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“What are you, self-taught?”
“Mostly.”
Percy’s response gave Triton pause. Surely, his brother was joking. It had been meant to be a jab at both his brother and his brother’s teacher.
Not apparently a revelation.
That couldn’t be entirely correct right? There had to have been someone else who had taught him at some point right?
The boy had literally spent the summer at a camp for demigods. He would think swordfighting would be required fundamental skill for them all to learn at least on some level.
Part of him wants to blame it on hero’s pride. And that very well could be the case here.
However he wants to at least give the boy a chance to prove him otherwise for once.
Since no proper training for a demigod seemed very foolish. And he believes the heroes of old as ornery as they could be would agree with him on that.
”Seriously?”
“Yeah, the only person who was willing to train me was Luke. Though, he started avoiding me after I came back from the quest for the master bolt.”
Several questions were raised by Percy's statement. Who was this Luke? Why had he been the only person to train his brother?
(He has an Inkling on the former. However, he would rather verify it first. Best not to raise concerns if he wasn't sure.)
If he did his math correctly, Percy had gone nearly three months without proper training. It was September and Zeus's bolt had been returned in June.
”And this Luke is….?”
Percy fiddled with the sword in his hands but didn’t do much else as Triton thought eventually saying. “Like I said he was my former swordsmanship teacher at camp. Though again after I got back from the quest, he kind of stopped teaching me. Left me to learn on my own.”
Triton's suspicion of the of situation continued to grow.
“That seems foolish to just stop training because of one successful quest.” He said frowning, slightly.
Either his brother thought he had enough ability to teach himself, which considering current circumstance, wasn't that far outside the realm of possibility.
Or the trainer had thought he was skilled enough after the quest to be left alone. And had focused on the other demigods.
Percy's skills currently lacked refinement. They were rough and unthinking actions. Triton didn't think the sword Instructor had even seen his brother fight before leaving him to train alone.
Even if somehow this wasn’t the suspected thief. This was just highly irresponsible. Regular practice was important to being a skilled swordsman.
There was a reason why he hit the training arena as part of his own routine.
And while it sounded like his brother had been trying to train himself.
“Yeah, well it probably wasn’t over the fact he thought I could make it on my own. He was probably avoiding me because it must have been hell of awkward to train the person that had thwarted his plans.”
So definitely the thief then.
“And," Percy said continuing to fidget with the sword’s hilt for the moment. Something else to address Triton noted mentally. "Considering he was the one who set the scorpion on me. I don’t think he was that invested in my actual safety.”
Triton stared at him in clear disbelief. “Your teacher was the same person who left you to die via pit scorpion?”
He had not been expecting that.
Though that seemed obvious in hindsight now that he said it outloud. The teacher was the thief. And most likely working for Kronos.
So of course he would have set a pit scorpion on the demigod.
He would have wanted the boy who ruined his attempts at a war gone.
“Yep.”
“And you didn’t see him stopping as some sort of red flag for something else going on?”
Percy shrugged. “Look I was in denial. I knew the prophecy said someone who called me a friend would betray me. But I have so few friends at camp I couldn’t stop to think about it.”
That actually made a considerable amount of sense. …And was also relatable as much as he didn’t want to admit it.
Triton wasn’t entirely pleased with the fact he was relating to the demigod. He did not need to sympathize with his half sibling. Yet here they were. With him sort of weirdly understanding the lack of friends thing even if it was for a different reason.
Making friends when you were a royal wasn’t necessarily the easiest. And he had definitely found one or two so called friends who had been there for ulterior purposes.
“Call me stupid if you want. I should probably have known better. Just because I’m loyal to a fault to my friends. Doesn’t mean it always comes back. Definitely had experience with that and other ‘friends’ before. Though this is the first time anyone’s tried to kill me while saying they were my friend.”
“Going from not wanting to be one’s friend. And wanting you dead is a bit of a leap.” Triton admitted begrudgingly.
Or at least he thought so.
It wasn’t like he had enough experience with mortals to know for sure.
Yes it was a red flag in hindsight. It should have tipped someone off that something was wrong.
But it wasn’t like his brother actually grew up in royalty and all the complexities that came with that. And would have been able to see red flags they probably would have in the situation. He shouldn’t have the necessary worries that usually come with it.
Nope he was not going to be sympathizing with the demigod any more. No matter how much he could relate to that.
“Why are you even asking me about this?”
“A combination of things. Though mainly curiosity on how you managed to survive the pit scorpion with bare minimum training.”
“Beats me? Luck maybe? Though I don’t think even with proper training I would have hit it normally.”
