The campfire roared in the center of the amphitheater. My cabin, the Apollo cabin, led the sing-along like we always do. Surprisingly, everyone participated. Well, besides the Ares cabin, led by Clarisse. I've been at Camp Half-Blood for 2 years. Tonight I'll be a third year camper. I'm the assistant counselor and Will Solace leads our cabin.
Chiron came up and announced it was time to go to our cabins and that tomorrow was going to be capture the flag night. Everyone broke apart from their friends and headed to their cabins. There are 12 original cabins, one for each of the gods. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Dionysus, and Ares. Ever since the Titan war last summer, new cabins were built for the minor gods.
My best friends Cain, son of Hephaestus, and Dana, daughter of Aphrodite, were coming towards me.
"Hey! You ready for capture the flag tomorrow? I was thinking it should be Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Poseidon, Athena, and Hermes against all the other cabins. Oh and don't forget the Hecate cabin! " Cain told me.
"You know, you're probably the noisiest Hephaestus child. But, yea I guess that's a good set up." I told him. "Do you like it Dana?" I asked.
Dana was braiding a strand of hair. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah it's a good set up." she said. She dropped the braid and started another braid
"Well, go check with Piper, Dana. See what she says." I said to Dana. "And, Cain, go check with Leo and meet back here."
"Back in a whack," Dana winked at me and ran toward her senior counselor.
"Same," Cain said, dashing toward his senior counselor.
I ran to my cabin and went inside. All my half-siblings looked at me.
"Have you and your friends come up with another awesome capture the flag game plan, Alice?" Will, our senior counselor, asked, grinning at me.
"Yea. We're gonna team up with Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Poseidon, Athena, and Hecate. Hephaestus and Athena can hold defense along with Aphrodite. Hermes and Percy can go offense. We'll tag anyone down if they've got the flag or on any offenders." I told them.
Will looked around the cabin. Everyone nodded their head in agreement.
"Sounds good to me," said Gena, one of the younger kids. Our whole cabin cheered.
Will shook his head. "How are you not Athena's daughter?" he asked.
I gave a smile and shrugged. "Well, I'll be back in five." I said running out of the cabin.
"Is that okay, Piper?", Dana asked. Unlike Piper, Dana didn't have charm speak to help her. Luckily, she didn't need it.
"Yea, sure! After all every time you, Cain, and Alice planned it we won." Piper said. She turned to the whole cabin. "Does anyone object to Dana's plan?" No one raised their hand. Piper turned back to Dana. "Then it's settled."
"Thanks, Piper!" Dana said. She winked at her cabin mates and ran out the door.
Leo was scratching head thinking. "Well, I guess if we've got Athena with us we're okay." Leo finally said. "But why Aphrodite?"
"Um, well, the counselor, Piper has charm speak. We could, uh, use that." Cain said blushing.
Leo narrowed his eyes as if looking into Cain's soul. "That's not the only reason is it?"
Cain shifted his feet. "Well, Dana is in that cabin and I, uh, kind of don't want to hurt her." Cain felt like his face was on fire.
"Hmm...I guess that's a valid reason. Yea, go ahead. Make the alliances." Leo said.
"Thanks, Leo!" Cain said. He couldn't wait to get out of his cabin.
I reached the meeting as I saw Cain and Dana running there too. I could tell something embarrassing happened to Cain because his face looked like a tomato.
"Did you get approvals?" I asked.
"Piper says it's good!" Dana informed me.
"Leo's cool with it." Cain said.
"'Right, Cain go to Percy and ask him to team up with us. Dana, you get Hermes and I'll get Hecate and Athena." I told them. We all raced off in different directions again.
"Travis! Connor! Open up!" Dana yelled as she knocked on the door. The Stoll brothers opened the door and looked at her.
"What's up, beauty queen?" Travis asked.
"Don't call me that!" Dana protested. "Anyway, do you guys want to team up with us, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, and Hecate?"
"Hm...What do you think Connor?" Travis turned to ask his brother and found no one next to him.
Dana peeked in and saw Connor plopped on his bed with his fingers flying over a laptop keyboard.
"Connor! What are you doing?" Travis asked curiously.
"Only looking through our prank list to prank Ares tomorrow night!" Connor answered.
"So, you wanna go with this set up?" Travis asked.
