.Gore and Glory.
It was Friday.
Chiron has gathered everyone at the dining pavilion, waiting for the campers to settle down. The centaur says, "Capture the Flag won't be the game played tonight, as promised. War Games will take place instead, just to remind us of Deadalus's visitation here at camp. For all our new campers, this game will have a team of two to find the Giant Scorpion in the woods with golden laurels attached to its body. Your goal is to get those laurels. And, of course, the teams are picked out already."
A roar of "Ugh"s and "Aww"s filled up the night's air, making the nearby dryads giggle at the half-bloods' immaturity. Then, Chiron headed towards the entry of the northern woods, where weapons and armors were spread out on tables. When nobody thought he was looking, Travis Stoll, a son of Hermes, whipped his head to steal a smile from Katie Gardner, and when he saw her, she was already looking. She grinned, and her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. Travis had a feeling his cheeks had the red hue, too.
When the campers finished their dinner, all of them excitedly rushed towards the northern woods' opening, where the game is to start at. Each of them grabbed their own breastplates to strap on, and for the people without a certain weapon in their possession, they grabbed their weapon of choice; from knives to daggers, to swords and to javelins. Skilled archers grabbed their bows and made sure their quivers were full of arrows. Some children of Hermes made sure their shoe laces were laced, just to avoid injuries when flying. The whole place was in perfect chaotic harmony, blades and bows and all. Artemis Clarke, a daughter of the thief god, plopped down on a log, careful to not sit on her sword. She unsheathed her blade, admiring its dark but beautiful substance.
"Deadly and sexy," she heard a voice call behind her. "What's its name? Made out of what? And who owned it once?"
Artemis turned to see her interrogator. He was Pullox from the Dionysus cabin. "Name's αηδόνι. Nightingale in English. Made out of Celestial Bronze, possibly etched with fallen nightingale's blood and feathers. And again, possibly once owned by a descendant of Athenian princesses Philomela and Procne. Why do you ask?"
He answered, "It's quite unusual for Celestial Bronze to be a shade of dark red, and it's probably one of the sexiest blades I've ever seen."
Artemis said nothing in response, but just grinned crookedly at him. Travis finally spotted her after a wild search in the crowd of demigods. He jogged over to the log, and shoved Pollux away teasingly. "Hey Art, Pollux. Mind if I talk to her alone?" Artemis's brother inquired, indicating to her.
"I have no choice," Pollux says in defeat.
Once he strode off, Travis says, "What was that about?"
Artemis grunted before responding. "Just talking about Nightingale. You remember my blade, don't you?"
Of course Travis remembered. Nightingale was by far the most beautiful sword he'd seen, more beautiful his than Harpe, one of the weapons retrieved from Ancient Times. It is believed to be the sword Perseus used to slay Medusa.
"Hell, I remember. And don't you even dare start bragging about your blade just because yours is etched with nightingale blood while mine is etched with gorgon blood!"
Then comes laughter, soft and melodious, like a breeze. After that a nymph melted out of her tree and walked towards the bickering siblings.
"Oh Travis, Artemis here isn't being very honest here. They weren't just talking about Nightingale," the nymph informs the boy.
He flashed the devilish grin he had at his sister before formally acknowledging the tree spirit formally. "Cypress, you are the best reporter there is."
Artemis growls at him. "For your information, me and that son of Dionysus were only talking about Nightingale, and if you're assuming that I like him, well stop, because I don't."
Cypress and Travis then burst out in a fit of laughter and giggles, talking rapidly in between.
"What?" Artemis demands. Her face was turning beet-red.
The nymph managed to stop laughing long enough to say, "Well, we never asked you if you did liked Pollux. And you just get mad at us for n-no r-r-re-rea-reason!"
Thankfully for Artemis, Katie Gardner along with Connor Stoll joined their little group. To prove that she was relieved to see them, she flung herself to Katie, who caught her in an embrace, and did the same with Connor, but also smacking a sisterly kiss on his cheek.
Katie felt warm to the bones when she's near Travis.
It might've been because of that embrace and soothing words she earned from him the day before. Or the kiss they've shared in the woods. She didn't really bother to think of the past at the moment. Right now, her eyes were on him again. Katie had seen him laugh dozens of times. But she had always been fascinated and attracted whenever he does. The crooked smile in between of the amused doubling ups, the twinkling, mischievous blue eyes, the sharp cheekbones and nose, and—
"Half-bloods! I'm here to announce the pairs. Here it goes;
Kayla with Matt, both from Apollo.
Drew from Aphrodite with Nyssa from Hephaestus.
Miranda from Demeter with Jake from Hephaestus."
Chiron not only just interrupted Katie Gardner's reverie, but he also announced the pairs, which seemed to take a millennia. She droned him out, only to listen when her name got called up.
"Katie from Demeter with..."
Cliché as it sounds, Flower Girl's heart leaped as she waited for their teacher to announce her partner.
"Katie from Demeter with Artemis from Hermes."
Damn, both girls thought. It wasn't that they despised each other, both just hoped to be paired with someone else.
Artemis turned to face her new fighting partner, who grinned at her and said, "Ready to whip everyone's ass?"
