Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

BONUS: THE DAY SHE MADE HER FIRST PLAN

I can still remember my first Capture the Flag.

Athena Cabin paired with Hermes and Apollo Cabin. Ares with Hephaestus, Dionysus and Aphrodite.

It was an equal match. Fifteen guys from our side, fifteen on theirs. Everyone else was at school, unfortunately.

From morning to evening, Tess taught me all there was about Greek gods, names to strategies I had theorized about and most importantly, he introduced me as a sister to every single person we met on camp.

And then, at evening, Lee Fletcher, Head Counsellor of Apollo Cabin, and Adam Worth, Head Counsellor of Hermes Cabin came to our Cabin, Cabin Six.

Athena Cabin was a gray building, with an intricate owl carved onto the doorway, and plain white curtains, laced with gold borders.

On the inside, the beds were arranged to the sides. Fifteen extremely comfortable mattresses were laid out, all white and gold bordered.

The walls were literally bookshelves. There was every genre of book that you could think of. Fiction, Non-Fiction, Thriller, Horror, Goth, Romance... the list is too long for me to write down. There were old rolled up scrolls as well, all of them either drawn by old campers, or mysterious people who lived at the camp before it moved to New York.

There were SMART boards on the wall, and each of them depicted a different war strategy, along with it's advantages and disadvantages. At random corners, there were huge comfy sofas and coffee and hot chocolate makers along with jars filled with biscuits and other snacks, so campers could eat and read books comfortably. There were large black boards, over which building designs and blueprints were stuck on. Old war maps were plastered over some of the boards.

On large tables, there stood 3-d models of buildings and advanced weaponry we couldn't build just yet because of the lack of technology. A set of stairs led upstairs, where there were more beds, just in case, along with a 3-d printer and other essential supplies and two bathrooms to freshen up in the morning.

Lee Fletcher whistled when he entered the cabin. He was a strong and lean eleven year old kid, and on his shoulder, he always slung on a bow and a quiver of arrows. His blue eyes sparkled, and he poked every 3-d model in the cabin, investigating it with interest.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Tess said as he opened up a large piece of paper on the table, smiling.

"But the satisfaction brought it back," Adam Worth said, stepping in. "One of these days, I'll be raiding this place. So many treasures just waiting to be uncovered."

"I sure hope you survive to that day," Lee said, smiling. "Six more years and you'll be leaving, remember? And with quests-"

"Guys," Tess said. "Focus. Tomorrow's the big day."

"First match of the new year," Adam Worth nodded.

"New academic year," Lee corrected.

"Yes, yes, alright, whatever."

Lee opened his mouth to argue, but Tess cut him off. "Okay, kids. Let's get to work."

He pointed to the paper, a map of Camp Half Blood. "Seven guys from Hermes, Two from Athena, Six from Apollo. We've got to place them properly. Adam, you take charge of-"

"-the flag, yes," Adam said, nodding.

"I'll lead the charge against Ares," Tess continued, "I know them better than everyone else."

"Can we do the D&D strategy?" I asked Tess excitedly.

Lee and Adam looked at me with raised eyebrows. "What?"

"Uh.. guys, this is my sister, all year camper, Ariana," Tess said. "Ari, this is Adam and Lee, my best friends on this camp. Anyway, the D&D Strategy, you say?"

"What's the D&D strategy?" asked Adam.

"It's the distract and deceit strategy. Well, you distract a large portion of the enemy, and then attack the rest," Tess explained. "But it's not that easy, especially-"

"We can set out flares first, two hundred meters away from their flag. We draw them away from their fortification," I interrupted. 

Tess nodded, "They'll come in to attack us for sure. We can defend ourselves with around seven guys and even if we can't take them down-"

 "-we'll still have the flag in hand because Adam will sneak to their hiding place and steal the flag effortlessly, just like he stole the 3-d printed cannon that was on the table."

Adam blushed red. Tess looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he brought out a small cannon from his pocket and put it back on the table.

"How did you see that?" Tess asked, grinning.

"Because I was waiting for him to take it," I said, smiling. "I knew he had his eyes on it the moment he'd entered."

Adam cleared his throat. "So, what you're saying is," he continued, changing the topic, "six of us defend our territory, and the rest lead the attack."

"Not exactly," Tess remarked. "Lee Fletcher can lead the defense. He's got bows and arrows. Best to work with, long distance range. He can take three Apollo kids with him. They'll do best for defending."

Lee nodded proudly.

"Tess can take up the lead for the attack on the enemy. It'll be ten against fifteen," I said. "The rest of the Apollo campers need to take up spots on high trees. Best for aiming and maiming." 

Tess continued, "No one can reach trees that high, and neither can they shoot arrows. I'll lead the Hermes kids, and Adam will sneak off into their territory and Capture the Flag."

"Okay, that's... a lot of information for me to process," Adam said.

Tess was clearly impressed. "Good thinking, kid. Not bad." He ruffled my shoulder length honey blonde hair.

"No!" I shouted, running away from his palm and tidying my hair. The three boys laughed.

"Well, what about deception then?" Adam asked.

"We make someone scream that they've got the flag and run away from the field," Lee said.

Tess nodded. "They should also have a fake flag in hand... someone tiny, fast... like..... Ari."

"But we shouldn't scream it out loud... it should be more of a rumor, whispers.... like 'hey, has Ari got the flag yet?' 'yeah, she found the flag, she's taking it across'," Adam said.

"Woah, okay, you've got some knowledge," Tess said.

"I'll be waiting for you signal," I added. "Once you get the flag, throw your helmet as far as you can into the crowd that's fighting. I'll get down and start the run. Follow Tess once the enemy starts following me."

"But what's the guarantee that they won't be defending the flag already?" Lee asked.

"That's why we need to be quick," Tess said, "if we cause enough panic, the campers will leave their spots and run to defend their borders."

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