misplaced || l. valdez

7 || piper goes knife shopping and almost passes out

° ~ •. ♆ chapter seven ♆ .• ~ °
"piper goes knife shopping and almost passes out"

On the central green, a group of campers was playing basketball. They were incredible shots. Nothing bounced off the rim. Three-pointers went in automatically.

"Apollo's cabin." Annabeth explained. "Bunch of showoffs with missile weapons— arrows, basketballs."

They walked past a central fire pit, where two guys were hacking at each other with swords.

"Real blades?" Piper noted. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"That's sort of the point." Annabeth said. "Uh, sorry. Bad pun. That's my cabin over there. Number Six." She nodded to a gray building with a carved owl over the door. Through the open doorway, Mari could see bookshelves, weapon displays, and one of those computerized SMART Boards they have in classrooms. Two girls were drawing a map that looked like a battle diagram.

"Speaking of blades, follow me." Annabeth said.

She led Piper and Mari around the side of the cabin, to a big metal shed that looked like it was meant for gardening tools. Annabeth unlocked it, and inside were not gardening tools, unless you wanted to make war on your tomato plants. The shed was lined with all sorts of weapons— from swords to spears to clubs like Coach Hedge's.

"Every demigod needs a weapon," Annabeth said. "Hephaestus makes the best, but we have a pretty good selection, too. Athena's all about strategy—matching the right weapon to the right person. Let's see..."

Annabeth dug around the she before producing a bow. She handed it to Mari, but Mari quickly stopped her.

"I actually have a sword." Mari said.

"Really?" Annabeth said. "Show me."

Mari pulled off her ring and the gold sword from the Grand Canyon was in her hands again. Annabeth frowned at the sight of it, and when Mari offered it to her to examine, she held it gently, as if it could burst into flames at any moment. It seemed strange, but Mari just waved it off. Now that they weren't fighting storm spirits anymore, Mari could actually get a good look at her sword.

The blade was a long triangular shape, and it was so shiny and clear that she could almost see her reflection in it. The hilt was made of leather and the moonstone on the ring was now laid on the intersection where the blade met the handle. A small phrase she hadn't noticed was carved in the blade.

Annabeth read it aloud, confusion lacing her face. "'Equis Unda.' I don't really—"

"Wave-rider." Mari said. "That's what it means, right?"

Annabeth looked at her. "I'm assuming so, since this is Latin."

The way Annabeth looked at her made Mari a little uncomfortable. "Uh— is there something wrong with that?"

"No, of course not, it's just— I've never seen this kind of material before. Are you sure this can keep you safe?"

"It kept me alive at the Grand Canyon." Mari said. "I didn't hit any monsters, but they looked scared of it."

Annabeth stayed quiet. She looked uncomfortable with the weapon in her hands, but she was inspecting it so intently that she could have fooled Mari into thinking that everything was fine.