I just wanna say...THANK YOU ALL FOR STILL STAYING WITH ME AND THIS STORY! I was really surprised with how many reviews i got despite how many months its been gets shot but woooww thanks again for your wonderful support! I really really also appreciate those that gave detailed reviews on what they like and how they see the story coming along. Also for the tournament I wanted to try something different so I was inspired by the recent chapters of Fairy Tail so just so you can get an idea where I'm going with this. Its not going to be based on points since theres only two teams (especially since its possible for certain olympians to give a team bad scores on purpose), again I'll figure something out.
Just a warning again I didn't want to create more OCs then I already had with the evil group and the main OCs so there are going to be more cameos from others used in here for demons and such, so please don't make a big deal out of it if it bothers you please?
I love some of the suggestions I get in the reviews and may try to incorporate them in one point or another so keep the suggestions coming! so please enjoy this chapter (which surprisingly I got done rather quickly THANK YOU GOOGLE BLOGGER!)
"Can we get to what we came here for please?" Josh growled after the others continued laughing at him even Zoe coughed a few times and tried not to show she had been amused as well.
"R-righ right...Chiron is there a way we can contact my dad through what was it?" Percy asked looking at Malcolm.
"Iris messaging, we toss a drachma," Malcolm replied holding a rather large coin, " into a fountain or a spray of water that makes a rainbow and she sends the message to the intended person."
Malcolm walked over and handed Percy a drachma, before pointing to the fountain that was in the big house.
"Toss the coin and call for Iris and then the person." Malcolm repeated making sure Percy understood how it worked.
"Hope this works..." Percy said biting his lip as he tossed the coin into the fountain.
"O Iris goddess of messages please send my message to Tatsuya Kazuki." Percy requested.
The group waited with baited breath because they weren't sure if it would actually work, especially Amelia, Nico and Percy since he had sent them off to be protected.
But to their surprise the image in the fountain rippled and showed...the inside of a cave? They moved closer and they saw a half dragon man talking with a red head but there was also some yelling in the background before Tatsuya started yelling stomping off screen as well, a loud roar and two figures flying across the screen.
oOo
"Okay so we have to wait a bit more for information from Hebi to see what we can do about this organization..." Tatsuya sighed rubbing his head as Kurama nodded.
"Yes Tatsuya-sama but I think we should focus on our forces, we have a lot of demons with us not to mention some that are not demons but are happy to work with us." Kurama said, "even if some of them are unconventional."
"Tell me about it but they're some of the best..." Tatsuya said amused as he watched as the white haired dog demon was fighting with a wolf demon.
"As long as they get a battle they'll be happy..." Kurama chuckled as he saw a few of his own friends arguing with each other and to prove who was the strongest.
"True...very true...and-" Tatsuya added before an explosion took place making his eye twitch. "Alright who did that!?" Tatsuya shouted his eyebrow twitching.
"HE DID IT!" a bunch of voices said in unison.
"YUSUKE!"
"It wasn't me! Fire breath and icy boy made the wall explode again!"
"HA! take that frigid breath! I beat you!"
"Fat chance my creation was better!"
"You two..." Tatsuya growled as he stormed off to get them.
Kurama sensed something appear and grabbed a flower out of his hair turning it into a whip and looked around for the source and was surprised when he saw the water running through the cave ripple and a circle appeared with a few faces inside of it.
"...Tatsuya! you have a...call for you!" Kurama said a bit awkwardly not sure what to call the view screen in front of him as he gave a small wave and some of the kids and women waved back unsure.
"Give me a moment!" he replied before a loud draconic roar was let lose and two figures went flying and crashed into one of the cave's walls before Tatsuya reappeared wiping his hands off., "now who's calling me?...wait calling? who in the name of Izangi is calling here!?"
::Uh...hi dad...:: Percy said making Tatsuya swerve his head and stared at the circle.
He looked back and forth between Kurama and the circle before he painted a finger at that.
"HOW in the heavens names is that possible NO ONE is suppose to get through!" Tatsuya exclaimed.
"Yeaaah you might want to figure something out since Iris is the goddess of messages dad..." Percy said through the wall as Tatsuya groaned and muttered something darkly and something along the lines of seals or something.
"Well...I'm glad to see you all are in one piece..." Tatsuya said he also noticed the group of teens surrounding Percy, "and with new friends?"
"Oh yeah! we're having something called the Olympian tournament and I'm one of the captains and these are some of my team members!"
"Soooo why did you call me anyway?" Tatsuya, "and uh ignore the noises...this is my second in command Kurama..."
"Please make sure Tatsuya isn't doing anything stupid." Amelia said from the side making Tatsuya turn red.
"B-back on the subject!" Tatsuya said quickly, "Why did you call me?"
"Oh uh...because of this little guy..." Zach said holding up Saphir who was still a bit teary eyed, "he's uh...he was my puppy that I saved and Lady Artemis found out he wasn't a true dog and forced him to change."
