Summer's Gone ((Open))

It was reaching that time of year when all the campers would be going back to school, Percy included. It was a scary, yet reassuring thought that he had made it to his senior year of high school. Despite everything that had happened, the summer was ending and Percy would be finishing school at Goode, with his stepfather as an English teacher. How awkward was that? But then again, Percy supposed it wasn't half as awkward as fighting monsters or leading a group of demigods into battle. But that was life. Well, life for a demigod. Rolling his eyes, Percy approached the arena next to the armory, wanting to get out and practice with Riptide a little more before the school year started and he looked like a nerd carrying an extra pen in his pocket.

As he reached the arena, Percy's pet hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary, bounded over to him, her tongue hanging out. "Hey girl," the boy smiled, petting her as best as he could and pulling a giant dog treat out. "You think I would come over without something for you?" he laughed, giving the huge hellhound her treat. Percy would definitely miss Mrs. O'Leary over the school year, as he always did...not getting into the time when she had turned up in his school auditorium (another story, another day). As he watched the animal enjoy her treat, Percy looked at the dummies in front of him. At this point, they always seemed too lame to really fight. After fighting every monster known to Greek "mythology", a straw dummy just seemed kind of...well, ridiculous. But it would still be better to get something in before he went nine months without any training (his mother wouldn't let him train in the apartment at all). Monsters still popped up at times, especially for the son of Poseidon, but Percy had truly learned how to handle himself well, while attempting to have a normal school year...a laughable thought.

Percy pulled out his pen, that was actually his sword, and pulled off the cap, a three foot long blade of celestial bronze glowing in front of him. Mrs. O'Leary barked, chewing up a couple of dummies, making Percy smile. He shook his head. "Come on, girl," the boy laughed. "Let me get some training in, okay?" The hellhound let out a loud 'arf' and bounded over, licking Percy again. Ew, massive hellhound drool. The boy took it all in stride, though, how could he not? As Mrs. O'Leary ran to the other side of the arena, probably because she saw some birds or something, Percy laughed, eyeing one of the dummies in front of him.

The dummy didn't have a chance. It's straw head rolled off in a matter of seconds...well that was...kind of lame. It wasn't like Percy was wishing a monster upon himself, that would be crazy, even for a demigod...even for a demigod like him. But there were always times that Percy wanted a little more...the thrill of a real fight. It was fun to spar and all, but rarely a challenge. And when new campers wandered over, Percy felt pretty good teaching them. And yet there was still an odd longing that always lingered. It was that missing the adrenaline rush, the thrill of a battle. But in the meantime, slicing heads off of straw dummies would have to do.

((Hope this was okay for a first Percy post! XD))

Alexandra had finally decided to go to the arena for some sword fighting training. Even if the huntress had been very excited about that even before she got to the camp. But then she was not sure when she should start her training. First she had only trained her archery a little bit more. But somehow she felt really bored about that. The only people who were as good as she was were the kids of Apollo, and she did not liked to combat with them any more. So she had decided it was time to do something new.

Alexandra knew that she would have to borrow a sword, because the hunters had none. She had found out soon that none of the swords available fitted her perfectly, and decided that she would have to make her own sword with the help of a kid of Hepaestos one day. But the huntress had found a sword that would be good enough for training. She took it and then walked slowly to the arena.

Soon Alexandra was standing at the entery of the arena. Slowly she felt really strange, because she had her leather armour on, but had left her bow and quiever at her cabin. The sun was so strong, that the silver glow around her could not been seen clearly. For some seconds she did not felt like a real huntress, but like somebody who did not belong anywhere really. But she knew that that was a stupid thought and so she finally really entered the arena. When she saw the hellhound, she gasped.

Normally she would try to kill the monster right when she saw it. But because she watched the hellhound for some moments, she found out that it was a friendly monster. Alexandra saw also a boy standing in the arena. After breathing deep one last time, she finally stepped further into the arena and looked around. She really had no idea what she should do now. She thought that she could ask the boy for some help. She walked toward him, thinking what she could say. Even if she had not so much problems with boys as the other hunters, she behaved like the others a little bit. Sometimes Alexandra asked herself if that was also something she had gotten the moment she became a huntress. "Hi. Can you maybe help me a little bit with my sword fighting skills?", she asked. Her voice was more quiet than normally, because she was nervous.

