Act I Chapter VII: Percy Meets His New Friends
Percy slowly looked around the camp, trying to take everything in. There were three purple tents set up in a triangle with a small campfire in the middle. A girl about Percy's age was sitting at the fire and tending to it. She wore a set of armor that Percy had definitely seen in a video about Ancient Greece.
The girl looked up at them. She had blonde curly hair that bounced around her shoulders. She stood and was an inch or two taller than Percy. The thing that caught his attention the most was her eyes. They were a stormy gray. It seemed like she was taking them in and calculating everything about them.
"This is Annabeth Chase," Luke introduced, and Percy swore he saw Annabeth blush. "She's a daughter of Athena and our residential genius. She will be teaching you how to read and write in Ancient Greek and Latin. Along with battle strategies. After you get the basics of fighting down, she'll also spar with you."
"I will teach everyone the basics and spar with you as well. But, I am not gentle," Luke warned. "Annabeth, this is Percy, Will, and Drew."
"Do we know their godly parent?" Annabeth asked. Luke shook his head. Annabeth nodded like she expected it. "What rotation are we doing this in?"
"We haven't decided yet," Chiron replied. He turned towards the three of them. "We train on a rotation. One day, Luke will train you in sword fighting. The next you will be with Annabeth. The third day you will work with Lupa and I on different types of training like first aid or navigation."
"The men will be in that tent," Chiron said, pointing towards the tent furthest from the fire. His finger moved to the tent next to that one. "That will be for the women. The third tent is one of our most important, and I ask that all of you stay out of there unless there is an emergency."
"We have two demigods who volunteer to patrol and keep an eye out for monsters," Luke added on. "You will see Clarisse sooner or later. Just watch the treeline for a football player with the eyes of a boar. Our other guard, Reyna, is currently asleep right now. Trust me. You do not want to wake her."
"Are you just as lost as I am?" Will asked quietly. Percy glanced at him. Lost? Yes. Confused? Definitely. Scared? A little.
"I am," Percy admitted. Will looked relieved that he wasn't the only one lost. Percy gave him a gentle smile. This entire situation was new to him, and he felt overwhelmed. Leaving his mother and Paul was hard enough, but being thrown into this strange world made everything worse.
"If we are attacked by enough monsters within a short amount of time, we will have to pack up and leave," Chiron explained. "We will march for a day before setting up another camp and resting. Then, training will pick back up."
Drew suddenly stiffened and gasped. She looked ready to scream. Percy followed her gaze and stiffened as well. He stared at the beast standing across the clearing. It was a wolf that was ten feet tall and had red fur. Silver eyes stared at Percy.
That was the same wolf from his dream. The one that told him to follow the path to the Wolf House. Did Drew not recognize the wolf, or did they all receive different dreams? Because Percy really hoped he wasn't the only one who received a dream about being stabbed.
"Do not fret," Chiron said quickly. "That is Lupa. Your other mentor and a goddess. Treat her with respect."
"I need to sit down," Will began. Percy nodded his agreement. Annabeth gave them a sympathetic look and sat back down. She patted the ground next to her. Will trudged towards her and sat down. Percy joined him in sitting, but Drew just stood there with her hand still over her mouth.
It took a minute of coaxing to get Drew to sit down with them. She still looked terrified by the she-wolf. Chiron looked at the four of them and spoke, "We will be marching in an hour or so to another location just to give us a head start on any monsters that may be nearby."
"I still don't get how this whole monster thing works. Why can they just track us?" Drew questioned. "How are we supposed to have a chance?"
"Trust me, we all agree that it sucks," Luke said as he crouched by them. He focused on the fire. "Every demigod has a scent that is stronger or weaker depending on their godly parent. It's not like the monster can just sniff the air and be able to pinpoint exactly where demigods are. They can find a large, general location and then have to hunt."
"Doing things like using a cellphone sends out a signal to monsters, but we don't quite know how," Annabeth added on. "Even speaking their names can attract them to you and sometimes give them power."
"Why would the gods have us if they can't help us?" Drew demanded angrily. "Why should I be forced to train and learn how to fight? I never asked for this."
"A lot of people think that too," Luke muttered softly. He stoked the fire with a stick. "There are two things you can do. Keep up with that attitude and get killed in a horrific way by a monster. Or, you can just get over it and start training. As shitty as our lives may be, there is always beauty to be found."
Drew fell silent and crossed her arms. Will looked lost in thought. Percy was just tired and confused. His dreams were still in the back of his mind. Could he talk to anyone about it? Will and Drew were just as lost as him. Annabeth kept studying him like he was a bug. Luke had been kind enough, but Percy wasn't sure.
He had already been told to not tell anyone about his father. Should he just keep his mouth shut about everything? A soft sigh left Percy, and he looked at the ground. Luke stood and cleared his throat.
"Before we start our march, we're going to need some measurements for armor," Luke said. "Then, we'll try out what kind of weapons work best for you."
"We have a small armory where we store weapons and armor," Annabeth explained. "You'll receive a set of armor and a weapon that you will keep even after you leave here."
"How do we know what kind of weapon we use?" Will asked quietly.
"Follow me, Will. I'll show you," Luke said. Will nodded and slowly stood. "Percy and Drew, come as well. Annabeth, do you want to wake Reyna and let her know that we're leaving soon?"
