Johnny's Pov

I walked through the camp, searching for a certain blonde head. I hadn't spoken to her since she woke up, so I thought I should pay her a visit. I saw her at dinner, but she looked like she was having fun with her half-siblings (technically her half aunts and uncles). I didn't want to disturb her. But then dinner ended, chaos started, and I lost sight of her.

Usually, it wouldn't be this hard to find a camper, as they are all spread about the place; but tonight the demigods were all gathered in the pavilion, as they do every Friday. It allows them to gear-up for capture the flag and discuss battle plans with their team. There were campers everywhere, rushing to and fro. It made it more difficult to find a certain pair of blue eyes.

Then I saw her. She was placing her quiver onto her back and tightening her bow's string. "Astra!" I called out to her.

She looked up from her arrows and ran over to where I was, hugging me tightly. "Johnny! Where have you been? I haven't seen you all day!" She smiled brightly.

"I know and I'm sorry. I just had to complete a task for Mr. D," I said.

"Oh," she said lightly, braiding her loose curls back. I smiled. She must've washed up at the Athena cabin, for she wasn't covered in dirt anymore. Her face was clean, her blonde locks were washed. She looked as beautiful as always.

"Did you find your way around camp okay?" I ask guiltily. "I'm sorry, I was supposed to show you around."

She shook her head. "No, don't sweat it. I found my way around just fine. Nico helped me."

Just the mention of his name sent shivers down my spine. "Gods, I'm so sorry. Did he freak you out?"

Astra punched my shoulder, her face turning red. "No! He didn't! He was actually nice. The Athena girls told me that he actually saved the camp!"

"He's proven himself as a good kid," I said. "Doesn't mean I've forgotten how he can summon dead warriors and suck the life out of me."

Astra giggled, and I melted into the sound. I watched her with admiration, unable to help my staring.

I blinked, awaking from my daze. I cleared my throat, "Anyways, I see you are wearing battle gear. Are you going to play Capture the Flag."

She nodded, her eyes lighting up. "I'm with the Athena cabin. The put me on flag guard duty! Malcolm saw me shoot today at the Arena and wants me in the trees."

"I'm glad that you're fitting in," I say in all honesty. I have never known Astra to be the social type. It was a miracle that we became such good friends. I was worried she wouldn't get along with the other campers, but the Athena cabin shared the wit she did, along with the modest genius side. I should've known she'd feel right at home.

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully, "me too."

Then the conch horn sounded. Astra looked over her shoulder. "I think that means I have to go. Catch ya later?" She turned and ran off with the other half-bloods. I watched her blonde head disappear in the crowd, taking my heart with it. I raised a hand to wave, but she never looked back.

My hand fell to my side.

Nico's Pov

I watched from above, in my tree, as the two teams made their way to where they would be hiding their flags. I could have participated if I wanted to, as I, being the head of my cabin, could call the shots. But I never involve myself in the camp's activities, never mind breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I just happened to show up today because I thought Astra might need some guidance. Some best friend her satyr is, not even being there to help her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of black and gold, and I immediately perked up. Elle materialized in front of me with a smile on her face. "Hey, Nico," she said.

"Hello," I replied. I knew Elle. Before the war ended and I became a hero, she was probably the only camper I exchanged words with on occasion, besides Will and Hazel. We always had some level of understanding, as her bipolar-ness was a negative met with the negative vibes I radiated. It was a nice change, not watching her go out of her way to avoid me on a walkway, or listen to her talk to me like I was 7 with a condescending tone in her voice.

"I see you're not going to play. I expected as much," she said, looking me up and down. That's one of the things I liked about her: she had confidence. But it seemed as if she always had less when she was around me. Maybe what the other campers say is true: I suck the life out of people. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.

I grumbled something inaudible to even my ears. Elle shook her head. "I wish you would socialize with the other campers, be a teenager." Nobody ever gave me a chance. "You just shut everybody out. Including me, sometimes. When is the last time you've had a real conversation with another camper besides myself?" She was insistent.

"Today," I said proudly. She raised her eyebrows as if to say who?. "Astra." She rolled her eyes

"Oh," Elle's voice hardened. "Her."

I stare at her. "What's wrong with Astra?"

Elle shook her head. "Nothing. I just don't trust her."

I looked at her, incredulous. Why? But I didn't say that. I've never been a curious one, and I had no intentions on becoming one. What people thought was their business, not mine.

Elle sighed. "Ok, well I just thought I would come over here and say hi. You can always join in if you change your mind. I'm sure Will would gladly let you on his team." She winked at me and left.

I sighed, watching her go. Then when I was sure she was gone, I pulled a pen and paper out of my pocket, deciding to do what I come up here to do. I set the ink to the sheet, and wrote as the conch sounded in the distance.

Dear Bianca,

I wish you were here.

Sincerely,

Nico

I dotted the date on the paper and glanced through the notebook of all of the other letters that would never be sent, never be read by anyone but me. All of them had the same message, but each one was individually powerful.

I shut the notebook, held it to my chest, and clenched my eyes shut.

I miss you, Bianca.

