𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒, Percy began to settle into Camp Half-Blood. In the morning, him and Annabeth would do Ancient Greek lessons. In the afternoon, Luke would take him around camp. They had been going around camp trying different outdoor activities, attempting to find any that Percy was good at. So far, the only thing he had excelled at was canoeing, and one lucky disarming trick in sword-fighting.

Finally, it was Capture the Flag night. Annabeth, as always, had a good plan, although she had refused to tell anyone. The teams were announced. Athena had an alliance with Hermes and Hephaestus. Ares had everyone else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Apollo. The Dionysus kids were decent, but there were only two of them. Demeter kids were mainly defensive rather than offensive, with their cool plants and traps. Most of Aphrodite didn't really participate, apart from a couple of them. Apollo was a big threat, considering they were a large cabin with incredible archers. Then there was Ares, of course, which was the main competition.

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 allowed. 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 or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!" 

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, shields coated in metal. Daphne ignored these weapons. She had her ring on and a spare dagger strapped secretly in her boots for good measure. She was as prepared as she could possibly be.

Annabeth yelled, "Blue Team, forward!"

Daphne and Luke joined her, ordering their cabins to follow. As the three of them walked, Percy suddenly popped up next to them in armour that was way too big for him.

"Hey," he said, "So what's the plan? Got any magic items you can loan me?"

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," Annabeth said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you a job?"

"Border patrol," Luke said.

"It's easy," Annabeth continued, "Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."

After a couple more minutes of walking, Annabeth stationed Percy by the creek and then the team scattered.

"Good luck!" Daphne told him before running off.

She ran through the forest, hearing the occasional yells from around her. A couple times, she was stopped by a camper from the opposing team, and had to quickly disarm them. Strangely enough, the Ares cabin were nowhere to be seen.

Soon enough, she arrived to the area that most of the campers were in. A speck of red was a few kilometres away, and the red team could barely keep up their defence. Apollo kids were shooting arrows after arrows, but most of the time their own teammates would be in the way. Daphne slammed the hilt of her sword into a Dionysus camper and pushed over a small Demeter kid. As she advanced to hit another camper, an arrow flew towards her. Daphne braced herself for the impact, which would not kill, but hurt badly. Strangely enough, the arrow suddenly did an awkward jolt and fell to the floor. The brunette blinked, but quickly moved on and ran towards the flag. Alongside her, Luke was also running towards it.

"You get it," Daphne said, "I'll watch your back, in case any arrows come at you."

Luke nodded and ran faster. Daphne ran behind him, deflecting more and more arrows shooting through the dark sky. Cheers erupted as Luke grabbed the flag and ran back to the boundary line. A couple campers on their team were covering his back whilst he ran, fighting off the few red-team campers attempting to stop them.