Sons of the Big Three

Capturing the Flag

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of value. It was all stolen by my Hermes correspondents: Will Cooper, Will Maverick, Desmond Maverick, and Joshua Morris

Will’s POV

Well, that had been an intense day. After sword fighting classes, in which Nick dominated, I went to lunch by myself.

I didn’t envy Nick. I knew he was a great fighter the moment we had started our journey, and he was modest and not arrogant like others. Although there wasn’t much to be arrogant about in the first place.

I was worried for him too. The moment I set my eyes on the girl he was with I had known something edgy was going on, but I had nothing, no evidence at all. Maybe it was just me, I thought, my mood becoming sombre as lunch finished.

‘Hey,’ someone behind me said, and I turned to find Nico. He and Thalia were walking up, hand in hand, the huntress eating a cheeseburger. ‘I can teach you some of the tricks we children of Hades have.’

I stared at them, and they realised they were still holding hands and blushed, but still stayed together. ‘Will, me and Thalia are dating,’ he told me.

My jaw dropped. ‘But you’re a hunter!’ I cried.

Thalia nodded. ‘It doesn’t mean I don’t love,’ she spoke softly, and Nico squeezed her hand. ‘He grew on me, and I started to develop feelings for him.’

Nico smiled. ‘Will, you’ll understand when you find the one.’

My face darkened. ‘Love is nothing but a way for someone to torture and hurt you,’ I spat out with venom, and the couple looked at me in confusion. Memories started to surface, and my face contorted into pain, before I gasped and stood, shakily, on my legs.

‘Will, are you fine?’

I shook my head, and took an uncertain step towards the cabins, but then the next moment I had disappeared.

Literally, the shadows had rose and when they flowed back down to the ground I had gone with them. I was not in the mess hall anymore. I was in darkness, and I could not see where I was. For the first time, I knew why people were scared of the dark.

I looked around, trying to find a way out, but I couldn’t see an exit. I growled and shook my head, before stepping forward. I had to get out. How did I end up here in the first place?

I imagined myself at my cabin, at Camp, and stepped forward, and suddenly I was back in the world of living, with light shining down, in front of cabin 13. I was surprised, but also exhausted, and fell to the ground, slumping to my knees.

‘Well done,’ Nico said from behind me, and I started in surprise. He hadn’t been there before. So how?

‘It took me a while to master shadow travelling. I was shocked when you did so.’

Shadow travelling? Was that that dark thing I did? ‘Wait, so I travelled with the shadows? But why didn’t I see anything?’

Nico nodded. ‘Well, you did shadow travel, but you had no idea what you were doing, therefore you could not focus your thoughts. I was actually going to teach you how to do shadow travelling now, if you want.’

I smiled and nodded. ‘Please do. It was fun after I got over my surprise.’

He chuckled. ‘Well, the first thing to do is…’

After a whole afternoon of doing that, I slumped against a tree inside the forest, too tired to do anything else, while Nico stood beside me, bemused by my lack of stamina.