Chapter 6 ~ Adrian
After the little breakfast 'talk' he had with Rosamynd and Lysandra, Adrian headed off to the combat training area where there were demigods battling against one another. Swords and daggers banging and crashing together. Music to his ears. He crossed his arms and with each hand grabbed each sword from their sheaths. They still had a little cyclopes blood on them, so he dipped his swords into the lake, the blood washed away instantly. He leaned against the boulder and wiped the water off his swords with his shirt.
He heard a clatter of hooves running towards the training area. Chiron trotted toward the fighters and the trainees stopped battling. Chiron nodded at the demigods and granted permission for them to continue training. Chiron beckoned Adrian to come join him. Adrian slowly walked over to him, his head hung low.
"Adrian, I have a task for you," Chiron said. Adrian looked up at the centaur.
"A task? What task?" Adrian asked curiously, shuffling his feet.
"I have learned from your peers that you are a skilled swordsman," Chiron smiled, watching Adrian pick himself up, and his eyes grow brighter.
"I'm not so bad, I guess being a Son of Ares started it," Adrian shuffled his feet once again, trying not to grin.
"Don't be modest, Adrian, you have great talent in combat, don't hide it," Chiron smiled warmly at the Godling.
"Thank you Mr. Chiron," Adrian thanked, his chest puffing up with pride.
"Just Chiron will do, Adrian," Chiron corrected.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's the task?"
"Well, we haven't really ever had a proper combat trainer in Camp Half-Blood since the last one went off, I would like to assign you as a Combat trainer to help out the demigods and prepare them for battle!"
"But why can't one of the Ares older kids train them?" Adrian asked.
"They are not as skilled as you, they still have to learn, Adrian." Chiron explained.
"Thank you and when should I start?"
"Right now."
Adrian turned around and glanced at the fighting demigods and gulped nervously, his Adrian's apple bobbing up and down.
"Like right now, like I actually have to talk to them, right now?" Adrian
"Chiron, you want me to train these demigods? We both know that the demigods don't like godlings!"
Chiron gave him a reassuring smile, his weather-worn face crinkling up at the edges, "Then perhaps its time for you to get to know them. Once you hear both sides of the story, you will understand a lot more about this situation."
"What do you even mean?" Adrian said as Chiron cantered away. Adrian rolled his eyes, unsure of what to do. Adrian walked up to the boulder and climbed it and stood on top of it.
"Um.. excuse me? Please be quiet, excuse me" He tried silencing the battling crowd.
"SHUT IT!" A female voice yelled. The demigods all lowered their weapons and looked up at Adrian.
"Thank you," He whispered to the girl who silenced the crowd. He turned to his audience nervously, unsure of what to say. "It has come to my attention that you demigods will need a teacher for combat training."
"We don't need a teacher! Who told you to train us?" A random voice shouted from the crowd below.
"Well, Chiron just asked me if I'd have the time to train and teach you to be better and more skilled warriors!"
"Yeah, and as usual, the mighty and all powerful Godling is gonna lead us," A boy jeered, turning to the crowds. The crowd roared in agreement.
"Please be quiet," Adrian squeaked, and the girl who silenced everyone earlier climbed up onto the boulder next to him.
"Oi! Be quiet and be respectful!" The girl yelled at the small crowd of demigods. He nodded in gratitude to the looked at her through her headgear. He couldn't see her that clearly but he couldn't help but feel that he'd seen her before. Maybe she had just that kind of face.
Adrian surveyed the small gathering of trainees. He knew most of them by name-There was Alli-Hooray; Aaron, the son of Hecate and the burly brother of the toddler Annie; Emily and Evelyn, the twin girls from the Hypnos cabin; Jacob, a son of Ares; and the girl next to him, who he now knew was a daughter of Aphrodite he could tell by the drooling boys looking up at her with love-struck eyes. She must be new. Adrian bit back a laugh as he saw her inching away from the boys, who were now flexing their muscles and showing off. It was quite disturbing.
"Well, um, Chiron specifically asked me to train and help you guys so I'm gonna obey his orders and do as he says," Adrian said. "Let's start with the weaponry categories," Adrian sorted out the demigods into their categories. The warriors reluctant to obey his orders but they finally obliged, unable to find fault in his actions.
He sorted them into four stations-Sparring with swords, archery, close combat and just using fists. There, he felt at ease, even training amongst the demigods. I should really just do this more often, Adrian relaxed, looking at the demigods at work. There were some quarrels between them and looks of hostility, particularly from Alli and Aaron, but overall it went quite smoothly.
After two hours of intense arguing and battling, his session finally ended when a satyr announced it was time for lunch. The demigods took of their gear and ran off, except a few who tidied up all the equipment, including the Aphrodite girl who helped him out earlier. Adrian plucked up the courage and walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and Adrian could just see her smile through her headgear.
"Thanks for helping me out today. I, uh, don't really know how to control a crowd, especially a crowd of demigods that hate my guts," Adrian flashed her a warm smile, which she returned.
"It's alright. I'm Trudy, and you must be Adrian. All of my sisters talk about you," Trudy struck her hand out, and Adrian shook it, finding himself holding on for just a little bit too long.
Trudy took off her headgear, her blonde hair falling down onto her shoulders then down to her waist and glimmering in the harsh sunlight. She took off the armor covering her torso and packed everything up. Adrian gulped at the sight of her beauty, she didn't look like any ordinary Aphrodite girl. She looked less barbie-like and girly. She almost looked like she was a mix; not just a daughter of Aphrodite. Adrian frowned then shrugged, letting it go. She had to be a daughter of Aphrodite, why else would she be at Camp Half-Blood.
