told you all the years before. There's no use in searching blindly, this was the plan and now I'm making my part in it," she warned.
Annabeth had been shaking as soon as Hera had opened her mouth, and she couldn't stop the tirade that followed, even if she would be sentenced to take Atlas' place under the sky. "No, you wretched little – You take away my child when we told you that we would bring her to you. You refused to let us see her, when we negotiated that we would visit at least twice a week. She was to be integrated into our scheduled time up here on Olympus and now even that privileged had been stripped away from us," her chest heaved as she took in deep breaths in order to calm herself enough not to take a hit on the goddess precious face, "You dare say that you're keeping your part of the deal, the plan?"
Hera glared down snobbishly, "You've destroyed enough for this year, come back next year, and we'll see how lucky you get the next time," and she turned to walk back down from where she came at the end of the hall, turning down a corridor and leaving the couple's sights.
Annabeth stared hard at the retreating form clad in delicate silk, trembling heavily to hold in the rush of emotions clawing to get out.
"She'd be ten by tomorrow."
Grey eyes brimming with unshed tears turned onto green ones that were slowly turning red at the sudden change in the train of thought.
"Yeah, she would be."