The next few days at Camp Half-Blood were calmer. Well, as calm as you could get in a summer camp full of ADHD, superpowered kids. Percy had settled into a routine, which involved lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.
He would take Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and talk about the gods and goddess in the present tense. He found it took some getting used too, though the slip-ups from Maggie throughout the school year at Yancy made it seem a bit more normal. Percy found that Annabeth had been right about Ancient greek not being affected by his dyslexia. At least, it was no harder than English was. In just a couple of days, he could stumble through a few lines of Homer without suffering a massive headache.
The rest of the day consisted of outdoor activities, one of which was archery, which he sucked at. Chiron had tried to teach him, however, it ended with an attempt to desnag an arrow out of the centaur's tail. Maggie was a lot better at it, she had the aim, however, Percy could tell that it wasn't her weapon of choice. She seemed uncomfortable with it in her hand.
He wasn't much better at anything else he tried either. He was left in the dust when foot racing, and wrestling always ended with his body slammed into the mat. He found that the only thing he really excelled in was canoeing, and Maggie, the wonderful friend she was, always reminded him that it was a lame talent. Then again, she was afraid of larger bodies of water, so Percy paid no mind to her attempts at getting him to realize he would find a much better talent on land.
Percy could tell that the senior campers and counselors were watching him, trying to find out who his godly parent was. Maggie reported the conversation that she overheard, reassuring Percy that no one had any idea about what the heck he was. He wasn't sure why they weren't more worried about the other unclaimed kids. Maybe they already had an idea as to who their godly parent was?
Despite all that, Percy liked camp. The highlights of each day were the midnight strolls with Maggie. He realized that part of the reason for that was because there was the underlying danger of being caught and dying via the camp's hands.
The first day it had happened, Maggie took Percy back to the strawberry fields. He managed to learn just how good Maggie's aim was and to never bother her when her hands were near the multitude of bracelets that encased her wrists. Although it wasn't a normal demigod weapon, Maggie had a fascination for throwing stars. She didn't actually use them to fight monsters, just to collect them. Though Percy was sure that she could easily kill something with them if she did it right. Chalres Beckendorf, one of the Hephaestus kids Percy had been introduced to, caught on to the green haired girl's obsession. He had made most of the stars Maggie owned along with her sword.
The fields had become their meeting place. Maggie could be surrounded by plants while Percy could look at the stars and eat a snack whenever he wanted. The two would host little contests such as who could jump the highest, and who could run faster, along with who could eat the most strawberries or hit the most targets with Maggie's throwing stars.
Three days after Percy had made it to camp, he had his first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the large circular arena so that Luke could teach them everything they would need to know.
They started with basic stabbing and slashing, which Percy did alright in. Maggie had taught him basic maneuvers, however he had practiced with her sword, which oddly enough was balanced enough for Percy to use, even if it wasn't perfect. His reflexes were still good, but fighting with a clearly unbalanced sword wasn't doing him any favors.
Eventually everyone moved on to fighting in pairs. Since there was an uneven number, Luke agreed to partner with both Percy and Maggie. He fought with Maggie for a few minutes before focusing on the black haired boy. He tried to show him how to thrust and parry, along with other necessary information, but every hit created a new bruise. Luke had Percy fight Maggie when working with shields, and he was slightly relieved that he wasn't the only one who sucked at something.
"Keep your guard up Percy!" Luke yelled, "No, not that far up!"
By the time Luke called a break, everyone was soaked in sweat. The older demigod poured water over his head, which Percy thought would help.
Percy instantly felt better. He seemed to regain strength, which helped the sword feel a bit better on his hands.
"Circle up, everyone!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."
Percy was not ready to be embarrassed in front of the entire Hermes cabin.
The guys gathered around, along with Maggie. The others were attempting to suppress their smiles, but Maggie was giving Luke a look that said "You kill him, I kill you in your sleep."
"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me." he looked a Maggie and she gave a smug smirk back. "So no laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen, and women, have to work years to master this technique."
He demonstrated the move in slow motion, sending Percy's sword clattering to the ground.
Percy nodded, and Luke came after him. Somehow, Percy managed to keep him from getting to the hilt of his sword. As the fight dragged on, he started to grow tired, and realized that it was only a matter of seconds before Luke gave him a new bruise. He attempted the disarming maneuver.
Clang.
And Luke's sword fell to the ground.
The other campers were silent as Percy lowered his sword, moving it away from Luke's chest. "Um, sorry?"
"Sorry?" Maggie's smile widened. "By the gods, Percy, why the heck are you sorry? You just whooped his a-"
"Magnolia!"
"Right, um..."
Luke chuckled. "Show me that again."
This time, however, Percy didn't even stand a chance against the older boy. The mysterious energy that filled Percy just minutes ago left, and the moments their swords connected Percy's weapon went skidding across the floor.
"Beginners luck?" someone in the audience asked.
Luke wiped the sweat off his brow before giving Percy a thoughtful look. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword.