Alright! Two chapters in one day! Maybe I should start writting chapter 15... oh well. I'm hungry, and there's a grilled cheese sandwich waiting for me! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 6

I Duel My Sister's Boyfriend

I woke up once again. It seemed I was doing that a lot recently. I took in my surroundings and realized I was in my half empty cabin. My cabin mates were doing their normal business: reading, planning, strategizing, and looking at me. Wait, looking at me? No, only Annabeth was doing that. When she saw I was awake she slapped me right across the face, SMACK! It was so loud all the people in the cabin jumped and stared at Annabeth with fear in their eyes. I don't blame them.

"You stupid fool! I… Argh!" She yelled at me. Again I could tell she was glad I was okay despite her recent anger.

I was wide eyed at that moment, but I, being the smart guy I was, said, "Percy, help!"

Annabeth turned, like I predicted to look for her boyfriend, and I took that opportunity to run into the boys' bathroom. I made it, just barely closing the door in time. I whipped out my phone and texted Malcolm, my favorite half brother, Tell me wen shes gone plz.

A couple minutes later he replied, Shes gone its safe. I released the breath I didn't know I was holding and walked out of the bathroom. I looked around, just to be safe and she was nowhere to be seen. "Thanks Malcolm, you're a lifesaver."

"No problem. I think Percy wanted to see you by the arena, something about a Sophia?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah, thanks. Oh Sophia's the name of my sword. You know I'm too young for that stuff," I told him. He just shrugged like he knew something I didn't. I didn't mind it much and walked out of the cabin to make it towards the arena. My body felt fine and my mind was more focused than usual. I don't know why, but this meant I'd be able to kick some Percy butt!

If only I knew I was gonna get slapped again I would've stayed inside. But I didn't, so the same cheek that was slapped before and turned red was slapped yet again, even harder if that's possible. It stung, a lot. I looked back to see who the culprit was and, no surprise, it was Annabeth. After I looked back she hugged me so fiercely I had to close my eyes before my eyes popped out. "You really need to stop doing that. If you die I will personally bring you back and kill you again." She told me. I guess it finally sunk in that I should stop being so reckless.

I told her, "You know I wouldn't go looking for trouble, it usually finds me. But now I'm fine, so you can kinda let go of me before I suffocate."

She pulled away and looked me in the eye. "Just be careful tonight."

I nodded and she walked towards the Poseidon cabin. Where else, I thought to myself. I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out. I had a text from Percy, Meet u after dinner in the arena. I still had a bit of time before dinner, and since it was Sunday, I could go practice a bit with Sophia.

I made my way towards the arena and as I walked in I saw Nico Di Angelo in his black pants and black t-shirt just about to go out with Mrs. O' Leary. His black hair fell to his shoulders and his black eyes almost screamed death "Nico!" I yelled to him.

He turned and saw it was me and called the hellhound back. "Hey man. I heard you've been getting beaten up lately? You can handle the Lord of Time's army but not a teensy weenie hellhound?" he joked.

"Yeah well that hellhound was bigger than Mrs. O' Leary, so it was a bit more difficult to beat. You're going out for a walk with her?" I asked pointing to the friendly hellhound who was chewing on a giant shield/Frisbee.

"Yeah. I better hurry, so I'll see you after dinner." And with that he waved good bye and jogged out with the hellhound. I then proceeded to make my way to a row of straw dummies in Greek armor. I tapped Sophia and went to work on the dummies. I started simple, then moved onto advanced moves all the while testing my limits. If I went too hard then I'd reinjure myself, but I went all out and felt fine. Percy was going down.

I heard the conch horn in the distance so I put away Sophia and started walking towards dinner. That is until I smelt something, a bad smelling something. Oh, that's me. I decided against going to dinner smelling like that, so I made a mad dash to the cabin and ran through the shower. I came out smelling much better than before, so I knew I was ready to go.

When I made it to dinner it was half over. Some campers already left going Zeus knows where, but most were still there. I sat next to May and Malcolm. A Dryad brought me my food and I offered to Athena. Help me tonight please. After making my request I went back to my table and vacuumed down my food. I was the second one done at my table, and boy did I feel stuffed. Then my brothers and sisters started talking to me. "So I hear you're fighting Percy tonight."

"Yeah man you gotta wreck him for us."

"Are you all ready? What sword are you using?"

