Guys! Sorry for not updating! But between juggling classes, mathletes, community service stuff, I was a bit preoccupied. The updating schedule would be unclear from now on, but I'll write whenever it's possible.
Also, sorry about the mistake last chapter. So I was trying to figure out the relationship between Scorpius and Malcom (I'm terrible at family stuff. Like what does it even mean when you're twice removed or something?) but the only thing I was sure on is that they are related on the maternal side by Athena. So I accidentally typed niece instead of nephew because maternal is female right? Again I'm sorry. I feel so stupid right now.
Anyways, here's the chapter, it's loooooooooooong. No need to thank me. Actually just write me a review at the end. I would veryveryveryveryveryvery appreciate it. Also because it's this long, it's hard to catch grammar or spelling mistakes. I apologize in advance.
Disclaimer: y'all know I own nothing so what's the point?
Vicky's POV
A hunting horn blew in the distance, the sound resonating inside the camp borders, signaling the arrival of a powerful presence. Some campers facepalmed while others bounced up and down with energy. I wondered what could triggered such contrasting emotions among the demigods. A moment later, Reagan came bounding in with two blonde guys, one who taught sword fighting and the other was the guy in the big house infirmary. They each went to their respective tables while Reagan plopped down next to me at the head table, squishing me against Teddy.
She had the nerve to smile at me innocently.
"Who's 'bae', Ray Ray?" I teased her back, nodding at a table of blondes with grey eyes. Gossip spreads especially fast inside our family.
"Oh that." Teddy made a sound halfway between exasperation and amusement. "She calls everyone that." Then to answer my unasked question. "Not us brits. We are a bit...less accepting." He struggled to find the correct word.
"You should've seen the look on McGonagal's face." Reagan sighed dreamily. "I wish I got it on camera. Swear she was gonna retire right there and then." I decided to not ask anymore questions.
Which was just as well, because a moment later a group of girls in silver parkas with bows slung over their shoulders marched in. I immediately envied their confidence, like they had no regards to what others thought of them.
"Welcome hunters." Chiron stood up in his centaur form to greet the new arrivals. "Please take a seat, we have quite a few announcements to make."
"The hunters of Artemis are the handmaidens of Artemis, goddess of moon and hunt. They are immortal on the condition that they don't gets killed in battle or break their vow to swear off boys." Reagan informed us. "They are also known as the eternal bachelorettes." I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not so I decided to keep quiet.
He clopped over to the middle of the pavilion, where a large crack ran from one end to the other, as if a fissure had once closed there. He motioned toward the daughter of Athena to join him. "Annabeth." The blonde stood up from where she was sitting. She scanned the pavilion, her grey eyes determined. I got the feeling that she is not someone you would want to mess with.
"ALRIGHT! TO RECAP, GAIA HAS RISEN AND IS BENT ON DESTROYING THE GODS FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL. THIS WILL BE A BIGGER CHALLENGE THAN WE HAVE EVER FACED BEFORE. TO PROVE THE SEVERITY OF THE SITUATION, THE GODS HAS BROUGHT TOGETHER THREE GROUPS WHO HAVE BEEN KEPT APART TO PREVENT BLOODSHED. OBVIOUSLY THERE'S US. ONE OF THE GROUPS INCLUDES THE WIZARDS." She pointed at us, and I squirmed under the attention. "AND THE ROMANS. THERE HAS BEEN AN EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE GREEKS AND THE ROMANS. TOMORROW AT DAWN, ME, LEO, PIPER, AND JASON WILL SET SAIL FOR THE ROMAN CAMP. WE WILL NEGOTIATE WITH THEM AND HOPEFULLY FIND PERCY." Loud cheering sounded at the last part, making me wonder who this Percy is.
"Training will go as usual until we receive further notices. Hopefully our two camps can unite and prepare for the prophecy and war together. And as camp tradition goes, there will be capture the flag tonight. Seeing how there's thirty hunters, eighteen wizards, and a hundred campers, we will divide into three teams for fairness." Chiron finished, striking the floor with his hooves. The rest of the campers joined in, banging their fists on the tables in steady staccato beats, making the silverware rattle. The banging got louder and louder as enthusiasm spread contagiously.
