To be a Commander

Percy Jackson AU

Halt, as a son of Hades, was pretty much destined for a terrible life.

People generally avoided him, seeing as he was 'grumpy' and 'frightening'. It wasn't fun. Even the naiads disliked him and that was saying something.

So, Halt spent his time training. Alone. It got dull sometimes, but it was better than the frightened stares and the hushed whispers.

He checked his schedule and saw that he had sword-fighting with the Hermes cabin. Joy. 

With a sigh, Halt went over to the training arena for his sword-fighting training. He'd been paired up with someone called Crowley.

The kid in question was cheerful and had a smile bigger than the sun, with warm hazel eyes and sandy red hair. He was also, Halt noted, extremely ADHD.

"Hi!" Crowley said upon noticing him. "My name's Crowley, but I'm quite sure you know that seeing as you read the training list-pairing-thingmajigger. You're Halt O'Carrick from the Hades cabin, right? Of course you are, we were paired up with the Hades cabin. What weapons do you use?"

Halt blinked once. "I use a bow and knives, but I'm OK at swordfighting."

"You are? Cool! Are you going to be using your shadow-powers or not?"

"....I will be."

"OK, then can I use something to counter them?"

"...I guess?"

"Great, thanks!"

Crowley drew a pair of knives and Halt did the same. When the instructor told them to begin, they circled each other. Watch and wait.

Halt eventually attacked first. With a sweep of his knives, shadows rose up to attack Crowley. To his surprise, the Hermes kid dodged them and pulled out a simple sphere.

Huh?

Halt mentally shrugged and thrust with one knife. Crowley easily parried, and then stabbed at Halt's face, following up with a quick slash. Halt parried and stabbed forwards.

Crowley, Halt noticed, had a more, say, elegant fighting style. He wouldn't block directly, but instead deflect or avoid the blades completely.

Halt, Crowley noted, was more brusque with his moments. Quick jabs, thrusts, and slashes instead of his own movements. Interesting.

Halt dodged a lightning-fast thrust and jabbed forwards. As he expected, Crowley spun away and Halt took the opportunity to slash at Crowley's back.

It was only sheer reflexes that saved the son of Hermes. Crowley spun around and barely managed to deflect Halt's knife. And then Halt attacked with a barrage of quick jabs and slashes. 

Halt gritted his teeth. He had temporarily forced Crowley onto the defensive, but the redhead was recovering-fast. Crowley dodged a jab and somehow slid under Halt's guard, jabbing at Halt's stomach.

At the last second, Halt shadow-traveled away, reappearing behind Crowley and managing to pin him down.

"Yield?" he demanded, pressing his knife to Crowley's throat. Crowley twisted his head and grinned at him.

"Not quite." the redhead said, the whistled. The sphere, which Crowley had dropped, opened and shone a ray of light into Halt's face. Instinctively, Halt loosened his grasp and Crowley twisted away, pinning Halt down.

"Yield?" Crowley asked, knifepoint at Halt's throat. The son of Hades struggled for a moment, then sighed. 

"Yield." he said. Crowley stood up, brushed himself up, and then held a hand out to Halt. 

Huh?

Mentally shrugging, Halt took Crowley's hand and pulled himself up, then went to get a drink of water. 

"You lied." Crowley said, once he returned from his brief water break.

"I did?" Halt asked, raising a single brow. Crowley grinned.

"You said you were 'okay' at swordfighting." Crowley said. "You're not 'okay'. You're an expert."

Then Crowley did something strange. He held out a hand to Halt. 

"Friends?" the son of Hermes asked.

Halt stared at Crowley in surprise. Seeing no hint of deception, Halt took the proferred hand.

"Friends." he said. And, to his own surprise, he smiled.