"Interesting," a rough, feminine voice said. "You will make a fine addition to my team."
The world began to fade to black as he felt himself choking on the water. Something grab him around the waist, but the feeling was very faint.
"My brothers rule will be coming to an end soon."
Darkness... there was just darkness. It stayed like that for what felt like hours before a low growl could be heard. A cold breeze soon followed as the sound got closer. Closer and closer it grew, but he couldn't do anything to get away. The breeze was cold, too cold and the growl was right in his ear at this point.
"NO!"
Taylor shot up from his bed in a cold sweat. His breathing was heavy and a headache plagued him. He quickly reached down to his right thigh and threw off his covers. A sigh of relief was let out as he didn't see a wound.
"Fucking dreams," he mumbled.
He headed for the shower in attempt to clear his head, but the water seemed to have the opposite affect.
'A panic attack?'
He felt like the water was drowning him, just like the dream. His breaths were heavy and short, and it was almost like he was losing feeling in his legs. He stumbled out of the shower, dragging the curtain with him to the ground. Breathing became easier and it seemed that any water trapped in his lungs disappeared.
"Fucking... dreams..." he mumbled once again. "A Son of Poseidon afraid of water, how pathetic."
He looked up the clock on the bathroom wall and noted that his class would be starting soon. He walked over to his desk and opened the drawer to reveal a pen and a notebook.
Taylor Marshall
Entry 12
Same dream once again. No progress on who the voice could be or who's life I'm experiencing in the dream. However, there was a change.
"My brothers rule will be coming to an end soon."
That doesn't give me any clues to who's in my dream, but at least it's something.
I'm still having problems with water, but today was my first panic attack. My only theory is that the drowning in my dream is causing me to develop a real fear unknowingly.
End of entry.
Taylor stared at the pen for a few seconds after he put the notebook back into the drawer.
'I'll never be like you.'
He stuffed the pen into his pocket and slipped a small bracelet made of celestial bronze onto his wrist.
The training arena was filled with different racks, each one holding swords, spears, shields, and more of all different shapes and sizes. Campers were gathered around, glancing over the weapons and talking to their friends.
"Campers!" Taylor yelled. "Gather around."
The campers quickly rushed around him. Taylor looked around and saw a few new faces in his group. He soon realized that the group was almost twenty campers bigger than usual.
"Alright Taylor," someone announced from the arena entrance.
He turned around to see Clarisse walking towards him with light armor and her spear.
"Ah, Clarisse," he replied. "I see you brought your little lightning rod with you. Don't you think you should wield something that resembles your dad more than you grandfather. Like a giant sword you can swing or a boars hoard for a shield?"
Clarisse let a devilish smirk grow across her face. "Be careful with what you say kelp for brains. I'll shock you into rebirth."
An equally large smirk grew across Taylor's face as she met him in the center. "So I'm guessing all the extra faces I see would be your class."
"Yes they are," she replied. "And I told them they would receive a demonstration today."
"A demonstration of me breaking your spear and putting you on your ass," Taylor chuckled.
Clarisse readied her stance as Taylor pulled the pen from his pocket. "So your finally decided to use Prissy's pen. Guess your beat down last during our spar taught you to man up."
"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right," he replied while they began to circle each other.
The crowd of campers began to back up, allowing the circle to grow much wider. Murmurs broke out as they watch their teachers, two of the strongest demigods in camp circle each other. Some began to pass around money and make bets.
"After you," Taylor said.
"Gladly."
She sent a few non-electrified jabs with her spear towards Taylor that he dodged or deflected. She quickly locked the end of her spear against riptide and grinned as she pressed a small button on the handle.
Taylor heard the electricity come to life at the last second and dropped his sword. The tip of it stuck into the ground and Taylor rolled away as Clarisse kept him away from it.
'You're done for,' Clarisse thought as she charged forward, not expecting Taylor's surprise.
He slipped inside of her guard and pushed her spear arm to the side. He then quickly tapped the celestial bronze bracket on his arm and sung a punch to her gut as a shield appeared.
"Oh shit," Clarisse blurted out as the shield connected with her. She flew backwards, but managed to retain her balance as well as her grip on her spear.
Taylor ran forward and grabbed riptide from the ground. He sent an overhead slashed aimed at her shoulder that she blocked with that shaft of her spear.
"Where'd you get the shield," Clarisse said as she pushed Taylor back.
"I've had it for a while," Taylor replied. "Tyson made it for my birthday."
"Remind me to pay him a visit," she said.
