Prologue:

"So," Zeus said, unsure what to think. "You've never done this before..."

"True enough," Artemis responded. "And yet, I've recently seen its practicality and wisdom. Surely you see the same, or at least Athena."

Athena sure did. She had previously thought it best to stay quiet until Zeus had said his piece, but she spoke up, now. "It is practical. And wise. She can't just have her Huntresses about. It is a good choice."

"Hmm..." Zeus thought for a moment. "Yes, I can see the merit. Though its absence would change nothing, you have my blessing. And, Artemis?"

Artemis, who had been leaving, turned back.

"It may be wise to repeat these events."

Artemis would have dismissed the idea any other century, but now she simply nodded and contemplated the prospect. "Perhaps."

Twelve years later...

Sean Bennet crested the hill, looking back doubtfully. His dad waved to him, and he smiled weakly. This summer camp was odd, and not very compelling. It just looked like a massive house in some strawberry fields.

"I swear," Sean muttered, "if this is some fruit farming camp, I'm hiding in the attic." He walked down the opposite side of the hill. He was greeted at the door by an older gentleman in a wheelchair. He had reddish-brown hair, a wispy beard, deep brown eyes, and wore a tweed jacket and gray pants.

"Welcome, Sean." He extended a hand in greeting. "I'd stand, but..."

Sean chuckled some, then shook the man's hand. It was only later he realized he had never been introduced or registered, and this man shouldn't have known his name.

"Well, we should get to it. I'm giving it to you straight, because you've already noticed some strange things in your life."

It was true. Sean had been in some strange situations, though he'd had no explanation for them, and nobody else had either. Like that time he had translated an Ancient Greek phrase he'd never seen before, and everyone in his History class stared at him in shock. Then they had gone on, sort of dazed but as if nothing had happened. Or that time when a fissure had opened up in the middle of the road, all passersby completely oblivious, and horrors had poured out. When Sean had blinked, though, the fissure was gone and the horrors somewhere in the crowds.

"Well, might as well tell you. You're a Half-Blood." The man in the wheelchair rolled into the large house, and Sean followed him. "A demigod. Half god, half human. Your father: is he your birth father?"

"Yes." Sean didn't believe any of this but figured he might humor the man. "Probably crazy," he muttered to himself.

"Who? Your father?" The man had heard him.

"What? No."

"Me, then? Well, that's what they all say, at first." The man wheeled his chair out onto the back of the wraparound porch, and Sean nearly had a heart attack. A massive field of... stuff had appeared. A volleyball court, a basketball court, a huge arena like he'd learned about in the Greek section of History, an archery range, several large pavilions of stone, an area of cabins shaped like a Greek Omega. There was a lake, a massive forest, and some docks out in the Long Island Sound. "Well, you may as well get acquainted with the other campers." The man in the wheelchair trotted past-

Trotted?!

Sean turned about and saw a hollowed-out wheelchair with fake legs attached to it. The man previously in the wheelchair was now a Centaur, a white stallion from the waist down.

"Ah, I'm Chiron. Yes, the same one as the myths. And, unfortunately for you, you're about to meet your first God."

/\

Dionysus was insufferable. Sean hated him, even if he did accept the reality of the Greek myths being all true. The God of Wine had sat, sipping his diet Coke for nearly half an hour, insulting Sean, calling him Shane, and expressed his annoyance at demigods in general.

Sean had finally slipped away, visiting the Hermes cabin and beginning his training. He found he wasn't much good on horses or chariots. The Athena cabin schooled him on that. He tried the canoe lake, and the son of Poseidon there, Percy, was across the lake before Sean could get his canoe straight. After that failure he went to the climbing wall, which poured lava, shot arrows, ejected spikes, and shook. He was a lot better at that, but not by very much. He then started training with swords.

"All right," Percy said. He was the sword trainer as well. "This one is a lot shorter, so it might work better." At first, Sean had been given a long blade, and he couldn't use it well at all. Now he held something akin to a Gladius, shorter and wider. He started sparring with Percy again, and the gladius balanced a lot better in his hand. Percy had a bit harder time defending, but still didn't let any strikes get through. The sword just didn't feel right. Maybe it wasn't a sword Sean needed...

"How about a dagger?" That seemed very appealing.

"It's a bit dangerous to fight with something so small, don't you-"

"Annabeth and Piper use them." Annabeth was the daughter of Athena, and was very handy with her knife. She was, like her mother and all of her half-siblings, very wise and knowledgable in battle tactics. Piper was a daughter of Aphrodite, and used her dagger with almost as much prowess. Her inherited Charmspeak was one of the more powerful in the Aphrodite cabin.

