The arena shimmered around Emma, its walls rippling with the false sunlight of the training simulation. She wiped the sweat from her brow and stared across the field at her opponent — Annabeth, daughter of Athena. Calm, unreadable, her gray eyes gleamed with the sharpness of forged steel.

  Emma’s pulse pounded in her ears. Think, Emma. She’s faster, smarter, stronger… I need a way out of this before she carves me apart.

  Annabeth didn’t wait. She blurred forward, spear in hand, moving so fast the wind split around her.

  Emma gasped. “Oh—!” She turned to light, her body dissolving into radiant photons that streaked across the battlefield. She reformed behind Annabeth and fired a searing beam from her palm.

  A blinding CRACK lit up the space — but Annabeth’s shield snapped up just in time. The light scattered harmlessly.

  Annabeth smirked. “Good. But I know you can do better.”

  Emma exhaled through gritted teeth. “Yeah? Well, I am an honors student.”

  With a lazy wave of her hand, Annabeth summoned a ball of golden light overhead. It swelled, then burst — raining down weapons. Swords, spears, axes, even guns clattered to the ground in a metallic chorus, hundreds of them gleaming.

  Emma’s jaw dropped. “No way. That… that has to be over a hundred different weapons. There’s no way she knows how to use them all.”

  Annabeth’s voice cut through her panic like a blade. “I know what you’re thinking. How could one woman wield so many?” She bent to lift a spear, her stance flawless, effortless. “My gift is Telumkinesis. I can manipulate, summon, control, and create weapons at will. More importantly—” her eyes glinted as she spun the spear with perfect mastery “—the moment I touch a weapon, I know it. Every technique, every nuance, flows through me as naturally as breathing.”

  Emma swallowed.

  Annabeth leveled her gaze. “Now, tell me your name, little girl.”

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  Emma forced her voice steady. “Emma.”

  “Then tell me, Emma…” Annabeth’s smirk softened into something cruelly patient, like a professor watching a student squirm. “With the information you’ve just acquired, what will you do? How will you react to an opponent you have no chance of defeating?”

  Emma clenched her fists, light sparking around her. “I’ll adapt to your attacks, wait for an opening, and strike with one hundred percent of my power.”

  “And if I strike you down before that happens?”

  Emma’s voice didn’t waver. “Then I’ll dust myself off… and try again.”

  For the first time, Annabeth’s eyes brightened with approval. “Good answer. Now—let us do battle, young warrior.”

  Annabeth snatched up a scythe, swinging in a deadly arc. Emma leapt back, wings of light flaring, then shot into the sky like a comet.

  “Dropkick of Light!” Emma screamed as she dive-bombed, her heel glowing like a sun.

  Annabeth sidestepped with insulting ease, the scythe hissing past Emma’s leg. The counterstrike came instantly.

  “Too slow.”

  The scythe whistled through the air—Emma barely caught it with a sword of light. The impact detonated in a burst of brilliance, throwing sparks and shadows everywhere.

  They broke apart.

  Annabeth switched fluidly, the scythe dissolving into twin pistols. She spun them in her hands and unleashed a hail of bullets that crackled with Athena’s blessing.

  Emma blurred into streaks of radiance, weaving at light speed around the arena. The shots chased her, ricocheting dangerously close. She gritted her teeth. She’s herding me… she knows where I’ll go.

  The barrage ended with a click.

  Emma halted, chest heaving. “Out of bullets?”

  Annabeth dropped the pistols, letting them fade. “I never run out. I just… change.” She bent, lifting a katana in one hand, a longsword in the other.

  Emma groaned. “Oh, come on.”

  The next clash was faster, sharper. Steel and light collided again and again, each strike ringing like a bell. Sparks of photon and metal blinded the field.

  Emma thought frantically. I can’t keep this up. She’s testing me, not even trying… I need an opening—fast.

  Annabeth’s voice sliced through the noise as their blades locked. “How long shall our blades clash, little one? I grow bored.”

  Emma broke away, hurling her light-sword at Annabeth.

  Annabeth swatted it aside with a scoff. “Foolish.” She lunged in, katana raised—

  Emma’s hands glowed bright white. “Not foolish. Planned.”

  “Fireflies!”

  Hundreds of glowing motes burst from Emma’s palms, scattering like a living constellation. They swarmed Annabeth’s face, each tiny orb flashing at random.

  Annabeth snarled, swinging wildly, eyes blinded by the stuttering lights.

  “There’s my opening!” Emma roared. She dashed in, hand slamming against Annabeth’s chest.

  “Solar Cannon!!”

  The explosion tore through the arena, a blinding nova that sent both fighters flying. The ground scorched, the air crackled, the world itself seemed to stagger under the force.

  Emma lay sprawled, chest heaving. Her vision swam. “D… did it work? Did I beat her?”

  The smoke parted.

  Annabeth walked forward, calm, her steps deliberate. Her armor was scorched, her skin dusted with burns—but her eyes were sharp, alive, and terrifying.

  Emma’s hope crumbled.

  Annabeth stopped before her, looking down. “You did well, little one. My mother would be proud.” She reached out a hand, almost gentle. “It would be a shame for you to die in a crude place like this. So…” Her voice lowered, dangerous. “I’ll make you an offer. Join the Athens. Swear yourself to us—and I’ll let you live.”

  Emma’s heart skipped. “…What?”

  Annabeth’s smile was equal parts invitation and threat. “Choose wisely.”

  End Chapter