Clarisse sent a jab straight for his shield in attempt to electrocute his arm, but he saw through it.
He dodged back and slammed the shield down against the shaft and pinned it into the dirt. He then spun forward and sent a slash for her wrist, causing her to let go of the spear to avoid it.
She stumbled backwards without a weapon in hand. She fell to the the ground and scooped up a palm of dirt. She threw it towards Taylor, but he wasn't there. She quickly stood up just to feel something kick her legs out from under her.
Taylor stood victorious with his sword pointed at Clarisse's neck. She let out an annoyed groan and accepted her defeated.
"What did you learn from our spar?" Taylor said towards the class.
"Not to get into fight with you?" A camper said seductively.
'Clearly a child of Aphrodite,' he thought.
"Not at all," Clarisse said as she stood up from the ground. "I could've beat him. Can anyone tell us what I did wrong without trying to seduce Taylor."
A small chorus of chuckles rose from the campers and the previous child of Aphrodite had a red tint to her cheeks.
"You focused to much on his shield," another girl spoke up.
Taylor looked at her with surprise and then noticed that he had never seen her before. She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
'Likely a Daughter of Apollo,' he thought.
"Thank you Sydney," Clarisse said, "Do you mind explains to the confused looking class around you."
"You were like a horse with blinders on," she said. "The appearance of his shield surprised you, so your focused immediately switch to it. That last jab you attempted was to try and use his shield as a conductor to electrocute him. However, you were to focused on that one attack and didn't notice him step back."
'Daughter of Athena?' Taylor internally questioned his original thought.
"Correct," Clarisse replied, snapping him out of his own mind. "Today your going to split off into pairs with someone from the other class. Seeing as we have an uneven amount, I want Sydney to train with Taylor."
Taylor just nodded in agreement and motioned her to join him in the center.
Sydney noticed a few glares of jealousy and envy thrown her way, but she chose to ignore them. She wasn't here to stare and drool at Taylor wall day anyway. She wanted to improve and train as often as she could and no boy would get in the way.
"So, Sydney," Taylor said. "Mine telling me who your parent is? It's really been bugging me."
"I'll tell you if you manage to beat me," she replied.
"Confident," Taylor said as he slashed his sword through the air. "I like that, but know the difference between the latter and pride."
Taylor took a stance and motioned her to attack. Sydney kept a straight face and drew a sword that she seemed to hold uncomfortably.
Sydney pressed forward with an overhead slash that she feinted. She tried to follow up with a swipe at his side, but it was easily deflected.
Taylor stayed back in a defensive position in an attempt to see what he was working with.
'The sword is not her weapon.'
She continued to press her attack, but he quickly noticed her pattern. Feint, swipe, and stab every single time.
Taylor decided that he's seen enough and parried a stab for his shoulder. He slapped her blade and twisted her wrist, causing her to drop it.
"Apollo," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry?" He asked.
"My father is Apollo," she said a bit louder so that he could clearly hear her.
"Gotcha," he replied. "Anyway, to keep things short, you're not good with a sword."
"Gee, thanks," she said while rolling her eyes.
"Sorry," he replied. "Let me rephrase. You have a tendency to stay at range which is probably because of your natural skill with a bow. You can shoot a bow right?"
"Yes," she said. "I'm actually one of best shooters in the cabin, but I don't see why that matters."
"We should have a competition one day," he muttered, but it was loud enough for her to here it.
"You can shoot a bow?" She asked.
"I'm actually a pretty good shot," he said with a smile. "Back on topic though. That natural tendency has clearly translated into your fighting style. I'm not saying that you can't fight at close range, but you need a different weapon. The spear is probably your best choice. I wouldn't suggest a shield as you rely highly on your speed, but they may change as you start using a spear."
Taylor dragged her along over to the spear rack. He watched some of the students along the way to track how their progress was going and he also gave out a few pointers here and there.
"These are all training spears, so I doubt you will fine one that suits you perfectly. However, this is just to see what type of spear would be best for you."
Sydney went through the rack and picked up each spear until she landed on the last one. It was the smallest out of all the spears. It had a wooden shaft with a celestial bronze tip. She took an instance liking to it once it was in her hands.
"It's perfect," she spoke up.
"The short spear," Taylor said. "Smaller than your average spear, better for close range combat. Honestly perfect for your fighting style."
"Thank you," she replied.
"We can continue to spar, but I'm not much help with spear training," he said as they began to walk back. "It's a good thing you have Clarisse as a teacher as well. In fact it would probably be better if me and her swap out now."
