Leading the Way ((Ardella Mccalvin))

As he led the way to the arena, Percy couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable with Ardella. Honestly, the boy wasn't completely sure what to say to her to make her feel better, to help her accept her claiming. After all, what did you say to a newly claimed daughter of Hades who had no idea what she was in for? Since she had figured out the thing about the sword, something with it disappearing into the shadows when she didn't need it and reappearing when she did, Percy wasn't sure he could help much with that. "So..." he started, though he was completely unsure of what to say. "Training is...difficult," he said, realizing that it sounded both stupid and not too helpful. "But once you master your sword, things start coming a lot more easily," Percy continued. "And since you have a really nice sword from your father, it should be better in general to start working."

Reaching the armory, Percy stopped for a moment. "We should probably find you a shield," he mused. Looking over the girl, the boy wasn't sure she was ready for a shield just yet. "Maybe after we work a little with the sword," he finally said, thinking that it might be best for Ardella to start with just swinging the sword around a bit. Or...something like that. Percy was probably one of the best swordsmen at camp at this point, but that didn't mean he was a supreme teacher or anything. Especially when it came to someone like Ardella who had no experience fighting with anything. It would even be easier working with a child of Ares, because that sort of thing came naturally to them...but a child of Hades? Percy couldn't lie, he was slightly scared. Hades wasn't exactly his biggest fan, but at least the God hadn't made the ground swallow Percy up or anything when he claimed Ardella. Definitely a plus.

"So," Percy said to the girl. "Lift the sword and...uh...stand like this," Percy uncapped Riptide and stood in a good beginning position. "We're just going to start easy with defense. Listen to what your gut is telling you, your battle reflexes are basically built in naturally." Oh Gods...Percy hoped he hadn't terrified Ardella too badly and she was willing to keep going with him. He didn't really think it would have been smart to say something like 'I'm going to come at you with a sword', so the son of Poseidon kept his mouth shut. And it wasn't really like he was going to do that anyway, but Ardella might see it that way. It was a little nerve wracking to be working with someone like this girl, but Percy had a lot of faith in the daughter of Hades, and had a good feeling that once she started training, she'd pick up on a lot and really be able to get things accomplished. "Are you ready?" he asked with a grin.

Nervous for her first 'lesson', Ardella remained silent as the two walked to the Arena. Her mind was running a million miles per second, or so it seemed. 'What if I screw up?' 'What if I hurt him, or he hurts me?' 'What if I fail?' 'What if I let him down?' The last one was her main question. She had really done it now. This is what I get for opening my heart up a little- NO! Don't think like that. He's only going to show you how to defend yourself. Nobody will be getting into your heart, she thought to herself as they entered the Arena.

Ardella listened to Percy talk about mastering her weapon and how training would be difficult. He had no idea just how hard it would be. He had gotten himself mixed up into something he wouldn't be able to handle, but only she knew that. He wouldn't know it until they began to train. Even if he had led an army of demigods or made the Gods promise to claim their children, even this task would be too difficult for him. He would drop out just as the Mccalvins did- she had to stop thinking about them. They weren't coming back for her. Just because she would cry for them wouldn't mean they would come. They didn't see her as their daughter. They saw her a a nuicsence and nothing more. They got rid of her the moment they remembered that she was a half-blood and they could drop her off at some camp.

Coming back into reality, Ardella realized that it was time for her to try and learn. Percy was telling her to stand like her was and she tried to mimic it. She put all of her strength into trying to hold up her sword and nearly fell forward from trying so hard. When she finally had it she looked up at him. Her eyes widened when she realized he was going to come at her with his sword. He had said to listen to her gut, but she couldn't do that. Her gut was telling her to run away as fast as possible and never look back. She couldn't do that. Ardella had to learn and she understood that. She didn't want to disappoint him without trying, so that was what she would do.

When Percy asked her if she was ready, Ardella swallowed hard. "A-as ready a-as I-I'll ever b-be," her voice was shaky and she truly was terrified. Someone who was almost a complete stranger was going to be coming at her with a sword. All she wanted to do at that moment was curl up into a ball and hide. She didn't want to deal with it, but she had to.

It was really obvious that Ardella was extremely nervous. Percy wasn't sure what to say to relax her, though...it was a tough thing, learning how to sword fight. "Hey, Ardella," he started softly. "Just relax, okay? I'm not going to be really hard on you or anything, not with this being your first time even holding a sword." That sounded reassuring enough, at least to Percy. The boy wanted to make sure that Ardella knew he wasn't going to attack her or anything, because surely she was thinking along those lines. She definitely seemed like the type who would think that, and Percy really wanted to be careful with this girl. She was scared, and had just learned her parentage. That was hard enough as it was.

