"Did you see Clarisse's face?" Annabeth chortled. "It was priceless!"
I laughed. "That girl does have some pretty neat expressions."
I'd just beaten Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, god of war, in a sword fight with utmost ease. I swung my double bladed Celestial Bronze sword and hacked a stuffed target in half. Straw flew out everywhere, making me smile. That was always so satisfying. Sword fighting is my thing. Even my half sister, Annabeth, has a difficult time beating me. Most children of Athena only have their brains. I have brains and battle capabilities, too. Annabeth does as well, and maybe that's why we get along so well.
"SEAWEED BRAIN!" Annabeth called. She waved at her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, from across the sword training arena.
Percy jogged over, his black hair whipping about in the breeze. "Hey, Annabeth," Percy greeted her with a kiss.
Okay, yeah, I was so jealous.
"Want to have a quick fight?" Annabeth asked sweetly.
"Yeah, sure. Wait, who with?" Percy eyed me nervously.
You can guess I have a reputation here at Camp Half-Blood. You'd be right. I'm the "Sword Chick".
"C'mon, Percy, you're not scared of me, are you?" I asked, giving him my innocent look.
"No, just your sword," Percy glanced at my blade, Dio (THEE-oh). My sword's name means 'two' because it's double bladed.
"Oh, Dio is only as scary as me," I teased.
"Apparently you're scary," Percy grinned. "Okay, I'll fight you. Be prepared to lose," He added.
By the time we were ready, word had gotten around camp that Percy Jackson, who was very skilled and had once defeated Ares with his blade, Riptide, was going to be fighting me. A huge crowd had gathered and they were all cheering and taking sides.
You know what? Before I continue, I'm going to explain to you about myself. Hmm... I have long dark brown, wavy hair, green eyes, and a big smile. Gregory Hale is my dad. He is the head chef at a famous five-star restaurant in New York City, New York. I have his green eyes and my mom, Athena's, brown hair. My younger years were boring. I had a normal life. Well, except for the fact that I was brilliantly smart, and got kicked out of school all the time. When I was twelve, my protector, Clyde, was transporting me to Camp Half-Blood when a drakon appeared and attacked. Luckily, Clyde and I reached the protective border just in time. A few Ares campers, including Clarisse, headed out and slayed it. Anyway, back to my sword fight.
Percy and I got into our stances. He had an evil glint in those sea green eyes that worried me a little. But once we started, we were a pretty even match. I figured that if I had trained as long and hard as Percy, I may have had an edge. For a few minutes everything was balanced then things got a little...weird.
Suddenly, without warning, the ground split open. Like, literally. Percy and I had quick enough reactions to jump back. What happened next was even more strange.
A hand, as in an actual human hand, clawed its way up through the chasm in the earth. It groped along the edge like it was searching for something. I squealed and hopped back even further as the fingers graced the toe of my neon Converses. The creepiest thing about the hand was it was dead. I mean, it must've belonged to someone that was dead, and, by the looks of it, had been so for quite a while. Its skin was a ghostly, decomposing greenish-gray. The flesh was rotted away in spots. Yet, the hand moved and flexed like it was still alive.
I was so taken aback and shocked and, here goes, freaked out by the hand's appearance that I didn't notice Percy until his blade was pressed to my throat. He grinned triumphantly.