Sydney looked up to see a small frown form on his face as he watched the other campers train.
"What's wrong?"
Taylor looked over to her a let out a deep sigh. "You can tell who really wants to be here and who doesn't. I would say your one of the select few who actually tries to train. Everyone else has gotten lazy or thinks it's unnecessary."
"Why does that matter to you though?"
"Because," he said before pausing. "If another war were to start, we would be slaughtered. That blood would be on my hands."
Sydney decided it would be best not to push any further.
'Why put all of that weight on your shoulders,' she thought.
As they headed back, Taylor swapped out with Clarisse and caught her up to speed on the situation at hand.
For some reason, Taylor swapping out kinda saddened her a little bit. She felt like she could've learned a little bit more from him.
After about another half hour, the class began to wrap up and everybody put up their training weapons except for Sydney. Clarisse gave her permission to keep the weapon as it could easily be replaced.
"Excuse me Taylor." He looked over to Sydney with her spear in hand."Thanks for the tips today. Hopefully we will get to spar again soon."
"Definitely!" He replied with a smile. "We could always spar outside of class if you want."
"That would-"
"Taylor!" Clarisse shouted. "We're need at the border."
"Duty calls," he said to Sydney as he ran away.
"Those Poseidon boys," she heard come from behind her.
"Drew," she said. "What are you doing here?"
"Check up on the practice arena," she replied. "So, you and Taylor?"
"N-No," she stuttered. "It's nothing like that at all and what do you mean by those Poseidon boys?"
"Taylor is the only son of- unless your talking about Percy?"
Drew gave her a small shrug in response before writing a small check in the box beside "Training Arena".
"Look," she spoke up. "Taylor has never attempted to have a relationship so don't take it to hard in him."
"I-I don't l-like h-h-him!"
Drew let out a chuckle as she walked out of the training arena and towards her next check up. As soon as she left, Sydney's thoughts shifted to the former.
'I wonder why he had to run off?'
"Chiron were here," Taylor said as he and Clarisse made their way up the hill. "What's going-"
He paused mid sentence as he stared at the group of...
"Spartans?"
He kept his hand wrapped around the pen in his pocket as he started at a certain Spartan covered in blue. He noticed another member of the group, who wore a purple crest and cape, place their hand on the the formers back.
"Now that your all here," Apollo spoke up. "These fine people are the Spartans of Chaos."
"Chaos," Annabeth spoke up. "I thought he was a myth."
"He is anything, but a myth," Bri spoke up, a slight amount of annoyance laced in her voice.
Luke stepped forward as he realized his commander was too shocked to say anything right now. "As Lord Apollo said, we are the Spartans of Chaos. We do routine check ups every few centuries on planets in our sector and earth was next up. We will be taking refuge here for the time being."
"How can we trust you," Taylor asked this time.
He wasn't stupid, he knew another war was coming. Then suddenly this bunch shows up and he's just suppose to accept who they are.
"Every member of this group, except for one, use to have a life here," Percy spoke up.
He noticed Annabeth quickly looked around the group until her focused stuck to him like glue.
'She can't suspect me all ready can she?'
"So we know who you are?" she asked.
"Yes," Percy replied.
"Percy," Taylor spoke up. "Is he among you?"
Noticing Percys small flinch, Luke decided it was a good time to take over. "I'm sorry, I don't think I know that name."
"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said. "Are you sure?"
Percy was surprised to see the two side by side like this. He didn't know why, but it made him happy. Happy to know that maybe things changed.
"I'm sorry," Luke spoke up. "I don't recall the name."
Taylor look down in defeat and Clarisse placed a hand on his shoulder. Chris was also there to offer him words of encouragement.
'I can't hide this from him,' Percy thought.
"Where will you sleep?" Chiron spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.
"We have our own cabin," Charlie spoke up. "I just need a place to put it."
"There's an open spot beside the Hades cabin," Clarisse replied. "Death Breath isn't here today, but I'm sure he won't mind."
Percy gave Charlie a nod and he took off down the hill with Apollo as an escort.
"We will have a consolers meeting tomorrow night to discuss why you are here," Chiron said. "Until then, rest up as we are playing capture the flag tonight."
Percy nodded and sent his group of Spartans to the Chaos cabin down below. Chiron and the rest of the demigods dispersed as well, leaving Percy and Artemis on top of the hill.
"Your friend lied," Artemis spoke up.
"Come again," Percy said.
"I may not be my brother, thank god, but I can tell a terrible lie when I hear one," she said. "You know Percy."