Author's Note:

Wuz up people! With exam week coming to a close soon, I am to post my next chapter. I feel pretty confident about my exams and am now able to take a well deserved break. Rest assured that I will still be writing during this time.

However I am also preoccupied with reading other fandoms that have captured my interest. Mainly Harry Potter and Naruto. I have been a fan of these works for a long time but have never really gotten to venture into reading their fandoms. Although I would love to write a story on one of them, I feel that I do not have enough knowledge to be able to do so accurately.

But my main and favorite fandom is and will forever be, PJO. Speaking of which, the poll that I set up will be coming to a close soon, probably in a week's time, but it looks like more of you prefers me to go into detail and postpone Artemis and Percy's meeting.

If you agree or disagree, visit the poll and vote or leave a review. I always appreciate those. Thank you for taking your time to read my story and tell me what you think about it. Enjoy!

~Halvax

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. All rights go to Mr. Rick Riordan, this is nonprofitable and is the result of an idea that I have had for a while now, and wanted to share it with my fellow fans.

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Earth's Champion: Humble Beginning

Chapter Five: Duels and Decisions

Third Person's POV

As Perseus and Sirius walked around Sparta, Percy noticed that there were some minor differences between now and the last time he was here. For one, there were less people minding their business in the streets.

The streets used to be buzzling with activity, be it women bargaining with the market vendors, trying to get their dinner for a cheaper price, or men trying to settle their arguments, resulting in the occasional street brawl. But now, there was barely anyone here. The merriment and joy that the people held were replaced by cautious glares and were giving off mistrusting auras.

Puzzled by this, Percy decided to investigate. He walked to the nearest tavern, where he deemed would be the best place to get information. While keeping his head down, he slowly made his way to the bar, subtly looking around to take note of his surroundings.

Percy was able to hitch a ride on a boat by paying with the money that his mother had left him that was buried in the backyard. Sirius was able to find it while Percy had his little outburst with Gabe. Armed with Harpe, his new dagger, the clothes on his back and his small fortune, he travelled to Sparta and arrived after a little over 3 months.

Ordering a random drink as the bar tender came to ask what he wanted, he took one final glance around the room to make sure that there was no sign of any eavesdroppers. Satisfied, he turned to the person next to him, the only other one on the bar.

The man had a cloak over his head, that covered his eyes. But he had a short white scar on his top lip and a trimmed beard that was visible. The man was slightly drunk, if the the two mugs infront of him which had the distinct smell of alcohol, was any indication.

Trying to start a light conversation, Percy asked about mundane things, the way Chiron did when he want to get information. The sea prince had seen his mentor do it a few times during their travels, whether it was out of general curiosity or because he was on a job for the gods.

The two had started off pretty well, Percy telling the man about some of his less dangerous and boring quests. In return, he found out the man was one of the higher ranking soldiers in the army.

Feeling that he had opened up the atmosphere a bit, "Do you know why there is a sudden change of the people's mood around here?" Percy asked discreetly while keeping his eyes on his drink. Under the hood, the man raised a curious eyebrow. He turned to face the boy beside him, mildly surprised with the sudden change of topic, but answered none the less.

"I don't know how you don't know about the rumors, you have to be careful. I heard the higher ups in the army talking about them once." The man said.

"What rumors?" Percy asked curiously. "You really don't know about the rumors?" The man asked with a raised eyebrow. After getting a nod, he signaled for Percy to come closer and he continued, "Tensions are high kid. Rumours have it that one of King Minos of Crete's daughter was murdered by an Athenian. They're saying that the king is enraged, and it's only a matter of time before he openly declares war.

"Proof or none, Minos is said to be rallying his troops and allies. The shaky treaty that the two cities shared, is sure to be broken once the news is confirmed. The other major cities will also have to take sides. And with Sparta owing a favor to Crete, people are either storing up for war or evacuating the city and to the mountains." the man paused to down the rest of his drink.

So Chiron was right, there is going to be war. Things are going much faster than I thought. I have to get to Crete soon. But before Percy's musings could continue, the man continued, "King Minos is even coming here a few months from now for a supposed friendly visit. But anyone with a brain knows that he's here to claim that favor was owed to him."

Percy perked up upon hearing this, but he did his best to hide his excitement. "Really? What exactly will he be doing here?"

"Well, there's suppose to be this big tournament to see who was the best warrior who has attended the Agoge. After that, a big banquet is to be held in honor of Crete's and Sparta's alliance." The man answered.

