CHAPTER ONE
—stupid bull*

🗡🗡🗡

  —NO pain, no gain.

If the Ares cabin had a motto, that would be it. For how much they enjoyed inflicting physical and emotional pain on others, it was equally welcome on the flip-side. Perhaps that mindset was toxic and disquieting, but it made total sense in their minds. Because to them, it went like this: the more suffering you endured one day, the stronger you became the next. And then, you could return double-the-torment you received in revenge.

Chiron said that their logic was problematic and a little unsettling, but he couldn't exactly tell them not to train — that would go against his role of trainer. So the kids had full reign to go at each other until someone was black and blue, broken, or bloody ( the 'Four B's' as they had taken to calling it. There were brownie points for achieving all four in one go ). All the centaur requested, was that they visit the Apollo cabin whenever there was a critical injury.

  He'd made a glaring oversight, however, in his single request. Critical to him could mean insignificant to one of them. Truly, Judith didn't think a child of Ares had gone to see Lee Fletcher or his younger siblings in months. It wasn't for lack of fighting, that was for certain ...

  Judith groaned as her sister got a solid hit in the soft spot of her gut. Luckily, the girl had chosen to skip out on the grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch that day or else it would have been all over Clarisse's boots — something that would have gotten her a worse beating ... to the face.

  The older girl smirked, feeling a wave of accomplishment for getting the first hit ( she typically did, but that didn't dull her satisfaction any ). Judith scowled and straightened out her shirt, ignoring the pain as best as possible. It was easier said than done considering Judith already had a bruise on her stomach from Ellis, their half-brother. No doubt, her abdomen would be covered in red and purple splotches by dinner instead of just the dark browns of healing bruises.

  Judith swung her own right hook, only clipping Clarisse's jaw. There wasn't enough surface area to make a hard impact, but that didn't mean the older girl wasn't angry for the offense.

  Wasting no time with payback, Judith let out an involuntary grunt as her sister kicked at her unguarded thigh. The kick took little effort to get over as Judith flung herself forward, a sinister glare overtaking her face. She lunged forward with both of her hands to place her sister in a steady headlock.

  Clarisse only struggled for a second, using her height to get Judith off her feet by bending forward. She held Judith's elbow just far enough away from her neck to not choke as she did so.

  The other daughter of Ares squirmed, her arms now locked into the compromising position she put herself in. Her toes were not even scraping the ground and Clarisse chuckled. Judith could feel the vibrations through her chest and against the crook of her elbow and it only fueled her frustration.

  The smaller girl swung one of her legs out behind her then brought it back at an awkward angle to hit the back of Clarisse's legs. It was one of her favorite moves as the victim had no way to stop from buckling down. Judith was released from the headlock and shoved pushed Clarisse the full way down from her now kneeling position.

  The older girl flipped to her back and glared at the standing one.

  "The agreement!" Clarisse shouted, now standing up as the match was declared over.

  Judith puckered her lips and didn't meet the girl's eyes. There was a paper hidden underneath a pile of clothes somewhere in their cabin that held all the underhanded moves that the Ares cabin agreed not to use in their fights. The knee-strike happened to be one of them.

  "It was a cheap shot," Clarisse grumbled. "And you know it."

  "Yeah, well," Judith shrugged. She didn't seem bothered in the slightest and she was sure her sister was sending a metaphorical dagger into her back. "What can you do?"

  The older girl heard these words and smirked darkly. "I know what I can do." She didn't hesitate in taking her own hit at Judith. Her hand slipped between her back and her bicep, just under the armpit, and pinched the bare and sensitive skin of her bicep. Another move on the forbidden list.

  "Ow, ow, ow," Judith cried, attempting to pull away but that only resulted in more pain. "Stop, okay, I get it!"

  "You better get it," Clarisse said, walking past her to pick up her paracord bracelets that she had to take off for the sparring.