The sun was high in the sky, and Percy was so glad he had opted out of wearing his armor today. It wasn't like he was going to be attacked by anyone or anything in the arena; he was probably the scariest thing there and that included Mrs. O'Leary. Percy knew he should be wearing his armor anyway, but what it came down to was...well, the boy hadn't really felt like putting it on, honestly. Sometimes Percy got lazy...which was pretty bad for a demigod (and something Annabeth had yelled at him for plenty of times), but on a day like this, why should it matter? Practicing and all. But he should be...oh Gods, not Percy was seriously thinking it would be best to put his armor on. It sounded stupid, but facing an empousa or enemy demigod, he would be kinda in trouble if he wasn't used to having his armor on.

Well at least he had brought it. That was something. Percy walked to the edge of the arena, Mrs. O'Leary running after him. "Calm down, girl," the boy shook his head, petting the hellhound's nose. It was about as far up as he could reach, even though Percy had grown quite a bit the past year. "I'm just putting my armor on," he assured his pet, who looked pretty bored by that point (if a hellhound could look bored) since she realized nothing fun or exciting was happening. With a loud sigh, Percy capped Riptide and strapped up his leather armor, already feeling the heat of the day hanging over him. Who would have thought that a day this late in the summer could be this hot? But it was noon, and the sun was shining a lot brighter than usual. Percy was about to give a sarcastic 'thanks' to Apollo, but thought better of it and kept his mouth shut.

After finishing with his armor, Percy jumped back into the arena, uncapping Riptide and practicing some of his footwork. Once again, it wasn't exactly interesting, but it was something to do. Percy had nothing else to do (except search more for Annabeth, but she was probably holed up in her cabin working on some sort of architecture mumbo jumbo). Maybe at some point, someone else would come into the arena and make life semi-interesting. Barely realizing he had stopped circling a dummy to think, Percy groaned...once again, he had allowed his ADHD to get in the way. That was a sure sign that school was going to suck this year. Of course, Percy took everything as a sure sign that school was going to suck, but he figured, after a lot of talking to Chiron, that he was too close to finishing high school to stop going. Besides, Paul and his mother would be disappointed...and that was the last thing Percy wanted to do to them.

Trying to concentrate on what he was doing, Percy picked up his circling of the dummy again, staring at it for a moment before rolling his eyes. Stupid straw dummy. After a moment, the boy thought he heard a noise from somewhere on the side of the arena. Turning around, Riptide raised, Percy saw a girl, probably a little younger than him looking at Mrs. O'Leary. "She's harmless," he called, watching the girl as she stepped further into the arena. Mrs. O'Leary bounded over to Percy, and he absentmindedly rubbed her side as he watched the girl walked towards him. The boy barely heard the girl's words over his hellhound's panting in his ear, but Percy caught something about 'help' and 'sword fighting skills'. Nodding, Percy pushed the hellhound over as best as he could, and luckily the hellhound got the hint and trotted off with a soft whine. "Help with sword fighting skills?" he asked, to make sure he got it right. "Um...sure," he said.

The boy supposed he was a 'senior' camper now (or something like that...after leading the battle in Manhattan, he wasn't sure what else to call himself), and part of that was helping new campers. "Come on, um..." the girl hadn't introduced herself too, had she? For a moment, the sun drifted behind a cloud and Percy was sure he saw a faint silver glow around the girl. A Huntress..."Huntress of Artemis girl," he finally said. "And a new one, I'm guessing...cool! Thalia stopped talking to me for awhile when she became a Huntress but that's a long story. I'm Percy," he smiled at the girl, holding out his hand. "Have a sword?"

Alexandra nodded as the boy found out that she was a huntress. When he said that he had not spoken to Thalia since she became a huntress, the girl had to smile. "Yeah, Thalia is somehow busy now.", she said. When the boy finally said his name, Alexandra could not imagine that she had heared right. This was the Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, she had heared about in some stories of the Hunters. This was the first boy in a very long time that got a friend of the hunters. He was the hero of the fight against Kronos. She could not believe it first, also not that she had asked him to teach her sword fighting.

