Annabeth Chase and the Lightning Thief

Chapter 8 - Percy beats up the Ares kids

The next few days passed in almost a blur. The whole camp was preparing for capture the flag on Friday. We still had to do all our training and chores, but there was an undercurrent of excitement to it all. Even the Aphrodite kids were getting excited, and usually all they get excited about was going shopping or getting a new make-up kit.

Throughout the week, I kept an eye on Percy, trying to work out who's son he was. I taught him Ancient Greek every morning and he was beginning to improve at it. He wasn't as dumb as I thought he was.

Archery, he was absolutely horrible at. And he was too slow. So that ruled out Apollo.

Wrestling, he was too small and weak-looking to be good at it. So he definitely wasn't Ares.

He didn't seem to fit in anywhere. He couldn't grow vines like a Dionysus kid, or work with metal like a Hephaestus kid. I was starting to think that he might be a son of Hermes, but he looked nothing like the other kids of cabin eleven. He didn't seem to fit in anywhere, although mostly everyone liked him, except Clarisse of course. She still wanted to pulverize him, but that's Clarisse for you. Her way of showing affection is not punching you in the face when she saw you.

As Friday drew near, I started making allies for capture the flag. Athena and Ares held the flags, so being head counsellor for Athena, I was captain for my side. Clarisse would be the captain for the other team.

Luke was my first ally. I didn't want to fight him and besides, he had the biggest cabin. Also, we usually sided together. Athena and Hermes were similar. Both were smart, although Athena was planning smart while Hermes was trickery smart. And they'd both invented string instruments, the loom and the lyre.

Apollo was harder to get on our side. I had to offer Lee Fletcher - head of Apollo cabin - our shower times to gain his support. He wasn't convinced so then I told him the Athena cabin would do his chores for a week if we won. That got him. There was nothing that an Apollo kid hated more than chores. They were naturally lazy. I guess it comes from their father, who spends his time driving around the world.

Ares had allied themselves with the rest of the cabins: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite and Hephaestus. I didn't think we had much to worry about. The Ares kids were the only real threat there.

I spent the week in planning, going over every detail. Luke helped. We'd played capture the flag longer than any one else. We knew what to do.

"Clarisse is the danger," he said, looking down at the map I'd drawn spread out before us. We were on the hill up by Thalia's pine so we could see anyone who tried to sneak up on us to hear our plans. Also, being beside her, it made me feel like the old days, when it was just us three against the world.

"We need someway to distract her," I murmured. I felt distracted myself. Luke was so close that our shoulders occasionally bumped, making me blush everytime. "Just long enough so that we get the flag," I added, drawing myself back to the problem at hand.

Luke frowned in concentration. Then a small, wicked smile crept over his face.

"I think I know of someone," he said mischievously.

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I only had a small dinner that night, too excited to eat. As soon as I'd finished, I quickly left with Malcolm and Dena to fetch the flag. It was long and silky, painted a glistening grey with an owl on it. As I gazed at, I offered a quick prayer to my mother, asking for her help tonight. I knew we would win. But it wasn't just me I was praying for.

When the conch horn blew, I ran into the pavilion holding it high so it streamed out behind me, my siblings flanking me. Clarisse came in from the opposite direction and she snarled at me as we met in the middle. I looked like a child compared to her, but I stared her down, allowing a knowing smile to cross across my face, but I felt nervous and worried deep inside. The plan was sound, but I just hoped that I would be quick enough.