"I thought something was off about the puppy." Tatsuya said folding his arms.
"You mean you knew but you didn't do anything?" Nico asked.
"If Artemis could discover him why makes you think I didn't? The only reason I hadn't said or done anything was because I could tell he was just a scared child and wasn't going to do anything." Tatsuya replied.
"I..I'm sorry sir I don't mean any harm to you..." Saphir sniffed.
"Just tell me what you can child," Tatsuya replied as Kurama got a pad and paper to take notes, "first question is what are you?"
"W..we're born from energy of the stars...th-the master takes some power of the constellations turning them into us...if..if we don't listen he can take that energy back and we disappear..." Saphir sniffed.
Zoe frowned when she heard this, "Your master manages to harness the energy of the heavens that forms the constellations?"
"Uh huh..." Saphir whimpered curling into Zach.
"Wait what!? how do they do it?" Zach asked worriedly, not wanting to lose his 'son'.
"A s-special gem that we have on us..." Saphir said and held out his neck and there was a collar there that had a pretty white crystal in the center there. "i-if this is gone we lose not only our powers but our forms."
"And only he can destroy it?" Tatsuya asked.
"N-no...anyone can its just really hard to do." Saphir replied whining sadly.
"I see...so what's your power young one?" Tatsuya asked.
"S-sound...I make loud noises that'll hurt ears...kinda...I'm too little to make any damage..." Saphir replied feeling a bit better.
"Ah and your brother? where is he?" Tatsuya asked.
"I don't know...we didn't wanna hunt you but wanted to be free, big brother managed to get us to escape but we got separated..." Saphir replied.
"Psst...what is he talking about?" Ethan whispered to Josh.
"Don't know, a lot of things happened when Percy was with his new family, I'm sure he'll explain it to us when he finishes talking to his dad." Josh replied, "I'm curious to know about it as well."
"I see...Saphir do you know why they want me?" Tatsuya asked even though he had a pretty good idea.
"The leader s-said something about a powerful Jewel you have?...something about a flame?" the puppy boy replied.
A dark look crossed Tatsuya's face before he smirked, "I figured as much good thing they can't get to it thanks to where I hid it, but other then that you don't know anything else?"
"No sir..." Saphir replied.
"Alright thank you very much little one." Tatsuya thanked before Percy, Nico and Amelia moved into the screen.
"Darling so how are you? and are you sure you couldn't have taken me with you?" Amelia pouted making Kurama snicker as Tatsuya turned red.
"N-now dear its rather...violent here and I didn't want you to accidentally get hurt especially in your condition...besides I think its better for you to keep an eye on Percy with the Olympians watching him probably." Tatsuya replied.
"I guess, you're alright though?" Amelia asked concerned.
"I'm fine dear." Tatsuya chuckled.
"Oh dad! I had a few questions to ask you regarding some history!" Percy piped up getting Tatsuya's attention.
"What is it?" the dragon god asked.
"We're thinking of making weapons for some of my teammates and Ethan is going to use a katana but his style of fighting is defensive." Percy said.
"Ah...maybe a slightly longer katana would work best with you it would give you more range to be defensive." Tatsuya said rubbing his chin.
"Well he's the expert..." Ethan shrugged figuring it was a good idea.
"Anything else?" Tatsuya asked.
"Not at the moment so I guess we'll talk to you later?" Percy asked.
"Maybe I'm not quite comfortable with having another deity contacting me through a simple toss of a coin..." Tatsuya replied dryly, "but we'll figure something out I'll get to that later by kids."
The image was about to flicker before Amelia said one last thing.
"I love you Tatsuya you be careful please." the woman said making the half-dragon man in front of her smile fondly.
"Love you too Amelia just watch the kids for me all right?" he replied before the image disappeared.
oOo
When the screen closed Tatsuya turned around and let out a strangled noise when he saw most of the demons and others he had gotten to work with him were grinning at him.
"Sorry Tatsuya-sama but uh they kinda overheard you..." Kurama coughed as he looked amused.
"Awww that's so sweet!" a priestess girl squealed before looking at the demon next to her, "Why don't you ever say anything like that?"
"D-don't be stupid!" the dog demon sputtered as Shippo stood to the girl's other snickering.
"Yeaaaahh don't you wanna tell her how much you luvvvvvv her~" the fox demon teased.
"Quiet you brat!" the demon snarled.
"Uh...why are you looking at me like that...?" one of the ice demons that Tatsuya knew asked a water demon that was looking at him with her wide starry eyes, "uh...oh look I gotta do something!"
He quickly ran off as the girl chased after him hot on his heels.
"Look what you started Tatsuya-sama." Kurama chuckled while Tatsuya threw the red head a dark look.
"Don't you have your own girlfriend too? when was the last time you said that to her?" the dragon retorted making Kurama look away quickly as his cheeks were tinged pink, "that's what I thought."
oOo
"Well at least it was nice seeing dad again." Percy said smiling looking at the others.