"I suppose..." Percy disappeared into the weapons shed. When he returned, he held a long, slim dagger. "This might-"

"No." Sean could already see it was too long and thin. Like a shorter version of a rapier. "Shorter and wider, I think. Why don't I go in with you." Percy nodded. Sean walked in, looking over an array of weapons made primarily of Celestial Bronze, with a few made of Imperial Gold, and fewer still, probably four in total, made of Stygian Iron. These were the sort of enchanted metals that could harm monsters and immortals. Silver also worked, Sean had been told, but only Artemis and her Huntresses used that. Sean turned around, looking at the other side of the shed, then turned back. Nestled deep in a pile of daggers, there sat one that stood out from the rest. It was Stygian Iron, and looked exactly like what Sean had in mind.

"Stygian Iron?" Percy seemed confused. "We don't usually use Stygian Iron..." Once out of its sheath, its balance was the best so far, though not perfect, and its black leather-bound hilt pretty comfortable.

"This one." Sean was not willing to back down on this point. This was the only dagger he'd found so far that he thought would work well for him.

"All right." Percy recognized the quality of the simple dagger. They sparred several more times, and only twice did Percy not end up with Sean's new dagger just centimeters away from his throat or chest.

"I think we've established you're good at knife-fighting," Percy panted after being beat a seventh time. "How about some archery? Chiron will be leading you on that."

Sean was led to the archery ranges, where Chiron had him in another weapon's shed. He had complimented Sean on his new dagger, though he also seemed a bit off. The moment had passed though, and Chiron invited Sean to choose a bow. None of these were made of Stygian Iron, and few were made of Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold. Most were made of wood, tendon, or bone. One stood out, though. It was shaped as though it were metal, but it was made of bone. The arrows with it were in a dark gray leather quiver with bronze trim. The arrows were made of white bone with steel heads, and had black fletching. Sean picked it up, and once again knew it was almost meant to be his. He walked outside, and began firing arrows without instruction from Chiron. He had shot some compound bows in his youth, and it had always seemed natural. This bow was a good deal harder to draw, but wasn't too difficult. Chiron's face flushed, and he nearly yelled at Sean. Then he noticed that every arrow was near center, and had been fired within two seconds of each other.

"That's..." Chiron was amazed. "Apollo, perhaps..."

Suddenly, a conch horn blew. Chiron beckoned to Sean, and they moved toward the largest of the stone pavilions. Sean sat at the Hermes table, and Chiron stamped his rear hoof. Dionysus was behind him, and Sean burst out laughing at an image of the god being kicked in the face. Everyone stared at him, and he was instantly silenced. Dionysus then stood to address the campers.

"Due to some quite compelling circumstances, Shane Bridget will be housed in the Apollo cabin from here forth..." His voice trailed off as Chiron spoke to him. "Ah, yes. Sean Bennet. As a result, he will also be fighting alongside the Apollo cabin in tonight's match of Capture the Flag. This will be in place until he is claimed due to Peter Johnson's pact with the gods. Yes, yes. Percy, Peter, same thing. All right! Let's eat!"

They were served some sort of ultra-mega-lean barbecue and mixtures of fruits and vegetables. Before Sean could dig in, everyone stood up. They moved toward a large brazier, where everyone began scraping their best morsels and stating the name of a god. Sean reached the brazier and scraped in his meatiest rib and the largest strawberry.

"Apollo," he said. As Dionysus said, Apollo wasn't actually his father, but he was in that cabin. He then sat in the pavilion again, and wolfed down his food. He really liked the idea of Capture the Flag in this kind of place. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, but they didn't finish when he did. So he spoke to his magical cup.

"Root beer, 1956." The cup filled, and Sean took a content sip. Old-fashioned root beer was the best kind. Before he even finished the whole cup, Chiron stamped his hoof again and the food disappeared. In its place were suits of armor, sticks padded with leather to represent weapons, and less powerful bows than could be found in the armory.

"Tonight," Chiron said as everyone equipped themselves, "we have Athena, Hades, Poseidon, Apollo, and Aphrodite facing off against Ares, Zeus, Hephaestus, Demeter, Hermes, Hestia, and Dionysus." He waited for a moment for everyone to finish gearing up. Sean had donned some bronze greaves, bracers and helmet with a blue plume, then a leather cuirass. He had armed himself with a bow and some leather-tipped arrows and a short padded stick to represent a dagger. He then crossed to the Poseidon table, where everyone of blue team seemed to be congregating. On the table was a flag. It was divided in half diagonally, one side sea green and the other light gray. In the center was a dark grey owl over crossed green tridents. The flag was quite apparently a team flag for Athena and Poseidon. On the Ares table was a blood red, tattered looking flag with a boar's head in the center. In each corner there was an inward-facing spear. Definitely an Ares flag. Everyone went quiet, and Chiron spoke again.

