ATLOP: Trial by Fire

I Capture a Flag

Hope you enjoy the chapter.

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Over the next few days I settled into a routine. There were a lot of lessons, and a lot of missing my mom and Triton.

Every morning started with feeding Carl, though I did get some looks for having a goldfish named Carl in a fish tank that looked like ice (cause it was ice). Luke made sure there was a safe spot for him though.

Carl liked to comment on things around me and explain stuff. He knew a surprising amount about the camp.

One of the most interesting things he'd explained was why people were wearing head covers.

The headcovers were used for veiling, and that was done mostly by girls. Mothers and crones should always veil, but I didn't know what a crone was.

I found it all really interesting, apparently women were more susceptible to miasma, which was like bad energy that the Gods didn't like. Carl didn't really explain the history of it all, but the miasma got in the way of healing too so healers wore veils as well. So did magic users apparently.

It wasn't really necessary for children, but was recommended regardless of age for festivals. Since the Summer Solstice was coming up a lot of them were wearing the veils.

Because I was a guy and not a healer I wasn't really expected to veil, but I still could if I wanted to (like some were doing).

After Carl's morning commentary we'd go to breakfast. After that I was required to take remedial Ancient Greek, with Annabeth as my teacher. I already knew Ancient Greek though, if not as well as Halmaheran, so the lessons weren't hard. Annabeth seemed surprised by that.

The rest of the days were spent rotating through different outdoor activities, trying to find something I was good at.

Archery was definitely a no. I managed to hit Khiron when he was standing behind me.

Though it was odd, there was an itch crawling over my skin when I used the bow. Was I cursed? But I could only feel it when I tried to fire the bow? I made a note to look into it later.

Whatever it was, I didn't like archery.

I tried foot racing and I wasn't anywhere near as good as the nymphs or the rest of the Hermes kids. The nymphs assured me that was normal, they'd spent centuries running away from lovesick Gods.

I made a note to work on my running anyways, they seemed to approve and said they'd help me.

I did like being around the nymphs, it was so pleasant. The smell of a dozen different trees filled the area, at least to me.

I never wanted to try wrestling again though. Clarisse crushed me and it was too visible for me to risk waterbending.

I did enjoy canoeing though. I loved spending time in the water, and definitely enjoyed being able to use my powers in a way they couldn't notice.

I snuck out later to chat with the naiads too, they were nice and it was fun to talk to someone in Halmaheran.

I stopped to chat with the girl at the fire in the center of the cabins. It was like a bubble of calm there, all the sensations gone with only the warmth of my mom's hug and the sea breeze brushing against me.