I seriously wanted to do a Capture the Flag one-shot, so here it is! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Can I just say already disclaimed? If not, no, I don't own Percy Jackson.
Thalia's Point of View
"Ready, Seaweed Brain?" I ask, excitement buzzing through my veins (or is it just the electricity surging through my spear?) I smirk at Percy's pronounced scowl.
"Don't call me that, Pinecone Face," Percy snaps back. I grin. Percy and I always banter before a battle of Capture the flag.
"Just try to keep up," I sigh, a grin lacing my lips.
"Thalia, remember, you and Percy are supposed to get the flag quickly and quietly, so it's not about speed," Travis commands, before stalking off to heckle someone else.
"Who died and made him king?" I mutter, only loud enough for Percy to hear. He lets out a burst of laughter, causing Travis to look back at us and give us a glare.
Today's teams are Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Demeter, Hephaestus, and Dionysus against Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, and Apollo. Pretty evenly matched teams, if you ask me, but I am not looking forward to going up against Annabeth. Gods, that girl is smart when it comes to Capture the Flag. But she's no match for Percy and I; I admit it, we make an unstoppable team.
"Demeter, with Hermes. You'll charge the other team, creating a distraction so that Thalia and Percy can take a wide loop and sneak around the back. Make it good, but not too good. We want it to look natural. Hephaestus, you'll be in charge of defense. Beckendorf, you and your siblings need to set up as many traps as you have. What've you got?" Connor Stoll barks out orders rapidly.
"Trip wires, Greek fire, camouflaged pits...you name it, we've got it," Beckendorf smirks, and his siblings nod along behind him. Connor turns to Percy and I.
"You guys, be careful, but take some risks. We wouldn't want this game to be boring, now would we?"
"We totally got this," I say confidently, and Percy nods in agreement, drawing out his sword. I tap Aegis lightly and the bronze and silver shield expands, causing some of the team to cower in fear and nervously back away.
"Way to make 'em scared, Thals," Percy mutters, and I smack him on the head with the grip of my spear. He retaliates by slapping my on the back with the flat of his sword. I wince, though not really in pain, and Percy smirks.
"Stop fooling around!" Beckendorf snaps, and Percy and I immediately stop. I give him a side glance and we nearly burst into laughter again.
"Everybody clear?" Connor asks, and, without waiting for an answer, he continues on. "Good. Let's wait for the horn-" His words are interrupted by a long note of a horn, resonating throughout the forest.
"Blue Team, move out!" Beckendorf roars, and Percy and I immediately take off into the woods.
PJO
"Okay, so when we trailed their guards, they were about here," Percy says, prodding the map with his finger. "So then, their flag must be somewhere around here," he says, sliding his finger to the left, circling a small area.
"Good rationalizing," I murmur quietly, not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention. I quietly furl the map back up, snapping a rubber band around it, then sticking it into a small back I have on my side. Quickly adjusting my form-fitting helmet, which has gotten a tad crooked, I stand up, brushing the dirt off of my pants. Percy does the same, twisting his fingers around Anaklusmos. I smirk. I can't give up an opportunity to tease him.
"Be careful Percy: wouldn't want you to cut off your fingers or anything," I say snidely.
"Your fingers aren't the only things that are going to be cut off," an icy voice says behind us. Percy and I freeze, both of us gripping our weapons, before turning around. Annabeth and about a dozen Ares warriors have surrounded us, weapons pointing menacingly.
"Oh, Gods," Percy says before cursing in Greek.
"Erre es krokas," (1). I hiss, causing a murmur of dissent.
"Prepare to be crushed," Annabeth says triumphantly.
"I think we can take them," I mutter under my breath, only loud enough for Percy to hear. "On the count of three. One" The Ares campers start to advance. "Two." Annabeth slaps on her cap and disappears. "THREE!" I shout, and Percy and I draw our weapons as the Ares campers charge towards us, blades flashing and shields glinting dully in the fading sunlight. As the first Ares camper reaches us, I spot their face and snarl. It's Molpadia. Man, I hate that girl so much. She clumsily swings her sword at me, which I easily parry and send flying; it lands sticking hilt up in the dirt a few feet away. I knock her back with Aegis, and she stumbles into one of her siblings, who is fighting Percy, and they both crash to the ground, moaning feebly. I slam the next one in the face with my shield, then smack him in the stomach with the blade of my spear. As he doubles over in pain, Percy whips the Riptide out and sends the big brute flying. I hold out my spear towards the next three Ares campers and call out to the sky, praying to my dad. An enormous volt of electricity, bigger than I've ever summoned, comes streaking down from the sky, surging into my spear and then flying back out, hitting the three Ares campers in the chests, shocking them and singing their hair. They fall to the ground, unmoving, almost unconscious.
