Adrift (KotLC PJo Crossover)

✨Chapter 10✨

Sophie

If people weren't talking about her before, they were now. Whispers, suspicious glances, and threats followed her wherever she went. The threats, of course, came from the Ares cabin.

Word of the fight spread like wildfire, how the new kid has snapped Clarisse's spear like a toothpick. How she was faster than the camp champion.

It didn't take long for Chiron to hear, and he pulled her aside before activities the next day.

"I'll talk to Clarisse, but it is imperative that no one knows that you are an elf. If Kronos figures out who you are..."

Sophie nodded. "I know, but it's getting hard to hide it, especially from the Athena kids. I've overheard people saying that I'm the camp spy. That kind of mistrust in a war can be dangerous. But I don't know how to gain their trust." 'Camp spy' wasn't the worst she heard, not that Chiron needed to know. He had enough on his plate.

Chiron nodded. "For now just continue in your training. You will need it."

Sophie nodded and ran off to catch up with her cabin. They were practicing blade skills today. Strangely, she has woken up with her dagger Hope under her pillow in its sheath, a note attached to it.

Thought this might help. Good Luck!

-Hera

Of course it was from Hera. She had left Hope in her room the night she'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood. The same night she'd kissed Keefe. Everytime she thought about it, she grinned uncontrollably. At the same time, insecurities dug into her, stealing some of the joy.

What if I'm a bad kisser? I probably made it super awkward. I miss him so much.

The fierce desire to see Keefe gnawed at her all day and at night. But for now, she shook off her thoughts. There's more important things right now than kissing.

She jogged up to the arena, where the Athena and Apollo cabins had grouped into pairs and were sparring. Annabeth and the other head counselor walked around, demonstrating moves and offering advice. Swords clashed together, bouncing off shields and biting into leather armor.

Annabeth noticed Sophie standing on the side, struggling to put on armor. She jogged over and helped her, handing her a leather strap.

"Here." Annabeth said. " It's a new sheath. One of my older ones, but it gets the job done." She helped her attach it to Sophie's waist, and Sophie slid the dagger in place. Annabeth helped her tighten the straps on her armor, then walked over to a section of the arena with dummies.

"I figured," Annabeth started, "we should probably start on getting your beauty to go away. In a fight, you have to be decisive and your thoughts clear. Now," she gestured to tolhe dummy in front of Sophie. "Kill it."

The dummy was both taller and bigger than her, decked in full battle armor. The only exposed fatal spot was it's neck. Sophie drew Hope, took a deep breath, and imagined the dummy was Lady Gisela. She stepped forward, and slashed across the dummy's throat with all her strength. Hay flew everywhere, and the head fell to the ground with a clang.

"Great job! That's pretty much how it will be fighting monsters. They just turn into dust. Now let's work on your form." Annabeth instructed and sparred with Sophie for a few hours. Turn out, Sophie was a natural fighter. Her form wasn't terrible, and she had the strength and reflexes to last in a fight. After a while of training, she even knocked Annabeth down.

For three days, Annabeth taught her how to fight with a dagger, bow and arrows, and some hand-to-hand combat. Every day, she would fall asleep with new bruises, but she felt like she was making a dent in her training. Her stamina was slowly getting better, and she could now properly defend herself.

Sophie reached down to help Annabeth up after Sophie knocked her down in training. Annabeth flashed her a grin and wiped sweat off her brow. "You know, for all your talk of you guys not being non-violent, you are a natural at this. Tomorrow, we can go over monster fighting. But let's head to lunch. Afterwards is mostly free time, so we can pretty much do anything we want. We just have to make sure to be back in time for capture the flag."

"What did you have in mind?" Sophie asked Annabeth as everyone walked towards the weapons wall to take off their armor.

Annabeth furrowed her brows. " I was thinking to try to find Percy. He never disappears for this long without telling anyone..." They started walking towards the dining pavilion.

Is it just me, but I can't remember a single time in the PJo books when they have lunch at camp. Just breakfast and dinner. Like, do y'all not have lunch or smth? Idk, that was random, but yea 🙃

After a great meal of pizza, Annabeth led her to the forest and stopped at the tree line. "Where are we going?"

"If anyone would know where Percy is, it would be Grover, his best friend." Annabeth looked a little sour at the last part, but she drew her knife and walked into the forest. "Make sure you keep your dagger out. The woods are stocked with all kinds of monsters."

Sophie took a deep breath, drew her dagger, shoved away her feeling of dread, and entered the dark forest.