"We're don't need campers or wizards to win this game." A hunter with punk clothes and silver ringlet called out over the noise.
"It is up for you guys to decide who to be on who's team. The only thing I ask is for the wizards to be divided equally between the two camp half blood teams. For now, let's eat." The banging stopped, replaced by cheering. Girls with greenish skin and pointy ears, dryads, delivered food onto everyone's plates. Drinks appeared in the cups, whichever beverage we wanted. Instead of digging in, the campers each stood up and sacrificed a part of their dinner into the fire.
"What are they doing?" I whispered to Reagan, not wanting to be disrespectful, catching her arm as she stood up with her plate.
"Sacrificing a portion of our meals to the gods. C'mon, you guys can sacrifice it to Hecate." We followed her to the bronze brazier and watched as she scrapped a piece of feta cheese into the fire. "Aphrodite." She whispered. For a moment the air filled with the delicious scent of vanilla yogurt and tropical fruits.
And then it was my turn.
I walked up to the brazier nervously, the heat of the fire too hot for comfort. I scraped a barbecue rib into the fire and said unsurely, "H-Hecate." The scent of grandma Molly's Christmas feast wafted out as my shoulders sagged in relief. At least I didn't mess it up.
I returned to the head table to see Reagan and Mr. D having eyeing each other as they both aggressively stabbed their food with their knives. I watched Mr. D down one Diet Coke after another, trying to keep my expression neutral so I won't get stabbed or anything. Reagan had barely two bites of her dinner before standing up and wiping her hands on her pants, ignoring the obvious look of disdain on Teddy's face.
"What's the hurry, my dude?" Louis asked as he bit into a slice of pizza.
Reagan scowled at the name. "Aphrodite and Athena are teaming up for capture the flag. Annabeth wants me to choose which of you will be on our team since I know you guys best. I'll have fun slicing up you misfits who can't get my name right." She cackled evilly and walked off, leaving the Marauders paralyzed in their seats.
I craned my head to see what's going on. Counselors are hurrying around making alliances, trading chores and shower times, trash talking each other. Annabeth and Clarrise glared at each other while Reagan spread out a piece of parchment.
"YOU ALREADY WON LAST TIME, ITS ONLY FAIR IF WE PICK FIRST!" Clarisse slammed a fist down, rattling the table and drawing everyone's attention.
"Fine!" Annabeth threw her hands up exasperatedly. The gleam in her stormy grey eyes told me this was all part of her plan. I shivered, that girl is not someone you want for an enemy.
"I want her." She jabbed a finger at Aunt Ginny. I had heard many stories from my uncles and dad on how scary she was when she was our age, her double-bladed axe definitely supported their point.
Reagan smirked and jotted it down before conversing with Annabeth for a bit. "Teddy." Annabeth announced, her voice steely determined. For a fleeting moment I felt like we're being auctioned off.
Over the course of the dinner, Annabeth and Clarisse slapped tables, glared, argued over who's on who's team, and sharpened their blades as Reagan chewed on the tip of her quill till it's soggy.
Finally they decided on Teddy, Uncle George, Roxy, Scorpy, me, Molly, Lily, Rose, and mom on the blue team with Annabeth. And Aunt Ginny, Aunt Angelina, James, Albus, Fred, Louis, Lucy, Hugo, and Dom on the other team with Clarisse.
And then it was time for capture the flag.
Reagan help me strap on the armor, a heavy bronze breastplate with greaves and a helmet. The breastplate alone weighed a ton, I didn't know how I was supposed to run in it, much less fight.
We all gathered in a small clearing in the woods, surrounded by trees for cover and high enough to tell if the enemy teams are coming. Piper planted the flag, a long, silky, grey banner with an owl on it, in the grass.
"So what's the plan?"
"Capture the flag is same as always, except the woods are divided into three. The saytrs planted walls of vines to divide the territory. Three flags, one team loses the flag and they're out. The game gets reduced to two teams. The team with two flags gets, let's put it this way, an extra life. Remaining team with all three flags win." Malcom declared. "This is going to be a hell of an interesting game."
