"ASIDE!" Clarisse yelled, jumping off a stone that rose from the ground.

Bianca and Nico twisted out of her way as Clarisse brought down her spear on Enyo.

The goddess fell to the ground, her spear rolling out of her grip. Nico kicked the weapon away and pointed his sword at her neck, Bianca and Clarisse following his lead.

Enyo raised her hands in surrender.

"Decent." Athena declared and they stepped back, Clarisse helping Enyo up. "You lost Annabeth though. So, you have to do better. The only one who did everything well in my opinion was Grover. He helped you all and kept playing throughout. Annabeth, abandoning the spear for a knife was a good move but you should've gone for the neck."

"Yes, mom." Annabeth nodded.

"Clarisse, you over-extended at places and put in more strength than needed in some strikes." Athena continued. "Bianca and Nico, decent but could've been a lot better. Your sword skills were sloppy at times, and they need to be improved. You never know if you would need to split further into groups. This was five against one and you all nearly lost. We've got work to do."

Ch.48 Training with Olympians

PERCY POV

"Now," Athena turned to look at Thalia and me, her gray eyes glinting like the tip of her spear. "Perhaps they can show you how it's done."

"Sure," Thalia's eyes flicked to Enyo, tendrils of electricity cracking across the blade of her ax. "If Lady Enyo is up for it."

"You won't be facing Enyo, girl." Ares grinned with disturbing eagerness as all three Olympians— Ares, Athena, and Artemis glowed brightly.

"Uh-huh." Thalia muttered as she watched their armor and weapons appear, ready to be used.

Ares wielded a great broadsword in his hands while Artemis had her silver hunting knives. Her silver armor was the same she had worn when facing Atlas on Mount Othrys.

Artemis smiled at me and strode forward to stand with her fellow Olympians, both of whom looked ready for a fight.

"You'll be facing us three." Ares declared, his eyes hollowing out, glowing with red flames.

Thalia squeaked as she met Ares' eyes, taking several steps back.

"You five, to the gallery with my sister. Shoo." Ares gestured to the gallery at the far end of the arena.

'That's rather easy.' Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Enyo disappear with the rest of my friends and appear in the gallery overlooking the Arena. 'It won't take much effort to take them out one at a time.'

#That's true. But this is Athena.# I could feel Alexander's amusement through our link. #And while Artemis might not be the goddess of wisdom, she knows you. And they have seen you fight.#

"Also, you cannot engage us one at a time." Athena added, looking pointedly at me. "If you do, the remaining would run to safety and escape. Which will mean failure on your part."

'Don't say it.' I warned Alexander as my rudimentary plan crumpled.

#Told you so.#

"So, three of the best fighters on the Olympian council versus Thalia and me." I turned to look at the three gods. "Can we use our powers?"

"You can." Athena gave us a nod. "But there's a twist. Throw us far and we might just make a tactical retreat."

"You mean run away." Thalia raised an eyebrow.

"Tethys and Oceanus did it when Percy fought them." Athena pointed out. "You have to take them down or take them out. You will only have a limited radius to work in even when you learn to use the anti-teleportation device. Once they are out of its range, they can easily teleport away. Or worse, call for help."

"And we don't want them running away after we confront them." I said. "It would be seen as they succeeded in living after Olympus put a death sentence on their head."

"Precisely." Athena nodded. "Right now, consider the walls of this arena your boundary. If we touch the wall, you lose. Your task is to take us down and prevent us from running away. Can you do that?"

I looked around the arena. While the place was big, it wasn't big enough that I'd have a lot of time to leave someone as fast as Artemis running around. Even within mortal limits, she could sprint from one end of the arena to the other end in less than twenty seconds. Maybe even fifteen if she pushed it.

"I think we could take at least two out of three down." I looked at them before my eyes latched onto Ares' smug smile. "Considering I won't go all out in this spar or use my most lethal moves."

