𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑺 • 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝐽𝐴𝐶𝐾𝑆𝑂𝑁 ²

TWO

  The little spat earlier had manifested her Odikinesis into existence, and it was sitting within her chest, begging to be unleashed somewhere. There was no way to get rid of it once it appeared other than physical or verbal fighting — at least, not that she knew of. Her heart hammered in her ears as she let out a fierce shriek and slashed at the dummy in front of her. It knocked back for only a second before bouncing back into position.

  In her own airtight headspace, Judith couldn't hear someone walk in and make a home for themselves on a bench a couple feet away. Granted, they had tried their best to be quiet, kind of afraid that if they spooked her, she'd go into self defense mode and lash out at them.

  Percy eyed her messy hair and beet red neck, the only things he could see clearly in the moon's light. Everything else descended into the darkness, but he could imagine her signature arm guards strapped on so tight that they cut off her circulation, the black sleeve shirt she always had on under her camp t-shirt whenever the temperature dropped below 80°F, and her boots ( the ruined ones she decided to keep from the winter escapade ). But what really stood out was her new weapon of choice.

  He'd seen it earlier, strapped to her back with some type of magnetic harness, on full display. He had to admit, the ax was a lot more intimidating than her belt sword. He had no doubt that Beckendorf was its creator, and he'd really outdone himself. It glinted dangerously against the little rays of silver light, promising death upon all that wronged her.

  So when she suddenly spun around and swiped her ax in a large arc, barely missing Percy's nose, he yelped and tumbled back over the bench. His back hit the ground with a thud and his feet dangled over the edge.

  "What are you doing here, Jackson?"

  He did his best to sit up, but it was a little difficult with his elevated legs. He changed up his approach and fully crawled onto the ground before scrambling up. "Nothing, nothing! Just ... checking in ... on you."

  "Great, you've checked in. You may go now," she said with a shoo-shoo motion of her ax. "Unless you'd like to replace the dummy?"

  The boy's eyes flickered over to the ripped up mannequin, finding its arm almost detached. He gulped at the thought, but really, the thought of fighting in the dark was really tempting.

  "How about hand-to-hand?" He suggested, definitely not knowing what he was getting into.

  The Ares cabin was renowned for their expertise in hand-to-hand combat. They made little brackets for themselves each month and crowned a victor and everything. Percy had no experience with that whatsoever, he always had his trusty sword on him since it always returned to his pocket. But maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a back up plan?

  He told his logical side that that was his only motivation, but seeing Judith's glistening red face and energy fueled eyes, his illogical teenage boy side concocted many other reasons to stay.

  Judith took a long minute to think over her answer. On the one hand, she wanted total seclusion away from people, especially Percy Jackson ( who had been a source for her trouble that whole day ), and she just knew Ellis and Mark would hear about her and Percy going missing after dinner. That would open the gate for relentless teasing.

  But on the other hand, this opportunity would probably deplete the Odikinesis faster than fighting a dummy. It always liked the idea of killing living things more. And maybe, if she fought the boy and won, he'd feel so embarrassed that he would leave her alone for at least two days.

  "Fine." She shrugged. What was a little more teasing for two days of peace away from Jackson?

  Percy blinked, expecting her to argue on the issue more. He wasn't sure if her compliance worried or pleased him.