Divergent Path

A Sunny Jumpscare and Really Bad News

Chapter 15: A Sunny Jumpscare and Really Bad News

Dual knives arced downward towards Percy's head. He raised Riptide and caught the blades, slashing to the side to throw his opponent off-balance. Percy used his wings to propel himself backwards when his assailant was unfazed, pushing towards him in stride. He planted his feet and switched to the offensive as his target entered his sword's range. He swung his weapon at his attacker's side, who crossed the knives in an X to block the strike.

Their weapons collided as the fighters pushed against each other, readjusting until Percy was slicing downwards against crossed knives. They stood at an impasse in their clash until Percy started to feel himself making headway, his sword slowly nearing his opponent. He took the moment to gloat a little, excited to win his first round ever.

"Getting tired already, Arty?" he asked, doing his best to disguise how hard he was exerting himself.

The goddess held her grimace from behind her twin blades as Riptide inched nearer. Percy was now convinced it was almost over. He leaned forward into his strike as Artemis was forced to back into a deep lunge. Her face morphed into an evil grin and she pushed hard into the ground with her front foot. This allowed her to slip out from underneath the clash of blades and switch her weight to her back foot. Percy was shocked by the unbelievable speed of the action, but he didn't see that Artemis hadn't stopped moving. He fell slightly forward, his heavy swing no longer having a target. Quickly catching himself, his eyes darted up and met the full force of a roundhouse kick from a goddess.

Several spectators inhaled sharply through their teeth as they watched the blow lift Percy off of the ground and send him back a few feet. In the brief seconds while he fell backwards, his mind raced as it put together how he lost the clash. He realized it was a feint. Artemis must have faked losing strength in her legs and allowed him to force her into a lunged position. He overextended by leaning into the attack, believing he was overpowering her, and giving her the perfect opportunity to knock him off-balance. After slipping back, the goddess twisted on her back foot in a flawless transition before giving the demigod a divine kick to the face. He groaned as he hit the ground.

"Done already, Fishboy? What is it now, twenty wins for me?" Artemis teased, twirling her knives as hunters playfully jeered from the trees.

The pair had been dueling every five days, starting this routine the morning after their first date. Today marked the hundredth day since they had left camp and begun their extended hunting trip. During those past three months, the Hunt had taken on several thousand monsters in total and become even more deadly than before. Percy had refined his powers and his combat skill significantly, running through a dozen more enhanced famous monsters, but he was still 0-19 against Artemis.

He decided that was going to change today. Percy pulled himself to his feet, tentatively feeling the side of his face. He realized cheekbone was starting to bruise, but he still smiled.

"Fight's not over yet. You won't trick me like that again," he said as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Artemis paused for a moment. Percy had told her about his ability to sense water and how he had defeated Crota with it. She figured that's what he was doing now and was curious to see it in action, wondering how the technique would fare against her. In Percy's mind, a lucid image of Artemis took form. Thanking the gods that ichor could be sensed as easily as blood, he watched the goddess begin to walk towards him.

He focused on the muscles in her legs. With each step she took, the liquid shape of each leg would tense ever so slightly. Percy mentally groaned.

This is the worst good news. Whatever leg she steps with, the ichor tenses up. She can't trick me anymore because I can see the blood flow into the muscle she's actually getting ready to use; no more feints. The bad part, it's such a soft change that there's no way I can keep track while also not getting stabbed a million times. Why can hunters move so gracefully!? he complained.