Annabeth pulled out a hand drawn map of the woods. Interesting symbols and arrows were labeled neatly. More detailed words were scribbled next to them, so small you needed to squint to read them. Different colored notes that either represented different steps of a plan or a whole different plan all together cluttered in every blank space possible.
Judging by the cabin numbers on the map, Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, Hecate, Demeter, and Dionysus are on blue team. Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, Iris, Nemesis, Nike, Hebe, and Tyche are on red.
"Aren't we outnumbered by red? They have nine cabins on their side." Rose asked, her we-need-a-plan face on.
"Technically ten but Hypnos never participates. The minor god cabins don't have much campers. Although they do have Hermes, which complicates it." Malcom answered, tracing a line on the map as if plotting possible attack routes. Annabeth remained silent as she continued to analyze the map.
"Three-sided fight..." she muttered to herself. "Interesting. Maybe break into three scout groups... Too risky..." She continued to mutter about possible strategies, tracing things on the map with her dagger. All her thoughts and idea jumbling together, sometimes even slipping into Ancient Greek. It made no sense to me whatsoever, but Malcom nodded and added ideas of his own.
Finally she made up her mind. "We'll have to take a gamble here. I assume the red team would go for the hunters immediately, they have humiliated our camp during this game too much to count. If I know Clarisse at all, which I do, she'll lead the attack and leave half of them behind to guard their flag. Once they weed out the hunters, they'll come for us. The hunters however are overconfident, they will spilt into three groups. One to defend and the other two to get to the flags. Ten hunters per team. We can take them."
She looked around at the assortment of campers around her, about fifty demigods or wizards in full battle armor. "Demeter stay here and guard the flag. Grow plants, make obstacles to stop or at least delay the opposing teams." She turned to where I stood, huddled next to Roxy, Molly, Lily, Rose, and mom, unconsciously seeking comfort in the familiarity. "Girls, how go are you at archery?"
"Subpar," Lily muttered. "Roxanne and Dominique are really good though."
Annabeth nodded. "Good enough. You guys station around on trees, they'll give you higher vantage points. Shoot at the other team when they get near. Which they shouldn't if our plan works." She turned towards her cabin. "Cabin six split into two teams. One will stay here as the final line of defense. Spread out, cover the borders. The other will follow me to attack the red team. Jason, you and Aphrodite will come with me." The son of Zeus nodded gravely.
"Wait, we're leaving our right exposed to the hunters." Malcom pointed out.
"Reagan, you take the remaining wizards and go for offense on the hunters." Reagan look stunned at being offered a job this important and dropped her knife. "Piper, Hecate, and Dionysus will go with you. Pollux, we're counting on you to help them through the vines on the boundary. Hecate cabin, use your magic to stop the hunters. Reagan, the border in the northern part of camp are undefined, take advantage of that. Let's try to win fast and thrift before our forces tire out."
As soon as she finished appointing jobs a conch horn in the distance blew, signifying the start of capture the flag. Immediately the teams broke out and headed in different directions. I scampered up a tree with a little difficulty, finding a secure branch where the leaves would obscure my body and give some element of surprise. I knocked an arrow like Kayla had demonstrated, watching out for the other teams.
Reagan's POV
Oh boy. I think I just got a promotion. There is no way I'm going to mess this up.
"C'mon." I beckoned and my group started to follow. My group. Reagan's attack squad. That has a nice ring to it doesn't it? I was absolutely pumped and giddy with being assigned a role as important as this one. This was my chance to WOW the Weasleys and the rest of camp. I grinned like an idiot and immediately tripped over a tree root, making the whole team stop.
"You alright?" Teddy whispered as he pulled me up. The attack squad was about to set off again when Teddy stiffened. "Wait, I hear something."
"I don't hear any..." Pollux started. A snap of a twig in the distance alerted us of some running this way. We all crouched behind a bush. Teddy's lycanthropy gave him superior senses and strength, I cursed myself for not listening to his warning. There was no way the bush could hide all of us, Pollux must've noticed because he whispered something in Ancient Greek and the plant start growing like crazy.
"I could've sworn I heard something over there." A hunters voice called out a few feet away. Too close.
