Please Review. Note-for those who haven't read my other fanfiction, Enrique's whole story is there. Happy Holidays.

Chapter 9–

The meeting dispersed amid rapid chattering. I went outside, far away from everyone else, and lay down on the grass beneath the night sky. I was in a small forest clearing surrounded by trees I had discovered a couple weeks before. It was a starry night, millions of lights illuminating the darkness. It was overwhelming to think that my dad had been the personification of all that. I wondered if some part of him was looking down on me. Watching.

I didn't even know if my father was still alive. I hadn't exactly been able to afford a plane ticket back to Spain. And for a long time, my memories of him were tarnished. I felt abandoned. I had hated him periodically. Now I just felt melancholy whenever I thought of him.

I'd never met my mom. Whenever I had mentioned her, my dad would look away with such an expression of pain and regret that I would drop the subject immediately. The most I had ever gleaned was that she had died before I turned two.

I must have laid there for an hour, going through nearly sixteen years of bad and worse memories, when I heard footsteps. I sat bolt upright, a hand on my sword.

"Who's there?" I called out.

"Relax," A girl's voice said. I looked around to see one of the friends I had made in my short time at camp walk up to me. Her name was Ellen, and she was a daughter of Nyx, the night goddess. Being the only person in her cabin, like me, she was automatically a head counselor and had been at the meeting. She was my height and age, with green eyes and black hair. She was one of the best marks-women at camp, absolutely deadly with a bow and arrow. I had met her at target practice, which I sucked at. Laughing, she told me that I was holding the bow in the wrong hand, and my aim improved considerably. Since then, she had seemed to be at target practice at the same time I was, or maybe it was the other way around. We'd started running into each other outside of practice, too.

She sat down next to me, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that my heart began beating a little faster. I tried to think of something witty to say, while at the same time realizing that the longer I took the more awkward the moment became. Just as I opened my mouth, she spoke.

"People are worried, you know." She said softly, without looking at me. "They think you've run away. That you're scared."

"I don't really care what people think, actually. But I'm not worried. At all." I replied, lying through my teeth.

"It's alright to be scared, James," She answered, turning to face me. Her eyes seemed to shine through the darkness.

"How did you know where I was?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"We're more alike than you realize," She responded, looking down again. "Your father's the sky. My mom's the night. I used to come to this same spot sometimes, and just watch the stars."

"Oh." And I thought I had discovered this hideaway.

"Can you believe we have to go to Australia?" She asked, her tone much less serious. I shrugged.

"And fight giants," I added slowly. "I don't know if I can do it. Jason told me about them. They're–well, gigantic. They can throw mountains. They probably use Ayer's Rock as a dinner table or something."

"Theres nothing I can tell you that Chiron didn't say at that meeting," She said frankly, looking me in the eye. "But for what it's worth, I think you're going to do amazing. This is why you're here. You're going to save the world."

I started to say something–maybe to protest, maybe to thank her–but she cut me off.

"There's still a week left before we leave. A lot can happen in a week." She finished, and I had the slightest feeling she wasn't just talking about me becoming more powerful.

I nodded, holding her gaze. Without another word, we lay back and watched the stars in the sky.

…...

"The hell have you been?" Percy asked, but he seemed more amused than angry. The entire camp had watched Ellen and I tiptoe out of the woods early that morning, and put two and two together and devised some false theories as to what had happened. I couldn't walk two feet without someone cracking a joke, and my back hurt from falling asleep on the ground.

Inevitably, Percy insisted on more training. Except he promised that this time it would be "fun."

"We're doing a full camp capture the flag game." He explained. "So full armor."

"Don't get him too excited yet." A familiar voice called. "It's boys versus girls, and he might want to jump on the girls team so he doesn't have to fight Ellen."

We turned around to see Enrique walking toward us, limping heavily on his walking stick.

"How long have you been at camp?" Percy asked.

"Long enough to hear 'bout this kid," He said, pointing at me. "How's the girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" I answered hotly. "And nothing happened."

"Whatever you say." He answered, his eyes, twinkling.

