And here is the next chapter, hopefully you are still reading if so brownie points to each of you. My sister has a house just for evil plot bunnies, so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

CAPTURE THE FLAG

A moment later I was back at camp half-blood. I quickly made my way to the Ares Cabin. The sun hadn't come up yet. I quickly walked to my bunk and pretended to fall asleep. The moment after I closed my eyes a horn was blown. I shot up eyes wide.

"How'd you sleep?" Clarisse said smirking. She walked out of the cabin and I followed after she was far from me. She didn't like me very much. Can't blame her. She seemed pretty dramatized. I walked outside and sat down, I looked across the way and saw Nico; his gaze was directed towards me.

Did last night really happen, or was it all a dream? After I thought this out, Nico nodded and looked at the pine tree. My stomach began to twist. Just then a girl with a punkish hairdo came into view. She wore silver. More girls came over the hill and a young girl with auburn hair with glowing silver walked past the pine tree. She smiled in my direction.

Annabeth stood and ran up the hill. Percy followed, and then a satyr trotted up the hill. He had curly brown hair and had not tanned whatsoever. The girls in silver came down to the camp, and spoke to Chiron.

"We have visitors," Chiron said, "Welcome Lady Artemis."

The second after he said her name my heart stopped. I saw the bow. It was right on her shoulder. She should seriously learn to hide such things. She looked at me and smiled.

"Daughter of Nike, I am pleased to meet you," She looked very young. Not exactly what I expected her to look like. "It would be my honor to challenge you to a game of capture the flag."

"The honor is mine Lady Artemis." I said excepting her challenge. Why she wanted to say this was not intended. It was Thursday, and they were here.

"Those who would like to participate are welcome. The teams will be the usual. The Hunters, vs. campers." Chiron said with enjoyment. He smiled, and nodded in my direction.

If I won would she blow me up? I couldn't think straight. Two gods had just challenged me. (And both within twelve hours.) Ares walked over to our table, and said,

"Do you guys think you can bring her down? Make me proud." He said in a husky voice. Clarisse looked at her father, and then looked over at me.

"Here's a chance to get back. Children of Ares and Nike together are indestructible."

Ares clapped me on the back and smiled. Considering the fact that the War God just smiled meant a lot. Some guardian.

"I have something of yours. Your mother would give it to you, but she doesn't have the time. Super Bowl is on. She has to cheer on the winning team. Anyway, here it is." He gave me a bronze sword with the Greek word Serene engraved on it. The weapon was perfect. The weight was balanced nicely.

"Thanks." I said trying to look him in the eye. (If you can?)

"No problem. Use it wisely." Ares said walking off to join the other camp directors. Mr. D. looked grumpy. He took a sip of his Diet Coke then sighed sitting back in his chair. I smiled at him, and he just scowled. Where did they get him? Was he a recruit? I walked over to Annabeth, and said,

"Where did you guys get Mr. D.?" I hoped it wasn't too disrespectful.

"Zeus sent him here as punishment. He's Dionysus. God of Wine."

"Are you serious?" I said confused. "Why doesn't he have wine? Or at least have a reef of grape vines over his head?"

Annabeth laughed. What did I do? Did I say something wrong?

"He was sent here as punishment. He can't make wine. Well, he can, just not here." Annabeth explained.

"Now, Artemis challenged you, and I think you need a little instruction."

We went to the training stadium where I was greeted by a slobbery lick across the face. It was a Hell Hound. It was not a very large one. Annabeth grabbed an extra large chew toy and threw it onto the seats.

"That's Mrs. O'Leary. It's Percy's Hellhound. Daedelus gave her to him as a parting gift. She can be loud sometimes but she's okay."

"She's the first nice Hellhound I've ever met. The last one wasn't exactly this small. How old is she?" Annabeth threw the chew toy one more time then said,

"We don't know. She could be a thousand years old for all we know."

She seemed pretty happy. I wonder if she had a decent father.

"What is your father like?" I asked her. She turned to me, and her expressions said it was sort of a touchy subject.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." I said looking at Mrs. O'Leary.

