Chapter 4
I'm not even going to discuss my first three days here. I crawled into my lovely bed and sighed contented relief. No one was chasing me, no one was yelling at me, no one was trying to knock my brains out. I lay my head back and closed my eyes, ready for sleep.
"Okay, Sera, today you did great." Oh crap, its him. I had grown to dislike his apparent optimism in my "progress" that I had made. I just groaned and pulled the fluffy sheets over my head.
"Go away! I don't want to hear anything from you." I shouted through my pillows and blankets.
"Oh come on, you don't mean that." Ben said as I felt him sit on the edge of the bed.
"Oh do I?" I said as I pulled my head out to look at him. "I have had the mother of all bad days and all I want is some peace and quiet, is that too much to ask from the Little Mermaid?" I said facetiously. It's a good thing that Ben's sense of humor is off kilter, or maybe it isn't a good thing. My feeble attempt at insulting him made him laugh out loud.
"Oh Sera," He shook his head as he pulled out a pad of paper; my schedule he kept with him. "Now, tomorrow you start your sword practice as well as martial arts training. You have you're armor?" He asked. The way that British accent used different intonations kind of bugged me tonight.
"Yes," I grumbled.
"Good, then I will get you a leather vest to wear for the sword fighting and you can wear the armor for the martial arts." He made a small note on his piece of paper. He started to go on about the next week's schedule, making sure I knew of all the changes and the locations. Too bad I had already fallen asleep.
Waking up the next morning, my body ached like it always did in the mornings. Sitting up was extremely painful. I hobbled over and made my way to the shower. Splashes were coming from the indoor beach. Ben, it had to be. I quietly crept by, I don't know why though. Maybe because I didn't want him to see me and tell me to go get dressed and get out to breakfast. Suddenly I heard him hiss, painfully. Stopping, I crept to the wall and peeked around. Lying on his stomach, Ben buried his face in one of the plush pillows and screamed. I watched as his iridescent white and green tail began to split into two separate entities. I bit my lip as I fought myself fiercely, I fought the urge to run to his side to make sure he was all right. Yet I was so horrified by the spectacle before me I was frozen on the spot. Once his legs had fully formed, his body relaxed and I noticed the sweat that had broken out over his pale skin. The way his chest's heaves decelerated was almost a relief to me. I almost didn't realize he was stark naked until he began to stand up. Instantly, I turned around and began to creep back over to the shower again.
This was crazy. This was absolutely ludicrous. To think that a mere four days earlier the biggest concern on my list was "when's school going to end". Now that seems like a lifetime away. I don't know how I came to be here. Standing there in the shower, I looked down at my under arm. The blue wave tattoo was still there but it had faded tremendously, looking like someone's Crayola markers after a walk in the rain. Poseidon's mark. One of the "Big Three", or so I've learned in the past few days. Why me? Well, now I know where I get my uncanny ability to swim from. Maybe there's a reason I love swimming. Maybe through some great twist of fate my father made me love the water and everything about it. That thought scared me. But I couldn't exactly just stop loving swimming instantly. In fact I longed to swim right then. My head swirled with questions just like the steam that swirled around my head from the shower.
Getting in the water my worries were suddenly soothed. The water cleared my head as the water fell over my scalp and shoulders. Nope, I wasn't giving up water just because I wanted to spite my father. I'd have to find an alternative method of revenge it seemed. Finishing up, I toweled off and went to get dressed. Today was battle practice day. I pulled on my under armour shirt over a sports bra, no use being uncomfortable while wearing the protective gear. A few days earlier, Ben had taken my measurements and given them to the forges so they could make me a breastplate and all that jazz, but I couldn't use that stuff yet. For now I had to settle for a thick leather vest that, I'll be quiet honest, made me feel really hot in it. In both ways, to be frank. I grabbed my brush and ran it through my hair as I walked out the front door. I ran smack into Ben.
"Umph!" I caught smack in the jaw when I rammed into his shoulder.
"Good morning, Princess." I groaned. There was that name again. He seemed to think I was accustomed to being treated like a princess. I didn't. But he was amused when I complained about all the training. He told me, "What do you want to be doing? Sitting on your high horse waving to your subjects? Or perhaps have them feed grapes to you by hand? Blimey, you'd think you were the heir apparent to the throne." He had turned it into a pet name for me now. Great.
"Good mornin'," I replied.
"Ready for today?" He asked as we began walking to the dining area.
"As I'll ever be. Is today going to hurt as much?" I asked. Ben had a strange look flicker across his face, but before I could identify it, it was gone.
"Uh… no."