Ares snorted. "Punk—"

"He isn't wrong." Athena said. "That last time Percy went all out, he blew up a mountain and broke most of Typhoon's bond in a fashion that the resulting shockwave knocked the monster back into sleep. Also, his powers would rip this arena apart or grievously damage it at the very least. He did drop a whole building on Atlas once and wasn't even out of breath."

"And for all it is worth, I do not think you want to be hit by a column of Greek fire." Artemis agreed. "I'd rather avoid it."

Ares grunted in displeasure, hefting his broadsword up. "Whatever. Let's fight. You two have a minute to plan whatever you want. As soon as Athena bangs her spear, we are on."

The three gods backed away to the center of the arena, leaving Thalia and I together. With an absent thought, my armor appeared on my body and the Thyella Kavalris shimmered into my hand.

"We need to get you some good armor." I told Thalia. "All of you."

"While that's okay, we are about to spar with three Olympians and we also need to stop them. What's the plan?" Thalia scowled.

I hummed contemplatively. "Stopping them should be simple. A ring of Greek fire around the arena will prevent them from getting to the walls unless we send them flying over it. I'll make it such that if they try to jump over it, it'll flare into a wall, burning them."

"It also means you have to use your powers continuously to maintain the ring of fire." Thalia pointed out. "The arena is half a mile wide. I am not great at math and shit but that's a fuckton of fire."

"I will go more physical then. And it won't be very draining once the fire gets going." I bit my cheek. "Throw in a few powers and I could take two of them down. You've to take the third— Artemis."

"You want me to engage in direct combat with Lady Artemis?" Thalia hissed.

"She's the quickest and the only one with the means of long-range attacks. But in close combat, she has knives, not swords or spears. A little lightning should help you maintain adequate distance." I reasoned. "Plus, I know how Athena and Ares fight. You are no match for Ares' brutal strength and Athena will figure out how to work around the lightning and take you down."

"Well—" Thalia's fingers curled around her ax, tendrils of electricity flitting across her blade.

"You punks done?" Ares swished his sword around. "Let's fight."

Thalia and I shared a nod.

Athena raised her spear and brought the butt down and a gong-like sound reverberated through the Arena. Artemis immediately turned around and sprinted while Athena began to move toward the side.

Ares, on the other hand, charged straight at Thalia and me, his broadsword raised to attack us.

"Go." I felt a tug in my gut and my trident glowed.

Flames sprung up in a neat circle around the arena and Athena stopped in her tracks. Thalia flew forward, a bolt of lightning cracking toward Artemis' back.

The moon goddess rolled out of the way and spun around to face Thalia just as my sword clashed against Ares', creating a small shockwave.

Ares growled, slashing and stabbing his sword at me which I parried away, slowly shifting toward Athena. The Aegis appeared in her hand and she charged toward me.

A blue flash of lightning cast shadows on her face just as I rolled away, her spear and Ares's sword missing me completely.

Several feet away, Artemis and Thalia were locked in combat. Electricity wreathed Thalia's body from head to toe while Artemis danced around her, trying to get into her guard, through the tendrils of lightning.

A bolt of lightning arced toward Artemis who brought her knives up to catch it.

Athena stabbed her spear toward me. I shifted, letting the spear go past my shoulder before catching it below the blade with my left hand. Athena's eyes widened slightly as I brought my sword up, channeling my earthshaker powers through it.

Athena let go of her spear at the last millisecond, just as my sword made contact with it. The spear was sent flying across the arena, wrenched from my own grasp. It pierced through the concrete of the wall, embedding itself there like a stray arrow.

I felt goosebumps erupt over my chest and I moved on instinct.

But I wasn't fast enough.

A flash of bronze caught my chest, the rim of the Aegis digging into my flesh, sending me spinning to the floor. Pain flared in my ribs as I rolled on the floor. My instincts tingled again and I pushed myself away.

A blade dug into the ground where I had been, sparks flying out of its edges, a few hitting my temples and ear. Ares growled, baring his teeth. His muscles tensed and he tugged at his sword, pulling it out of the ground. Before he could bring it down on me, I spun around and kicked him in the leg with all the force I could muster.