"Good job, Thals," Percy shouts, as her successfully disarms two more Ares campers. I take a break, leaning on my spear for support, panting hard. I am just thinking about how there's only five campers left, including Annabeth, and we can take them, when one of the Ares campers knocks Riptide out of Percy's hands, and it clatters on the forest floor a good five yards away. Another Ares camper advances, holding his sword out menacingly, as Percy stands there, weak, helpless. It's too early for the Riptide to return. Just as the Ares camper starts to swing the blade down Percy, I do the stupidest thing I may have ever done in my life. (2).
I run in front of Percy, screaming, "NO!" and take the blade for him.
The blade slices through not only the jacket and the shirt I am wearing, but also my skin. I grit my teeth as I feel the sword twisting my flesh, slicing through my skin, before yanking free. Shocked for a moment, I press my hand to the deep, long gash on my stomach and feel the slipperiness of the blood sliding over my palm, before keeling over and collapsing onto the ground. Oh, gods, it hurts so bad! Like someone gouged open my whole stomach, doused it with kerosene and then lit a match, then slathered it with dragon poison.
Percy is immediately by my side, and so are all of the other campers, looking extremely worried. "Thalia!" His voice is faint and wobbly, like talking underwater. My vision goes black for a second as I convulse, before it returns, blurrier then before.
"Oh my Gods, Thalia!" Annabeth's voice is almost inaudible.
"Thalia...you've got to hold on..." I'm trying to, Percy, I think, as I struggle to keep hold on the edge of a deep abyss of unconsciousness. But my grip starts to slip, and I black out again, only for a few moments. The smell of blood, metallic and salty, brings me back to reality, but only briefly. Percy is gripping my hand tightly, the other hand pressing over my bloody wound, trying to staunch the flow, but there's too much, too much blood for him to stop it. I hear people shouting for Chiron, for nectar, for ambrosia.
"Thalia..." Percy says, and that's the last thing I hear before I lose my grip and fall, down, down, down into unconsciousness.
Percy's Point of View
I stand, frozen and numb, my fingers closing around what used to bet the hilt of Riptide, watching helplessly as the Ares camper advances, sword thrust out, pointed directly at my stomach. I wince as the blade rushes down, cringing with fear. Then stare as absolute horror as Thalia leaps in front of me, crying out, taking the blade instead.
Numbness spreads through my body. No, no, no, no, no...this cannot be happening. No. It can't. But as I stare at Thalia, who is pressing her hand over the jagged wound on her thin stomach, almost surprised as she lifts her hand back to her face and sees her blood spattered on it, then collapses, I know that it can.
And it just happened.
The world blurs around me and the air leaves my lungs, like I'm being squeezed by a steamroller. I rush over to Thalia, kneeling beside her broken form, watching as blood spills out of her stomach, almost black in the fading afternoon light. The Ares campers are still shocked to move, but Annabeth pulls off her cap, suddenly visible, her light gray eyes startled and wide with fear.
"Thalia..." I say softly, her eyes blinking slowly as more blood spills out. She convulses for a moment, a river of crimson pouring out, her body arching into a 'C' shape, before she goes unconscious for a moment.
"Oh, my Gods, Thalia!" Annabeth cries out, a shimmering tear trickling down her cheek as she stares down at her oldest friend, wounded horribly. Thalia's eyes flicker open again, but they're lackluster and don't have the spark of electricity she usually has. Her skin is pale, so pale it would make snow look gray, so pale the spray of freckles across her cheekbones look like ants swarming. I think of how she looks exactly like how she looked the day I first met her. She goes unconscious again, and this time the other campers come to their senses, some darting off wildly into the thick foliage, shouting for Chiron, while others kneel besides Thalia, screaming for nectar and ambrosia. Her eyes open once more, but the movement is wrong; it's sluggish, almost like she's a fly trapped in amber. I grip her hand tightly, so tightly my knuckles begin to pop, and I press the other hand over the wound, trying not to cringe when I feel her blood touch my hand. But the flow's too strong, and there's too much blood already in a puddle around her.
