By the time I reached my cabin I was out of breath and dizzy. Armour and helmet were laid out on my bed. Thank the gods. The comb of the the helmet was a dusty dark blue, the metal was scratched and dented.
"Oh, you're team blue too!" A voice says, startling me. Jackson and Annabeth stand at the door, in full armour and helmets on their heads. They look like gods alone.
"Yeah, how much time do I have?" I ask, awkwardly holding the helmet in my hands.
"You have ten minutes, then we all have to meet at the sword fitting field. Do you want me to help you with the armour?" Offers Annabeth.
I nod gingerly.
"Okay, I'll meet you there Percy." she says, kissing him on the cheek. He smiles, nods and walks away.
"You guys are so cute." I blurt out. I bite my lip, cursing at myself.
"Aw, thanks. He's such a dork, but I love him to death. We've been through so much." She says, helping me put on my breastplate. I strap the Greek skirt around my waist over top of my jeans. I pull on my archery glove on my right hand and slip on my Greek boots. She buckles the breastplate up on both sides and then looks at me for inspection.
"Perfect fit. Now the arm bracers." She ties them up like a corset, the leather snug on my forearms.
"Lets go." She says. I nod, strapping my silver quiver and bow over my shoulder.
"Oh no no no! No bows, spears, or such allowed! Those can really cause a lot of damage, only swords. There's swords at the armory you can choose from." She says. I sigh, putting it away.
"Do you prefer offence or defense?" She asks me.
"Defense, I stay up in the trees." I say. She smiles.
"Me too, but today they want me on offense, so guard our flag well." She says. I nod. We got to the field which was swarming with demi gods. I recognized the seven immediately, all standing together plotting. They managed to all get on the blue team some home, except for Nico, he was sitting under the shadow of a tree, red helmet on his head and his Stygian iron sword at his side. I smile at him and he nods. The thought of Alex runs through my mind. Alex. He's 25 now. Technically so am I, but I look 18, and so I will for the rest of my life, if I don't full fill the prophecy.
"Guys, I need you to meet someone." Says Annabeth to the seven. They're all 18, but they look a lot older. My breath hitches. I don't really like meeting new people.
"This is Vera." She says, and introducing me to all of the seven. Each one greats me with a smile.
"Good to have you on our team." Says Jason. I smile sheepishly.
"Thanks. Um, where's the flag?" I whisper to them.
"It's in the North woods, at the very edge of Long Island Waters, closer to the Fireworks beach. We hear you're a tree climber eh?" Asks Percy.
"Yeah, um, how does this whole fitting thing work, because I don't want to kill anyone." I say.
"Don't worry. Aim below the shoulders. We have the best infirmary in the World, even camp Jupiter can't beat us. They'll stitch you up and you'll be walking the next day!" Leo shouts.
"Vera's immortal, you can't hurt her." Says a voice. Nico.
"Sweet Zeus almighty, don't sneak up on people like that!" Says Percy, dramatically clutching his chest. Annabeth rolls her eyes.
"Campers! Come around!" Yells Chiron. Everyone circles around him.
"You know how this works! All magical items are acceptable. Play fair, first one to capture the other teams flag, WINS!" He blows the horn, and everyone runs to their positions. The map comes up mentally in my head. I run towards the North Forest, jumping over roots. I feel the wind in my hair and I let out a laugh of pure joy. I miss running like this. I finally see it, the blue flag stands in the middle of the rocky shore, the frozen ice layer sparkles lightly in the setting sunlight. I hop onto the lower branch, wrap my legs around and pull myself up. I climb a little higher and crouch, waiting for the final blast of the horn to signify the start.