"This tournament, how does it work?" Percy asked. "Why are you asking boy? Even if you do enter, there will be a high chance of you dying. Most of the competitors will be senior Agoge student who are probably twice your age, size and strength. You have no chance of winning." The man scoffed.

Percy shrugged and said, "Just curious, that's all." The man once again raised his brow under his hood, but answered the question anyway. "The tournament works the same way as any. Competitors will be randomly placed into different 8 different groups. Only the top two in each group will move on.

"From there, the remaining participants will again be randomly be chosen to go against one another until there is only one left. All weapons are permitted, enchanted or not. Foul play is encouraged for the benefit of the crowd and killing is more than welcome. The winner is allowed a private audience with the kings so that he can ask for his prize."

"Thank you, sir." Percy said and gave a small bow to the man. He quickly swallowed the rest of his drink and left the pay for it and a generous tip. He jumped down from the bar stool and started to make his way to the exit. "Wait boy." The man called after Percy.

Percy stopped and gave the man a questioning glance. "What's your name." The man inquired. Given that the man answered all his questions, Percy sighed and answered, "They call me Orion of Crete."

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Once again out on the streets, Percy tried to gather his thoughts and come up with a decision on what his next move was going to be. On the one hand, he could go straight to Crete now and talk with his grandfather about postponing the war until he could come up with a way to stop it permanently.

On the other hand, he could stay here for the months and wait for Minos to come here. He could use the time to train and win the tournament. By his caculations, he should be able to defeat anyone his age until around 13. His problem would come with the bigger sized opponents. His speed would be his only advantage against them. And even that was not a guarantee.

Unconsciously, Percy was making his way to the all too familiar arena. Deciding that he would make his decision later, Percy looked around to find out where his feet brought him while he was zoned out.

At least somethings never changed, Percy mused. Indeed, the arena was the same. Same people on the bleachers watching the matches that were going on in one side. And the center being filled with Agoge students ranging from 7-16.

Percy slowly made his way towards the middle, taking his time to analyse his would be opponents, should he decide to take part in the tournament. Judging from the many practice spars that were going on, Percy concluded that his assumptions were right about the children his age being little to no match for him.

However, much to his disappointment, the older kids were having a break, so he could not compare his ability with theirs. Continuing with his assessment on his age group's skills, his eyes finally spotted the two people he was looking for. Grover and Malcolm. Percy slowly and silently made his way toward them.

The two boys being too engrossed with their spar, did not notice Percy's advance on them. Taking in a deep breath, Percy yelled, "Hey guys! D'you miss me?" On pure instinct, the two boys turned their sword and prepared to strike down the one the caught them by surprise.

Expecting this reaction, Percy quickly drew his own sword and parried both of their blades with a smirk. "Now, now. Is that how Spartan great their long lost best friend?" Percy chided playfully.

Still trying to recover from their initial shock, both boys slowly sheathed their weapons. While Grover just stared wide eyed at Percy, Malcolm was opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, trying to form words, though the action only succeeded in making him look like a fish.

Seeing their expressions, Percy struggled and failed to hold in his chuckles. Before long, he was throwing his head back in laughter. Malcolm, who by now had composed himself enough to speak, glared at Percy and said, "What's so funny, Kelp head?"

"Just your expressions, Brain boy. They were priceless! You should have seen them." Percy said while exploding into another fit of laughter.

Getting over his shock, and always the peacemaker, Grover cut in before the two boys could continue their argument, "I guess they were pretty funny. But wouldn't you have the same reaction if you were in our position?"

Seeing his point, Percy gave his best friends an apologetic look and said, "Yeah, I guess so. But the opportunity was just too good to pass up." Rubbing the back of his head and a sheepish smile on his face, the sea prince waited for the two older boys' replies.

Malcolm's earlier anger had dissipitated and let out a sigh and a smile also appeared on his face. "So what brings you back to Sparta? Didn't you hear about the upcoming war?" he said, wanting to change the topic.

"I'll tell you guys about that later. You're still training right? And I don't think that the trainers will take it too nicely if their star pupils were slacking of because of little old me." Percy said teasingly.

Malcolm rolled his eyes and answered, "Star pupils, my xiphos. Lysandor has all but glued the trainers' eyes on him. They barely pay attention to their other pupils, because they believe that who ever Lysandor deems the best teacher, will be greatly blessed by Ares."

