Warrior of the Sea - A Percy Jackson Fanfic

Chapter Twenty-Four

CHB, Annabeth's POV

Now let me get this straight: If you have ever for some reason had to prepare for a war and been worked harder than usual by your regular teachers or something like that, I totally get what you mean by that. Last two wars I had been in, it was that way.

But preparing for a war under the army of the universe is a totally different matter.

As we waited for the war to happen they got harder every day. An hour of morning exercises, then the cabins would split up and go to different stations to learn things a fighter would need in the middle of a battle, whether it be learning a new weapon in case something happens to your usual one or one-site medical help. Then lunch, an hour of break, and then working on your main position, usually based on your cabin. Most people were learning to specialize in their weapons, while some cabins had specific jobs like Hephaestus and Hermes for making traps or Hecate for strengthening camp defenses.

And don't forget the fact that we're being trained by the elite group of the universal army that has been through tons of battles and, despite the fact that it was lead by Percy, had no intentions of going easy.

At the moment, I was doing dagger-to-sword practice with the second-in-command, Sotiras. And he had just switched to offensive.

Parry, parry, swipe at legs only to be parried and go back on defensive, trying to get around his guard was nearly impossible. The one strange thing was that it almost seemed familiar.

Noticing that, I went ahead and stopped focusing on the actual attacks and parries and let my instincts go to work. The movements became a bit more unpredictable and I was able to switch over to offensive for a bit again. Sotiras seemed frustrated and maybe a bit worried before he grinned suddenly.

"You know, sometimes you pick up a few tricks from fighting in an army for a long time." He noted before doing a move so quick I barely comprehended what happened before I was suddenly on the ground, sword tip to my throat and my dagger in my opponent's hand.

"A lot better than I expected, that's for sure." Sotiras noted with a grin before removing the tip and passing me my dagger. I caught it, putting the drakon bone dagger into its sheath before taking the hand that he offered to help me up. Brushing myself off, I looked up at his face only to notice something suddenly.

"What's that scar from?" I asked, pointing to a scar that came down from the bottom of the left side of his mask to his cheek. He seemed to freeze up at my question before shaking his head.

"Old wound, I've had it for a long time." He responded solemnly, looking at me for a moment before shaking his head again as if to get rid of thoughts "Anyways, your defense is stronger than most here, but you have trouble staying on your feet, most likely from being knocked down many times from larger creatures. You need to learn how to correctly fight on your feet." He informed me, grabbing my dagger and handing it to me handle first before frowning "Didn't you used to have a different dagger?" I frowned in confusion.

"Yea, a few years ago, but I lost it during the Giant War. How do you know that?" I asked. His eyes widen a bit behind his mask as if he was caught.

"Just, uh, happened to hear from Commander Wavestorm." He replied nervously. Something was off about him, but I decided to figure it out later.

"Ok then..." I replied "Well, I best be going then." I said in attempt to get out of the awkward situation. He nodded quickly.

"Yeah ok see you around." He said hurriedly, turning and walking away. I watched the back of his cloak - diamond shapes that were a gold color decorating it - trying to figure out how I knew him. Sighing, I shook my head, putting my dagger away and heading out of the arena.

Ok so next I should probably- I started thinking of what to do next when a sound the campers had been dreading rang throughout the camp.

Three sounds from a conch horn. Perfection's Army was here