Abandoned- a pertemis story Ψ ☑️

Iron sharpens iron. Chapter 12

Sorry for the wait. I've been doing things!- Internet Head

ΨPercyΨ
I started to practice my sword fighting skills. I wasn't at camp but that wasn't an excuse to slack off. I swung Riptide, the blade cutting through the air like it was nothing. After a while a few Hunters came to watch me, sitting there with judging eyes. I knew that I didn't have anything to fear from them, and that I was a decent fighter, but their scornful gaze was frightening. Eventually Carmen walked over, ducking under one of my swings to talk "mind if I join in?" He asked, his sword in his hand. I coughed and raised a hand, watching as a Hunter threw me a water bottle and I drank out of it. I nodded my head "sure man. Sparring? One on one?" I asked him "yeah. I've got to work on my shadowing." He rubbed the back of his head "shadowing?" I hadn't heard the term before "oh. I can copy fighting styles." Carmen nodded, eyeing my sword which hung by my side "really? You can copy them? Anything?" I asked, interested "anything I can see. Videos, pictures, descriptions... it easier if I see it person." Carmen swung his sword, the black and silver blur whirling through the air "huh. You've seen me fight before. You copy that?" I put down my water bottle, out of the way "yes. I've also copied Thalia's, and Artemis, and Phoebe's. Also Leo Valdez, Jason Grace, Minus Leeman, Nico DiAngelo... as well as a few others." He counted them off on his fingers "wait what? You haven't met half of those people." I said suspiciously, wondering if he was lying to me "your right. My syndicate has videos and files on all of you. I'd watch the battle details in my free time." He nodded to himself "Wait really? How do they know all of this stuff? Y'know what? Just show me and I'll believe you?" I moved back and got myself in a ready position. Carmen smirked and did the same "show not tell. Just how I like it." He smiled wide as the edges of his sword steamed, glowing orange with heat "we can go all out here. I hope your ready."

I made the first move, rushing toward him and slashing at his ankles. He jumped back and then moved forward, cutting at my stomach. I recognized that move, not specific to any particular hero. That was standard Roman lance training. But... he wasn't using a spear? Why? I ignored this and dodged his strikes, understanding that the sword had a lot shorter range than the weapon the fighting style was made for. Carmen fought like a hurricane. I would know, I've made them before. My eyes narrowed when I realized what he was doing. Oh haha, using my own fighting style against me. Very funny. We continued fighting, our blades slashing together causing sparks. I laughed as we fought "This is awesome dude! You might be just as good as I am with a sword!" I said, knowing that I was a bit rusty though, having not fought many enemies since Gaea "well I've been practicing!" Carmen grinned as I swept my sword at his feet. He jumped and stamped one foot on Riptide, a total Luke Castilian move. He didn't seem to notice how much discomfort that revelation gave me.
That moment of disorientation, of hesitation, was enough for Carmen. His other leg came up, kicking me in the face, and then his leg came back down on the back of my head. My face hit the dirt and I did what I've heard skaters call "a scorpion". Luckily I managed to flip myself over and stumble to my feet, raising my sword just in time to block another strike. I realized the difference between us. He always aimed to kill while I was holding back against another demigod. That was the sole change in what we were taught. "Hey man. You okay?" Carmen asked, looking concerned "yeah yeah. I'm fine. I just didn't expect that... was that karate?" I asked, not really knowing about fighting styles other than Greek and Roman "I don't think so. I just copied Kurenaiken's fighting style." Carmen looked a bit sour at that "who's fighting style?" I had never heard of the name "ah. An Elitist combat ma- I mean, uh, a pretty powerful melee fighter. He got me with the same move..." he looked reminiscent "mm-hmm." He was definitely hiding something. I cracked my knuckles and looked at Carmen "you want to continue?" I asked, inspecting Riptide. Before he could answer I exclaimed "Oh Gods! What happened to Riptide?" I said, the edges of it were hot and shimmering. They looked like they were beginning to warp. Carmen walked over to him and frowned "I heated up the edges of my sword to inflict more damage... I guess it caused a little more damage than expected." He said. I rounded on him, anxiety crawling up my back. He backed up, hands raised "woah man. What's with that look? You've got life essence in that thing, it's not gonna break! Once it cools down it'll go back to normal." Carmen explained and I cooled down, capping Riptide worriedly "alright.... alright. I guess I'm just a little worked up... I mean with that new quest to find some 'lost' Oracle-" I put a hand over my mouth "wait a minute. A lost oracle? I know a guy who could help with that." Carmen responded, his tone surprised "wait... what?" I was baffled as well "yeah man. Just say the word."