"You know..." the boy mused, "When I was just learning how to fight, things got really rough. I was claimed shortly after getting here, and no one wanted to work with me. Son of Poseidon and all..." Percy wasn't sure Ardella would get what that even meant, but he figured he should at least give some reassurance. "You won't have that problem, now that people around here are more accepting of the Big Three, but I'm still up for personal training as much as you want." It was true, despite her quietness and obvious problems, Percy really liked Ardella. She seemed nice, and in need of someone to just get under the surface and help her out a bit. Maybe Percy could be that person.

Percy watched as the girl tried to get in the same position as him, nodding slightly. "Ardella, you can lift the sword. I know it seems heavy, but once you really lift it, it'll feel better. It's from your father, it should be balanced perfectly for you." The boy could clearly remember how no sword had felt good in his hands until he had been given Riptide. Ardella would learn, she would get used to it all. It was just going to take some time, and they both knew it. But Percy knew it a little better, having been through it all before. "Just breathe and put your strength into it," he said seriously. "You have it in you, I know you do. You have inner strength, and that'll help your outer strength."

As the girl said she was ready as she'd ever be, Percy nodded seriously. "Okay...I'm just going to swing my sword, and you try to block it, okay?" he said soothingly. "I'm not going to be chasing after you, I'm just going to make a little movement, and you just follow your instincts and block, okay Ardella?" Percy knew he had to go as slowly as possible to make sure this girl would be okay. She needed all the help she could get, and the son of Poseidon wanted to help as much as possible. "Okay, on the count of three..." the boy raised his sword. "One," he took a step closer, but not close enough to hit Ardella if she couldn't block. "Two...three." Percy swung Riptide.

At first, Ardella nodded. His words were slightly reassuring and from what he had said he had been doing this for awhile now so he could probably control a sword better than most demigods. Then the thought hit her, What about my /second/ time holding a sword? Then will he be going tougher on me. After this thought ran through her head she couldn't help but shake from fear. It wasn't like an earthquake shake, but more of a little shudder. She would try her best not to show him that she was afraid, but had already failed and knew so.

A metalic taste formed in her mouth. So when he first arrived people left him alone. . . ? It seems I arrived a little too late then. . . . . She thought with an upset look. When all that had happened ran through her mind once again, she threw the thought away. If she had arrived there sooner there would be more tauntings and teasings. There wouldn't be as much care for one another as there was here. Well from what she saw there was quite a bit. The one boy from the Hermes cabin and now Percy. They had both been kind to her, but at the same time there was that other boy from the Hermes cabin. No matter what he had said he was already on her bad list.

Ardella swallowed hard as she tried to lift the sword up some. After she lifted it past the point it had been stuck at, she found it quite easy to hold up right. Her head tilted downward as she nodded at Percy, almost in agreement that it was easier to hold then down on the ground. Maybe what he had said was true, but she doubted that such a sword had been created just for her. Nothing was ever done just for her. There was always a benefit for the other person. It was never just for her.

Ardella just tried to nod her way through what Percy was saying. Finally it was time for him to swing. He counted to three and then swung. Instinct took over, like he had said, and she blocked his sword. When the two made a clanging noise against eachother Ardella jumped, let out an 'EEP!' and dropped her sword. Now knowing that she was defenseless, she couldn't help but drop to the ground and cover her head with her hands. Even though he had said he wouldn't hurt her, she wouldn't trust him.

It wasn't really like Percy to stay still like this for so long. He had ADHD like all demigods, and holding a sword just made it even worse. Doing so just wanted made the boy want to fight, to spar...but Percy knew he had to be patient with Ardella. It was the only way this was going to work. And hopefully the girl would try as much as she could...not get too scared or anything like that. Truly, the son of Poseidon had plenty of faith in Ardella, even though she didn't appear to have too much faith in herself. It would just take a bit before she was up and going...and going strong. As a daughter of Hades, she wouldn't have much of a choice. Of course, Percy wasn't going to say that to her right away. That would probably scare her even more.

Watching Ardella, Percy tried to gauge how she was doing, what her reactions were. The boy had never been the best at doing so...in fact, Percy knew he was kind of clueless most of the time, but this time, he was pretty sure he knew what was going on. The girl was frightened, more frightened than almost anyone Percy had ever known. Sure, it was always scary holding a sword for the first time...okay, for the first few times really, but most demigods caught on quickly enough. The boy hoped that Ardella would be like that, because otherwise, other campers would make her life really difficult. A living hell... was that an appropriate phrase to use for a daughter of Hades?