Astra's Pov

The conch horn rang, setting my nerves off. I was crouched at my post in a tree, my bow ready. I was surprised that they trusted me to guard the flag. I was going to guard the entrance to our side with the Apollo kids, in tree tops. But, surprisingly, Annabeth spoke up, saying that they needed my defense.

I shifted my weight, looking out over the forest. Below me was a child from the Demeter cabin, as they were our allies. He was guarding the flag from below, as I did from above. Only two guards were allowed to guard the flag, so when the opponent crosses over, they will expect two guards and see only one. The idea came from the brilliant Annabeth, along with several other game-winning plans. I was starting to understand why everyone knew her as the camp's best strategist.

That's when I heard it. A battle cry. The first battle cry. I reached for a dulled arrow, ones specifically flattened for the game so that I wouldn't pierce any skin with the sharp tips. Our flag was deep within the trees, so I notched my arrow and got comfortable. It would be awhile.

Or so I thought. In about 5 minutes, I heard ruckus to my right. We had only been prepared to guard the left, where we thought the forces would be coming through. And knocking me to my feet, the ground started to shake. Earthquake, I thought. An actual earthquake.

My mind didn't piece together everything fast enough, but as it all fell into place, I saw Percy. He rode in from the right, standing atop a massive wave of lake water. He smiled triumphantly as he guided his water towards the unguarded flag, having knocked over the boy from the Demeter cabin.

My eyes widened in surprise, but as I registered everything, I prepared myself to jump from the tree. I slung my bow over my back and braced myself against the branches. As I gained the confidence to attack, I was relieved to find I didn't have to.

"Oh, no you don't, Seaweed Brain!"

From the right, Annabeth charged at him, climbing the boulder that held the flag and fearlessly tackling the wave. She managed to jump up next to him, seemingly unfazed by the fact that she was walking on water. I debated whether or not she needed my help, but she looked like she had it down. I sat back down in my nook, entranced by the fight,

"I thought...I had it this time..." Percy muttered as Annabeth slashed at him and he ducked. She was thrown off balance, wobbling on the liquid surface. Percy instinctively put his hands on her waist to steady her, and she pushed him away.

"I knew what you were planning," Annabeth said, dodging a punch. The two of them were fighting expertly, moving so quick I could hardly keep up. But they avoided one another's attacks, almost like they were reading each other's minds and knew what they were going to do before they did it. I was amazed.

Percy caught Annabeth's fist and gave her a swoon-worthy smile. "You know me so well, Wise Girl."

Unable to help herself, Annabeth grinned back, but continued to fight him. "Stupid of you...to come alone. That, I did not...expect."

Annabeth threw another punch and Percy grabbed it in one hand, twisted her around, and had both of her arms pinned behind her back in one move, their noses touching. Annabeth didn't try to get away. Percy pecked her lightly on the lips.

"Who said I came alone?"

I had been so caught up in their fighting, I had abandoned my duties as a flag guarder. I jumped to my feet with my bow ready and wiped my head around, searching for anymore red, the opponents color. From the outskirts of the trees, I saw more were quickly coming, maybe around twenty. Annabeth shouted to me while she continued to distract Percy and I didn't hesitate. Not being able to keep a smile off my face, I fired arrow after arrow and took off a few of them while they were running, leaving it to just 5. I grabbed for another arrow to find that I had two left.

I hopped down from the tree, landing in a crouch. I fired an arrow, taking one more of the red out. I cringed as I released it, though, knowing I only had one more left.

Resulting to plan B, I slung my bow across my back, not wanting to waste another arrow. I reached for the dulled daggers in my belt, throwing them with the accuracy my dad taught me. Two of the enemies went down, leaving me to fend off two more.

They came at me at once. I grabbed for another dagger to find that I was out. I cursed under my breath, panicking as they advanced on me. Thinking. I quickly ran to the nearest fallen soldier and picked up his weapon. The red charged.

Just a few more minutes, I thought. I can stall them for a few more minutes. Malcom should be back with the other teams flag at any second.

I blocked the first strike, delivering a hard blow to their shoulder. The first soldier crumpled, leaving the last one. The sun was starting to go down but I barely noticed. She brought her sword down and I parried, spinning around and knocking her in the head with the butt of my short-sword. Her helmet fell off, revealing dark locks of hair. Elle looked determined, not letting her fallen helmet distract her. We charged, our blades clashing in the middle. We stared into each other's unyielding eyes for a moment. Elle was fierce, but when she saw my eyes, her face dropped, and she backed up. The silver of my eyes were rising with the moon just past her shoulder, and she stared at me in wonder.But before I could use her distraction to my advantage,Elle recovered, shaking her head. She charged again.

We sparred for a couple of more minutes, our grunts of battle being drowned in the sound of others around us. Percy and Annabeth were on the ground now, their fighting taking place near by. Coming from the left, I heard more noise, and knew Malcolm had to be close. We were only a small amount of time away from victory, I just needed to distract her more.

