Daughter of shadow (Pjo fan fiction)

The game of a lifetime

It was the day before my first camp game of capture the flag and I was scared, in all honesty. I remember having trained for a month before the end of summer game, learning what I was good at and what I stank at. The snake bite had left two pitch black marks on my skin, but they didn't hurt anymore. Unsurprisingly, I excelled in archery, getting a bullseye every time, but, once again, unsurprisingly, I am not good at swimming. At all. I had to be fished out of the lake by Zach when he tried to teach me. After a week of daily lessons in swimming and archery, he gave up on teaching me to swim and began teaching me more advanced archery and focusing on my agility and speed instead of sword fighting because I was still too young to wield a sword properly. 

He took me to the armoury and paid one of Hephaestus's kids one drachma to make a set of armour that would fit me. He made a chest plate and helmet for me in the same brassy metal as the others. 

Eventually the day of the game arrived and I lined up with the rest of the Hermes cabin. It was Hephaestus and Hermes versus Apollo and everyone else, because the Hermes cabin had so many more people than everyone else. The two flags were the flags of Hermes and Apollo, but the Hephaestus kids really wanted the flag. They hadn't had it for over a year, apparently. 

We stood in our lines and listened to Chiron tell the rules again. "The creek is the boundary line. No murder or intentional maiming. Try not to kill each other." The game began with the blow of a conch horn, signalling it was time to place the flags. I knew what I was meant to be doing. I had to follow the group to where the flag was and hide up one of the nearby trees. Then I would shoot off anyone who tried to get close to the flag. We marched up the path and into the forest. I immediately felt better for it. I had been coming up to the glowing oak almost every evening and practising with the shadows and plants. It was difficult to hide it from everyone but that is what I had to do, at least, the voice thought so.

Finally reaching a good spot, the group walked around the clearing discussing tactics while I found a tall pine to hide in. I lay on the branch and listened as everyone went on their way. Closing my eyes I saw the map of the plants and shadows around me. I had discovered a few nights ago that if I focused on one shadow or plant in just the right way, I could see what the plant or shadow saw. I picked the shadow of one of the great elm trees and then another about a meter away from that one, then a meter away from that one and so on so that I was circling the clearing I my head, while remaining hidden from view. There were three guards on the ground about twenty meters out from the clearing circling so I was almost a last resort. Seeing as no one knew of my powers, I didn't blame them for wanting to put little five year old me out of the way. If anyone did get past the ground guards the guards would notice as soon as they entered the clearing, thanks to the bells and string we had set up around the perimeter.

I lay there for hours, waiting for something to happen. Hearing the ground guards continue their peaceful circling, I was surprised by the sound of footsteps coming from below. I pulled the shadows close, shrouding myself in darkness and eliminating myself from the trespassers view. Rolling onto my front I knocked an arrow into my bow and scanned the clearing. only two meters away from the flag, and getting closer, was Zach, clutching a dagger and cautiously stepping towards the Hermes flag. I shot the arrow and hit his foot. He shouted and then checked himself, clutching his foot and hopping around the clearing. He tried to make a grab for the flag but I shot him in the shoulder as he was trying to reach for it. He screamed and caught the attention of one of the ground guards. 

When I knew that the guards had arrived and were handling the situation, I pulled the shadows tighter around me and leaped from tree branch to tree branch, extending and bending a few where needed. I paused a few times when I spotted passers by, knowing they could not see me or my weapons but could still hear me and see the branches twist and bend. I continued like this for what must have been around half an hour until I came to the crag where I had overheard the Apollo cabin were keeping their flag. I perched in the lower branches of an old beech tree and watched for a while to learn the guard patterns and figure out a way through. I knew no one would suspect me, the five year old newbie, to capture the flag, so that made this the perfect opportunity, especially with the help of my unknown powers. After observing the guards for a while I figured out a way to get the flag out. If I could twist the grass up and around the legs and bodies of the guards I could trap them in place and then use a vine of ivy or something like that to grab the flag and then make a run for it through the treetops.

I took a deep breath and whispered, "Wish me luck." before closing my eyes and beginning to wind the grass around the legs, torsos and arms of the guards. When I heard shouts of, "Hey, stop that!" and, "Someone help! I can't move!" I knew the plan was working. Someone shouted, "Demeter's kids are meant to be on our team!" and I paused for a second but brushed it off, continuing until I knew they could move no more. When I opened my eyes the four guards were looking around furiously to try and find me. Too bad they never would. I reached out with a branch of ivy that was wrapped around the tree I was perched in and watched, trying not to laugh, as the stranded children of Apollo looked on in shock, amazement and frustration as I plucked the flag from the group and willed the ivy to bring it back too me. It took a moment for them to realise what had happened, but by the time they did I was already sprinting away through the treetops, keeping my cloak of shadow tight around me the whole time. 

The flag was heavy but I extended my shadows enough to cover it so at least it didn't look like there was a floating flag flying through the trees. I didn't bother to stop for passers by this time, just focused on getting the flag across the creek. 

When I saw Chiron talking to the Apollo guards by the creek along with most of the players, I couldn't stop laughing as they picked stands of grass out of their clothes. "and then the ivy took the flag and it disappeared out of thin air!" Chiron looked like he knew something, but didn't say anything until I plopped down on the grass beside him, having crossed the creek via tree branch. Chiron turned to where I was standing, which confused me, as I was still meant to be invisible, and said, "Liane would you care to explain what happened to your fellow campers here?" I felt myself turn bright red under the confused gazes of the other campers as I dropped the cloak of shadow from myself and the flag and said, "I did it," so quietly I thought no on would hear. One of the campers shouted, "How were you invisible?" while another yelled, "What did you do to the grass", and a third shouted, "How long were you there?". In a matter of seconds the clearing descended into chaos. They were all shouting and staring directly at me. I  stared at the ground and wished it would swallow me whole to get me away from the curious campers, but after a minute or two a strange silence fell over the clearing and the chaos ended as quickly as it had begun. I looked at the gawking group confused as they stared at the flag. For some reason, my five year old self didn't think to look at what they were staring at, only feel relieved that they weren't staring at me.

One of the Hermes kids asked, "Why is the flag pink?" I frowned in confusion and finally looked at the flag, which also drew a gasp from me. The flag had turned from gold to a blush pink and instead of the symbols of Apollo, there was a pomegranate and some deer antlers. One of the Apollo guards pointed to a spot over my head and said, "That might be why." Over my head was a floating pink pomegranate that was surrounded by golden rays of sunlight. There was silence as the campers stared at me, until Chiron said, "Granddaughter of Apollo, bringer of light, healer of the gods, and daughter of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, commander of the hell hounds, bringer of spring, Hail Liane Black"

---

I was sitting around the table on the porch of the big house with Chiron and Mr D. They were both giving me very serious looks and eventually I couldn't take it anymore and I said, "Well..." 

Chiron sighed and said, "This means that Hades and Zeus will forever be out to find ways to hurt you. Zeus has a law against you and you are the child of Hades' wife, but not him. That will make him want to, well, get rid of you."

"I've avoided them so far, haven't I?" I asked, confused.

"Just barely," Mr D grunted."

Chiron sighed and said, with something like pity on his face, "For your own safety, you do know that this means you can never leave."