I smiled at the last question/statement. "Oh, you'll see. I can't tell you, no spoilers!" That got me a couple of groans and fake punches and a couple of laughs. I glanced at Annabeth and she was smiling. Then I glanced at Percy sitting side by side with Lyra. They were talking, but when he finally saw me he smiled and gave me a thumbs up sign. Lyra turned too and waved while smiling. I waved back and my Malcolm and May started nudging me.

"Hey, you guys wanna stop?" I asked.

"Naw, we couldn't do that." they both said at the same time. I rolled my eyes and saw that Percy was doing the same to Lyra. Then Malcolm and May started nudging me again. "Ooooooo, Aran likes someone!" May sang to my siblings. The table burst out laughing while I felt like crawling into a hole. My face felt like it was burning and I felt like my whole body turned red.

"No, I actually don't. I'm only twelve guys, geez!" I retorted. The laughter died down before Chiron stamped his hoof getting everyone's attention.

"Campers! Another night of fabulous food!" The pavilion burst into applause. I hesitated at first because he usually makes his announcements before dinner starts. "Tonight will be a special night. As soon as I am done making this announcement, a friendly cabin match will be held in the arena!" More applause. I saw where this was going and wondered how it got this way. "Tonight, our best swordsman, only son of Poseidon, and savior of Olympus, Percy Jackson," He paused while the cheering skyrocketed and Percy stood up with a grin, "Will duel an honorable hero, tactician, son of Athena, and watcher of construction of Olympus, Aran Aggio!" I stood up and smiled while my table went crazy with applause and cheering. "This would not usually be a big deal, but since we are talking about Percy Jackson, I felt the need to inform everyone. Betting will be allowed. I personally will be betting on Percy, but who knows? Let the betting begin!"

If the noise of the cheering crowd had been any louder then I would have gone deaf. As the crowd in the pavilion started getting up some campers came up to me and Percy wishing us luck. Annabeth kissed Percy and told him he'd get another if he won. I rolled my eyes as some of my friends came up to me. Nico patted my back, Lauren gave me a hug and Lyra shook my hand. "You'll do great." She told me. I nodded and looked over at Percy and Annabeth and they whispered something to each other. Percy nodded in agreement at whatever Annabeth said.

Finally it was time. I stood in one of the fighters' locker room on one side while Percy was in the other on the opposite end of the arena. The iron bars didn't stop me from seeing that the arena was packed; every seat had a camper or nymph. My heart was racing so much I thought it was going to jump out of my chest and run a marathon. I meditated a bit thinking of how I was going to bring Percy down until Chiron spoke into a microphone, "Aran and Percy, you may get ready for battle. You have five minutes until you will be called out." The crowd cheered a bit. I clearly heard most of the camp chanting, "Percy! Percy! Percy!" while I thought I heard the Athena cabin chanting my name. It was really nerve wracking. I put on my silver and gray Greek armor while staring into a full body mirror making sure everything was on right, but decided to go against wearing a helmet because it would just slow me down. I picked up a shield outfitted just for me and stared at it while sitting back down; I figured there was still a minute left. I thought about the stakes: If Percy won then the Athena cabin would have to take over all of their chores for a month. If I won, then the Poseidon cabin took over all the Athena chores for a month and we would get an extra serving at dinner. Annabeth and Percy shook on it, so now the pressure was stacked up. I prayed one last time to Athena to give me strength and heard Chiron over the loudspeaker, "Percy and Aran, your time has come. Please enter the arena!" The iron gate slid up giving me a passage out to the fighting area. I picked up my owl engraved shield, put in on my left arm and slowly made my way out.

As I stepped out into the lighted arena I smiled. I came into sight to the entire arena and the cheering increased a lot. I walked to the center then smiled and waved to the crowd. My friends were sitting in the front row: Nico, Annabeth, Lyra, and Lauren. They all waved and I waved back. Then I turned to see Percy walking out. He was wearing sea green Greek armor and also didn't have a helmet and had a shield with a green trident on it. He was smiling at me, and as soon as he came into view of the crowd I don't think I would ever hear again. The crowd stood up and went crazy. Whistles, clapping, shouting, cheering, jumping up and down - it happened all at once.