She took his hand and shook it. "I am Alexandra. Nice to meet you, Percy.", she said to him. Then she took slowly her hand away from him. As Percy asked her if she had a sword, she showed it to him. "I just got it.", she said to him. Then she looked at his sword. Also about Riptide she had heared stories, mainly from Thalia. She found it really interesting to see everything in real now, also because it was not exactly like she had imagined it. Only about the hellhound she could not remember anything.

At exactly that thought, she looked at the hellhound again. She did not really feared that creature, but she had respect. "May I ask you why you have a hellhound in the arena?", she finally asked Percy. It somehow seemed so wrong to Alexandra that a monster was in the camp, but in the life as a demi-god there were so many strange things, she could not count them any more. She also asked herself suddenly if anything would change in all the years she would live when she was not killed before.

Figuring that the girl's nod meant Yes, I am a huntress, Percy smiled slightly...it was funny enough to find a huntress just roaming around camp, and even funnier to find one asking a boy for help. Well, not funny...yes funny, but weird funny. Shaking his head out and falling back to reality just in time to hear the girl speak, Percy nodded. "When is she not busy?" he snorted, thinking about his friend. The last time they had spoken was...the battle in Manhattan? At camp after the battle? Seriously, who knew at this point. And sometimes the boy really missed her, but sometimes it was nice that she and Annabeth weren't beating up on him all the time.

Percy was slightly surprised when the girl shook his hand...not a lot of huntresses would do that with a boy. But it was nice enough...a good...peace offering of sorts. "Um...good to meet you as well, Alexandra," the boy replied awkwardly. Percy still hadn't quite grown out of his awkward phase, especially when it came to new people. But if Alexandra knew who he was (and she probably did, as a huntress), she was doing a good job of not making a fuss over him. That was something Percy hated the most. When Alexandra said she had a sword, Percy smiled. "Oh good," he said...the boy still wasn't too great at figuring out what size sword people needed or anything, so it was better that someone else took care of that. The sword that the girl was holding was definitely one of the stock practice swords though, which Percy knew sucked. You had to find the right sword for you, which was nearly impossible with the stock swords.

As the huntress asked why there was a hellhound in the arena, Percy looked over to Mrs. O'Leary who was busy watching some birds in the nearby trees. "Mrs. O'Leary? Oh, she's uh...sort of like a pet, I guess. It's a bit of a long story," Percy said honestly. How did he go into the whole thing about Quintis who was actually Daedalus, the Labyrinth, and everything else that had happened that one summer. Obviously, the answer was...he didn't. "But I promise, she wouldn't hurt anything," Percy shrugged, just as the hellhound jumped up and start running after the birds. "Um...so, about practice with the sword...not completely set on your bow and arrows and daggers like the rest of the Huntresses?" he smiled. "That's a good thing, if you ask me...to be versatile and all."

Alexandra had to smile as Percy asked when Thalia was not busy. She knew that her comander had much to do and only paused for eating and sleeping. But she had met Thalia as a nice girl who also looked after the hunters she comanded. But as Percy spoke again, she got away from her thoughts. Somehow she had the feeling that she had done something that he had not expected. She did not knew if it was good or bad. She also did not knew exactly what she had done different than he had expected. The only thing she thought could be different was that she was not so reserved as the other hunters. But it was sure that she would not have so much problems with boys, because she was a huntress for only 2 months.

Then Percy told her that the hellhound was called Mrs. O´Leary. She had to smile at that name. "Who had named this hellhound? Because it is a funny name, but also a good one for her.", she said. Alexandra watched the monster a little more. The hellhound seemed to like playing with many things, or that is what the huntress thought. Somehow it was good to see that not all monsters are bad, but that there are also some who are really nice. "She is also a pretty animal.", she than added.

Then Percy asked her if she was not set on the normal weapons of the hunters. Alexandra shook her head. "I have decided it would be better to know many weapons, even if this is not normal for a huntress. But I have experienced that it is not good to be set on bow and arrows. That is also the reason why I came here, to the camp.", she then told Percy. Alexandra thought for a moment, if she could remember any huntress who could fight with a sword as well as with bow and arrows. There were not many, nearly nobody. She got away from this thoughts, because she hated it when she suddenly was pushed back into reality because someone speaks. "So, can we start training?", she asked the boy, excitment and happiness in her voice.