Ares' roar of agony shook the arena, a clear snap echoing through the room. Both Athena and Artemis paused, to see Ares fall to the floor, the sword clattering out of his hands.

The distraction proved to be a mistake for Artemis as Thalia, wreathed in electricity from head to toe, slammed into her, sending the moon goddess to the ground. Artemis rolled on the floor, Thalia on her tail as she moved in to keep her upper hand.

I bounced to my feet and pointed the tip of my sword at Ares's neck, drawing a drop of golden ichor while keeping an eye on Athena.

"Dead." I told Ares, who was clutching his leg.

I saw a flash of gold out of the corner of my eye and ducked as Athena's spear soared above my head, back into the goddess' hand. On the other side of the Arena, Thalia and Artemis were going head to head in flashes of blue and silver.

While Thalia had the power of elemental attacks on her side, Artemis was just too fast. She bent between tendrils of lightning, slashing through a few with her hunting knives, doing her best to get into Thalia's guard.

I looked at Athena. "Surrender."

"This is a spar, not a fight." Athena rolled her eyes under her helm. "And the breaking of Ares' leg was unnecessary."

Ares grunted from the floor, in pain and agreement.

"Apollo will set it right in a minute." I looked down. "Don't be a baby, Ares."

Ares glared at me before wincing in pain.

"He's not used to having his bones broken… It has been centuries since he took a real hit. Well, until you came along anyway." Athena smirked. "And for a fact, neither have I."

Athena's spear glowed golden and the hairs on my body prickled. "And it is time you have a real opponent."

Athena moved, faster than anyone I had ever faced. Only my years of battle-honed instincts kept me from being skewered as I brought my sword up in time to intercept the spear. A shockwave erupted, powerful enough to send us both skidding a few feet away from one another.

My vision tunneled as I saw Athena charge forward.

Coeus' shield spiraled onto my left forearm as Athena neared, swiping her spear at me. But I wasn't there. My sword screeched against the Aegis, sparks of fire flowing down the engraved Medusa's hair. Athena's spear clanged against the edge of my shield before moving again. Her spear and my sword clashed in a rapid series of clangs, at times so fast that there was no saying where one ended and the other began.

I took a step back, allowing the butt of the spear to pass by my legs, ducking underneath the top of the spear before slamming my shield into Athena's. Athena remained unmoved, while I went back a few steps, putting distance between myself and her.

My heart pounded in my chest, while Athena smirked underneath her helm. Underneath my armor, I could feel slight pain in a couple of places where Athena's spear or Aegis had struck me.

"I'm impressed you held on." Athena said. "That too without using any of your powers."

"Which I should've." I muttered.

Water shot from the tip of my sword like a canon, slamming into Athena's shield and showering everywhere. I willed the water to cocoon around Athena and freeze, just like I had done with Atlas several months ago.

Her spear glowed a brilliant gold and the ice shattered to dust, vaporizing before it fell to the ground.

Thunder boomed across the arena and Thalia hurtled past me, rolling across the arena before stopping at its edge, dangerously close to the flames. Her Aegis— the exact replica of Athena's, had protected her, it seemed. The shield was smoking, embers of fire clinging to the Medusa's imprint.

I willed the flames away from her before looking past Athena's shoulder to Artemis.

My girlfriend stood at the center of the Arena, only a single hunting knife clenched firmly in her hand. Her auburn hair was a mess, a few strands standing up. Her parka and armor were singed, her arms trembling slightly, undoubtedly from the electricity Thalia had poured onto her.

"Looks like your friend has been knocked out." Athena stated.

"Yet it is not a killing blow." I replied. "Meaning I've to defeat you both to save her, technically."

Athena shrugged, glancing at Artemis.

That was when I moved, channeling my earthshaker powers through my shield. The Aegis met my shield in a bronze-silver clang, and the arena shook. Athena's feet dug into the ground while Artemis stumbled back. Ares was sent rolling away, his howls of agony echoing through the room.