Percy stood next to me and we shook hands. I could just barely hear him say over the crowd, "Good luck. Have fun." I nodded and told him the same. We turned to face Chiron in his own little booth with Mr. D. He nodded while smiling and we both to three steps away from each other. We looked at each other dead in the eye and smiled. Then Chiron said, "Fighters! You are fighting for your cabin's honor and your own! No intentional maiming and no killing! LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!" The crowd roared as we took out our weapons. Percy uncapped Riptide and I tapped Sophia. When I pulled out Sophia the entire camp, except for the Athena cabin became quieter; the Athena cabin was roaring their heads off at my surprise. I also knew that when Chiron had said "no killing" he was talking to Percy because he was invincible and I wasn't, so even if I did bring my sword down on his head it would bounce off.

Percy smiled and then the real battle began. We started circling and then I jumped forward. I wasn't worried about getting sliced or dying because there was no killing. I swung down and Percy blocked. He countered by trying to sliced at my legs but I jumped and landed on his sword making him loose his grip on it. The crowd roared again. Percy smiled again then went for close combat. I figured it would be unfair if I still had a sword so I kicked Riptide to the side and threw away Sophia. The crowd quieted a lot, probably because of my decision, but I didn't care. We went close quarters for a long time. We were punching, kicking, jumping, dodging, and blocking. We used our shield as weapons.

My plan was to try to tire him out because of his Curse of Achilles. It seemed to be working until he summoned the water from the crowd and coated himself in it, turning himself into a water monster. The crowd went wild thinking that he'd won, but I thought otherwise. I knew that riptide had returned to his pocket, so I held my hand out to my sword and yelled, "SOPHIA!" My yell seemed to have been magnified that even Percy looked astonished. We were panting, actually I was panting and he was fine. Sophia returned to my hand and we went back to sword on sword. Eventually we even threw our shields away so it was just swords.

The match seemed to go on forever, but then something happened. Percy had disarmed me and kicked me in the chest knocking me to the ground. When I hit the ground something seemed to click into place and I felt like I knew everything. I stood up which surprised the crowd. It had been nuts when I fell but now it was silent. I looked at Percy and he had wide eyes. I held my hand out and yelled, "SOPHIA!" again. My sword returned and I went absolutely nuts. I saw all his weak spots and knew what I had to do. I went all out offense. I backed Percy up a good ten feet before I disarmed him. He smiled and ran to his shield. I knew in my head that a shield would not do a thing for me, and as soon as I thought that Percy brought Riptide out from his pocket and turned it into his sword. The crowd was deafening, but I kept my focus. I lunged, swung, dodged, rolled, and jabbed. I once again knocked his sword away from him and pressed on.

I was pounding away at his shield until I broke it. That's right, cleaved it right in two being careful not to touch Percy's arm in the process. Percy looked like I just asked him I long division question. I took this opportunity to swing my sword down low. He jumped like I expected him to and followed up by bringing my leg around and tripped him, knocking him flat on his back. I heard the crowd go silent, no sounds could be heard, while I put my sword tip up to his neck. Then I said just loud enough for the crowd to hear, "I win." Percy smiled and I put my sword away and helped him up. We were covered in sweat and extremely drained of energy.

The crowd was silent until Percy spoke after he got up, "Well? Don't you guys have something to say?" I smiled as the crowd went ballistic. The whole crowd was chanting, "ARAN! ARAN! ARAN! ARAN!" Percy took my arm and held it up while the cheering somehow got louder.

I shook Percy's hand again and he gave me a hug. I knew Percy wasn't a sore winner or loser so I wasn't surprised. I wasn't a sore winner either so I told him, "Great match man. I honestly didn't think I'd win." This made Percy laugh.

Then my senses seemed to calm down, a lot, like I just came down from a sugar high. Chiron came over to us as we were waving to the crowd. He put a gold laurel over my head and said to the crowd, "And we have a winner! Aran Aggio! You have bested a legendary hero! What do you have to say?"

He held a microphone close to my mouth and I said, "Well, I would like to say that Percy, good match and good job. I couldn't have had more fun and I could tell you feel the same. I would like to thank Percy for making it here and giving you all such an entertaining match. Did you guys enjoy that or what!"

The crowd roared in response. I went over to Percy and held his arm up. The cheering lasted for a good fifteen minutes. I shook Percy's hand one last time before Chiron said, "Thank you all for coming. The fighters will return to their locker rooms and when they come out you may congratulate them."

Percy and I made our way to our respective locker rooms after we picked up our shields. Before we went inside I heard Percy shout, "Oh, by the way you owe me another shield!" and he held up the two halves with a smile. I waved back to him and took a mental note to get another one for him.

When I returned to my locker room I had a visitor. "Mom?"

