LoSP Side Story Ch.9: The Training – Pt.I (Patreon)

Bars of sunlight fell across the sandy ground, glinting on the edges of bronze weapons around the arena. Percy and Thalia stood at the bottom of the stairs leading to the gallery, staring at the group in front of them.

“You all will do alright.” Thalia waved a hand. “A will to win is half the battle.”

“Strategy is half the battle.” Annabeth rolled her eyes at her. “And we are going against the goddess who invented every strategy in the book.”

“Then think outside the book,” Percy gave her a pointed look. “It will give you a much better fighting chance… or well, throw the book out of the window and just fight. That’s what Ares does.”

“Can he defeat my mom?” Annabeth arched an eyebrow and Clarisse turned to her, her eyes narrowing. 

“Remember what you once told me?” Percy asked her. “Ares has a lot of strength. Strength enough to bow down wisdom at times.”

“But bowing down wisdom and defeating the wisdom goddess are not the same.” Annabeth retorted. “No offense, Clarisse.”

Clarisse let out a low growl, her fists balling.

“Occasionally, Ares does win.” Percy’s eyes flicked to the place where Ares and Athena sat. “All he has to do is get a blow in against Athena before she does because they usually play till first blood. Athena mostly loses only when she wants to show me something or prove a point. Stuff like how I could lose despite being a lot smarter than my opponent. Or, win despite the opponent being a lot smarter than me.”

“That being said,” Thalia shot a glare at Annabeth, who had a triumphant gleam in her eyes. “You all must do your best if you want to stand against her. I have never won against Athena. I’ve defeated Enyo and even though I only had to summon my most powerful bolt to take him down, I have even disarmed Ares. Athena can stand against me, even when I go all out.”

“What about you, Percy?” Bianca turned to him. “You spar with her the most.”

“If she’s using her spear, the only chance you have is if you overwhelm her or keep her busy enough to find an opening.” Percy rubbed his jaw. “It is five against one which makes your task a little easier. Play to your strengths, and watch her shield. If you can, goad her into attacking you. If she goes on totally on the defensive, it will not be possible to score a single blow.”

“She’ll tire you out by taking every single blow on her shield or just deflecting them.” Thalia agreed. “She did that to me. I shot so many lightning bolts that I was half-spent before she made her first move.”

“She doesn’t have any qualms about playing to her advantage as a goddess even in spars,” Percy added. “While she won’t outclass you just because she can, she will not make it any easier on you either. She’ll simply let you all tire out before taking you down.”

“That’s… just like her,” Annabeth muttered.

“She is teaching you.” Percy snorted. “Believe me, while she does take pleasure in humiliating an enemy, she doesn’t like defeating her students. She was so proud when I first managed to disarm her with my sword.”

“Is that why she always sticks to the spear against you?” Nico asked. “Against us, she gets all sorts of weapons. Heck, she once wiped the floor with us bare-handed.”

“I am a slightly better sword fighter but she is a way better spear-fighter.” Percy rolled his eyes. “I have not managed to defeat her with my trident yet. The only way I win against her is a combination of everything I have, minus my powers. And I mean every play in my book. Ares, you can trick easily. Athena, not so much.”

“That advice is not really helping,” Nico said. “Give us something actually helpful, Percy. Like, is her left side weaker?”

“She has her shield on her left arm, good luck with that.” Thalia snorted. “But if you want advice, get in her guard. She is a spear user. I used to be one and if someone gets too close, it is very tough to fight.”

“Also, execute a series of attacks rather than a single, persistent one.” Percy tilted his head. “Keep moving, changing positions. And try not to fall into formations. She’ll tear you apart. Have a plan—”

A deep horn reverberated through the arena and they turned around to see Athena standing at its center, wearing jeans and a white top, her spear in her hand.

“Well, come on. We are on a schedule and you’ve had your break.” The horn in Athena’s hand turned into a bronze shield, Medusa’s face snarling over it.

“I was saying, have a plan but wing it as much as you can. Don’t stay too rigid but don’t go overflowing either.” Percy said quickly. “Good luck.”

“She’s not even wearing any armor,” Annabeth muttered. “She is confident she’ll win.”

“Or she wants more agility to defend against multiple opponents,” I told her. “Give it your best, guys.”

They nodded and jogged toward the center of the arena while Thalia turned to Percy.

“You know that the armor—”

“She is way stronger in her armor.” Percy nodded. “The only time she doesn’t wear it is when she knows she won’t need it. But as you said, a will to win is half the fight.”