"Do you really think he can block Iris out?" Malcolm questioned.
"Don't know but he can try," Percy replied, "Chiron thanks for letting us use the fountain here."
"It is no problem at all Percy, it was rather interesting seeing your 'father'," the centaur replied, "but take care and good look with your planning."
"Come on Saphir you're going to stick with us okay? Joshy and I can show you all sorts of games we can play and have fun!" Zach said cuddling the puppy boy who nodded but glanced over at Josh.
The Apollo boy eyed the puppy boy for a few minutes before he took Saphir from Zach's arms and put him on his shoulders making him squeal happily as his fluffy tail wagged.
"Wheee! I'm so high up!" Saphir said giggling happily as he held onto Josh's hair as the brunette boy held onto the boy's legs so he wouldn't fall off.
"Just don't try bouncing a lot ya know.." Josh said dryly as they exited the big house and headed to Poseidon's cabin.
"I must admit it was...intriguing seeing the dragon like that...he really cares for you and the woman a lot?" Zoe asked looking at Percy who nodded.
"Yup, dad made sure me and Nico could take care of ourselves and trained us hard everyday at sunrise and wouldn't do anything unless he was sure that it was safe for us to come here." Percy replied.
"My lady had many misconceptions about him but it seems all of them were for naught." Zoe stated as Percy looked confused.
"Huh?" the water boy asked making Zoe pat his head.
"She means that Artemis's worries about Tatsuya were for nothing sweetie." Amelia replied.
"Ah...okay." Percy replied the confusion leaving his face making Nico smirk as he poked the younger half-blood's head.
"You need to read more Percy." Nico snickered, "maybe improve that illiterate vocabulary of yours."
"...MOM! Nico is calling me something I don't understand!" Percy whined at Amelia who was giggling.
"Now now I'm sure you can settle it yourselves...but just in case Nico stop picking on your younger cousin." Amelia chided.
"I was just teasing Amelia." Nico replied before lightly hitting the back of Percy's head, "tattletale..."
Percy just grinned and gifted Nico with a raspberry, which he took offense to and grappled the younger boy before he was rubbing his knuckles on Percy's head.
"Ack lemme go Nico!"
"No way squirt!"
"I'm not that small!"
"is this...normal?" Zoe asked surprised at the two acting, she had thought Percy was rather mature for his age when they had the meeting but when he was around his family and friends he seemed to be like a different person, almost like a normal child.
"Yeah, well at least with Nico and the others around." Zach replied watching how happy Saphir was on Josh's shoulders.
Suddenly Saphir stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes as he started growling much to the group's surprise, his ears were flatten and his tail was agitated.
"What's up with the pup?" Ethan asked.
"Saphir why are you growling?" Zach asked.
Zoe narrowed her eyes as she readied her bow, sensing what the young puppy boy was looking at.
"Uncle Nico can you throw a rock that way?" Saphir asked, "really really hard?"
Nico shrugged as he picked up a pebble from the ground, ignoring the Uncle Nico bit and threw it as hard as he could in the direction where Saphir pointed. To his surprise and most of the others there was a cry of pain as something flew off into the air revealing a blonde grey eyed girl, Zoe let lose a few arrows and the girl was pinned to the side of the Demeter cabin as the object that had flew up also got an arrow through it and was on the roof of the same cabin.
"...Why am I not surprised..." Malcolm said dryly folding his arms unimpressed by his half-sister's attempts to listen in.
"Woooow that was cool Zoe!" The twins exclaimed, "you pinned her and that hat to our cabin in one shot!"
Saphir growled at Annabeth, "She followed us from the side after we had left the place where we talked with Tatsuya-sama."
"Get these off of me!" Annabeth glowered.
"Nah I don't think so," Malcolm replied tapping his chin irritating Annabeth further, "this'll teach you to use that hat to cheat."
"Ever heard the saying 'cheaters never prosper'?" Ethan smirked folding his arms smugly, "besides that's not very fair spying on us, you should focus more on training yourselves rather then worry about us."
"Bet it was her brilliant idea to try and get some stuff on us." Nico replied rolling his eyes as Josh looked up at Saphir.
"Good job Saphir," Josh said making the puppy boy stop growling at Annabeth and whine happily, as his tail was wagging furiously when Josh complimented him.
"Hehehe thanks Joshy-daddy!" Saphir said cuddling Josh.
"Alright lets get going we spent enough time here Nyssa will be wondering where we are." Zach said as the group ignored the angry Athena child and made their way to their destination.
As they left, many of the remaining campers that were milling around looked between the furious Annabeth and the group muttering among themselves. Thankfully for Annabeth with the crowd around the Demeter's cabin it didn't take very long for some of her own teammates to bail her out of the situation.
"Annabeth what happened!?" Luke exclaimed as he and Thaila were yanking out the arrows from the Demeter's cabin.
