Ancient History(PJO)

Chapter 5: Percy

As its paws angrily struck dirt while beady eyes stared me down, I started to regret many of my life choices. Most prominently the ones that led me to facing off with a wild boar while Perses called encouragement from his perch in a tree.

I cursed and dove out of the way as the boar charged at me. Perses whooped in excitement as it tore past me and slammed into a tree. That gave me an idea. I once disoriented the Minotaur by having him run into a tree. I could do the same here, only the boar wouldn't ruin my plan by trying to grab me.

While the boar recovered from mauling a tree, I ran to position myself by the biggest tree in the clearing, absently patting my pocket to confirm Riptide was there. With an angered squeal it wheeled around to glare at me, pure fury blazing in its eyes.

"Uh Perseus, you're not planning to have that thing ram into my tree, right?" I cursed again. How had I forgotten that Perses was in the biggest tree? I quickly glanced up and through the foliage wide blue eyes stared at me with fear.

The boar squealed its rage once more before charging. No time to change trees. "Hold on!" I shouted, grabbing Riptide and dodging the sharp tusks aimed at me in the same breath. As soon as I cleared the boar I turned toward it whilst uncapping Riptide.

The world seemed to slow and my senses opened up. The boar slammed into the tree and I could see Perses loose his grip from the force of the impact. Riptide flashed out, deadly and accurate. I stabbed down behind its left shoulder, right into its heart; then quickly stepped to the left, just in time to catch Perses. The sudden weight in my arms made me stagger but I managed to regain my footing and stay upright.

"Hello!" I sad brightly once I was sure I wasn't about to drop him. He stared at me with wide eyes lit up in wonder. "You're amazing!" He exclaimed, bouncing in my arms as he made wild gestures to show reenact parts of the fight.

I laughed and placed him on his feet. He immediately ran over to the boar. "Whoa! Where'd the sword come from? Where'd you get it? Can I touch it?" He reached for Riptide but I quickly stopped him. It would've been bad if he accidentally hurt himself.

"Careful, Perses it's sharp." I pulled Riptide free, wiped the blood off on the lush grass and knelt down to show him. He seemed to vibrate with excitement as he admired the blade. "It's bronze." He said in awe. His eyebrows scrunched up slightly. "I've only seen heroes with blades like these." I snorted, "Where'd you get it?" He asked again

I softly bopped his nose, "It's a secret." He gave me the most affronted look I'd ever seen on a child. I laughed at his expression and ruffled his hair, making him glare and grumble more. "Come on, we should get this thing back to the farmers." I said nodding toward the boar.

I stabbed Riptide into the dirt and eyed the boar for a moment. Perses stood next to me. "You want to carry that?" He asked, eying me skeptically. I rolled my eyes and moved forward without deigning to answer. I knelt down and, with some difficulty, managed to get the boar on my shoulders the way Thalia had shown me to do with deer. I took a deep breath before I stood with a grunt.

Perses scrunched up his nose again. "You're getting blood all over your new clothes." He informed me oh so helpfully. I gave him an unconcerned smile. "Nothing I can do about it, is there?" He huffed, "You could have the farmers come get it themselves." I hummed thoughtfully while adjusting the boar to sit more comfortably. "I don't think they'd appreciate being left with moving this heavy lump." It was Perses' turn to roll his eyes at me.

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As we walked, Perses babbled about anything that caught his attention. Occasionally he'd ask me about something he spotted. Like a pretty flower or an oddly shaped tree or... you get the idea.