"What happened to your leg?" Percy inquired once he stopped chuckling. Enrique looked uneasy.

"Snakebite." He muttered quickly. "Poisonous, but luckily a healer was nearby."

"So are you still gonna be fighting with us today?" Percy asked. Enrique grinned.

"Dad didn't give me wings so I could walk around all the time," He answered. "So yeah, I am. I'll be a one man air force."

"Glad to have you joining us. The guys are gonna meet in Cabin Eleven in a half hour. Sound good?"

"Yessir," Enrique said. He gave a mock salute, and flew away, almost giving me a heart attack.

"I am never going to get used to that." I said.

"You do the same thing." Percy replied quizzically.

"I don't have wings," I responded. Percy shrugged.

"How did he get here, anyway?" I asked. I had been wondering that for a long time now. Same with Jason.

"It's a long story," Percy answered.

"He told me the same thing."

"He would. It doesn't really show him in the best light."

"Give me the short version."

"Let's just say he wanted something, we didn't give it to him, he attacked the camp, we gave it to him, we went to his camp for a little while, we attacked a bunch of scorpions and Lycaon, some demon-summoning went on, Enrique killed Lycaon, Lycaon's army killed Enrique while we ran away, and than Enrique came back to life. Voila. Here we are today."

"Huh?" I asked, confused. Then something Percy mentioned struck me. "Go back to the part where Enrique was killed."

"Maybe we just saw it wrong," Percy began slowly. "But I don't think so. Nico–son of Hades, he's been here once or twice–felt him pass on. He was killed by an army of monsters. And then later he comes back to camp, unscathed."

"How?" I asked.

"He is the son of Anubis," Percy said, with a thoughtful look on his face. "The funerary god. Maybe his dad pulled some strings or whatever. I've actually got no clue."

I stood back, my mind in overdrive. How could someone come back from the dead? Something about that didn't seem right to me.

"Look, don't worry about it too much. You'll get a headache," Percy insisted, interrupting my train of thought. "Let's get in some last minute sword practice. There's a couple tricks I still want to show you, from my Titan-fighting days."

I blinked, and nodded without thinking. We walked off to the sword arena.

Half an hour later, every guy head counselor was crammed into Cabin Eleven. Despite the general chaos, we managed to get ourselves somewhat organized.

"First things first, we need to choose a couple generals," Travis Stoll said hopefully, drawing himself up.

"Percy," Someone called out. There was a murmur of agreement and Travis deflated a little bit.

"I want to have a co-general," Percy said. He turned toward me. "James."

"We can't trust him to make executive decisions when his girlfriend is on the opposing team," Leo called out pompously, and there was a small explosion of laughter. He exchanged a high five with Enrique. I stared at my feet, giving up on insisting that nothing had happened.

"He's co-general whether you like it or not." Percy repeated. "And you better like it," He added ominously, and everyone shut up.

"So here's the plan," Percy began. "We're going to have–"

"A big diversion from the front and right, and then a small group of people to steal the flag from the left. And we're going to leave tight ring around our own flag." Jason called out.

Percy looked startled. "You know me too well," He said.

"So who's who?" Jason asked.

"We're going to have the bulk of the cabins charging from the front, led by Enrique and Jason. Then I want Hephaestus, Apollo, and Ares coming in strong from the right. Finally, I want the Stolls and James to actually steal the flag. I'm going to stay behind to help guard our flag. Sound good?"

There was a murmur of assent throughout the guys.

"Good. Then suit up, everybody. No need for anyone to die today. James, can I see you a minute?"

I walked up to him.

"Chiron told me to tell you that you're not allowed to teleport with the flag–unfair I guess. But that's not what I called you here for. I have a plan only you can know."

He whispered the details into my ear and slipped the necessary items in my hand. I stepped back and stared at him in a new light. I nodded.

"You SOB," I said admiringly. "That's genius. The Stolls won't like it though. Not one bit."

"That's why I made you co-general. They can't argue with a superior." He patted me on the shoulder. "We gotta win this one, man. Annabeth can't beat me again."

He walked off towards his cabin to get ready before I could say another word.

