Chapter 46.
"I'm so sorry." Grace sobs. We're sitting on the grass behind Cabin 3 and Thalia has joined us. "Dad said that if I didn't do what he says then he'd kill me too, and I was scared of telling you."
"You do know that he can't even enter camp half blood right? And we've got an army of about three hundred half bloods." Liam sighs.
"To. Be fair, neither did I." I point out. "But that's not the point. You were going to let us die, Grace."
"Do you realise how lucky you are that they didn't, because if your dad succeeded then you would be in the fields of punishment by now. Hades would see to it himself for killing Nico." Jason says.
"I'm really, really sorry." She whimpers.
"I don't know what to do with you." Liam throws his fist onto the grass.
"Look, no one else needs to know. There are a thousand other mysteries here. But if you screw up again," Thalia starts "then I'll go to Olympus myself."
"But how did my hair and eyes change on Monday?" I bring up.
"It must have been the locket. It's enchanted to make you look how you want to look, dad said that you would notice if it was just a regular necklace. And that other girl who looked like you was dad. He had it all planned." She wipes her eyes and looks down at the pile of grass she's been picking at.
"Well, that clears some things up." Jason says.
"Yeah. Like how we can never trust her again." I glare at Grace.
"Ok, Katy. Calm down." Liam sweet talks. I realise that I've been grinding my teeth together and relax my jaw.
"So, let's change the subject" Jason begins.
"Taxes." I mutter.
"If we live long enough to pay them." I hear Liam mumble under his breath.
"How about, now we know what the Hades happened last weekend, and we can stop with all the theories." Thalia claps her hands together, once.
"Aliens are real." I grin.
"What if I really was the one millionth visitor." Jason continues
"What if oxygen deepens our voice, and helium returns it back to normal." Liam ponders
"You know! your voice sounds deeper to you than it does to everyone else because it travels through the air before everyone else hears it, but not you." I comment.
"So do I sound higher than I think I do?" Thalia grimaces. She does have a high pitched, girly voice that doesn't match her studded wristbands or her pitch black hair.
We make jokes and by the time Grace's eyes aren't as swollen and her face isn't as blotchy, the lunch bell goes which sounds a lot like Nico screaming profanities mixed in with the word lunch. I stand up and sway slightly because I stood up too quickly. Then, we all go to the mess hall.
"At your own tables, please." Chiron says before we even sit down with Nico. Thalia smiles and turns to the next table and I sit opposite her, and she gets up again. I look at her questioningly. "Cabin one privileges, we get to go up first." She smiles. Then I follow her to the other side. Women with wings instead of arms and red feathers serve us. I get buffalo wings in a sticky sauce and rice. When we sit down, I see Thalia scrape a quarter of her food onto a fire, which disappears as soon as it comes. "Why did you do that?" I ask
"The smell pleases the gods, it's weird but not a good idea to not do it." She shrugs. I follow her lead before I sit down again.
Nico's afternoon class is exciting. I get beaten by a ten year old in sword fightig which is embarrassing. Now, we stand in a circle as Percy chooses compatible partners to fight without weapons. So, my speciality. Grace is put with a boy who looks like an overgrown baby, called Clovis, and Liam is with a boy who is an inch shorter than him with broad shoulders but must have skipped leg day for the past five years.
I get paired up with, Drew. Great. We're both wearing running shorts and a camp half blood t-shirt and trainers. Yet she makes them look fashionable and I would make you want to burn the outfit.
I hear Liam laugh about how Percy must hate me and Nico warns him that we're not suitable. "What, is Drew not her type?" Percy smirks but Nico just rolls his eyes.
"Seriously. I've fought Katy. Annabeth would be better match." Nico advises.
"We'll see how she does with Drew first, Drew is experienced. Then we'll go from there." Percy insists. Nico opens his mouth to reply but Drew cuts him off with a moan. "Shut up, death boy." Then, Nico nods his head at me.
"Good luck Katy." He crosses his arms.
"I know you're a beginner Katy, so don't be afraid to hold back in the ring." Will says. And I understand.
The other campers are paired up and we are led to a five meter by five meter circle with ropes around it, it looks like a boxing ring. Percy swings himself over the ropes. "One on one matches. The first to have their opponent pinned down for ten seconds wins. You will have three minutes, after that it is a draw!" he explains. "Then, the winner of each match will be paired up with another, until we have one final winner. No weapons allowed. Any questions?" He asks. No one raises their hand. So Percy calls up Grave and Clovis.
Honestly, their fight is pathetic. Two seconds into the fight and Clovis looks like he wants to go to sleep and Grace is acting like she's a professional boxer, holding her fists up but staying well away. The boy looks like he'd collapse from a feather landing on him and Grace can't throw a punch to save her life. Grace charges for Clovis but he tackles back. Barely. They end up leaning against each other for the rest of the three minutes, no other attacks. Percy calls it a draw and I hear many calls about seeing toddlers more aggressive. Percy looks embarrassed and I feel his pain.
Two more fights happen before Liam's. The winners are a boy with arms like my thighs and a girl who won because her partner forfeited. Liam and George from cabin 20 are up against each other. Liam goes over his shoulder but when he's up again, he jumps onto George. Then, they wrestle around. Punches are thrown and in the end, George wins, with five seconds left to go. Liam is red and scowls at me. YOU BETTER WIN he mouths.
Drew and I are up next. I tighten my laces before sliding over the ropes. We shake hands and as soon as Percy calls it, I spin her arm around her body, causing her to spin and I wipe out her legs with a kick while she's unsteady. I keep her right wrist down with my foot and her left arm down with my knee. She tried to kick her self free but we only move an inch before Percy announces me the winner. I stand up with most of my weight on my left foot to avoid crushing Drew's wrist and offer her my hand when I'm upright. She scowls at me instead.
"Suit yourself." I smirk.
I climb down from the ring and high five Nico who's hand is out hanging. Then I go and stand with Liam
There are five more fights to go as there are only 20 people here. The winners are a muscular girl and a lean boy, and the other three were draws. I get paired with George
"I'll beat you like I beat your fairy brother." He spits, leaning over me.
"Bring it on, princess." I respond.
The lean boy defeats the girl who's partner forfeited within a minute and then it's me and George.
When we shake hands, I keep my grip loose and stay as far away as possible, because I want to get away quickly. As soon as Percy says begin, I sidestep a meter. And I was right to do so because his fist grazes my shoulder. He throws another punch and I block it with my forearm, which causes a dull pain but I ignore it. I'm strong but he's stronger, I can tell. When he charges for me, I run around him and jump on his back, wrap my legs around his neck and throw my entire body weight sideways towards the floor. I hit it first and my hip burns, but I suck it up and rest on my right leg, on top of the back of his neck, holding him down with my shin.
He's throwing his fists at me but the position he's in means he can't get me.
I know that I won't last long, so I dig my fingers into his shoulder where his pressure point should be and I feel him squirm. He is also yelling many inappropriate words which makes me laugh because he knows he's lost. Ten seconds pass and I skip away from George.
"How?" Liam exclaims, throwing his arms in the air. I respond with a smile.
"Practice makes perfect."