"No, your fine. My dad is the most amazing person you could ever meet. When we were fighting Atlas he flew his plane and shot down our enemies. He's a great dad."

"Your lucky. The only father I ever knew was a foster father. It was coincidence that he's the owner of Nike Sports wear. He had a few children that he fostered. But when I turned ten monsters attacked. I never bothered making friends after this.

"He left me all alone. It didn't take long until monsters killed the friends I made there. After that I decided not to make any friends. When you guys came around I wasn't sure what to think. Thank you for saving me."

There was a moment of silence until we stood. She showed me how to use the sword that my mother left for me. The sword was flawless. Every stroke was silent, and strong. After a while she decided to show me instead of fighting with me. (Because when she did I would always win.) The instructions were very useful. After this she taught me a little bit about how the game is played. A while later a horn was blown.

I watched as kids from all over filed in to the arena. Apollo kids, Aphrodite kids, Athena kids, Dionysus kids, Demeter kids, Zeus kids, Hades kids, and Ares kids. The others were busy.

The Hunters walked in Artemis leading them. The punk girl held a shield that gave me chills. Percy stood by a tall sad looking guy. I looked closer and noticed that he was a Cyclops. Chiron came in with hooves clopping against the stone. Two boys with blonde hair started arguing with the hunters while the Aphrodite cabin was fighting them. I decided to lye low for a while. (So much for lying low.) Artemis came over with her Hunters.

"Good evening." Artemis said with a smile. She wasn't too bad. She was actually very nice.

"Good evening Lady Artemis." I said back.

"I am aware that this is your first time playing capture the flag, so I will go easy on you—but not too easy—Your mother is Nike and it would be a shame to lose to a human." With that she left.

Thanks for the advice? I take it back she is very good at competition. I hope my mother is watching. I placed my helmet over my head and sheaved my sword.

Annabeth showed me where I would be. The border was the river. I stood above some rocks. I could tell they were important. I was defender. (As always.) The two twin Apollo kids were with me. The Hermes cabin had prepared something special for the hunters. Fart bombs. And net. The Ares cabin had javelins that turned into traps thanks to the Hephaestus cabin. All I had was my sword. Percy was offense, with Annabeth. The Cyclops was defense also. A few seconds later I heard three shrill horns blows. The game began.

I heard screams and the clanking of swords while I waited for the hunters to come to me. Everyone was facing a certain direction, so I turned opposite. Just as I turned I saw a hunter about to take the flag. I captured her and put her with the twins. After that everything went silent. It was beginning to be too quiet.

Then I heard a puff sound and some, "Ew, gross!" and, "Really?" It must be the fart bombs. I heard some yelling, and after that I noticed the flag. Our team was going the opposite way. I know I was told to stay here and defend, but in this case… They all had defended their whole lives probably. What could go wrong?

"Hey, do you think you can take care of the fort?" I asked them quickly.

"Well, yeah. What are you going to do?" They asked innocently.

"I'm not sure yet. The team is going in the wrong direction." The brothers looked at each other, nodded, and said,

"Sounds good enough!"

Dodging arrows and bombs I made my way to the flag. Halfway their two hunters came after me. I knocked them to the ground and resumed my quest. I was only five yards away from my destination when Artemis came in front of me.

"Aren't you supposed to defend?" She was very hard.

"Not when they're losing." I said back. She let me grab the flag. I was surprised, but then she hit me with an arrow. It looked like a sleeping arrow, but it didn't work on me. I dropped it, and then somehow shrunk along with the flag. The flag shrunk too. How is this possible? I now could run much faster than before. An Ares kid ran up to me, and could see me. He picked me up and placed me on his helmet. We ran for a while until he was shot down. I came back to normal size and noticed a hunter grabbing our flag. I ran as fast as I could and crossed just before she did.

Our team cheered, but when Artemis came to see us she wasn't happy.

"My hunter crossed first. You are mistaken." She jerked the flag out of my hands and scowled.

"I crossed before, you are mistaken." I said serenely. The crowd went silent. The bickering stopped. Artemis stopped. She turned around, and eyed me with a death glare.

"I suppose you are right. I will see you soon." She walked off giving the flag to Chiron.