Chaos's Hero

8. I give a knife to Alexander the Great

"Your grip is important when duelling" I tell the dozens of armed half-bloods, "If your grip is not steady and firm it gives your opponent a better opportunity to disarm you and then you are stuffed"

The four of us stand, surrounded by eager half-bloods all competing for the best stance and grip. Accepting our help, Chiron has allowed us to train the newer, younger and less experienced half-bloods. By less experienced, I mean that they have had it easy, they have not had to fear about the circumstances of an upcoming war against a revenge seeking titan or an army of monsters...yet. Behind the masks of eagerness hides the fear of the truth of a possible enemy in our midst and the terror that may be brought with him.

Behind the circle, at the top of the Arena, Annabeth and Thalia stand, concern sits on their faces as they stare at the four of us, especially Huntress. Trouble brews for us between them.

Amongst the youngsters stands my small friend from the other night, shorter than the rest, his shield rests against his legs too heavy for him to hold for too long, his other hand rests on the hilt of his sword, his blade dug into the dirt of the arena and his head drowns in his three sizes to big helm. I nudge Alpha and tell him to continue the lesson as I walk towards the kid, I kneel down in front of him to get closer to his eye level,

"Hey buddy" I greet with a gentle tone, "May I?" I ask, pointing to his large helm.

He nods.

Gently I remove his helmet and rest it under my left arm. He combs his fingers through his blonde hair, a small look of relief sits on his face.

"What's your name?"

"Alexander" He says shyly.

"Like Alexander the great?" I ask.

"Who's that?" He asks, his interest piqued this time his voice is less shy.

"He was a great king" I tell him, "But that story is for another day"

I take his sword and shield and put them down next to my foot. Moving my cloak back, I offer him a knife that is lighter and easier for him to carry.

"Take this" I suggest, the blade points towards me, "We will find you a blade that you can carry on your own"

Thankful, he takes the blade a new sense of power shines across his face. I take his old sword, shield and helm and put it with the pile behind the circle. From afar I watch as he participates more with the lesson, putting in more of an effort with his blade.

"That was a nice thing that you did" A female voice says behind me.

I look back to see Annabeth, no longer with Thalia and a few rows behind me. I turn back to face the lesson, Alpha points out that sword play is not like a lightsaber duel, this earns a very disappointing 'ahhs' from the group.

"He looked like he needed help, I couldn't just let him stand in despair because he is smaller than the others" I state, "How old is he anyways?"

"He is nine, our youngest camper here"

Watching him, flashes of a young Luke appear in my mind as his floppy dirty blonde hair dances with his moving figure as he replicates the stances that were being taught.

Assuming that he is a runaway I continue to watch him, not wanting to engage the conversation further.

"How is your cut?" She asks, persevering to engage in a conversation.

"It is getting better" I admit.

Years ago, Athena, Annabeth's mother, had warned me to stay away from her daughter as she feared that I would hurt her precious daughter, unaware that she had gotten it wrong and that it would be her daughter that would hurt me. An ounce of that pain strikes my chest as that heart crushing moment replays in my mind. Being so close to her brings that pain to mind.

For years I have devoted myself to building and strengthening the army of Chaos, through this process I managed to set aside romantic feelings seeing it as a weakness when going in battle against some of the worst creatures and monsters out there. Being so close and having to act so calm is breaking down those walls that I have tried so hard to build.

As I feel each brick cracking, allowing the pain to shine through, I push myself off from the stand and storm off away from her. Being what I consider, unlucky she follows after me.

"Have I done something wrong?" She asks from behind, "Thalia told me that technically you died, did I somehow contribute to your death?"

I scoff.

"Have we met before?"

Unsure of how to respond I continue to walk towards Long Island beach, my feet sinking into the soft sand.

"Can you stop and answer my questions?" She eventually snaps.

I stop, my fists tight as I prepare to face her.

"What did I do to you?" She asks, her tone more demanding.

I face her, for once disappointed that she cannot see my angry yet hurt face.

"You have done nothing to me"

"Then- "

"But you have hurt another, in a way so vile it is clear that you are to not be trusted with the heart of another a gift so fragile yet powerful at the same time"

"You, you're taking about Percy"

Her face is filled with hope, an emotion that I had not expected to see on her face, I expected more guilt and shame than the hope that is burning in her stormy grey eyes.

"Where is your guilt? Your shame?" I bark

Tears swell in her eyes,

"It is all there" She admits, "But it does not burn as strongly as my hope that Percy is okay, that he is alive and fine" She smiles as a single tear falls down her face.

"Just because he is alive and fine does not mean that he does not still ache from your betrayal every day, no matter how hard he has fought the pain still bares heavy in his chest all because of you!"

I surprise myself with my confession, as much as the anger flows through me I feel relief swim through me as it feels good to admit that my walls are not holding back the pain that I have claimed not to feel until arriving here, it's a scam and I have been its most gullible victim.

"You have no idea what you are talking about!" Annabeth snaps, "You do not know what had happened that day just like Percy!"

Her words surprise me even more than they had before, how do I not know what had happened when I had witnessed the adultery with my own eyes.

"I understand that those actions were vile and cruel" She admits, "I have watched Percy be a hero and face every challenge with all of his might, yet his biggest challenge to confront me he could not handle and yes it may have hurt him, but he has faced death in the face and has managed to confront death, but he could not confront heartbreak!"

I sit there quietly as I listen to the daughter of the goddess of wisdom, her rant encouraging me to be angry at her even more, but they don't as her points hit me harder than I would care to admit but it is her next statement that hits the hardest punch to my chest,

"And the worst thing is, is that those actions were not my actions"