章 903: 11
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"Pair up!"
In seconds, campers found partners and separated themselves to begin practicing their individual lessons on each other. Today's practice was more focused on personal development, so everyone was using their own weapon of choice than the standard balanced sword. Only Thalia, Percy, and I remained in front of Chiron. I looked at Chiron's worried face and then at Thalia's apprehensive expression. From where he stood, Percy's right foot awkwardly kicked back and forth as he was unsure what to do. I could nearly feel Chiron's pleading internal thoughts digging into my head: Please go with Thalia.
I turned to the daughter of Zeus. "Wanna pair up?"
Percy looked up, surprised at how I took the initiative. I didn't do that often in front of him, come to think of it. Thalia shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her grip tightening on a plain borrowed camp sword as a cautious gaze searched my impassive face.
"Um, Jade, if you want, I could pair up with Thalia?" Percy offered hesitantly. I glanced at him and was confused when I saw the uneasiness in his eyes. What was he nervous for?
Chiron cleared his throat. "Actually, Percy, I'd like for you watch them."
Percy turned to him with a questioning expression.
"I think you'll learn a thing or two," Chiron added as we followed our activities director to an empty circular court. Percy and the centaur stood at the sidelines while Thalia and I walked to the middle of the circle. Although the rest of the campers were supposed to be rehearsing on their own, their eyes strayed from their own practice to where we stood.
"You may draw your weapons," Chiron told us. "Including any personal belongings."
"You sure?" she asked, a bit gruffly, gesturing to the enchanted watch on her wrist. I had seen the watch spin into a frightening shield before, when Connor made the mistake of pushing a joke too far. We simply learned that seeing Medusa's face was not at all pleasant. Some campers actually nearly fainted at the sight of it, which made me all the more thankful that my godly abilities dulled visual effects of magic.
"I think I can handle it," I casually answered in place of Chiron while pulling my own adamantine twin katanas out of the Void. I held them in forward grip, tips pointing away from me. Just like how I eyed the daughter of Zeus' watch, Thalia was now looking at me with a more caution as I now had the better edge on offensive abilities. I would also admit to some pride that my personal choice of weapons were unique. The gleaming whiteness and hardness of the blade was akin to diamond, so it would be an understatement to say that it was "flashy". It could blind monsters and people if I had the right angle on a light source. Its tendency to stand out was another reason why I didn't summon them out of the Void more often in camp. I swore something akin to irritation flash across Thalia's electric blue eyes the same time Chiron winced at my slight lack of tact.
"That's not what I meant," she snapped.
"Thalia, you can trust Jade, she would be a good partner for today," Chiron intervened with a placating gesture of his hands. "I trust her that she'll help you get 'warmed-up', if I may put it."
Thalia fidgeted with the strap of her watch, admitting, "I've never fought with another demigod, except, you know, Luke."
She said the last part with a noticeably lower volume, as she had been filled in by Chiron about all of camp's recent events, including Luke's betrayal. I personally thought she took the news well, which was mildly interesting. I wasn't sure what to expect from the daughter of Zeus, temperament wise. We were of the same age, but clearly she had a different experience with time as she had been encased in a tree for almost six years. She also had a much more rough childhood than I did.
"Do not worry, Thalia, this is simply a spar and you won't need to hold back," Chiron assured her and produced a spear out of nowhere, handing it to Thalia. Though she took the spear with some unease, Thalia effortlessly flipped and spun the weapon around her body, testing its weight and her grip.
At the demigod's expert display of familiarity with the weapon, Percy cleared his throat. "Is this a good idea? Sorry, I don't want to interrupt, but I'm a little worried for-"
I shot Percy an amused expression and borrowed Chiron's earlier words. "Thanks, but no thanks. Just try to learn a thing or two, okay?"
Tightening my ponytail, I pushed my snap-back into Percy's hands before Chiron stepped forward to the edge of the ring and held out an arm at the middle, dividing Thalia and I. We had both warmed our muscles prior to Chiron's suggestion to the spar, so we did last minutes stretches before lowering to our comfortable stances. At this point, a quiet crowd had gathered, everyone had abandoned their individual practices, preferring to watch the entertainment. No one stopped them from gathering.
Chiron's voice was the only sound in the outside clearing. "You will stop at my call, or the first maim, or the first sign of out-of-boundaries. No godly abilities. Ready-"
The smooth floor underneath my feet squeaked as I bent even lower, my left blade facing Thalia and my right behind me.
