𝑻𝑶𝑮𝑬𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 ⁽ᵖᵉʳᶜʸ ʲᵃᶜᵏˢᵒⁿ ˣ ᵒᶜ⁾

𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣

PERCY

THE NEXT FEW DAYS, PERCY SETTLED INTO into a routine.

Each morning, he would practice Ancient Greek with Lana by reading a variety of books. It was beginning to get slightly easier for him to understand the new language, but Lana would still complain about how long he would take to read one page.

Throughout the week, he would rotate through different outdoor activities and attempt to get better at different skills.

After that one archery practice he had with Lana, he understood that he was just really bad and that one arrow was a lucky shot.

The only thing he really excelled at was canoeing, but he only really used that skill to paddle Lana out in the middle of the lake, so she could draw the different fishes she saw.

He knew that Lana and the camp counselors were watching him, trying to decide who his dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it, Lana struggling the most.

"You have noodle arms, which means you aren't a child of Ares." Lana commented when Percy asked who she thought was his dad.

"That's a way to encourage a man's ego." Percy mumbled.

"You suck at archery, so that's a no from Apollo." She continued.

"Yeah, just keep going, why don't you?"

"The noodle arms could also mean you aren't any good at metal work, so that cancels out Hephaestus. And we know for a fact that you aren't Dionysus's kid, not that he would claim you anyways."

"I think I would actually kill myself if he was my dad."

"And we both know that you severely lack athleticism, so that also crosses Hermes off the list as well. Thank the gods." She mumbled the last bit to herself.

"Why is that a good thing?" He asked.

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Because...I already have enough stupid brothers. I don't need another one." She answered, as if satisfied with her answer.

He nodded his head, even though a part of him believed that that wasn't the truth.

Thursday afternoon, he had his very first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from Cabin Eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be the instructor.

Lana stood by her brother's side, occasionally being used to demonstrate the moves that Luke was teaching their entire cabin.

They all began with basic moves, using dummies in Greek armor to practice on.

Percy understood what he was supposed to do, the problem being that no blade felt right in his hands. They were either too heavy or too long. Luke tried his best to fix him up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work.

It wasn't long until they moved to dueling in pairs. Luke announced that he would be Percy's partner since this was his first time.

"I would partner you with Lana, but she would skewer you before I uttered the word 'go'. No offense." Luke said, patting Percy's shoulder.

"None taken." He responded.

"You'll be partnered with me since it's your first time. After that, I'll put you with Lana." Luke began to walk away to make sure everyone was paired.

"Wait, what?" Percy ran after him before becoming in step with his camp counselor. "I thought you were doing me a favor by not putting me with your sister."

"Stop that!" Luke shouted at two campers, who were tackling each other to the ground. He looked back at Percy. "I am doing you a favor. By preparing you to fight her."