Titans Wrath

Annabeth: Chapter 14

     Percy and Artemis were in the Arena on Olympus when the rest of the guardians and I found them. They were sparring, but not with weapons. Artemis stood 10 feet away from Percy, her hands behind her back, clasped firmly. She stared daggers into him, not that he could see. Percy stood rigid, eyes closed, his body shaking lightly with the effort of whatever he was doing. Sweat dripped from his chin, and he had long since sweat through his shirt. "FOCUS PERSEUS!" Artemis yelled, and Percy grit his teeth even harder. The energy in the arena was so intense, it was actually hard for me to keep my eyes on them, and judging by the looks on the faces of our friends, the same was true for them. 

     Energy rolled through the stands of the Arena like waves, blasting the hair from my face, and Artemis. The energy, I realized, was coming from Percy. I studied him closer and realized what they were training for. Percy's skin was glowing a warm red color, and parts of his body were flickering, trying to ignite into the golden radiance of his divine form. How long they'd been doing then, I had no clue, but from the expression on Artemis's face and the sheer concentration from my husband, I'd doubted he'd succeeded yet. 

     "Stop trying to force it, boy!" Artemis shouted gruffly. "Your divine form is within you already. You aren't drawing it, OUT, you're pushing your outer self IN!" As the instructions left Artemis's mouth, Percy's form stilled. His eyes relaxed, and he clenched his fists. We all looked away as Percy's feet lifted from the ground. He spread his arms into a cross and opened his eyes. Golden green light flooded the Arena, and energy exploded from his body, knocking all of us back. Even Artemis stumbled away, her eyes wide. He held it for a few seconds when suddenly the lights flickered and cut off. I uncovered my eyes and watched as Percy slowly drifted back to the ground, his shoes crunching on the textured ground. 

His clothes and skin were steaming, and his breathing came in short ragged bursts, but despite all that, his characteristic lopsided grin was plastered across his face.

"Holy Hades..." He muttered before promptly falling face first into the dirt and beginning to snore. Artemis held up a hand to stop me before I could jump into the arena to his side, smiling at me.

"Don't worry, Annabeth. The first time an immortal summons their divine form can be... taxing. He'll be fine after a nap and a meal." Artemis clicked her fingers, and a blanket appeared over Percy, covering him, before she turned and strode away out of the arena.

It took Jason and Leo both to help me drag him back to his cabin at camp. When he finally came to, nearly 3 hours later, it was with a loud moan.

"Owww..." he grumbled, and I had to stifle a giggle. He sat up, and like every time I saw him, I just had to take him in for a minute. His hair was a messy jet black mop, but it suited him well. He had a lean face and sharp features, dominated by his intense sea green eyes. He took in his surroundings in a flick before muttering the most common word he's said over the years. "Food."

Now I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, Seaweed brain, let's go get you some food. But first you're showering."

Time skip

"So," Percy started around a mouthful of burger, "what's Ares got you doing?"

Ares had proven to be a hard God to work with. He had an annoying habit of getting into fights everywhere and refused to let me do any real 'guarding' on the grounds that he could guard himself better.

"Mostly just helping campers and helping Chiron raise money for the war efforts. Grover has been out like a mad goat, bringing in all kinds of new demigods, as well as a few offspring of the titans from the war when we were kids." Percys eyebrows shot up at mention of that.

"Half mortal half Titan children? Bet they're a handful. How is camp handling them?" He was already 4 burgers deep, and too my horror, was reaching for his fifth.

"They're handling them with kid gloves. The kids are sweet enough, but they're strong. They're stronger than most of the demigods." Percy devoured his fifth burger as I spoke before finally seeming to spare the final 3 on the plate. He drained his goblet of blue coke before looking at me with a mischievous sparkle in his eye that made me shiver.

"When was the last time we dueled, Wise Girl?" The question came out innocent enough, but the air of challenge permeated his voice. All through the meal, campers had been stealing glances and openly staring at the two of us, two of the legendary seven, now guardians of Olympus, eating and talking like normal campers, but all was silent when he spoke.

I sucked in a breath through my teeth and laughed, standing and putting my palms flat on the table and leaning forward to talk back. "Not since the day you proposed, scared you'll lose?"

Percy glanced around the dining pavilion as 'oooohs' echoed out from around us, causing him to stand himself, snorting.

"If I remember right, didn't you go for an unplanned swim during that fight?" He countered, causing my face to flush.

"You, me, arena, one hour!" I challenged, sticking my hand out. I hate to say it, but Ares seems to have been rubbing off on me. Normally, I'd never be so brash as to openly challenge someone like that, but we were already on a roll.

Silence hung in the air as Percy straightened, giving a slow look to all the expectant faces around us. I saw Chiron looking at us over the top of his newspaper, an eyebrow raised, he too awaiting the son of Poseidons' reply.

He thrust his hand out and grasped mine, leaning forward and saying loud enough for everyone to hear, "No powers, magical items allowed, first to draw blood wins." We shook hands and nodded.

One hour later

Third Person

When the duo arrived at the arena, it was packed full of every camper in camp. Over 130 demigods and demititans all packed in, chatting excitedly. Annabeth was in one corner, strapping the last of her armor on. She had laced up some leather grieves, as well as a hardened leather chest plate, a red plumed leather cap on her head.

Strapped to her waist was her drakon bone sword, while her dagger resided in a sheath on her opposite thigh.

On the other side of the arena, Percy stood quietly, pacing back and forth while taking deliberate practice swings with Riptide to warm up his muscles. He himself has strapped on a matching leather chest guard and had put a blue plumed leather cap on, but he had forgone the grieves.

Chiron clopped out to the middle of the arena and raised a hand for silence, and instantly, everyone obeyed.

"Remember children, no throwing items at the fighters, not after the incident with the molotov. Fighters, we have agreed on the rules, first to draw blood wins." The centaur raised his hand once more and shouted, his voice augmented by magic.

"BEGIN!"