Death and His Many Friends: Chapter Eight

It was almost quarter to three when I felt kind of queezy. My palms were unusually sweaty, and felt cold, considering that the rain had kept on pouring for ages. Funny, I thought Alice said something about the weather not affecting Camp Half-Blood, but I wondered if Dionysus had allowed it to rain like this.

Clovis came running to me holding a whole array of leather armour. I figured it would protect me from a blunt object, but I would be skewered if that Percy kid decided to get really messy. Clovis handed it over to me gravely, averting my gaze.

"What's wrong." I asked him in a nonchalant tone.

"Uh, I think you may have underestimated the gravity of the situation your in. He's a son of Posiedon. And you're a son of Hypnos." Clovis replied.

"Which means?"

"It means that Hypnos campers aren't particularly good at fighting. Especially considering that guy is from Poseidon.."

I ignored his protests, and went back to my bunk and wear my armour. Funnily enough, it felt perfectly fit, as if Hephaestus himself picked this up for me. I reached for Charos and clipped it onto my belt, which was modified with a clip to keep my sword in check.

Just to be a bit more prepared, I reached for Charos, and mentally told it to open. As the three-foot blade spurted from the baton-like hilt, it felt comfortably light. I swung it around a bit, careful to hit anything, and as I spun around to decapitate my imaginary foe, Alice was standing near the door.

"It's time." she said to me, trying to force a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay." I said to her as I walked up to her and give her a kiss on the cheek. She immediately was dumbfounded as blood rushed to her face.

"W-well, I- uh, better be going now..." she stammered as she sprinted for the door. I sighed in relief, for I got the feeling back then that she would have slapped me or something. With my armour covering most of my body comfortably, and walked to the door. My hands slightly jerked as I reached for the door.

Should I really be doing this? I asked myself. I was about to go up against a son of Poseidon, who's had way more experience in the battlefield than me, and has powers that would beat mine any day. I just figured that I would have to grit my teeth and try to survive this duel. With the door swinging open, I saw that the camp grounds were unusually empty. I guessed that they were all at the ampitheater, so I walked leisurely until I reached the ampitheater, which was adorned with colourful banners and flyers about the duel. I wondered why it had caused such a buzz, and walked into the gaping archway that divided me from a bloodspilling duel with a master swordsman.

I sighed deeply, and continued my slow walk into the ampitheater. Once I got into view, a loud mix of jeering and cheering roared across the audience. In the center was a circular clay stage, with had been modified for my duel with Percy. I saw him standing on the far side of the circle, wearing full battle armour, and was seemingly unarmed.

Does he think I'm below the need to use his sword?! I said to myself shockingly. I put on a poker face, and walked up onto the other end of the circle. Suddenly the croud went silent.

Dionysus walked into the middle of the circle and gave a few words. "So, by popular demand, Percy Jackson has challenged Gerard Wayson to a duel, which is to be started shortly. There will be no charmspeaking here or any form of coaching. If I see any one of you trying to tamper with this fight, I'll call on the harpies to eat you. Oh, I'm just kidding. At least about the coaching part."

The crowd did not get his sarcasm, to which he sighed and walked down the circle. Percy walked forward near the center, and I decided to mirror his movements. It was good that we were nowhere near a body of water, for I heard that Poseidon-borns had incredible hyrokinesis.

"Are you both ready?" Dionysus said to me and Percy.

Percy shifted into an offensive stance, a sign that he heard. "Here goes nothing," I mumbled under my breath, and saw Percy pull out a pen, which clicked into a three-foot long sword. I did the same, unsheathing Charos with relative ease.

Percy slightly flinched, but continued to slowly walk towards me, anticipating my every move. I leaned back, and suddenly saw Percy charging towards me, with no change of me to avoid his attack.