Sorry for the later upload, I'll still have a new chapter on Sunday. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 12:

Will laughs when he sees them and we both get up, hand in hand. When the girls notice us moving toward them, they squeal and scamper away.

I let out a playful breath and apologize. "Sorry about that, my friends are a little weird, if you haven't noticed," I lean against has shoulder and keep watching the sunset.

"Oh, you have no idea. My siblings are crazy," he pats me on the back and leads me to the hospital. Leo and Calypso are outside, waiting for us.

For the rest of the night before dinner, I tolerate Calypso just to stay near Will. Apparently, leaving Ogygia stripped her of her immortality and it needs some adjusting. Leo also needs Will's attention, dying and coming back to life really took a toll on his soul.

I get Leo alone for a second, while Will and Calypso are getting a drink of water and warn him. "Don't get on Calypso's bad side. She has thousands of years of anger that's pent up, and I doubt you'll want to be on the wrong side of it." Leo doesn't have a chance to respond because Calypso enters the room, but he looks worried for a few minutes.

I want to leave on multiple occasions, just sick of Calypso and her resentment toward me, but Will makes me stay. On the way out, he thanks me for putting up with her.

"I would never expect her to have a shred of bitterness in her." The two of us walk to the Dining Hall, Will exhausted after the healing session.

"Well, I bet you would turn a little crazy after being on an island for all eternity and teased with boys you fall in love with but leave whenever you do."

"No need to be sassy," he playfully shoves me and then brings me back by laying his arms across my shoulders.

We walk into the Dining Hall like that, intimately snuggled together. It doesn't even cross my mind about people's judgement until most of the Dining Hall goes silent when we walk in.

I was so concentrated in being next to Will, I didn't realize all the weird gazes cast our way. I stiffen and step a little away from Will once I notice all the attention on me, but Will doesn't loosen his grip.

Not everyone is quiet though; the Aphrodite cabin is flooded with whispers and gleeful giggles, all fueled by Piper. The Apollo cabin are also ablaze with whispers, some kids even whoop at Will.

Will beams at his siblings and blushes. We detach from each other and sit at our respective tables. Our tables are only a couple of rows apart, so I hear the excited whispers from his table.

"You did it!"

"I'm so proud of you."

"He's pretty cute." At that, I stop listening, afraid of what else I'll hear.

The rest of the night goes by uneventfully, besides the abundance of weird glances from people and a few smiles from my closer acquaintances.

The next night is Friday, which means it's Capture the Flag night. During the day, I practice with Will, him shooting arrows, and I beat up some dummies. We work on a combining our powers and think of some mischievous plans. I pray to all the gods hoping we're on the same team.

Luckily, when Chiron announces the teams, were are, along with Annabeth, and Hazel. Everyone else is on the other team, which gives us a huge disadvantage.

Annabeth gathers the four of us in the command tent the Athena cabin put up, and tells us the game plan. By the time she's done, the game has almost started, so we hurry to our position. Hazel goes to put up some simple Mist traps ahead of us.

Once the games begin, I get a rush of adrenaline. I haven't play Capture the Flag in years, and can't wait to get some action. With my Stygian Iron sword in hand, I walk silently with my teammates toward the enemy flag.

"So we're going to split up. I'm going to find Percy and try to take him down," she tells me with a sly smile. "So I hope you, Will, and Hazel can handle the other four on your own."

I nod and watch Will come back from scouting with his bow in hand. Hazel come comes back a moment later, and Annabeth tells us wha to do next.

When she's done, she peels off away from us and we follow Hazel, who apparently knows where she's going. "One of my traps went off, and I'm pretty sure Frank set it off." She smiles at the idea of seeing Frank stumble clumsily into one of her traps.

We advance steadily, knowing they're close by. I freeze when I hear a twig snap and scramble to get out of the person's line of sight, and Hazel follows suit. I quickly take cover next to Will and hear Leo curse.

A few shushes come from ahead of us and Hazel bites her lip, fighting off a laugh. We hear them creep forward, closer to our position, and I slow my breathing.

"They're close, I can feel it," Piper's voice warns her friends. I suppress a smile, anticipating the action to come.

Once they step close enough, Hazel gives me another nod, and pops out of her hiding place. A cry of alarm come from the group and Hazel starts working her Mist magic. I jump out of my hiding spot with Will, who sends arrow after arrow at the four of them.

Hazel's conjured a few hellhounds out of the Mist, which are keeping Piper and Frank busy. "Stop!" Piper's Charmspeak keeps some hellhounds at bay, and Frank's turned into a bear, swatting at any hellhound that dares creep too close.

I charge, the only one skilled enough at hand-to-hand contact. I raise a skeleton, but I want to conserve my energy, so I don't make any more.

Jason is busy deflecting Will's barrage of arrows, and doesn't have time to mount an attack. He laughs manically, taunting Will. "Is that all you have? This is like swatting flies out of the air."

I take a second to turn back at Will and see him smiling in return. This light mood is such a contrast to what battles usually are, but it's so fitting. It's a good challenge to actually fight against one another, a test of power.

I snap back to reality ands know Will's going to run out of arrows soon, so I make my way to Leo who's busy tinkering with some things in his belt. When he notices me and my skeleton, he throws his contraption and I instinctively dodge it.

The skeleton behind me isn't so lucky. The mechanism burst and the skeleton crumples and melts back to the Underworld. Leo sends wave after wave of screwdriver at me but I dodge them, feeling the adrenaline pulse through my veins.

I give Leo a sly smile, testing him. "Let's dance," he replies, pulling out two small sledgehammers and flipping them in his hands.

I take his invitation and slash low and hard. My honed blade glides effortlessly though the air and the blade feels like an extension of my arm. Leo parries with on hammer and and attacks with the other.

I hop out of reach, still smiling. I jab at him, using my advantage of a longer weapon. From the corner of my eye, I see Jason making good progress toward Will and I know I need to end this quickly.

So I make a plan. A stupid, reckless plan, but a plan all the same.