We're Not Dead Yet (Split Souls part 2)

5: Dawn Of A Life

It was one of the days that Percy was dropping Annabeth off at Camp. He was about to leave again when her hand grabbed hold of his arm. 

Percy looked to her with a frown. "Is everything okay?"

"No. Percy, you told me that you don't want to be like the other gods. But you know what they do with problems?" Annabeth said.

"They avoid them, or send demigods out to fix them." Percy replied.

"Well, what are you doing right now?" Annabeth asked. "Except for the sending demigods down to die... Look, they don't know that you're the king. They're confused, the cabins have moved around, a new one has shown up. Percy, you can't hide from this forever." 

Percy looked down. "I know, but I just... Not yet." Percy looked up at her with tears in his eyes. "I can't see the disappointment on their faces when they realize that I've done the exact opposite of what I stand for. I can't face them. I can't, not yet."

"Just, they can only wait for you for so long before it gets worse." Annabeth said, and released her hold on his arm before walking down the hill.

Percy wiped away a tear from his cheek as he vapour traveled away.

~~~~~~

Katha was out of her element in the mindscape Loki had assembled for her. The Asgardian training arena was different than what she was used to. She also felt incredibly odd in her earthen clothes amongst the fake people that was in the arena with her.

She observed what they wore, and tried to imagine a similar outfit that she could wear. It took awhile for her to think up a set of clothes that seemed to blend in with the theme around here. That was probably a good thing, because she needed as much to do as possible, so consuming time was high on the to-do list.

After that, she wandered over to the weapons. At first, she had practiced with the sword, but then Loki had begun to weave the memory barrier thing, and the sword was entirely too Percy. She began to look for another suitable weapon.

The bow was too foreign, and it seemed that she sucked absolute ass at it too, of which Loki overheard and she could tell he was trying to stifle a chuckle. It was odd, like he was with her, but that he wasn't. She realized that it was more like she was with him.

Hammers were a no-go, short swords, longswords, and greatswords were out of the question. Spears, as much as she- he had practiced with Clarisse, was not her strong suit. The knives were just too small. Staffs were too clunky and not sharp, and that just wouldn't work out well against sandbag monsters.

Katha found an old armory, stocked with weapons that hadn't seen use in many years. Boy, was she desperate if she was here among the rusted, forgotten things. Still, nothing was sticking out to her.

"Looking for something?" A voice said, right in her ear. Considering that he startled her, her immediate reaction was to turn and face her opponent. As she turned, she slammed her elbow into his cheek, with her hands in fists.

Stepping back and rubbing his jaw, Loki smirked at her. "Not the greeting I was thinking of."

"You snuck up on me." Katha stated as way of explanation.

"Wouldn't that be your fault for letting me?" Loki asked.

"This is your head, you control the rules." Katha narrowed her eyes at him.

"My, you caught on quickly." Loki praised.

"I'm oblivious, not dumb." Katha said.

Loki smirked. "So. What were you looking for, dear?"