CHAPTER EIGHT: SAVIN' THE WORLD, BUT FIRST, WE SAVE MY BROTHER

WHAT'S GOING ON, PEOPLE? CHECK OUT MY NEW STORY, A PERCABETH FAIRYTALE. IT'S AU, BUT NOT REALLY. IT'S LOOSELY BASED ON CINDERELLA, BUT IT'S NOT A TYPICAL FAIRYTALE.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. BUT DON'T STEAL THE PLOT, OR I'L HAVE TO SUE.

JENNIFER JACKSON'S POV

I'm a positive person, I really am, but I knew I had just been handed my death sentence.

How were five demigods supposed to save the world? As much as I hate to admit it, we're just kids. This was an awesome birthday present. I have to spend my birthday, tomorrow, with the weight of the existence of human kind on my shoulders. Normal teenagers would be freaking out about their weight or a pimple. Not me, I worry about the world ending if I made a wrong move.

What scares me the most is that I'm the least... destructive. How was I supposed to be everyone's hero if I don't like to kill monsters? I know it sounds weird, but I kill them only because everyone expects me to.

Hunter is number one on the list of fighting skills, followed closely by Alex and Giselle. I don't know about Stacia. She can obviously fight, but she's convinced that she's going to get us all killed.

"You ready for capture the flag?" Hunter asked me, adjusting a piece of armor.

"Always am," I told him. I was kind of ticked because he broke my train of thought, but the game was about to begin anyways.

The teams were: Zeus, Hades, Demeter, Hermes, Dionysus, and Ares ' cabins against Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, and Hephaestus.

The rest of the cabins were sitting out since they either were unhabited or like the Aphrodite cabin (The ones who don't fight because they don't want to sweat).

Hunter and I were on the same team, which was a good thing. Well, not for the other team. We worked together really well. It's like those people who can finish each others' sentences since they know exactly what the other is thinking, but Hunter and I don't do that because it would be weird.

When Hunter fights, he's a whirlwind of fury. I've only seen one person beat him before. Our dad.

"Campers begin!" I heard Chiron bellow.

Hunter and I fought side by side, sneaking through the trees and swiping people off their feet unexpectedly. We were nearing the river when we were ambushed by the Ares cabin. There was about seven of them, which is not good.

Hunter took two of them down by using the butt of his sword to bang their helmets, knocking them temporarily unconscious. Brock, the big bulky one, charged at me but I just side-stepped him and he ran past me like a bull.

I forced the river water to splash the remaining fighters in the face, blinding them so we could get away. Hunter and I made a break for it, running as fast as we could.

"I'm gonna climb up the tree and see if I can find the banner," Hunter said, climbing up a tall oak tree.

"You do that," I said, catching my breath.

He searched for a couple seconds then shouted, "I see it!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go," I said, waiting for him to climb down, "What direction?"

"Near Zeus' fist," he answered, jogging deeper into the forest.

"Stop making so much noise," I hissed, running at his side.

"I'm not!" he protested.

"I swear to the gods, if you get us caught..."

"I won't! Will you calm down?"

"I bet they're hiding," I told him.

"If we stay quiet, that won't be a problem," Hunter told me. he was waving his sword around for emphasis.

"Oh, please. You couldn't stay quiet if I taped your mouth shut," I insulted, "Watch, you'll accidentally send a flare into the sky or something."

"I won't! I wouldn't make a noise if my life de-" Of course, the big oaf cuts a thin spruce tree down with his sword waving, sending it to the ground.

"You idiot! You can't do anything right," I yell-whispered, "You gave away our location!"

"It was a mistake!" he insisted, "They might not know we're here." Believe it or not, I wasn't convinced. We may as well have been holding a massive marque sign that read 'We're here, come and reduce us to nothing'. Gods, I swear 'Stupid' is living on Earth in a humanoid form named Hunter.

"You know what? Let's have a little contest. First to the banner... gets their laundry done for a week," I offered, desperate to get away from him before he alerted an army of warriors that we where standing here.

"Deal," he said without hesitation, racing off in the wrong direction. Hunter was a big pile of moron.