“I think she is a little overconfident,” Thalia murmured. “Sure she can take down one of them with her eyes closed even if the one is Clarisse or Annabeth. But all five of them?”

“The one she has to be most wary of here is Grover.” Percy climbed up the stairs two at a time. “He won’t attack or get close to her. And no armor would protect her against plants that could strangle her.”

“He’s scary that way. I think Enyo will be steering clear of plants for a while.” Thalia snorted. “They are about to start.”

“I gotta poke her,” Percy muttered. “Hey, Athena!”

The goddess of wisdom looked up to the gallery, raising an eyebrow at him.

“You might want to wear some armor,” Percy’s voice rang. “Maybe full body armor. It is five on one.”

“Thank you for your concern, Percy. But you haven’t seen me in full body armor yet.” Athena’s lips curled into a smirk. “The last time I wore full armor was centuries ago. All you see me wear is my upper armor. That too is half at the best.”

“What?”

“You haven’t seen Athena ride into war, punk,” Ares grunted, appearing beside him, leaning over the edge of the balcony. “Go on you lot, give me a fight. Demigods, attack!”

Clarisse sprang into action, her spear flashing toward Athena who slapped it away, the butt of her spear slamming into Clarisse’s side. Music flowed across the arena, vines sprouting at Athena’s feet as she twisted to avoid Annabeth’s spear, her shield’s edge hammering into Nico’s helmet, sending him stumbling.

“So.” Ares kept his eyes fixed on the fight below. “As I was saying, Athena doesn’t wear her full armor outside of war. All you would’ve seen is her full body vest and maybe her vambraces. Even vambraces are rare.”

“She wore them against Theia.” Percy winced as Athena drove the blunt end of her spear into Annabeth’s chest, swiping Nico’s legs from under him in a single move. “Against me, she only wears as much as I do— minus the helmet and the vambraces. I always thought what she wore was the full thing.”

“In her full armor, she is practically invulnerable unless you put an arrow through her eye.” Below them, a silver arrow bounced off Athena’s shield. “It covers every inch of her body and doesn’t hinder her flexibility.” Ares’s lips curled into a grin. “Plus, it is heavy to the point where Hermes once said she was overcompensating.”

“How did that go for him?” Percy snorted.

“Not well at all. He didn’t come in front of Athena for more than a year, going as far as to avoid the solstice meetings.”

“Wow,” Thalia muttered.

“Your form is sloppy,” Athena told Clarisse, leaning away from the swing of her spear. “You are throwing unnecessary force by compensating for speed.” 

Annabeth’s spear bounced off the Aegis and Athena pushed her daughter away, her spear cutting through a vine that lunged at her. Clarisse yelled, charging at her, spinning to aim a roundhouse kick at her.

Athena avoided the kick, sending Clarisse sprawling to the ground. Vines exploded from the ground, wrapping around her spear. Athena yanked them out off the ground, flinging the vines toward Grover who ducked under them.

Annabeth jabbed her spear, its blade bouncing off the edge of her shield in a shower of sparks.

“Don’t pull back your spear, use its other end too,” Athena told Annabeth, slapping away Nico’s sword, avoiding another silver arrow that sunk into a wall. “Also Bianca, had Clarisse stood up at the wrong time, she would’ve gotten hit by that arrow. Be mindful—” 

Athena leaped back as a thick bundle of vines rose from the ground. Her spear glowed and she slashed it, cutting the plants clean in one go.

“ —Of where your teammates are.” She caught Nico’s sword on her shield, pushing him away.

“Is she teaching them as she fights?” Thalia asked incredulously, turning to Percy. “That’s a whole ‘nother level of humiliating.”

“She thinks they might get cocky after they managed to get the better of me.” Ares growled. “As if.”

“They tricked you fair and square.”

“Yeah, but in a real fight, I wouldn’t have stayed down.” Ares glowered at Athena who was busy parrying Annabeth’s and Clarisse’s spears. “Athena called it before I could get back up. It was a neat trick, no doubt. Might’ve worked better with someone like the two of you with them to back it up.”

“That’s the idea,” Percy said. “Are they going to be ready in time?”

“You better hope so, punk,” Ares sorted. “This might still be the early stages of the training but there’s only so much you can learn in a short window. Case in point—”

Nico jumped into a pillar’s shadow while Athena fought Clarisse and Annabeth. The shadows around her feet darkened. Without faltering, Athena thrust her shield out, catching their spears as she whirled around, her foot lashing out.

