𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋!¹ p. jackson

𝐢. channeling her inner hitman ( p )

CHAPTER ONE

❝ but i'm in the trees, i'm in the breeze, my footsteps on the ground.❞

˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚

IT WAS time for capture the flag.

Percy had been at camp half-blood for a week, still learning the ropes and figuring out what he's good at.

And obviously, attempting to uncover his godly parent. No luck there.

The ear-shattering conch horn sounded, making all the campers stand at their tables.

Campers cheered and hooted as Annabeth along with two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner approximately the meters long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl resting upon an olive tree.

From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her siblings ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a detailed bloody spear and a gruesome picture of a boar's head.

He turned towards Luke, yelling over all the chaos ,"Those are the flags?"

Luke nodded in response, "Yeah."

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always,"He stated."But often."

"So,if another cabin captures one, then what'll you do—repaint the flag?"

He grinned, "You'll see.First, we have to get one."

"Whose side are we on?"

He gave him a sly look, as if the popular girl from third grade told him a secret that Percy didn't know. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena.Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."

The teams were announced. Athena had made alliances with Hermes and Apollo, the two biggest cabins.

Apparently; privileges had been traded— shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities — in order to win support.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.

From what he'd seen, Dionysus's children were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them.

Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoors stuff, but they weren't too aggressive. So not a big threat in terms of battle.

Aphrodite's sons and daughters he wasn't too worried about. Most of them sat out every other activity, checking their reflections on the lake and styling their hair while gossiping. They weren't too intimidating.

Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, but they were big and burly from constantly working in the metal shop.They might be a problem.

That, of course, left the Ares campers. A dozen of the biggest, most aggressive, meanest kids on Long Island, or well, anywhere else on the planet.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" He announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line.The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are permitted. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing and maiming is allowed.I will serve as a referee and battlefield medic.Arm yourselves!"

He spread his arms wide, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal, and many varied battle-field tools.