Taking a moment to think about what he had been through with Thalia, Percy lost himself for a moment. He did miss the girl, despite the fights and everything...Annabeth and Thalia beating up on him, well, quite frankly, Percy missed that too. So really, he missed a lot...going out on adventures and everything. Of course, the quiet of staying at camp without the whole mess of threats from Kronos and everything was nice, but since the battle in Manhattan, Percy did kind of miss the thrill of adventure...the adrenaline and all that. This summer had been so calm that Percy felt kind of...bored at times. Especially with Annabeth redesigning Olympus and all, the boy rarely even got to see his girlfriend (who was also still his best friend). And school was starting soon too, which was the worst...but this was Percy's senior year, which meant he could go without school for awhile soon enough.

"Who named the hellhound?" Percy asked as Alexandra's words pulled him from his reverie. "Um...this guy named Quintus. Who was actually Daedalus, but that's a long story. A really long story," Percy added the last part hastily...it wasn't exactly something that the boy wanted to go into, what with the whole story of the Labyrinth and Rachel and everything and...well, everything. Even thinking about it gave Percy a headache. "And after Daedalus...uh...well like I said, it's a long story, but he asked me to take care of her afterwards, and I guess she's kinda my pet now, but she stays here during the school year...except for this one time...but once again, another long story..." Percy shrugged. He was rambling too much at this point, probably boring the huntress to tears.

Nodding slightly, Percy grinned. "That's a good attitude to have," he said thoughtfully. "I think it's much better to think that way than to stick inside boundaries and all that." It was a really stupid statement, but it was all Percy could think to say. He had never really trained with a huntress before, sure, he had fought by Thalia's side, but that was mostly before she was a huntress, excluding the final battle in Manhattan. And maybe some other times, but Percy's memory kind of all flowed together at times. "Of course we can start training," Percy smiled, raising Riptide. "So, you have a sword...let's see what you can do to start with." Most people didn't have much to start with, but as a huntress, Alexandra probably had some sort of reflex or skill...even though that didn't make too much sense. Might as well try.

Eros

As Eros peered down upon his daughter, he noticed she was in the Armory with No one other than The son of Poseidon Him self, Mr. Percy Jackson. Searching his mind for a perfect gift he held a bow, Ahh Perfect! But something was missing. Several love arrows is what's missing! I guess it's time to make myself known to her. With a snap, Eros appeared before his daughter.

With a bit of a friendly smile, Eros spoke, "Have any idea who I am, love?" With a snap of his fingers a quiver filled with some pink arrows appeared in his hand. "These are for you my daughter, love arrows." He leaned in towards his daughter to whisper in her ear, "They're only temporary, but still be very careful with them. You wouldn't want to destroy some good friendships now would you?" He winked at his daughter before disappearing. The only sign that he had even been there was above Alexandra's head, a large heart with an arrow through it.

((Ahh, I was claimed by Eros on Tpt. Alex - Great fun. Great fun XD Congrats!!))

((Doesn't anyone find it ironic tha a hunter claimed by Eros xDxDxD. Way to go Alex!))

Alexandra found the story about the hellhound really intersting, but she understood that Percy did not wanted to tell much more. She also had no problems with it. She knew that it was not good to force anybody to do something this person does not want. She only thought a little about it. It had to be funny to have a hellhound as pet. But then they were finally going to start training. Alexandra smiled and got into a fighting position she normally used when she fought with a dagger. She did not thought that it might be not perfect for fighting with swords.

But exact at that time, when she waited if Percy was going to attack or not, a god appeared in front of her. She first had really no idea who he was. But after a while Alexandra found out that it was Eros. But this was not the thing that shocked her most. At the moment he said that she was his daughter, she could only stare at him. Slowly the huntress took the love arrows from her father. "I will be careful, father.", she said to Eros, even if it felt not right by now. Then he disappeared again.

