PJO Magazine Edition #5: April 2019

Oneshot: Training

"Here's your sword. High-quality Celestial Bronze." Jason held out the small sword to young Lacy, an Aphrodite child. She gripped and eyed him with a fierce grin.

"Watch out, Jason, you might have met your match!" Piper called teasingly from the stands on the side. Jason glanced her way and couldn't help but smile at the side of her, reclining on the benches, her brown hair falling over her shoulder and her long legs stretched out.

A blur flew at him from the corner of his eye, and he whirled around just in time to block Lacy's sword, wielded with surprising strength. "Woah, I think that was foul play," he joked at her as he parried her blade away.

"Unfortunately for you," Lacy countered, "most of your enemies are not going to be worried about fair play." She took a swipe at his torso, and Jason blocked.

Going slowly and carefully, Jason began teaching her new ways of defense and attack. "Hook your finger around the hilt like this when you swing. It'll give you better control," he coached her.

Gradually Jason began backing her up towards the wall, with Piper booing him all the way. He knew he could easily overpower the girl, but wanted to give her a fair chance at defeating him. Soon he had her a few feet away from the wall, and he flipped his sword. It morphed into a spear, and he pressed her up against the wall with the spear leveled at her chest.

Lacy raised her hands in surrender, but the gleam in her eye told him she wasn't finished yet.

"Bad form, bad form!" Piper yelled in a weird accent from the stands. Jason grinned at her, taking his gaze away from Lacy for just a moment. Then Piper smiled and her eyes shifted from him.

Jason turned back just in time to see Lacy slam the sharp end of his spear on the ground, wrenching it from his hands. Using it as a pole, she vaulted off against the wall and kicked him squarely on the chest with both feet.

Jason hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of him. Lacy knelt, placing her sword at his throat. "First rule of combat," she whispered. "Never get distracted. Even by a pretty girl."

Jason carefully raised his hands in surrender. "Okay," he laughed. "You win."

Lacy triumphantly jumped off him and dashed over to where Piper had jumped down to hug her sister. "Good job, Lacy. You proved you've definitely got brains, acrobatics, and beauty," Piper said proudly, clapping her sister on the back.

Jason hauled himself off the ground. "Next time," he said, pointing at the young girl. "Next time, we fight without Piper in the arena. Then I'll really beat you."

Lacy just laughed. "Good luck with that. Trust me, Piper'll be here. One way or another. After all," she grinned slyly, "the arena is public camp property."

Jason groaned jokingly as Piper and Lacy walked away, laughing triumphantly.

By pluviophile_bookworm