Conner looked at his brother. "If we're facing Ares, then, heck yes!" he said.
Travis turned back to Dana. "Yea, okay. We'll join you guys." he said.
"Okay, thanks, you guys. See you tomorrow!" Dana said and left.
Cain knocked on the Poseidon cabin door. He was tinkering with a metal figure when the door opened. Percy Jackson was standing in the doorway with his half-brother Tyson, a Cyclops, behind him.
"Hey, Cain, come on in. Do you need something?" Percy asked. Percy opened the door for Cain to walk inside. There was a saltwater fountain in the center of the room and the air smelled salty.
"Do you want to join our team for capture the flag tomorrow?" Cain asked. Percy could bend water to his will and Tyson was a Cyclops. They could use them.
"Yea, sure, I guess," Percy said. "Are you okay with it, Tyson?" Percy asked his half-brother.
"Do we make things go boom?" Tyson asked. He looked excitedly at Cain.
"Yea. We can make a lot of things go boom," Cain said with a grin. After all he was the son of Hephaestus.
"Okay. We'll join you guys. Now go to sleep before Chiron comes around," Percy said ruffling his hair. Percy was one of the older campers. Percy closed the door.
"Yes!" Cain whispered. He thrust his fist in the air and ran back to his cabin.
I walked up to the cabin with the owl over it. I knocked on the door and Annabeth, the counselor, opened up.
"Hey Annabeth, do you and your siblings want to join Apollo, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hecate, Hermes, and Poseidon for capture the flag?" I asked.
"What's your plan?" Annabeth asked curiously. Some of the younger Athena kids were already asleep in their bunks.
"Well you and Hephaestus can hold defense. You know 'cause you guys are smart and they've got the traps." I told her. "We can hide in the woods and attack anyone who's sneaking around. Hermes and Poseidon can go offense."
"Hm…It's a good plan but don't you think Jason, the Zeus kid, could help on defense?" Annabeth asked. Most of the older Athena kids were working with the SMART boards or drawing out maps or something smart.
"Wow. I totally forgot about Jason." I said. "We could use him on defense. Thanks Annabeth. You're with us right?" I asked.
"Yea, I guess. Well, see you tomorrow!" Annabeth said and closed the door.
"It's like 10:00 already and I still have to go to the Hecate and Zeus cabin." I said to myself. I sighed and started to run.
"Alice? Aren't you supposed to be in your cabin?" I jumped and turned around not knowing anyone was following me. The voice came from a kid older than me. He wore a silver skull ring and black T-shirt and pants. It was Nico, son of Hades!
"Nico? What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"Just came by to check on things here." he said. "I'll probably stick around for a few days."
"Cool. You should join our team for capture the flag tomorrow." I said. Nico nodded his head. I started walking towards the Zeus cabin. We reached the cabin and I knocked. Jason, the only child of Zeus at this camp, opened the door.
"Hey, Jason, do you want to join us for capture the flag?" I asked him.
"Oh, Ares kind of already asked me. Sorry, Alice." he said. He had blue pajamas with lightning bolts all over them.
"Oh, well, see you tomorrow." Alice turned and ran toward the Hecate cabin. She turned back to Jason who was still in the doorway and said, "By the way, nice pajamas!"
Nico and I ran to the Hecate cabin. I was about to knock on the door when I heard a rusty cackle behind me. I turned around so fast and grabbed a gold crescent clip from my hair. I soon as I grasped it, it morphed into a gold bow. I saw the camp's cleaning harpies.
"Nasty children. Not in their cabins." said one. The others cackled in agreement.
"Great," I muttered. "Chiron is so gonna kill me. Stupid harpies, I was almost done!" I turned the clip back into a bow and put it back in my hair.
"Hey, go back to your cabin. I'll deal with these harpies." Nico said. He drew his sword. It was black as night.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yea. Trust me." Nico said
"Ok. Thanks, man." I said and ran off to my cabin. I opened the door quietly and snuck in, not wanting to wake my siblings. I quickly changed into my pajamas and slipped into my bunk. I closed my eyes when I heard a small voice asl a question.
"Alice! Are we gonna win the capture the flag game tomorrow?" asked Katie. She was 10 years old, 2 years younger than me.
"Of course we are!" I whispered to her. "Now go to sleep. You'll need energy for tomorrow."
I finally went to sleep.