Kainos barely held the block up. Galatea's wooden blade pressed down against his, effortless on her end, crushing on his. His arms trembled. His feet dug into the dirt. His mind screamed louder than his muscles.
I'm in the Percy Jackson universe. And I'm the son of Ares. Of all the god's it had to be him? Shit. And of all the worlds, I had to end up in. I couldn't be Harry Potter, or the Witcher. He shut that thought down immediately. Yeah...no. I'm good on the last one.
Outside, Galatea leaned into the pressure, calm, almost bored. Inside, Kainos felt like his bones were about to snap. "If you don't focus," she said coolly, "you're going to die."
That did it. Suddenly the noise in his head shut off. Kainos stopped thinking and let instinct take over. He then loosened his guard at the last second, letting her blade slide just enough to redirect its force. He twisted sideways, ducked under the follow-through, and rolled back and gained some distance.
Galatea straightened, her eyes sharp on him. "If that's all you've got, I'm afraid Dad's going to be disappointed. And you wouldn't want to disappoint that version of him. Are's isn't as understanding as Mars."
She's right, but I don't give a damn about that God, and his opinions either way. But right now I need to figure out why she is hear, and why she is telling me about her being my sister and training me. "I have two questions," Kainos said, breathing steady despite the burn in his arms. A sensation he's not use to.
She lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"If I manage to beat you," he said evenly, " will you answer everything I ask."
Galatea paused. The audacity of his assumption amused her. Then she laughed. "Sure little brother," she said. "If you by some miracle of the gods, manage to beat me, Then I'll answer what I can."
Good that was confirmation enough." Do you swear on the river Styx's?" Kainos asked.
Her eyes narrowed. How does he know that, that shouldn't be possible? "I swear on the river Styx's. But now I have a question. How did you know how to do that?"
Kainos smirked. "I will tell you if you get me to submit defeat."
Galatea smirked. "Oh I like you. So what's your other question?"
"You said I can go all out right?" Kainos asked. " I can use my magic to right?" She nodded. "Of course. Use all your little magic tricks. It won't matter to me anyway."
Kainos smiled faintly. "Perfect." His amber eyes flared, deep purple light bleeding into them as power surged through his body.
The he rushed her. With hesitation or restraint.
His blade moved with instinct rather than form, striking at joints, arteries, weak points. He never actually practiced with weapons. His body new how to fight for years. He also relied on what fighting experience he had from his past life with his magical abilities, none had actually hurt him in years.
But Galatea was the first. She parried and blocked his attacks effortlessly, meeting every strike with minimal movement. She was taller, stronger and from what he could tell had years more of experienced.
He used his small height to his advantage and struck low. She blocked and swept his leg. Kainos flipped backward, landing awkwardly. He rushed in going for feinted a horizontal slash, once he thought she over committed and couldn't block, he mixed in a punched toward her ribs.
She caught his tiny fist. She smiled and then punched him back. The force sent his small body flying through the air, slamming into the dirt several feet away. Kainos rolled, came up on one knee, blood pumping, sweat dripping down his face.
He grinned. "Time to get a little serious." Then Kainos vanished. His body disappeared, the shadow's swallowed him in a blink.
Galatea blinked and whistled in surprise. "Shadow travel? Nice trick. Not many demigods can do that." He's the child of Mar's and grandmom. So how is this possible?
Suddenly a wooden blade burst from her shadow, aimed straight for her spine. She blocked it with ease, not even turning as the blade came out. She spun with great speed, and reached into her shifting shadow itself, and pulled. Kainos was yanked out mid-transition, his eyes wide in shock.
Did she just actually pulled me out of the shadow's. I didn't even think that was possible?
She lifted him by his dress shirt with one arm like he weighed nothing. "Not bad little brother," she said. "But not close to being good enough."
Kainos knew what he had to do. Something he hated doing. Normally he wouldn't do it cause mom and grandma told him not to. But mom did say trust and do everything Galatea said. Kainos then grabbed her shirt and felt the bra straps beneath the fabric, and yanked himself forward. Instead of a punch, he slammed his head forward, aiming his nose into her forehead.
Galatea jerked back from surprise, but barely felt the attack. Then she noticed blood dripping down his nose, and his eyes. His purple glowing eyes. The whites of his eyes filled with red, and surrounded the purple irises.
That's when she felt it. Bloodlust. Raw, violent, and unfiltered The kind she'd only ever felt standing in front of Mars himself. Her grip loosened instinctively, and she dropped him.
Kainos landed lightly. His eyes were now blood-red with glowing purple irises. He stared at her, not with rage, but with cold, predatory focus.
Then he attacked, with a storm of blows and sword strikes. They were fast and relentless. Galatea blocked and parried, this time forced to use real effort. His movements were sharper now, as if fueled by something deeper than his natural demigod strength.
The he suddenly vanished again. This time, his sword emerged from the shadows and began flying, striking from every angle. Galatea deflected the blade again and again, teeth gritted as it zipped around her like a hummingbird.
Above her, hidden in the branches of a tall tree, Kainos watched and waited. He could hear her heart beating. He felt the blood moving through her veins. And sensed the power in it.
When she finally caught the flying sword and stopped it from flying around. Kainos knew it was time to strike. The shadows beneath her exploded upward.
Dark large shadow spikes shot toward her from every direction. Galatea twisted her body, barely dodging the lethal strikes. As one spike was inches away from her eye.
How is he doing this? she thought. A smile came across her face. Well a deal is a deal, I should let him know this is enough...
Then pain flashed across her face. A quick clean slice. Kainos appeared in front of her, a black metal card in his hand, now slick with blood.
Her blood. Then. Galatea's eyes widened as she touched her cheek, and felt the warm liquid. She saw the red blood on her fingers, and felt the small cut on her face. "You cut my face!"
Kainos then brought the card to his lips, and licked the blood from the card. Power began to flood his vein. He felt hot and almost euphoric. His magic surged, and Bloodlust roared.
But Galatea's gaze sharpened, not with fear, but with hot fury. Her eyes ignited like burning coals. A blood-red aura exploded outward from her body, drowning his presence beneath hers.
Kainos felt it instantly. This was bigger, and heavier then before. He retreated into the shadows, with a quickness.
But she followed. Breaking through the dark spikes with sheer force. The spikes shattered and dispersed, as she went reaching for him, almost grabbing him. Until he vanished , as the black metal card was sent through the shadow as she reached through.
He fist covered in the blood red aura shattered the card. But it help Kainos to escape. Galatea roared. "Get back here. You're going to pay for that! No one... and I mean no one, put's a scar on my face."
She slammed her foot into the ground. The blood red aura, sent a shockwave through earth and air alike. Kainos reappeared high in a tree, balanced on a thick branch, blade ready.
His face was calm. His mind was empty. He was watching and waiting. The urge came to him. To kill, to devour the powerful blood from her veins.