Chapter 26

A/N: Right now, I'm kind of unsure how long I should make this story. Some suggestions, please? Do y'all have enough interest in it to keep going?

Edward's POV

Edward, get the fuck out here. Your brother decided that it was the absolute best time to pull a fucking prank.

Did I have any doubt as to who said brother was? Absolutely not.

I stood up abruptly, startling Bella.

"What is it?" she asked, looking alarmed.

"Emmett. Prank," I hissed through my teeth. She got the message.

I'd always known that my brother was not the brightest match in the box, but seriously? Pulling a prank on people who 1) we didn't know, and 2) already wanted to kill us? I didn't think that even he could get that dumb.

I followed the sound of James's footsteps until I reached a wooden building similar to the ones around it, but this one had steam coming out of it. And several very disgruntled demigods wrapped in towels.

"What the fuck," one seethed at Emmett, who was rolling on the ground in laughter.

I prodded him with my foot. "Dude, get up."

"What happened?" Aria demanded.

"The water," one of the half bloods said, glaring at me like I was the one who caused the prank.

James groaned and put his head in his hands.

Aria glared at Emmett, who was still rolling on the ground. "Why, Emmett, why?"

"Yeah, why?" Rose said, appearing suddenly behind me. "If this is how you're going to behave, I'm not going to speak to you for an entire week."

That got Emmett to sit up.

"Rosie, baby, it was just for fun!" he wailed.

"No, it was not fucking fun," another demigod growled. "Consider yourself lucky that we're not killing you right now."

"Look, I'm sure it was just for fun," Aria said, sounding a bit annoyed. I didn't blame her. "It's just his way of breaking the ice."

"I swear, he behaves like a five year old sometimes," Rose said. She glared at Emmett. "Get up and apologize."

Emmett sighed, and stood up. "Sorry for making the showers explode," he mumbled.

"Will it happen again?" Rose prompted.

Emmett sighed again. "It won't happen again."

The demigod who'd spoken first smirked. "If my skin wasn't burning right now, I'd find this funny."

"Why aren't you jumping around in pain, then?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Because I'm fucking magical, douchebag," he snarled.

You should've just kept your mouth shut, Aria thought. Yeah, I should've.

"Go away now, Emmett," Jason commanded. I hadn't even noticed that he was there.

Emmett followed Rosalie like a little puppy, her dragging him away from the scene of the prank.

"Go put some clothes on," Reyna said, wrinkling her nose. "I'm sure the showers are alright now. Aria?"

"Yeah, they are," she sighed.

"Gods, I'm sorry," I groaned. "I didn't realize he would get that bored."

James sighed as well. "It's Emmett. We should've expected it."

"Keep your siblings in line," Reyna said. "I don't want to deal with a demigod vampire war."

"I wonder who would win that," Jason mused.

Aria hit him on the shoulder. "Don't even think about it!"

"I wasn't!" he protested.

She raised her eyebrows. "That line really doesn't work when I can read your mind."

Jason simply scowled at her, and she smirked.

"Hey, what happened here?" a new voice said in surprise. We all spun around to face Percy, who was surveying the wreckage of the showers with a blond girl by his side.

"Percy!" Aria yelled, and quite literally threw herself at him.

He laughed. "Hey, sis. I missed you too. If you want me to keep breathing, get off of me."

Aria released him, and turned to the blond girl. "Annabeth, long time no see!"

"Too long, sweetie," she said, pulling her into a tight hug. It seemed kind of maternal.

After they all said their hellos to each other, and I found out that Annabeth was Percy's long-time girlfriend, he glanced back at the showers.

"Emmett," Aria said in explanation.

Percy sighed. "Make sure they don't attack the Cullens."

"Wait, what?" I squeaked. I didn't want people attacking us!

"Did you just squeak?" James said disbelievingly. A second later, he cracked up. "Oh, this is too good! Edward Cullen just squeaked!"

"Oh, shut up," I said.

"Anyway," Reyna cleared her throat. "If you don't anger any of us anymore, I'm sure no one will attack. Well…I can't guarantee it."

"Oh, hilarious," Aria said sarcastically. "We all really needed those images."

"What?" I asked, not liking being oblivious.

"Nothing," James said, all-too-innocently, glancing at Aria and grinning.

I narrowed my eyes at both of them and tried to read their minds, but all I got was the lyrics to some modern pop songs.

"Did Alice teach you the art of blocking me?" I grumbled.

Aria smiled. "You bet."

