Shattered

Flag

Zoe awoke from her dreamless slumber to the sound of crashing waves.

The sand felt soft at her back and the steady breathing of the body beside her brought her comfort.

Her eyes widened in alarm, instantly awake, she jumped to her feet, only to be met with the snoozing face of Percy Jackson.

She had to fight back the blush that threatened grace her cheeks. She had fallen asleep! Next to a boy nonetheless!

She felt like smacking herself for letting her guard down like she had. She was an eternal maiden of Artemis, how could she have fallen asleep next to a disgusting male.

But a small part of her brain vehemently disagreed with herself, calling the sleeping boy a whole myriad of compliments.

She decided that she was going crazy.

Deciding against waking the son of Poseidon, Zoe made her way back to her cabin. She would need to come up with an excuse for what she had been doing outside the cabin.

When she reached the cabins, she noted that most of the camp was still fast asleep. Hestia tended to the hearth and a few campers milled about here and there.

She made her way to the Artemis Cabin and swung the door open. Only Phoebe was awake, for which she was thankful for.

"Zoe, where were you?" The daughter of Ares asked Zoe with a smile. Phoebe was probably Zoe's closest friend and sister among the hunters.

"Oh... I was just..." She forgot she had to come up with an excuse!

Mentally berating herself, she mumbled out, "Archery Practice."

She hoped the hunter didn't catch the bluff.

Phoebe simply shrugged and continued to sharpen her hunting knife. She did that in her free time, claiming it cleared her mind.

Zoe knew that the actual reason was because it was easier to castrate with a sharper blade. Gruesome but true.

"We should wake the rest," Zoe finally interjected, "It's almost time for breakfast."

Phoebe nodded before she proceeded to wake the hunters one by one. When allthirteen of the hunters were finally awake, Zoe led them to the Dining Pavilion.

On their way there, Zoe noticed that most of the camp had awoken, everyone hurriedly making their way to the Dining Pavilion, not dissimilar to the hunters.

When the hunters reached and took their seat in their table, Zoe noticed that Percy had made it to his table. She couldn't help but let a small smile grace her lips. Fortunately no one caught her in the act.

Ω

The rest of the day flew by in a blur, Zoe spent most of it in the arena. She spent the entire afternoon shooting into the archery targets, occasionally splitting her arrows at the dead center.

Before she knew it, she was back in the dining pavilion, her dinner being served to her. She gulped in a mouthful of air. It was the moment of truth, after the game, the prophecy would be revealed.

The Capture the Flag game wasn't too grand. There were thirteen hunters, and about the same number of campers.

On the campers's side, they had three Hephaestus kids, including the hulking figure of Charles Beckendorf. They also had a few chirlden of Ares, The Stoll Brothers and Nick from Hermes's cabin and a few children of Aphrodite, who surprisingly wanted to play, opting out of sitting on the sidelines. Then of course was Annabeth, the sole member of Athena's cabin playing, and the brains of the group.