Marcus spent the next day practically tied to the practice arena. While others would have spent this time resting, and he was sure most of his group did, Marcus couldn't rest. He tried. Honestly he did. He stayed in his cabin till the sun was past the horizon, but he couldn't lay there any longer. Chiron's words rang in his mind, spurring him to action whenever he tried to simply rest.

"Failed."

Marcus ducked an imaginary swipe, spinning quickly in a circle to get around the training dummy.

"Failure."

He launched himself at the dummy with renewed fury, shifting the air around his sword arm, unconsciously experimenting with air currents behind his swings, making them faster, stronger.

Phillip "salvaged success" huh?!

Marcus swung with all his strength, his quiet rage at Chiron's words finally boiling to the surface. He was shocked to see his blade slice straight through the training dummy, launching its head clear across the empty training arena. He stopped, his breathing heavy, and truly looked at the dummy in front of him for the first time. A latticework of new cuts covered its frame, the slashes growing deeper the more he looked. Things practically falling apart…

Marcus shook his head and rolled his shoulders back, stretching his neck as he did. At least he knew that his wound had healed enough that he wouldn't be looking at any permanent damage. Not that he had suspected there would be any, but it did put his mind at ease. He started to walk towards the dummy head across the arena when he stopped himself. I wonder…

Closing his eyes, Marcus attuned himself to the air around him. He took a deep breath, and with it could feel the air shifting around him. He could practically see the currents as the air moved in ways that most would find impossible to distinguish if he truly focused in on it. Opening his eyes and reaching out for the winds around him, Marcus flipped his weapon to whip form, waiting for the perfect moment. Marcus used the winds to fling the dummy's head back at him, flicking his wrist in the movement he'd seen Alicia do a thousand times, trying to follow her image in his mind. With a resounding crack, the whip sang through the air, wrapping itself around the dummy head. WIth another flick, he changed the whip's direction, tossing the head high into the air, where he altered a passing wind current, strengthening it, and pushed the head back down to him with even greater speed. In a flash he had shifted his weapon back to blade form, using it to slice the head clean in two. With a satisfied smile. Marcus looked at the two halves lying on either side of him. Let's see Phil do that…

"Wow Marcus… I haven't seen you use your whip like that in a long time."

Marcus turned, keeping his smile as he saw Maddie crossing the arena towards him. "I haven't had a reason to, but all these run-ins with the New Olympians have shown me how badly I've been neglecting one of my skill sets."

Maddie nodded, but a shadow passed over her face. "After… that, I don't really blame you for coming here…"

Marcus crossed to her, resting his hand gently on her head. "Hey now, don't you be getting all sad on me Mads. I'm still here, you know."

She nodded under his hand, but her gaze stayed fixed to the ground. "Yeah but…"

He ruffled her hair. "No buts Mads. You saved me. You and Chastity both. That's what matters."

"Yeah but we wouldn't have had too if I'd been stronger!" Maddie blurted out, her eyes screwed shut.

"What are you talking about?" Gods, I thought she didn't-

"If I had been stronger, I could have protected you! You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I was as strong as you, or Aaron, or Phillip, or Kel-"

"That's enough." Maddie's eyes snapped up to meet his, and though he tried, Marcus knew that his eyes must have been like ice. "You are strong Maddie," he continued, forcing his voice to become softer, "but there's one thing in battle you can't train for. You can't practice."

Maddie gave him a confused look. "Something you can't train for..?"

"Yeah." Marcus threw her a wink and tapped her forehead. "Luck. Luck can make even the strongest warrior lose to a novice."

"So you were just unlucky?" Maddie sniffed, then gave him a look. "That doesn't sound right."

"No it doesn't, does it… After all, I was pretty lucky you were there." Marcus was rewarded with a small smile. "And I was pretty lucky you and Chastity work together so well. I'd have been left with more than just the memory if that wasn't the case."

"Yeah! I'm glad to see you two are back on good terms too." Maddie said with a grin, clasping her hands behind her. "It's always so scary when you two fight."

"Scary?"

"Well yeah. I never know who to root for." Maddie hesitated, a shy smile on her lips. "Chastity because she's my friend, or you because you're… Well, kinda the underdog whenever you two argue."

"Oh that is it!" Marcus pounced, planning to catch Maddie and throw her over his shoulder, possibly dumping her in the lake, but she quickly jumped aside.

For what seemed like a half hour, Marcus kept trying to catch Maddie, if only to prove he could, and Maddie just managed to escape him every time. Though he didn't use his newfound abilities, he was still surprised that Maddie was able to keep pace with him, and knew him well enough to evade him. She's grown…

Finally, in a last ditch effort, Marcus leaped at her legs which, given their height difference, meant practically throwing himself to the ground. The unexpected move made Maddie hesitate just long enough for him to get ahold of her, swiftly taking her down with him. Breathing heavy, the two lay side by side, allowing the noontime sun to wash over them as they both caught their breath.

