You Make My Heart Melt

Chpt 4: Surrender

As we walked to the pavilion, Leo talked about his friends while I quietly listened. "They're all pretty nice, and they've all got some sense of humor. But, to be perfectly honest, I think I top them all in that category." I nodded and smiled, looking down at my shoes as they moved in sync with the boy next to me. I shoved my hands in my pockets, longing for a long-sleeved shirt.

The clothes I wore didn't fit me all that well, and by that I mean they were a little loose. I wasn't exactly worried about the shirt, more my pants. I supposed that didn't matter at the moment though, as I continued listening to the Latino's words.

"Well, you already met Jason and Nico, so that means you have to meet..." He counted on his friends on his fingers. "Five other people, I believe."

"Oh wow, the flame boy has a little posse. That's cute," I stated and flashed a grin, elbowing his side. He chuckled a bit and puffed out his chest.

"That's right. I'm the flaming leader, with my group of spastic demigod teenagers as backup."

We reached the pavilion, and Leo led me to his friends table, where they were all talking among one another. I counted how many there were, and there only seemed to be four people, and I had already met Jason. I wondered where the other two were, and thought that maybe they were still asleep?

Leo cleared his throat loudly, and all four demigods jerked their heads up, noticing they new demigod; me. "Greetings friends, I have an announcement to make." He looked over to me and pulled me in front of him, making myself be seen. "This is (Y/n). She's the girl I had to bring here the other day, and she'll be sitting with us, because she is my friend, and I'm going to force you to be her friend as well. Good? Good. Say hi (Y/n)."

I hesitantly lifted up a hand, making one small movement with it. "Hey..." Everyone waved, but they didn't seem that enthusiastic about me being there. I panicked a bit, not wanting to be on bad terms with Leo's friends. Leo made me sit next to them, and I sat there, uncomfortable and quiet. I didn't know what to do, what to say. It was like I was moving into a new school again, and it took me at least a month or more to gain friends. I was lucky enough to be acquainted to Leo.

"Hey (Y/n), aren't you getting any food?" I heard an unfamiliar voice say. I looked up and saw it was the girl with the brunette hair, her skin tan from the sun. She looked really pretty, and had her elbows on the table, sitting exceptionally close to Jason.

In response, I shook my head, staying silent. "You should. You're going to need your strength today, and most other days, trust me." She smiled a bit in my direction, and I felt the slight urge to go get some food. She held her hand out across the table.

"I'm Piper, by the way. I've been told that you already met Jason this morning in Bunker 9." I nodded a bit, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Piper and Jason are the second couple in this little group right here," Leo added, poking my side. "Over there is Percy and Annabeth, the first couple of the group."

I looked over at the other boy and girl at the table, waving a bit, once again.

"Have you been claimed yet?" Percy asked, shoving a blue pancake into his mouth. I blanked out for a moment once I saw that the pancake was blue, but I shook my head.

"Claimed...?" I asked quietly, looking around the table.

"It's when your godly parent claims that you're their child," Annabeth explained, looking at me, almost like she was studying my expressions and body in general. "I'm surprised that you haven't been yet, most get claimed at an earlier age..."

"It's like the same deal with Jason, Piper and I." Leo turned to look at me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get claimed soon enough. Until then, we're gonna play some games."

I looked over at him, a bit confused. "Games...?"

I had no clue what to do. I sprinted through the forest, shaking in the armor I was provided. First day at a demigod camp, and I'm being hunted down like some fox. A flag was in my hand, my sickle in the other, and about five other people were chasing me. I dashed through the unfamiliar place, dodging branches and swords, jumping over stumps, rocks, and wires.

No one was in my sights to help me, and I attempted to reach my destination. I've known capture the flag to be a rival game, but it was fun when I played it as a kid. Now, if you had the flag, there was no jail if you got tagged.

It was either you got the flag and ran for your life to your destination and win, or they catch you and you die or get seriously injured.

I had already gotten a few cuts and bruises on my body already, and people were catching up to me, despite my best efforts on my speed.

I saw the defender of the flag in my sights, which was Percy. He had decided to stay behind this time and help me if needed.

"Percy!!" I yelled, waving the flag in my hand. He waved his hand as well, rushing towards me for the hand-off.

For the one time I'm not staring at where I'm going, I trip on a wire, sending my body hurling across the ground. When I tripped, I lost grip on the flag, and it too went hurdling through the air.

I felt an unimaginable pain below my rib cage, sprawled over a tree trunk sticking out of the ground. A few minutes after I fell and the pain began to spread, I heard a loud cheer coming from the area where my team's flag was, and multiple high fives.

A faint voice asked a question I wish I could answer.

"Where's (Y/n)?" I tried to call out for help, but the blood in my throat clogged any sound I tried to make, other than a small whimper or a cough. I could barely move without my stomach feeling immense pain, but I had to get back to the others, to find out what happened.

I sat up, and a scream emitted from my throat. The pain seared through my torso, and my vision got blurry.

"What was that!?" Someone asked from afar, and things went silent.

I could hear a soft muffle come from the group, and the sound of branches and crunching leaves echoed throughout the area, coming closer to where my shriek was heard. I tried to keep my breathing steady, but it was a combination of heavy and ragged breathing with slight whimpers. I kept my eyes open, remembering something like this happened before I came to camp.

The crunching got louder, and it stopped right in front of me.

"Guys!! Get Chiron!! (Y/n)'s hurt!!!" Percy. A pair of hands set on my shoulders, shaking me slightly. "(Y/n)! Stay awake!" But I couldn't. My world was getting dark, and I felt Percy's arms wrap around me and pick me up.

"Stay awake!"

Everything went dark.