𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐏𝐉𝐎 𝐗 𝐇𝐏]

iv: ariana plays capture the flag

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chapter iv

(the lighting theif)

ariana plays capture the flag

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OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, Ariana settled into the routine that she had done for 5 years.

Each morning she taught Percy Ancient Greek, and they talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. After a couple of mornings, he
could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.

The rest of the day, she'd rotate through outdoor activities.

Thursday afternoon, three days after Percy had arrived at Camp Half-Blood, he had his first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be their instructor. Ariana had a free rotation, so she was practicing on the unused side of the arena.

"Well," Luke said, spinning his sword in his hand. "Look who came to join us!"

Ariana grinned. "I've been out of commission for a while. Figured I could use the extra training."

Luke casually swung his arm around her. "Please, you just can't stand the thought of Annabeth beating you in a fight again."

"She cheated!" Ariana exclaimed.

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Mmh, sure, Aria. You definitely didn't suck."

Ariana stuck her tongue out at him, taking his arm off her shoulders. "Are you going to make fun of me, or actually teach?"

Luke smiled. "Why not both?"

Ariana rolled her eyes. "Teach, idiot. And don't show off too much."

Luke winked. "No promises."

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

"Dear god," Ariana muttered, watching as Percy paled. Luke gave her a 'don't worry,' look, so she stepped back and let Percy step to the front.

The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. Luke was the best swordsman in the last 300 years. He was going to whip Percy's butt.

He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."