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Chapter 4

I let out a deep breath as I strapped on my battle armor, slipping on the heavy metal helmet with a blue plume attached to the top. Some younger kids rushed past, their faces bright with nervous anxiety. I smirked. I was seventeen, and having been at camp for six years now, I knew that Capture the Flag wasn't a game for scared little newbies. It was a brutal battle against enemies that always involved maiming despite Chiron's warnings. There was always someone knocked out, always someone with broken bones. Seeing as there weren't any quests – there hadn't been any for at least thirty years – the campers needed somewhere to truly test their skills, and this battle was their opportunity to do just that. No one was ever killed – healers were right there if someone was seriously injured – but it wasn't just a game anymore. Chiron was even talking about taking out the younger kids from Capture the Flag, seeing how violent it got.

The Athena cabin was on the blue team along with the cabins of Zeus, Poseidon, Aeolus, Iris, Hermes and Dionysus. The red team consisted of the cabins of Ares, Apollo, Demeter, Hephaestus, Janus, Aphrodite, Hades, Nemesis and Phobos. All of these were alliances, including the usual bribes – mainly who would do which chores and such – and secret meetings held to create a stable battle plan. It was basically the more virtuous gods against the less virtuous ones, and I felt slightly nervous seeing as the other team had both Phobos's kids and Hades's girl on their side, and both of them were offense. But we also had both Zeus and Poseidon's kids, and with my cabins brilliant strategy, the other team didn't stand a chance.

My other cabin mates were talking amongst themselves and comparing maps that illustrated the best way to attack the red team, while I sat off to the side, staring at the small owl etched onto the pommel of my sword. Its wings were slightly un-tucked, as if taking off for flight.

The camp was hastily put together, but cabins had set up separate tents for their groups and were jogging around creating traps and yelling to each other across the camp. A slender and lanky Aeolus boy rushed past, his silvery hair all spiky and wind swept, his pale gray eyes – they were so pale that it was almost unsettling – glancing at him as he ran by, the pile of weapons in his hands clanking and creaking unsteadily as he bounced around the corner of the nearest tent.

"Are you ready, Tracey?"

I looked to see my cabin mate Lizzy smiling smugly at me, and I rolled my eyes as I stood.

"Of course. When are we heading out?"

"Well, Chiron said that the game would start when the bell rang, so I'd say in a few minutes or so. You're with me, Jessie of the Poseidon cabin and Damien of the Zeus cabin. We're situated in middle field, trying to stop and detain any offensive lines that they might send. If they do get past us, we have traps set by the defensive group, so we'll be okay."

I nodded, just as the large gong sounded in the distance. I hefted my lightweight shield and sword, and Lizzy grinned impishly as she put on her silver helmet over her head, hefting her sword in her hands.

"Let's head out."

We were met by a green eyed girl with long black hair and a muscular boy whose eyes were sparking as he swung around his sword which was crackling with electricity.

We all ran to the center of our territory, between the line dividing each team and our flag. The Iris kids were guarding the flag, and were putting up an illusion that made the red offense think that the flag was by the river, when it really was in front of a large oak south of that river. I took the far left section of the center, which branched out to the boundaries, and I saw Jessie standing a few hundred feet to my right, her green eyes flickering towards the small river streaming just behind us.

Damien was grinning as he stood straight with his sword beside him, and I saw Lizzy shoot him an irritated look as he kept swinging that sword around like a fool.

Zeus kids…always so cocky.

I easily warded off some smaller Ares kids, their wild blows easily avoided and I disarmed them with a simple rap to the wrist, and kicked their swords away as they all scampered away back to their base, and Jessie smirked at me.

"Nice, Tracey. But heads up, we've got some more on their way…either older Ares kids or Phobos. Remember, don't look into the Phobos kids' eyes, and they wont be able to do anything to you."

I nodded sharply, remembering the painful images produced by looking into the eyes of Phobos kids when they activated that ability of theirs. It was similar to Medusa in the sense that eye contact was necessary, and it made it harder to fight them when only looking at their feet and where their arms swung.

