So to clarify a few things because I do feel like I owe you guys that much, I tend to write a bunch at a time then stop for a bit to sort of reflect and redraft things as I write as it gives me a chance to put out better content. It just makes me feel a bit better but it seems like my current pattern is roughly a month of downtime between sets of chapters which I tend to write in sets of four.
Many of you have noted that I'm progressing the story slowly and realistically which I'm taking as a huge compliment, but if there's something you want to see, just send me a message and I'll definitely consider it. I've gotten a ton of great ideas from you guys that I'm incorporating, even if it is in a more understated way. If you'd like credit or a shoutout for said ideas just let me know and I'll make sure to include it at the bottom of the chapter.
Just a note, I think it's worth noting that I consider this to be one of the weaker chapters, along with the second chapter. It's setting up the next portion I intend to tackle, but it's definitely hard to follow up a chapter such as the last one, making me feel like this one was a bit lackluster in nature. The next one should be better though.
Percy sidestepped a downwards strike from a camper and deftly flicked her blade out her hand, quickly leaving her defenseless. He'd lost track of how many sparring matches he'd been in this morning, but at the moment, the mind-numbing activity of dodging sharp weapons was preferable to thinking about the previous night. His eyes scanned over his new opponent. Their stance was weak, though the determination in their eyes could make up for that. He brushed some hair out of his eyes and everything fell into place.
He'd been purposely avoiding thinking about the last night. It wasn't bad, not by any stretch. He'd not only managed to befriend the maiden goddess, but he'd gotten to the root of one of his long-seated issues. Of course, that had brought him into a world of embarrassment as he was certain Artemis judged him in some fashion. Of all the things to be upset about, of all the debilitating issues, the worst just had to be that he was angry. With himself. For something he wasn't at fault for.
He groaned and smacked his own forehead in embarrassment at a sudden, random, recollection all in the middle of his sword fight. His opponent stared in both confusion and shame as Percy casually parried without so much as a glance at his opponent or offending blade. It was enough to demoralize anyone, but to the demigod's credit, he continued with the fight.
Percy, meanwhile, had completely missed what occurred, his body naturally responding for him while his mind was otherwise preoccupied. He avoided a stab with a simple sidestep and smacked his opponent's sword hand with the flat of his blade, causing the younger demigod to grunt in pain and drop the sword.
Another match went along similarly. In fact, several more matches followed the same pattern and it was only several hours later that Percy finally stepped out of the ring. He was otherwise drenched in sweat, though to his credit, he likely should have been in much worse shape given that he'd been essentially non stop sparring with various campers for the past several hours.
It'd kept his mind wonderfully occupied with his little peanut brain being incapable of processing more complex thoughts. While he'd had enough fortitude to feel embarrassed and recall major occurrences, he couldn't truly reflect on all the things he'd said, and truthfully, he wasn't sure he wanted to. He'd been happy last night, and that was enough. Did that mean he didn't embarrass himself though? Absolutely not.
He groaned in the middle of peeling off his shirt at the sudden recollection of a moment of profound idiocy. There were times he just wanted to bash his head against a wall in hopes of jumpstarting his two braincells. Leave it to him to strike up a fledgling friendship with someone that was supposed to hate him, even if it had been rather enjoyable.
That did bring him to another thought though. In all of his time around the (supposed) man hating goddess, which was admittedly not much, he'd never particularly seen her do anything that he would consider "man-hating." She'd spoken to save his life and that wasn't exactly a hateful thing to do. He'd hazard to say that she was often quite kind, past her curt, unyielding exterior. He paused his thoughts to grumble. The water wasn't leaving his skin red and angry, meaning that it wasn't hot enough, so he twisted the handle.
Moving back to his previous train of thought, he hadn't really heard of anything that made her seem hateful. If he was being honest with himself, the fact of the matter was that he doubted that the goddess would take such an antiquated stance. From his understanding (and Apollo's stories), the goddess had always been rebellious by nature, instead choosing to follow the natural flow of things as opposed to societies rather structured approach. In a way it made sense though, given her nature as a, well, nature goddess. The beauty of the wilderness was that it was rather messy, untamed. To Percy, it seemed unnatural that the goddess would subscribe to a purview that hated a whole sex, simply because there were some bad apples. If he recalled, there were several stories of the goddess committing acts of wrath onto women who deserved it.
