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In the days that had passed since Perseus Jackson arrived he developed a routine. In the mornings he'd have Ancient Greek lessons with Annabeth ( not as hard as he thought it would be ), then rotate through outdoor activities. Chiron tried helping him with Archery — now that was difficult and he was beginning to think the god of archery had it out for him any time he picked up a bow. Foot racing was another thing checked off the list of things he was horrendous at. Wrestling too, he could have sworn Briar muttered "figured" under her breath when Clarisse had easily taken him down.
Eyes were on him constantly, in hopes of seeing a glimpse of who his godly parent could be. Being at the center of nearly everyone's attention was nerve wracking and if Percy was honest, it pissed him off. The only reason he came to this camp was because of his mom, because a god had been involved with her and cursed her with the burden of a demigod. He was blaming himself for her death. With Chiron trying to get him involved in all the activities they had to offer and people always watching, he had no space to mourn the woman who sacrificed herself just to make sure he got to the borders of camp safely.
But he was supposed to ignore the fact she was gone, right? He had to move on by the standards of his peers. How could he when his mom had been the one constant in his life? Percy would have to pretend till it no longer hurts. How long will that take? Eons.
His first sword lesson was a good distraction from the pain in his chest. Percy stood among the rest of cabin eleven with his sword at his side. Sea-green eyes roamed till they landed on smoke-gray that were already watching him. A chill shuddered through the boy but he offered a terse smile, one she did not reciprocate.
Since their first encounter he knew Briar was watching him far more than the others had been. It left him on edge, wondering if the girl was plotting his downfall for accidentally dousing Annabeth in toilet water — he didn't even know how he did it or if it really had been him. He wanted to blame the pipes. Even as Luke instructed them through slashing and stabbing at practice dummies he knew Briar was following his every move.
He had been almost relieved when the cabin was paired off for dueling. Briar's attention would be on someone else for the time being — hopefully. Though the relief didn't last very long when Luke approached him. He hoped he would have been with the daughter of Bia ( who he learned was Alkimini ) or the son of Oizys ( Onyx ), both were a year younger so he thought it would be easier to fight them than Luke. Of course when he looked over at the two demigods they were fighting like they had been doing this their whole lives. So he was out of luck with whoever he went against.
Luke taught him more thrusts, parries, and even blocking before dualling. Percy thought he had been doing well for a first-timer but one glance at Briar and the poor kid lost the confidence. She looked as if she were silently judging him — and she was, just not for the reasons most of camp had been.
