𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍° ! percy jackson

𝐢.𝐢𝐯 - 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐲 (𝐩)

Camp, so far, was nothing like he'd expected. Actually, it was surprisingly enjoyable, which was strange. Although he still felt bitter about his father's abandonment, he had found something he actually excelled out: canoeing. It wasn't exactly the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur, but he was still good at it.

Thursday afternoon, three days after he'd arrived at camp, he had his first sword fighting lesson. Everybody from Cabin Eleven and Cabin Four, which was Demeter Cabin, gathered around a big circular arena, where Luke, and the girl he'd been trying to apologize to for the past couple days, would be their instructor.

"Hey, Aurora," he tried as the rest of the cabin practiced their basic stabbing and slashing using straw stuffed dummies in Greek armor.

"Watch yourself, Jackson, or else you'll get stabbed too." She said coldly, not looking up from her target. "I'm trying to teach a lesson here."

"It seems like you're doing a great job at that." The comment slipped out against Percy's good will and common sense (or lack thereof) as he gestured to the Demeter girl whose sword clattered at their feet.

Aurora's eyes flared, her jaw clenching. He could see her grip tighten around her sword, and Percy realized just about how much of a dumbass he really was.

He really was not helping his case. But he knew that Aurora was not someone he wanted as an enemy.

"I—I didn't mean that—" He tried, but Aurora held up her hand for silence and walked away promptly.

He guessed that she didn't let go of many grudges as he walked away sadly, cursing his own stupidity. Why did he always have to fuck everything up, especially with Aurora? She hated him so much already.

He wielded his uneven blade in his hand, feeling stupider by the second as his sword lagged behind. None fit right, either being too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried his best to fix him up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for him.

Luke tried to announce that he would be Percy's partner, but Aurora grabbed his shoulder. She looked comfortable around Luke, very comfortable. She whispered something in his ear, and he nodded before walking over to Percy.

"Good luck," one of the campers told Percy. "Be glad you got Luke and not Aurora. Luke's good, but Aurora is the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."

"Best archer too. There's really nothing she can't do." Another camper said, staring at Aurora in awe. Percy didn't like that, his stomach clenching up. He was just nervous. "You need Hermes' blessing to survive her, dude."

"Maybe they'll go easy on me," he said. Him and the other campers both knew it wasn't true.

Luke showed him thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, he got a little more battered and bruised. Luke shouted out instructions, but nothing worked. By the time he called break, Percy was soaked in sweat. However, Aurora looked as gorgeous as usual.

Everyone swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like a good idea, so he copied.

Instantly, he felt better. Strength surged back into his arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward. As he rolled his shoulders, he could feel Aurora's eyes trained on him, like she found the answer to her life long question.

"Okay everyone, circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

Great, he thought grimly. Let's all watch Percy get pounded. The rest of the Hermes cabin suppressed smiles.