Her kick slammed into Nico, her spear slashing through a silver arrow that Bianca shot at her. Nico went flying across the arena, bouncing across the floor, his sword skittering away.

“They don’t know that gods are sensitive to energy.” Ares pointed at Nico. “She sensed him. So, if you are pulling a trick, you have to be prepared to pull it off perfectly.”

Nico remained slumped on the arena floor, unmoving.

“Is he—”

“Knocked out.” Ares waved a hand. “Athena knows what would incapacitate and what would kill. Her brain calculates it naturally, considering everything just before the blow strikes. Her words.”

“Can Annabeth do that?” Thalia turned to Percy who shrugged in response. “Cause that’d be seriously cool.”

“Sloppy!” Athena said as she tilted her head to avoid a wild swing by Clarisse. “Control your temper—” She deflected Annabeth’s spear. “And channel it correctly. Don’t let it run wild.”

Clarisse lunged at her, the Maimer screeching against the Aegis in a shower of red and orange sparks. Behind the shield, Athena’s lips curled into a grin as an arrow flicked past her ear.

“That’s more like it!” Athena spun her spear and Annabeth ducked under it.

“They are never going to win in a spear fight against her,” Ares muttered. “You don’t use a spear against a spear user unless you are the better one or have no option.”

“Their strengths lie with the spear, not the sword.”

“Not her daughter’s,” Ares said shrewdly. “Something tells me she is excellent with a knife.”

“You want her to bring a knife to a spear-fight?” Percy blinked. “That’s not even a competition.”

“Athena’s not wearing any armor. And she's toying with them,” Ares snorted. “With a spear, they would never stand a chance. But this is not about defeating Athena, I suppose.”

Athena caught Annabeth’s spear, twisting it out of her grip while Clarisse’s spear clanged against her Aegis.

“De–” Athena stopped short as Annabeth slipped out of the way of her spear, taking out her knife.

“Huh, coincidently, she took Ares’ advice,” Thalia muttered.

Annabeth parried the spear’s shaft, stumbling back. A silver arrow soared above her toward Athena, turning into a net. 

Twisting away, Athena caught the net on the tip of her spear, swinging it back toward them.

Bianca dove out of the way and the net hit Grover who had been playing his reed pipes behind her.

“That’s bad! You abandoned your teammate!” Athena yelled, ducking under Clarisse’s spear. “You were to protect him!”

“I am.” Bianca fired another arrow. “GET DOWN!”

Clarisse and Annabeth threw themselves out of the way as the arrow exploded against the Aegis in a spectacular shower of fire, sending Athena skidding. 

“NOW!”

Clarisse and Annabeth charged at her as the flames and smoke began to clear. Clarisse’s spear flashed red as she thrust it forward, only for Athena’s spear to deflect it.

Annabeth slid under the shield, her knife slashing against her mother’s arm, leaving a thin golden line. A drop of blood welled on the cut, running down Athena’ arm.

“Impressive.” Athena disarmed Clarisse, shoving her away. 

Her spear disappeared as she turned, knocking an arrow away, grabbing Annabeth’s arm, and twisting it. Her spear clattered to the floor.

“Dead.” Athena gave her a pointed look. “Good try but—” She raised her shield, a silver arrow shattering against the bronze. “It lacked an endgame. You didn’t have the necessary requirements to see it through. Also, that’s enough, daughter of Hades.”

Bianca lowered her bow, panting.

“This spar is over. You all have a lot to learn.” Athena said. “You work decently as a team to pull off an attack. But not good enough to see them through. Let’s work on that now.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

AND… DONE! Hope you all liked the chapter!

So, despite this technically being Ch.8, I am considering 'The Last Stand' story to be a short piece as well as a side story. So, this is chapter 9 of the side stories. If you haven't read the others or wish to reread them, head over to my collections where you will find them in both the Special stories and LoSP. 

Also, very soon, I will put up a poll for my next story. And by next story, I don't mean side ones. A MAIN STORY.

Agent Potter is nearing its end. If my estimation is true, within two or three more chapters, the story will be wrapped up. So, it is time for me to start planning the next story. I have a bunch of premises in mind. I have not planned all of them in-depth, but I'd like to hear your thoughts and votes for the initial ideas. 

Once the votes are in, I will begin in-depth planning and fill out smaller details before moving on to writing handful chapters. As a result, the process will take a little time. Also, the poll will stay open for 3 weeks. See you then! 

A huge thanks to Mughil & Anax for betaing this chapter.

.

Stay Happy! Stay Safe! Keep Smiling! Keep Reading!

HPfanfictioner66