𝕍𝕖𝕟𝕚 𝕍𝕚𝕕𝕚 𝕍𝕚𝕔𝕚¹ | ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ

5. The adventures of Witch Bitch & The Lord of the Bathroom Pt.1

ꕥ In the following days, Percy settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that he was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs and a centaur.

Each morning he took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and they talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. He had discovered Annabeth and Lorelei were right about his dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for him to read. At least, no harder than English.

Throughout the rest of the day, he'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something he was good at. Archery was awful. Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left him in the dust. They told him not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. And wrestling? Forget it. Every time he got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize him.

The only thing he seemed to be good at was canoeing. Him and Lora were practically speeding on the lake. But that didn't seem like a helpful skill.

Despite everything, Percy liked camp. He got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. He would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of his meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to his father. Nothing came. Just that warm feeling he always had, like the memory of his smile.

He tried not to think too much about his mum, but he kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back...

Thursday afternoon, three days after he arrived at Camp Half-Blood, he had his first sword-fighting lesson. Lora and Luke helped him run through the basics. Stabbing, slashing, defending, that kind of thing.

Luke told him he was doing well for his first time, that he had good reflexes and a good natural battle instinct, which made him feel better. They couldn't find any swords that fit him though. The problem was, he couldn't find a blade that felt right in his hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Lora tried her best to fix him up, but she agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for him. When she asked Luke he agreed.

They moved on to duelling in pairs. Luke and Lora usually paired but Luke announced he would be his partner, since this was his first time.

"Good luck," one of the campers told him. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."

"Maybe he'll go easy on me," Percy said.

The camper snorted and walked over to Lora who was watching Luke curiously. Him deciding to pair up with Percy out of the blue was odd.

Luke was most definitely going hard on him. When they took a break, she was quick to walk over to them, grabbing a bottle of water and handing it over to Percy who looked like he was dying of exhaustion.

"Thanks, Star Girl." He said as he watched as Luke poured ice water on his head, and then promptly decided to do the same.

Lora laughed. "Did you have to copy him, Perce?"

The two had grown close during Percy's stay at camp. They were inseparable and considered each other to be each other's best friend even though they had only known each other a few days. Lora remembered how one day she and Percy were sitting on the beach during their free time and Percy had brought up the fact that they needed nicknames for each other.

ꕥ"You already call me Lora, Percy," She pointed out. "That's already a nickname."

"But everyone calls you Lora! I wanna have a nickname just for you!" Percy whined. Suddenly he sat up straighter, turning to her completely. "What's your full name?"