"Just don't antagonize anyone any further," Jason advised. "I don't know how long it'll take them to cool down."

"Jesus Christ, you'd think that with the way Emmett behaves he was a toddler, and not a hundred-something year old vampire," Annabeth muttered.

Percy burst out laughing, while Aria grinned.

"You have no idea how right you are," I said, quite seriously. "I really do doubt sometimes that he ever matured past seven."

"I agree," Jason said. "Well, we have to go get prepared for the game tonight. Percy, Annabeth, come see us when you can. James, you and Aria can do whatever you want for now. Just don't get into any trouble. And make sure the Cullens stay out of trouble too."

"Hey!" I protested, sounding like a little boy.

Reyna rolled her eyes. "He's kidding, jeez. See you guys later."

"Wait, what game?" I asked, feeling a bit out of things.

"It's their version of Capture the Flag," Annabeth supplied.

"Well, what's Capture the Flag?" I asked again.

"Jesus Christ—" Annabeth started.

"Annabeth, cut him some slack. He's never been to New York," Aria defended me. "You'll see what it is tonight," she said to me. She looked around, as if noticing something for the first time. "Hey, where's Bella?"

"With that little girl, Ariel," I said.

"Fucking hell!" Aria yelled. "Did no one feel like telling me that Ariel was here?!"

"Sorry, forgot about it," James said, shrugging.

She glared at him before disappearing in the direction I came from.

James smiled sheepishly. "She really missed Ariel since we moved to Forks."

"I gathered," I said. "So will someone explain to me what this game is?"

Percy sighed. "I volunteer. This camp is split into five cohorts, based on training skill. Every couple nights, they have war games, just to keep in practice. It's usually a few of them defend something, and the other cohorts have to try to get it."

"That sounds pretty easy," I said.

Annabeth burst out laughing. "Is he for real?"

"Be nice," Percy scolded. "He's new at this."

"No, it isn't easy," James said, chuckling. "It's—well, you'll have to see for yourself. Your family will be watching with the rest of us today."

"Why aren't you guys playing?" I asked.

"You really think either of us would let Aria play?" James said incredulously, gesturing to himself and Percy.

Annabeth shook her head in wonder. "He can't be for real."

"Annabeth," Percy said, reprimanding her.

"So what're you guys gonna do now?" James asked Annabeth and Percy.

"We need to go catch up with Reyna and Jason," Percy said. "Something about the monster. And no, you and Aria don't need to be there. We'll meet again at the strategy planning session."

"I'm gathering that there's not going to be a formal meeting of the senate?" James asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "Just us, and the centurions. No need for the campers."

"Why are we leaving them out of this? It's their camp," James argued.

"Because if this blows up, they're not in the direct line of fire," Percy supplied. "You and Aria are, and so are Reyna and Jason. They're the closest. And then Annabeth and me."

"I guess you're right," James conceded. "Hey, weren't you supposed to bring Piper and Leo with you?"

"They couldn't come," Annabeth said. "Underhanded mission."

"I'm sorry, I'm still pretty lost here," I interrupted. "What's a meeting of the senate? And what are centurions? And what is an underhanded mission?"

Annabeth sighed and shook her head, and Percy just looked amused. So I turned to James.

"A meeting of the senate is when all the centurions and senators gather in the senate house to decide on or discuss something," he started. "Centurions are the leader of the cohorts; two for each cohort. An underhanded mission is a sneak attack mission, basically. Not a long quest or anything. Just a simple attack plan to blow up one of the enemy's bases. Good enough?"

"I guess that covers it all," I said.

"We need to get to Jason and Reyna," Percy reminded Annabeth, pulling at her hand.

"See you later," Annabeth called to James. "And, by the way, Cullen, the amount of questions you ask won't get you anywhere."

"Annabeth!" I heard Percy scold again.

James snickered. "I'm going to go find my girlfriend. And you probably want to find your fiancé. Come on."

I followed him back to where Bella and Aria were playing with Ariel, running around in little circles.

As I watched them interact, I realized that Aria really did raise this little girl. Everything she did had a maternal hint to it, including letting Ariel tackle her down to the grass in a game of tag.

How odd.

After a couple hours, it started to get a tiny bit darker, and Aria said that we had to head to the dining hall soon.

"But they don't eat," Bella protested, gesturing to me.

"I know that, but if they're not there, the campers are automatically going to assume the worst," she explained patiently.