"No? Really?" I asked. Ben shook his head.
"No." That gave me hope. Maybe I was getting into some more civilized areas of practice.
Is it fate that I must always have my… butt (I almost let loose a more colorful word) handed to me every time I attempt to do any of this stuff? Quick recap for you: I got shot with a practice arrow… in the butt. I was bruised from the Hephaestus's kid in the tae kwan do or whatever they called it. I seriously thought sword fighting was going to be the death of me. Ben had tried to prepare me, but what good would that do? All this combat training is kicking my sorry butt and it sucks royally!
The sword master was a centaur names Atheros (yeah, there are centaurs and satyrs and stuff like that. My day just keeps getting better). He was a very large, very dangerous looking black stallion with tanned skin and sleek black hair he kept in a braid down his back. He might have been good looking if not for the sharp look in his eyes and the lethal edges of his cheeks. I got put with the first years. We all ranged in age from seven to eighteen, I was the third oldest in the pack apparently.
"Line up!" Atheros shouted. We all stopped talking and lined up in a haphazard line.
"No, no, no, by seniority." When we didn't move, he sighed exasperatedly. "Line up oldest to youngest." Okay, now I get it. I was going to crack a military joke but decided to stay quiet after catching one of the knifing stares from Atheros. As soon as we were set, Atheros instructed us to stand at attention for another moment until he returned. As soon as he left though, we all relaxed and began talking. The boy next to me turned to me.
"Hey, I'm Trip, son of Apollo. You're new here, right?" I gave him a look. Weren't we all new here? Hence the name first years?
"Forgive me, but aren't you too?" I asked after nodding an affirmative.
"Me?" He pointed to himself using a thumb. "Nah, technically I'm a third year. I haven't been able to take sword training because the last two summers I had broken a few fingers and toes during training season."
"How old are you?" I asked.
"Just turned 18 in April. I can now officially buy dry ice and rockets myself." I got a sort of hippie mentality out of him. "So, you have a name or should I make one up for you?"
"Oh, its Sera." I said quickly.
"Sera, no way, that's the name I was gonna make up for you." As soon as he said this I felt my eyes roll.
"You stole that from Star Trek."
"Oho! Science fiction fanatic, huh? Favorite movie?"
"Terminator,"
"Favorite book?"
"Heir to the Empire, Timothy Zahn."
"Star Wars?"
"Movies, tv, and expanded universe."
"My Hero," He smiled, flashing a rather gorgeous grin that showed he had a dimple in his left cheek. Suddenly, I was beginning to notice how dang good looking his was. "So, which cabin do you belong to?" That I guess was the polite way to ask, "Which parent had the affair?"
"Poseidon," I answered. His eyes widened in realization.
"Kinda lonely there, isn't it?" I could see what he was getting at. Poseidon was one of the more… let's just say abstinent gods.
"Yeah, I'm told one of my half brothers runs this place, but I have yet to see this."
"Oh yeah, Mr. Jackson."
"Why is it that everyone around here has seen him except me? I don't even think he exists. I bet he's one of the first year legends like snipes and ghost stories."
"Oh no, he's real." From the look in his eye I still couldn't believe him fully. WE were quiet for a minute. I half wondered about Atheros' whereabouts, half fantasized about Trip without a shirt.
"So… uh," He started, "Listen, you doing anything Fr-," He was cut off as Atheros galloped into view, literally.
"All right first years! Meet your sparring partners and mentors." Behind him came a group of mismatched kids, all wearing protective breastplates and helmets. Some of the older ones wore greaves as well. They all looked like a well seasoned bunch.
"Line up, then pair up." Atheros yelled. I wanted to get paired up with Trip, but of course another 12 year old girl had the same idea. My self esteem dropped a few points as I watched every one of the new kids find a partner. Finally, a young girl walked over. She was dressed in a full breast plate and had arm guards. Her helmet was not the regular brass ones everyone else had, it was a silvery color and had a glossy coat over it.
"I guess you're my partner." She said, did I detect some reluctance in there? Perfect.
"Okay everybody, raise your staffs. Repeat after me." We watched Atheros as he flung his full fledged sword in a set motion. "Understand?" He asked. I looked down at my wooden stick, it looked measly in comparison to the other kids practice swords.
"Yeah," I yelled with the rest of the group. "This looks like something out of Lord of the Rings." I added. I heard Trip snicker somewhere beside me.
"No," My partner interjected, holding her sword at the ready. I raised an eyebrow. Why that little twerp! "No, its more along the lines of lightsaber training than European martial arts." She finished, picking something off the end of her sword. I want to see that girl's face now. She knew! She knew! But that stupid helmet was in the way still.
