Confused by Time

Chapter 2

At dinner before Capture the Flag, Annabeth looked over her cabin members. Many of the campers were sacrificing sections of their food into the fire at the centre of the pavilion. Annabeth didn't miss that most of them were also sacrificing some blue food, knowing that they were sacrificing to Percy. It didn't matter to demigods that Hermes' altar down in the Pit had been said to have been destroyed two centuries ago. The god himself had dropped in on camp to tell them that. All they knew were the stories that food had reached him before with that method and now it seemed to be tradition to sacrifice food to Percy through Hermes. Camp Jupiter had taken it up too, creating a specific region of Temple Hill just to sacrifice food to Percy through Mercury. Annabeth was fairly certain that Zeus disliked it.

Hermes didn't much mind, since Annabeth was sure it all went to him anyway.

Annabeth looked at each of the seven Athena demigods and checked all their armour, making sure they'd all managed to fit it correctly. For two of the newest demigods, she had to make a small adjustment to their straps and tighten them slightly. Jacob, who'd found the fish in his pocket after the canoe overturning incident, looked rather sheepishly back at her as Annabeth tightened his shoulder strap.

"Don't worry," Annabeth reassured him with a soft smile. "You'll get the hang of it," she said. She'd spent the entire day staring at the statue of Apollo again and was getting irritated with it, glad to have the chance to be watching Capture the Flag again. The god wanted it different to the others he had, which meant he wanted a different pose. Annabeth loved her job designing Olympus, but she hated having to stare at naked statues all day. It didn't help either that her mind kept wandering back over to the possibility of a quest to rescue Percy, hoping that Zeus would allow it to go ahead. Percy had saved Annabeth's life three centuries ago, the least Annabeth could do was return the favour now.

Across the pavilion, the Poseidon kids were laughing and joking with each other. On the tables next to them, Zeus' and Hades' kids looked to be getting increasingly irritated. Of Zeus' kids, Michael's fingers were flickering with little sparks of electricity. His metal fork in his hands as he ate looked to nearly be vibrating and sparking. Annabeth met his eyes and his gaze tightened as he nodded to her. At the age of eighteen, Michael was one of the oldest demigods still at Camp Half-Blood, and happened to be the eldest mortal son of Zeus at both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. He took to that title with determination and an urge to be a good example for other children of the Big Three.

The children of Poseidon liked mocking him for it.

"Demigods!" Chiron exclaimed from the table at the front of the pavilion. Annabeth raised an eyebrow when she noticed Grover sitting at the head table next to Chiron. The Lord of the Wild had a full head of horns now. The sight always reminded Annabeth of how young they'd been when they first set out, when he had none. He caught her gaze and nodded to her with a tight smile. "I am sure you are all ready for Capture the Flag later!" Chiron paused briefly. "Firstly, as always, no half-immortal campers may participate by any means. Any team for which they fight will be immediately disqualified, and their opponents will win. Maiming and killing must be kept to a minimum. Capture the Flag is from the western boundary of the forest, to the beach and bordering the dining pavilion. The strawberry fields are not there to be trampled and anyone taking Capture the Flag into them will lose their desert privileges. The beach and the creek are not to be used to attempt to drown any of the opposing team," Chiron said with a quick glance at Felix. The eldest son of Poseidon just smiled ruefully with a glance at Michael, whom narrowed his eyes at him in turn. "The two teams have half an hour from now to place their flags. After that half hour, the games will begin."

Annabeth had no doubt that the two would be seeking each other out during Capture the Flag. Annabeth stayed seated as the campers scrambled out of their seats, smiling slightly. "Good luck," she said to her cabin.