"Ah, well, at least you'll be there," Bella said, sliding her arms around me. I kissed her hair.

"Oh, right, I forgot to ask," I said, reminded of something. "Is my family and I allowed to sit in on this strategy meeting?"

"I don't know," James said dubiously. "Aria?"

She shrugged. "Dunno either. We'll just have to ask. Now come on, unless you want them to send a faun after us."

"What's a faun?" Bella and I said at the same time.

James rolled his eyes. "I need to start keeping track of your questions."

Aria laughed. "You guys will see soon enough."

I did see soon enough what a faun was, when I was sitting a table in the dining hall, surrounded by my family, Aria, James, Percy, and Annabeth. It was supposedly the 'honorary guests' table.

"Yo, who are the pale faces?" someone said from behind me.

I turned around to see who it was, and instead, got an eyeful of…a goat.

"Excuse me, are you a goat?" Alice said.

The goat glared at her. "I'm a faun," he snapped.

"The nature spirits," Annabeth explained, laughing.

"D'you have any money?" the faun asked me, leaning on my shoulder.

"Vitus, leave him alone," Aria scolded. "They don't carry Roman money with them. You know that."

"Hey, you're awful cold," Vitus said. I scowled.

"No shit, Sherlock," James responded. "They're vampires, haven't you heard?"

Vitus yelped and leapt backwards. I sighed. Was this the reaction we would always get in this world?

"Fucking Christ, calm down!" Percy yelled. "They don't hurt people like us! Or you, for that matter, though I'm seriously considering it."

"Sorry, man," Vitus said to me. And at the rest of my family. "Didn't mean to."

"Don't worry about it," Emmett said. "Hey, do you gamble?"

Rosalie groaned. "Try it, and I swear you'll be sleeping on the couch for a month."

"I won't answer that, dude," Vitus chuckled. "As none of you have any food or money, I'll be going. Laters!"

Aria chuckled. "That, my dear vampiric friends, was a faun."

"What lovely characters," Esme said sarcastically, surprising us again.

"Interesting phenotypical makeup," Carlisle mused.

"Stop the doctoring stuff, dad," Emmett said.

"Just because you don't get it doesn't mean the rest of us don't," Jasper sneered.

"Just because—"

"Alright, boys, that's enough," Esme deadpanned. Only the gods knew how much she had to do that. Scratch that, did they know how much? Like, did they ever pay attention?

Annabeth suddenly snorted into her food.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked. She looked at him for a minute, and then he burst out laughing. Aria and James joined in a second later.

"I feel like we're missing something," Rose said. "Would you mind telling us?"

Annabeth looked straight at me. "My mom said to tell you that yes, they do know how many times, and yes, they do pay attention sometimes. And to shut your thoughts up."

If I had been able to, I would've blushed. "How does she know? Wait, who's your mom?"

"Athena," Annabeth said, still giggling. "And she knows 'cause she's a goddess. Just because we can't read your mind doesn't mean they can't."

Bella started giggling. "Seriously, Edward? Really?"

"Hey, don't make me tickle you," I said.

She blushed and stopped laughing abruptly.

"Holy shit, I just realized that we have a grand total of six couples here," Percy announced.

I winced. "Would it kill you all to stop swearing?" I asked. "I mean, what real reason is there for swearing?"

"Edward doesn't seem to get the concept of swearing," Emmett explained. "He's always been very averse to it."

"I didn't know you even knew what averse meant," Alice said.

"Pixie," Emmett retorted. Alice stuck her tongue out at him.

Before Esme could reprimand either of them, a loud sound from the front of the room distracted us.

"Alright, everyone, you know what time it is!" Jason yelled, from his position atop a table.

The entire camp burst into deafening cheers so loud I thought that I would go deaf.

"Same rules, same structure," Jason continued yelling above the din. "Three and Four are defending, One, two, and five are attacking. Move out!"

Again, another deafening clamor as five hundred plus demigod children thundered outdoors.

"Well," Aria sighed, hoisting herself off the bench. "That's our cue. Come on, guys."

"Where are we going?" Alice piped up.

"Watch tower," Percy said. "It's where we stand to watch the game."

"Go the fast way," Annabeth said, grabbing Percy's hand. "It's a lot more fun."

"What's the fast way?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll find out," Aria said, with a devilish grin.

"Oh no—" Rose started, but she didn't get to finish her sentence. All I heard was someone stomping their foot, then a bunch of water rushing around me, and then my feet hitting the ground.

Ow.

