Returning to camp

I left the underworld after Alecto arrived back and informed Hades about Ares being the one to have taken the Helm of Darkness which I have also copied now kind of annoying that I can't turn that ability off as I would probably collapse if I was in the olympian throne room just because of a system overload in regards to the information I would be taking in.

Anyway, after Alecto explained everything Hades released Sally and I went back to the mortal world with her as it was essayer though Hades did tell me that we would be having a talk next winter when Persephone returned to the underworld. After making sure that Sally was ok and having Percy, Annabeth and Grover arrive we left Sally with the head of Medusa that Percy had apparently sent to Olympus and we returned to camp though as we left I heard Sally say something about meatloaf surprise and grinned realising Gabe wasn't going to be a problem though I might ask Hades if he could arrange a special punishment for him maybe mention the times he hit me and that he abused Sally? Yeah, Gabe was in for a fun time in the underworld.

As we walked into Camp Half-Blood I left Percy, Annabeth and Grover to explain how the quest went and decided to head down to the fire pit and see if Hestia was there so I could catch up, we usually had a catch up at least once a week for some reason I don't know why she likes hanging out with me as I am not the biggest family person I care for those who I consider family and may all the gods help you if you hurt one of them as I will hunt you down and end you painfully but to me, the best way to describe my idea of family is that the blood of the covenant is stronger than the water of the womb, I prefer to create my family and often have closer bonds with close friends who I consider family than I do with my actual family.

Arriving at the fire pit I notice Hestia was absent which was reasonable she had lots of places to be not to mention she tended to be the one keeping her family together. So seeing as that plan was now out of the window I decided to head down to the arena where the other demigods train and spar hoping I might be able to find someone who would spar with me don't get me wrong my dead mentors were great but I also need experience fighting people who actually care about injuries rather than just reattaching missing limbs like it's nothing.

Arriving at the arena I see a guy down there attacking some of the training dummies the guy had short sandy hair and a scar going down across one of his eyes. As I approached the guy he turned to look at me stepping away from the group of dummies "hey you must be new to camp I'm Luke the counsellor for the Hermes cabin, is it all good if I get your name?" as he says this he approaches me with a smile and a hand outstretched for a handshake.

"Hi I'm Nightingale but most just shorten it to Night pleasure to meet you, sorry if I ended up interrupting your training I was kind of looking for someone to spar with." as I say this I accept his handshake that he offered and grin.

"Not a problem how about we spar now I usually help with training the other campers when I have sword practice so I'm sure I can help you out," he smiles and beacons me towards the centre of the arena and starts to remove the training dummies from where he was practising.

Following him I reply to his question "sure though are there any training swords here that I can use I only have a pair of bronze and steel knives on me sorry" hearing me Luke just laughs and points over towards the edge of the arena where there are weapons of different sizes, shapes and kinds "pick one that you think suits you from there or you can use your knives either works use what you think would be best."

Walking over to the weapon racks I look at the options before opting to take a pair of strait arming swords that were about the right size and weight for me to use. After selecting the swords I turn back to Luke who had finished moving the dummies and was observing me before smiling at me and asking "do you know how to use two blades or are you just trying to look cool because twin blades aren't exactly easy to use?" hearing this I just smile and remember the amount of training Lily had me do so that I could dual wield most bladed weapons so long as they weren't too long "guess we are about to find out" I grin as these words leave my mouth.

I watch Luke grin back at me as he takes up his stance shield up and covering centre mass and his sword poking out above ready to thrust at me, seeing this I slide my right foot back a full pace and drop down keeping my left leg rather strait putting most of my weight onto my bent right foot and bring my left blade up in a guard while my right blade drops almost touching the floor with the tip of its blade. Looking at my stance Luke seems to be confused by it as it probably wasn't something he was used to seeing in a fight and usually, I wouldn't use this stance in a fight but in a single combat duel, this was one of my default stances to assume at the start. Locking eyes with Luke I ask "ready?" and seeing him nod I launch myself forward running low to the ground before bringing my right-hand blade up in an arc into his shield forcing him back as I had used my momentum alongside the weight of the blade and my arms strength to increase the force of the blow, seeing Luke off guard from my first attack I bring the blade in my left slashing towards the inside of his shield trying and succeeding in knocking it out of the way for a bit all the while bringing my right-hand blade back and then thrusting it towards his throat and stopping it just before impact. "Dead" was all I said as I brought my blades back down to my side tossing my right-hand blade into my left and offering Luke a handshake of goodwill and to symbolise the match had ended Luke looking surprised sheathed his sword and accepted my handshake before saying "that was impressive would you like to spar again sometime it could do me some good in case I encounter any fast-moving monsters that try to throw me off balance in a fight." hearing this I smile and nod at him before we both turn at the sound of clapping and see Chiron, Percy and Annabeth alongside a group of campers standing watching us they were the ones clapping then as they finished Chiron comes up to me and says, "Annabeth and Percy told me about how you helped them on their quest I was hoping you would agree to join Camp Half-Blood I'm sure we can find you a room in the Big House for when you stay here."

Hearing this I smile and respond "sure I would love to stay at Camp there is lots I still need to learn but don't worry about accommodation I would prefer to sleep in the trees it becomes surprisingly comfortable after a few weeks of sleeping in them repeatedly."

Hearing this Luke looks confused "why not just put her in the cabin of her parent or the Hermes cabin like we do the other unclaimed?"

hearing this I grin and turn to him before replying "because for lack of a better term I am mortal I have no godly parent as far as anyone knows though I also don't know who my parents are and where they are." the look of surprise on his and every other camper's face's makes me laugh "what did you think you demigods were the only ones who could fight like that please get in enough fights with monsters and thugs and even an idiot would learn how to fight at least somewhat well" hearing this Chiron nods in affirmation.

"Well if everything is done I'm going to go find a tree to sleep in see you all at dinner guys" and with those words, I leave a group of surprised Half-Bloods and walk into the forest to find a comfortable tree to sleep in while I'm at camp.