Alexandra looked at Percy. Somehow she had now really the feeling that she wanted to train. She wanted to get away from the whole thought about Eros being her father. She did not knew what she could say. "Seems like I know now who my father is.", she said to Percy. "I think we can train now really.", she then added soon.

((Yeah, it somehow is really ironic. And I will have fun.))

Knowing that it would be a bit of a pain to tell the whole story behind Mrs. O'Leary, Percy was very grateful that Alexandra didn't push him to do so. Instead, he watched as she got into fighting position...well, a perfect position for fighting with daggers. Smiling slightly, Percy watched the girl. "Okay, first lesson, we're not fighting that close. You need to be a little farther back to fight with a sword." The boy took a step back, raising his sword...they still needed some space between them, if Percy was judging the length of Alexandra's sword correctly. "Take a step back...we need to be far enough apart that the swords can...um, like meet in the middle, kinda." Awkward, but so was almost everything Percy said.

Suddenly, a winged God appeared before the two. Percy wasn't exactly sure who he was, until he proclaimed himself of Eros. Well that was a perfect fit...Alexandra, as a huntress, already had a lot of practice with arrows, so at least she wouldn't go around causing havoc as a daughter of the minor God of Love. But honestly, what was with all these quick claimings? And this was the third one Percy had seen...at least Eros wasn't as scary as Hades and Ares had been. But maybe that was just because Percy hadn't ever had an experience with Eros. But it was a good thing that Alexandra had been claimed, it was a good thing that all the demigods coming to camp were getting claimed. It meant that the Gods had actually listened to him and were following through with their promise.

Percy smiled as Alexandra looked at him. "Congratulations," he laughed. "I'm still up for training with a sword, but I definitely can't help you with those arrows," he nodded towards the arrows from Eros. "Not that you really need any help," he added on, realizing how stupid it was to joke about arrows with a huntress. "Now, take a step back, and raise the sword. We're going to work hard right now, and don't feel bad if you can't perfect everything right away. It took me a long time to really get going."

Alexandra laughed as Percy ment he could not help her with the arrows. "I think nobody can help me with those.", she said, nodding at the pink arrows. "I will hide them somewhere in my cabin so that nobody can just take them and do any harm.", she thought loud. The huntress knew that this would be the savest way, because she feared that anybody could be so stupid and use these arrows. Then she put everything on her back.

Finally she got into the fighting position Percy had told her to take. It somehow was strange for her to be so close but at the same time so far away from the person she was fighting. But she thought that she could get used to it. "Believe me, I will not feel bad. I came here to train, and I knew from the beginning that it will take a long time. So, somehow I will be even glad when I cannot do everything perfect.", she said to the son of Poseidon. Then she finally rose her sword, waiting for him to attack.

As Alexandra mentioned that nobody could help her with the arrows, Percy shrugged. "Yeah, but you'll be fine." That sounded stupid. "I mean, you have all that experience from being a huntress and all," he added hastily. At least that made a little more sense...Percy hoped so, anyway. Watching the girl closely, the boy found it a bit odd that she wasn't more excited about her claiming. Of course, when he had been claimed, it had been more of a bad thing than a good thing, but in the end everything had turned out alright. "Well...you'll be alone in the cabin for now...at least I think so," the boy scratched his head. He honestly couldn't remember any other children of Eros, but surely there had to be at least one...right? Who knew, honestly...not Percy. He could be really inattentive like that.

Nodding as the huntress spoke, Percy grinned slightly mischievously. "Another great attitude to have," he grinned. Of course, the boy had a lot of thoughts about how she was much more awesome than the rest of the huntresses, but he was terrified that if he said anything, Artemis would appear out of nowhere and shoot him down...or worse, Thalia. "Okay, so here's the plan...I'm going to come at you, and just start by trying to block me. Your battle reflexes should kick in pretty quickly, so don't be afraid. Just let your body take over. You can do this, all of us can...it's what causes the ADHD...well, kind of, anyway." Percy couldn't say it as um...well as Annabeth would have been able to (what was that word she always teased him with? Something that sounded like elegant...elo...eloquent...that was it!)

