The Sons of Light and Dark

I Knew I Hated Him!

Michael POV

"Guard up!" Percy yelled at Killian as they trained. Ever since fire breath got his own sword—from Hephestaus himself, apparently—he kept begging Percy and me to teach him how to use it properly, and since I'm a guy again—which I'm super happy about—it's easier for me to train him. Of course, we've got Luke and Nico in on his training as well, as they are the two best swordsmen after us. Yes, I am the second best swordsman in camp, Percy being the first. I don't believe it either.

Killian's sword was like those of the medieval knights. The blade was pure white, practically shining with its own light, the hilt a black material with an even darker black, almost purplish, pearl embedded deep in it. The first time he sparred with anyone besides me or Percy, he almost defeated them. That's saying a lot since he had been in training for about a week with this new sword and he was against a son of Ares. I guess one could say that he had a lot more training than that because of his experience and training before the labyrinth, but whatever. I was still super proud of him.

"Keep your defenses up while on offense!" Percy's words brought my attention back to the training session in front of me. Percy was going easy on Killian as the two battled in the arena. It's been almost a month since the labyrinth and he was really progressing. The son of Hyperion was a natural at swordsmanship. He learned quickly and was now able to stand toe to toe with Nico or Luke while lasting over ten minutes against Percy or me.

I watched as Killian slashed at Percy who easily blocked it and countered, which Killian dodged with relative difficulty. Killian sprang forward and jabbed at Percy's left. Percy sidestepped but tripped over Killian's outstretched foot. Percy fell but quickly rolled out of Killian's range and jumped to his feet.

"Nice move," I commented as I sat with Nico and Luke watching the two spar. Several campers, mainly Ares and Athena kids, were watching the match with interest, trying to learn what they could from the best swordsman in a thousand years. "Kil, why don't you take five? You've been progressing great over the past few months and I kind of want to spar with my brother and see who's better." Killian rolled his eyes at my nickname for him but walked over to get some water. I jumped into the arena and willed my sword to spawn in my hand. I waited for Percy to drink some water and get back into a battle stance. My left arm was back—another prosthetic but made of light this time cause a whole arm would take a while to make—and was weird since I had lost my arm from above the elbow this time.

"Well little brother," Percy said with a hint of excitement in his voice. "Let's battle." With that, he lunged at me and made the first strike. I quickly brought my sword up and blocked as I sidestepped away from his flying fist. I slipped my sword underneath his and jabbed at his chest, which he ducked under and swiped at my stomach. I sucked my stomach in and the strike just barely missed. I slashed at his leg which made him jump and swing his leg at my head. I leaned back and dodged his roundhouse kick only to meet his blade with mine when I leaned back up. We quickly exchanged numerous blows and separated. Neither of us had landed a hit on the other yet and we were just beginning. I noticed that more campers were watching us. Luke, Nico, and Killian had been joined by the girls. Zoe had a weird look on her face as she watched my brother while Bianca smiled at me. I smiled back in love. She loved me being back in my male body almost as much as I did.

I turned back to Percy and started walking in a circle around the arena. He copied my movements with a snort. When I reached the point where I could see them again, I noticed that Killian was talking with Summer and Lilly, the latter paying more attention to him than us. I let out a snort of amusement at that.

"Since more people are here, why don't we kick it up a notch?" I suggested and Percy smirked.

"What a wonderful idea," he agreed. I ran at him full speed and spun, dragging my sword with me in a dangerous arc. Percy jumped back and swiftly brought his sword up in a strike at my back. I spun to the side and brought my sword with me as I crouched and swiped at his legs. He jumped and brought his sword down to meet mine. I stood up and let his sword push mine back. When he did that I used the momentum to slash at his exposed arm. I smirked as my sword cut a small gash on his arm. We traded a few more blows before he disarmed me with Luke's technique. My sword fell in front of us and he used his foot to push it behind him. Before he could bring his sword to my throat, I rolled to his right side, earning a cut on my left shoulder, and sprang towards my blade. I grasped the hilt and turned back to thwart his strike at me. I almost laughed at his shocked expression.