Looking into the eyes made the victim see the most terrifying, most gruesome, torturous images possible, and often immobilized them in fear. It wasn't an experience that I would wish on anyone, even people I hated.

I scanned the trees around me warily, shifting so my sword was held in my right hand and my shield lifted in the other. Jessie braced herself, and I saw the river behind her roiling up and churning in preparation to soar out of the river and block incoming enemies.

The air was suddenly cold, and I looked to Jessie with confused eyes. Shadows were stretched from the trees, and the grass was slowly dying under my feet. I hissed, and yelled out.

"Prepare yourself! She's here!"

The girl from Hades, the girl who no one really knew, but all feared on the field of battle. She was, like her farther, merciless and powerful, and she held no ties to anyone in camp, so she wasn't afraid to teach you a lesson if you underestimated her.

I hadn't really ever gotten a good look at her, because she was already hiding in the shadows and commanding her skeleton soldiers from there. Outside of Capture the Flag, she didn't associate herself much with the others, and I had only seen flashes of her blonde hair as she sparred with anyone who dared – mostly stupid Ares kids.

There was a roar in the air as ten skeleton soldiers suddenly ripped themselves from the ground, swords in their hands and fires glowing within their empty eye sockets. Behind them was a group of Ares and Phobos kids, and their eyes were smug as they took in just us four.

The skeleton's jaws opened in an unearthly shriek, and they split themselves up. Three rushed at me – I was closest – and the others rushed at everyone else. I cursed as I swung my sword at the closest one, chopping off its sword arm and slamming my shield into its head, shattering it. The others were slashing at me, and I hissed as one of the swords sliced into my arm. I slashed furiously, glancing for a split second to see that Jessie had already obliterated her skeletons and was battling off three Ares kids, using the water and her sword to force them back.

I finished off the rest of the skeletons, and smiled in triumph as the bones sunk back down into the earth.

"That's all you have" I muttered, glancing around. The girl wasn't in sight, but before I had time to turn and help Jessie a sword cut me off. I was face to face with the only child of Hades, staring her full in the face for the first time.

Her pale blonde hair was perfectly straight and was currently tied back in a long ponytail that hung down her back. Her skin was deathly pale, almost translucent in a way, but the most shocking part of her was her eyes. They were black, dark as night and just as unforgiving. I could feel the death radiating from her, the sadness and the loneliness of the Underworld. But I couldn't even feel sympathy for her…I was hardwired to fight her; I was hardwired to resent her.

Her voice was low, and it sent chills down my spine. "Unfortunately for you, Son of Athena, that's not all I have."

And in a whirl her Stygian iron sword was whooshing towards my shoulder, and I barely had time to dodge before she was after me again, her eyes burning into mine as she bent backwards effortlessly to dodge my shield. Her sword cut into my chest plate, mere centimeters from slicing my chest.

"You're too slow, little boy…"

The nerve of her! I was much taller than her, and I was older than her too! I couldn't lose to her, I had to make her eat those words.

But my anger made me stupid, it made me forget my training as a strategist and reduced me to a mere teen upped up on adrenaline and anger.

I growled angrily, and swept my foot under her feet to trip her. It was a stupid move, I realized a second later, because it left my entire upper body open for attack. I was too angry to care, and that was my mistake. But instead of striking me down, she just flipped gracefully over my head, her lithe body twisting extraordinarily as she landed just behind me, sending her shield slamming into my back.

"I'll say it again, little boy. Much. Too. Slow. That's what little boys are…slow, weak, and easily angered. I am the daughter of Hades, not of Aphrodite. If you want to compete with me, you'll have to toughen your skin, and be prepared to fight someone who could kill you, not someone who will go easy on you."

I rolled up and dove at her again, but this time she slammed her elbow into my nose, and blood spurted out to drip down my face.

"Tracey!" Jessie yelled to my left, and tried to rush to my aid, but with a flick of her eyes the Hades girl created a stone barrier between us, and I groaned as my nose throbbed.