Hermes's daughter sniggered before answering. "Hell yeah. But let's go Kates. We don't want Travis and Connor on us, right?" She indicated to the brothers, who seemed to be pleased with the fact that they were paired together.
Katie fished in her jeans pocket, trying to get a ring out. The ring transforms into Kratos, her three meter sword made out of Adamantine and Celestial Bronze. She also made sure her whip was coiled and disguised as a bracelet on her wrist. Artemis did the same. She fiddled with her own blade, Nightingale. Checked and rechecked her armor straps. Tied and retied her shoelaces.
And soon enough, the game was to begin.
"Damn!" someone swears.
"What is it Trav?" another said.
"My foot! It's stuck. Fuck!" the other replies.
Grunting and swearing happened in those next few moments. Then finally, "Damn it— Yes! There we go. Thanks man."
"Mhm. Now, Maia!"
After that was a noise that sounded like a pair of flapping wings. Then another. The voices and noise then grew distant, heading deeper into the trees.
"You hear that?" a girl asked.
"Yes," another whispered.
"It's coming closer. Get ready to attack. And by the way, on my signal, Flower Girl."
No one replied, just groaning.
The sound was coming closer, whatever it was.
"One... Two... Three!" someone whispered.
They sprang from where they were and both tackled what the sound was. A blade caught the moonlight and it revealed one of the voices' face; oval shaped with emerald green eyes, full lips and sharp cheekbones with strands of tawny hair that escaped her helmet. Her partner was still anonymous, but it seemed that she or he had no trouble pinning the newfound threat on the ground, no doubt the weapon by the threat's throat by now.
"Artemis! What. The. Fuck?" demands the 'thing.'
"Connor?" answers the one probably named Artemis.
"What the hell is going on?" came from a new voice. "Katie?"
"Travis!" another squealed.
The one with a weapon by his throat said, "What's happening— holy Hera! Artemis! Get it off!"
Artemis muttered the word 'whoops' before actually retreating. The second boy who's name was Travis helped the other one before asking again, "What is going on?"
"Thought you guys were a threat. Some sort of monster perhaps," answered the girl with emerald eyes.
"These guys are actually—" Artemis was cut off.
The one nicknamed Flower Girl yelled 'duck!' before the other girl could finish her sentence. Luckily, the rest listened, the creature only missing Travis's head by a couple inches. After regrouping, the demigods stood back to back, expecting some sort of ambush. But none came except for a fox the size of a pickup truck.
"The Teaumessian Fox! How in Tartarus did this thing wind up here, and why now?" announces Artemis in disgust.
"Artemis. Fighting now, brilliance later!" yelled the boy called Connor.
Flower Girl was the first one to face it, so she charged first, knowing she was the weakest fighter out of the four and that they'll have a better chance of defeating it when it's distracted with her. She swung at its front leg, then quickly sliding underneath its belly to pierce it there. The creature howls in pain as Travis followed her lead, yelling her real name while he slashed at the uninjured leg. While doing so, Flower Girl ran in front of the fox again, trying to get its attention. This time she wasn't the luckiest. The oversized fox picked her up like a young animal; by the neck, and thankfully just on the hem of her shirt. She then was flung aside like a ragdoll, screaming in terror one minute and was then silenced like a church mouse the next.
Travis yelled, "Katie!" before hacking at the creature's left hind leg. It then again howls in pain, but it didn't seem to be pain this time. More of annoyance, actually. Connor and Artemis finally found their senses. "The Teaumessian Fox is destined to never be caught," Artemis explains to her brother. "Amphitryon was clever enough to think of Laelaps to chase the fox. But we have no magical dogs here. Unless..." She looked around to scan her surroundings. It was getting darker, and the game was probably going to end soon. Although, they can't just leave the monster lurking here in the woods.
Artemis whispered something rapidly to Connor. Travis was in the process of stabbing and hacking the creature, and turned to look at his siblings for support. And they all got the idea after one look at each others' eyes.
Everyone scrambled about. All were positioned in a stance, though two were going to be doing some flying. Travis and Connor both muttered "Maia!" at the same time. Wings sprouted from their shoes and the brothers aimed right at its snout. Careful to not get too close, both boys swung at the monster, making red gashes all over its long nose. It howled some more, and this time Artemis was there to stop it. She'd managed to sneak up on it and slice its head off, and the piercing howl was stopped.
"'Destined to never be caught,' not 'never be killed,'" Artemis announces in triumph. But Travis wasn't listening. He'd made a run for Katie already, who was still a motionless heap on the ground. Once there, he slid her helmet off and looked for injuries. A gash about two inches long, and one that needed sewing decorated her forehead, making her hair matted with blood and her face streaked with it. Then Travis carefully slips her armor off, who was not happy about Katie's rib cage because it was in odd directions. Her left arm too was broken, and bruises started blooming on her skin. He pulls her into him carefully and checks her pulse. It was fairly stable in Travis's opinion, but he wanted—needed Katie walking and talking and laughing again. Without even waiting for his siblings, Travis sped past through trees with Demeter's daughter in his arms. And then, a horn told the demigods that the game was over.
It was worth the gore, Travis thinks. But is there ever glory when Katie isn't conscious to celebrate it with me?