Except in thinking of this, I was only distracting myself. I glanced over my shoulder to try and see Malcolm, but in that split second she hit my wrist with the flat of her blade. My sword went flying from my hand and I called out, my wrist screaming in pain.

I instinctively clutched my wrist to my chest and back peddled, trying to buy time. I panicked, thinking quickly for something to do. She came at me again and I ducked under her blow, kicking her feet out from under her. She retaliated quickly and popped back up, and I surprised myself when my muscles took over and kicked the sword out of her hand. It was down to the two of us, both weaponless. Except as she threw the first punch, I knew I was done for. She was more experienced.

I tried not to think about Malcolm and the flag, or how I needed to buy time. I forced all of my focus into our sparring, paying close attention to her movements as well as mine. I slowly started to channel everything into the fight, like I learned to do with my arrows every time I released one. As she tired, I became stronger, getting a feel for my opponent.

It wasn't until she punched me in the face and I was momentarily caught off balance that I noticed the campers. Everyone had arrived, Malcolm standing with the flag. Except nobody said a thing. Nobody tried to stop us. I even saw Chiron, standing tall in his full centaur form next to Percy and Annabeth. I noticed everyone, and I'm sure Elle did too, but we kept fighting.

My strength in my skills were ephemeral, for I eventually started to tire. My heart was pounding, and my knuckles were split from where I had punched her armor. I slowed as I realized how much my head hurt, or how sticky my face was with blood. I looked in her eyes and saw that she was thinking the same thing. We both looked pretty beat-up, but she had more stamina and endurance than I did. I had to move fast, before I lost all energy.

I pulled my elbow back to throw a punch and it jostled the quiver on my back, the last arrow jumping from inside. I smiled as I remembered my bow and knew I could make it out of this fight with a win. I quickly looked over my shoulder and saw the boulder not far behind. And so my plan began to form.

She was too close to shoot, so I took my last ounce of strength and kicked her in the chest, hard. She stumbled and fell onto her back, and I didn't wait to see how long it took her to recover. I turned on my heel and sprinted towards the boulder. I quickly climbed it to the top, lunging onto my knee as I yanked off my bow and readied my arrow. She managed to get to her feet right as I let the arrow go, not wasting a second to think.

The arrow flew so confidently, I wondered if I had pulled back too hard. I spun and shot, not even taking the time to adjust. I wondered if I had missed, and sunk down as I watched it fly.

But as I watched my last arrow, the other campers watched silently in suspense, I knew I didn't miss. The arrow sailed hard and true, right towards her chest. The point was almost to her heart. Everybody gasped.

And then it stopped. The arrow stopped, like it had hit an invisible wall, and floated there in mid-air.

Elle stared wide-eyed, along with the rest of the camp, at the floating arrow in front of her. I slowly rose to my feet, watching her freeze at the arrow threatening to hit her.

"Elle..." I heard Chiron warn, but he was at a loss for words, as was everyone watching.

Elle mindlessly reached out, her hands shaking as she carefully reached out to touch it. I could feel the tension as her fingers lightly skimmed the arrow burst into little flakes of silver.

The campers cried out in surprise, and I dropped my bow, my hands laid against my tightened throat. I was immobilized, watching the little flakes of silver dance through the air to where I was standing. I called out softly in fear as the silver made circles around me, trapping me in my own silver tornado. When my feet started to raise from the ground, I found my vocal chords and let out a full blown yell. I was too shocked to move. I could only will myself to scream. Through the bits of debris, I could see the campers finally start to move towards me, everyone sprinting to the boulder.

The attack only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like forever. When the silver finally disappeared out of thin air, I was released from my invisible hold in the sky and fell onto the ground with a grumble. The wind had stopped whipping in my ears, and I could finally breathe again. I coughed, spasming on the ground. My vision was blurred, but I could see the campers forming around me.

"Everyone give her some space!" I heard Chiron order, his voice sounding miles away. I blinked, light-headed and dazed. "Astra, can you stand?"

I couldn't feel my feet and he wanted me to stand? I numbly nodded in reluctance, rolling my tongue over in my mouth to try and feel something. Percy and Annabeth-at least I think it was them-grabbed my arms and helped me to my feet.

"What..." I said, struggling for breath. "What happened?"

Chiron opened his mouth as if to speak, but before the words came out, there was a bright flash in my eyes. I stumbled back, Percy catching my arm, and the beam followed, shining down from above. As I blinked and got adjusted, the spots clearing from my eyes, I found the campers once again flabbergasted.

"Chiron..." Annabeth breathed. "This... This isn't possible."

I looked to everyones faces, but no one was looking back at me. They were looking above me. I craned my neck and squinted, seeing a silver bow and arrow nestled between silver clouds floating above my head like some sort of emblem. I gaped, taking a deep breath.

"Wha...?" I couldn't find anything to say.

Chiron was the first to recover from his shock, glancing at Annabeth and Percy, who stared at each other in dismay. Chiron nodded grimly, galloped to my side, and grabbed my hand. He raised it into the air, my fingers skimming the holographic silver clouds above.

"All hail," he announced, "To the daughter of Artemis."

And the campers who didn't faint dropped to their knees.