Percy smiled as Ardella raised her sword. She definitely looked a lot more confident holding it this time around (not to mention she had raised it much higher than before...it was at a regular height for fighting now). Hopefully that meant she was realizing just how much it was made for her. Sometimes...well, most of the time demigods got weapons from their parents, they didn't realize at first how perfectly balanced they were, especially swords. If they had been practicing with swords that never felt right, then they figured it out pretty quickly. But Ardella was new to all of this...at least she had been claimed early and didn't have to worry about practicing with a very unbalanced sword.

As Percy's sword met Ardella's, the boy smiled. She obviously had some sort of instinct, even if she let her sword fall and dropped to the ground afterwards. Cringing slightly, Percy kneeled down next to the girl. "Hey," he said softly. "That was great for your first time. I know it's scary, but you did wonderfully," Percy smiled, offering his hand to Ardella. "I told you that you'd be able to block no problem...fighting instincts kick in pretty easily when you're in the situation." Thinking about it for a moment, Percy finally spoke again (which made it a pretty big deal...thinking before he spoke, anyway). "Want to try again?" he asked, smiling.

When Percy kneeled down beside her, Ardella knew what was coming next. Some lie about doing well and then abandoning her there because she was so horrible at it. That's what the Mccalvins did. Why should she expect anything different from everyone else? People were people no matter what. In the end they would all abandon each other. Instead of putting herself through that heartbreak she placed walls all around herself. She was stupid enough to start letting them fall because of a little bit of kindness. She was being idiotic and really was good for nothing. In trying to prepare herself she ended up hurting herself.

Expecting what Percy had said did not make it hurt any less. Ardella stumbled backwards so she was even more vunerable, but further away from him. She was stupid to think that maybe people were different here. Everyone was the same, how people acted was the same as how the Mccalvins acted. Fakes. Liars. All of them. She couldn't cope with it all. It was too much.

Ardella's foolishness led her eyes to start watering as she looked at Percy. She had hoped that maybe things could be different. It was stupid of her to hope maybe she could be told the truth. It was crushed now. There was nothing there for her to hope for. She hadn't been many places, but with such a jump to camp, so far away from home she had hoped, but it was gone.

Without letting her tears fall, Ardella stood up slowly and walked away. Once she was turned, a few droplets escaped her eyes. She walked away from the boy and her sword. She wanted nothing to do with it all. The only thing that sword would be good for would be ending her life. She would never be able to protect herself, she would always be a failure.

Frowning slightly, Percy looked intently at Ardella. The girl's silence was a little disconcerting, and worried Percy greatly. He really didn't want to hurt this girl...it was obvious she had already been hurt enough in the past. All the son of Poseidon wanted to do was make it better, show Ardella that there were kind people in this world, and they weren't always that hard to find. But at the same time, the girl didn't seem to receptive to this idea, which saddened Percy a little. He had gone through most of his life as an outcast, never doing too well in school...and even when he got to Camp Half-Blood and was claimed by Poseidon, Percy had found himself a bit of an outcast for awhile. It wasn't something he would wish on anyone.

When Percy spoke and Ardella stumbled back, the boy smiled kindly. "Hey, Ardella...just relax. You really did do well." It was true, and Percy wouldn't have said it otherwise. But it was quite clear that Ardella didn't believe him...which was a shame. What on earth had the girl been through in her life that had affected her, hurt her this badly? It seemed awful that someone as nice as Ardella seemed to be would be treated poorly by anyone. But there was only so much that was in Percy's control, and he knew this.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Percy realized that Ardella's eyes were watering slightly. "Hey..." he said softly. "Don't be so hard on yourself." Gods knew if that was even the right thing to say (Percy knew he said the wrong things all the time), but it sounded good. On second thought...maybe it wasn't the right thing to say. Something as cliched and annoying as that never worked too well...at least it didn't for him and it probably wouldn't for Ardella. Gods, now he had said the completely wrong thing which would probably just make things even worse. Damn it all to Hades.

As Ardella stood, Percy stood as well. He wasn't sure what he was expecting...her to pick up her sword again, maybe, but he should have known better, really. The girl started walking away, which Percy wouldn't stand for. He was too stubborn to let that happen. "Ardella," he said, jogging up beside her. "Come on...one more go. Just try one more time, at least...then you can go if you want to. But one more time...just...believe in yourself. It'll make it so much easier. Know that you can do this."