Feeling the sand of the beach beneath my boots, I did exactly as instructed. We did it slow, fast, backwards and forwards. But by ourselves. The sun grew high in the sky, pelting each of us with its intensifying rays. I began to mentally curse whoever though leather was a good protector. I could feel the beads of sweat roll down beneath my leather vest. It was so nasty.
"All right, now that you all know the motions, turn to your partners. Fourth years, defense only. Do not employ any offense whatsoever. Ready? Go!" Atheros called over the crashing of the waves behind us. I could almost feel them calling. Those waves were maybe twenty feet away and all I had to do was run. I really wanted to go for a swim. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of silver. Clumsily, I held my "sword" up to block it. My partner quickly backed off and thrusted again, knocking me in the ribs with the broadside of her sword.
"Hey!" I cried indignantly, "Watch it!"
"Pick it up, or you're going to get whooped." Her muffled voice came from behind the face plate. With a flourish, she whirled the sword around and came at me again. Two minutes and a few hits later found me on my back with a sword pointed at my face. I was ticked. What happened to 'no offense', huh? Getting back up, I whipped my own sword around and tried to get at her. She blocked every one of my assaults. By this point I was beyond annoyed, I was livid. I attacked again. Three times. Three more times she had me on my back. I finally fell and didn't want to get up. Around my ankles I felt the cold splash of the water; in my mind I instantly knew the tide was coming in.
Suddenly, my body didn't ache as much, the scratches and bruises lost their sting. I felt the pent up rage from being banged up by the little pain-in-the-butt. Standing up, I switched the sword to my left hand and felt the grip warm to my touch. Looking into the face plate of my opponent I took a deep breath. Using the moves we had just learned, I made a pretty good offense against her, forcing my partner to defend herself instead of schooling me. I thrust my sword at her leg and knocked it out from under her, but she recovered quickly. I noticed a small crowd was gathering around the two of us.
"You're just now pulling the rage card? You'll have to try better than that, Rookie." She said with a chuckle between pants. That did it! I moved like I was winding up for a strike, then as she moved to block easily I faked her out. Dropping down, I tucked my head in, shot my hand out and grabbed her ankle. I stood up and with a mighty yank uprooted her stance. In my mind I heard "Timber!" and felt a small smile creep up on me. Before she could get up, I kicked her sword away from her and point my own at her throat. Suddenly, I realized how much I was in need of air, breathing hard and wiping the sweat from my brow. It was kind of a funny picture, me pointing a big stick at a girl who was lying on the ground.
"Go ahead," I panted, "Make my day." There were a few claps here and there in the crowd that had gathered. Quite a few laughs too.
"All right, break it up. Get back to work." Atheros called through the crowd. I pulled my staff back as my partner pulled her helmet off. Shaking her head I saw a spill of red hair accented with red tumble out. She opened her eyes, showing irises of hazel and fire.
"You cheated," She grunted. It appeared she didn't think me capable of taking her down fair and square. Where'd she get that pre-conceived notion, I wonder?
"I'm a Poseidon," I said, putting my staff down and offering my hand to her. "Not a saint," She took the hand and I helped her up.
"Thanks," she muttered, not looking at me. After pulled her hair out of its messed up ponytail she began to take off her nice leather fighting gloves, revealing perfectly manicured nails in shades of black and gold. Who is this chick? First she is some savage beast, fighting and taking people out, yet after words she gets her nails done? What is this?
"That's all for today, students." Atheros called out. "Same time Monday." We all broke. Trip jogged over to where I was standing awkwardly next to my partner.
"Dang, that was a pretty good show. Bailee's the best in her year." He praised.
"Thank you, Trip, you make me feel so good." The girl, Bailee apparently, said sarcastically. She ignored him as she pulled her hair up again.
"What year are you?" I asked.
"This is my fifth year." Suddenly, I felt so inferior. Trip laughed.
"I'm glad that someone could school her, even if it wasn't me."
"I was not schooled!" Bailee shouted indignantly. Trip just smiled irresistibly.
"Let's all be friends here now, play nicely girls." He laughed jovially. We still couldn't bring ourselves to look at each other. Well, at least I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I have my pride, you know. I watched Trip and was that a mischievous glimmer in his eyes? He sighed dramatically.
"Who were Han Solo's kids?" He asked, a little exasperatedly.
"Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin," Both Bailee and I answered in unison. Something clicked between us. We turned and finally looked eye to eye. I suddenly didn't see my enemy; I saw a friend.