"So, uh, are you heading to lunch?" Adrian instantly felt himself heat up, and had to restrict himself from smashing his head against the wall. Of course she is, dimwit! Real smooth. Trudy smiled again, holding back a giggle.
"No, I don't eat," She looked him with big doe eyes, which were full of laughter, "Just kidding, of course I do. Come with?"
Adrian grinned and offered her his arm, she took it, and together they strolled down the sunny path and towards the Hall. Some of Adrian's half brothers and sisters of the Ares Cabin wolf-whistled when they went past, soon the crowd in front of the breakfast hall parted to either side to let them through.
Adrian sat down at the Ares table, thinking that Trudy would leave him and join the Aphrodite girls but instead she sat down next to him, her arm still on his. She picked up a cucumber slice and nibbled it, cutting away all the corners then eating the insides.
"So Adrian, what's it like being a godling?" Trudy asked, then blushed, shaking her head, "Sorry. That was probably personal. I shouldn't have asked."
"No, it's alright," Adrian looked at her, staring into her eyes, which seemed to change shades of amber. He realized he'd been staring into her eyes for too long. "Well, uh, I definitely seem to be a much bigger threat to some demigods and I guess being a godling has it's perks."
They smiled at each other again, but this time they were interrupted by a very loud Rosamynd.
"Oh my gods, are you guys like going out?" Rosamynd made an excited squeal, then turned to shout across the room, "Oi, Lys! Get over here! Adrian's found a lady friend!" Then Lysandra rushed over to to the Ares table, chewing excitedly on some bread. Adrian blushed and filled his plate with food.
"Do you want to maybe head out and eat on the patio?" Adrian asked Trudy who was filling her plate with food as well.
"No, stay here!" Rosamynd pleaded. Adrian gave Rosamynd a weird look as she piped down. Trudy laughed.
"Yeah, let's go," Trudy whispered and got up, turning to Adrian with a cheerful glint in her eyes. He followed her out. They both sat down on the steps and ate slowly, pausing occasionally to look at each other, lapsing in a comfortable silence.
"Sorry about my friends, by the way," Adrian apologized, breaking the awkward silence.
"It's alright, I mean, they're nice,"
"Right." He answered back, looking back to his food.
"So- are you going to tell me who they are, or... ?"
"Oh, right!" He laughed. "So the girl with reddish hair is Rosamynd Summers; she's a daughter of Hermes and Hebe." He stopped to glance at Trudy, who was nodding. "And Lys is daughter of Hecate and Hades."
"Hecate, wow" Trudy whispered, touching the silver bracelet on her wrist.
"What's it like being a daughter of Aphrodite?"
"How'd you know?" She said, her head jerking up.
"Well you're beautiful and.." He said, as his cheeks started to redden up.
"You think I'm beautiful?" Trudy said, blushing slightly as well.
"Of course!"
"Well thank you." She said as she looked down to her lap, and a long strand of hair fell down in front of her face. Adrian reached out to her face, and tucked her strand of hair behind her ear.
"So, um, are you still hungry?" Adrian asked, pushing his empty plate aside. He smiled as Trudy laughed, her head falling behind.
"Here," He smiled as she gave him her half full plate. Adrian finished off her food and chatted with Trudy for longer.
"Do you want to head back inside?" Trudy asked, one hand on his arm.
"Sure," Adrian replied standing up and reached for her arm to help Trudy up. Trudy stood up and took hold of Adrian's hand.
"Wait hold on," Adrian hurried back, collecting the plates he left and piled them on top of each other. He reached for Trudy's arm once more, only missing her hand by a bit and snapping her bracelet chain. The bracelet slid of Trudy's arm and onto the floor.
"Oh my gods!" Trudy quickly reached for her bracelet that lay on the floor. She picked up the silver trinket glittering on the floor. "I'm sorry I have to go!"
She sprinted back into the breakfast hall. Adrian sighed, slamming back against the wall with a dull thud. Did I do anything wrong? Her bracelet just fell off. Was it really a big deal? I guess it just has considerable emotional value to her. I'm such an idiot. He walked dejectedly back to the hall, where Lys, Rosamynd, Enryx and Elektra were waiting for him on the front steps.
"What happened? We saw her run out," Elektra questioned.
"Her bracelet snapped and she ran off," Adrian replied, sitting down on the steps and burying his face in his hands.
"Wow, talk about typical daughter of Aphrodite, running off because her bracelet snapped," Enryx scoffed. Elektra elbowed him in the arm and shot him a hard look. They frowned at each other for some time, until Enryx looked away, muttering under his breath, "Well its true."
"Shut up," Adrian groaned.
"Well, did the bracelet break?" Lysandra asked, sitting down next to him.
Adrian flopped onto the grass, staring aimlessly up at the sky, "No, I don't think it did, I just probably broke the chain and it just dropped onto the ground. But there must have been some damage to it."
"Well I don't see what the big deal is about, it's just a bracelet!" Rosamynd rolled her eyes exasperatedly.
Lysandra widened her eyes and exclaimed, "It's not just any bracelet. Adrian, what did that bracelet look like?"
Adrian shrugged, lazily tracing patterns in the fluffy clouds, "I dunno, silver, with this weird, swirly design."
"This one?" Lysandra shoved an open book she'd probably been reading the whole time into Adrian's face.
"Yeah," Adrian sat up, promptly slamming his face onto the book, "Where'd you get that?"
Just then Chiron galloped out of the breakfast hall,and sprinted towards the Big House with Trudy on his back, her hair shimmering from it's normal blonde to russet colour. Adrian jumped up and sprinted after the centaur.
"Where are you going?" He heard a voice yell after him but he didn't bother to answer.