“No you are correct on that. Even with proper training you wouldn’t have hit it.” Triton admitted. “You would need most likely full god level reflexes to hit the thing without it landing on you first.”
“So I was screwed no matter what.”
“Most likely.”
Though training probably would have helped the situation a bit. Or maybe it would have made the situation worse.
Getting stung in the hand while inconvenient was certainly not the worst place to get stung. If it had been closer to the mortal’s heart he almost certainly wouldn’t have had enough time to get help.
It truly seemed to have come down to luck.
The ability to hit it all though…it suggested a gift in the art unusual for most demigods. Even sometimes in immortals he had to admit begrudgingly.
“You need a trainer. I will take over that role until we can find someone better suited. Or you return to your mother.”
Whichever came first.
Perseus just stares at him for a moment. “You don’t even like me.”
“That is true.”
No point denying something they both knew was a fact.
“Then why do you even care about my skills let alone enough to train them?”
“Because it feels like an affront to the royal family to have any member of the royal family so poorly trained.”
Even if it wasn’t his fault admittedly.
And while his brother might have inherited some innate skill in swordsmanship. It would only take him so far.
He needed proper guided training. Not whatever he made up on the fly. Because apparently the camp had somehow failed to provide it.
“I still don’t understand how I’m technically labeled as part of the royal family.” Perseus muttered a statement that was clearly not meant for him.
But godly hearing caught it anyway.
“One of Father’s old decrees.”
It had been done millennia ago, back when status meant a bit more to mortals than it did in it did now.
A means to protect his Father’s offspring in case of wars, especially under the ocean. Or any others participating in unscrupulous behavior.
It still stood to this day. Though it was one that they hadn’t really used to its full extent in ages.
Both him and mother had asked father to repeal the old decree several times, since it had lead to complications with his half siblings.
But he never had.
So regardless of birth. His brother was a member of the royal family.
“It’s meant to offer protection to his children in certain situations.”
“That seems like it could also set up for problems as well.”
Triton’s genuinely surprised by the moment of realization. That is definitely not something he expected from his half brother. Though he is careful to hide it.
“It certainly has in the past.”
“So if you don’t like Dad’s decree. Then why even call me a member of the royal family.”
“Like it or not, Father’s choice has been made. You are part of the Atlantean royal family now, and that comes with certain expectations."
“True I guess.”
“Now we should actually get to training.”
“Wait, you were actually serious about that?”
“Of course.”
He might not like the demigod. But he wasn’t going to let this irresponsibility stand. Even if he had to do the training himself.
That had honestly gone better than he expected.
Things were awkward. And Triton never expected it to really get past that stage. But Perseus had shown a better degree of listening to his instructions than he expected. Especially considering how things had been.
Something that definitely misaligned with his previous experiences with demigods.
Maybe if they were engaging in an activity they really enjoyed it changed their focus?
Either way it was not something he needed to know. Or entirely care about.
“You were in the training arena longer than normal.” His mother says when he returns to the quarters.
“I decided to train Perseus.”
His mother stares at him in surprise. “That is unexpected…what brought this on?”
“Did you know he only had a proper weeks worth of training?”
“Before the quest?”
“No in general.”
“No. That is certainly irresponsible.” She said with a frown on her face. “Did he have no teacher at all?”
“He apparently had one. The thief turned traitor that caused most of this mess to begin with.”
His mother’s frown just deepened at that. “That is even more troubling.”
“Truly.”
Did Chiron really have no other teachers other than another camper? Surely as a trainer himself. He must realize that letting one person pick up all the slack was a poor idea.
And what would even happen now that the traitor was gone?
He couldn’t rely on self training.
Not all of the demigods would have a natural talent for the area. And even with a natural talent, it still wouldn't account for properly trained skill
Well he supposed it wasn’t his problem to solve at the least.
He would address his brother’s lack of proper skills. But he wasn’t in charge of the other demigods.
“So are you training Perseus than?”
Triton looked at her in surprise. “How did you-”
“Triton when I noted you were at the arena longer than normal. You started talking about how Perseus wasn’t trained. It’s not difficult to put the two together.”
Okay that was fair.
“It just bothered me that no one had trained him apparently.”
He wasn’t sure if he would call it a weeks worth of training, Or even training at all
Maybe a going over the forms. But certainly not proper training.
And regardless of his feelings towards his half brother. The situation didn’t sit right on a fundamental level.
“Careful. Some might think you are actually beginning to care for him.”
“I’m not. I just can’t let this stand.”
Let other people think what they will about this new regiment. He honestly didn’t care how it looked to an outsider.
This was purely about getting the demigod properly trained. So he wasn’t a danger to himself or an affront to the royal family.
Nothing else.