When it came to children, you had to expect a few messes. They were curious, mischievous, and chaotic in nature. They were also incredibly greedy and proud. That being said, they were more than willing to admit when they were beaten... In some cases.
For demigods, it was somewhat easier.
No one could out steal a child of Hermes. No one could out charm a child of Aphrodite. No one could out build a child of Hephaestus. And Percy was great with water but could not ever win a wet shirt contest. But the craziest thing ever, was that no one could agree on one thing.
Which cabin was the best at pranks?
The Hermes cabin with their suave business skills and thieving skills, Ares with their deadly traps and war tuned attitude, Athena with their air tight calculation, Apollo with their dead on accuracy, Nike with consistent victory and knowing when to strike or perhaps Nemesis with their skills in balancing "karma".
"I will skin you!" Clairrese screeched chasing after the slippery twins of Hermes Connor and Travis, both of whom were laughing at the feather covered Greek. This was a common occurrence. Until more recently after the defeat of Gaia. When the ever eccentric Leo Valdez stepped into the camp and gave a shock to the campers. Now the "quiet" Hephaestus cabin was pulling pranks every so often.
But each prank, was elaborate and well planned hitting a wide array of targets. This gave the campers ideas.
During one of the "Greek only" capture the flag nights, the Hermes and Ares cabins were heading off against one another. Each cabin chose their leaders. Except one.
"No way. We are trying to fix our cabin from the last time you thought it was a good idea to attempt to paint our cabin bright pink. How you got the paint in the air vents is still something we're trying to figure out," Leo grumbled. The twins gave pleading puppy like eyes to the Latino head counselor.
"It's not that hard when you can sense traps."
"Hello? Sons of Hermes here. Hard to be a child of the God of thieves if you get caught in the first trap you run into."
"Please?"
"With your cabin by our side, we'll be unstoppable!"
"What part of no, what don't you understand?"
"The no!" They said grabbing Leo. The small boy yelped as he was carried off by the Stoll twins kicking his legs frantically trying to throw them off balance.
"Put me down dammit!"
"Not until you join us!"
"I'll never join you!"
"You will!"
Campers all glanced over to craziness of the current kidnapping. Including the leader of the opposition of the Hermes team. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. A smirk coming to her face as she walked over. The twins yelled in annoyance when the small Latino was plucked from their grasp and thrown over the head of the Ares cabin's shoulder.
The thunderous sprint she tore into towards her cabin was common enough, even the Stolls chasing her wasn't too terribly odd. Even with the Latino mechanic cursing out in Spanish over her shoulder, the oddness had worn off.
"This just keeps happening," Piper commented to Annabeth and Percy watching Leo slipping out from Clairesse's hold after being tackled by the twins. Leo darted away while the twins and angry girl were nothing but a mass of tangled limbs and curse words. He was about twenty feet away when the three were no longer tangled and now running after him as well. Leo cocked his head back and screamed, "Nyssa! Lockdown!"
"This is new," Annabeth commented raising a brow. Both girls watched as children of Hephaestus rushed to cabin 9. Gears began whirling and steam hissed as the ground began to shake slightly opening near the windows and the door. Metal plates began block the windows and doors Leo jumped through one window just as it was sealed shut.
The camp seemed to stand still.
"What the hell was that?" Percy questioned. Connor, Travis and Claresse however were incredibly close to the cabin. The camp watched in awe as they were painted, glued, feathered, bejeweled, and covered in silly string. Their screams of frustration and melodramatic agony put all the campers in a laughing fit.
Another one of my challenges... And a request from a certain someone...
-Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Leo is getting really tired of people in his cabin being stolen for a prank war. And cabin members are not prizes to be won during capture the flag. Basically a whole camp prank war and everyone is in on it. But the best designs and craft for the pranks are built by the Hepheastus cabin. So everyone wants a little buddy. And will go as far as kidnapping members of cabin nine.
Rule 1. Clarisse and the Stolls are some of the worst offenders.
Rule 2. Leo is kidnapped at least twice.
Rule 3. Hepheastus cabin builds many booby traps to keep people out.
Bonus: Leo is even kidnapped by the other members of the seven.