Athena looked up from behind her shield, her eyes latching onto the glow of my shield and widening. I smirked and a wave of energy erupted from my shield and Athena was sent flying toward Artemis.

Artemis twisted out of the way before moving in a silver blur toward me, her knife slicing past my hips. I dodged the blow, slashing my sword at her. Artemis caught my sword on her knife, and dropped on a knee, twisting to swipe my legs from underneath me.

I jumped back, avoiding her legs narrowly, and swung my shield at her face. Artemis ducked under the blow and slid forward, grabbing me by my arm. The world spun, my feet being lifted off the ground.

A moment later, I slammed onto the hard floor, Artemis's knees resting on either side of my armored abdomen. Her silver eyes glowed and strands of her auburn hair cascaded down her face. Her breathing was labored, her chest heaving. I stared deep into her silver-doe eyes, a smile curling on my lips.

#Percy, you're in the middle of a spar.# Alexander reminded me. #Appreciate your girlfriend later.#

'Right.'

I shifted, my fist punching into Artemis's ribs, sending her flying off me.

"Sorry!" I leaped to my feet, my sword jumping into my hand.

Artemis lay sprawled on the ground, glaring at me furiously.

#You might be in trouble.# Alexander sang in my head.

'You bastard.'

Artemis rose to her feet, just as I saw a blur of armor move toward me. I raised my shield and twisted, parrying Athena's spear with my sword.

Artemis charged at me and I leaped away, the edge of her knife bouncing off my vambraces.

'I can't keep this going for long.' My sword blurred as I pushed energy into my arm, parrying strikes from both goddesses.

Athena was much more ferocious, having longer reach, and the advantage of a shield while Artemis was more… sneaky, finding gaps and attacking me.

#Then it is time to bring the storm.# Alexander said. #It'll be enough to keep them away while not sending them flying toward the walls.#

I felt the tug in my gut intensify. Winds picked up around me, stopping Athena in her tracks while Artemis lunged forward, her silver knife glinting.

The blade skittered across my shield as Artemis stumbled, the winds around me picking up. Thunder rumbled in the sky as my sword struck against Artemis's knife, Athena's spear flashing past my ear. My shield hammered into Athena's side and she went stumbling to the side, barely maintaining her balance.

It wasn't an earth-shaker blow by any means, but it did its trick as I got space to attack Artemis, who was barely maintaining her balance in the wind. Centuries of fighting and honed skills kept her in the spar as she danced away from my sword, staying out of its reach.

But she forgot a thing of vital importance.

Through my sixth slash, I turned my sword into a trident, its rod smacking Artemis in the face. Had she not been in the eye of the storm, she would've merely stumbled. But the winds took her off balance and she fell to the ground with a thump, wincing in pain.

In a flash, I brought my trident to her neck.

"Dead!" I yelled, spinning around smacking Athena's spear away just in time.

Medusa's engraved head rammed into my chest, pushing me back. My legs hit Artemis, who was lying on the floor and I fell straight onto her.

"Ooof!" Artemis' voice rang in my ear as pain flared over my back, the plates of her armor pushing against mine.

The winds around me died down abruptly as my concentration wavered. Athena moved forward and I rolled away before she could point her spear at my neck.

I was not giving up. Not so easily.

#You're getting tired. You've been maintaining a semi-sentient ring of fire for several minutes now, poised to burn gods if they attempt to escape.# I deflected a strike from Athena's spear as Alexander spoke. #You matched Ares blow for blow and kept up with Athena in sheer speed. And I am not helping you either, which I usually do. Also, you'd have killed a god or titan at this point to refill your energy reserves.#

'Not helpful.' I told him, shooting a beam of orange flames at Athena, only for Aegis to swallow them.

I kicked at her legs but she deftly avoided the blow, slashing her spear at me. I slapped it away with the flat of my blade.

'Alexander, open a bind.' I told him. 'I am not losing today. Not after punching Artemis.'