"You just want to get me stabbed," Annabeth grumbled. Luke smiled at her, and Annabeth's face reddened slightly. Annabeth stood and walked towards one of the tents. Percy stood and followed Luke away from the fire.
They walked towards the large wolf. Lupa glanced at them and remained silent. She was holding a large duffel bag in her mouth. Lupa dropped the duffel bag, and Luke knelt by it. He opened it and started to pull out a few weapons. One was a bronze sword. Another was a much shorter weapon, a dagger? There was also a bow and a few arrows.
"Depending on who you are the child of, it can determine what weapons you are skilled with. All demigods can train to be good with any kind of weapon, but some have an inherent skill. Children of Apollo are great with bows. Children of Ares are great with any kind of weapon," Luke explained. He picked up the bow and a single arrow. "Have you ever fired a bow?"
"I have. My mother and I used to shoot a bow every weekend," Will answered. He carefully took the bow and seemed to examine it. Luke handed him the arrow, and Will notched it.
"Aim for the tree right there. As middle as you can," Luke said. Will nodded and took a moment to aim. He fired, and the arrow hit close to the middle. Percy's eyes widened in surprise, and Luke smiled. "I think a bow might be the best way for you to go. We'll still have you try out the sword and dagger. Percy, you're up next."
Will turned and held out the bow. Percy slowly grabbed it. He grabbed an arrow and tried to notch it. The arrow slipped out of his hands, and Luke showed him how to properly hold the bow. Percy notched the arrow and fired.
Percy didn't see where the arrow went. It certainly didn't hit the tree in front of him. In fact, he didn't see it at all. As his eyes darted around for where the arrow went, he heard a yelp. Percy whirled around and stared at the arrow that was embedded in Chiron's tail. A blush came to the centaur's face as he carefully tried to remove the arrow.
"I'm so sorry," Percy said quickly. He felt his own blush coming, and it only worsened with Drew laughing at him. Percy did his best to ignore her. "Chiron, are you hurt? I am so sorry about that."
"It's okay, Percy. I've had worse," Chiron said. Annabeth helped Chiron remove the arrow from his tail. "Drew, it's your turn."
That stopped Drew's laugh. She hesitated and then grabbed the bow. Her attempt was no better than Percy's, but she also didn't hit anyone in their tail or anything else important. Luke took the bow from her and placed it on the ground. Then, he grabbed the sword.
"Now, I want all of you to be very careful with this," Luke began. "This is sharp enough to cut through skin, and as demigods, we can be hurt by both mortal weapons and weapons that can only kill monsters. This is made of celestial bronze. Imperial gold also hurts monsters."
Percy hesitated and thought about the pen in his pocket. He slowly grabbed it and pulled it out. Drew noticed and spoke, "What are you going to do? Write a letter to ask monsters to not attack us?"
"No," Percy replied, and any hesitation disappeared. He uncapped his pen. Percy watched as the pen transformed into a sword, and he watched as the hilt grew to fit perfectly in his hand. He took the time to study the sword.
The sword was about three feet long, and it wasn't as heavy as he thought it would be. The blade a shimmering bronze, almost like the one that Luke held. It was a double-edged blade that was almost shaped like a leaf. The hilt in his hand had a leather-wrapped grip.
Percy was suddenly aware of everyone staring at him. Luke seemed surprised by the sword. Drew was gawking at him, and Will seemed just as surprised. Annabeth was studying the sword curiously. Chiron looked at the sword and had a grim look on his face.
"Where did you get that?" Luke asked. Percy hesitated and lowered the sword.
"My mom," Percy finally answered. "She said that my father gave it to me when they met."
"It's not a bad blade," a voice commented. Percy whirled around and realized that their audience had grown. He stared at the girl standing near him. Unlike everyone else, she was wearing armor. Her breastplate was made of some kind of gold, and she wore greaves to protect her legs. Her half-zipped black jacket had tears on the left arm that almost looked like bite marks. "Have any practice with it?"
"No," Percy replied after a moment. He stared into the girl's black eyes. Her black hair was braided behind her back, and tucked under one arm was a golden helmet.
"He'll get plenty of practice, Reyna. No need to bully him in sparring until he's had a month of training," Luke commented. Reyna smirked and studied Percy quietly. "Well, that means you're best suited for a sword. Will is probably best fit for a bow, but we'll still try the rest of the weapons. Drew, come here."
Percy stared at his sword and placed the cap of the pen to the top of the sword. It turned back into a pen, and he studied the name engraved on the side: Anaklusmos.
"Riptide," Annabeth said as she stepped next to him and examined the pen. Percy looked at her. "It's written in Ancient Greek on your pen. Weapons like these, ones that can transform, are powerful. You don't just get them randomly."
"Does your weapon not transform?" Percy questioned. Annabeth gave him a look and then moved her gaze down to the sword on her belt. Percy blushed slightly as he didn't even see it.
"You have to be pretty special to get a weapon like that," Annabeth said, and she almost sounded jealous. "I think you and Reyna are the only ones who have a weapon like that."
Percy looked down at his pen once again. He took the cap off once again and studied the sword. There was one thing about the sword that bothered him. It wasn't the fact that it could turn in a pen or was apparently really powerful; what bothered him was that this was the same sword from his dream. The same one that killed him.