"They some how figured out I was following them." the girl replied angrily as she pulled her arm free, slightly tearing up her Camp-half blood t-shirt sleeve.
"You knew the risks when you decided to try and follow them." Bianca sighed once the girl was pulled free.
"Whatever did you manage to get anything on them?" Clarisse asked folding her arms looking at Annabeth.
"No nothing...they only mentioned some dragon but I have no idea what they're talking about." Annabeth retorted slightly irked at getting caught by some weird child thing, "though there's a child on Joshua's shoulders that calls him daddy..."
"...Repeat that again?" Viktor said rubbing his ears, "I don't think I quite heard you clearly..."
"There is a CHILD on Joshua's shoulders that calls him daddy." Annabeth repeated slowly and a bit more loudly so that the group didn't mishear anything.
"How is that even possible!?" Katie gawked.
"Its not their real child, he looks nothing like them!...well maybe a little like Zacharias only because he's a platinum blonde and the kid has white hair..." Annabeth muttered.
"Oookkaayyy strangeness aside we should get back to planning since Annabeth's idea of spying on them was a bust if they can figure out she's there while wearing her cap." Luke said.
Suddenly Annabeth realized that she didn't have her cap and looked up and saw it hanging on the roof of the Demeter cabin.
"Well that's a conundrum..." Viktor said looking up at how high it was.
"Di immortals!" Annabeth cursed glowering up at the cap before she turned her look to Katie and Viktor, "can't one of you get it down?"
"Yeah sure..." Katie said frowning a bit at the Athena girl's attitude before she manipulated the plants on the cabin to get the arrow out of the cap and bringing it down by controlling the vines. Annabeth snatched the hat out of the vines grip and made sure it was okay.
"Thanks..." the Athena girl said before she pocketed her hat.
"Well at least we know it's not a good idea to get on the wrong side of Percy's team..." Bianca said while Lucia was scowling when she saw it was Zoe's arrows that had managed to both pin Annabeth and get the hat all the way up on the cabin.
"Come on we got some strategizing to do that doesn't involve spying." Luke said looking at Annabeth who mumbled under her breath.
The others nodded and followed Luke up to the grassy hill where they tried to figure out how exactly they were going to wisely spend the two weeks they had to train for the official start of the Olympian tournament.
oOo
"Sooooo let me get this straight, your adopted Dad is ANOTHER god only one of the Japanese deities also add in that there's some group after him that are similar to that pup over there, and he's fighting them to protect you and whatever flame thing that they're after that he supposedly has?" Ethan repeated.
"Pretty much." Percy replied.
"...Tartarus your life is messed up." Ethan said bluntly before Malcolm threw a pillow at him.
"Lets just say chaotic." Malcolm retorted dryly, "but do you even know what these guys want from your dad?"
"Some sort of jewel like Saphir said other then that I'm clueless dad doesn't like talking or getting us involved." Percy replied.
"At least he cares about you." Zoe said, "if he hadn't he would've gotten you involved much sooner."
"Wow...I missed a lot." Nyssa said as she had stayed quiet to listen to Percy's story about his dad, "sounds like your dad has a lot on his shoulders."
"You'll telling me but dad's strong, he'll be fine." Percy said nodding, "
"Right besides we have to focus on our tournament and if we do really great in it it'll be something to tell your dad!" Nyssa stated making Percy's face light up.
"Yeah!" Percy replied nodding as Nyssa pulled out her sketchbook.
"Alright so let me just sketch out a few ideas alright?" the Hephaestus daughter said as her pencil went scratching across the surface of her paper.
"Alright so we have fourteen days we need to divide evenly for both physical and mental training." Malcolm said as he drew out two large squares on it, "lets decide what we're going to do for physical training, and the other for training our minds."
"Don't forget at least one day of rest or some time where we can adjust the weapons." Nyssa piped up, "I may be able to make them well and fast enough but we still need to have time to get use to them and not end up hurting ourselves in the process."
"How long would it take you to make the weapons though?" Nico asked concerned.
" I can call in a few favors and get them done in a few days...maybe less." Nyssa replied, "we Hephaestus kids have a thing about wanting to get a great project done and they'll be sworn to secrecy on forging the weapons with me."
"You sure?" Zach asked warily.
"Alright I know WHO to trust to keep a secret." Nyssa reiterated as she rolled her eyes, "not everyone is like Annabeth ya know."
"That works you figure out how long it'll take for you to make the weapons...hmm we need to spend time learning how to use them too." Malcolm said.
"Couldn't we use substitutes until we get the real thing?" Josh asked as he bounced Saphir on his knees making the puppy boy squeal happily.
"Mmm that is possible and it'll have to do so we don't end up rushing trying to figure out how to use them when Nyssa completes them." Malcolm said jotting a note down.
"Alright so have the weapons figured out and we can have Zoe also tell us about her hunting's with Lady Artemis." Zach said.
