CAPTURE THE FLAG: PART I
ZOE
A week has passed since my night with Percy and I haven't said a word to him since. I feel terrible because he keeps approaching me and I repeatedly shut him out. I just can't open myself up to him.
I entered the dining pavilion with the hunt and we took our normal seats. Bianca sat next to me and the end of the table with Chelsea and Phoebe across from us. As usual, there is no sign of Percy.
Percy and Nico have been spending the majority of their time in the underworld. Percy said that it was boring during the night when everyone was asleep and he didn't want to sleep in the Hermes cabin. Percy is back to his old self now and when he comes by during the day he is always training. I've gotten into the routine. Percy and Nico show up at lunch time and spend the day. After dinner, they go back to the underworld. I poked at my lunch while I thought about tonight's capture the flag game.
"What are you thinking about?" Chelsea asked me.
"Tonight's capture the flag game." I responded.
"Are you thinking about the game or who we're playing the game with?" I responded by throwing my food away and leaving the pavilion. I kept my head down as I walked away. I had just exited the pavilion when I ran into something hard and fell over. I looked up to see Percy and Nico who had just appeared out of thin air. Percy gave me a hand onto my feet.
"Thanks." I said while trying to look at anything but him.
"You excited for capture the flag?" He asked me.
"Sure." I saw his silver eyes dim a little at my short reply.
"Okay, see you later." He smiled at me and the two walked into the dining area. I decided to kill a few hours at the archery range. I began shooting with amazing accuracy when another arrow hit the target. I turned to see Chelsea with a bow in hand.
"Hey." I greeted her. She assumed her position in front of the target next to mine.
"You need to talk to Percy." She said and fired another arrow.
"You're right. It is a lovely day."
"Shut up, Zoe. You seriously need to talk to him."
"Fine." I let another arrow fly. "After capture the flag."
"Whatever." Chelsea shot an arrow but half way to the target it was intercepted by a bird. Chelsea and I stared at each other.
"What? You haven't had a bird steal one of your arrows before?" Chelsea and I lowered our bows as we faced Artemis. "Nice to know you haven't been slacking off with your training." We remained silent. Artemis sighed. "Fine. You want an apology? I'm sorry."
"Sorry? You left us for dead, Artemis?" Chelsea yelled.
"I know. I made a mistake. I've made many mistakes." She looked at me for the last part and I knew she was referring to Percy. "I came by to tell you that I am embarking on a very dangerous mission and I wanted to make sure everyone was safe."
"Well, thanks for stopping by." I said. She looked at me sadly.
"Zoe…" She looked very serious. "…take care of my son." With those words she was gone. Chelsea whirled on me immediately.
"Son? Artemis has a son?" She asked. I nodded.
"It's…"
"I know who it is. It's obviously Percy. I mean, I've never seen another person with silver eyes like his but what the hades. How can Artemis, goddess of virginity among other things, have a son?"
"Good question."
Capture the flag was scheduled before dinner so that there would be a party at the pavilion later for the winning team. We gathered in the forest with Chiron. There were all kinds of cameras everywhere so that they didn't miss one second of footage. A Hephaestus camper named Jake Mason was in charge of the footage so he was made an honorary host. The whole thing felt like a game show. The pavilion was modified into a huge viewing area. There were to large screens which displayed the action for Team Campers and Team Hunters respectively. In the middle of both was the largest screen which displayed the most exciting footage. Jake Mason had an audio set up which allowed his voice to boom all the way through camp. This was the first time I was actually kind of nervous for capture the flag. Team Hunters were required to wear a silver arm band while Team Campers wore an orange one. Chiron went over the rules with us before turning things over to Jake.
"Ladies and gentleman this could very well be the most exciting and anticipated game of capture the flag yet. We have two teams with twelve players a piece. On this side we have Team Hunters under the unwavering leadership of the lovely Zoe Nightshade!" I did a bow for the cameras and we could hear the roaring from the pavilion. "On this side we have your very own Team Campers under the leadership of the horrifying Chad Scott." Chad glared at Jake while the roaring continued. I have to say, I'm really warming up to our host. "This very special game of capture the flag will reveal our newest feature. For those of you viewing in the pavilion, you will see a screen picturing all members of each team. When a player is defeated in combat, they will be eliminated from the game. To win, one team must either capture the flag or eliminate all twelve members of the other team. Chiron has already explained the boring stuff so now both teams will be given five minutes to hide their flags. Go!"
With that said, our team bolted to find a hiding spot for the flag. We decided on simply placing the flag in the middle of an opening. There was a perfect grass circled with high trees surrounding it. The plan was to eliminate all the other players. They will see the flag in the open, run in, and be ambushed in broad daylight from above.
"Is everyone good with the plan?" I asked.
"So, this is how you always win? You wait for them to come to you?" Percy asked.
"No, Robin hood. We've always had to get the flag in the past." Chelsea said. Percy frowned.
"Anyway, Chelsea and I are going to get the flag. That leaves the other ten to guard the flag. Everyone take a different tree and when they're in the clearing let it rain." Everyone disbanded to their locations. Chelsea and I stood in the clearing with our flag and grinned at each other. Then we heard Jake's voice ring through the camp.
"Begin!"