Putting his game face on, Percy raised Riptide and slashed his sword towards Alexandra, moving slower than usual (although that wasn't too hard...he was so not used to wearing full armor anymore) and started circling the huntress, making sure he stayed safe, but still trying to be a challenge. For someone who hadn't fought with a sword before, but with other weapons, Percy was sure that Alexandra would be able to do well enough, and keep herself safe. Battle reflexes always took over for demigods in situations like this, so Percy was pretty positive that the huntress would succeed well enough.

Alexandra smiled to Percy. She somehow heared out of his voice that he really had no idea what to say. And she had no idea how she should felt. On the one hand she was glad to know who her father was, on the other hand she feared herself because of the power she had. It was right that she had not so strong powers as children of the twelve Olympian gods. But they could use their powers whenever they want. She had to think first if she really want to use it. She knew that, and she feared what would happen if she uses her power without really thinking. If she uses one of the arrows and then a friendship broke because of her. "I think I will be alone in the Eros cabin now.", she whispered.

Then she listend what Percy was saying, and finally they were starting. When she found out that Percy was moving not so fast as in a normal fight, she wanted to tell him first he could a little bit faster. But when she blocked for the first time she found out that she was glad that he was moving not as fast as normally. The sword was much heavier than a dagger, so she needed more strenght to block, and she has to get used to it first. When Percy started to circle her, she tried to get out of his circle to manage that she can also move around in circles. She knew that it was not wise to turn around on one place. She also managed to get used to her sword slowly. It became easier everytime to block, and soon she knew how much strenght the had to use to block.

Alexandra was really glad that she had asked Percy to teach her a little bit. He was a really good teacher. The huntress also slowly really liked sword fighting. But she knew that it was just the beginning, that she needed to do much more before she really could use her sword.

Scratching his head slightly, Percy tried to think of the best thing he could say in a situation like this. Most demigods got really excited by their claiming...maybe it was a huntress thing that Alexandra was staying so calm...yeah, the huntresses tended to stay calm a lot. Honestly, Percy had no idea how they did it. It was so easy for the son of Poseidon to lose his temper, he had known that from the beginning...at least he had really learned how to control it. Things had been a lot worse before he knew he was a half-blood, before he knew who he was. "There's nothing wrong with that," Percy promised. "I'm alone in the Poseidon cabin most of the time. It's only when my brother comes to visit that there's anyone in there with me," he grinned slightly. Percy missed Tyson, and he hadn't seen him all summer. It was pretty sucky.

Percy kept going, meeting Alexandra's blocks with more thrusts of his sword. She wasn't all that bad...at least, when he was going slowly. Percy was sure that once he picked up, it would get a little harder for the girl, but in the meantime, he would start off moving like this. He circled around the huntress a little more, picking up his speed slightly. Alexandra wasn't doing too well with his circling, so Percy stopped suddenly, thrusting out slowly with his sword. "Always stay alert," he warned. "Your enemy will often just stop when you least suspect it, and then start moving quickly again. Just consider that." Percy started circling again, picking up his pace again slightly.

Suddenly, Percy jumped to the side, slashing slightly, but far enough away from the huntress that she wouldn't get hurt. "Enemies move quickly," he warned. "I just wanted to get a feel of how you deal with sudden movement. It helps when I can see how quick your reflexes are...luckily, that's something that demigods are good at," Percy wanted to laugh, but he thought about fighting Mrs. Dodds, his first monster, and how hard it had been, even with his natural battle instinct. Honestly, Percy had gotten pretty lucky that time around, and there had been much worse times after all that. It was still terrifying to think about at times, though.

Alexandra had no problem when Percy started to be a little bit faster. But when he stopped she moved a little bit further. She was sure that she would not be fast enough right now to block when he was going to attack her. He would hit her if he really attacked. But he only explained something, and Alexandra nodded. Then they both began to circle again, this time she did not was much later than Percy.

Then the boy jumped to the side. The moment Alexandra saw that movement, she began to move her sword into a defending position. She was used to sudden movements, and she also had to be fast with bow and arrow when she saw something. So it was not really difficult for her. "Yeah, it seems like demigods are good in this.", she said with a smile. Then, suddenly, she had a little funny and crazy idea.