"I am satisfied with that." Zoe replied.
"Great so what should we get started now?" Eli asked.
Zoe smirked at that, "now...now we should get a good idea of where we stand with our current abilities. Zacharias, do you think that child of yours can make sure we are not spied upon again?"
"Sure thing! Saphir could make sure the mean girl doesn't do what she did earlier?" Zach asked Saphir.
"Uh huh I can do that Zachy-daddy..." Saphir nodded once Josh stopped bouncing him and he hugged the Apollo boy.
"We can ask the Nymphs to keep an eye out too!" Eli and Noah stated as Zoe nodded.
"That is good we don't want anyone watching." Zoe replied as she stood up, "do you think you can complete those drawings later?"
"I'll leave my sketch book here for now." Nyssa said putting the book on a spare bed and followed the others outside the cabin.
"So what have you all been doing in regards to training?" Zoe asked.
"Nico and I have been working on manipulating our elements better. I need to either carry a water source around or be able to pull water molecules from the air." Percy sighed, "its really hard when I'm not by a body of water..."
"You could focus on near by sources of water." Zoe suggested.
"Yes but I think most of that would involve water from the plants and I don't want the nymphs mad at me." Percy said shaking his head.
"Ah...good point the nymphs and dryads do have a tendency to hold a large...grudge..." Zoe replied glancing at the lake.
"Yeah and we don't need that," Nico added, "Percy and I in addition are working on manipulating higher forms of water and earth which is ice for him, metal and jewels for me."
"We're practicing our plant manipulation other then that we don't do much fighting unless you count pranks." the twins said in unison.
"I spar with Zacharias, same with Nyssa." Josh said as the Hephaestus girl nodded.
"Eh, I spar when I can." Ethan finished.
"We have much to work on if we all want to be more flexible we cannot just rely on a single skill." Zoe said frowning once they got to a clear area near the lake.
Naida popped her head out and glared at Zoe before waving to Percy.
"That nymph really likes you Perseus." Nico snickered.
"She's just a FRIEND!" Percy emphasized.
"That's how they start I know you two are going to be together~" Zach teased.
"You do NOT have the ability to see couples forming like your mother Zach..." Percy said dryly folding his arms.
"I don't know about that," Zach snickered as he glanced over at Josh who sputtered.
"I am NOT your boyfriend you damn magician!" Josh shouted.
"Yeah right." Nyssa snorted, "you aren't pushing him away as much as usual and you seem to not mind him too."
"I just got use to him that's all!" the Apollo boy denied.
"Joshy-daddy don't you like Zachy-daddy?" Saphir asked tugging on Josh's shirt, "I dun want anyone else to be my daddy but you and him..."
"Yeah Joshy you gunna break your kid's heart?" Ethan smirked as Josh's mouth was moving but no sounds were coming out as if he was in shock.
"Awww so you don't wanna have Saphir as your own little kid?" Nico added making Saphir whine and give Josh big teary eyes as his tail and ears drooped.
"Joshy-daddy doesn't like Zachy-daddy?" Saphir asked nearly crying.
"I...hate..you...all..." Josh grounded out before he comforted the crying boy in his arms, assuring him that he liked Zacharias enough, which had Saphir, stop crying.
"It's only been a day but the puppy has you wrapped around his finger." Malcolm said smugly.
"Ahem?" Zoe said getting everyone's attention, "I thought we said we were going to save the matchmaking for a later date? we should be practicing now."
"Ah right Zoe so how should we do this...are you going to supervise?" Percy asked.
"I will participate, it will be interesting to see if any of you can hold up against me." Zoe replied.
"Well that's not very fair..." Ethan said scratching his cheek, "Haven't you had like eons traveling with Lady Artemis?"
"As I said it will be interesting." Zoe replied with a mysterious smile, "So teams of two will go up against me and see how long you last is that fair enough?"
"Guess it's the best we can do...it can show how good a partnership we have with each other if we have to work in teams in the tournament." Malcolm agreed, "but we have an odd number then against you."
"How about you join me and Nyssa Malcolm?" Ethan suggested, "Since it's pretty obvious that Nico and Percy are going to partner up as with the twins and lovers."
Zoe frowned at that, "That'll be fine for now but if it is that predictable for you to be paired we should work on that as well. We do not know if we get to choose our partners or if they are chosen for us."
"I'll make a note of that Zoe." Malcolm said seeing the problems of predictable pairings.
"Good we will do these pairs for now and then we will change partners." Zoe said as Josh put Saphir down and had him sit down near the lake.
"Naida can you watch Saphir please?" Percy asked the water nymph as Saphir was poking the water with his hand before shaking it when it got soaked..
"Sure! Wanna splash around a bit puppy?" Naida giggled as Saphir nodded eagerly.
"Yes! I've never been able to splash around before!" the fluffy haired boy said making Naida laugh as Saphir started to jump into the shallow parts of the lake, kicking of the water laughing.