"We'll never beat them. They got the advantage." Piper whispered to me. She's right, we're screwed unless...
I pulled out my wand and gave it a wave. No sparks. Annabeth was right, the border is unclear in the farther north woods. If we go past the boundary we could use magic. Unfortunately, we're not far enough.
I felt something poke me and I looked over at Lou. Even if you can't use magic, we can. She spoke perfectly in my head, voice crystal clear and so loud it made my brain vibrate. Legilmency was a trick Lou taught me a long time ago, but it was still annoying to have someone else's voice stuck in your head. I suppose that's what Teddy felt each time I did it, but I did dwell on it for too long.
Leave them to us. Take your team and go, the Hecate cabin got this. She nodded reassuringly and waved to her siblings, they darted to a different covering five feet away and conjured a ball of mist.
"Let's go." Pipers said as she led the way. We veered slightly off course to prevent encountering more hunters.
And then we reached the boundary. A ten feet tall wall of vines with thorns as big as a stapler. It was at least a feet thick. At the far side where the vines ended, signs of battle could be heard.
"Let's not go there." George suggested, surprisingly silent so far. Pollux held out one hand and the vines curled away, forming a small gateway just enough for Scorpius to squeeze through. The rest of us had to bend over. Once we're through, we took cover behind a clump of tree, near enough to see the flag and the fight going on, but far enough to not get caught.
"What do we do next? We'll be outnumbered if we just charge in." George asked and all eyes snapped onto me. I crumbled under the limelight. The thing is, I never had an actual plan. Heck, I didn't even think we were going to make it this far. Now that we're here, I have no idea what we should do.
I prayed to Hecate and gave my wand another wave, green sparks emitted from the tips. "It works! We might be saved after all!"
"You mean you didn't have a plan beforehand?" Scorpius raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, shut up." I peeked out behind the tree. Annabeth's predictions were right, Clarisse was there with Ares, Hermes, and a couple other campers, fighting the hunters. Unfortunate for us, the hunter group that was sent to secure red team's base got intercepted before they reached their destination. Twenty hunters were battling it out against twenty campers, and the hunters were winning. One lone girl stood at the flag, yawning as she readied her bow, a couple feet away, two more hunters were deflecting Apollo cabins arrows with their own.
"A direct assault won't work. Time to do what I do best- bend the rules." I locked eyes with my half sister. "Piper, can you subdue that girl by the flag. Quietly drag her here. I've got a few spell to cast." Although all of the spells (not just physical ones) work on demigods, they are all less effective. The Trace won't work, stunning spells like Stupefy only lasts a couple seconds, and Avada Kedavra will cause pain and major annoyance but won't kill, unless multiple wizards cast that spell at once.
Objects like the flag are warded against magic too. Believe me, the Hecate cabin tried. I guess it kind of defeats the point of the game if you Accio the flag.
Anyways, it's useless trying to hex or curse a demigod or a hunter, another wizard on the other hand... "Scorpy..." I whispered to him, he scooted closer. "I'm going to cast a disillusioning charm on you. Go into their ranks, distract them, create chaos, make them think you're Annabeth." He nodded.
A moment later he disappeared, judging by the grass bending as an invisible foot stepped on it, the first part of the plan was going well. A moment later, Piper can back with the hunter girl's hands tied behind her back and mouth gagged. I have never loved my half sibling more.
I locked gaze with Teddy. He froze, pointed at himself questioningly and pointed at the hunter. I nodded. He sighed, yielding, and memorized the girl's feature one last time before shutting his eyes. His features shifted. When he opened them again he looked like an identical clone to the girl. The same colored hair and eyes, angular chin, and high cheekbones. Piper and Pollux's mouth dropped. The hunter girl's eye widened comically and if she didn't have the gag in, I wager her jaw would've hit the floor by now.
"I'm really sorry about this." I muttered to her as I pulled off her bow and arrows and tossed them to Teddy. I also starting stripping her of her clothes and tossed them to Teddy. I prayed that Artemis wouldn't shoot me for salutary rape or anything. Hey, I did keep the basic tank top and shorts on her for modesty. Geez, I am a decent human being after all.
