BY fates design

Capture the flag

Cassiopeia groaned slightly at the pain in her neck, the strawberry light of the rising sun just kissed the horizon as she forced her eyes open. It was early, far before anyone else would be awake, it was only 5:40 am and breakfast didn't begin until at least 7:30. Silently, Cassiopeia stood up and grabbed her clothes and toiletries before jogging down to the showers, since it was so early no one would be there yet. After washing up she pulled on a pair of black denim shorts, the camp half-blood T-shirt that she had cut to be cropped and a white unbuttoned shirt. Taking a walk around camp, she marvelled at the stillness, the tranquility of the morning, no one else other than her. Sitting down by the water, Cassiopeia watched the morning sun rise above the lake, its divine beauty reflected on the waveless waters. Sighing she stood up and jogged into the forest, slinking past trees as she wove her way through the woods, eventually she stopped at an arrangement of stones, rows of them all eventually spaced, some clearly older than others, but all wrapped in the claws of flower baring vines. Humming to herself Cassiopeia kneaded before the stones and began to sing, a soft melody filling the void silence of the morning. A single tear slipped down her rosy cheek before being harshly brushed away, standing back up she returned to the main camp and began warming up, stretching and doing basic yoga before she started running around the barren camp.

"What was that place?" Dorcas asked, curiosity gnawing at her. Percy tightened his grip on Cassiopeia as she swallowed harshly, "it gets explained soon, don't worry about it." She tried to keep her voice steady but the cracking sadness in her tone was clear for all of them to hear.

Chiron stood by the window of the Big House and watched as Cassiopeia ran laps around camp, a solemn expression cast on his face as he gazed out at the scene. He had a special place in his heart for Cassiopeia, out of all the demigods currently at camp, she had been there the longest, not only that but she was by all measures one of the strongest. She was unlucky in life, sometimes he forgets just how young she is, she had eyes aged by experiences that she should never have known, and yet no one at camp knew of her story because she would sooner praise the gods then divulge her own problems. The other campers often overlook how young she was when she arrived and went on her first quest, Chiron had seen it a hundred times as Cassiopeia taught, comforted and encouraged the other campers only for them to continue calling her closed of and cold. He felt bad for the young dark haired girl, the fates had been cruel to her and yet she had stayed so strong (too strong) for so long (too long). "Oh, good morning Chiron!" Cassiopeia smiled and waved when she noticed the centaur, the sun casting a soft shine over her. "Good morning Cassiopeia, you're up awfully early." Chiron replied, trotting down to walk next to her. "Well sleep seams to escape me these days. I believe my brother is avoiding me." She laughed at her own words causing a sorrowful smile to spread across Chiron's face. "Well I do hope you have better luck tonight. Are you excited for tomorrow? Capture the flag." He reminded as they stopped on the docks. "Yeah, I believe me and Jake are with Annabeth and Alex this time." Cassiopeia replied a fond expression on her face as she thought of the game. "Well I best be off, I need to speak with Mr D." Chiron patter the girl's back before trotting away, leaving her alone to sit with her legs dangling over the edge of the wooden docks, her black converse just grazing the water. "So this is where you disappeared to." Jake's voice called out as he stood beside her, allowing her to rest her head on his stomach. "Yeah, I just woke up a little early is all." Cassiopeia said standing up and looking around. She must have lost track of time because now camp was swarming with people. "Come on, you should eat." Jake walked her over to the mess hall where the majority of campers were so that they could eat. Cassiopeia picked at a bowl of fruit, occasionally sipping on her water while she watched Jake and Eleana, who had joined them for breakfast, eat. "Dad wrote to us all." Eleana's voice broke the silence, "yours should be on your bed-" before she could finish Cassiopeia was already running back to her cabin to check for the letter. There, sat on her pillow, was an off white envelope with the familiar scrawl of her father's handwriting. Picking it up she eagerly tore it open, reading over the contents with a broad smile, it was a simple letter, just detailing what he had done since the last letter he sent, at the end Achlys, Corvus, Astro and Luna had all written small paragraphs to her as well. Placing the letter down, Cassiopeia got to work writing her reply, scribbling down sentences about camp and Percy, the new blonde boy who had recently joined as she wrote, and how much she missed them all. Sealing shut the envelope she called out for Esme, Kira's owl, to send the letter back home.