"Yeah. The other kids are suffering because of this. Since Lagos was ordered by the king to help in the war preparations, the new chief trainer neglected the weaker ones and is focusing on perfecting the better ones' techniques. Malcolm and I don't have a problem with this thanks to the training you gave us, but if the others were sent to war the way they are now, they'll get slaughtered." Grover added with a resigned sigh.

Thinking back on his earlier observations, and looking more closely at the spars going on in the arena, Percy had to agree. The boys' timings were off, their technique was horrible, their strikes were weak and their defenses had so many weakness that a blind and lame man could get throughout it.

Percy frowned. Grover was right, the kids wouldn't last two second on a battle field of experienced soldiers. Though the Cretan army was supposed to be huge, a whole could only be as strong as its weakest link.

"Have you tried talking to the chief trainer? I'm sure he'll clear up the misunderstanding right?" Percy suggested.

Malcolm gave out a snort, "Clear up the misunderstanding? Clear up the misunderstanding? Don't you thing we've tried that Perce? No, he didn't 'clear up the misunderstanding', instead, he punished us for 'questioning his methods'. He made us go hunting in the deep part of the woods, forbidding us from hunting in the safer parts.

He also made us run laps around the city until we begged for forgiveness. And when we did, he kept us polishing and sharpening swords until he could see his hideous reflection in it, and the blade was sharp enough to cut a rock."

Percy could feel his anger rising deep in his gut. Though he was trying to prevent this war, he could not allow soldiers to be sent into battle unprepared, should he fail in his self given mission.

The small tremor he felt he was causing, forced Percy to calm down. Small as it had been, the others around him did not notice. But his two friends did. "Was that you Perce?" Grover asked wearily.

"Uhm... Yeah. With my father being named the earth shaker, I discovered that I also have slight power over it. And with my constant training with it, they've been growing stronger." Percy answered in a barely audible whisper.

Malcolm was about to answer when a gruff and obviously angry voice shouted behind them, "Keep practicing you lazy-good for nothing wannabe scums! I don't come here to teach students who don't appreciate the lessons that I give! Look at Lysandor. Always working hard and the best at everything. You would do good to follow him. Maybe, just maybe, an ounce of his greatness would be passed down to you. You better pray to the gods that that happens or else you'll get slaughtered in the war! So get back to work!"

Percy's barely controlled rage started increasing with every word that came out of the man's mouth. The said man was short and fat. He had three stubs on his head, that he seemed to consider hair.

"You don't teach at all, from what I've heard. Instead of worshiping your so called great Lysandor, in a sorry attempt to please the gods, how about you actually do your job so that your students won't get slaughtered!" Percy yelled. He was struggling to keep his powers at bay.

The man narrowed his eyes at Percy, scrutinizing the boy who he had never seen before. "Who are you, and how dare you question me?" He demanded. The man sent his best glare at the boy with sea green eyes, but he did not show his disappointment when the boy did not even flinch.

Percy stood his ground and met the man's glare with one of his own. "My name is not important here. What is important, is that you are not helping my friends train properly for the war. And I can't just let that happened." Percy said with conviction.

"How dare you question me, boy?! You will pay for your insolence! Lysandor!" The man shouted, outraged at the boy's attitude infront of him. When Lysandor's name was called, the recently gathered crowd of soon to be soldiers, parted, making way for the smug looking son of Ares.

"You called Sir Artorius? Do you need me to put some wimp in his place or something?" Lysandor asked, not noticing Percy or the glares that were being sent his way.

"As a matter of fact, I do. This boy dares to question my authority. I need you to knock him around abit, to make him admit that he was wrong and beg for my forgiveness." The man now known as Artorius ordered.

"With pleasure. Where is he?" Lysandor asked while cracking his knuckles in anticipation of being able to show the others in his class again why he was the war god's favorite son.

Having enough of not being noticed by Lysandor due to his small frame and height, Percy stepped forward with a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. Lysandor may have gained some muscle since they last met, but his brain remained the size of a walnut.

Lysandor finally noticed Percy, and couldn't help but feel that the boy seemed very familiar. But the son of Ares, dismissed the thought, believing it wasn't important. "He doesn't look like much to me." Lysandor said.

Percy raised an eyebrow at Lysandor's impression of him. He thought that Lysandor would have remembered the beat down he got a few months back. Instead of answering, Percy drew his sword and got into his usual batte stance.