"Alright so which group goes first?" Ethan asked looking at the others.
"...Rock paper scissors?" Percy suggested.
The others shrugged as they stood in a circle with their fists clenched.
"Alright on the count of three and no one better throw after everyone else had thrown..." Nico added, "alright then."
"Rock...paper...scissors...SHOOT!"
"...crap..."
"Dammit!"
"Knew I should've thrown rock..."
"Yay! we're not first Joshy!"
"For now at least..."
"Guess you and me are next after them Nico."
"Least we're not first."
"Guess we're after Percy and Nico then Noah."
Zoe grinned as she looked at Ethan, Nyssa and Malcolm who had the bad luck of all three of them throwing paper while most of the others did scissors quickly making them the first team to go up against Zoe while Nico and Percy were next followed lastly by Josh and Zach.
"At least we get it over with..." Nyssa sighed as she shouldered her axe while Ethan brought out his sword and Malcolm took out his dagger. He looked at his weapon and then at Ethan's and Nyssa's weapon and sighed, "I think having Nico suggest those chakrams for me would be better then just relying on a dagger..."
"Well just have to make due with what you have, you can use your head to see if we can do something." Ethan said as he readied his sword while the others stepped back from the sparring session so they wouldn't get caught in the middle.
"Yeah you can be our back up Malcolm!" Nyssa encouraged, gripping her axe double-sided axe hard.
"Let us see where you need to improve.." Zoe said as she readied her bow, and without any warning she quickly launched several arrows at once.
Nyssa stepped forward and held the blunt side of her axe in front of her using it as a shield as the arrows ricochet off of it but the force behind the arrows pushed her back a bit.
"Thanks for the cover Nyssa!" Ethan called as he dashed out behind her and headed straight for Zoe.
"Ethan! you can't do a frontal attack like that!" Malcolm said as he looked around for something to be useful but since they were in a clear field there wasn't much around them but grass..
"not much else we can do here!" Ethan shouted but he tried zigzagging across the field with Nyssa and Malcolm running from behind him.
Zoe just remained where she was standing, as she pulled back another bow and aimed. She waited for the right moment and shot the arrow towards the ground. The bow struck the earth and Ethan not seeing where it was tripped over it, sending him sprawling on the ground.
"You need to keep your eyes not only on your opponent but your surroundings Ethan!" Zoe shouted as Nyssa helped the boy up, "you could've avoided it if you had seen where my arrow was going towards rather then just watching me."
"Tch alright you made you're point, yeagh!" Ethan exclaimed as he rolled out of the way.
"Also your opponent won't just wait for you to get up as well either." Zoe added smirking as Ethan made a face at her, "isn't there a quotation that if you keep making a certain face it'll stay like that?"
"Okay now she's just getting under your skin on purpose Ethan, calm down and lets think this through alright?" Malcolm said as he ducked under some arrows as Nyssa blocked a few more with her weapon, "head on is definitely not going to work because she can trip you up like she did."
"Thanks for the reminder..." Ethan retorted dryly.
"But she's an expert marksman," Nyssa said digging her feet into the ground.
"There's only one thing we can do, we give up Zoe!" Malcolm shouted making Nyssa and Ethan stare at the Athena child.
"What the hades!?"
"Look all of us have close range weaponry, we all know none of us are fast enough to dodge a complete array of arrows coming straight at us AND be able to land a blow on Zoe with how she moves nimbly when she hunts with Lady Artemis, we have all the disadvantages against her with no way of making them up as we are now."
Zoe walked over and nodded, "Very smart I was wondering how long it would take for you three to realize it."
"Dammit...we really do need to be more versatile..." Ethan grumbled hating that they had to give up but couldn't default Malcolm's logic to the situation, "I should probably get a mid-range weapon along with my sword shouldn't I?"
"Maybe kunai?" Nyssa said smirking.
"JUST because my heritage is Japanese doesn't mean I automatically default to ninja items!" Ethan retorted before he thought about it and cursed, "...which would probably work so STOP LAUGHING NYSSA!"
"I'm not much for range attacks I'll just have to figure something out with my axe." Nyssa replied, "maybe a shield..."
"I'm pleased that you three are thinking about what to do to improve your chances, now next!" Zoe called.
It went on like that a bit while longer, Percy and Nico had really good teamwork and managed to get Zoe actually moving from her spot, they even managed to get her a few times which pleased her as that told her that they were really good in their current skills. But when she gave them a handicap after she had seen them use their abilities they were use to using all the time the battle became much more difficult. Percy couldn't use the water from the lake and had to figure out how to use the water in the air, which he managed to do only a little bit of. For Nico he couldn't use his earth abilities and had to rely on manipulating/controlling metal. Nico managed to be a bit better then Percy as he managed to stop the arrows from hitting him sending them back to Zoe since her arrows had metal tips.