"Get set-"
Thalia slapped the surface of her watch, Medusa's horrific face springing into view. I was so focused on the match that I didn't notice spectators flinching away. I also had to begrudgingly note that her timing to reveal her shield as an attempt to throw me off was sneaky.
"Go."
And no one moved.
Thalia reminded me of apex predators, specifically the tiger or perhaps the eagle, like her father's animal symbol. While this might be flattering, I was more under the impression that Thalia resembled an apex predator that's been locked away for a long time, got released from its prison, and was now extremely unsure of where it stands on the food chain. She was restless and had enormous amounts of pent-up energy, but didn't have a safe outlet as there were not many things or people that could withstand the power of a daughter of one of the Big Three. And Chiron knew all of this.
Which was why he chose me, I surmised, as Thalia's weight shifted for a fraction.
Then she was a blur.
And I matched her.
Percy POV
Percy had been so occupied with the match that he nearly didn't notice that Annabeth had joined him and Chiron. His grip on Jade's hat was painfully tense.
It was obvious Annabeth had hurried when she panted, "Hey, I came as fast as I could, how are they holding up?"
"Much better than I was expecting," Chiron answered her distractedly, the centaur's attention was currently fully engaged with the fight before them. Annabeth barely had enough to register the response before she also grew absorbed into the spectacle. Percy couldn't blame her.
Jade and Thalia have been fighting nonstop for more than ten minutes now. Spars never lasted this long in sword fighting lessons, and they were never this intense. They hadn't stopped moving and the clang of their weapons didn't lessen in volume either. Thalia was everything he had expected from a daughter of Zeus. She was frightening. In the first minute into the fight, she had been slightly hesitant and it was evident that she was restraining herself, however the more Jade fought back, the more Thalia was encouraged to unleash more of her strength. Three minutes into the fight, Thalia stopped holding herself back. Her spear jabbed ferociously and she would swing it like a powerful bat with enough power to disorient a monster. And Jade was able to weather the beating.
From the very beginning, Percy was most bothered by how quickly he had realized that he severely underestimated and misunderstood Jade. Percy knew Jade was experienced, more than him, but perhaps his recent experiences of successful quests had given him a false sense of confidence. He had never truly witnessed the full extent of Jade's abilities, which was apparent the second she unveiled her personal weapons. Chiron had told him that the twin katanas were made of adamantine, a rare metal that most demigods didn't use simply because Celestial bronze was the preferred material. It was even more unusual to see her fighting with two swords; it was an entirely new style of fighting he had never seen anyone use, and he'd hadn't known Jade could fight like this the past two summers he'd spent with her. She moved efficiently and transitioned between both spectrums of offensive and defensive maneuvers with the two katanas so smoothly that her actions spoke of levels of experience and practice. Jade seemed like an entirely differently person, especially so without her signature snap-back shadowing her face. He's never seen her more awake than now, her usually relaxed, hooded eyes were instead alert. Jade's expression was completely devoid of the easy going, flippant personality he was most accustomed to, replaced with a startlingly focused gaze. Percy was almost embarrassed to know that Jade had been hiding this side of her all this time.
All the spectators watched apprehensively as Thalia let out a yell and suddenly moved faster, attacking with more force and renewed energy. Both demigods were soaked with sweat, battered, and dirty from rolling on the ground more than once. They were moving at a speed that should have exhausted them both by now, but the pace hadn't slacked one second.
Percy panicked for a moment when it appeared that Thalia had taken the upper hand when she managed to press Jade into a corner. Thalia was on a groove now, invigorated by the situational advantage, and Jade had nowhere to run, but only to try and fight her way out. The spear thrusts grew faster and the shield slammed more aggressively into Jade's blades. Percy watched with wide eyes when Jade snagged Thalia's spear with the two katanas, her shoulder pressing against the shield.
They were caught in a stalemate. Thalia couldn't retract her spear without allowing the katanas to pierce her while Jade couldn't relent against the shield or she would be pushed out of the ring, disqualified. The strain of pressed metals creaked. Percy let out a breath of air, believing that if the standstill lasted for a few more seconds, that Chiron would call it a draw. It had been amazing display of combat for ten minutes, and Percy thought that it was more than enough to see what Thalia was capable of.
However, instead the centaur called out, "You may use reverse grip, Jade."
Percy voiced his confusion, "Reverse grip?"
"Uh oh," Annabeth muttered next to him. Percy glanced at Annabeth, perplexed by how saying 'reverse grip' could change anything, and redirected his attention to the ring.
