The Legend of Elodie Grant (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter Thirteen

I swung my staff up, parrying the blade as it hurtled towards my face. I grunted, spinning in order to kick my leg out.

Daniel grunted, taking the blow in the gut of his stomach. I smirked victoriously, but it was short lived, because while I was distracted, he jumped up and pinned me to the ground.

I groaned, letting my head fall against the sand. Daniel sighed and climbed off me, holding out a hand to help me to my feet.

"You can't be that cocky during a battle." He told me, raising an eyebrow, "That's how you get killed."

Daniel was three years younger than me, be he was no doubt the better fighter out of the two of us. He had, practically, been raised in the camp, learning how to hold a sword at a young age.

"Thanks." I grunted, my pride a little wounded.

I had been so confident after Capture the Flag. Now, I realized it had all been because of my gifts, not because of my skill. I brushed the sand off my legs, which were sticky with sweat after the long lesson.

After Chiron left the camp this morning -- by order of the gods -- the camp had acted surprisingly normal. It was as if he were still here. The only authority role we had now was each other. Even Mr. D had been called back to Olympus.

I didn't know what kind of test the gods were trying to have us go through, but they weren't going to make it any easier on us.

"I think that's enough for today." Daniel sighed, dropping his weapon down at his feet. "You have worked hard."

"I'm not good enough." I murmured, "Not for what is coming."

Daniel watched me with eyes that seemed too old to be in a 14-year-old. His face was grim, his lips pulled tight. I felt, somehow, guilty for him having to deal with all of this at such a young age. As if it were my fault.

"More lessons will make you feel better." He decided, nodding suddenly, "I'll be waiting here everyday, at the same time. Be there, or be square." He joked.

It worked and I cracked a smile. I bent down to pick up my staffs, shrinking them back into hairpins. I stuffed them into my back pocket and nudged him gently.

I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt. I paused, looking over my shoulder at him. He was blushing bright red and quickly let go of my arm.

"Could you please tell Arsen I'm helping you?" He asked, looking down at his feet.

I frowned and turned around to face him fully. I said, "What do you mean?"

"Arsen...is infatuated with you, clearly." He told me, his face growing red, "He respects you and talks about you in the cabin at night. He really likes you."

Now I was the one blushing.

"What does that have to do with you?" I asked, trying to cover up the fact that I really liked what he had said.

"Well, Arsen is head of the Ares cabin." He told me, reaching up to rub the back of his head awkwardly. "If he knew I was helping you, it would really put me in his favor."

I couldn't help but laugh, causing the poor boy to blush harder. I started to turn away, pausing to tell him, "I'll talk to Arsen and perhaps your name will pop up."

I sent him a wink and pranced away, eager to climb into the showers. I made my way to the bath house, smiling at the various people I walked by.

In the bathroom, there were a couple of Aphrodite girls, chatting away in front of the mirrors. I smiled, but otherwise ignored them, moving to a free sink and pulling out my hair sticks to set on the counter. I didn't want them to get lost while I showered.

"I haven't seen a pair of those in such a long time!" One of the girls squealed, leaping forward to take them into her hand, "And in such good shape!"

I tilted my head at her, amazed at her excitement. I hadn't realized they were such a big thing. She looked up and saw my confused face. She immediately grinned.

"Do you want us to show you some cute styles you can use with them?" She asked.

I hesitated. I was never one to keep up with beauty, or to even care about it, but it would be convenient to have them in my hair, instead of struggling to carry them around in pockets and whatnot. I finally agreed.

For the next half hour, I became the girls' own personal barbie doll. They were super excited to have such a willing test subject besides each other, and I could tell. They taught me many cool hair styles I could use, and that could be useful in the middle of battle.

I thanked them as they left, needing to go clean their cabin before expection tomorrow morning. Even though our directors were gone, we were eager to have anything that resembled routine and normalness. So, we kept up with the cleaning and chores.

I hopped into the shower super fast. Dinner was approaching and people didn't like it when someone was late.

When I was clean and dressed, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. Something was wrong. This was only confirmed when I started hearing screams from outside.

I jumped at first, unsure of what to do, but I quickly leaped into action. I grabbed my hair sticks from the back of the sink and raced out of the bath house.

Outside was complete chaos. Campers were screaming and monsters were racing everywhere, following them around. I frowned, my stomach coiling with nerves.

Arsen said it shouldn't have gotten this far until weeks into the future. It shouldn't have been this escalated. We should have had more weeks to prepare.

The end was nearer than we wanted it to be.