"That was fun," James said serenely, still upright after that ordeal.

"What was that?" Esme gasped.

"That," Aria said, grinning. "Was the fast way."

"Toldja it was fun," Annabeth said.

"Was not," I muttered. "My feet hurt."

"Aww, poor baybee," Bella cooed, wrapping herself around me.

"Don't get too cozy, the game's about to begin," Percy warned. "You'd want to see this."

I looked around, realizing that we were in a watch tower. Oh. The walls were non existent, providing a clear view of what was going on in the field below.

At first, I thought I was just looking at bushes. But then I realized that those five humongous bushes were actually groups of people.

"Holy fuck, how the hell can the legion be that big?" Emmett yelled.

"Language," Esme reprimanded.

Aria laughed. "I know, it's really big."

"That would be an understatement," Bella said, voicing my thoughts exactly.

"It's got to be at least a thousand people," Jasper noted.

"Give or take a few," Percy corrected. "They've had a couple additions."

"Shush, the game is starting," Aria scolded. "I wanna watch."

"Yeah, you wanna watch people rip each other apart," James snickered. Aria glared at him, and he shut up. And then snuck a little kiss as she turned away.

I exchanged a glance with Emmett and chuckled. All guys are alike, no matter what species.

As I turned my attention to the battle before me, I was once again truly awed by the power of the demigods.

Ariel had told me that the Fifth Cohort had always been the underdog – the place where the horrible fighters went. Now, they were attacking the fortress with an energy I didn't think was possible. The First and Second Cohorts barely had any work to do.

The Third and Fourth were also putting up a very good fight – it was evenly matched. Swords were flying, shields clashing – the entire battlefield was a mess.

When the first golden eagle flew up to the watch tower and deposited an injured camper, I swear I nearly jumped out of my skin. I mean, who expects a metal eagle to come flying in at any second.

Only the four half bloods with us kept calm, telling us that it was alright.

During the entire battle, Reyna was patrolling on her flying horse – Scipio, I think it was called. It was good to see that though they were fighting, everyone knew it was just for show.

As I watched, a water canon was hit by an arrow and promptly exploded.

"Damn," Emmett whistled. "They're good."

No one commented, because we were all too caught up in watching this mock-war.

Aria turned around to look at us, and I saw a slow smile spread across her face as she took in our raptured expressions.

Who knew Vampires could learn something new?

With a very loud yell, one camper leapt up from his entire group and jumped onto the edge of the wall. A couple more followed him, and they dropped to the other side quickly.

Before anyone from the opposing team could move, the doors were opened from the inside, and all three cohorts that were on the outside stormed in.

Within a couple minutes, Reyna's ever-loud whistle blew, signifying the end of the game.

"Remember what happened last time we had visitors?" I heard Aria whisper to Percy.

Percy nodded grimly. "Ares."

"Not pretty," Aria said. "Oh well. Past is past." She turned around and saw me looking at her, and gave a quick grin.

"Well, show's over, folks," James said. "It's time to get back out."

"Please, not the fast way," Bella begged. "I think I'm going to vomit."

"Well, would you like to jump out the window?" Annabeth questioned. "'Cause that's the only other way out."

Bella shuddered. "Alright, alright. Fast way it is."

I took her into my arms. "I'll cuddle you all the way through it."

"Now that makes me feel better," she said, snuggling into my arms. I rested my chin gently on her head, feeling her arms wrap around me.

I closed my eyes as I felt the water rushing around me again, and we were soon back on the ground, away from the watch tower.

"It's time for the strat meeting," Percy said to Aria. "We should go."

"Aren't we coming with you?" I asked. "You said we could."

"I guess," Aria said dubiously. "But only you and Bella."

"You'll fill us in later, right?" Carlisle confirmed.

James nodded. "Of course. You guys should go now. We'll see you later."

"Try not to get into any trouble," Aria added.

"You know we don't," Alice said.

"Yes, but I know Emmett does," she replied, glaring at Emmett. He just grinned.

"We'll be back in an hour or so. Not too long." Percy began walking towards the praetor's cabins again.

"See you later," I told my family, taking Bella's hand again.

And we headed off towards the meeting.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

I'm going to be posting a new story soon, called The Survivor. It's set in the middle of a war, and Bella and Edward are both at refugee camps. No Charlie/Renée or Carlisle/Esme. Let me know if you're interested!

Also, I'm posting a small one-shot about Percy and Annabeth. It's already up, so read and review, please! Thanks!