Author's Note: I'm so sorry this took so long, but I finally got this done! I had to add some stuff to make it make more sense. Thanks you for the reviews, I love them!

Chapter 5: I Lose a Swordfight

I heard voices in my dreams that night. Whispered conversation between two people. But I couldn't see their faces. But the voices were vaguely familiar. I strained to listen to what was being said.

A hazy figure was standing in the darkness. I recognized Thalia's pine tree, and I could see the whole valley of Camp Half-Blood below me. The whole place was frosty white with snow. I'd seen the camp with snow in it before, but this was more sinister. The hazy figure, which looked like a young girl, looked over the hill at the valley and nodded with approval. "Yes," she said. "This is perfect. Once he's eliminated, there will be no more worries for our family."

Another figure approached the pine tree. She was also a young girl, wrapped in a blanket. Her face was difficult to make out in the darkness. "Master had taken care of the first part of the plan, my lady. He will never be able to recover from this."

The hazy girl shook her head. "It was not enough. The blonde and the mortal interrupted him. And you must remember that he is not a mere mortal. It will take a lot more to get rid of him."

The girl in the blanket replied, "He is vulnerable, my lady. Couldn't we just kill him?"

"He is not that vulnerable. Only in extreme situations, for example, falling from great heights, like I caused him to do. But we will still need his Achilles spot to destroy him once and for all, unless his condition worsens."

"It will, my lady," the blanket girl replied. "He is getting worse by the hour, even if he doesn't know it."

They were both silent for a few minutes, and then the hazy girl said, "I want him out of the picture before he even knows what's wrong with him. If not, the whole plan will collapse."

"Yes, my lady." The girl in the blanket walked slowly back toward the camp as the hazy figure vanished into a cold mist.

I woke up with a start, feeling achy all over and shivering. I sat up slowly, trying to organize my thoughts. Okay, I thought. Some girls, along with Price, are plotting to kill me. Price had tried to kill me, though it hadn't been enough. I shuddered, remembering the sharp pain that felt like my lungs were being wrenched apart. If that hadn't been enough, I was afraid of what "enough" was.

The door to the cabin creaked open, and Jessica poked her head in. She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, look, you're up," she said smiling pleasantly. "Bonjour, mon frère."

I sighed and got up. I coughed a couple of times and grimaced in pain. I felt sort of out of it, like I was coming down with the flu or something. Jessica was wearing long sleeves under her Camp Half-Blood shirt. I frowned. "Is it still that cold outside?" I asked.

She looked at me like I was crazy. "There's snow on the ground, remember?" As soon as she said that, she frowned as well. "That's so freaky, though. It's supposed to be the summer, isn't it?"

I shook my head, trying to clear the images of my dream from my head. "Someone's messing with the weather here," I told her. "I don't know who or why, but that's what's going on."

She pondered this for a moment before saying, "Chiron's looking for you. So is your girlfriend."

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn.

"Somewhere around ten. You really sleep in, don't you?"

I didn't answer her, because I usually don't sleep in. But it was almost like my body didn't want to get up, like it was too tired. I was still feeling pretty groggy, and hungry, since I'd missed breakfast. I ran through my schedule in my head, trying to remember what else I'd missed. Nothing, yet, but I had sword fighting with the Athena cabin. I figured I could get a snack from the camp store or something. I slapped on some jeans and a camp T-shirt, and I grabbed my sister to leave for the arena.

On our way over there, we passed by the archery range, where the Athena kids were practicing their shooting. Jessica pointed. "C'mon, let's go," she said.

"The sword fighting arena is that way," I told her, pointing ahead of us.

"Come on, Percy," she pleaded. "I love archery. Si'l te plaît?" She looked at me with her big green eyes—my green eyes. Offhand, I wondered if I'd ever looked like that. I stared at her for a few seconds, and then finally gave in. "Fine," I said. "Let's see how good you are, if you love it so much."

"I won't disappoint," she replied.

Now, normally, I would never be caught anywhere near the archery range, so Chiron looked a little surprised when I walked over with my little sister.

"Well, Percy," he said, "Never imagined seeing you at archery."

"I love archery," Jessica beamed.

"We can't be related," I sighed.

Annabeth was nocking an arrow when she noticed me. "Hey, Percy," she smiled. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and her silver eyes glittered with anticipation. "You're joining us today?"

"Yeah," I said. "Apparently Jessica likes archery."

She nodded proudly. And pointed to a bracelet on her wrist I'd never noticed before. It was made up of aqua-colored spheres that shimmered like the ocean in the sunlight. It was the elastic kind, the type that could fit over any wrist. "You see this?" she said, showing it to me. "I found it in the Gulf of Mexico off of the coast of Louisiana. I guess it was a gift from Poseidon," she said. Then she turned to the target. "Watch this," she said, smiling. She pulled on her bracelet, and it expanded until she was holding a glistening bow and arrow.

I felt cold shivers down my spine. It was the same green and blue bow and arrow from my dream. Was Jessica the girl? And who was she going to shoot with her arrow?

"Look," Jessica said, pulling me out of my daydream. "Percy, if I make this bull's eye, I get to shower first. Okay?"

I looked at her skeptically. "Yeah right," I muttered. "Like you'll get a bull's eye." Children of Poseidon were rarely good shooters. We were standing twenty yards away from the targets. I was positive Jessica wouldn't get a bull's eye. Not from that distance.

Even so, when Jessica released her green arrow, it was like a sea breeze rustled through my hair, and a sparkling trail of aquamarine swirled around the arrow. My eyes widened as the arrow impaled itself right outside the center of the target.

