𝖇𝖆𝖉 𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 || ᴘᴊᴏ x ʜᴘ

16 - 𝕮𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖚𝖋𝖋𝖆𝖑𝖔

Over the next few days, Percy falls into a semi-comfortable routine at camp. He's taking Greek lessons early in the morning with Annabeth, then skills training in the afternoon.

So far, he's discovered that he's horrible at foot racing, helpless at wrestling, and forget Archery!

But after a memorable morning with sword-fighting, he walked out of the Arena with an extra jump in his step.

"What are you whistling about?" A honey voice asked him sweetly, he turned and saw Holly walking behind him lugging a large sack.

"Done my first sword lesson," Percy explained, then he noticed she was decked out in full battle armour. "What are you up to?"

"A camper spotted a wild Kato in the forest, Chiron wants it gone before Capture the Flag tomorrow." Holly explained, continuing her walk towards the forest with Percy following her.

"Kato?"

"Katobleps," Holly elaborated. "They're large buffalo's with the head of a warthog."

"And what's with the gas mask?"

"Their breath is highly toxic," Holly explained.

"Sounds dangerous," Percy remarked.

Holly glanced at him, seeing him purse his lips in thought. "Do you want to join me?"

"Could I?" Percy asked, feigning nonchalance.

"I only have one mask though," Holly said, lifting the one in her hand. "Just watch from afar, don't get close to the toxic breath."

"Right," Percy nodded. "Not too close to the toxic breath."

***

The trees clumped together tightly in the forest, they hiked for twenty minutes to reach Zeus' fist; a cluster of boulders sitting atop a steep hill.

"This is where Annabeth's team usually camps at," Holly explained as they walked towards the boulders. "It's the highest peak in the forest, you can see everything from up there at the very top."

Holly pointed at the tallest boulder, where coincidentally, their target was taking their siesta.

"He doesn't look that dangerous," Percy said sarcastically.

"Ah," Holly wagged her pointer finger at him. "Try looking at him up close, then you'll see how innocent he looks."

Holly strapped her gas mask on, taking the heavy celestial bronze chains from her sack and pulling out a feather quill from her pocket.

"What's that?"

"The thing that will slay a Kato," Holly said vaguely. "My sword."

In a flash, the feather quill extended into a long pointed rapier. It gleamed faded yellow of the cytherean copper that it's made of.

"That's not celestial bronze," Percy commented. "Not like the other swords."

"No, it's not." Holly said. "It's a gift from my mother, made out of cytherean copper found in the island of Cythera- where my mother was born."

"I thought she was born from sea foam?"

"She was, but she washed up on the island of Cythera and considered it her birthplace." Holly explained, then she slowly twisted the sword to showcase its reflective surface. "It's a very sharp metal, flexible enough for a rapier but reflective enough for a mirror."

"Multipurpose," Percy nodded as if satisfied.

"You can climb up there," Holly pointed the tip of her sword to a large tree. "There's footholds in the trunk, it's one of the lookout points around Zeus' fist. You'll be able to see fist a little better from up there, so you'll be able to see the Kato a bit closer."