What I hadn't expected from Lupa's training was how much of it wasn't actually about fighting.
I mean, thinking about it now it makes sense, as a wolf there was much more than just fighting, and honestly learning sword fighting from a wolf, even a goddess, would've been weird.
What Lupa was teaching was about instincts, about survival. What I would need to make it in any situation, and when she told me that I thought I would be good. I mean, my gut was basically the only reason I was alive today, so I figured I was pretty in tune with my instincts.
I quickly learned how wrong I was.
Yes, compared to the average human, and even some demigods my instincts were apparently better, something Lupa had told me at the very beginning of my training. But that's the thing, Lupa wasn't here to bring me up to a certain standard. She had a month to train me, like any Roman demigod, and her goal was to get me to improve as much as she could in that time. In any and all aspects she could.
And she took her job very seriously.
Apparently, me sensing the remnants of the battle was a testament to my potential as a demigod, as it had much more to do with my inherent power than any training I had done, which felt kind of like cheating. I mean, I hadn't done anything to actually get there, yet somehow I had this ability. But apparently it would be useful, so Lupa helped me hone it, allowing me to 'stretch' my senses.
I think the best way to describe it was like having Spiderman's spidey sense. I just knew if someone was moving against me, or if there was something in my path. My already hyperactive brain was taking in the information, and with my instincts sharpened by Lupa it was truly like having the full spidey sense. I knew where things were and what they were doing, and I could tell where to go and how to move.
In conclusion, it was weird. But I had never fought better than I did now, even with the Curse of Achilles, I felt I had gone beyond that. I still wasn't in the league of someone like Kronos, who had truly been on top the entire time I fought him. If Annabeth hadn't been there, if she hadn't reached Luke, the world would look much different than it did now.
But that didn't matter, there was a new threat now. Kronos was in the past, not even Gaea could bring him back now so soon after his scattering.
Even though my new sense of the world was weird, it hadn't been too much of a struggle to work on. I'd always relied on my instincts, and all Lupa was doing was helping me hone my instincts and extend my senses. No matter how weird the end result felt, there was something natural to it too. The process to reach it felt truly like an extension of my instilled demigod survival instincts.
What didn't feel like that was almost everything else she tried to teach me.
When she'd told me she would be teaching me how to survive I guess I hadn't really thought about hunting and camping in the wilderness. I'm stupid, I know, but survival as a demigod normally meant true situational survival. The camping part was just kinda there, and you just did it.
Obviously, I was horrible at hunting. No matter what Lupa tried, I simply could not shoot a bow even close to accurately. I could track the animals at least, but if I wanted to kill them I'd have to really surprise em', or even chase them, And that was not easy, a deer could run fast when they wanted to.
Despite my struggles, Lupa continued to push me to get stronger, never giving me a break. She pushed my strength and endurance to its limits, and even tried to get me to learn how to wield something other than a sword. A Roman, she argued, must be capable of versatility, especially one destined to lead.
She didn't accept my protests at my so-called 'destiny', and soon enough the month came to a close, and I would have to begin my journey to Atlantis. Which was on the East coast, which happened to be exactly on the wrong side of the country.
As you can imagine, I wasn't very excited about the prospect of trekking 2,500 miles by foot, but I knew this functioned as a test as well. I had to prove that I was worthy of being trained by my father. I knew it was a privilege, I couldn't even think of a demigod that had actually been trained by their parent.
I wouldn't waste this opportunity, it was too impor-
"You know that doesn't work anymore, Lupa," I said, Riptide in my hand blocking a strike that would have decapitated me a month ago.
"Complacency has been the downfall of many, Perseus, I will not see you fall into its grasp when you hold so much promise for the future of Rome," Lupa replied, her sword disappearing as I stood to face her.
Unlike when our training had begun, she stood in a human form, traditional Roman military garb covering her person and her stance tall. There had only been so much she could do in her wolf form before she had to change, and I found she reminded me of both Artemis and Athena, a lethal combination of Wisdom and the Wilds.
"So much faith, yet you still won't call me Percy," I said, exasperated. The gods had always chosen to call me by my birth name, and I had hoped Lupa would not follow in their path when she told me to drop the title of lady from her name.
She chuckled fondly, "Perseus is a fine name, if a little Greek for my tastes. It suits the role you must take in the coming war."
I sighed, knowing that while I hated it, Lupa was not in the wrong. The Titan War had been my coming of age, and now the Giants would serve to cement what I had learned. Somehow, this war already felt like it's impact would be much greater, something I could barely comprehend after what the Titan War had done.
I looked up from my thoughts into Lupa's sobering face, my time training with her at an end.
"Lupa, your training has been invaluable to me. The skills you have taught me, the lessons ingrained. They would have taken me months to see without your guidance, and I am forever grateful," I spoke, dipping my head in respect. The work we had done had been hard, but I knew it had given me a greater chance at surviving, at saving my friends, and nothing would ever repay that.
"You underestimate yourself yet again, Perseus. When you came to me, you were already on the path to where you are now." she spoke, pride in her voice. "Juno's plan was unrealistic, one based on much luck and circumstance to succeed. After training you for this month, I am confident in our world's survival. You have led Olympus to victory once, and you will do so once again."
I ducked my head, blushing. Compliments and pride from Lupa was few and far between, and her claim at my importance left my head swimming. Before, I had been falsely prophesied, only a part in a fate that barely involved my own actions. Once again, I was being told I was important, and with my previous experience I could not take the words at their value. But I would try.
"I will not fail you, Lupa." I finally spoke, looking into her eyes, my stance straight and proud like she had taught me.
She chuckled, turning and walking towards the forest, slowly becoming her wolf form again. As she reached the edge, and the rest of her entourage peaked out from the trees, she began to turn back to me.
"In 4 months time, you must be Percy Jackson, Son of Rome as tradition demands." She spoke, and I nodded my head, confused as to why she was repeating this to me once again. But as she stood fully turned, her eyes pierced mine with an intensity I had never seen, and for the moment I was frozen.
"To survive this war, you must find yourself. You are more than the glue to the Seven of Prophecy, more than a Son of Greece or Rome," her voice pitched up in volume, her power leaking from her, seemingly unconsciously. "More than just a Son of the Sea, you must rise above and christen yourself!" Somehow, her voice got even louder, and her eyes began to glow an erie green that I would recognize anywhere.
The Oracle.
Her voice doubled now, she continued to speak into the clearing, eyes never leaving mine, "Perseus, born to live as your name decrees, duty bound to do anything but, the cycle must be broken. Perseus, Son of the Sea. Perseus, The Destroyer. Perseus, The Protector!"
With the last words, whatever had held my body let go and I had to stop myself from collapsing to the ground, the air leaving my body in an instant. I looked up, a million questions racing through my mind, but Lupa was gone, silence through the clearing as I regained my wits.
Whatever that had been, it was more than just the Oracle. I had been petrified from the Oracle before, but that had been from fear, not because I couldn't move. Something powerful had just spoken through Lupa, spoken to me.
I didn't know what it was, I didn't know why it had spoken to me. All I knew was that Gaea wouldn't wait, and whatever else was coming I needed to be ready. My family would not fall, not now, not ever.
Duty called for it, Loyalty demanded it.