CATHARSIS, jason grace¹

𝟬𝟮𝟱. not the only one with special powers

PRINCE CHARMING HAD A LOT of fight in him. Jason's fighting style was really, really weird. As the commander of Kronos' forces, Aera had sacrificed a lot of beauty sleep to study a lot of boring war strategies and hand-to-hand battle techniques. This guy did not fit into anything she learned with designer eye bags. He was the one who charged Aera first but he wasn't taking the offense. He would come at her with a quick strike then back away just as fast.

The tension between them was palpable. White snow swirled around them in the powdery air, a direct contrast to the site of hard black marble rubble that surrounded them. As the two demigods circled each other warily, Aera couldn't see past the fact that he resembled Luke. His confident air. The shining blue eyes. When a blur of blond flashed past her peripheral vision the first time, Aera had almost mistaken him for her fallen ex-boyfriend, which was every femme fatale's worst nightmare.

Aera had just finished her business with the last poorly-dressed warrior when this golden boy came dropping out of the sky (literally, like a freaking giant bird) and almost scared the Chanel off her. Aera could put together that this flying weirdo was with those five even weirder demigods that had ambushed her barely ten minutes before.

Aera had been cornered against a large chunk of broken black marble near the old throne, or what was left of it. They each had hideous plumed helmets, purple shirts, and identical gold swords. Aera had seamlessly rolled and tumbled and slashed, breaking their stiff formation, choking them one by one as smoothly as a satin ribbon.

Before long, all five of them were on the ground, moaning in pain and groaning something about whooping her podex later. Aera didn't even know what a podex was, she just knew hers had to be gorgeous. The dead guy near the toppled iron throne of Kronos, though? Not so much.

Aera was not about to join that dude (she wasn't wearing the right jewelry to visit The Underworld). She twirled her celestial bronze dagger over in her hand, watching as Jason gripped a golden sword. Handsome, rich, and wanted her dead? Curse it. Aera was liking him more and more. Maybe she should re-evaluate who her enemies were.

No time.

Jason lunged forward, his weapon flashing in the sunlight. Aera met him head-on, their blades clashing with a metallic ring. His sword was longer and heavier than Aera's dagger, giving him an advantage in reach, but Aera was used to this. She had trained for cases where being faster and more agile was all it took to take the laurel crown (ugh, she looked so good in laurel).

Aera feinted left, then right, then went for a low strike that he barely blocked in time.

The pair broke off again.

As she faced off against her enemy/eye candy, Aera wondered why Jason kept holding back. It was crystal clear he was physically stronger than her. From the looks of it, he was around 8 inches taller and had an athletic build with well-muscled, tanned arms and legs. His every stride was walked with purpose, his posture perfect. His electric blue eyes were intense, and totally swoon-worthy. His blond hair was close-cropped in a scruffy golden retriever style. But his powerful aura didn't radiate cute puppy vibes. Jason had this sort of rugged edge to him that gave Aera the idea she could fix him.

Naturally, she hated him.

Why not just overwhelm Aera at once and be done with it? Was Jason going easy on her just because she was a girl? If so, ew. Boo. Tomato. Tomatoes.

"You don't fight like a Roman," he said, his chest rising and falling with ease. "Where are you from?"

Aera didn't like how his voice sounded. It was so deep and boom-y like a rumble of thunder before lightning, some kind of corny warning. The way he enunciated his words was all big and mighty, like he was supposed to be a hot shot (wrong, Aera was clearly the hottest shot).