The last chapter:

"I beg your pardon, Lady Samos?"

She turns her black eyes on me, and her gaze is sharp as any knife.

"I challenge Perseus Osanos." Apparently, she did hear me.

Percy's POV:

"Absolutely not," Annabeth protests. "He's been training for only half of a week; you'll cut him apart."

In response, Evangeline just shrugs, letting a lazy smirk rise to her features. Her fingers dance against her leg, and I can almost feel them like claws across my skin.

"So what if she does?" Istvan breaks in. "The healers are here. There'll be no harm done. Besides, if he's going to train with us, he might as well do it properly, right?"

No harm done, I scoff in my head. No harm but my blood exposed for all to see. My heartbeat thumps in my head, quickening with every passing second. Overhead, the lights shine brightly, illuminating the ring; my blood will be hard to hide, and they'll see me for what I am, a Red.

"I'd like some more time observing before I get in the ring, if you don't mind," I reply, trying my best to sound Silver. Instead, my voice quavers slightly. Evangeline catches it.

"Too scared to fight?" she goads, lazily flicking a hand. One of her knives, a little thing like a tooth of silver, circles her wrist slowly in open threat.

"No, I've faced far worse and more terrifying enemies. But, when I fight, I intend to win," I say, throwing her words back in her face. "I'm not a fool, Evangeline, and I cannot win yet."

"Training outside the ring can only get you so far, Perseus," Sonya says with glee. "Don't you agree, Instructor? How can he ever expect to win if he doesn't try?"

Arven knows there's something different about me, a reason for my abilities and my strength. But what that is, he cannot fathom, and there's a glint of curiosity in his eyes. He wants to see me in the ring as well. My only allies, Annabeth (who didn't think they'd put me in training so soon), Cal, and Maven, exchange worried glances, wondering how to proceed across such shaky ground.

"Perseus is the son of a dead war hero and you can do nothing but tease him," Cal growls, throwing daggered glances at the girls and Istvan. They barely seem to notice, almost laughing at his poor defense. He might be a born fighter, but he's at a loss when it comes to words.

Sonya is even more incensed, her sly nature taking hold. Whereas Cal is a warrior in the ring, she is a soldier of speech, and she twists his words with frightening ease. "A general's son should do well in the ring. If anything, Evangeline should be afraid."

"He wasn't raised by a general, don't be foolish -," Annabeth sneers. She's much better at this sort of thing, but I cannot let her win my battles. Not with these people.

"I will not fight," I say again. "Challenge someone else who is more your level."

When Evangeline smiles, her teeth white and sharp, my old instincts ring in my head like a bell. I barely have time to drop as her knife burns through the air, cutting through the spot where my neck was seconds before.

"I challenge you," she snaps, and another blade flies at my face. More rise from her belt, ready to cut me to ribbons.

"Evangeline, stop -," Maven shouts, and Annabeth pulls me to my feet, her eyes alive with worry. My blood sings, coursing with adrenaline, my pulse so loud I almost miss her whispered words.

"Keep her head surrounded in water, she'll still be able to throw knives at you, but eventually she'll start to lose focus due to lack of oxygen. Until that happens, find ways to distract her. You're faster. Keep her on the run. Create an earthquake to throw her off balance, stuff like that." Another knife blazes by, this time digging into the ground at my feet. "Keep water around you. If she cuts you, surround the wound with water. Don't let her see you bleed."

Over her shoulder, Evangeline prowls like a predatory cat, a glittering storm of knives in her fist. In that instant, I know nothing and no one will stop her. Not even the princes or Annabeth. And I cannot give her the chance to win. I cannot lose.

"Good luck, Seaweed Brain."

I take a step towards the ring, summoning the water in the air to form around me. Evangeline prepares to throw her next knife, but before she can get the chance to do so, I create an earthquake within the ring, knocking her off her feet. While she regains her balance, I summon the water in the pipes, causing the ground to shake again before it erupts around us. With the water from the pipes, I create an anti bubble around her head (for her sake, I hope that none of the water from the pipes is dirty toilet water). Evangeline tries to escape it, but it follows her. After about five seconds, she gives up and resumes throwing knives at me.

Fortunately for me, the water distorts her view of anything outside of the anti bubble, causing her to miss her target by a few inches.

