The Forgotten Heroes || PJO

F O U R T E E N: The New Normal

—- Percy —-

"COME ON PERCY! YOU CAN do better than that! This is why we don't fight our finances, we don't do our best. Both of you, go train on a dummy. Or come train with me or Will." I heard Zale say. Thalia and I stopped fighting and looked at Zale.

"She's not my fiance." I muttered.

"Yet. It's so obvious you'll ask her soon." I blushed and looked at the ground. "We have no time to waste, Chaos has a mission for us tomorrow, this will be our last day of training for a while. Go hack a dummy to pieces in under four seconds or start fighting someone other than your girlfriend. Same for you Thalia. Go, go, go!"

Thalia and I looked at each other. She went for Zale, and I found myself facing Will. Without taking time to think or plan, I attacked, and we were locked in combat.

Training here was never boring, even though we did it all the time. Well, a lot of the time. Our days at Chaos's Castle were split between training our body, training our mind, and the missions Chaos sent us on. Everyone but Kat enjoyed missions most. It didn't matter if we were on a solo mission or a group mission, having a reason to leave the castle was always welcomed, because we didn't get to often. Sure, we could go to the Village anytime, but not being able to talk to most of the other inhabitants of the planet put a damper on the day, and we had everything we could possibly dream of and more right here in the castle.

Kat, on the other hand, often trained alone, she claims, out of habit. I suspect there's more to it, but she doesn't talk often. The longest any of us had heard her talk was the day we first met her. Zale and Thalia have a special relationship with her, they often hang out with her, and sometimes Skylar and Hazel too. Kat actually does talk to them, but she hasn't really opened up that much to anyone else.

The story behind Zale's friendship with Kat is a bit of a strange one, but anything can happen here. A few days after we arrived, Kat said we were to easy to train with. Zale took offense to that, and challenged her to a duel that Kat won in about twenty seconds. Zale smiled at her from her trapped and defeated position, and Kat backed away, seeming a little shocked that anyone could smile in that position. But the two became the best of friends after that, and Zale spent half her time training with Kat, and teaching us what she learned with Kat.

Everyone is just fine with this arrangement, because as far as we know, Kat's favorite way of teaching is by experience. This means showing us how to do something by using it on us a couple hundred times. Then showing us on a dummy, and watching us do it, and telling us what we're doing wrong.

From the injuries Zale often has after training with Kat, it's obvious that she's ruthless.

Thalia became Kat's friend when she asked about getting boots like Kat's and they clicked from there. They share clothing ideas and tips, DIY's for a bunch of craft stuff and so on and so forth.

As for Hazel and Skylar, they have a connection through their dad, and they stick together. Skylar and Zale were really close before we came, and Hazel has joined that group easily

The only reason I know this is because Thalia tells me about it, and often, the crafts are fun and interesting, so I'll help her or make something of my own. Plus, I pay attention to what Thalia says now. I kind of have to, part of our brain training is being able to remember anything and everything we hear and see throughout the day. More than once, I've failed a test because I was zoning out to what my girlfriend was talking about. And I really don't want to feel Thalia's wrath anymore.

I started to replay what Thalia and I had been doing and saying the previous night and all the other nights of this week, in my mind as my brain went on autopilot for my fight. I had to be ready for Brain Training this 'afternoon'.