Fifteen minutes later, the game began.

…...

I had expected the armor to be uncomfortable and heavy, but on the contrary, it was deceptively light and flexible. Percy told me he had Hephaestus cabin make it for me so I could still fly and stuff. Regular armor would weigh me down too much. My armor was dark blue with a star insignia on the shoulders. Perfect for night. Not so much for a capture the flag game under the sun. Luckily, however, the sun was due to set soon. Percy wanted me to wait to maximize on my advantage.

I wasn't the only one with custom armor. Enrique had a special suit that changed color according to his surroundings and included armored panels for his wings. Wrapped around each of his bare wrists was a bracelet of cloth bandages. His sword hung sheathed by his side.

The moment Chiron signaled the start of the game, there was instant chaos. Percy was yelling over everyone else's chattering. He wanted the first wave to charge immediately.

"Go! Go! GO!" He called, waving his arms in the direction of the girls base.

We were stationed at Zeus' Fist, a large rock formation, relatively close to the camp. The girls were on the other side of the forest, in a remote clearing. The size of our teams was just about equal. To get there, you needed to weave through a maze of trees. To get there without being noticed, you needed to do so stealthily and silently. Not really our strong suit. But then again, the first wave he sent off was only a diversion.

When Percy yelled the departure of the first wave, Enrique jumped into the air, while Jason stayed on the ground. They went off into the woods as one.

Ten minutes later, Percy received the signal from Enrique, an explosion of sparks in the sky to signify that they had arrived and engaged the girls in combat. He then ordered the second wave, led by Leo (who was currently on fire) to go ahead.

Me, Percy, the Stoll siblings, Chris Rodriguez, and Will Solace of the Apollo Cabin were the only ones left. We waited for something to happen, but nothing did. I glanced between the setting sun and Percy. After what seemed like an eternity, the sun dipped below the horizon, and Percy gave me the go ahead. He made an almost imperceptible motion with his foot, and I nodded slightly. I had taken the things he had given me earlier and put them in a small pouch, which I had tied to my ankle.

The Stolls and I shot up, and ran off into the darkness of the woods. Despite being generally loud and wisecracking, they could be silent as a grave when they wanted to. Fast, too. I had to run to keep up.

"We're almost there," Connor whispered, barely audible. I nodded. Finally, we reached the edge of the clearing, directly behind the girl's fort where they kept prisoners. The fort was actually a half-underground metal bunker. On top of the fort, the flag was waving, taunting us. About three girls patrolled the fort, making rounds while brandishing weapons and looking around suspiciously. To ease travel, the Stolls carried no weapons. I was allowed my sword because it was just a hilt. All we had to do now was sneak up, climb the fort, and grab the flag.

"Careful now," Travis said. When the girls disappeared to the other side of the fort, we ran up.

"I think it's safe to say we won," I said loudly. Travis and Connor looked up in horror. Within seconds, the girls had surrounded us and pointed their weapons. I didn't recognize them, but apparently they had been on the receiving end of one of the Stolls' pranks, because they took a great amount of glee in capturing them.

They dropped us off in a cell inside the fort, and one girl stayed behind to stand guard against us. One of the perks of Camp Half-Blood capture the flag was that it was ok to escape from the prison if you could pull it off. I examined our cell. It was an actual prison cell with bars, and a lock on the door.

"This is something," I said. "I think us guys have just got a line in the dirt."

The Stolls gave me a dirty look and turned away, giving me the cold shoulder. If they were upset now, they would be spitting fire soon enough. I sat down in the corner and removed the pouch from my ankle. Inside were two small spheres, each half the size of a chicken egg. One was made of metal and had a small switch. The other was simply a glass sphere that contained a yellowish gas.

"Get yourself captured," Percy had explained. "When you're in the cell–" He picked up the metal sphere. "Use this as a diversion. It's a small, silent flash grenade. It'll temporarily blind anyone looking at it, but I figure you're immune to bright lights, after what happened with Zeus. Once this goes off, step on this one quick." He held up the glass sphere filled with gas–knockout gas. "I'd recommend holding your breath. Once the Stolls and the guard are out, get up and listen for the guards to pass. It'll be night by then, and you should be pretty invisible in your armor, except for those damn stars on your shoulders. I told them to leave it plain but–nevermind. Fly up there, grab the flag, slide back down, and get back into the woods. From there it'll be a straight shot back to our side of the forest. And we will have won."

