All reviewers will receive homemade internet cookies and imaginary shirtless Luke Castellan posters.


The next morning threw the entire camp into a flurried panic. Campers shot to ready themselves for the battle ahead. Capture the Flag. A game designed to test the limits of each demi-god in some way and push them to new extremes, and (of course) to entertain Mr. D. Each demi-god rushed to slip on their armor and readjust their weaponry, but Antigone-as usual- sat on the sidelines with Chiron. He prepared a place for her beside him and they sat beside each other on a ridge overlooking the battle zone. Pair of binoculars in one hand and glass of rootbeer in the other, Antigone leaned back against a tree to at least try to enjoy the spectacle.

And what an intrigue it was! She never saw a game of Capture the Flag before, so when Chiron asked her to sit this one out, she accepted readily. Each time she swept the valley of trees with her binoculars, she caught new conflict and watched as small portions of the fight unraveled before her. She watched Collyer take down some Ares kids; she watched Quincy narrowly avoid being captured by some Aphrodite campers. With a rueful smile, she spied on Connor and Travis Stoll get rounded up by one of Apollo's children. The battle captured her attention and held it eagerly. But what made her heart skip a beat? Following Andrew Clay sneak past enemy lines toward their flags. She would whisper to Chiron updates every few seconds and breath advice to him under her breath, urging him to hide behind this tree or watch out for that camper behind the rock.

She knew he would never hear her, but he did seem to listen to her advice. He swiftly travelled through the land, his footfall light and his face ever alert yet calm. Soon, he readied himself behind a large rock face to approach the enemy flag. Antigone saw that which he did not: Two enemy campers guarding the flag, and Luke Castellan following not too far behind him. Antigone's breath caught in her throat.

"Chiron, Luke Castellan is on Andrew's tail."

The old Centaur nodded.

"Yes. I'm sure he is. You sound surprised."

Truth be told, Antigone was not surprised. Just disappointed. Antigone wanted so badly for Andrew to be the hero.

"Oh, gods," she muttered under her breath.

Luke spotted Andrew and hid behind a tree, unsheathing his sword quietly. But just as Luke went to move from his hiding spot, the son of Apollo took on of the guards by surprise and knocked him out with the hilt of his sword. Antigone's eyes shot open as wide as they could, and she gasped.

"What is it?" Chiron asked, though he knew very well what she spoke of.

A trembling hand motioned, reaching out in the general direction of the conflict.

"Andrew just knocked out a girl."

Chiron nodded.

"This is battle, Antigone."

Horror still wracked her. Andrew Clay seemed a gentle soul. But he took out the female guard as though he cared little for human life. Antigone relifted the binoculars to her eyes in time to see the very boy locked in an intense battle with the other guard as Luke Castellan edged ever closer. She bit her lip to keep from shouting out. Andrew Clay's sword fell to the ground far away from him and held his hands up in surrender. A sigh of relief flew from Antigone's lips.

But too soon. For the guard who watched his friend get trampled by the young son of Apollo threw away his sword too, and launched himself at Andrew. And, though he tried, Andrew found himself defenseless as the guard beat him.

Luke edged up on the sight. Antigone groaned. Of course, he would show up just to finish Andrew off. Sword still in hand, the son of Hermes sauntered over toward the guard. Any hope she had rushed out of Antigone's body and her body went limp. The binoculars fell to her side and she disconnected from the battle unfolding before her.

"Don't you want to finish watching?" he asked.

She shook her head and stood.

"I've seen quite enough, Chiron. I'm going back toward the Big House."

Chiron thought of stopping her before realizing it better if he didn't.

"I'll see you back there, then," he said simply.

She waved behind her carelessly, throwing her arm up in acknowledgement before wandering through the greenery of the Camp Half-Blood forest alone.


Almost an hour later, she perched herself comfortably in a tree, book in one hand and apple in the other. Her eyes skimmed the original Latin text of Ovid's Metamorphoses, soaking up the stories of old. A gentle winter wind blew past her, and the sun began to set over the treetops. She wrapped herself in the book in an attempt to find a sense of peace, a peace that might force her to forget about what she witnessed in the Capture the Flag game, or battle as Chiron called it. And her plan seemed to work until she heard the sound of struggling and groaning.

Her black eyes shot up and looked toward the Big House, where Andrew Clay hobbled up the stairs with the help of two Apollo comrades. Antigone nearly threw herself down from her tree branch and landed lithely on her feet. Taking off running, she threw her book to the ground and called out to him.

"Andrew!"

The boy didn't turn as he neared the Big House door.

"Andrew!" she called again.

This time, he turned, his eyes easily reaching hers.

"Oh, Antigone. Nice to see you up and about. You feeling okay?"

She nodded and watched him grab his side in pain.

"How can you ask me about my health when you're so banged up?"

He shrugged as best he could with two guys propping him up.

"Ah, it's just Pearce. He goes kind of crazy during Capture the Flag. I shouldn't have gone for Marie like I did."

A part of Antigone cheered at the pseudo-apology about the way he knocked that girl out, but the other part of her wanted to know as much as possible about Luke's part in his injuries.

"Yeah, I saw that."

Andrew turned red and ducked his head down.

"Oh, you did, didn't you?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. And I saw Luke coming up behind you-"

Head popping up, a smile broke out against Andrew's features. Confusion flooded Antigone.

"Gods, did you? I never knew Luke was such a class act."

Furrowing her brow, Antigone shook her head.

"What do you mean?"

Andrew reeled back a bit, confused at her confusion.

"I thought you saw."

Shoulders shrugged, Antigone shoved her hands in her pockets.

"I did. But I left because I thought-"

Cutting her off, Andrew released his side to stop her with his hands.

"He pulled Pearce off of me and carried me back to my team mates so I could come here and get help."

Antigone could not have been more shocked if Mr. D and Chiron walked in and proclaimed that they were a couple and going to Massachusetts to get married.

"What?"

Barely smiling through his pain, Andrew nodded.

"Yeah. Pretty cool of him, huh?"

Antigone nodded and suddenly came to her senses.

"You need to go inside and get healed! Go!" She urged, waving him into the Big House.

He smiled and waved at her before disappearing into the building. Antigone reeled back for a moment, feeling a dizzy spell overcome her. She sunk to a step on the stairs, putting a hand to her head. But the campers soon made their entrance back near the Big House, and she felt that she couldn't get enough air. Rising, she moved from the Big House. She needed time in the strawberry fields to clear her head.


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