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A/N: This mf long lol, but enjoy 🫶🏾🦋
Percy's Pov The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur. Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.
The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail. Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods.
But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree. And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me. "There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear. The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.
But, I would say I was making at least one friend. I wasn't too sure about Annabeth yet, I honestly have a hard time trusting people. Besides, Grover, I had no one. But, the one person that was genuinely trying to get to know me was Selene.
We've been trying for capture the flag. She hasn't been using her powers so it would be even. But, I don't know, she was still alot skilled and stronger than me. But, to be fair alot were probably stronger than me right now.
If I'm going to be completely honest, I wasn't doing to good. But, Selene, didn't make fun of me or tried to push me too hard. She gave me firm encouragement. And, I could truthfully say I knocked her down a few times. But, she could tell I was still doubting myself.
"Stop, beating yourself up so much. Give yourself grace. Everytime you got knocked down you got back up, and that's what a hero does. It doesn't matter how many wins you had, what matters is you over tried your best each time without giving up. That is what makes a hero." She said, smiling, pulling me up from the ground.
I felt my cheeks get warm every time she gave me encouragement or just our simple touches. I think I liked her just a little more than I'd like to admit. I think I was developing a small crush for her. Which made me nervous, because I don't think she'll ever see me that way.
-Time Skip-
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble. "Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed.