  Judith rubbed at the tender spot and winced. She mumbled to herself about how hers didn't inflict pain, it just incapacitated the opponent. After the sting had basically vanished, Judith snatched up her leather forearm guards and strapped them on. They rarely ever came off her body. Not even to sleep. The wrestling matches were the only time as Clarisse refused to have it near her face — I have no idea how much sweat is in that thing, and the buckles could poke an eye out. Judith had just rolled her eyes and called her a baby which resulted in a punch to the shoulder.

  Judith was almost out the door of the arena when she was pushed back inside by an oncoming body. She landed flat on her back with a small boy quickly scrambling up off of her, not even helping her up. ( Not that Judith would have accepted it, but it was rude that he didn't offer. ) She climbed to her feet, ready to tell him to watch where he was going, but stopped at his expression.

  "There's —" he heaved, "— invading —" another breath.

  Judith raised her eyebrows. "Spit it out."

  "Bulls ..." he composed himself. "At the border ..."

  That was all the information she needed before bolting off, but quickly ran back in to grab an extra pair of armor from the chest at the edge of the arena. She rolled her eyes as the boy was still catching his breath.

  The daughter of Ares skillfully pulled on all parts of the armor while running. It was an impressive feat considering the ensemble also included bottoms. Judith could already see the group of campers up at the arch. The patrol group plus many others had joined. It was like she was the last to know!

  She took off and joined the fight, unsheathing the sword that came with the suit of armor. Judith groaned at how dull it was. She had forgotten that all the dueling swords weren't as deadly so as to decrease injuries within the camp. Stupid rule.

  "Does anybody have Medea's Sunscreen?" Judith shouted jokingly. Nobody answered her, though, not even with a laugh. "No? Great. I needed a tan."

  Now, Judith loved a fight against a monster just as much as the next demigod. But she didn't love the fact that these bronze bulls were inside the camp. The magic border was supposed to keep them out.

   "Border patrol, to me!" Clarisse shouted, and Judith moved in closer. She wasn't on border patrol, but nobody would say anything. She didn't have a shield so she stood a little behind, brushing off a few tendrils of flames dancing on her pants. Judith was sure her face was glistening with sweat and red from the heat.

  "Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered and everyone tensed in their spots.

  Judith could see the bull charging in front of the line of campers in front of her, and she tightened her grip on her sword. Whatever came within arm's length of her would be sorry.

  "Behind you! Look out!" A boy's voice called from way down the hill. As Judith and Clarisse looked over, distracted, the bull broke the shield wall and barreled right on through ... right on through Judith who was standing directly behind them.

  The girl went flying back, as the armor on her side melted down to show skin where a burn mark was forming and sizzling. She hissed at the sensation and tried to sit up. Unsuccessfully, Judith limped and rested on a tree trunk, trying her best to labor her breathing. Whatever stinging she had experienced earlier was just a bug bite compared to this snake's bite.

  As if one of the bulls knew she was injured more than others and couldn't protect herself, it charged forward.

  Before it skewered her with its horns, the boy from earlier reached out and dragged her to the side. The pain in her side flared as the skin stretched. If any more pain came to her, she was sure her teeth would be ground to dust.

  Judith had landed on her stomach so she couldn't see what was going on behind her, but she did hear the sound of a sword clanging on the metal bull. At least someone was getting the job done.

  Judith faintly heard the voice of Annabeth shout, "Spread out! Keep the bulls distracted!" The girl struggled to move, but Clarisse ran to her side and lifted her to her feet. Judith nodded her thanks, making sure to keep her arm far away from her burning wound.

  A booming noise erupted from a few feet away and Judith looked over and saw a small cyclops banging on the invisible camp border. Another monster? Are you kidding me?

  "Can't — get — through!" He wailed.

  Near the bottom of the hill, Annabeth stated, "I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!" A rumbling in the earth shook the trees, and pine needles fell down upon Judith's head.