"Question," I had asked. "Why do the Stolls need to be unconscious? And why can't I just blast everyone out of the way?"

"That's because it's easier for one person to escape then for three. And they won't suspect a thing. They wouldn't dream that you would actually knock out your own teammates. And to answer your second question, silent and effective is always preferable to loud and obnoxious. Also, Chiron really doesn't like it when you use potentially lethal magic powers on fellow half-bloods. So you think you can do this?"

Our guard was engaged in a verbal spar with Connor Stoll through the bars of the cell. They were arguing about chocolate rabbits on a cabin roof, or something like that.

"Hey everyone!" I said brightly, no pun intended. Everyone looked at me. I flicked the switch on the grenade and threw it on the ground. Although the grenade itself was silent, there was a short collective yell from the three of them as the bright light exploded in their eyes. Just like Percy predicted, the light didn't affect me. I rolled the glass sphere onto the ground, took a deep breath, and stomped on it. The glass shattered under my foot, releasing the gas. Within ten seconds, they would all be out. But I was already gone.

I blasted the cell door away with a flick of my hand, and ran upstairs, waiting by the door. I heard footsteps gradually grow louder and become softer. I tiptoed out, as silently as possible. It was almost completely black outside. I flew carefully up, and landed gracefully on the roof. I placed a hand on the flag and was about to take it, when the two girls entered my field of vision. And if I could see them, they could see me.

I stood still. Any movement could give me away. I had to trust that my armor would make me invisible in the night. Luckily, they didn't look up, and kept walking. Slowly, I picked up the flag, and slid down the angled roof of the fort. I hit the ground running. No sense in wasting any more time.

I breathed a little easier when I reached the cover of the woods, but I pushed myself to run faster. Minutes later, I heard the sounds of the creek that was the boundary, and I grinned slightly.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice called out. I turned around. Annabeth was walking toward me, her knife drawn, and Ellen was beside her, smiling wickedly, an arrow aimed at me. I backed away slowly.

"Crap," I muttered. I had been afraid of this.

"Turn and run," Annabeth taunted. "I dare you."

"You wouldn't shoot me," I said to Ellen, slightly desperately. I was too close to fail my team now.

Ellen tapped the arrowhead.

"Blunt arrows," She replied evenly. "They'll hurt a lot. Knock you out if I hit you in the right place. But they won't kill you. So yeah, I would shoot you. Sorry."

I placed a hand on my sword and clenched my teeth, bracing myself. I slowly took off my shoe, to the bewilderment of my adversaries.

"One last thing," Percy told me right when I was leaving. He tossed me a second flash grenade. "Just in case."

I cautiously removed the sphere from a special compartment in the sole of my shoe. Annabeth and Ellen looked at me curiously but did nothing as I put my shoe back on.

"I want you to know," I said slowly. "This is going to hurt me at least as much as it hurts you. Just a different kind of hurt." I flicked the switch, and tossed it onto the ground.

For a moment, time froze. The grenade rolled on the ground. And then it exploded into blinding white light.

I turned around and ran as fast as I could, the girls' protests behind me. An arrow whizzed past my ear, and I realized that Ellen was shooting blindly. I ducked just in time as another flew through the spot where my head had been. Even when she couldn't see, she was a good shot.

Annabeth's knife embedded itself into a tree right next to me, and my heart stopped for a moment. Luckily, she only had the one.

I ran still faster, and the creek came into sight. I jumped right across, just in time to see a girl sprinting across with our flag in her hand. When she saw me, she stopped short, and threw down our flag. Percy ran up to me.

"WE WON!" He yelled, and the cry reverberated throughout the guys. A bunch of them lifted me up on their shoulders and paraded me around.

So this is what victory feels like, I thought to myself. Hopefully a sign of things to come.