"Thalia...you've got to hold on..." I plead, watching her slowly drain of energy and consciousness. Her lips move slightly; she's trying to tell my something. But, it drains her of energy, and her eyes slowly begin to dim. "Thalia..." Her eyes shut softly, and her breathing gets shakier. I curl my fists as tears threaten to make an appearance. I have to be strong. I...I can get through this.
Chiron domes trotting over, roused by the cries of anxious campers; his face pales when he sees Thalia on the ground in a puddle of not yet cold blood. Without asking, he quickly hauls Thalia onto his back, making sure she's on comfortably before galloping back to the Big House. Annabeth lets out a sudden sob; her cheeks are covered with pearly tear tracks that shimmer faintly in the fading light. I grab her hand tightly and start to run; she trips and stumbles before running to keep up with me.
"Come on," I say to Annabeth. "Thalia needs us."
~PJO~
"This is all my fault," Annabeth moans, pouring more nectar into Thalia's still-fresh wound.
"Annabeth, anymore nectar and she's going to burn up," I snap, yanking the canteen of nectar from her hands. "And Zeus above, it's not your fault! It's capture the flag, for Herra's sake! You had no way of knowing what was going to happen! So stop saying it! It's getting beyond annoying!"
"I'm sorry!" Annabeth sobs, hiccuping a bit, then throwing her arms around me. I, unsuspecting her bold move, promptly fall to the floor, with Annabeth landing on top of me.
"Jeez, Annabeth, quit it!" I mumble. "Now get off!" Annabeth complies, letting out another suppressed sob. I feel bad for her; Thalia is one of her oldest friends, and it must kill her to see Thalia like this.
"I just wish she would wake up, so I can tell her how sorry I am!" Annabeth says, wiping her eyes. As though roused by Annabeth's words, Thalia's electric blue eyes flutter open.
Thalia's Point of View
When I first pull myself out of the depths of unconscious, I notice something: my head hurts really bad. So does my stomach, for that matter. It feels like someone rammed a sword into it. Then I remember: oh, yeah, someone did ram a sword into my stomach.
I can hear snatches of conversation as I struggle to open my eyes.
"...sorry!"
"...it! Now get..."
"I just wish...so I can tell her...I am!" At that moment I find I can now control my eyelids, and my eyes flutter open. I see a worried-out-of-her-mind Annabeth and a mildly pissed Percy.
I gasp as a shock of pain goes through my body when Annabeth tackle-hugs me.
"Thalia! You're alright!" She exclaims joyously.
"Annabeth, for someone so smart, you're being pretty dumb right now," Percy says, gently pulling Annabeth off of me. I send him a look of silent thanks. "You just hugged Thalia."
"So?"
"After she's had a sword thrust into her stomach."
"...right...sorry 'bout that, Thals."
"It's fine," I reply, but my stomach aches so badly I have to bite down a curse.
"Hey, Thalia, back there...I mean, saving me...well, thanks," Percy stammers, a red flush spreading across his cheeks and making his sea green eyes look brighter and more vibrant.
"Don't mention it," I say nonchalantly. "I'm sure you'd do the same thing for me."
Percy's Point of View
"Hey, Thalia, back there...I mean, saving me...well, thanks," I stammer, feeling a blush rising up on my cheeks. Great. Now I look like an idiot.
"Don't mention it," she says casually, slightly wincing in pain. "I'm sure you'd do the same thing for me."
I definitely would.
(1.) It's a swear in Greek Annabeth used in the Lightning Thief. It means, 'go to the crows.'
(2.) I don't think I'm that good at fight scenes...I tried to do a lot of action...
Hope you guys liked this one! I slaved my butt off writing this; first my computer doesn't save it, then it wouldn't turn on...you get the picture. Please, review! I really would love to get fifty reviews on this story! Thanks a bunch!
~lilmissf