Chiron's plan had been to use the Capture the Flag game to both alleviate the tension that had begun ever since the winter solstice and separate the campers from the satyrs. Everyone knew about the disappearance of Nyssa, but only Chiron, Leo, and Nico knew about Coach Hedge.
Leo wished he could have gone with Chiron to visit the satyrs, but the Hephaestus cabin was a leading team in the game tonight, and Leo's mind was quickly filled with strategies.
"Technically, it's Poseidon's cabin's flag," one of Leo's half-brother's explained, "but since our only Poseidon kid is AWOL, and we were his biggest ally last time, we get the flag. It's the first time in years I've seen a hammer on that banner."
He held up a hand and Leo high-fived it.
"Lets go!" Leo yelled to his group of heroes. As they ran into the forest, Leo asked Travis and Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin about the traps they had placed in order to defend the flag as the first line of defense. There was a second line of defense on the creek, which would bounce back from side to side depending on what the other team did. The third group, Demeter's cabin, was in charge of offense.
Leo ran straight into a clearing—the place where they hid the flag. Well, it wasn't so much hiding as a ploy to catch the Athena team—the opposing side—in the traps that Travis and Connor had placed.
"We had Katie Gardener and the rest of the Demeter kids grow grass over the wax paper covering the pits around the flag, and—" Connor began.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa… We dug pits?" Leo asked.
"Took all night," said Travis. "Our shovels are awful." He held up his hands and revealed bright red blisters.
"Gross." Leo poured some nectar from his canteen onto Travis' hands and they healed up immediately.
"Thanks, man. So anyway, we were thinking… what's your opinion on hydra venom?"
"No."
"That's a no on the venom, guys!" Connor called to seemingly no one.
"Aw," came a collective groan from several trees.
A horn blew, signifying that the game had begun.
"I need to get to the creek," Leo said. "Don't do anything stupid!" he added to any son or daughter of Hermes who was unseen, then ran away.
The creek was about a quarter mile away, and Leo reached it relatively quickly.
"Any action yet?" Leo asked Michael.
"There were a couple of weak attempts by some Ares kids, just to test out the defenses. The Athena kids are up to something, though. They always are," he replied darkly.
Looking at the water, Leo could see why this Percy kid controlled the flag. It was impossible to cross into enemy territory without passing over Percy's domain. Suddenly, an idea came to him. Leo closed his eyes and concentrated.
"What are you doing?" Michael asked.
"Just wait a second," Leo said, keeping his eyes tight shut. It started out as light flickering on the near edge of the creek, but it grew taller and taller until there was a five-foot-tall flame traveling both left and right, with only one opening, directly in front of Michael.
"Keep an eye open for me," Leo mumbled to him.
Michael laughed. "You're the boss."
Minutes passed but no one came and Leo became exhausted. Without even opening his eyes, Leo could sense the fire growing weaker.
"What's Katie up to?" Leo asked Michael.
"I can't tell. She better move fast, though, or the Athena kids will think of some… wait… I think I see her."
Leo was so surprised to hear that his plan was actually working that he stopped concentrating and let the fire die completely.
"Hey!" Leo heard an indignant cry from somewhere near the clearing. Leo turned around just in time to be slammed in the face by the fist of an Apollo kid. Leo drew a hammer from his magical tool belt and went into attack mode.
Leo's first swing was deflected by a shield. He realized that the boy was here to distract, not to take the flag. Of course, that wouldn't stop this kid from seriously injuring Leo.
"I got it," said Daisy Allen, another daughter of Demeter. She had a mean look in her eyes, and in a moment, the boy was tied in vines.
"Thanks," Leo said, though he was no longer looking at her. He caught sight of Clarisse leaping over the hidden pits (how could they have known about that?) followed by Zach Brady, son of Athena, carrying the Hephaestus flag.
Clarisse was like a machine, pushing away any hero that was in Zach's way.
"It's okay, Katie's fast," Michael shouted over the clinging of his sword against Dionysus' son Pollux's dagger. It was true, Katie was one of the fastest sprinter's at the camp, but she had no one to guard her.
"We need to stop them," Leo told Daisy.
"I- I don't know if I can do it again," she said.
But it didn't matter. A wall of black stone sprang from the ground between Clarisse and Zach. There was a thumping sound and a cry of pain. Leo guessed Zach ran into the stone and broke his nose.
"Nice one!" Michael shouted as he threw Pollux into the creek.
Katie leaped into the Hephaestus territory and Leo's team cheered. Clarisse cursed and kicked the black stone wall, resulting in more curses when she stubbed her toe.
"Was that one of the traps?" Daisy asked.
"Um, no," Leo said. A dark figure stepped out from behind a cluster of trees and Daisy gasped. "This is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."
Everybody stared him like he was some sort of monster.
"Hi," he said awkwardly. Nico's face was always pale, but it looked especially colorless while he was being scrutinized.
"Hi, Nico," Daisy said, stepping forward. She shook his hand, and everyone began greeting him like he was an ordinary camper. The poor guy still looked uncomfortable, but he kept his eyes locked on Daisy, and Leo thought for just a moment, that even someone as unusual as Nico could find a home at this camp. Unfortunately, the moment was cut short by Chiron galloping into the forest at high speed.
"The satyrs are gone," Chiron said, sounding a bit breathless. "All of them. I've looked everywhere.
Somewhere in the distance, Leo heard weeping and he was sure it was coming from the nymphs.
"Whad do you mean dey're gone? Dey can't jus disappear," said Zach, who was nursing a bleeding and crooked nose.
"I'm afraid they have," Chiron told them morosely.
"But we just saw them this morning at breakfast," Daisy told him. "How could they all be gone?"
"I fear that they have been disappearing for weeks." Chiron explained how Coach Hedge had mysteriously left. "The satyr kind has grown more distant from demigods ever since the Titan War, when they lost so many. I believe that whenever one of the satyrs disappeared, it was because they were alone. They had been avoiding the woods, because it was the place where satyrs went missing. And the second that we separate ourselves, they all vanish."
"First Nyssa, now the satyrs! It could be anyone next!" someone shouted.
"No," Chiron said. "We will be prepared. We learned from Nyssa that you can be taken in your sleep… so there will always be someone awake at all times through the night in cabins. I want everyone to travel in at least groups of three no matter where they go."
"What about me?" Pollux asked, dripping wet from his fall into the creek. "I'm the only one in my cabin."
"Or our cabin," said Clovis, son of Hypnos. "We're always sleeping." As if to make a point, his half sister started snoring on the ground. "Hey, that moss looks comfortable," he mumbled.
"At this point, I see no purpose in the separation of cabins. You may bunk where you wish," Chiron said. The poor centaur looked worn out.
"We have a lot of space in the cabin nine," Leo said. "Because of all the work we've done underground, there are empty places everywhere."
"I… there are places in the Hades cabin, too." Nico sounded timid. Leo felt bad for him, because Chiron was now forcing Nico to be with people 24/7. That wasn't really something Nico enjoyed.
Chiron nodded, but looked barely satisfied. "Your fellow heroes are in danger. If you wish to survive, you will stay together. Do not fall apart." Then Chiron looked directly at Leo. "No matter what you're doing, you must never be alone. Because if you are, the enemy, whoever it may be, can and probably will take you."