He still had little to no chance of defeating Lysandor in hand to hand combat due to older boy's superior strength.

Smirking, Lysandor drew his own sword, not even bothering to asses his opponent, and charged. Percy immediately prepared to defend from the onslaught of attacks he was about to get.

Ducking and dodging from the first few strikes that came his way, Percy mildly took note that Lyasandor's speed has increased since they last fought. Deciding to test the strength of the slashes thrown his way, Percy started cautiously parrying and countering his opponent's blade.

Not surprisingly, his attack's strength increased as well. After a decent enough warm up, Percy decided to kick things up a notch. He suddenly switched his stance and went on offensive. Lysandor, who was not expecting the sudden change in his opponnent's style, was forced into defensive.

The spectators of the spar, watched in wonder and amazement as the new comer delivered blow after blow on Artorius' golden boy. Artorius himself was shocked that a boy this young could be defeating Lysandor so effortlessly.

As the crowd cheered him on, Percy was setting up his final attack, a move he created himself. Lysandor gave another forward thrust, which the sea prince took full advantage of. Seeing his chance to and the match, Percy made his blade hit the base of Lysandor's, twisting his sword and putting all of his weight in a downward thrust.

Sure enough, it had the desired effect that Percy was expecting, the sword hit the stone floor with a satisfying Clang. Lysandor who was still trying process what had just happened, barely registered the sword that was being held at his neck.

The silence that had captured the arena when Percy disarmed Lysandor, was quickly replace by shouts of approval and celebration. Most of the crowd that had gathered were estatic that Lysandor had finally been beaten.

There was one however, that was seething in rage. Sir Artorius. "Quiet!" the plump chief trainer ordered. But it fell on deaf ears. He subtly ordered the other trainers to help settle down the commotion. But even 20 trainers were no match for the dozens of trainees.

Having enough, "SILENCE!" Artorius ordered. The shouts slowly died down and turned into murmurs. Eventually, all conversation seized. "That is enough! You..." Artorius said, pointing a finger at Percy.

"I don't know how you did it, I don't know how you cheated, but you will apologize to Lysandor this instant." Artorius commanded.

Percy frowned. He was about to say something but Malcolm butted in. "I think you misunderstand, Sir. Orion won fare and square. With all due respect, Sir, mind you that there isn't much, but it is you who owes him an apology." His statement was supported by the courses of agreement made by the crowd.

The trainer's face morphed into one of pure fury. "How dare you?! Lysandor just went easy on the boy. He is after all five years younger and half his size. It was me who taught him to show mercy to an undeserving opponent."

Percy snorted and was about to make a retort when he was once again interrupted. This time, by Grover. "No offense, sir, but Per-ahem, I mean Orion would make a ten times better teacher." This was again followed by several nods from the students that Percy helped out a few months back.

"Since that's how you all feel, those agreeing with him, are hereby expelled. However, you are all still required to participate in the exams that all sixteen year olds are supposed to take. And, you are also required to help in the war. That is all. I better not see any of your faces here tomorrow." With that he turned to leave, followed by Lysandor and his goons.

Percy glared at his two best friends that had interfered, who both had the decency to look sheepish. Jogging to catch up, he said, "Woah, woah, woah. You can't just expell them. How are they supposed to train and learn? They're going to die the moment they step onto the battlefield if they don't have proper training."

"Well that's what you're there for. They seem to think that you are a way better instructor, so you teach them. I expect the arena to be cleared by sundown. Good luck, boy. You're going to need it." Artorius said, not pausing nor missing a beat.

Percy watched them leave in disbelief. How was he supposed to help these people when had his own goals to fulfill. When the group of trainers and students' finally left, Percy slowly turned around to face those who had landed him into this mess, with every intention to let them solve their own problems.

But as he took a careful look around at each individual's face, his resolve started to break. The group before him consisted of children ranging from around seven to thirteen. Though varying in age, they all had several things in common. They all had scrawny builds, malnutrished from the looks of it. Their armours were crooked and they held their shields and weapons awkwardly. Sure signs of improper training.

Yet they all had fire and determination in their eyes. They showed the desire to improve and to prove those who doubted them, wrong. He could tell that they were hard workers and were willing to follow if someone would take their time to teach them.

Sighing, Percy slowly made his way back to the group. Still trying to figure out how he could make everything work.

