𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔－ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝑭𝒐𝒖𝒓.

I 034. I

𝑯𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔

❝ crazy, out ❞

ARIADNE WATCHED AS PERCY BRANDISHED HIS SWORD. Her eyes glared at the warriors and monsters who were growing closer, sh was defenseless-- she was never defenseless. "One on one," Percy challenged Luke. "What are you afraid of?"

Luke's lip curled. The soldiers waited for the order to strike. Agrius burst onto the deck leading a flying horse. It was pure-black and its wings were spread wide, it bucked and whinnied.

"Sir!" Agrius called, dodging a pegasus hoof. "Your steed is ready!"

Luke kept his eyes on Percy. "I told you last summer, Percy," he said. "You can't bait me into a fight."

Percy glanced over at the brunette who eyed him warily, needing to know what to do. He sent a smirk towards the blonde teen. "Oh," he said, "I wasn't talking about me." The boy looked to Ariadne who's eyes were wide, he handed her Riptide, seeing as how last summer they both realized their swords were similar.

She gave him a confident look before twisting Riptide in her hand. Luke's face went slack and he gripped his sword tighter. "Come on, Luke," she taunted. "I've told you many times before: you can't beat me."

"Well," he spoke defiantly, raising Backbiter in the air. He whistled before a round leather-and-bronze shield was thrown his way. A wicked grin crossed her face.

Ariadne kept a glare in her eyes, "If you backdown now, I won't hurt you too much."

"I'll kill you quickly," he decided. His bade glinted with an evil gray-and-gold, where human steel had been melded with celestial bronze. Backbiter was a foot longer than Riptide and Lunacy, but it was made with tragedy, she could tell.

Luke made the first move. His sword swung under her arm but she dodged quickly, swiping Riptide at him and grazing his shirt. The boy gave her a glare before sending a swipe towards her head.

She jumped backwards once he lunged again, parrying his attack with a thrust, he dodged. Her body fell back into the swimming pool, which Luke thought was a good thing since she couldn't swim. Her friends panicked as they watched her underwater.

But something happened. The ring in Luke's pocket glowed with sea-green as the trident engraved in it pulsed. Riptide's grapevines glowed with a purple aura and the water shot her out, sending Luke backwards and knocking him to the ground. He was spluttering ad blinded for a few seconds until he quickly stood back up.

Surprisingly, she wasn't soaked, she was dry. But Riptide glowed in her hand until she felt a familiar weight on her right hand. She glanced down and saw Lunacy, glistening in the sunlight. A smirk found its way onto her face before she lunged towards Luke as he rolled to the side. Perfect.

Ariadne tossed Riptide to Percy who caught it, shocking Luke. Her hand twisted Lunacy and the gold sword popped out, vines daring the boy to make a move. Everyone held their breaths as the two greatest sword fighters in the last couple hundred years stood there.

Luke clashed his sword against Ariadne's as she pushed harder, both in a position to strike, but neither doing so. "Come one, Ariadne," Luke whispered, "you know you're on the wrong side."

"No," she grunted. "You are."

"The side who will lose? I would never be on that side, you know that. The gods are using you, Aria," his eyes were full of concern. "You're a pawn in their own game. They will use you for your powers and then cast you aside. You'll just be another hero in their massive card deck."