Ichor

Commander (Part IX)

Year 20 - Commander
Planet Earth

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"Holy Chaos. What happened to my armor?" Travis asked stunned and wide-eyed.

Snickers from his siblings and friends could be heard.

"We were out of pink dye too, but we had yellow," Chris smirked.

Travis couldn't help but laugh, yet his blood turned to ice knowing that he wouldn't have time to get it out and that Percy would have to punish him somehow. Thankfully, there were not as many bathrooms to clean at camp as in the Chaos palace. That was a popular punishment of his. If he was lucky, only Andrew would notice and his general was far more lenient considering the trouble he got himself into too.

"Ugh, you guys why would you do this," he said lightly but a little exasperatedly.

"Hey, we haven't gotten to prank you in like a year. We're going to make up for it," Cecil laughed.

"Even I had to get in on this one," Jason said next to Annabeth. "I thought of it as friendly bonding time."

"Oh, stop being Mr. Perfect, Jason. You thought it was hilarious," Annabeth countered.

Jason only laughed in response.

Travis groaned louder. "I blame you all for what I'm about to face. I hope my cloak can cover most of it."

Everyone burst out laughing again as Travis tried (and failed) to wrap himself in his cloak. He was soon fully equipped and rushed out for second morning drills. Nearly everyone was already there, so his entrance in full yellow armor did not go unnoticed. Andrew, who had a widely known sense of humor, teased his second.

"My, my. I never thought yellow was your color, but I can see I was wrong about that. Who should I thank for this outfit change?"

"You can thank all of us," Conor said as he and the Hermes cabin with a few others entered the stands. "But the idea was mine." A smug smile graced his lips as he took note of his brother's annoyed expression.

"Nicely done, mini Stoll," Andrew praised with a smile. Connor, his siblings, and his friends all smiled back enjoying Travis's misery.

"ATTENTION!" Percy called out as he finally stepped into view.

Every soldier, private to general, snapped to attention and saluted their Commander. This was in the expanded arena, so many campers—ok, basically the whole camp—decided to forgo their morning activities to watch the Chaos Soldiers in action from the stands.

Percy saluted back and yelled out concise orders. "At ease. We will be engaging in drill 37. Group into tens. Mix rank and division. Close combat only. Archers included. Every person for themselves. Generals and seconds are with me. Dism-"

Percy was about to dismiss them but caught a glimpse of the bright yellow armor Travis wore. It took a lot of self-discipline not to burst out laughing. He did, after all, have a sense of humor. He just chose not to express it much. Percy walked over slowly and stood before Travis. Mirth twinkling in his eyes for his soldiers to see.

"Major Stoll," Percy started with an air of amusement.

"Yes, Commander?" Travis responded as if this were an everyday occurrence.