The End of an Olympian

23 | Brutal Training

And then I made a decision—one I probably should have thought about, to begin with. So I called the gods to a private meeting in my palace and explained my plan.

1308 words

Percy

"You're going to do what?!" Apollo shouted.

"Challenge Zeus to a duel." I've stated this proposition at least three times now.

"Are you insane?!" Apollo had not yet grasped, and probably never would, the meaning of an indoor voice.

I pretended to think a little before deadpanning, "No."

Artemis mockingly patted her brother on the shoulder as she closed his dropped jaw.

"You'll catch flies," she said.

Apollo glared at her, but Artemis merely smirked back at him.

Hermes ignored the two. "Are you sure about this, Percy? If you lose..."

He didn't have to say what would happen in that case. Everyone knew it would be bad. Really bad.

"That's why we will train him," Hades interjected. "He will learn to fight with us all. And then he will bruise my pathetic excuse for a brother's ego so much he'll be crippled under the weight of his ego."

I don't know why, but the venom in which Hades laced his words was utterly hysterical to me that I couldn't help but laugh. The insult was so on-brand for him it did to lighten the mood and take everyone's minds off from my suicidal plan.

Once the laughter died down—my laughter, to be clear, because no one else really laughed—Hestia stood beside me. Her warm eyes bore into mine. They were comforting and intimidating.

"Why are you doing this?"

Hestia very well knew the reasons were nowhere near selfish desire for glory. But I understood she still had to make sure my intentions were pure. So I explained my reasoning as best I could without too much of a long, drawn-out speech.

"Camp was destroyed. My people are slaves. Olympus is divided. I dragged us into this mess. Yes, I know it's for the right reasons, and I know it was everyone's decision to fight, and I know it's not all my fault. But I need to do this so no one else has to. Let me fight to fulfill the prophecy and become king. I have to challenge him one-on-one for that to happen. Please, Aunt Hestia, have hope."

At the last line, her face broke into a smile. The same one she used to welcome anyone to the hearth. The one that put you at ease. The one that did have hope.

"Always," she said simply.

And that was that. The other gods agreed to help train me for the duel. We couldn't take long because we were unsure how soon Zeus would plan to attack again. We hoped he would hold out for a week. In one week, I would challenge Zeus, lightning bolt against xiphos. In one week, we would take to Olympus for the final battle, Zeus fighting for tradition while I fought for my friends. In one week, the prophecy would uncover if, after the final battle, a new king ascends. What terrified me still was that in one week, the Age of Olympians might come to an end.

Day 1 was... painful. Artemis knocked me on my ass too many times to count. And then Apollo joined in. Their idea of training me was to shoot arrows and make me block them with Riptide then attack me with daggers and send me flying through the air before landing hard on my backside. I felt like the only thing I improved on was my pain tolerance. But they did switch to improving my aim and precision after that morning's fiasco. Let's just say I'm ok with daggers and still shit with a bow. I'm a lot better at defending from targeted, long-range attacks and close quarters with my sword.

That night for dinner Apollo felt the need to say, "I've never seen someone shoot so horribly. Even a star-nosed mole could aim better... and they're blind!"

"Mmmh," I said pretending to think, "so my aim with a bow is as good as your haikus then?"

The sun god looked like I had murdered his puppy.

"Have you no shame?! I am the god of poetry! My haikus are-"

"Atrocious," Hades cut in dryly.

"Painful," Aphrodite added.

"Ridiculous," Artemis finished.

By the end, Apollo was pouting. "You all are mean," he declared.

The general amusement from poking fun at Apollo was a nice distraction from what would happen in six days' time.

Day 2 was spent with Hades. He told me all of Zeus's fighting styles and strengths and weaknesses. He may not have been able to counter them, but he had a sharp mind for what they were. He taught me how to sneak under someone's guard and the best insults to use if I wanted to annoy him to death. Or to get him angry enough to fight irrationally. Most of them were insults to his ego, some remarks questioned his sanity, and a few had been about who Rhea liked best. I got the feeling that the insults were more as cathartic stress relief rants for Hades than anything I could shout at him during battle. But who knows. Maybe yelling, "Anyone looks better in that blue toga you wore five thousand years ago than you!" would confuse him enough to just surrender. Personally, I was not going to rely on that to save my hide in the upcoming duel.

I was saved in the afternoon by Hephaestus who trained me on strength. Though, "saved" was not the right word. The training itself was quite brutal. We forged large weapons with hard metals and then pushed my limits by completely demolishing them with only Riptide. He instructed me on how to pinpoint weaknesses in weapons. Having studied the Master Bolt before and discussed its craftsmanship with the elder Cyclopes, he told me that it was best to hit it at the tips where the lightning was weakest. It would be dangerous because beams of high voltage electricity would shoot off as if broke, but I was hoping the pendant Luke provided would give me enough protection. Hephaestus predicted that as the bolt extended to compensate for losing some energy, the durability was stretched too. After a while, if the bolt was unstable enough, a critical hit to the base where Zeus typically grabbed it would render it almost useless in terms of power since it would explode.

On day 3, Aphrodite worked with her husband to forge me the best armor he could. It was deep blue with celestial bronze inlay to accentuate the curves in the chest plate. The rivets that held some pieces together were imperial gold. Wave designs all over the armor were done in silver while the greaves and vambraces were of stygian iron. You'd expect all the metal to be heavy and restricting, but Aphrodite had been observing my movements when fighting for the past two days and knew exactly how to design this armor to suit my range of motion while protecting my weak spots. She also had an enchantment that made it as light as cloth and to repair itself if given enough time. I also learned how long fittings took. The whole morning had passed by the time Hephaestus could even begin to forge it, but by nightfall, the beautiful armor was finished.

"Thank you, Aphrodite. It's stunning," I commented sincerely.

The goddess of love actually squealed at that and hugged me. She tried to give me a peck on the lips, but I turned at the last second so she caught my cheek instead. I don't think she minded if the giggle and large grin were anything to go by. I was just glad Hephaestus wasn't around to see. Talk about awkward.

There were only four more days until I'd challenge Zeus. Luckily, he made no move against me or Camp Half-Blood since the last time. But on day 4, three days until I'd challenge Zeus, our luck ran out.