"You've wanted to fight me for a while …I've seen it. Everyone in this camp wants to see me suffer for all the humiliation I've caused, and I welcome that challenge with open arms. You want a fight…so come at me, Son of Athena"

I held my hand to my face to try and stop the bleeding, and glared down at her. "Stop calling me that. I have a name, you know."

"I have a name as well, little boy. Have you bothered to find it out?" I didn't answer, and she smiled, a cool and smug smile that made me cold inside. "I thought so. I can see what my father hates about your parents…they take, take, take…but they give so very little in return. A cabin in Camp Half-Blood…that's all they gave my father, and a few pats on the back. Every kid in this camp ignores me and hates me openly and with no attempt at discretion, but when it comes to a fight, they all come scrambling to my door and plead with me to help them. Why do I do it, Son of Athena? Can you even begin to wonder why I help them?"

I didn't answer again, glaring at her while trying to stop the blood from dripping down my tunic. This was the most I had ever heard her say, and I was embarrassed to say that I was…fascinated in a way. She was like a wounded animal, prowling around in its cage with black eyes burning into its captor.

"I help them because I know that it's the right thing to do. It doesn't lessen my hatred of their using me; it doesn't make me all warm and fuzzy inside. I do it because I know that I'm better than their parents. Most of the so-called perfect gods up there wouldn't blink an eye if I died, because of my father. But if I was faced with saving myself and a…let's a son of Zeus, do you know what I would do?"

I spat the blood that was pooling in my mouth out onto the ground, and smirked. "You'd leave him to die…maybe even help him along the way to death."

"Ah. You see, that is the difference between us, little boy. I know that I would do what is right. I would help that boy, because it isn't my choice whether he lives or dies. I do not have that right; I do not have that power within myself to watch someone die before my eyes. My father may be the god of the Underworld, Son of Athena, but that doesn't mean that he necessarily likes death. Have any of you ever thought about that?

I frowned, and she smiled, her smile so sad that it sent a pang of guilt into my chest.

"Why am I not surprised?"

And with that she pointed at me with a smile, and the world swirled unsteadily as my already tired body sunk gratefully into her spell.

My knees hit the ground, and I stared up into her eyes, unable to look away. She was silent, those eyes blending into nothing as I fell forward.

I felt my upper body sway before hitting the ground with an echoing thud. The last thing I saw was her turning to melt into the shadows…her pale blonde hair so bright against the darkness…before it was all swallowed up into darkness.

I laughed as my cabin mates showed me the red flag, and the entire blue team was celebrating around the campfire, and I was seated in between Lizzy and another Athena boy named Tammy. They were hooting along with the rest of them, but I couldn't find it in me to join them.

I remember the child of Hades smirking at me, her black eyes cold as she called me little boy, as she angrily paced in front of me, her pale hair whirling around her.

Everyone in this camp wants to see me suffer for all the humiliation I've caused, and I welcome that challenge with open arms.

It was true…no one liked that girl. She radiated death and suffering, and more than that…everyone was afraid of her. The aura of loneliness was so strong that it automatically made people avoid her.

I have a name as well, little boy. Have you bothered to find it out?

But I forced her from my mind as a pretty Iris girl passed in front of me, and I was about to ask her what her name was when a tall boy from Hermes came up behind her and kissed her sweetly as she laughed. Well damn…

I had no luck with girls. A well known fact, but such a depressing one at the same time.

I saw a loud obnoxious boy from Zeus chatting with some pretty Aphrodite girls, his smile slow and confident as he leaned in to whisper into one of their ears. They blushed and giggled girlishly as they swatted his arm in mock-scolding. I didn't know the kid very well, but it was well known for his rather…playful nature. Like father like son, I suppose…

I sighed, and leaned my head back against a rock surrounding the campfire, and Lizzy patted my leg before standing up to go and greet her friends who had just arrived at the site. I sat there alone, and stared into the flickering flames.

Oooooh he got SERVED! was it good? bad?

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