He asked, "How does 'reverse grip' change anyth-"
And the moment he saw Jade's trademark smirk appear, he suddenly felt a little worried for Thalia.
In one swift move, Jade's grip on her swords slackened as she twisted her wrists. Her fingers adjusted, latching onto the kanatas' handles, but instead of the traditional forward grip, the swords were now held in reverse. Caught off-guard, Thalia stumbled when Jade pulled away and slashed diagonally at an angle that would have been possible had she continued her forward grip. The daughter of Zeus lifted her shield to avoid being sliced, allowing Jade to move away from the edge of the ring, away from the danger of being disqualified. Although Thalia had appeared to have the upperhand only moments earlier, the situation was now reversed. Jade's method of fighting had changed, and Percy noted how Thalia couldn't keep up with the was moving differently, spinning and attacking at unfamiliar angles. Percy wasn't so sure if even he would be able to adjust to another style of combat in the sudden spur of the moment. The mental strength to maintain focus and prediction was unbelievably taxing, and the signs of stress were now visible on Thalia's face.
On the other hand, Jade appeared to be much more relaxed now that she had completely changed her way of fighting. It was almost as if Jade had actually been the one who was holding back all this time. Percy's jaw slackened when he saw the unclaimed camper weave through Thalia's offensive attacks. In the beginning, it had been Thalia who was beating down Jade, but now everything was reversed; the daughter of Zeus was getting more and more battered. It was like watching a movie fight scene with knives and swords. Jade would alternate between reverse and forward grips, treating her swords like spears and knives, jabbing and slicing with no discernable pattern. He had never seen such versatile use of blades.
The match dragged on for another painful five minutes until it was clear Thalia couldn't go on any longer. Thalia had been encaged in a tree trunk for several years whereas Jade had been diligently training for the same time, so it was slightly expected. Thalia's arms were trembling and her shield became more of a useless weight than a defense tool, her arm could barely hold up her spear. Though Jade had turned the tables, she still was no better, she looked like she was about to collapse any second. Although she had certainly taken the upper-hand by the end of the fight, fighting a child of the Big Three was no easy feat. If Chiron had allowed godly abilities, the outcome surely would've been different, though Percy himself wasn't exactly sure what Jade's abilities were. Percy betted that this spar had been the most physically exhaustive activity she had done in the longest time; he at least knew enough about Jade that she strongly disliked doing anything remotely active.
Chiron cleared his throat. "Campers, that'll be it for today. Wash yourselves up before heading for lunch."
Following their director's orders, the gossiping demigods left them alone, putting away their weapons in the weapons shed and stripping off their gear. The centaur raised an eyebrow at Annabeth and Percy, the remaining bystanders in the entire area. Annabeth and Chiron shared a silent look, a look that Percy was beginning to feel annoyed about, before she tugged him away to follow the rest of the campers' suit.
"Let's go, Seaweed Brain," she said briskly, leaving no room for Percy to protest.
"Drop your weapons," the centaur told Thalia and Jade as he and Annabeth walked away from the arena. The Gorgon shield spun back to its smaller form while the spear clattered to the floor. Over his shoulder, Percy saw Jade's twin katanas dissolved into thin air before Annabeth punched his shoulder to stop him from eavesdropping. He had so many questions to ask Annabeth.
Just when he opened his mouth, Annabeth cut him off, "Hold your questions for until later."
Percy grumbled, but listened to her. He would have to wait for another time.
"I'd say that went pretty well," Chiron said. If I wasn't I wasn't mistaken, the centaur even sounded pleased.
"How are you feeling, Thalia?" he gently asked her.
Thalia let out a long sigh, shoulder sagging. "Better."
She rubbed her wrists self-consciously, her head bowed and eyebrows furrowed. I bumped her shoulder and shot a teasing grin.
"You're really good," I complimented. Scarily good, I have more formal training than her, but I could barely keep up with her.
The daughter of Zeus's mouth twitched at the casual praise.
"Thanks, you too," she replied with a dry tone. "Were you holding back on purpose?"
"Thalia, do you understand why I wanted you to spar with Jade?" Chiron inquired.
Thalia's hands formed fists before loosening and she glanced at my way. "I think so, I was full of pent-up energy, and I know I was lashing out at people right after I got out of the tree, so I needed some sort of outlet."
Chiron's tone was impossibly soft. "That's right."