I continued in the direction that we were running in before, towards Zeus' Fist. I jumped when I heard someone pop up in front of me, "Oh my gods, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Nice to see you too, Jenn," my friend, Miranda, said sarcastically. She's a daughter of Apollo.

"Miranda, the silent and deadly killer," I mumbled, "You're like a ninja or fried food."

She laughed, "Ready to win?"

"You bet," I grinned. I felt safer knowing I had my friend, armed with her bow and arrow, by my side.

"I've seen who they have guarding the banner," she told me, "The new kids, uh, whatever their names are."

I stared at her for a second, "If that's true, we're in trouble."

"Why, you've seen them fight?"

"I've seen them do more that just fight," I told her.

"Are they any good? What about their powers? What about the guy? He's cute," she asked, too fast for me to answer. Hmm, children of Apollo are almost as bad as children of Aphrodite when it comes to looks.

"Yeah, let's just say you do NOT want to fight them, their powers are part of it. And yeah, Alex is like, the worst. Or the best. It depends what side you're on," I told her in a rush. I could see the opening where the 'fist' of rocks was.

I searched the opening for the lethal Roman and the deadly duo. I couldn't see them anywhere, "Miranda, I think you need to get your eyes checked, there's no one here. Unless you're suffering from psychosis..."

She looked around in disbelief, "I don't beleive it, they were just here five minutes ago."

"Yup, psychosis."

"No," she protested, "They were definitely here."

I rolled my eyes and walked towards the banner. Hunter was so gonna lose. Just as I reached for the banner, I heard three loud thuds from behind me. Not good.

I whipped my head around to see Alex with a dagger to Miranda's throat. She should have been scared out of her mind, but I saw her checking Alex out with an approving look.

Stacia and Giselle were coming at me with their weapons of choice. I knew I couldn't beat them on my own.

"JENN!" I heard Hunter yell. I couldn't look to see where he was because I was kinda preoccupied. Hunter ran to my side, "Do you wanna take Giselle or Stacia?"

"Giselle, have fun trying to get past Stacia," I told him.

Giselle swung at me with her gladius just as I turned my attention from Hunter to her. I was lucky enough to be able to block it with my dagger, but I cut my hand in the process.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hunter fighting with a... lion? I'm pretty sure there wasn't supposed to be a lion in Camp Half-Blood. I saw Giselle, Alex and Miranda stare, awestruck, at the lion. Obviously they were seeing something that I couldn't. I looked to see if Stacia was in a petrified state as well, but I couldn't see her. Where'd Stacia go?

The lion pinned Hunter down and snarled at him. It lifted a meaty paw to slice Hunter's face into confetti, but Alex distracted it, "Hey, over here!"

The lion turned its head and Hunter managed to roll out of the way. I was standing a good thirty feet away and I could hear him breathing.

The lion morphed into snake. Wow, don't see that everyday. The... whatever it was slithered towards Hunter. Hunter groaned and got into a fighting position. Giselle and Alex started to attack the snake, but it hissed and they stepped back in alarm.

The 'thing' changed into a wolf and started to circle around Hunter, deciding the best way to kill him. I felt a fire burning in my stomach. I was NOT going to let Hunter get mauled.

It stepped back, ready to pounce. No one could make it there in time. I eyed Miranda and she noddded and nocked her arrow. She aimed and hit the wolf in the side. The wolf howled in pain and started to shape-shift again. It was taking a human form that looked vaguley like Stacia. Wait, it was Stacia.

She looked at us with tears in her eyes, but I had a feeling they had nothing to do with the arrow wedged into her body at a sickly angle.

"Guys, I have to tell you something," she said, her voice cracking.

It better be an explaination to why she tried to turn my brother into a carnivore's dinner.

OKAY, MY UPDATE'S KINDA LATE, BUT IT'S STILL THE WEEKEND, SO I'M ALL GOOD. TELL ME WHAT YOUR FAVORITE CHAPTER IS, SO FAR UH, YEAH THAT'S ABOUT IT. SO, REVIEW AND... BYE. (I FEEL LIKE I'M FORGETTING SOMETHING).