Realistically, he assumed that it was due to a stringent set of morals that she upheld as opposed to hating a specific sex. It honestly just seemed a bit too traditionalist to be true. From Apollo's descriptions and his own interactions, the goddess seemed quite ahead of the curve regarding these sorts of issues with the goddess being a large proponent of egalitarianism. Sure, she'd turn guys into rodents, but it sounded like they warranted such an action anyway. Speaking from experience, some people just needed to be guinea pigs for a bit to turn their lives around.
He smiled ruefully at the thought. That had not been an experience he'd enjoyed. He supposed there were worse things though. He could have been a spider or something. That would have been pretty weird. What would that even be like? It was at this point that his thoughts drifted around like they would normally. Water, and by extension showers, tended to cause his mind to drift around aimlessly, oftentimes leading him down seemingly pointless rabbit-holes. It brought some modicum of comfort, even if the thoughts tended to be rather strange at times.
Not for the first time today, he twirled his sword casually, warming up his muscles for the abuse he was about to put them through. He'd carried through the rest of his day and through the next in a sort of daze. It was only when Leo had come knocking at his door that he felt truly awake. Tonight was the annual game of capture the flag and several of the campers were quite eager to get their shot. Naturally, he was co-captain with Jason as they both officially shared the position of camp head, much in the same way that both were praetors at Camp Jupiter.
He fought back a yawn as everyone grouped up in front of them. The two had decided that Jason would be in charge of this year's speech. To the camp's disappointment, they'd still never won a game of capture the flag. Sure, they had some talented campers and members of the seven, but it'd been Percy's decision to try and allow for younger campers to participate as well. Sure, he could have stacked their best demigods all on a team and duked it out, but to him, this was more than just a game. Few of the demigods would ever face anyone as talented as the hunters, and that meant that any run-in with them could teach a camper valuable lessons.
During times of peace, warriors often became lax, and the campers were no exception. Did that mean that he took a green team in? No. Were at least a quarter of them younger campers though? Yes. He grinned as Jason wrapped up his speech and jabbed the tip of his blade into the ground. With the input of counselors, he and Jason had drafted a tentative list of campers that would join. When he'd proposed the idea, the campers had been hesitant to agree but the combined approval of Chiron and the hunters brought hesitant acceptance.
They understood that it would be good for the younger campers, but it also meant that if they lost, the hunters had that much more to make fun of them for. Granted, that didn't mean much to Percy. A simple pat on the back brought him out of his thoughts. It appeared Jason needed him to say something? A small portion of the campers were staring at him expectantly. Likely, it was so that he could announce the campers that would be participating.
He fumbled around with the sheet for a moment before calling out a couple of names. Several of the camp heads were included, as well as a few of the senior campers. It was obvious that members of the seven would be included, but Leo had insisted that he wasn't going to join. Calypso however, was quick to take his spot, as per usual. She always got along better with the hunters anyway.
The only names on his little list that actually mattered were those of the other campers selected. They had seven first year campers, about fifteen second, and nearly thirty third and fourth year campers. Added to the ten or so senior campers, and the lineup was relatively solid. It was interesting to have so many demigods grouped in one area. With the hunters, the number would only increase.
They'd seen many new demigods in the time after the titan war. Many of the gods had become rather promiscuous in recent years. While his father and uncles had abstained, the other gods (Apollo and Aphrodite mostly) had seemed almost overzealous in their relationships, flooding the camps with many young demigods. On the bright side, the survival rates for demigods had shot way up and they found that many cabins and the camp itself had to be expanded.
It wasn't just Camp Half Blood either. Both the hunters and Camp Jupiter had seen significant increases in their numbers. While the hunt had largely been part of Percy's own doing, the older members of the roman camp had settled down and were now having kids of their own. While many of his friends had yet to settle into a simpler lifestyle, he was sure that Leo was close, with Jason and Piper following closely behind. Leo had expressed his interest in opening up his own shop in New Olympus which initially conflicted with what Calypso had wanted, but the titaness was slowly warming up to the idea.