Taking a look at the group before him, he decided to keep silent to see how they would react. Chiron often did this to Percy, to see what he was feeling. That was another thing that the centaur taught him, to read emotions almost as easily as a satyr.

He could see that the crowd was feeling various things, worry, anticipation, fear. Finally, Malcolm couldn't stand the silence any longer. "So... Ion... Are you going to teach us?" The blond asked almost fearfully.

Percy settled into a thinking pose, pretending to weigh his options. He shrugged and said, "Ok." Malcolm took a deep breath, getting ready to argue that Percy should help them. With all the thoughts running in his mind, Malcolm almost missed the affirmative answer.

While the crowd let go a sigh of relief, Malcolm looked at Percy quizzically. "Huh?" He asked intelligently. "I said ok." Percy said slowly, as if he were talking to a two year old. He loved being able to catch the blond by surprise. Percy wasn't able to this often as Malcolm was practically a genius. So he enjoyed it all the more.

"I meant why?" Malcolm asked while rolling his eyes. "I don't know. And I won't be helping permanently. I have other things that I need to take care of. I'll do my best to teach you what I know, but after that, you'll have to help yourselves. So I'll meet everyone by the lake outside the city tomorrow, an hour before sunrise. Be there or your out." the sea prince answered and started to walk away.

I experienced this kind of strictness from Chiron, and it worked on me, so why not on them? Percy thought.

After Percy left, the rest of the group continued to stare at the spot where he stood with a bewildered look. "Well... I guess we do as he says. Let's go home guys." Malcolm said awkwardly.

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The next morning...

Two hours before sunrise, Percy excited the inn that he had stayed the night in. He did his usual morning workout and headed to the lake, where he had told the others to wait. He expected most to come late and not take things seriously. Those were the ones he needed to work on most.

Thinking that he was still early, Percy decided to walk slowly to his destination, trying to figure out how he was going to stop the war. The question had bothered him for most of the night and. He lay in his bed tossing and turning, trying to will the answer to come to him.

It did not help that he also had to think about what to teach the kids. Sighing in frustration, he finally came to the decision of calling Chiron.

Flashback

"Oh Iris, great goddess of the rainbow hear my plea and show me Chiron." Percy chanted the line that his mother taught him long ago. It only took a few seconds for the mist to change into a projection of Chiron's face.

The centaur who was just about to head to sleep, was surprised to see the stressed look on his ex-apprentice's face, appear out of thin air. "Hello Perseus. How are you doing this fine evening?" He greeted.

"I was hoping to ask for advice. But in hindsight, I should have called in the morning. I can call again later if now's not a good time." Percy answered. Chiron frowned. He was not used to Percy looking so stressed. There was obviously something bothering him, Chiron thought.

Another thing that caused the frown on the trainer's face was the seriousness of his student's tone. Percy was not the same loud, sarcastic and humorous nine year that he parted ways with. A lot changed over the three months with the boy's behavior. His mother's death did more damage on him that he let on.

Sighing at the boy's lack of youthfulness, he answered, "No, now's fine Percy. Go ahead."

So Percy went on and told his teacher of all the things that had transpired. When finished, the half human, gave yet another sigh. "It look like you've gotten yourself in another rough spot, eh Perseus. I'm glad to see that somethings don't change." Chiron said.

Percy smiled. Over the time that the two spent with each other traveling, Percy's sense of humor rubbed off on his mentor, even if it was only a little. And Percy was proud of his little accomplishment. Even the great Hercules did not succeed in livening up Chiron's attitude.

"Well my boy, I do not know on whether you should stay until Minos comes or to seek him out yourself, but I do know that you should not waste your time while you are there. Help and train your friends and hone your own skills.

"I suggest that you stay for at least a month before deciding. See if they are able to cope without you. Since Daedalus is going there soon, you should go seek him out and ask for his opinion.

"And when you do get to Crete, go to Thirio Forest. It will be the perfect training ground for you. As for the Spartan's training, get some parchment and ink. I can help you get started on what you should help them on.

"But you are on your own from there. I'm sorry I cannot offer you any more help." Chiron said. After writing down everything, Percy said, "It's alright Chiron. I appreciate your help. I certainly have much more than I started with, so thank you. I'll see you soon sir." He waved his hand over the mist to severe the connection.

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That's all people! Again thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review or fav and like, I love them. Also visit the poll on whether the two should meet sooner or later. See yah! ;)

~Halvax