Crossroads of Two Worlds

11-Just Like Gym Class... With Weapons

Mcgonagall had sent all of my belongings ahead to my cabin, assuring me that they would be there when I arrived. We'd also bought a trunk to keep my things in, one similar to the trunks that the other students use. Mine was a dark blue, the color of the midnight sky, with my name etched in gold cursive on the top. It was amazing the amount of stuff it could contain. As of the present moment, it was six o'clock, the official dinner time at camp. Normally I didn't rush to dinner, but I knew that today was special, it was Capture the Flag tonight.

I ran back to my cabin, much less out of breath than the last time I ran there thanks to all the training I'd been enduring, and set my owl's cage on one of the large window sills. Since the ceiling was made of windows and was fairly high, I decided to just let my owl go, she could perch on one of the beams on the walls. I hadn't decided what to call her yet, but I was more than glad that she was mine. Maybe now I could keep in contact with my friends from camp and my mom.

I ran to the Mess Hall and sat between Noah and Andre, that being the closest table. Well, the closest table I could possibly stand sitting at. I didn't even talk to them as my food showed up on my plate, exactly what I craved as always. I knew the game would start soon, but I managed to gobble up some dinner before campers started gathering. I'd never played capture the flag before coming here, not even with my best friend, Kai, back in Hawaii. But I doubted that it would make a difference, the demigods played by a different set of rules than mortals did. Since I was a practically untrained, powerless, eleven year old girl, I was all but useless to whatever team I was on. The storm I had created days ago hadn't helped much, if at all, with controlling my powers. Though my shoulder still ached from a week-old beating, I could at least fight. The only cabin I knew was on my team was Aphrodite. I wasn't a fan of most of the Aphrodite kids, but some of them weren't just pretty. They were fierce.

One of them, a tall girl with dark hair and tanned skin, stood proudly in her armor, her straight, layered hair falling down to her waist. With her posture set and her eyes steely, I could tell she was a fantastic ally and probably a formidable foe. Her name was Helena Grace, she was seventeen years old. She was beautiful, but in a warrior princess sort of way. A small black and white feather was tied into a tiny braid on one side of her head. Her parents were great friends of Maya's parents, them having saved the world together multiple times in their teenage years. Percy Jackson was famous as a kid. Like me, he was a child of the big three, and was powerful from the start, defeating a great monster, the Minotaur, before he even got to camp. Hearing the retelling of his story felt like reliving my own. I'd heard so much about Percy Jackson that I was convinced he was a god. But when I mentioned this to Maya, she proudly stated that he'd turned down that opportunity for Annabeth, Maya's mother, a daughter of Athena. Both Percy and Annabeth were great friends of Helena's parents, Jason and Piper Grace, and so I wasn't shocked when Adrian mentioned that he used to have a crush on her.

Next to her stood a boy from the Athena cabin. He had honey blond hair and piercing grey eyes like Adrian's. He looked every bit the fierce warrior his mother would expect him to be, especially with the spear in his hand.

I also happened to find that I was paired with the seven kids of the Hecate cabin, which was a huge advantage. Apparently, these seven children of Hecate were the most powerful Camp Half-Blood had seen in decades. They were led by their ring leader, Ky, who hated his real name, Akylas. I'd bullied it out of him a few weeks ago, unfortunately only after he had turned my hair green. All of the Hecate children were so 'tuned in' to each other that with all of them they were unstoppable. The five boys and two girls were terrifying when they worked together, though one of the girls, ten year old Carmen, was the most powerful of them all. Her magic so diverse she could create a tornado or control someone' mind. A sweet blonde haired, hazel eyed girl on the outside and a fierce warrior on the inside.

Chiron, seeing that we were all gathered around him, spoke, "For the newbies, what we are about to do is dangerous and pointless unless you take it seriously. We divide into two teams and must steal the flag from the other team to win the game. The teams are as follows: Apollo, Poseidon, Demeter, Hermes, Hypnos if Claude wakes up, and Nike. The other is Aphrodite, Athena, Hephaestus, Hecate, and Ares. Plus Alana, I believe. First team gets Camille."

Camille was the camp pet, a gift from the Roman demigods after their elephant, Hannibal, adopted a female elephant and had offspring. Camille was quite gentle really, having been raised from infancy by demigods and other odd creatures, but she got annoyed if she wasn't included in the game.

Chiron spread his arms and grinned wildly, "Let the games begin. Take sides and positions please."

The crowd split and the teams went in opposite directions, the rest of my team and I went to the western side of the woods while the east was taken by our opponents. I was given a spot on the creek bank to guard. Apparently it was a good starter spot, since I had only played the game once before, and been completely useless. I had my swords strapped to my belt on either side and took my post by the creek with intention to guard it to my best ability, seeing as since I was a newbie, I could've been made fun of for ages if I failed. And seeing as I had the Ares cabin on my team, if I lost us the game I might not live to tell the tale.

A bugle horn sounded over the forest and I heard several cries of war. I heard Helena yell "CHARGE!"

And our entire team split into four groups. I held my ground and the two Athena kids behind me ran deeper into the woods. They were quickly hidden in the pine trees, facing the other way. The ferns and trees surrounding me could've hidden anything, but the only footsteps I heard were those of my teammates charging enemy lines with determination. Strategies had been debated and it had been decided that the few Athena kids who didn't want to fight would play as guards to me and the flag. The large group would split into two teams of three or four and a still large group would charge straight on as the two smaller teams went around and came from the back. The plan itself didn't require attention from me after I heard what I would be doing, so I really didn't know the entire plan. I was a bit upset about getting such a boring job, not that I mentioned it to anyone.

I kept looking around in all directions for at least five minutes and then the leaves on the forest floor crunched to my left. I whirled around and faced my best friend, Maya Jackson, twirling her Chinese ring daggers around her fingers. Her blonde hair was disheveled as she stepped closer with deadly calmness radiating off of her in waves. The facade was broken as her lips began to twitch, aching to smile.

So she did.

She grinned evilly at me and I grinned back, drawing my swords and twirling one of them in a threatening manner. I was tired from my long and interesting day, and because I had hurt my shoulder a week ago, I knew I wouldn't be able to beat her but I also knew that I had to try. That was the first lesson Adrian had drilled into me, never don't try and never give up.

So I raised my swords in defense position and readied myself for her attack.

She struck out at me with her right dagger and spun to avoid my swords that crossed where her stomach would've been a second ago. She managed to knock my right sword out of my hand and slice my same arm open right below my elbow. It was short but deep, I grimaced but started fighting with my remaining sword, my right arm dripping blood onto the pine needles underfoot. I gave it everything I had but she kicked my sword arm and knocked my sword to the ground before sweeping my legs out from under me. I landed on my back and a fallen tree branch dug into my bad shoulder painfully. Her daggers were crossed at my throat and she smiled down at me, yet it was a sort of sad smile, as if she knew I could've won if I'd been fully recovered.

Adrian dropped out of the trees on the other side of the creek and made for the flag that had been planted on the creek bank. My eyes widened and on a strange impulse, I shoved my hand towards him, wishing a gust of wind would push him back into the trees. And it did, right as a rush of energy filled my body. Adrian was blown backwards, away from the flag and into the woods.