"Darn," Jessica muttered, but she was smiling. "So close."

I stared open-mouthed at the target. "There's no way we're related," I decided. "Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"

"I told you; I love archery. I practice it all the time. One day, at a summer camp – a normal one, nothing like this – I picked up a bow and shot an arrow at a target. Turns out I was really good at it, so I kept at it. Now it's your turn." She handed me a bow and arrow.

As I notched the arrow, I prayed silently that I wouldn't make too big a fool of myself. Unfortunately when I released, the arrow barely went two feet in front of me. I felt my cheeks burn as Jessica and the Athena cabin laughed. Annabeth cocked an eyebrow as if to say, Seriously? That's the best you can do?

I let out a sigh. "See?" I said. "I'm no good at archery."

I heard one Athena camper laugh, "At least you're honest."

Annabeth was still giggling as her arrow sailed into the target. Not exactly a bull's eye, but it was a better attempt than mine.

After about an hour, we went to the sword-fighting arena. Now I was in my comfort zone. I uncapped Riptide and the pen grew into a three-foot-long glowing celestial bronze blade. I looked over at Avery and saw she was admiring it hungrily. I thought this was kind of strange, but I didn't worry about it that much.

Annabeth unsheathed her own bronze blade. I'd never watched her fight with a sword before; she always used her dagger. But I figured she was just as deadly with a sword as with a knife. "First lesson," she called over the talking campers. she picked up her bow and arrow and tossed it to the side. Then she focused her gray eye on me. "Percy, come here. Demonstration time."

I frowned at her warily. "What's the lesson?" I asked her.

"You'll see." She turned to the others. "Percy and I will demonstrate in real time, an example of a typical sword fight, until one of us disarms the other, okay?"

"Of course it's 'Percy and Annabeth'," someone sighed.

"Always, right?" someone else agreed.

I saw Jessica whisper to someone else and giggle. Probably about our little "conversation" the night before. Butterflies started fluttering around in my stomach. My heart pounded against my ribs. I'd never faced Annabeth in battle before, and I didn't know what to do. If I beat her, she'd be upset at me for hurting her pride. If she beat me, I'd have to live with being beaten at a swordfight by my girlfriend. I figured I could live with the first choice.

"En guarde," Malcolm, Annabeth's older brother, laughed. I made sure my sword was comfortable in my hands.

"Allez!" Jessica shouted.

"Huh?" I said.

She sighed impatiently. "It's French for 'Go!'"

Oh. That made so much sense it hurt.

Annabeth pressed me hard, slashing wildly, but skillfully, at me. It was graceful and intimidating at the same time. I countered her attacks with Riptide. Then I tried the disarming maneuver I'd learned from Luke so long ago, where I hit my opponent's hilt with my own. Annabeth grunted and pushed back at me with a scary, determined look. She elbowed my in the shoulder, but I didn't feel a thing. Thank the gods for the curse of Achilles.

Her blade made contact with mine, and sparks flew. We kept at it for about ten minutes before I tried a stab at her armor. Caught by surprise she jumped back and tripped. Then next moment she was on the ground, stunned.

Panting, she tucked messy strands of hair behind her ear. I helped her up. We stood facing each other for about thirty seconds, while the campers watched in silence. Annabeth was still breathing heavily, and she lowered her sword in exhaustion. "You're a worthy swordsman, Perseus Jackson," she smiled.

I approached her, trying to decide whether to press her again or to end the lesson right then and there. But before I could do anything, Annabeth swiped with her blade. It hit my sword, knocking it to the ground (and twisting my wrist in the process). She swiped at my feet. All of this was done in one swift motion and ultimately ended with me on the ground, weaponless.

Annabeth pointed her sword centimeters from my neck. Her eyes flashed triumphantly as she straightened. Then she turned to our audience. "Do not, under any circumstances, let your opponent catch you off guard. Understood?"

The campers nodded vigorously. Most of them, including my sister, were suppressing smiles.

Annabeth gave me her hand and pulled me up. All I could do was stare at her in embarrassment. She smiled. I shook my head. "Thanks for making an example out of me, Wise Girl," I muttered.

She laughed with a shrug. "You're really good at getting distracted. There's no room for distractions during battle. You've got to be more focused."

I narrowed my eyes. "That wasn't fair," I protested. "You knew I'd help you up!"

She frowned. "That's not my fault. Most enemies will know your weaknesses and use them against you. Loyalty's your fatal flaw, remember?"

I tried not to, but she was right, as always. I sighed. "Fine. You won."

She grinned. The way her eyes gleamed made my heart race. Why was she so beautiful? Then she uses it to her advantage. She was definitely a daughter of Athena. Then something crossed my mind. "Uh, I was wondering…" I started. I wanted to reassure that we were allies for capture the flag on Friday. "We're still on for capture the flag, right?"

She looked uncomfortable, which bothered me.

"We are on for Friday, right?" I urged.

"Um…actually, I've made an alliance with the Hunters for Friday."

It took me a minute to realize that she'd made an alliance with Thalia instead of me. "Wait. The Hunters?" I asked.

"Well…yeah."

"They hate campers!"

"Thalia had an idea. She made an alliance with Athena, Ares, and Apollo."

"Styx…" I murmured. Thunder rolled. Thalia had managed to get the best alliance. With the war god, the battle goddess, and the twin archers, their team would be unstoppable. I figured I better get some allies…fast.

Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh and by the way, Secrets and Sleepovers is almost done! Maybe 2 chapters left? Cool!

Merry Christmas!

~Mandi2341