I've never heard Chiron talk to anyone like this. I wondered if he felt obligated to give her special treatment, or something, since she was the King of god's demigod daughter who had been trapped inside a tree for years.
"I just didn't think you'd use a camper as a punching bag."
"I am offended," I interjected mildly.
A small smile formed on Thalia's face. "Sorry."
"No biggie," I easily said and winced when I tried walking out of the fighting ring. "Aw man, I gonna be so sore tomorrow."
And I was right. My body ached all over the next day and I ended up sleeping in for another five hours until the early afternoon. The Stoll brothers helped me drag myself to breakfast where I was quickly learning that Thalia had already become a big star in camp after letting out steam yesterday. Although she had been extremely snappy and aggressive her first few days at camp, Chiron's idea of having her spar had been a good one. She seemed a lot more relaxed now and comfortable with herself, for some reason. Maybe this was because she had spent most of her life fighting monsters before coming to camp.
It's kind of inevitable for the daughter of Zeus to not be popular at camp. Percy, as the son of Poseidon, had already gotten some attention, good and bad, since he was a kid from one of the Big Three, but a child of Zeus? That was even better. Everyone wanted to be friends with the kid whose parent is, arguably, the most powerful god of all. And Thalia's true personality wasn't bad, either. She was attractive, with a very charming mix of femininity and tomboy attitude. Her past mother, who was a celebrity if I remembered correctly, blessed her with sharp, electric blue eyes and sharp jaw, but her feminine features were offset with the way she carried herself: loud, spunky, and energetic. Her style of goth-punk also added to the tomboy flair. All in all, Thalia was charismatic. Everyone in camp, not just the demigods, but also the dryads, satyrs, and other woodland creatures loved her. I supposed it was a special attention that came with being a child of the king of Greek gods and goddesses. I also had a creeping suspicion that people were trying to warm up to her because she can give some pretty mean electric shocks, ones that gave you a metallic taste in your mouth. Most of the time, she couldn't help it because her body was literally an overcharged electric outlet.
I guess I could say that I was glad that Thalia was integrating nicely into camp life. She's a good kid to the bone, but I just wasn't sure if I could trust her yet. Like Percy, she also had issues with her temper sometimes, but we had yet to see it blow its fuse. Chiron had once told me that all children of the Big Three struggle with keeping their tempers down, a problem that came with their powerful godly abilities. If their tempers were left unchecked, the demigods' powers could leave some pretty devastating consequences.
Annabeth was more than happy to have her best friend back, despite both her and Thalia were still reeling from the narrowing age gap. Nonetheless, Annabeth was excited. One of her old childhood friends had figuratively risen from the dead. A more awkward dilemma was Percy's stance on this entire situation. I walked up to him a few days after the spar with Thalia as I hadn't talked to him properly since then.
"This is mine," I said as my way of greeting while I snatched my hat off the sand next to him. The son of Poseidon was at the edge of camp border watching the ocean waves, skipping camp activities. Finding the kid had always been an easy task; a missing Percy? Check the pegasus stables or the beach.
Percy watched me take a seat with his green eyes.
Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia have really pretty eyes, my mind wandered.
"Dime for your thoughts?" I asked while dusting my snap-back from sand. The moment I said this, I was immediately reminded of my conversation with Luke long ago.
"Jelly donut for your thoughts?"
I stared at the rolling waves. It was an extremely nice day that it would have been a shame if we hadn't skipped camp activities. The sun was out, casting perfectly warm rays, and the slow breeze blew as if the ocean itself was sighing.
If only things could stay like this for a bit longer.
"-that."
I blinked once and then turned to a disgruntled Percy. "What?"
"I didn't know you could fight like that," he repeated himself.
"Chiron needed someone who could handle Thalia in a spar so she could vent a little, but no one in camp was as good as, you know, Luke," I said the name with a low voice. Percy's mouth sloped downwards at the mention, but didn't turn away from the conversation.
"In all of camp, Annabeth maybe could have handled it, but that would be a bad decision, and just asking a son of Poseidon to fight the daughter of Zeus would have been even worse," I added when Percy's mouth opened as if to volunteer himself. Some sort of understanding passed in his sea-green eyes. There was already enough competition between the Big Three gods, asking for two of their kids to go at each other, even if it was just for a casual spar, would have been dangerous no matter what. Children of the Big Three were no joke.
"And you were the best choice? Why you?"