#Percy—#

'Do it.'

I heard Alexander sigh in my head. A second later, I felt power flow into me from Thyella Kavalris. In a spur of speed, I got up and slashed my sword rapidly at Athena who took a step back, going on the defensive.

I turned my sword into a trident and tossed my shield at Athena, which bounced back against her Aegis. Using my trident like a basketball bat, I hit the shield and it flew back at Athena, bouncing toward me.

Athena slowly backed away as my shield kept slamming into hers, glowing brighter with each blow.

"Enough!" Athena moved, slapping Coeus's shield away from me.

A foot behind her, Greek flames burned higher, preventing her from getting to the wall of the Arena. With a thought, the flames moved, circling the two of us, the rest being extinguished.

I leveled my trident at her, green flames licking its tips.

"Surrender." I breathed. "Or get burned."

"You'll try." Athena's gray eyes sharpened. "But not even Greek fire is powerful enough to burn through my Aegis."

"Aegis is but a single round shield." The flames burned higher around us. "Throw down the weapons, Athena."

"Make me. Punch them out of my hand."

"You know I ain't letting you get to that wall." I snorted. "Drop 'em."

Athena sighed, letting her spear drop with a ringing clang to the ground.

"And the shield too. Don't think I don't know how well you can fight with only the shield." I said. "Take the defeat like a warrior."

Athena scowled and her shield vanished. "You win. The spar's over. I won't pull any tricks, you've my word."

I let go of the flames and stumbled back.

I could feel my shirt cling to my torso underneath my armor.

"That was well fought, Percy." Athena's eyes flicked to Ares and Artemis. "Even if a few things were unnecessary. Plus you didn't fall for deceptions. That'll be all for today. Lessons can wait till Apollo sets Ares' leg right and Thalia wakes up."

Artemis got up from the floor, dusting herself, refusing to meet my eyes. She nodded at Athena and strode out of the room without a word.

"Artemis, wait!" I called but she didn't stop, disappearing through the door.

I felt my heart drop.

#Go after her, kid.# Alexander advised.

And so, I did.

The silver doors banged shut behind Artemis before I could get through them. My fist hammered on the silver carvings and the door rattled.

"Artemis! Artemis, please open the door! It's me." I yelled, drawing the attention of a few nymphs around.

They giggled and vanished. But the doors remained closed.

"Artemis?" I knocked again.

Cursing under my breath, I walked around the palace, looking for an open window.

#Are you sure it is the best idea?# Alexander asked, despite suggesting the idea in the first place. #You did punch her when she was lost in your eyes. She understands it was a spar and she was the one who made a mistake. The same mistake she taught you not to make. Also, she just lost a fight for the first time in centuries probably. Give her time to cool down.#

'I know. But we should talk it out. Not let it fester.' I told him. 'Also, I am not exactly sure why she is upset, so there's that.'

#While I won't pretend to be an expert on girls, let alone goddesses, I suggest that you actually plan this out.# Alexander said dryly. #Your relationship is still young. Also, don't further the argument or use your powers.#

'Powers?'

#To calm her down.# Alexander replied. #Hestia's powers, while useful, might be seen as manipulation on your part. You both are in your first relationship, Percy. There's a lot neither of you understand. Both of you are dealing with new feelings. Feelings which you just understood.#

'There's a window open on the second floor.' I noted. 'I should go in, shouldn't I?'

#You mean, break in?# Alexander snorted.

'Alexander. Not in the mood for jokes.'

Alexander sighed in my head. #It's your decision, kid. It is your girlfriend.#

I grumbled, eyeing the window. Taking a deep breath, I pumped energy into my legs and ran forward, leaping high. I barely managed to grab the ledge of the window with one hand. Thankfully, the grip was strong enough for me to pull myself up, through the window and roll into the palace.

It was an ornate bedroom, with a bed in the center draped in silver bed sheets. Everything of Artemis' tended to be silver… Her bed, her tents, her clothes, her freaking palace were all silver.

