Disclaimer:Don't own PJO, never have, never will.

The steps creaked loudly against my shoes as I moved upwards, the corridor laid out before me wasn't dark and threatening, but warm and familiar. I was finally home. Thankfully, my mother had left the hallway light on.

I smiled to myself as I discarded my suitcase, propping it against the steps with no intention of touching it until morning.

Even though it was late, well past midnight (courtesy of a three hour flight delay) and although I was dirty, tired, and hungry. I was happy. It had been three months, a full summer, since I had hugged my baby brother. Three months since I patted my dog. Three months since I've been able to wake up in the morning, jump down the stairs and bid my mother a good morning. And frankly, three months is way too long for me.

But none of that matters now, I'm home! Another eventful summer at camp is finished. Two years after the war, and things were still running smoothly – well, as smooth as they can get. We are talking about the place where Dionysus is the camp director, throw in the hardheaded Ares children, a few Athena kids who can never admit they're wrong, those kleptomaniac Hermes spawns, snotty Aphrodite girls, and obnoxious Apollo children . . . let's just say it has served for an interesting season.

Turning the sharp corner, I started moving down the brightly lit hallway. The butter yellow walls were soothing as always. I could barely contain my excitement. I paused in front of a partially-open door. My hand moved up as if to knock on it lightly, but I paused. Choosing instead, to push it open as noiselessly as possible. I peered into the dark interior. The room was simple, a big wooden dresser in the corner, a small desk holding an outdated computer and fish tank, a twin bed, and a big lumpy beanbag. It was a normal room for any young boy. My little brother was sacked out, his sheets flopped around him messily, at the foot of his bed was a large stuffed dog. He shifted in his sleep, then looked up at me, startled.

"Hey, Devon," I whispered. "I came in to say goodnight."

Devon's dark eyes lit up in joy, in his haste to get untangled from the sheets he knocked his stuffed dog on the floor. "Jake! You're –" Devon began to shout, I quickly shushed him, there was no reason to wake the entire house. "Sorry," he said, whispering this time. He ran up and threw his arms around my waist. "I missed you, big brother."

I wrapped my arms around him tightly. "I know," I said. "Now come on, it's late and you need to get some sleep." I lead him back towards his bed. Picking up the stuffed husky, I handed it to him.

"Goodnight," I said, turning to leave.

"No. Wait!" Devon called out, his arm reaching out to catch my hand. "Can't you stay and talk for a few minutes?"

"I don't know, Dev, it's late and I'm tired."

"Please?" He begged, his eyes looked so wide and pleading, his eyebrows were downcast and sad. How could I say no?

"Alright," I sighed, trying hard not to regret my decision.

He perked right up, "How was camp?"

"The same as always, although it was amusing to watch Danny try to apologize to someone for once." I told him, reaching over to take a sip of water from the glass on his nightstand.

"Danny, that one kid from the mean cabin?" He asked excitedly. "What happened?"

"He ended up comparing a girl to the boogieman and a witch in the same sentence." I lied, smiling as Devon burst out laughing. The truth was he compared her to a fowl- tempered Ares, and a pissed off Minotaur, and let's just say the next time I saw him, he had a swelling eye, and a bloody nose (Demeter girl, lovely people, but dear gods can they hit hard when think they're being insulted.)

"So are those bullies still picking on you?" I finally asked, my voice taking on a harsher tone. I wasn't really sure why I felt the need to ask right this moment, it was just something that had been bugging me all summer.

"Yeah," Devon said dejectedly, his fingers started picking at a stray thread in his blanket. "It's hopeless, they're so much bigger and stronger than me. There's no way I could defeat them."

To his surprise I started laughing. "You have no idea how untrue that is." I told him, a smile appearing in my face as memories consume me for a minute.

Devon brought me back with a wave of his arms, "Hello? What are you talking about?"

I groaned, a smile still in place on my face, "Alright, I'll tell you this one story, but then it's bedtime." I dragged the bean bag over next to the bed and flopped in it, kicking my tired feet up on the foot of the bed.

Devon nodded, crossing him legs, and folding his arms into his lap as he waited for me to begin.

"So this summer at camp," I began, "we had a competition. Our new sword master told us everyone needed to compete, even those who hadn't picked up fighting as well."

"You mean you got to fight other people with swords? I'm jealous!" Devon moaned.

"Yup, it was incredible. The first stage of the competition you would get pitted against someone random. We were divided into groups of twelve, and then drew a bandanna out of a sack. On the other side of the arena was another group of kids drawing bandannas also. The two competitors with the same color bandannas would then go to the mat when called. Nobody knew who they were competing against until they walked up to the platform."

"That's awesome!" Devon mused, I could almost see the stars sparkling in his eyes. "So for all you knew, you would have to fight a huge powerful person! What would happen if two of the strongest people in camp were pitted against each other at the very beginning?"

"Actually, that happened, two of my fellow head counselors," I told him.

"Really? How did it go?" Devon asked.

