When Lady Hecate fades due to a particularly nasty slow-working poison, Olympus has no choice but to announce their existence to the mortals, which goes about as well as one might expect.
Then the Olympians, finally realising it might be time for a...
The students pushed and shoved their way into the sports hall, and formed a rowdy line in front of me. I scanned across the students. Shy Martha Green, nerdy Marcus Matthews, baby faced Frank Zhang. Gothic Emmett Dominic. Sporty Rosie Myler. Beautiful Natalia Grey. Slutty Emma Miller. Yes, teachers stereotyped a little too. It was natural. I just had to be careful not to use their labels out loud.
'What are we doing today, miss?' Rosie asked. I smiled. At least someone was paying attention.
'I'm glad you asked, Rosie. Today we are doing combat, as I feel it could be very useful to you in later life.' The students fell silent pretty quickly.
'You can fight, miss?' Emma asked, her blue eyes widening in shock. I laughed.
'No. I will be learning right alongside you guys today. As for our teachers, it is my pleasure to introduce Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares and Coach Gleeson Hedge.'
Right on cue, the doors opened and two people strode into the hall. A tall, buff girl with stringy brown hair, and a pudgy man with a beard, moustache and goat legs. They ignored the students, opting to go straight to the far side where the weapons were arrayed. Only when they had both chosen several different options did they address the class.
'Listen up cupcakes!' The goat man, who I assumed was Coach Hedge, yelled, so loudly I was tempted to cover my ears. 'Fighting is hard. Really hard. It isn't just smack bang wallop, you know. You need technique!'
'To demonstrate this technique,' the girl yelled just as loudly, 'I would like to invite my half brother up into the training ring.'
FRANK
I froze. It was only when Coach Hedge started gesturing aggressively to me with his baseball bat that I moved at all.
'Umm... why?' I managed to get out.
'Why?' Clarisse snorted. 'Because you're the only dam person in this room who can walk away from a fight with me alive! Aside from maybe Gleeson.' It took me a minute to figure out who 'Gleeson' was. They were on first-name terms now? Ohh, right, of course. Clarisse was babysitting for Mellie and Coach Hedge. Of course, she'd know them personally.
'Frank can't fight! And he certainly isn't your brother! He's much too soft for that, aren't you, Frankie-boo!' I stared at the blonde leech who was somehow now attached to my hand.
I shook her off wordlessly before jogging to the weapon racks and pulling out a roman sword. It wasn't my best weapon, but I couldn't exactly fight Clarisse with a bow close-range, could I?
Luckily, she'd also chosen a sword, though hers was more greek styled. We circled each other carefully, jabbing and parrying a few times. Then Clarisse got tired of playing and lunged at me. We twisted and twirled and rolled as if it was the most natural thing in the world - which it was, for us. Several well-timed strikes later, and my knee was on her chest.
'Styx.' she cursed, looking irritated but not properly mad. I rolled off her and pulled her to her feet. Just as I was about to file back in line with the staring mortals, who were being, uh, educated by hedge, my sister pulled me back.
'You're needed on Olympus.' She whispered into my ear, surprisingly quietly for her.
'How do I get there?' I whispered back. She stared at me for a moment like I was an idiot. Then it clicked.
'Shapeshifting.' I muttered. She nodded.
'Gleeson and I will fill for you. Your girlfriend is waiting. Now go.' She pushed me not-so-gently towards the door. I sprinted the last few meters, burst through the doors and transformed into an eagle as soon as I felt fresh wind on my skin.
Dedicated to @Dindin370 for the OC
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