Decisiveness & Terror// [Percy Jackson OC]//Book 4

{Chapter Three}

_____
"Can nobody hear me?/ I've got a lot that's on my mind
I cannot breathe/ Can you hear it, too?"
- Hear Me (Imagine Dragons)
_____

MAGIC WEAPONS SOUND INTERESTING

ARYA SHOWED MORE EMOTION in seeing Tyson than she had in months. Her baby cyclops brother was always a load of fun to be around and last time they saw each other he was the one who gave her the arm band that she could pull water out to fight with. It was one of the best presents she had ever received.
   
After their last meeting, last summer, Tyson got pulled by Poseidon to work in the underwater forges to help them prepare for the war by making weapons, the path that most cyclopes take. While both Percy and Arya were a little bit jealous, they were both more than understanding, and anytime the two older siblings called, Tyson seemed to be having the time of his life.
   
However, it was still a surprise to both of them to see him sweeping the middle of the cabin with yellow rubber gloves, and a flower apron.
   
After long, back breaking, hugs, and Silena quickly giving them a good review on cabin inspection, Tyson explained that the old sea gods, that ruled during the time of the titans, were starting to stir again and battles were raging all under the Atlantic. Posideon had sent Tyson to camp for the summer so that he could have some fun rather than have to fight.
   
Tyson also spent a good amount of time asking about all the fun things they could do this summer, to which Arya and Percy agreed that they would get through it all together.
   
Arya was thrilled by Tysons presence and hoped that he would serve as a good distraction for at least a little while, that spending time with him would be a stress reliever because, while Tyson may not look it, he was still a small child in brain and heart, and the world was a wonderful place to him.
   
A while of catching up happened, before Arya realized that it was almost time for her lesson with Quintes, and offered to take Tyson to see Charles which the cyclopes were more than happy to oblige too.
   
"My, My. Is that Tyson?" Charles cheered as he opened the door to his cabin
   
"Charlie!" Tyson called, and the two gave each other a big hug.
   
"I'm not even allowed to call you Charlie!" Arya exclaimed as they made their way into the metal working cabin.
   
"Yes you are, you just choose not too." Charles rolled his eyes at his best friend.
   
This shut Arya up fast.
   
"Why don't I take you downstairs and show you the upgrades we've made?" Charles suggested.
   
"Yeah! And I will show you Magic weapons!"
   
Charles' eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. He had been trying to make magic weapons for over a year now, but without the proper training it was proving to be quite the challenge. It was one of the few things Charles really wanted to know, and he had just been hand delivered a teacher.
   
Arya said goodbye to the boys as she made her way out of the cabin and down to the training ring.
   
Quintes was Arya's second best teacher to date, next to Chiron of course. The demigod had been hired by Chiron in February and has been pushing Arya harder than she thought possible since March. The child of Athena was a fifty year old man, who was in great shape and an excellent swordsman. Nowhere near Luke or Percy, but good enough to be an incredible teacher.
   
Arya spent a lot of time with Quintes in the last couple of months as he worked with her to overcome her bullet wound shoulder, and pushed her to become one of the best fighters in history. He made sure that every move and swing was done with power, precision, and balance. That her basics were just as good as her advanced techniques.
   
Since Arya and him were together a lot, Quintes and Arya had grown to have a good relationship and were able to talk about a lot. Arya wanted to think of him as a friend almost, another trusted mentor, but she didn't quite believe he was going to stick around so she had to remind herself to keep her distance.
   
Most of the other campers, who didn't work with him as much, felt that he was odd, and hard to read, but she didn't mind. She almost identified with him in a sense.
   
As Arya made her way into the arena, finishing up the last of her braid, She leaned down to retie her shoes when she felt the ground start to shake as a giant black hellhound came bounding towards her. She paused where she was, pretending not to hear it, until right at the last second, she ducked her shoulder and did a dive roll out of the way.
   
