Rise (Percy Jackson x Reader)

twenty-nine

edited: april 7, 2021
✺✺✺

"One."

Swords clash.

"Two."

Swords clash.

"Three."

Feet hit the ground.

"Four."

Blades ring before sliding against each other as campers disarm their opponents.

(Y/N) walks over to one struggling demigod, taking his arm and showing how the motion should be done. "Try it again," she tells him, and the camper successfully takes the sword out of his partner's hand. (Y/N) nods in approval, walking back to stand at the end of the two lines of demigods, her arms behind her back. "Switch."

Swords are returned to one line of campers, and everyone gets into their ready position.

"One," (Y/N) calls out, instructing them to go into their first defense position by the shoulder.

"Two," they maneuver their swords to block their legs.

"Three," campers jump to dodge the weapon slicing at their feet, landing back in ready positions.

"And four," they block an attack before pushing their swords down to the hilt of their partner's, applying enough pressure to slide their blade around to weaken their opponent's grasp from underneath before taking the weapon in their free hand. Each camper steps back into their position, one line has demigods each holding two swords, and the other with those empty-handed.

"Good. At ease," (Y/N) says, and they relax.

"Sorry, but why are we learning this?" one demigod calls out, and (Y/N) raises an eyebrow at him. "This is beginner's stuff," he continues, and a tiny smirk makes its way onto (Y/N)'s face.

"You weren't here last year, were you? What's your name?" she asks, her voice slightly condescending, and the boy steps forward, looking her in the eye.

"Julius, son of Mars."

"Well, then, Julius, son of Mars, why do you feel the need to neglect having a basic defense?"

"Because I don't need one."

"So you're saying that if you were empty-handed and your opponent was holding a sword, you'd just let them kill you?"

"No. I'm not stupid."

"Then what would you do without a weapon?" (Y/N) inquires, crossing her arms.

"I'd defe-" Julius halts, realizing the controversy of his own statement, and a chuckle escapes (Y/N)'s lips. The son of Mars shakes his head, scoffing to cover up his mistake. "Weapon or not, I'd attack," his statement brings a smirk onto (Y/N)'s face, and she bites her tongue to keep from laughing at his overconfidence.

"Okay," she starts, playing along to humor herself, "but what if they defended themselves exceptionally with their weapon against your barehanded attacks and started advancing on you? What would you do in that situation, run away?"

The campers surrounding them hold back laughs at Julius' annoyed expression, eagerly watching to see how this plays out.

"I wouldn't be in that situation," he states with confidence.

(Y/N) tilts her head, a challenging glint in her eye. "Oh? Why is that?"

"Because no opponent has ever outmatched me," he tells her, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. His voice grows more arrogant as he challenges, "I doubt even you can."