He surveyed the campers as he stood. Many seemed overconfident, having one of their strongest teams in years. The fact that they had any first year campers at all was a testament to the skill of the group. Percy, having been through this many times, was certain it wouldn't matter. He didn't need to have years of experience with the hunters to know that the campers had little chance. As far as fighting went, some of the campers could hold their own. In a straight up fight, he'd say the odds were fifty-fifty, however, this wasn't a normal fight. The hunters essentially had a home field advantage given their fighting style. While Will Solace might have had a chance at beating a hunter at archery, few of the other campers could even come close.
As soon as Percy finished listing the campers that were participating, Jason took over once more. After a quick word of encouragement from Chiron, the group set off. While their field of play was still split by the river, the sides had shifted so that there was more area for the game to take place on. He grinned as the campers decided where to set up their defenses and formed strategies. They didn't even bother telling him what his job was. It was the same as always, wreaking havoc wherever he was.
This year, more of the demigods would be playing defensively. The hunters were fast and preferred strong offense, letting only a small number defend the flag itself. Of course, that didn't mean it was unguarded. Their traps could stall most demigods almost indefinitely. From the sounds of it, he was going to be leading the charge though so the traps likely wouldn't be as much of an issue. His training with both Lupa and the Amazons had ensured that his senses were sharp.
If he was lucky, Jason would be leading with him, allowing the two to hopefully carve a path through their defense. It was a matter of which team was faster, and which defense held. He grinned as Calypso and Jason formed up next to him. Calypso, while not the most talented fighter, had the ability to manipulate mist, making her nearly invisible. Hopefully, in the chaos that ensued, Calypso would be able to get through their lines and secure the flag.
The defense was being led by the Stoll's and a couple of the Apollo kids so hopefully it would be okay. They made great traps, but it was more of a question of how long they could stall. Nico and Piper were also playing defense so hopefully between the two, the hunters could be pinned down long enough for the offense to lock the flag down.
At the whistle blow, Percy surged forward, swiftly making his way to the river. If he could catch any of the hunters at the river, they'd be able to get early blood. Jason was only a couple feet behind him when they broke through the clearing. Almost instantly, several arrows embedded themselves in trees where they'd been. He grinned as he dashed forward into the trees. He could feel two or three of them taking up a line in the trees, likely to stop them while covering their team.
Thalia, however, was not with this group, and neither was Phoebe so that was going to be an issue. He did, however, spot a couple of the hunters he'd helped, though that wasn't going to do him much good now. He sidestepped an arrow and rushed forward, catching one of the hunters off guard. A quick disarm and he was onto the next, carving their bow in two. The third followed soon after. Percy was in her guard before she could fight back, knocking her off guard before knocking the hunter out with the flat of his blade.
Jason had taken care of his three while Calypso had disappeared. That was good? The two quickly surveyed their work. Six incapacitated hunters, with more on the way. Percy's eye twitched as he heard the distinct sound of a body hitting the ground. Well, it sounded like Calypso was having fun.
It didn't surprise him that they lost. They'd been so close, but the hunters had barely managed to punch a hole in their defenses moments before they reached the hunters flag. Unlucky really. Regardless of that though, it was a fun game. Both groups had reconvened in the dining pavilion. Sure enough, the hunters had been quick to rub it in their faces as they got to be served and eat first. They were especially merciless to Percy given their history, though it was all in good nature. Percy had laughed along merrily, rejoicing in the fact that he was surrounded by his friends.
He'd learned to relish it while he could. It was a fleeting feeling. The enjoyment that he felt often boiled away until only turmoil was left. It wasn't that long ago that he'd been miserable. Why was it any different now? What had he done to deserve it? He chuckled mirthlessly as he strolled through the forest. Secretly, he'd agreed when Annabeth had said he was being dramatic. On one hand, he was entitled to his feelings and any that he felt were valid. On the other hand, it was easy to be melodramatic and over exaggerate feelings. Some part of him couldn't help but get angry whenever he said shit like that to himself.
