Prince of Atlantis

Chapter 3 - A Day With Friends

It was Percy's first day off and he was determined to drag Kaldur'ahm away from training even if he had to order Orin to give all the trainees a day off.

He swam to the training ground to find Kaldur'ahm sparring with one of the older guards. They were sparring with swords and Percy frowned as he could see obvious flaws in their stances, Kaldur'ahm having fewer and less obvious ones.

"Move your feet further apart," he called out. "Raise your sword higher." He continued to call out little suggestions to both of them and smiled in satisfaction as they improved. Neither had turned to see who was giving them advice, but Kaldur'ahm's small smile made it clear that he recognized Percy's voice.

After the older guard won, the two finally turned to face Percy, Kaldur'ahm dropping into a bow as he did so. "My Prince."

The guard quickly did the same, staying silent.

Percy, thankful Amphitrite had given him etiquette lessons first, said, "Rise. There is no need to bow to me."

They rose and the guard asked, "Where did you learn to fight, Your Highness? Who taught you?"

"Camp Half-Blood," Percy said with a small smile. "My trainer is my best friend, Luke, who also happens to be the best swordsman to come to Camp in 300 years."

The guard nodded in acknowledgement and Percy eyed Kaldur'ahm's xiphos. "Would you care for a spar, Kaldur'ahm?"

Kaldur'ahm grinned and nodded, heading to the sparring area and twirling his sword in clear acceptance of Percy's challenge.

Percy uncapped Anaklumos and circled Kaldur'ahm with a small smile. He needn't worry about footing, as his tail gave him perfect balance in the water.

Kaldur'ahm struck first and the dance began. Kaldur'ahm did everything he could to get a hit, but Percy had spent the last three months training under Luke, who was practically a drill sergeant. He blocked Kaldur'ahm's attempts at hitting him with relative ease. Inwardly, he was impressed. "How long have you been fighting, Kaldur'ahm?" he asked.

Kaldur'ahm gave a strained smile, too busy focusing on the spar for a full one. "A year, My Prince."

Percy hummed. For someone that didn't have the built in advantage of a demigod, Kaldur'ahm was doing very well against him. He used the difficult disarming maneuver that Luke had taught him and Kaldur'ahm's xiphos fell to the sea floor. He had him on the ground the next moment.

Holding his hand out to him, he said, "I am impressed. You did much better than I expected. If my demigod instincts were blocked, I am sure you would have been able to win."

"Should we test that theory?"

Percy turned to see his father swimming towards them. He dropped into a bow, as did everyone in the vicinity. "Father," Percy greeted.

Poseidon frowned. "Percy, we've talked about this."

Percy sighed with a small smile and rose. "Hey, Dad. What do you mean by testing the theory?"

Poseidon smiled and snapped his fingers. "Your demigod instincts are now suppressed. Good luck."

Percy grinned at the new challenge and pulled out Anaklumos. Kaldur'ahm got into his stance, picking up his xiphos.

Percy attacked first and the dance once again began. This time, they were evenly matched. They went back and forth for a while until Percy tried his disarming maneuver again and succeeded.

"Can I train like this from now on?" Percy asked, panting heavily as he helped Kaldur'ahm up.

Poseidon shrugged. "If you wish, I will see to it."