Bonds

1

Jason POV

It was an... Average day. That is if you can call it that at all, as having a demigod life has proven on countless occasions that our simple existence is far from normal. But, to at least try to make the morning as cheerful as it can get, I'm just going to call today average.

Apollo had started driving his chariot up the clear blue sky about half an hour ago, granting me a beautiful view of a sunrise over long island. I really wanted to share this moment with Piper, but unfortunately, she was not a morning person. 

Why am I up this early? Well, after years of being a demigod, training within Roman standards, you learn quite quickly to wake early if you didn't want to be scolded.

I stared at the horizon, where the sun was just beginning to drift away from the sea... And was quite surprised to see another figure standing on the pristine beach, training by the looks of it. Due to him, standing in front of the sun, I couldn't make out the details, but there was no doubt the person was Percy as I approached. Who else would train by the sea, use a sword, be up at 5:26 and be so experienced? 

He seemed to not notice me yet as I near him. Too focused on his "opponent." I decided it'll be interesting to time how long he'd take to see me, and therefore stayed silent. I pulled out my phone (yes, you were allowed one as long as you've been at camp for at least 3 years and/or have already finished 2 quests depending on their difficulty and importance.) and began to time him. 

Worst idea I've ever had.

The fact that most demigods can't stay still for more than 20 seconds should've given me a hint. It just so happened that my idiotic brain had somehow forgotten that piece of information. I went 2mins 42secs before giving in.

'Ahem.'

He whirled around, in battle stance as if expecting another enemy to suddenly pop up, immediately relaxing as soon as he saw me. 'Hey Jas.' I took a glance at his sword, Riptide, before taking out my coin.

'Hey Perce.' My move didn't go unnoticed, as his signature lop-sided smirk spread across his face. 'I would think that fighting nothing but air would be boring after a while. Allow me to increase the difficulty of fighting against it.' I said with mock politeness.

He bowed with the same attitude. 'It'll be an honor, please do so.'

I laughed, he could make anyone smile, even on the moodiest days. And for the next hour or so, we weren't keeping track of the time, we fought. Not literally of course, just for fun, no maiming. Slash, deflect, stab, dodge, slash, try to disarm him occasionally. That was the pattern I used, over and over. And I had to admit, training with him was fun, despite losing every round. Now I was really thankful that Pipes had used her charmspeak to stop us when we were possessed by eidolons. I most certainly would've been the one killed. 

I don't know how long we went for after that, but by the time we finished, the sun was high in the sky and we were sweating rivers. Percy had it easy. He simply jumped into the sea and came back completely refreshed. Me? I collapsed on the sand, face-first, gasping heavily for air and trying not to eat dirt. The sand stuck to me due to my sweat and when I stood up, I looked like one of those mud men you might see in movies or comics.

'Hey, Mind uh-'

That was as far as I got before a giant wave crashed onto me, removing that sand (thankfully) and leaving me soaking wet (not so thankfully). '...Thanks. Can you now-' Again, that was all I could say before I felt the water fly off me, back into the ocean. I swear he could read my mind or something.

'You're welcome bro.'

'Thanks bro.'

'Anything for you bro.'

'Anything bro?'

'Most things bro.'

'Bro...'

'Just not my awesome girlfriend bro.'

'I get you bro.'

'Bro.'

We both chuckled. The bromance that we've created will never fade! We heard someone snicker quietly from the shadows, we turned surprised, though we already knew who it was. 

'Hey Nico!'

'Hey guys. This isn't Camp Jupiter is it? I came to visit Hazel but it seems that I was a bit off.'

'Yeah. Like across the country off. Just a bit after all.'

'Ah, shut up Jackson. I was half asleep so you can't blame me.'

'Across. The. Country.'

'Y'know what? I think I might just go now.'

'Yeah, and Will will will you to write a will for Will if you will die because Will didn't will you into the infirmary willingly enough.'

We stared at him. Unable to comprehend what he just said while he just cracked up at our expressions.

'I don't know what you just said, but anything about me, infirmaries and Will seems bad enough.' He studied us curiously, glancing at our swords. 'What were you doing before I got here?'

'We were training, since like 5 in the morning.' His eyebrows shot up disbelievingly.

'Since 5 in the morning!? Who would've ever thought that the great Jason Grace and the legendary Percy Jackson would miss breakfast and Lunch?!' 

'WHAT!!!!!'

Percy and I didn't waste anymore time. We sprinted to the mess hall, bringing around 5 sandwiches each with us, back to the beach before devouring them like starved lions as Nico watched with his eyes wide in shock and... Amusement? 

We finished all of them in no longer than 3 minutes, possibly breaking the world record for the most sandwiches eaten during that time period. But our minds were on something much more important that that. As soon as we'd finished, we jumped up, grabbing our swords, prepared to keep training for the rest of the day, completely neglecting Nico.

'Can I join in? I can't shadow-jump again today, especially since it's day right now. And my other two options are to go to my cabin and sleep or turn myself into Will. Neither are really preferable options.' 

'Yeah! Totally! We can have a three way fight!' Percy left no room for arguments to break out though there was none objecting to him anyway.

Little did they know, a god with a leopard spotted shirt videoing their battle and broadcasting it over Olympus.