Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

BONUS: THE DAY SHE SAW A INTRA- CABIN FIGHT

"Castellan, you're pulling back your sword too much," I instructed.

"Right, sorry."

"Annabeth," I said, "you can't use your dagger against swords now. It's called sword fighting classes for a reason."

"But I like daggers," an eight year old Annabeth Chase replied.

A year had passed since Theseus Young had given his life to save me. I still hated Luke, but I could at least stand him without wanting to turn his veins into shoelaces, especially since he had gone on that quest to get the golden apple and come back alive.

As for Annabeth, she was one of the most promising Athena kids I'd ever seen. Two more kids had joined us in the past year, making our Cabin count grow. More beds had appeared in the Cabin, and the Cabin expanded magically to add a storey of rooms under the ground.

"Mike, please focus."

"What were you saying?" Mike asked.

"I said, focus."

"No can do, boss," Mike said, grinning. "As you know, I've got ADHD. Plus, you're distracting me with those dangerous, saucy eyes."

I rolled my eyes. "Mike, you're the worst Hermes Cabin Counsellor I've ever seen. You're making me pray for Tony Hunt to come back from California."

"Glad to know," Mike grinned as I turned away. "I'll be seeing you around then, darling?"

"Yeah, when I come to your Cabin in the night, rip your bones apart and put them in the wrong places and force you to do the macarena. I'm sure Lee will help."

Luke laughed so hard that he spit out the water he had been drinking.

The rest of the cabin followed, chuckling weakly, but Luke was almost rolling on the floor.

I raised an eyebrow at the boy. He needed medical help, clearly.

"What?" Luke asked me. "That was a joke, right?"

"I was dead serious," I replied, turning back to Malcolm Pace, an incredibly young Athena boy.

This was followed by a few more laughs.

Mike blushed red. "You- you dare-"

"Shut up, Mike," I said. "I'm trying to teach to people who can actually learn. Malcolm, your sword seems too heavy for you, let's get a better one?"

"Okay," the five year old replied, grinning. "Do I get to have a dagger, like Annabeth's?"

"Sure, but not today," I replied. "We can have a small fight and then we go play chess, and then we'll go ahead and get you a dagger later tomorrow. Is that okay?"

"Okay," the kid waddled to the table to find himself a better sword.

I sighed and turned back to the Hermes kids, only to find myself in a very sticky situation.

Luke and the other cabin members were on one side, with Luke holding his sword high and ready to charge. Mike and his best friends, probably four of them, were standing on the other, all swords held high.

"You dare laugh at those wench's words?" Mike asked, gritting his teeth.

"Don't call her that!" Luke yelled. "Mike, you are rude, devilish and unworthy of the post of the Cabin Counsellor. You have hurt us Cabin members, hurt our friends from other Cabins, uncooperating with other Cabins in Capture the Flag, and have no intention in your mind other than verbally and emotionally abusing everyone in this place. You can put up a façade in front of Mr. D and Chiron, but we know your true worth."

The Cabin members nodded slowly, as though they were afraid of the result of this conversation, engaging in a very slow and unsuccessful revolt against Mike.

And then Luke did the unthinkable. "Mike Acres, I ask you to step down. I hereby challenge you to a duel."

The ground went silent. Even Annabeth had shut up, staring at Luke with a sort of admiration on her face.

Surprisingly enough, none of the other Cabin Members protested for or against Luke. They just watched in awe as the boy stared down their Cabin Counsellor.

"Alright, Heartbreaker," Mike, the burliest sixteen year old kid in the Hermes Cabin said. "Let's do this. I accept your challenge." He drew out his sword, facing Luke.

"Guys," I started, "don't do this-"

"Don't get into this, Ariana," Luke growled. "I'm done with this dumbo here and his behavior with all of us."

I backed away just as Luke and Mike charged at each other. Sparks flew out as the Celestial Bronze swords met.

Honestly, I always thought Mike and Luke were on equal levels, both with lots of potential to work on. Both were opposites- Mike more offensive, Luke more defensive.

Mike brought down the sword on Luke with as much force as possible, but Luke stood back up, holding him back with his own sword. He kicked Mike in the shin and stepped back.

The crowd gasped.

And Luke brought his sword up, for the first time making an offensive move in the number of times I'd taught him at class. He slashed at Mike as though he could do it all day, and Mike dodged awkwardly, having never been good with defense.

And that was when it all started.

From the back, people began to start slowly, "Luke! Luke! Luke!"

Annabeth was positively screaming the boy's name in delight. I smiled.

Mike regained the upper hand very easily, however, executing a perfect sweep and making Luke's sword fly into the air.

Luke's eyes widened. He watched as the sword soared into the sky, and fell a little away.

"Give up, Pretty Boy?" Mike asked.

Luke looked back to Mike, his face full of worry, his eyes almost glistening.

Mike smiled. "See? That's why I'm Cabin Counsellor."

"No."

Quick as lightning, Luke caught the blade in between his palms and pulled it so hard that it was forced out of Mike's grip. The Hermes Cabin Counsellor was in shock.

Luke spun the sword in his hand until the grip landed on his palm, the tip of the sword pointed towards Mike. "I never give up." He looked to me with a grin, like he was referring to my sentences as he talked to Mike. "Did you know that Sun Tzu said that all warfare is based on deception?"

I was impressed. The kid had paid attention to War Strategy. And suddenly, I didn't want to turn him into a beaver and choke him. Instead, I smiled at him, clapping my hands.

Luke grinned even wider at my approval. The other Hermes kids followed, some even cheering. "Do you give up, Mike?" Luke asked.

Luke did not wait. He put the sword down on the ground, walked back to his sword, picked it up, and put it back into his pocket as it turned into a pair of headphones.

He walked to me, smirking. "I'll see you at Cabin Six today evening to plan for Capture the Flag, shall I, Cabin Counsellor?" He extended his hand.

I smirked. "You can count on it, Pretty Boy." I shook his hand. "I like that name."

"I don't, so don't think about ever calling me that," Luke smiled. The other Hermes Cabin inmates rounded up on us, cheering loudly.

"That's one thing that you can never count me on, Cabin Counsellor."

"Loved the last two words. Keep calling me that," Luke smirked. 

I rolled my eyes. "I'll go call up a meeting at the rec room now, if you don't mind. Chiron might want to know the changes."

"I'll see you there?" Luke asked as his Cabin mates finally got hold of him, hoisting him on their shoulders.

"You bet," I replied, walking away. "Class dismissed."

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