He muttered angrily as he slumped down at the base of a tree. She'd once told him he was histrionic and at times, he felt like it was true. What did he have to gain from saying that nothing had changed? Plenty had changed. He was just healing and he had to remind himself that it took time. A poisonous part of his mind ate away at him. Of course he'd make that excuse. He'd always say that he was healing. It didn't take four years to get over these solitary feelings. It didn't even take four years to get over a heartbreak.
He snorted in contempt as he drew his blade, working the smooth metal around in his hands. Some hero he was. Unable to protect those he cared about. He slashed the cursed blade around easily, leaving deep gashes where it struck. It wasn't like he was some special case. He wasn't any different. Nothing made him special. So why did he dwell on the past in such a way? Why was he so hopelessly entrenched in this so-called healing. He really did sound melodramatic now, something that only served to deepen his feelings.
What was his issue? Why couldn't he just get better? If a titan king and the planet itself couldn't keep him down, why was he stuck? This was a paltry thing when compared to the feats of his past. Imagine if his old enemies could see him as he was, swinging his blade recklessly in a fit of emotion so that he might make himself feel a bit better. His throat felt raw as he moved around, his arms wet. It was absurd that he could be so idiotic. For fucks sake, he couldn't even get over his damn nightmares. Every time they happened, he couldn't sleep. Nobody else had these issues. Nico spent longer down there than he had, so why wasn't he afflicted in the same manner?
Percy's chest stung as he gulped down air, his heart constricting as his emotions reigned over him. It was pathetic that he couldn't even handle a week in the pit. He was supposed to be the strongest demigod the Greek world had seen. He'd utterly embarrassed Heracles in their many fights, fought the god of war at a mere twelve years old, defeated a tyrant who ruled over time itself, befriended most of the Olympian gods, and defeated a primordial being. Why were a few simple nightmares enough to keep him from sleeping, potentially for days on end? Why was this his greatest obstacle?
He staggered as his foot missed its mark before crashing to the floor. He could feel his control slipping away as he lay on the ground. He didn't even have the energy to pick himself up. The area around him was in ruins, the mark of his blade decorating his surroundings. He let out a hoarse laugh as he let go of his weapon. The judicious part of his mind began to slowly take over again. Who was he kidding? Healing took time, and even the greatest of heroes could succumb to their feelings. Why was he any less? He may have been given the title of greatest demigod, but he was still human. He was healing, and that would take time. His friends said as much, his parent's said as much, and it seemed that everyone else he talked to said as much but why in the gods' was it taking so long?
He was getting better. Slowly to be sure, but progress was progress, right? He snorted as he lay, nearly face down in the dirt. He tried to stem the swelling tide of anger as he sat. It wouldn't do him any good to be upset. He groaned as he pushed himself over slowly so that he wasn't sitting stomach down on the ground. His chest heaved as he finally laid on his back, sword discarded a few feet away. His eyes slowly wandered around his surroundings, noting that he had wreaked havoc on the surrounding area. The growing moonlight illuminated the grotto he'd practically destroyed. Mmmmm. Demeter and Artemis wouldn't be happy about this one. His arms stung as he tried to brush some hair out of his face but it didn't stop him. He'd been on the receiving end of many blades before.
Jason and Piper would kill him if they could see his current state, and he didn't want to consider what Nico would do. Sure, he'd been worse, but he was sure his condition at the moment wasn't pretty. He didn't want to look down. He let out a ragged breath as he forced himself to. He let his eyes roll back so he was looking at the sky. He felt out of breath as he sat under the moon and he felt tension in his chest. It wasn't lifting, and he quickly found himself desperately heaving in lungfuls of air at a time, something that only made him lightheaded. The corners of his vision were going black as he acutely felt the stickiness of his arms and the feeling of wet clothes clinging to him. The feeling of everything was too much as he laid there.
He blinked back as he attempted to control it, but unfortunately, it seemed he wouldn't have much luck as he struggled to stem the swelling tide of panic. He forced himself up and glanced around in an effort to quell his nausea, but it was a losing battle. His arms ached as his knuckles turned white, grabbing fistfuls of dirt. He could feel his finger nails breaking the skin of his palms. Normally, it would be enough to pull him out of it though it would seem he would have no such luck tonight. He found himself at the mercy of his mania as he bit back a hoarse cackle.