We walked back to camp together, chatting and cracking jokes. I found out that Carmen was a lot more interesting than he let on. Aside from the whole "rouge demigod" thing he was an all around interesting guy. Through a joke I learned that Carmen spoke Latin and Greek and could read more languages. I also learned he was severely allergic to seeder wood. It wasn't all that important but I thought it was funny. We actually compared swords (no. Not that way.) and I saw an inscription etched with glowing red stone in his sword's Ethereal Silver blade: Non sine causa utimur, nec me in vagina est sanguinem fundi. Somnum exterreri I repeated this to Carmen "what does that mean?" I asked, because I didn't speak Latin. He laughed as he pushed aside a branch "nothing too important. An old friend of mine put that there at night. I actually forgot what it meant until now..." he looked at it and squinted "I think... it's something like 'do not use without cause, and do not sheath me while there is blood to be shed.' And under that 'Somnum exterreri'. I think that's the sword's name. I'm fairly certain it means 'Nightmare' but that's a rough translation." He nodded to himself as he traced the word "why is it a rough translation?" I asked, trying to imagine that in Greek "I used google translate so..." he replied sheepishly "can't you speak the language?" I gave him a look "I mean. I used to. I forgot a lot of it." I smacked the back of his head in a joking manner. He rubbed it with a fake pouting face.
"Ow. That hurt." He whined dramatically.
"Shut up. Your fine." I said shaking my head, fighting back a smile.
"I'm nooot! The great Percy Jackson has wounded me!" Carmen announced to the forest.
"The great Percy Jackson will continue to wound you if you don't be quiet!" I yelled at him and we both fell silent. We stared at one another and then we broke out laughing.
"Your so mean!" Carmen choked out in between laughs.
"Sorry! I'm sorry!" I couldn't help but continue laughing. My gut started to hurt. After a few minutes of girl like giggles we fell silent. We stood there for a few minutes. Carmen's eyes softened.
"Your still not over her, are you?" He asked softly. I stared at him for a long moment. I realized that he was trying to help, that he knew what he was doing.
"How can I be? I've never felt anything like that before... Annabeth and I..." I think she would have gotten a kick out of my unusually proper grammar.
"I get it. She was the white to your black, smarts to your brawn. She completed you." He confessed, his eyes softening.
"Yeah..." there wasn't much for me to say. I wasn't a crier.
"You need to talk about this." He urged me, putting a hand on my shoulder
"It's fine. It's fine the way it is." I muttered, not meeting his eyes.
"No. It isn't. You nee-!" He started, only being interrupted when I shook his hand off my shoulder
"It's fine." I growled, rounding on him. His eyes hardened though they were still full of pity.
"Percy. You can't just bottle the-." He was choked off as I growled at him once more.
"Shut up." I said from in between my teeth. I took a deep breath and shook my head "I-I'm sorry. I just don't want to talk about it." That was when I realized he wasn't saying anything at all. His jaw was clenched and his nostrils flared.
"P... Perc... I... let go.." he gurgled. I blinked.
"What?" I wasn't holding onto him. Then it hit me, my stomach felt horrible. It felt like my fluids were trying to escape out through my body instead of my mouth. I didn't notice that my muscles were clenched until I let them go. Carmen doubled over and sucked in a large breath before going into a coughing fit.
"What? What's happening?" It felt like the first time I'd ever used my powers, only ten times worse. Carmen hacked out another rattling cough before looking up at me.
"You have control of water, right? What's in blood?" He said, rubbing his neck. I swear my eyes were bulging out of my head.
"Are you saying... I was blood-bending?" I managed to get out. Don't judge me, somehow in between camp and home I had been able to binge The Last Airbender with my mom.
"Yeah dude. You've become Katara." He was saying it jokingly but I couldn't joke back. I had just used his own blood to choke him. I looked down at my hands which couldn't stay still.
"Carmen... I... I... how?" I needed an answer. I'd never done something like that before. When I'd done something remotely similar Annabeth had stopped me. Annabeth. The name felt cold and hollow in my mind.
"Your grieving, angry, sad, and you're bottling it all up. You lost the person you love most and your only limiter." He didn't say it but I could hear the it's only natural that he would've said. I swallowed dryly.
"What if that happens again? What am I supposed to do!?" I was basically pleading with him now. I was afraid of even myself. What could I do? What would I do when the only thing that kept me back is gone? These thoughts stung my brain like hornets.
"You'll learn to control yourself. I'll show you how." His eyes seemed to burn like the fire back at camp. He was tense but not because of me. I guess we would be helping each other.