Athena smiled and walked over to me while I looked into her stormy gray eyes. Her white blouse and jeans said that she just wanted to talk informally to me. "I am very proud of you Aran." Then she surprised me by giving me a hug.

I stood there shocked the whole time and then when she pulled away I knelt and said, "Thank you kindly for helping. I shall give you more offerings tomorrow at each meal."

"Oh no, my son. It was payment enough to see you defeat the savior of Olympus and best swordsman of the day. It was quite a good match." I stood and bowed, not knowing what else to do and then Athena continued. "Well, I must go now. I have to watch over the construction you know. Six more rooftop gardens were finished. Goodbye Aran."

I averted my eyes while she revealed her true form and disappeared. Then I sat down and took a long, deep breath. "That was incredible." Then I started to take my armor off. I felt really exhausted, so that motivated me to move a bit faster. I took a quick shower and changed into the extra clothes I had brought. I took one last look at my shield and the owl winked at me. I looked around to see if someone was playing a joke, but no it was real. I smiled, picked up Wisdom, tapped it and returned it to my pocket. Before I tapped it I said, "Thank you so much."

I walked out of the arena to be greeted by the whole camp. They weren't paying attention to me. That is until someone said, "THERE HE IS!" They all turned to face me and the mob ran towards me. I stood there stunned not even being bothered to move or yell. The crowd picked me up and suddenly they were chanting my name and brought me to the pavilion to an elevated platform. They dropped me off on top of it then crowded around the platform and knelt. Percy came up next to me and patted my shoulder. I smiled and then Annabeth came forth from the crowd carrying two laurels: a gray one and a gold one. Annabeth came up and stood in front of me facing the crowd.

She yelled to them, "Rise, and honor the new best swordsman in camp, Aran Aggio!" The campers stood and cheered. Annabeth turned towards me and put the laurels over my head. She took a step to the side so that I could take a step forwards. I smiled and the crowd chanted my name. Eventually the dryads came and brought a feast for me and Percy. The whole camp also got food and it turned into a celebration party. There was no music, but that didn't stop everyone from having a good time. Percy and I sat at the table Chiron and Mr. D usually sat at while everyone else sat where they wanted. All throughout the meal campers came up to us and congratulated me and Percy. First was Annabeth who hugged me and went to kiss Percy. But as he was leaning in she backed up and he fell forward. I couldn't stop laughing and neither could Annabeth.

"What was that for?" he asked her.

"Well you didn't win. I wasn't gonna give in to a loser." She said with a smirk.

He got up and Annabeth hugged him. Percy went back to eating, but I was still laughing for a bit before I thought it was safe to eat again without choking.

Next was Nico. He gave me a high five and looked at Percy in disgust. Then he said he was joking and we all laughed.

Then came Grover, a satyr. He gave Percy a high five while he told me good job. I didn't mind his aloofness, I didn't really know him.

After Grover was Lauren. She gave me a hug and told me good job while she high fived Percy.

Last was Lyra. She came up to me and said, "That was really amazing! I had no clue you could fight so well."

I chuckled and said, "Well neither did I. I would've never thought that I'd beat Percy in a million years." She laughed and hugged me before going too Percy and high fiving him.

Eventually the campers started to filter out, giving me and Percy pats on the back while they were going. Percy left way before I did, partly because Annabeth had promised him something. I think I knew what it was, but I shuddered at the thought of it because, come on. I was twelve!

I was the last one left in the pavilion. It had to have been close to midnight. I eventually got up and started walking back to the cabins. Then a thought struck me, what if more monsters attack? I quickly pulled out Sophia and tapped it. It gave a faint glow, but that really wouldn't help. I carefully tip-toed my way back to my cabin. All the cabins were dark and it was eerily quiet. I took a quick look behind me and thought that I saw a figure standing next to Thalia's Tree. Then it ran down the other side in a panic, and then it was gone.

I ran back to my cabin. There was no second thought; it was just all out sprint. I didn't stop for a second until I had my hand on the doorknob. I turned it and quietly made my way to my bed. All my siblings were asleep, so I had to be extra sure that I was quiet. I finally made it to my bed with only one floorboard creaky loudly. I didn't even bother changing into pajamas and plopped down in my bunk. I was asleep as soon as my body touched the bed.

Cool. So hopefully I have good news...

The chapters get longer :D! I have them averaged at around 4,000 words and the last chapter I wrote had a little more than 5,000! Tell me if you guys like the long chapters or not.

Aaaaaaaaand, don't forget to review!