Unfortunately, she figures this out quickly and sends a knife directly at my abdomen. I sidestep it easily. This continues for a while until we have a consistent pattern; she throws a knife directly at me, and I avoid it in some way. After about a minute, Evangeline's attacks begin to get slower, however, she still refuses to surrender.

Instead, she switches tactics, and razor-thin pieces of metal peel off the floor, shaped to her will. They curl and shudder and scrape into a living nightmare. She must be starting to lose consciousness, because the metal things, creatures of her mind, skitter across the floor, unsuccessfully trying to find their victim. Each one has eight razored legs, sharp and cruel. Spiders. The scene reminds me of my ride on the "Thrill Ride of Love," at Waterland water park, during my first quest. The only differences between Evangeline's spiders and Hephaestus's spiders, is that Hephaestus's were automatons and were made of celestial bronze and Evangeline's are made of a mix of different metals, have a silver-like color, and are controlled by her mind.

I was so lost in thought that I almost didn't notice the metal spiders parading towards me on my left and right at a sluggish pace. I take the opportunity to approach Evangeline and swipe her feet out from underneath her, knocking her onto her back. Even then, the spiders continue to crawl towards me for about ten more seconds before they fall motionless.

"Stop," Instructor Arven said. Immediately, I let the water around her head fall to the ground. I wait for a bit, making sure she's really unconscious and not just faking it for a sneak attack. Once I know that she isn't going to wake up, I walk out of the ring, letting the skin healers fix her up.

Istvan and Evangeline's friends are glaring at me, Cal and Maven give me looks of approval, some look impressed, others stare in disbelief, but I only have eyes for one person. I make eye contact with Annabeth, whose face is pale - probably because of the spiders. I smile at her and she smiles back, her eyes full of pride. As I make my way towards her, the people around her clear a path.

"So Wise Girl, how'd I do?" I ask when I reach her side.

"You did amazing," she responds, before giving me a quick peck on the lips.

"Really?" I tease.

"Absolutely."

Cal comes over to tell me something, but before he can get the chance, Istvan, who apparently was standing behind me, pulls me to the side. "That was just beginner's luck, Perseus," he growls under his breath. "Next time we're in the ring, I will drown you."

"Okay, two things. One: don't call me Perseus --"

"What would you prefer I call you then?" He asks.

"I'd prefer to be called Percy," I reply matter-of-factly.

"Fine. What was the second thing you wanted to say, Percy."

"Well, I believe that, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you just threatened to drown me next time we're in the ring."

"That would be correct. What are you going to do about it?"

"Oh, you poor naïve soul," I say with mock sympathy. Istvan takes a step back, surprised by my sudden outburst. "See, the thing is, last I checked I can breathe underwater. Salt water, fresh water, chlorine water; you name it, I can breathe in it."

Istvan stares at me, perplexed. "I think you're confused, just because we nymphs can control water, doesn't mean that we can breathe in it."

"Well, I'm not like other nymphs," I say, stating the obvious.

I can tell Istvan is starting to get annoyed because he rolls his eyes when he responds (and it was not a sarcastic eye roll, just thought you should know). "And how exactly are you not like other nymphs?"

I knit my eyebrows together, as if thinking hard for an answer. "Hhhhmmmm, well I can create earthquakes and hurricanes. Can other nymphs do that?"

"Well, no, but that's besides the point."

"How is that besides the point?" Annabeth asks.

"Stay out of this Princess, this conversation doesn't concern you," Istvan snaps.

Annabeth obviously didn't like his response. "First of all -"

"'First of all' what?" Istvan turns to face her. "'First of all, don't talk to me like that because it hurts my feelings'?" he says in a baby voice.

I could feel my blood starting to boil and my cheeks starting to heat up. No one talks to my Wise Girl like that.

"Careful Istvan," Maven says, coming over to stand beside his little sister. "Percy might give you a black eye if you continue to speak to her like that. And I'm pretty sure Annabeth is about two seconds from kicking your ass."

"You know, if Annabeth says 'first of all,' you should never mock her. It will only result in your pain and suffering," I say through gritted teeth.

"Is that so? Then what should I do when she says 'first of all'?"

"Run away," Maven replies.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because she's prepared research, data, charts, and she will destroy you," I explain.

"Whatever," Istvan says before walking away, clearly deciding that we weren't worth his time.

Once he's out of earshot I turn to Maven. "You know, if he had continued speaking to her like that, I wouldn't've given him a black eye, I would've impaled him."

"Good."

