Daughter of Poseidon

6. Capture The Flag

  Percy shrunk into the corner.

  "Oh, come on, another one?" Annabeth said, exasperated.

  "What if it's not about me?" Percy asked quietly.

  We all spun on our heels and looked at him like he was mental.

  "Are you serious?!" Nico cried out. "You're the only child of Poseidon! Who do you think it's about?!" Nico threw his hands up in the air.

  "Let's continue this later, when the rest arrive," Jason suggested.

  "I agree," Chiron said. "All of you, get back to your cabins and get some sleep; we have a big game of capture the flag today," he added.

  Everyone in the room perked up at this, myself included. As quickly as we had been snapped awake by the news, our weariness returned and we yawned simultaneously. We all mumbled half-hearted thank-you's and shuffled out of Rachel's cave.

  We all walked back to the cabins in silence before grumbling sleepy good-byes and parting ways. Nico and I walked back into the Hades cabin and flopped into our beds.

  The sound of our steady breathing was the only one that filled the otherwise silent cabin. After about an hour, Nico's quiet voice penetrated the silence.

  "You still awake?" he asked softly.

  "Yep," I sighed.

  "Can't go back to sleep?"

  "Mmhmm," I mumbled.

  "Yeah, me neither," Nico responded.

Another wave of silence settled over us like a blanket.

This time, I split the quiet.

"Who do you think is going to claim me?"

Nico chuckled. "How am I supposed to know?"

"I suppose you're right."

I paused.

"What if no one claims me?"

Nico shifted in his bed, turning towards me. He propped himself up on his side with his elbow.

He looked at me through the darkness, his dark eyes glittering in the moonlight that peeked through the windows.

Nico's eyes locked onto mine and he held his gaze, a serious expression crossing his face.

"You'll be claimed. Trust me. You wouldn't be here if you weren't a demigod. You wouldn't be here if you weren't someone's to claim."

"What about Rachel? She's not a demigod," I challenged.

Nico sighed. "Rachel is...different..." he concluded.

I nodded. Nico was right. There was nothing to worry about. Right?

"You're right. I guess I'm just worried." I laughed. "I think I do a little too much of that."

"Yeah, I think we both need to cut down on that," he snickered.

I turned in my coffin and pulled the covers up to my chin. I snuggled into the blankets as much as I could, finally feeling sleep tug at my consciousness.

"Thanks, Nico," I murmured sleepily.

"Anytime. Goodnight, Kaitlyn." I heard Nico mutter.

"'Night," I whispered almost inaudibly before I slipped into the comfort of sleep.