But Nico still had trouble changing the metal of daggers and swords when Zoe brought out her dagger to use and the child of Hades had trouble bending the blade where it couldn't be used. It was about the same for when the twins fought, they managed to get Zoe on the run with their use of the plants, but being in just an open field they didn't have much of other variety of plants so it didn't take long for Zoe to wear them down and stop them, making them realize they would need to carry seeds with them at all times as they never know where they could be fighting and there weren't any plants around for them to use.
With Zach and Josh's battle...it was interesting. Zach kept his distance by managing to 'poof' away in smoke when Zoe attacked him and Josh with Zach's distraction of disappearing and reappearing managed to get close a few times with his sword...that was until Zoe focused more on attack Josh rather then the magician which Zach didn't like and it didn't take long for him to lose his playful demeanor and get serious but he had become sloppy due to his concern for Josh being attack..
"You two are good but you need to realize Joshua may become a target and you cannot lose your head like you did today it is easily taken advantage of and you could lose not only your life but his." Zoe said seriously making Zach flinch but nod.
Josh muttered something to Zach before he pulled the magician close comforting him by kissing his forehead.
"Come on you moron, it was just a spar and she was making sure we know not to have our weakness exploited." Joshua said as he wearily stood up with Zach's help, "but damn that was some session."
"And this is only the first one of many." Zoe said grinning making Percy's team swallow hard.
They knew the rewards would be worth it but they saw what looked like a sadistic gleam in Zoe's eyes as they had to realize Zoe was the Lieutenant of Artemis's hunters for a reason...she took things completely serious and wants a job completely done through extremely hard work and dedication...
oOo
"Let me be blunt...can you two, " Lucia asks as she points to Bianca and Thalia, "manipulate your powers?"
"What do you mean by that?" Thalia asked.
"She means can you call lighting and can Bianca control earth." Katie explained, "She wants to know if you guys can do what Percy and Nico can do."
"...I rather not." Thalia said grimacing.
"I haven't tried much..." Bianca mumbled.
"Well that's going to change you two are going to work on calling your element at will. It'll be a good advantage to have overall." Lucia stated.
"But!" Thalia tried as she looked at Luke.
"You can at least try Thalia, " Luke said gently, "if you could get a good shot of Percy when he has water around him it'll be a good hit."
"Yeaah good luck doing that with Nico around." Charles said dryly, "did you not see how well Nico defended Percy with his own powers back at the beach Luke? they're going to need a lot of skill or luck to get past him because I don't see him wanting any harm coming to the Poseidon's half-blood."
Thalia grimaced as she remembered, "Damn that guy if he hadn't interrupted..."
"So you'll do it?" Lucia interrupted making the two girls nod.
"Alright so while you do that, we also need to work on our teamwork because there is no way its all going to be single based." Lucia said.
"Why are you taking command Luke's the captain!" Annabeth said glowering at the hunter.
"Right but I have more experience then him you realize." Lucia replied smugly back making the blonde girl scowl even darker.
"Alright enough, there isn't going to be any fighting when we haven't even trained!" Luke said looking between the two girls while Katie and Viktor looked at each other.
"Do you suddenly feel uneasy being on this team as I do?" she whispered.
"Sligghhtttllyy..." Viktor muttered back as Annabeth continued to glare daggers at Lucia while the girl and Luke talked to them on how they were going to train.
"Oh I can just feel our chances..." Lee added grimly rubbing the back of his head, "this feels more like our own teammates are trying to be better then each other when we're suppose to be working together."
"Hey you guys know the campers on the other team right? "Lucia piped up looking at Lee, Charles, Katie and Viktor.
"No." the four stated in unison before Lucia could even continue.
"Don't think we didn't see this coming after what Annabeth tried to pull, I happen to LIKE my relationship with my half-brothers Eli and Noah." Katie huffed, Viktor nodded agreeing.
"Nyssa has her own group in the house but she's second in command and I'm not getting on her bad side she can really throw a lot of sharps if she's pissed enough." Charles added shuddering as he recalled the time some Ares camper bugged Nyssa so badly they were pinned upside down in shredded clothing by a large double axe that was a bit TOO close to his family jewels.
"If I spy on Josh, Zach is going to find out and you do NOT want to get on that magician's bad side." Lee finished.
"Alright alright geez you guys made your point, we won't do anything or spy on the other team and just focus on improving ourselves." Lucia said waving the others off, "lets do some exercises and see how long you guys can last."
"What're we suppose to do?" Thalia asked frowning.
"Easy, try and keep up with me in the woods." Lucia smirked before she ran off leaving the team stunned before they ran after the hunter of Artemis that was on their team. It was going to be a long two weeks of training with Luke's team...
oOo
"WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THE OLYMPIAN GAMES!" Hermes announced loudly as there was loud cheering.
"Was this really all necessary?" Percy asked as his team and Luke's stood on top of the stadium in the arena in the camp. Hermes was flying around acting like the commentator as the gods themselves were stationed on thrones that were there so they could watch the games as well.