"Long, they were both so fast and strong, and so unwilling to lose. The next time I saw them after it ended, both were sporting cuts and bruises all over their bodies. One couldn't move her sword arm, it was numb from being dislocated. She had to withdraw from the next match."

"Her? The person who won was a girl?"

"Both were girls, Clarisse and Annabeth, they're the toughest girls in our camp, and both are so insanely different in their tactics. It made for an interesting battle. But anyways that's not the story I wanted to tell you."

"Oh," he said, moonlight filtered through the window and shined brightly on his hair. I could see his curious expression, and deep wonder. "Go on."

"There's this man," I started, swallowing the small lump in my throat. "He's huge, I'm talking six foot four football player big, could make any campers run screaming for their mommy."

"Sounds scary."

"He was. So this man, he's walking out onto that arena field, his boots hitting the pavement, the sun shining brightly. His head is held high, his helmet in one hand a sword in the other. All his friends are in the crowd, his siblings, the girl he likes. All of them watching him, and he's - oh man, is he excited. He can finally show how hard he's been practicing for the last few months." I said, sitting up straighter.

Devon looked up dreamily, barely containing the smile on his face, as if he was imagining himself in the man's place. "That sound wonderful."

"It - probably - was. Well, until he reached the middle of the arena, and faced his opponent for the first time..."

"Oh! Was his opponent some huge dude, who could beat him up with his fist? Was it a strong and evil warrior?"

"No." I said unexcited. "It was a twelve year old girl." Devon's face fell into confusion. "She couldn't have been taller then five-two, she wore yellow armour, and had a pink bow tie in her hair for gods sake. Her eyes were wide, trapped. The man stared in disbelief at the little - pipsqueak. He was insulted, he waited weeks for this moment to finally prove himself. People were laughing in the crowd at the disparity of the two competitors."

"Wow. That must have sucked."

The bed suddenly bounced with the pressure of Robin - our dog. He shook out his dark fur, before trying to jump on me.

"I'm sure it did. Ow, down boy." I said, trying to dodge Robin's sloppy kisses.

"What did he do next?"

"What else? He moved in to finish her off, just tossed his helmet to the ground, and in one big sweeping motion lunged at her with everything he had." I said, finally managing to control the dog, who was now sitting on my lap, even though he was way to big.

"That's it?" Devon asked, a hint of sadness tinted in his voice.

"Unfortunately, no." I muttered, my hands started fidgeting with the edge of his Batman bedspread. "When he advanced towards her so fast, instead of letting his blade knock her out, she jumped back letting out this, hamster-like squeal. In the process her blade flung out of her hand, flying upwards, end-to-end." I said, Devon was watching my hand movements, entranced. "The man groaned in disgust, but her sword came pinwheeling down towards his head, and the hilt whacked against his temple...." My eyes narrowed a bit, remembering that moment. "He kind of stood there like a statue for a few seconds, and then toppled face first to the floor."

There was a small moment of silence in the room. I could hear the buzzing of his computer, crickets chirping outside through the open window, and then Devon's head fell backwards, his laughter filling the bedroom. I didn't bother to shush him, as I was also snickering loudly.

"So she won?"

"Well, yeah. The next time I saw her, she was being carried down to the dining pavilion on the shoulders of a bunch of fellow campers."

"How far did she make it into the competition?"

"Uhh, the next round she was to hysterical to fight when she realized she'd be up against the biggest, and also most brutal camper around. But that's not important! Do you understand the moral of this story?"

"Yes, never pick a fight with a little girl holding a sword. No! Wait. Never pick a fight with a girl holding a sword, with a pink bow tie in her hair!"

"No!" I shouted, redness coming to my face. "The moral is, that no matter how tiny you are - "

"You can kick the butt of a huge dude?" He interrupted.

"Yes. No! No matter how tiny you are, nothing is impossible." I don't think he heard me, his head was bent forward, clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. "Oh, never mind. Now go to bed." I leaned forward to kiss his forehead. Standing up, I shoved Robin off, and stretched heavily. "Goodnight," I yawned. I moved towards the door, more exhausted than I'd ever been in my whole life. The sound of the dogs collar jingling followed me.

My brother finally seemed to calm down, and huddled back into the covers.

Well, I thought to myself, flicking the hallway light off, In a few more years we'll finally tell him what he is, and he'll go to camp too. And I can only pray to the gods that by then, the gossip will have died down ... and he won't find out his older brother got his butt kicked by a tiny, tiny, Aphrodite girl.

"Oh, hey, Jake!" A whisper came from the hall, I turned to lock eyes with Devon again. Before I could tell him to go back to bed he said, "promise me that in the morning, you'll tell me how you did in the competition!"

My weak smile froze on the spot, "okay."

I didn't catch what he said next, I just watched as he ran back into his bedroom, bouncing in joy.

Oh crap.

This round was certainly harder than the last one, I couldn't keep one idea for longer than a day. Anyways, I finally went back to square one a few days ago, Jake Mason, (The dude who replaced Beckendorf) and made this!

Thanks to the judges for letting me compete, and I hope you guys like this! Review!

-Ash