When we see things that cause us great pain our first response may be to run, to run away from my pain and to try to never look back. That is what I did, I ran straight into the generous arms of Khaos who offered me a powerful position as general of...
I found my team outside the tent, Huntress with her bow in her hand and quiver over her shoulder as she aims at moving targets that Forge had made for her. Designed like small Harpies the targets moved around their area, often disappearing and appearing in a new position, depending on the level they may even shoot back to help test how switched on your reflexes are and they would only stop when hit on a small red dot on the tip of their noses. With five scattered around our camp, Huntress goes on an angry rampage as she quickly draws her bow and knocks an arrow, for a few short seconds she aims at a target closest to us she releases the arrow and sends it soaring through the air, as the tip of the arrow reaches the target it disappears and reappears ten metres to the left. She groans with frustration.
Alpha watches with an amused expression, his expression drops when he sees me approach, quickly he gets up from his seat and walks up to me. Knowing not to bring up my storming off he grins,
"Today feels like the day"
Feeling like that would be the best thing to do right now I hide my pain behind a smirk,
"For me to get my fiftieth win?" I tease, "I think that you may be right"
Simultaneously we put on our black armour, only our swords sit by our sides as we walk down towards an empty arena, or so I thought. As we walk in a giant hellhound turns, her red eyes glow with glee as she bounds over to me. Alpha steps aside as Mrs O' Leary pounces on me, affectionately she drags her gooey tongue over my now sticky face.
"Hey there girl" I laugh, "You need to get off of me or there will be trouble"
She gives me one more sloppy kiss before stepping off of me. A whistle calls her, her head turns back to a pale figure that sits between two dummies. A guilty look sits on her face as she sulks off to Nico. He gets up and walks towards us,
"Did she hurt you?" He asks with polite concern.
Still lying in the hurt I rub her drool off of my face, "No, unless her drool is poisonous" I joke.
Missing the joke Nico offers his hand assuring me that it is not, I take it and he pulls me up. He looks at us both in full armour,
"Was there another attack?"
I shake my head, "No" I say, "Alpha over here has challenged me to a duel, it is how we try to improve his sword fighting abilities"
To my left, Alpha scoffs with disagreement.
"I can beat you" He sulks, "I have when-"
"When I was a new recruit yes" I interrupt, hoping that he would not bring up that period in our lives, "But since then I have been undefeated and every now and then Alpha tries to take that title away from me but all he seems to do is strengthen it"
"Mind if I watch?" Nico asks, curiosity shines in his dark brown eyes.
A mischievous grin appears on Alpha's face, "Why don't you warm Omega up rather?" He offers, "I hear that you can summon the dead, please do not be shy and do whatever it will take to win"
Nico shakes his head, "No thanks, I shadow travelled earlier and am still recovering but maybe another time" He offers.
Not wanting to pressure him we shrug our offer off and move to the centre of the arena with our swords ready for some fun violent collisions. On the side Nico sits watching us like a good television series.
As we get ready to start, Callista and Huntress walk in with a vile of nectar, Callista captures Nico's attention. Hoping to shift his attention I take the first strike, the strike is sloppy and easy to avoid but it starts a string of attempted strikes and powerful collisions between our blades.
Alpha keeps his blade around the height of his belly button protecting his chest. At first Alpha is on the offense, his footwork powerful as he pushes me back towards where Mrs O' Leary obediently sits chewing on a large training dummy. Alpha grows overconfident and makes his first mistake, he lifts his arms up a bit to high giving me the opportunity to jam the butt of my sword into his chest disrupting his footwork as he stumbles a few feet back, his feet disrupt the dust, causing the dust to swarm around his feet. It is now his turn to fight on the defence, he makes a bold move and bends lower and slashes open the skin on my right thigh, a stinging sensation burns my skin.
"You will pay for that" I vow.
His grin encourages my revenge as he continues on the defence, now more confident he attempts a shot to my side which I manage to block. Our blades are locked together as he pushes towards my side and I try to push him away. Seeing no other choice I jump up, my grip still glued to my sword, I somersault over him twisting my blade free and land behind him. I get my revenge as I slash just under his armour on his back, shredding his black shirt and skin.
A roar comes from our unknown audience as a few Ares kids cheer me on, the Apollo kids let out low boos as they point their thumbs down. Their cheering energises us urging us to continue, Alpha turns and immediately strikes towards my shoulder earning himself an approving cheer from the Apollo children which I just manage to block. Somewhere along the line, Annabeth and Thalia join and watch with intrigue.
The crowds sit on the edge of their seats as our swords cling with aggression, both wanting the other's blood. Using the sun, I adjust my sword sending the sun's reflection into Alpha's eyes, once again he is caught off guard but is quick to recover. With one powerful step forward, his sword impales my armour but does not break my skin, the Apollo kids and now a few Hermes kids roar with pride some chant his name fuelling his desire to win even more.
"You owe me a new chest plate"
Alpha chuckles, "Sure, I will get you a new one after I win"
"Well then, I guess I won't be getting a new one from you anytime soon" I assume as I wrap my blade around his and tug, his blade falls in the dust. The Ares kids cheer with support, louder than Alpha's supporters. Bare handed Alpha crouches and treats me like a bear, he pretends to leap left but rolls right grabbing his blade and quickly manages to block my blade that strikes down above his waist. I allow him to get up, our sequence of back and forth continues, with his back facing Annabeth and Thalia, Alpha continues to try and split my skin and gets the opportunity to when an Iris message appears in front of Annabeth, Carter's potent grin appears. I lose my focus allowing Alpha to jab the tip of his blade into my shoulder. I drop my sword and groan in agony, my hand instinctively grabs my bleeding shoulder. Guilt sets on Alpha's face when he follows my line of sight to where Carter speaks to Annabeth, a blonde-haired boy sits in his awkward grasp. As I move closer to them Callista hands me the vile of nectar which I push away as I run to hear what he has to say. Tears swell in Annabeth's eyes as I approach just as he finishes speaking, my attention moves to his evil brown eyes with disgust it moves to the familiar blue wallpaper in my mom's living room and then to the blonde-haired boy in his arms, the same boy that played with my sister.
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