"Its the gods they have to make things big and extravagant..." Nico replied dryly shaking his head.
"I hope we trained enough." Malcolm said as he fingered his chakrams hanging loosely by his sides.
"Buck up there Malcolm we did the best we could and we just have to put all that effort into the competition." Nyssa said patting the Athena boy on the back.
"Todays the day we show we're the beset." Luke said determinedly.
"We'll kick their asses." Clarisse smirked.
"Lets just make sure not to make a fool out of ourselves..." Annabeth muttered as she glared at the Ares girl.
"Lets do our best." Lee sighed looking at Charles, Katie and Viktor.
"Now! This time around we decided to something a BIT different so let's start with explaining the rules!" he said as he tossed his staff up and it changed into a large dial with a Greek god's name on it. "this year we decided to mix it up, we want our competitors to be able to think on their feet and endure grueling tasks that would make a normal kid faint!"
He grinned when he saw several campers muttering among themselves before looking back at the god of thieves.
"This baby here will determined which Olympian goes first to give our teams their task, remember both teams have no idea what's going to happen except on the day of the competition! So lets spin this wheel!" Hermes said, "Lets have Luke take the first spin!"
"Tch...he's favoring the other team." Ethan spat glaring at Hermes as Luke walked up to the wheel as it was lowered onto the stage.
"its his favorite son what do you expect?" Josh retorted rolling his eyes, "but still Ethan's right he should've called for a coin toss or something."
"He'd probably say seniority goes first or something." Zoe said shaking her head.
Luke grabbed the edge of the wheel and spun it hard. Everyone watched with baited breath to see which god would give them their first task. When the wheel came to a stop there was a bit of silence and even Hermes looked surprised.
"...If anything I had nothing to do with it." The god of thieves stated as everyone could see that the arrow had stopped on the symbol of Hermes.
"Greeaaattttt you know this isn't going to end up well if it landed on Hermes's symbol." Nico grimaced.
"Just grim and bear it Nico..." Josh said dryly as Luke walked back to his team.
"Well there you have it guess I'm up for the first task!" Hermes said grinning as the wheel disappeared and he held his staff in his hands.
"So what's the task?" Apollo asked Hermes.
"Its a test of both endurance and speed with a single goal." Hermes said as a GPS map image was emitted from his staff and expanded so everyone could see a map in the air. Everyone looked up and saw a detailed map of a mountain range somewhere in the east coast.
"My task for the teams competing in this Olympian Tournament is a complete 24 hour race from the starting point through the mountains to reach your goal." Hermes said grinning at the shocked faces of all the campers, "you only have a day to get through the area, find your targets and bring them back here in that amount of time."
"Wait do we even know what we're looking for!?" Clarisse shouted.
"I will be giving each team a different map for a different target. This is a good test for you as you may not be able to rest completely without having to keep moving forward and just to let you know your targets move as well." Hermes added almost evilly, "Now each team present the three that will represent you!"
Percy's team looked at each other and glanced at the map.
"Its mountain and forests based areas...one of the twins would be good..." Percy said, "Zoe how about you lead since this is your expertise? Have you been this area before?"
"I'm afraid not..." Zoe replied.
"Oh and you can't use the hunters of Artemis...this'll be too easy for them." Hermes added grinning making Artemis scowl at Hermes.
"...Okay so how about both twins go?" Percy suggested.
"No remember Percy the twins need to not rely on each other so much this'll be a good chance for them to expand." Zoe stated shaking her head.
"Noah you go," Eli said looking at his brother, "I think this'll be good for your skills."
"Alright then I want Malcolm to come as well he studied a lot more then us and understood Zoe's tracking skills well since he's a good observer." Noah added.
"Uhm...either Nyssa or Ethan should be used since we might need muscle." Malcolm said as the two looked at each other.
"Lemme go I'll watch the kiddies." Ethan said and Nyssa agreed.
"Alright then who should be leader?" Nico asked.
Ethan and Malcolm looked like they were talking to each other quietly before coming to a decision, "I'll be the leader but Malcolm will be the brains on what to do and how to manage our time." Ethan said.
"Alright good luck you guys." Nico said nodding as the three stood up and walked up in front of Hermes.
"Interesting choice...has the other team decided?" Hermes called.
"We'll go Lord Hermes." Katie said as she, Annabeth and Clarisse stepped up.
"...I feel sorry for Katie..." Eli grimaced looking at his half-sister stuck with the bully from Ares cabin and the girl who tried spying on them from Athena's cabin.
"Good luck Katie..." Noah whispered to Katie quietly.
"Thanks little brother I'll need it." Katie replied back.
"Alright then! Apollo please drop off our competitors in the designated area and LET THE TOURNAMENT OFFICIALLY START!"
Next Chapter: Hermes's Task: The 24 Hour Treasure Hunt