Annabeth felt like she had blinked at the beginning of the month, and all of a sudden, she was at the end of it and staring her opponent right in the face. She had been training so hard all month, and she was only days away from defending her title in front of the entire world.
A deep breath left Annabeth. She had a very long day ahead. First, she would get in one last day of training with Reyna. Then, they had a final face off later that night. From there, Annabeth's brothers would be flying into town, and before she knew it, she would be in the ring.
"Anything you want to work on?" Reyna questioned as she stretched. Annabeth studied her sparring partner; while Reyna had always been in fighting shape, she had been dealing with nagging injuries ever since Annabeth came to the gym. It kept Reyna from being in her best shape.
But now, Annabeth found herself looking Reyna up and down, and she couldn't help but think that the other woman was pretty hot. Reyna didn't have huge muscles, but they were noticeable enough even with her just standing there in a relaxed position.
While Annabeth was in shape, she had to flex to show off her muscles. Plus she had issues maintaining her six pack if she ate too much or didn't diet properly. And Reyna seemed to eat what she wanted and didn't have any problems. Then, there was Frank, who could polish off a whole pizza, and Annabeth swore he gained muscle.
Annabeth didn't want to compare herself to her fellow fighters, especially because she knew that could lead to negative body imaging. She couldn't help it, though. Annabeth felt too lean, too lanky, too weak to really take herself to the next level. What if she wasn't strong enough to fight out of Arachne's grasp?
A hand waved in front of Annabeth's face, and she snapped out of her thoughts. Reyna lowered her hand and spoke, "Did you hear me?"
"Yeah. Sorry. Can we work on defending takedowns? But don't hold back," Annabeth requested.
"Are you sure?" Reyna asked. Annabeth nodded, and Reyna shrugged as she got into her fighting stance. Annabeth mirrored her stance and let the other woman approach. Her main strategy was to not get taken down by Arachne, so she had to be prepared for any way that the woman would come at her.
Reyna went for her legs first. Annabeth dropped her weight on Reyna's back to stop her. If they had been in an actual fight, she would have kneed Reyna in the skull. The woman did not need another concussion. Annabeth pulled away.
The two reset, and they went at each other again. Reyna went after her arm this time, and as Annabeth was defending herself, she felt a foot brush against her leg. Annabeth blocked the woman's leg. The two separated again.
The two of them continued for about twenty minutes. By the end of it, both of them were breathing heavily. Annabeth wiped the sweat from her eyes and spoke, "One more?"
"You sure?" Reyna questioned, and Annabeth breathlessly nodded. The two got back into their fighting stances. Annabeth stepped forward. "Can you believe that Nico told Hazel we were on a date?"
Annabeth felt her body freeze up on her as a foot slammed into her ankle. Then, pain exploded in her lower leg. Annabeth crumpled as a cry of pain left her.
"Annabeth?!" Reyna asked as she caught Annabeth before she could fall completely. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know!" Annabeth replied through gritted teeth. Reyna gently laid her on the mat and looked down at her ankle. A curse left her. "What's wrong?"
"It's already swelling," Reyna answered. She cursed again and then gently slid one arm under Annabeth's legs. She put the other under Annabeth's back and picked her up. Embarrassment crept toward Annabeth's face. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," Annabeth began. The fierce pain in her ankle told a different story. Reyna carefully walked up the stairs, not jostling Annabeth's ankle. "You don't have to carry me."
Reyna ignored her as she made it up the stairs and down the hall. Annabeth swallowed painfully. Her ankle could not be hurt. Not this close to her fight.
"Will!" Reyna called as she pushed open the door to his room. Annabeth's eyes widened as she saw the scene in front of them. "At work!? Really?!"
"Don't you knock?" Nico demanded as he jumped away from Will. The two had been in the middle of a make out session. Will's face was red as well, but he quickly became serious as he saw the predicament Annabeth was in.
"Lay her down," Will ordered as he got off of the bed. Reyna laid Annabeth down on the freed bed. "What happened?"
"She didn't block my takedown," Reyna began. "I am so sorry."
"It's okay," Annabeth repeated. A wince came to her face as Will gently felt her ankle. He reached out for something, and Nico handed him a bag of ice. Reyna leaned on a wall and studied Annabeth; there was pure concern in her eyes and on her face. Along with a hint of guilt.
"We'll have to wait for the swelling to go down, but I don't think it's broken," Will began.
"Can I still fight?" Annabeth questioned. Will placed a hand to her shoulder and gently laid her back on the table.
