Published: August 5, 2021
Edited: May 25, 2022
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The night of Capture the Flag there was a lot more excitement than usual. When the dinner plates were whisked away by nymphs the Ares and Athena cabins crept away to get ready for the games. I got my usual armor and double checked that Whirlpool was in my pocket before lining up with the rest of the Athena campers. The conch horn sounded in the dining pavilion and everyone stood up at their tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and I along with the rest of the Athena kids ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.
From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head. We circled back to where the rest of our cabin was standing with our allies. Then the teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support. Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. For the most part, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters we weren't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet. Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.
"Heroes!" he announced to the crowd of half-bloods. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal. I hurried to get a blue plumed helmet as I already had on a breastplate. I couldn't use a shield as I fought with a double handed sword. I passed Percy and Luke who were rummaging through the pile of weapons and caught Luke's words:
"Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here, Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol." He was explaining to Percy. I mentally groaned as I remembered Annabeth's plan to use Percy and I as bait for the Ares kids. It was a good plan but it involved me and Percy potentially getting killed by Clarisse. I jammed my helmet onto my head and moped for a few more seconds before Annabeth let out a yell.
"Blue team, forward!" She cried, raising her knife. We all cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north. I marched along next to Annabeth when Percy ran up to us.
"Hey." Percy said. We kept marching but I offered him a half-smile. "So what's the plan?" He asked. I winced but the excited ravenette didn't notice. "Got any magic items you can loan me?" He asked excitedly. Annabeth's hand drifted toward her pocket where I knew her magical Yankee's cap was hidden.
"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said finally. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?" I rolled my eyes. Annabeth knew what job Percy had; the whole plan was her idea in the first place. I grouched mentally at the rapidly looming prospect of not being able to fight and instead having to get beat up by war children.
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