#Like most of yours tend to be blue.# Alexander said dryly.

'Shut up. I need to find Artemis.' I told him.

I moved forward, only for the door of the bedroom to slam open. Artemis rushed in, a tear streaming down her cheek. She stopped short as she saw me standing there.

"Percy—" Her voice broke, her eyes flicking to the open window behind me. "I don't want to talk right now. Please."

I opened my mouth, pausing for a moment. "You don't need to talk. But I am here for you. I just wanted to know why you're upset. Is it because I punched you during the fight?"

"No." Artemis said. "Yes. Maybe. I don't know, Percy."

I walked up to her and wiped her cheeks, pulling her closer to me.

"You can talk to me, you know? This— this is new to both of us. So, if we are feeling something, it is best if we express it. My mom says that most fights can be avoided if we talk."

"Percy… I— we were looking into each other's eyes." Artemis shifted. "I was sitting on you— you were armored and… looking so—" Artemis fidgeted. "I got distracted. You didn't."

"I was distracted too." I said and Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Artemis, believe me when I say I was just as distracted as you were. As you have said, we are us. One of the best fighters in the world." My arm curled around her waist. "And you were on top of me for a couple of seconds, and not one of us moved a muscle. For us, that is two seconds too long."

Artemis nodded. "I know, Percy. Believe me, I do. I know that you did just what you were trained for your whole life. Gods, I have seen firsthand how sneaky you are. How you turn tables on the enemy by just being… aware. But I was not the enemy."

"You weren't and you'll never be." I said. "But we were sparring Artemis. I was up against the three best fighters on the Olympian council: The gods of war and you. And… Well, I had to take you out if I wanted to go up against Athena and win. Even I cannot take Athena and you out together."

"You only took me out because Thalia put thousands of volts through me." Artemis muttered.

"That was there too." I ran my hands in circles on her back. "Her powers have improved."

"Largely thanks to you." Artemis pointed out. "Don't think we gods didn't notice the storms over the sea near camp half-blood. Or you disappearing with her at times."

I frowned. "Chiron was aware of it. We started way back… when Thalia was first revived. I told her that while I couldn't summon lightning, I could summon storms. We found no reason to stop it once you came in with the hunt during the next summer. And after the Aura incident… her powers had grown, her control proportional with it."

"That's good. With how things are…" Artemis laid her head on my shoulder. "If you two can take Athena, Ares, and me down, however it might've been… I would say you two are ready. At least, you are."

"Artemis, I was trained for this for the past three years. I had training sessions twice a week with Ares and Athena where they worked me to the bone." I ran my fingers through her hair. "And yet,had you not been distracted… or injured, I suppose, I would've probably gone down."

"I don't think so. You'd have stopped my hand." Artemis commented.

"Maybe." I laughed. "So… are we good?"

Artemis raised her head from my shoulder, her eyes shining. "I am not sure. Maybe you can… kiss me better."

"Gladly." I leaned forward and captured her lips with my own.

AND… DONE! Hope you all liked the chapter.

So, Artemis and Percy had their first fight which was resolved cutely. They are much like a new teenage couple… or exactly that. Even though Artemis is a lot older, this is still her first relationship and it is the same for Percy. Young love, basically.

I won't be showing a lot of training after this as I don't see a point in piling up epic fights one after the other. Things will fast forward in the next chapter and the quest will begin in earnest by chapter 50.

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Mark Andrew: Power, at a certain point becomes largely relative. Right now, in terms of sheer power, Percy is just about the power of Dionysus but without the godly perks (like he cannot attack through an iris message and manipulate events while sitting on a beach eating grapes). On the other hands, in skills (pure combat), he is on par with the best of the best Olympians— Athena and Artemis.

Perseus123: I am indeed planning a sequel to it which will go into the Heroes of Olympus arc.

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Thank you for all your reviews! Do feel free to leave your thoughts in the reviews. Your opinions are always valued and appreciated.

A huge thank you to Anax for betaing this chapter!

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