Chapter 1
Percy
I was ready to go. I only ate two slices of pizza at dinner, not wanting to barf up my dinner during the game. Last week, I helped lead the red team to victory, capturing the flag from a shocked and pissed off Annabeth, who, by the way, I had outsmarted somehow. I enjoy these moments. Anyway, Chiron understood how big of an upset it was, and made the teams accordingly, giving the Athena cabin a chance at revenge.
"All right, listen up," Chiron's voice boomed over the pavilion. Everyone was silent and anticipating his next words.
"As you all know, last week featured an upset seen only a handful of times; the Athena cabin lost." Murmurs breakout everywhere, and a couple of Dionysus kids cheer and grin at me. They had been with me when I took the flag. I risked a glance at Annabeth, who glared at me, as if to say, you just wait, Seaweed Brain. I was spooked.
"Anyway, I have a seen a chance for revenge for the Athena cabin, if they take it. The teams are: Dionysus, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Zeus, Hades, and Demeter on the blue team. The red team consists of Athena, Ares, the Hunters, Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite. And Percy, Jason, Hazel, Leo, and Nico, due to the severe imbalance, you four will be allowed to use your powers. Just don't hurt anybody, please."
Nervous chatter broke out all around. I grinned at Jason, and he grinned back. We could do this, with an extreme amount of luck. Athena, the Hunters, who were here on break, and Ares? We were beat. They had us in numbers, strength, and ability. Jason was probably our best strategist, since he was Roman. I was co-captain, but couldn't be happier when he volunteered to lead.
"I know how to beat them," he stated proudly.
"How?"
"Well, since they outnumber us, they expect us to be on the defensive."
"Okay?" I said/questioned. I then realized what he was getting at, and my eyes widened with shock.
"You can't be serious. A charge to start out?"
"What else do we have?" he asked. "And besides, you're going to be right in the middle of it."
I still had no idea what he was talking about, but I couldn't wait to find out.
"Get the team, Perce. We're about to make history."
We waited at the starting point, ready. Jason had a simple plan, but if it worked, we could upset the Athena cabin a second time in a row, something that hasn't occurred since George Washington was president. The plan: Jason, me, Hazel, Leo, and Nico all charge up the middle, drawing as many people as we can, and hopefully getting to the heart of their base. A token force of five comes after us, retrieves the flag, and we cover them as they retreat.
"And whatever you do," Jason remarked,"Don't get near Piper. Her charmspeak will-" Suddenly, a conch horn sounded in the distance, and the game began.
We ran towards the boundary. Nothing came at us, and we crossed into enemy territory. We saw no border guards, which unnerved me. Why wouldn't Annabeth have border guards? I wondered, but didn't have enough time to question it. Instead, we kept charging. Jason and Nico to my right, Leo and Hazel to my left. Seconds later, a lone Aphrodite camper appeared in front of us, shocked and startled, but determined. She raised her sword and charged us. We knocked her out easily, then kept running. Eventually, we could see their flag. It was right in the open, with nobody guarding it. Where was everybody? We saw no one.
"This is too spooky," Leo grumbled. His hands lit on fire, readying for combat. We all stood in a defensive circle. I made the mistake of looking down, and then I knew.
"Uh-oh. Run!"
"Now!" I heard the cry of an order, sounding strangely familiar. We had no time to react when there was a "WOOSH," and we suddenly found ourselves in a gigantic cargo net, hovering fifteen feet above the ground. Apparently it was magic, because it resisted Leo's fireballs, Jason's lightning, and turned Nico's summoned soldiers to ashes. We were far from the creek, so I couldn't use water. We were trapped.
"Now, you'd really think I would let you come in with your strongest force, distract us, and then win?" Annabeth smirked while walking up to us, arms crossed.
"Better luck next time, Fly Boy," Piper declared to Jason from the other side of the cargo net.
"I hate that nickname," was all Jason had to say.
"I know."
"Get us down from here!" Hazel cried.
"Not so fast," Annabeth spoke. "We have a flag to capture. Now charge, heroes! Get their flag!" All around us, campers and hunters swarmed out of the foliage. How had we missed so many? It was then I realized that they were wearing chameleon armor. They were invisible to us, since we sprinted by them.
"Revenge stings, huh Seaweed Brain?"
"Yep."
So we just hung there, listening to the Athena cabin exacting their revenge on the blue team.