"Let the swelling go down first," Will ordered. "Relax for now. We'll worry about it later, okay?"
"Okay," Annabeth repeated as she laid her head back. She closed her eyes tightly. Annabeth could not afford for this to happen. How could this be happening?
Too many hours later, Annabeth was limping out of the hospital. The official diagnosis was a sprained ankle. Nothing was broken, thankfully. And she could still fight. It would just be difficult. Lupa followed right behind Annabeth with a small frown on her face.
As if the injured ankle wasn't bad enough, Piper damn near ran her over with the car as she whipped it around the corner. Piper gave them an apologetic look as she parked. Annabeth slowly got in the car and laid her head back.
"Not a broken ankle," Annabeth reported.
"That's good," Piper said. Lupa sat in the backseat. "Reyna looked miserable ever since I came back."
"Reyna should have known better," Lupa stated. She shook her head as annoyance invaded her face. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. They won't postpone your fight either."
"I don't want to," Annabeth supplied resolutely.
"Annabeth, an injured ankle is not something you want in any fight," Lupa warned. "Especially not against Arachne."
"But, they will strip me of my title if I can't fight, right? I just have to push forward and not show weakness to Arachne," Annabeth declared. She shook her head and looked out the window, frustrated with herself. Distractions had caused her to get hurt.
"If you insist on fighting, we'll find you good pain killers that will not cloud your mind," Lupa stated. "Make sure to rest your ankle and ice it."
"I will," Annabeth promised. The rest of the drive home was quiet. Lupa looked out the window and seemed downcast. Piper still looked concerned the whole drive home. It lasted until they dropped off Lupa at her gym.
"You sure you're okay?" Piper asked as they watched Lupa walk inside. Annabeth opened her mouth to respond but saw someone jog to the car. Reyna stopped by the passenger side window, and Annabeth rolled it down.
"Hey," Annabeth greeted.
"Are you okay?" Reyna asked as she looked Annabeth up and down.
"I am," Annabeth lied with a small smile. "Don't beat yourself up too much. It was just an accident."
"Okay. Well, get some rest," Reyna said bashfully, then nervously turned to walk back to the gym. Annabeth rolled up the window and looked at Piper.
"You have a look," Annabeth noted as Piper started to drive.
"I'm speaking strictly as your manager," Piper began.
"This will be fun."
"Do you think that, maybe, just maybe, Reyna might have done it on purpose? Piper asked. Annabeth stared at her. "Look, Reyna is going to face you or Arachne for the title, right? What if she wanted to weaken you so that Arachne won. Or you would be coming off an injury when you fought her."
"Piper, that's insane," Annabeth stated, even sounding offended to herself.
"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but... it... didn't really come from me," Piper said slowly as she averted her gaze and focused on the road.
"Who did it come from then?" Annabeth questioned. Piper didn't answer, but she did tighten her grip on the steering wheel. "Piper."
"Lupa is the one who said it," Piper revealed. Annabeth stared at her and swallowed painfully. "She was ranting to herself, but I heard it. She was talking to herself about how much Reyna wants the title. About how she would do anything for it. Lupa sounded like she was talking herself through it, but she walked away before I could hear more."
Annabeth stared out the window. That couldn't be right. Sure, Reyna wanted the title. Everyone did. There was no way that Reyna would intentionally hurt her just to weaken her for the fight, right?
If Annabeth was injured and still beat Arachne, she would have enough time to heal up before her title fight with Reyna. She just wouldn't be able to train as hard or be as prepared as she wanted. If Arachne beat Annabeth, she would have a rematch with Reyna. While Arachne beat Reyna prior, the rematch would have an opposite result.
And if Clarisse beat Reyna, did Reyna think that Clarisse would have a better shot at beating Annabeth or Arachne? And if she did, why? Did she think that it would be easier to get a third match against Clarisse because the two have proven to be such bitter rivals in such a small amount of time?
"Annabeth," Piper spoke up.
"Do you think Reyna would have done it on purpose?" Annabeth questioned.
"I don't know," Piper admitted. "It doesn't seem like her style. Then again, people will do crazy things if they really want something. And apparently, it's all Reyna's been training for. Maybe, we're just being paranoid."
"Maybe," Annabeth said as she shifted uncomfortably. Fresh pain shot through her ankle, and her earlier words felt a little more hollow. Annabeth wanted to think that Reyna wouldn't hurt her intentionally. To soften her up before the two possibly went to war.
But, what if Reyna did?