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth looks like she wants to say more, but the sound of coughing brings our attention back to the ring. The skin healers now have Evangeline in a sitting position. When she finishes coughing up water and gasping for breath, she turns to face me. There's nothing but rage in her eyes as she stands up and lunges towards me. Well, more like tries to lunge towards me, the skin healers manage to hold her back.

"You son of a bitch," she snarls.

"I told you, Evangeline, you should have challenged someone more your level," I say calmly.

"Are you insulting me?" she demands.

"I don't know, am I?"

She ignores that last statement. I understand that was your first time in the ring, but we typically don't try to kill each other. How the hell did you even win?"

"Dam, talk about poor sportsmanship," Annabeth mumbles beneath her breath.

"I didn't try to kill you. I distracted you by creating an earthquake that knocked you off your feet, and while you were trying to regain your balance I summoned water from the pipes to create an anti-bubble around your head. I knew that the anti-bubble would distort your vision, so I just paced around while you attempted to throw knives at me, and when you started throwing your knives more accurately, I decided to tire you by dodging the knives and making you chase me. When you changed tactics to the spiders, your thoughts were sluggish and I didn't have to worry about projectiles, so I knocked your feet out from underneath you. Then I just waited until you chose to yield or until Instructor Arven told us to stop," I explain. "Honestly, I thought you knew that already, or maybe you just hit your head harder than I thought you did."

That only seemed to anger her more. "That's not what I meant! You only started learning how to use your ability just under two weeks ago, how did you know how to do that?"

I just shrug. "Maybe I've known about my ability for longer than you think I have."

"You still weren't supposed to win!"

"I wasn't? Well, if I had known that you wanted to humiliate me so badly, I would've just let you win. Next time you can just tell me, that way you don't end up humiliating yourself."

"You know, Evangeline, by responding, you're only entertaining him," Cal states. Party pooper.

"Evangeline, you were the one who challenged him and you were also the one who forced him to accept the challenge by throwing knives at his face," Annabeth says. "He beat you fair and square, so quit complaining about it."

"Enough," Instructor Arven says. "Let's move on."

Annabeth's POV:

"Gods, you were enjoying that argument with Evangeline, weren't you?" I say to my fiancé as we leave Training and head to Protocol.

He turns his head and smiles at me. "Yes, I was. How could you tell?"

"I've known you since we were twelve Percy."

"Well, other than that," he says.

"You really are a seaweed brain sometimes," I say, playfully shoving him.

"Hey, Lucas," Percy says, greeting the guard assigned to be his escort.

"Hello Percy," he responds. "Your Highness, you look nice today." Lucas nods towards my outfit: A simple, strapless dress that reached just above my knees. It was made from scarlet satin and had a sweetheart neckline. I paired it with a simple silver belt and a pair of 3-inch black stilettos. My hair was pulled back in a french braid; I wore silver owl stud earrings, a silver owl necklace, a silver bangle bracelet; and my makeup consisted of nothing other than lip gloss.

"Thank you, Lucas," I respond, accepting the compliment.

"She looks nice every day," Percy states.

"That's true. So you're both headed to Protocol?"

"Yep," Percy says, offering me his arm. "To royal hell we go."

"Shut up," I tease, looping my arm through his. "It's not that bad."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to dance with Lady Blonos."

"Well, we only have two more days until the Parting Ball, then we get a break from the dancing lessons," I assure him. Honestly, I'm also excited for a break. Lady Blonos hasn't made the dance lessons easy for me either. She refuses to let Percy and I practice together because it's "not appropriate" and she won't take the male part because it's also "not appropriate," so I've been stuck trying to figure out the dance by myself.

"Thank gods," Percy murmurs beneath his breath so that Lucas won't hear.

Suddenly Lady Blonos's voice echoes through the hall. "You're five seconds late."

A/N:

Hey guys, so my band camp started on Monday (yay 😁). However, due to the fact that there's about a 50% chance of thunderstorms for today and the fact that we can't go into the school, practice was cancelled today 😢

Just so you know, I probably won't update for a while. I still have time to write updates after band practice (which is good), but I also have to work on my summer homework. I have assignments in three classes (AP World History, Pre-Calc, and Honors English 11) and I haven't started any of them (and the summer reading book (which I also haven't started) is very long compared to past summer reading books).

Hope you guys are doing well.

XOXO, HamiltonFanGirl1508

^^^This was not funny WattPad, I did not appreciate the mini heart attack^^^