On her way to her feet she pulled out two daggers from her belt, and straightened her posture, staring the dog straight into the eyes with no fear. She took her blade and turned it so that the sun was shining right into its eyes and hellhound roared in rage and started swiping at her with both paws, which she easily blocked with two parrys from her daggers. They took her foot and kicked it right into its mouth which knocked it off guard.
   
The hellhound snarled and went to bite again. Arya grabbed it's two biggest teeth and held its mouth open. Once she was sure she had it stable, she dropped the weight off of her right leg and rolled with the beast to the floor. She then summoned water from her arm band to use as a shield from the claw attacks before dropping the water right into the hellhound's eyes and jumping on top of it with the spear directly pointed at the beasts throat, ready for the final blow.
   
"You should have summoned your spear sooner." A disappointed voice called from the sidelines.
   
"I still won didn't I?" She asked. Crawling off of the hellhound, which quickly got back to its feet and dropped it's wild behavior as Mrs. O'Leary stuck her tongue out and nudged Arya hands for a pet, which the girl obliged. "Hi girl! You did so good."
   
"You would have won sooner." Quintes pointed out as he pushed off the wall and came over.
   
"I'm working on it." Arya sighed as she gave Mrs. O'Leary, Quintes pet hellhound, some good belly rubs.
   
"War is coming. You won't have the pleasure of just not using your best weapon."
   
"I know."
   
For the next hour or so, Quintes ran Arya through a series of drills, ranging from the most basic stuff they teach first year campers, to drills Hercules used when he trained. Then to round out the day Quintes and Arya faced off. Other campers always seemed to stop to watch the fight, always keeping their distance. Percy seemed to have no problems walking straight into the match. He was just in time to see Arya used a quick series of hand to hand blows in order to disarm Quintes and win.
   
"What's that bring the wins too?" Arya asked as she helped Quintes up.
   
"30 you, 7 me." Quintes proudly said. They both knew Arya was a much better fighter than him.
   
"You'll catch up one day." Arya laughed.
   
"I'm glad to see you could take down a half-army if needed." Percy called as he made his way into the middle of the arena.
  
"Half-army easy." Quintes corrected, as Arya waved them off.
   
Arya drank a bottle of water, moved out of the way to stretch, and watched on as Percy and Quintes started to spar a little bit as well, Quintes teaching Percy some moves he had picked up over the years. Tyson had also joined them playing with Mrs. O'Leary, for hours until the dinner bell was chimed.
   
At dinner the siblings had a conversation about Nico Di Angelo, Percy explained to Tyson that the big crack in the middle of the dining pavilion came from Nico right before Christamas last year when, right after Percy broke the news about Bianca, a herd of skeletons tried to attack them, and Nico sent them straight to the Underworld before running off.
   
It reminded Arya that she needed to call him again.
   
Lucky for her, that night she didn't need to call anybody, because the call came to her.
  
Arya was sleeping, but as always, only for a few hours before the nightmares set in.
   
Tonights was Tyson sitting in a small dark room by himself, constantly calling out for Percy or her. Crying massive tears out of his one big eye, hugging his knees and rocking back and forth.
   
You can stop his pain with only a few words.
   
The next was Percy, holding the world up like he was on Mount Tam, except the world was winning and he was seconds away from being crushed.
   
Loyalty is such a simple thing.
   
Arya, alone on a battlefield, shaking, as the bodies of her friends lay dead next to her. Directly ahead of her was Luke, and his army of monsters looking stronger, healthier than ever.
  
It doesn't have to end like this.
   
"Arya!"
   
She sat up, and quickly kicked off her sheet, feeling like they were doing nothing but strangling her. Her breathing was heavy, and she could tell by the pain in her throat that she had been screaming.
   
"I'm sorry." She croaked out.
   
"It's alright. I was awake already." Percy said, like it was no big deal. But Arya wasn't apologizing because she thought she woke him up, she was apologizing because this would be a constant thing, and no one should have to deal with her.