Act II Chapter XXVI: "Welcome home"

"This is so official," Percy whispered. Reyna immediately shushed him. Percy looked at her and grinned slightly. He shifted the shield in his hand and looked around the line he stood in. All of the demigods were standing in the line. Each had been outfitted in armor and were provided a weapon if they didn't already have one.

Lupa paced back and forth in front of the line of demigods. Chiron stood a few feet back with an amused look on his face. They had woken up, ate breakfast, and then were told to prepare for training. Preparation consisted of getting everyone outfitted in armor and making sure their weapons were balanced.

"In the past, Chiron and I kept an eye on our camps. We taught our demigods how to fight," Lupa stated as she stopped pacing for a moment. Next to Percy, Reyna seemed to be standing taller, and a small smile crept onto her face.

Lupa passed by Percy and continued, "Each of my Romans was given a dream that brought them to the Wolf House. There, I taught them the skills they needed to survive. How to fight. How to survive. How to live under the stars. Those are the same lessons I taught all of you when you first came to us."

"When my Romans finished their training, they were sent to Camp Jupiter. That was how they learned to fight as a unit. That is what we are going to start doing as well," Lupa stated. She stopped pacing and looked at Chiron.

"As many of you know, the gods have grown weaker over the centuries. With the two camps being destroyed, the demigods were no longer centralized, and the gods found themselves losing power. Without the gods, demigods are in more trouble than ever. A safe place has been established, but we want everyone to be trained to defend it."

"The road ahead will be tough. We want to bring the gods back, but that will be dangerous. For now, we just want everyone to train and be able to defend themselves wherever they are," Chiron finished.

"At Camp Jupiter, demigods lived there full time and trained. When they served ten years, they could retire and live in New Rome: a safe city for demigods to love. Until it was destroyed with the camp," Lupa said.

"At Camp Half-Blood, most demigods only stayed for the summer. A few stayed year round if they had nowhere to go. We will not hold anyone here who does not want to be here, but everyone is welcome to stay as long as they want," Chiron said.

"The most important thing is the safety of as many demigods as possible," Lupa added. "We will begin training today with individual lessons. Tomorrow, it will be as a unit. Luke will test everyone to see where they stand and what can be worked on."

"We'll be around to help as well," Chiron promised. Percy felt anticipation as everyone broke off from the line. Luke said something to Drew, and she nodded as she made her way over to Silena. Will looked nervous as he made his way over to Percy.

"I'm not too great with a sword," Will admitted.

"You're a great shot with a bow and arrow," Percy argued. "I almost kill someone every time."

Will smiled slightly. He shifted in his armor. Will never seemed comfortable when they trained with swords. Percy didn't think Will was averse to violence but was more comfortable with healing than hurting.

"You might want to be on standby in case Annabeth decides she wants to beat me up again," Percy joked. He had been sparring with Annabeth more lately. She was good with a sword but with a dagger? Percy stood no chance. His reach advantage didn't seem to matter as Annabeth just danced around him.

Training with Luke was exhausting. He pushed him further and further every single session. Percy was left as a pile of bruises and sore muscles by the end of it. Luke always looked tired but seemed like he was trying to hide it.

Percy even sparred with Beckendorf the other day, and he learned what it was like to be lifted off of his feet. And thrown to the ground by a much larger opponent. Percy swore that Lupa watched the two with a smile on her face. Especially as Percy had to duck and dive attacks.

The only one he had yet to spar with was Reyna. She helped them with drills and training, but he hadn't seen her go against anyone in a full sparring match just yet. He figured her shoulder was still bothering her, and he couldn't help the guilt that gnawed at him.

Percy almost died because he allowed himself to be distracted. How was he supposed to save the world if he got distracted by a bull? There was no way he could defeat terrifying beasts of legend like that. That was one of the reasons he wanted to train so hard. He needed to train his mind and body to be prepared for anything.

"Learn to defend yourself then," Annabeth chimed in from somewhere behind Percy.

"Should we?" Will asked as he lifted his sword and took a deep breath. His feet were too close together, and he gripped his sword too tightly. Not to mention his fingers were misplaced. Will seemed to think he was still holding a bow instead of a sword.

"Here," Percy began as he began to correct Will's stance. Out of the corner of his eye, he felt some gazes on him. A glance to his left showed Chiron and Lupa watching him with laser focus. To his right stood Reyna and Annabeth, both watching him.

And when he turned around to take his place, Clarisse stood a few feet away sneering at him. She slowly cleaned her sword as she studied him. Percy quickly looked back at Will. The two of them were through a few exercises, but they were mostly keeping themselves occupied as Luke tested everyone individually.

As Luke made his way around, Percy kept an eye on him. He didn't bother to test Clarisse, who looked disappointed. Annabeth just smiled at him as he bypassed her. Reyna gave Luke a nod, and the first person that Luke stopped to test was Beckendorf.

"How many more demigods do you think are going to join us?" Will asked. Percy glanced at him.

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "Hopefully a lot more."

"Chiron said there were over a hundred back in the day," Annabeth chimed in as she walked up behind them and corrected Will's stance again. "Maybe even two hundred. Not all of them stayed the entire year, but there were enough to defend themselves if monsters attacked."

"And the Romans attacked Camp Half-Blood during the summer, right? Otherwise, there would have been demigods scattered around to return to a destroyed camp," Will stated.

"During summer," Annabeth said with a nod. "It makes me wonder if they had inside information or were just lucky."

"Not something we should worry about," Percy suggested.

"You're right," Annabeth agreed. "Training is going to ramp up, and things are going to be odd as we try to find a routine. The camp still needs to finish rebuilding, and we have to establish patrols. Not to mention what we're going to eat. There are a lot of things to figure out."

"Which you don't need to worry about," Percy said. "Chiron said he was going to worry about those things."

"And Lupa is going to worry about making sure we're trained enough to stay alive. I know," Annabeth said as a small frown touched her face. She seemed to be in a bit of a one-sided feud with Lupa. Well, Percy hoped it was one-sided.

"Which means we should worry about our training," Percy began as he saw Luke had moved over to Tyson. Everyone still seemed to be giving Tyson the side eye, but they didn't run in terror when he approached.

"You're right," Annabeth agreed. She gently whacked Percy's arm. "So keep your eyes focused on your target and loosen up. You need to stay light on your feet."

Percy groaned as he tried to adjust. They had been going back and forth between fighting with and without a shield. Without that extra protection, he was supposed to stay light on his feet and dodge what he could. With a shield, he was supposed to lock down and block anything that came his way.

It seemed to also be the opposing philosophies of Lupa and Chiron. It was something that Percy had noticed since his time there, but it didn't really become apparent until Lupa trained him individually. Chiron wanted them to avoid anything unnecessary. They didn't need to take any unnecessary hits or attacks that they didn't need to.

Lupa wanted them to be able to stand in front of a train and take the hit. Whether it be with a shield or armor. Lupa wanted her trainees to take a hit and keep running. Pain couldn't stop them. The only thing that could stop them was death.

Percy liked Chiron's philosophy a little better.

"I think that we should..." Annabeth trailed off, and her eyes widened. Percy followed her gaze to the side and up the hill. His eyes widened in surprise as well. Will turned, moving his hand to grab his bow. He relaxed after a moment.

Percy found himself just staring at the hill and the figure that stood at the top of it. They looked out over the camp. Chiron rushed toward the hill in an instant and pulled them into a hug. As for Percy, he just found himself staring.

The rest of the camp had fallen quiet at the newcomer. It was easy to hear what Chiron said and even easier to hear the joy in his voice, "Welcome home, Thalia. I missed you so much."