The Loss of a Hero: Chapter Eight

Percy's POV

Our swords flashed and rang as Luke and I clashed, our blades arcing and twirling in a hypnotic dance. Metal rang against metal at speeds faster than the eye could follow. Neither of us gave ground. Luke had skill that surpassed my own, but I had strength in my favor, and with it, speed. All in all, we were an even match. That is, without special powers. For this match, we were not using our powers, just strength and skill. Next match, we'd use our powers against each other. But, as neither of us had won yet, we carried on. Stabbing, slashing, dodging, we were naught but blurs of motion. It seemed as if it would never end.

As that thought ran through my mind, Luke smirked and used the first move he'd ever taught me- the disarming move- and Riptide-S (as I'd dubbed it, it was better than Shadow-Riptide) clattered to the ground.

"You got better," Luke observed.

I picked Riptide-S off the ground. "As did you," I replied. "But now, "I continued with a grin, "it's my turn. Prepare to lose."

He laughed. "Whatever happened to 'may the best man win'?"

I smiled slyly. "I'm already planning to."

And with that, the battle began.

I called on the power of the ocean within me, and summoned my own personal hurricane. One of my favorite powers. I floated a few inches off the ground in the center of a mass of swirling water and wind. But Luke just smiled. He continued to smile, even as I advanced on him. When the edge of my storm was inches away, he shot toward me in a blur of motion, like a crack of lightning. I brought Riptide-S up in a clumsy parry. My storm hadn't even affected him. How the heck did he move that fast?

Having already shot back out of my storm's range, Luke laughed. "Something you might want to know," he shouted towards me, "when demigods become Shadows, their potential powers are unlocked. As I'm the son of the god of travel, I can move at superhuman speeds. You, Son of Poseidon, should have many new surprises in store for us all!"

I allowed my storm to subside, and we lowered our blades. "How do I learn to use these new powers?" I asked.

Luke smirked. "Come now, Percy," he chided, "You know there's no teaching that can be done. Everyone must find their own path."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I thought for a moment. Hm… new power, new abilities... what did Pence say? Raw power sleeps inside me, waiting for form… form… water can take any form… I thought for a moment longer, then I knew what I wanted. I imagined the raw power withing me coming out, and taking the form of swords. Seven blades of water appeared, hovering behind me. "Alright, Luke," I said, "Let's see how many swords you can dodge."

I sent the swords flying toward Luke, who zipped around, dodging and parrying the watery blades. Quite easily, much to my dissatisfaction. I ran and joined the fight.

Luke wasn't a swordsmaster for no reason. He easily fought me while keeping my seven water blades at bay. He'd gotten much better after death. "I thought it was only what doesn't kill you that makes you stronger!"

He laughed at that. "Not this time, Percy! Death has been good to me!" I grinned in response.

Our battle raged on, with no regards to time. By now, we'd attracted quite a crowd. The whole arena was ringed with figures shimmering ilver and black. I decided to put on a show.

Jumping back onto a platform of water that I summoned, I brought the seven blades to my side. I shot them at Luke, who readied himself. I smirked, then shattered the blades in midair, creating thousands of sharp fragments flying towards him. He blinked in surprise. Jumping back, he flicked his blade upward, and something flew out of it. He caught it and flicked it, and it opened. A metal fan? He used it as a shield, and the fragments bounced harmlessly off its side.

Surprised, I let the water dissipate. "A fan?" I said.

Luke grinned. "Whatever works, eh?"

I shook my head, closing my eyes again. I need something to beat him… hm… I thought, then I got an idea. "Oh, heck yeah!" I said to myself. I used my power and summoned a giant sword of water, about ten feet long and a foot wide at the base of the blade, covering Riptide-S. Swinging it experimentally, I found it as light as my steel sword, but this one had a much bigger field of destruction. I grinned, and ran toward Luke.

I swung my sword at him, and he blocked with his own blade, placing his free hand on the flat of ti for extra leverage. I pulled my blade back and swung it quickly at his side, and he did a backflip over it. I slashed wildly, but he evaded my blade with acrobatic skills. I decided to kick it up a notch, and summoned another giant blade for my left hand. Luke responded by flicking his blade again, and catching the sword that somehow came out of the original. I wondered how he did that for a second, then pushed the thought aside.

Since my swords were made out of water, if they hit something solid, I could choose to let them pass through it. That meant that the ground didn't stop my blades, and I could swing in whatever direction to my heart's content. However, dual-wielding was difficult for me, as I'd never used more than one blade at a time. I kept forgetting about the blade in my left hand. Luke, however, was just as at ease with two blades as he was with one. I grunted in frustration.

Also, the added size to my blades, without any extra weight, made them a bit odd to wield. Yes, it was sometimes useful, I could change my swinging direction a lot easier than I could with as much extra weight a blade that size would have. But it also threw my timing off, as I corrected for weight and momentum that wasn't there.

And of course, Luke noticed my disadvantage and happily used it against me. He frequently attacked me on the left, where I was weak. Unable to keep up, I changed tactics. As he attacked my left side, I shattered my left-hand blade, sending the fragment at him. He jumped back, flicked out his fan, and blocked them, but it still bought me time. As he defended himself, I summoned my power. "Hey, Luke!" I called.

"Giving up, Percy?" he called back.

"Nope." I grinned. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm not holding back anymore." I let my other giant blade dissipate, then stabbed Riptide-S into the ground. Closing my eyes, I felt the power rush through me. I sent it into the ground, formed it, then made it shoot up. Giant watery blades twenty feet tall and three feet wide ripped out of the ground, more for show than combat, but hey, I was having fun. Sue me.

With superhuman speed, Luke rushed towards me, evading and slashing through the giant blades, and in that moment, he decided to end it. In a flurry of motion, he knocked Riptide-S out of my hands, and brought his blade point to my neck. Defeated, I let everything dissipate, and held my hands up in surrender.

Luke was grinning widely. "By the gods, Percy! That was amazing!" he lowered his blades.

I laughed. "You weren't so bad yourself." All around us, the Shadow People that had been watching started clapping for us. Applause rang loudly through the arena. I counted at least 200 People.

Luke motioned towards them. "They haven't seen a show like that in a long time, so I've heard." He punched me in the shoulder. "You got some power, Son of Poseidon."

I cracked a grin. "Ha, more power than you!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, well, don't get a big head. You may have power, but I noticed that you're still sadly lacking in several skills. You got some serious training to do if you're gonna live up to the reputation set out for you. And though you may be an Elite, I'm gonna treat you like just another Soldier, though you'll need more personal training with me than the others."

I nodded. "Sounds good."

Luke clapped me on the back. "Alright, buddy. Go ahead and head out for today. You're probably dead tired after all that, huh?"

"Yeah," I agreed. Luke nodded, then turned and walked off. I shadow-travelled back to the room I now called home- where Pence and Sierra stayed. Sierra was still off somewhere, though. I laid back on my bed, closing my eyes and falling asleep instantly.

End of Chapter 8

A/N

Hey, y'all! it'sa me! and i have another story chapter! it probably sucks, but eh. i like it, anyway. Leave me some reviews, please!i'm working on the next chapter, and i have quite a fun development in the story coming up. maybe if i get more reviews, i'll feel like typing it a bit quicker. *wink*wink*nudge*nudge* (HINT)

but seriously, i love you guys. i love writing for you guys, and every time i go on my email and see "such and such has favorited The Loss of A Hero" or "new review for The Loss of A Hero" it just makes me feel awesome~

anyhoo, i'll stop writing the Author's Note and start on the next chapter! (after i get some lunch- Yakisoba is my favorite!)

Read and review!

-me