In a dry tone, I said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I can hold my own pretty well. I could tell you don't have a lot of faith in me when it comes to fighting, you know, like when you tried to prevent me from sparring Thalia, or when I stopped a draco aionius, and stalled the camp harpies so you, Annabeth, and Tyson could get on that quest Hermes sent you."
Embarrassed, Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I didn't really know what you could do," he confessed. I raised and lifted a shoulder, pulling on the snap-back so that it cover my eyes.
"You should let your face show more often."
"What?"
Percy's face turned into a slight shade of pink, embarrassed by the words. "Um, I mean, I just wanted to say that you look nice without the hoods and hats covering half of your face all the time."
And that is enough interacting with the Plot.
I got up, shaking the sand off of my clothes. "Thanks," I said in a terse voice before leaving.
Percy sputtered at how I left the short conversation. "Wait, but I have more questions about-"
I waved at him with my back turned. I was sure that the sudden goodbye left him confused, but that wasn't my problem. My problem was forgetting my place in this universe; I was supposed to be insignificant, reduced to the background and side characters. If I wanted to accomplish what I wanted to do, I couldn't involve myself anymore than I already had, which had always proven to be extremely difficult.
I needed to get away from camp. Perhaps leaving earlier than usual would be the best course right now. I would have ask Chiron to let me call mom sometime today.
"You should be going to the hospital."
I took the first aid kit from Justin's grip with a grateful thank you. "I have. They ask too many questions."
Taking an alcohol bottle and cotton swab, I let out a quiet hiss of pain when the solution stung the long scrapes on my right shoulder.
"Can you even reach all of the scrapes?"
Stretching my left arm as far as possible, I found that true to the teenage celebrity's word, I could not. The scrapes extended from the top of the shoulder down to my shoulder blade at an awkward angle. I had fallen on some pavement earlier, in which my shirt's shortsleeve had tugged down, causing some painful roadburns. The cause of the inconvenience: a pathetic breed of one of Hydra's spawns. The good news: it was dead. The bad news: Justin caught me with the bad scrapes before I could hide the fact that I got hurt by healing the wound with my stocked supply of nectar. One drop of nectar rubbed on the scrapes would have made it disappear. I tried to brush of Justin's concern when searching our new home in Los Angeles for the magic food, but my stubborn step-brother insisted on first aid.
"Aw, Justin, are you concerned for me? I'm very touched."
"Be quiet." Scowling, Justin snatched the used cotton swab from my hand, soaked another one, and proceeded dabbing my shoulder blade. Though he wasn't completely gentle, he wasn't rough either. I tensed when the alcohol burn hurt a lot more than I was expecting. I hadn't gotten roadburn in awhile, I had forgotten how much they could be irritating. Maybe the scrapes were worse than I assumed; I had been underestimating the extent of my injuries lately since I seemed to be fighting a lot more monsters the last summer at camp when we went without the protection of Thalia's Tree.
Seeing me flinch, Justin paused. He asked carefully, "What exactly is a life of a demigod?"
My hand stilled for a second when I reached for the gauze wrap and tape. "You'll need to be a little more specific."
"What do you guys do exactly? Do all of you get hurt like this regularly? Where do you learn to fight? How many of you guys are there? Why do you-"
Justin cut himself off when he realized he was spitting out question like machine gun. I couldn't help but laugh a bit at his curiosity.
"I can tell you were thinking of this for a while," I said lightly. He helped me wrap my shoulder with the gauze, even cutting it to the desired length and taping it down for me. I could tell he didn't have much experience with first aid, because once I rolled my shoulder back, the gauze easily loosened and the wrapping fell apart. Staring at the messy gauze wrap, laughter bubbled stronger than before and this time, I couldn't hold back. Back bent over, I laughed until I couldn't breathe and my stomach cramped.
"Could you stop," Justin muttered as he attempted to redo the bandage. Once I managed to calm down, I waved his hands away and properly wrapped the gauze myself with a bit of troublesome effort. Justin studied at my work for a moment, as if memorizing the way I wrapped it. After putting away the leftover gauze strip, tape, alcohol, and bag of sterile cotton balls, he followed me to the living room where I put back the first aid kit on a shelf.
"You still didn't answer my question." Justin said when I collapsed on a couch facefirst.
"You do realize that we only exist because our godly parents couldn't keep it in their pants?" I drawled, my voice muffled by the leather couch.
Justin sighed. "Jade, please. I just want some answers."
I started talking. Somewhere, at some quiet corner of my mind, I felt something unraveling as if I was sorting out some feelings that I had been balling up for a while.
This is a good feeling, I supposed.
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