"Well. Glad that's settled." Maddie said brightly.

Marcus turned his head to look at her. "What?"

"I knew you'd be out here practicing, even though we both know you should be letting your body recuperate."

Marcus's eyes narrowed. "Okay…"

Maddie turned to him, propping herself up on an elbow with a bright smile on her face. "So I wanted to make sure you weren't pushing yourself too hard, which we both know you would do if you were left alone long enough. Even though you always say 'a weapon overused goes dull'... or something."

"You could have just asked." Marcus averted his eyes, looking up into the open sky as he pushed his thoughts away from the intruding things that kept entering them. She's right there… Like, right there… He could feel his heart rate increase as, though he tried to suppress it, thoughts that were better left untouched kept pushing themselves to the front of his mind. Gods brain, can you chill? Please?

"Okay, and if I did you would have said 'Gods Maddie I'm fine. Stop worrying so much'." Maddie sat up, her voice doing an actually passable imitation of Marcus' own.

Marcus scoffed in answer, putting his hands behind his head. "Yeah… Well… I am fine. So there."

"Stay that way." Maddie said jokingly, getting to her feet and brushing off her overalls. "I gotta keep some of my prayers to the Gods for other things you know. 'Can't be looking out for you all the time'. That's what you'd say right?" Maddie smiled and waved at him as she walked away. "Chiron asked me to take care of some things with the Ares Cabin, but I'll see you at dinner!"

Marcus watched her walk away, his heart still hammering in his chest as she continued to wave till he laughed and waved back. Forcing himself to take a few steadying breaths, he got himself to his feet.

"Well, well… Aren't you the playboy?"

Marcus sighed. "Why do you always choose the worst moments to show yourself?" He turned, expecting to see Aphrodite sitting in the stands behind him, perhaps perched upon the dummy he had destroyed.

Instead, he was shocked to see Lyssa, casually standing in the center of the practice arena, nudging one of the halves of the dummy head with her foot. Her face turned into a twisted smile at his shocked expression. "Expecting somebody else? Sorry Marcus, you've tipped the scales. I can reach you just as easily as she can now."

Marcus lunged for his pocket watch, which was still on the ground where he and Maddie had fallen. Rolling to his feet, he swung it out, not even paying attention to which form it took. He was about to bring his weapon around when he stopped in his tracks. Lyssa was gone. He lowered his weapon, realizing it had taken whip form, when he felt the air shifting around him in a way he had come to recognize. Spinning, he lashed out with his whip, gritting his teeth as Lyssa easily sidestepped it, walking across the arena towards him.

"Now, now, my Marcus. Is that any way to treat your future patron?" She tutted.

"Yeah, not gonna happen." Marcus sneered, quickly twisting his wrist, hoping to catch Lyssa off guard. Lyssa vanished as his whip was about to make contact, causing him to spin again, trying to locate where she had disappeared to.

"Please." He heard her voice scoff. "You know your struggle's in vain, so why continue? You've already given in once, felt the power that could be yours. Think about it Marcus." Marcus flinched as he heard her voice in his ear.

"Think of all that power. The power to protect those you care about."

He cracked his whip in the direction he thought he heard her, still hitting nothing but air.

"The power to make those that doubt you regret their mistakes."

He spun rapidly. Her voice was coming from all around him.

"The power to make them all pay!"

"Stop!" Marcus lashed out, calling the winds to his command. The dummy's on the other side of the arena were blown flying, where he was standing had all sand forced away. But it wasn't enough. Marcus felt his arm get pulled, his own weapon wrapping itself around his throat. A swift force pushed him to his knees, and he felt the weapon tighten around his neck, not enough to cut off his air, but enough to make it difficult to breathe.

"Marcus, Marcus, Marcus…" Lyssa's voice came from above him. Twisting his head, he was able to make out her emerald eyes as she bent, her face next to his. "Aphrodite may play gentle with you, but I certainly won't. I don't take rebellion from my pets. Bite this hand that feeds, and I'll break the jaw that bites."

Marcus sneered in her direction, forcing the wounds out with the breath he could muster. "Scary, but Aphrodite hits harder."

Lyssa's smile wasn't what he expected to meet his words, and it was all the more chilling because of it. In the blink of an eye she was gone, and Marcus was left standing alone in an empty arena. Spinning quickly, Marcus saw that the arena itself hadn't changed. No dummies were knocked over. The sand on the arena floor was just as it had always been. His watch was still on the ground where it had been when he dived for Maddie's legs.

Maddie!

Turning, he was about to charge off to warn her about the intruding Goddess when he saw that she was walking away, her hand lowering after her wave goodbye as she headed back towards the Ares cabin.