"You all know the rules. Three rounds, best two out of three, the stream is the boundary. If you're hit in a lethal spot, move back to your flag for thirty seconds. Trust me, that's not very long. Let Capture the Flag begin!"

Everyone flooded toward the forest, and Annabeth approached Sean. "Everyone else has established their roles. You know what you want to do? We've got enough of everything already, so you're choice doesn't much matter."

Sean didn't have to think long. He'd played a less violent version of this in school, and he was only good at one thing. "Infiltration."

Annabeth nodded, as if she'd already known he would say that. The group congregated around a huge formation of boulders that looked like a fist. Someone laughed to his friend, "I love it when we get Zeus's Fist." Percy climbed the Fist and wedged the flag between two of the smaller rocks.

"You all know the plan. Spread out, let's go." Percy jumped from the Fist, drawing his 'sword.' "Defenders, only move if there's an unmissable opportunity."

Sean moved to the far right side of the field. He drew his bow and an arrow, and waited for the-

The conch horn blew. Sean moved forward immediately, shooting down a Hephaestus kid. He grumbled and walked toward his flag. Sean moved quickly and quietly through the trees, shooting at every opportunity. Every arrow found its mark, and he even managed to retrieve some. Before he knew it, he stood directly in front of the flag. He shot down half of the defenders, then snatched the flag through the opening. The other defenders didn't notice until he blew past them, heading at very high speed toward the boundary line. Suddenly, Percy and Annabeth appeared out of the trees, running in pace with Sean. They all saw the leather-tipped arrow flying out of the trees, and Percy took the flag as it struck Sean. Sean didn't stop or slow, but continued to run toward the Poseidon/Athena flag with his hands up. Percy was then struck, but now Annabeth had the flag, and was only five feet from the stream. She crossed, and a sea green/gray slash mark appeared on each flag. One victory for Athena/Poseidon. The conch horn blew again, and everyone was free to move back to their spots. Once everyone was on-sides, the conch horn blew again. Sean nocked and drew two arrows at once, finger in between them in order to fire them at multiple targets. He went full stealth this time, and had to stop just before the flag. There were more guards this time, and they were all archers from the Demeter cabin. Sean might have a lot more trouble with the capture. Percy and Annabeth suddenly charged out of the trees, and managed to fell half the guards before they were found out and shot. Sean fired on the other half and charged forward. He picked up the red flag and dove back into the trees. He took a winding, stealthy route, but was soon ambushed by some Hephaestus campers. They brought the flag back, and Sean was forced to walk across the line while a trio of Hermes kids ran across with the Athena/Poseidon flag. A maroon slash mark appeared on each flag, indicating a win for the Ares kids. One more for the win on both sides.

The conch horn blew a fourth time, then a fifth to signal the start of the next round. Sean was near the middle now, and could see both flags through the trees. He decided to go for a more direct, combat-based approach. He held his bow in his left hand, naturally, and his dagger in his right. It dangled from his pinky finger, leaving his index, middle and ring fingers free to fire his bow. Anyone with a ranged weapon was shot, but Sean soon ran into a posse of Ares kids with swords and spears. He replaced his arrow in its quiver and flipped the dagger upright. One sword-stick flew toward his head, which he ducked. That left him free to jab three kids in the gut, and they turned and shuffled back toward their flag with upraised hands. A spear then jabbed at Sean's chest, and he swiped it aside with a limb of his bow. He then spun in behind his attacker and stabbed him in the back three times. The others were forced to turn, but none of them had melee weapons. Sean had a free run to the flag. He took off running, but distant shouts told him someone else was about to capture the Athena/Poseidon flag. Sean shot down all of the Demeter archers, and snatched up the flag. He turned and got rid of the pursuing Ares kids, then sprinted back toward the line. He had no support this time. He approached the stream steadily and quickly, but then he saw a sea green shape. An Ares kid burst out of the trees on the other side, and was closer to the stream than Sean. It was a hopeless race. Sean contemplated shooting, but it would slow him down enough they would definitely lose if he missed. He realized he wasn't much faster than the Ares kid, and they would lose anyway. So, he stopped, turned, and shot the camper's helmet clean off. The camper, now revealed to be female, slipped and fell as her head's momentum was halted and her feet refused to stop. Sean raced across the stream just as a mob of Ares kids burst from the trees to stop him. The conch horn blew, and everything went silent.

The slash marks disappeared, and the Ares flag changed color magically. It turned gray, then brightened to silver. In each corner appeared a turquoise bow, whose limbs were made of deer horns. They were all drawn and pointing at a white crescent moon in the center. The very same crescent moon suddenly appeared over Sean's head, with silver clouds floating in front of it. Chiron galloped to the circle of kids, and looked at Sean.

He exclaimed unintentionally, "Artemis!"

And the camp erupted.