Suddenly, she made a step forward. Now that she knew how heavy the sword was, she had no problem by trying to hit Percy. She managed to make it that the sword would not hit Percy if he should be too surprised by her sudden attack. "And speaking of fast movements, that is something I am good at.", she than said.

The great thing about fighting with a huntress was that they knew how to be on top of things. And Percy was finding that Alexandra was definitely on top of things. Percy knew that that was definitely working to the girl's advantage as they continued to practice her sword work. For someone who hadn't fought much with a sword, Alexandra was pretty good. But Percy supposed that kind of just came with the huntress territory...they seemed to be good at just about everything. It made the boy a little jealous...after all the training and working to be good that he had been through, it would be nice to be good at things right away. Of course, Percy finally decided...where was the fun in that?

As Alexandra moved to a defensive position when Percy jumped, the boy thrust forward with his sword, once again, not close enough to hit her. "You can't always take defensive when you're fighting, so next time, try offensive," he said with a smile. When the huntress spoke, Percy nodded. "Most of us do train with swords," he admitted with a grin. "Some demigods will use daggers, and obviously the Apollo kids prefer bow and arrows, but like I said...most of us are good with swords." Percy watched Alexandra carefully, trying to figure out her next battle move. Even without Annabeth around, that was something he had gotten pretty good at. How could he not with all the battles he had been through?

When the girl made a step froward, Percy struck again, using a classic disarming move. He wasn't sure if it would work with Alexandra, because she really seemed to be doing pretty well, but it was always good to try basic disarming moves while teaching...before they got to the big stuff, anyway. "I can see that," Percy laughed, waiting for the sound of a sword clattering to the ground. It was definitely a good move that the girl had pulled, and Percy actually found himself excited to be training this huntress.

Alexandra really listened carefully to the advices Percy gave her. She would need them, and she knew that. When the boy disarmed her, she watched carefully what he was really doing. She tried to remember everything, so that she could try copying it the next time. Then her sword fell on the ground. Slowly she got down to take her sword again, thinking what she could do from this position. The only thing that could show Percy that she had an idea whas that her eyes were suddenly shining.

At the moment she had her sword in her hands, she got up really fast and attacked Percy with an turning movement at his chest. It should make her faster and stronger, even if the huntress had no idea if it really worked. Suddenly her thoughts went completely away from everything that had nothing to do with a swordfighting. She even did not thought about movements she could do. Somehow her body prepared for a fight. She asked herself how that should even work, because she knew not really much.

Alexandra knew she would not be able to stand against Percy for long. But that did not mattered right now. It was somehow that she wanted to try it.

As Alexandra's sword clattered to the ground, Percy watched the girl carefully, jumping behind her as she went to pick it up. "Be careful," he warned, his sword slightly away from her back. "Your enemy will pull tricks like this...you want to be alert and prepared from all angles." Moving back in front of the huntress, Percy smiled slightly. "It's hard to pick up your sword while being that careful...which is why you need to work on defending disarming moves. It's not easy, and it's one of those instances where you do need to be defensive rather than offensive, but not for long. Things can happen in a split second, especially when your battling monsters." When the son of Poseidon saw the gleam in the huntresses' eyes, he grinned mischievously. "Keep moving," he goaded calmly. Alexandra was definitely getting the hang of this.

Alexandra went for Percy's chest with his sword, the boy jumped forward and blocked it. Like I said earlier, things can happen in a split second," he said over the clang of their swords meeting. "Staying alert and moving fast, although difficult to do at the same time, is what you're going for. Shouldn't be too hard for a huntress, though." The boy pushed forward, making a simple move to meet the huntresses' sword with his own. "Now let's just try some quick combat before you try to disarm me again." Swinging his sword again to meet Alexandra's, Percy grinned. "Try the same move I tried on you...I know you were watching."

If there was one thing Percy was really good at, it was sword fighting. Sure, he was good at his control over water, but sword fighting actually got his brain in motion. Even Annabeth called him 'Seaweed Brain' less when they were sparing because of how strategic he could get in a battle. The overall picture wasn't always apparent like it was to his girlfriend, but at least the son of Poseidon was able to think on his feet and really accomplish a lot. But Alexandra was definitely holding her own against him, and Percy liked that a lot.