  "You're just going to let in?!" Judith shouted. She was all for more monsters to fight, but two bulls were challenging enough for now. After those were taken care of, though, she'd be up for a round two.

  "Percy needs help!" The cyclops was yelling as he bounded down the hill.

  Multiple things about that scene gave Judith pause. First thing, Percy Jackson was back at camp for the summer ( big whoop ). Next thing, the cyclops knew Percy ( not surprising; many monsters know the guy ). Final thing, the cyclops was going to help. It was just a little strange.

  "Tyson!" Judith could barely see anything by then, there was too much smoke, but she wasn't particularly worried for the life of the cyclops. The species was immune to fire. Obviously, Percy — well, she assumed he was Percy Jackson at this point — did not understand this as he looked on the verge of a breakdown while the cyclops fought off the bull.

  When the fire cleared, Judith watched the cyclops-boy punch the bull directly in its flaring nostrils. "Bad Cow!" He punched it again. "Down!"

  Judith went to chuckle in awe, but she winced when she felt the burn in her side again. She sighed in relief when Clarisse impaled the other bull with her spear. Judith was so relieved, in fact, that she managed to stumble her way over to her sister without any assistance. Unfortunately, that said sister was on a war-path towards Perseus Jackson, so she had to painfully change her direction mid-stumble.

  "You — ruin — everything!" Clarisse yelled, slashing her spear every which way as Judith wobbled up behind her, steering clear of the deadly weapon. "I had it under control." A total lie, but Judith wasn't about to contradict her sister and defend a boy she didn't know.

  "Good to see you too, Clarisse," Annabeth muttered, walking up beside Percy. The blonde glanced behind the older girl's shoulder and nodded. "Judith."

  Clarisse raged at the pleasantries. "Don't ever, ever try helping me again!"

  "Clarisse," Annabeth said, looking down at Judith's side — still sizzling against her camp shirt, "you've got wounded campers."

  Clarisse straightened out and spun to meet Judith's eyes. "I'll be alright. Go check on the others." Judith gestured to the other fallen warriors.

  The daughter of Ares looked over her shoulder with a fearsome gaze. "I'll be back," she growled then stomped off. Her sister rolled her eyes at the dramatics.

  "She'll cool off ... maybe," Judith said, turning to the two new demigods.

  Percy eyed her oddly, probably trying to figure out who she was. "Sorry, who are you?" He asked. It was bluntly phrased, but Judith was used to that.

  "Judith Sloane. Daughter of Ares," she answered. "And you're Perseus Jackson —"

  "— Just Percy." He cringed.

  "Percy Jackson. Resident lightning thief."

  "I didn't steal it!" He rushed out, clearly offended by the fact that she thought of him that way. "It was planted on me."

  "Fine," Judith sniffed. "Lightning Smuggler. Doesn't sound as cool, does it?"

  Percy grimaced. "Lightning Returner?"

  Judith stared him down, wondering how that could be any better than what she said. Annabeth stood off to the side with her head dropped in her hands as they debated this issue. Something told the daughter of Ares that his nit picky sass was commonplace.

  "Lightning Retriever?"

  The daughter of Ares shook her head in mortification as he truly thought over his answers.

  "Lightning Deliverer?"

  "Please stop," Judith begged. She looked at Annabeth desperately. "Make him stop." The Athenian only sighed and walked off to help wounded campers. Judith felt betrayed and abandoned by her sudden absence.

  "Lightning —"

  "Nope — stop. I don't care anymore. Forget about it," she interrupted. "You can be whatever you want, I don't care."

  "Okay," he said simply. A smug smile overtook his features like he'd been after that result the whole time. Judith floundered for only a second, blowing air through her teeth and rolling her eyes. "Uh — do you need help getting to the infirmary?"

  "No."

  That was also a total lie, but she was not going to let the 'Lightning Retriever' help her with anything. Not if she could help it.

NOTES;
WE HAVE A MEETING ...
NICE

edited : 05/18/2020