"Put it on." I hissed to him. "Hurry, they'll notice she's gone." Teddy didn't look like he wanted to wear a girl's clothes but obeyed nevertheless, slipping on the cool, silver fabric.
"Act confident, proud. You are a hunter of Artemis now." Piper coached him on how to act, seemingly got over her shock. Teddy nodded quickly, and scampered out into the opening. He, or should I say she, took a deep breath and straighten, darting back to his position by the flag.
One of the hunters noticed him. "Hey, where you been?"
"Thought I heard something over there. Turns out to be a ruse." Teddy replied back. His voice was general and female, the kind that is so undistinct you can't recall later, for he hadn't actually heard the hunter we subdued speak and couldn't replicate her voice exactly. I prayed that she didn't have an accent or anything. Either, Aphrodite answered my prayer or that hunter girl really did have a non distinct voice, because it worked. I applauded Teddy for his quick thinking and how natural he was, considering he was in enemy territory. I should take lessons from him in case 'Ray Ray Andy Black' situations happen again. I scowled again at the memory, curse Valdez.
"What's the plan, general?" George looked at me expectantly. "We already established that we are going stealth mode. Set out the decoy, aka Scorpy. Staged Teddy." He ticked each thing with his finger. "What's next? How are we going to get that flag and make it across the borders?"
The truth was, I didn't have a plan. We've come so far with me giddily sending out troops like some military master mind, under the delusion that we would somehow be victorious. The thing is, the two other hunters were too close. Clarisse's people are starting to be exhausted, and once they get defeated, we would have to face twenty hunters. And even if we stole the flag now, we would have the red team AND the hunters after us. It's a stalemate, there's no way we could win. No matter how much I convince myself we have an advantage.
I pulled at the roots of my hair, hoping that would somehow solve my problem. "I don't know." They looked up to me. The Weasleys thought I was some legendary fighters. Now they'll realize I'm so disappointing loser. All show no substance. "I don't know." I repeated and shook my head again.
Piper's kaleidoscopic eyes seemed to pierce through me. And then, she grinned. "Relax, we got this. Pollux and ..George, right?" George nodded. "You guys are in charge of getting the flag past the border. One of you is a plant expert, trip your pursuers with vines or something. I heard the other is a prankster, you got to have some tricks up your sleeves. Use your advantages!" Pollux and George nodded determinedly.
Piper's eyes met mine again. "Our job is to give them hell. Show them what Aphrodite really is about."
George's POV
Shouts in the distance made us snap to attention. From what it seemed like, the two teams are slashing at thin air. "IT'S ANNABETH'S INVISIBILITY CAP! GET HER!" The punk girl Thalia yelled and brandished her shield.
"Scorpius needs our help. Let's go." I watched the two girls head off. They were still so young, and yet had to learn how to fend for themselves. When I was sixteen, the most important things were getting a date to the Yule ball.
"Hey." Pollux nudged me, snapping me out of my thoughts. He was right, we had other things to focus on. Mainly the flag.
The girls charged out into the opening twenty foot away, as to not give away our position, knives ready, and engaged with the hunters in battle. Piper was calling out various commands, confusing the hunters while Reagan hurled spell after spell, though none seemed to stick. Teddy, in girl form, yanked the flag out of the ground and chucked it towards us like a javelin.
It landed next to Pollux and I got ready to run back. Except, he didn't pick it up. I was about to ask him what was wrong when I realized it was too quiet. The hunter girl stopped squirming on his ground. Before I can turn around to check, a cold blade was pressed against my neck.
"Idiotic males." She hissed. "Always so sure of themselves. Never saw girls as a threat. Now I'm about to change that." We were cornered. All she have to do was yell for help and we're dead. But who am I to kid? I'm George Weasley, I always have a trick up my sleeve. My hand inched towards the pockets on my trousers. She was still too busy mid-rant to notice. Pollux did, and he nodded at me. 'On three.' He mouthed.
One
My hand successfully wrapped around the object.
Two
I slowly started to retract my hand, keeping the object firmly covered in my hand.
Three
Pollux grabbed the flag and ran as fast as possible to the border as I slammed an elbow into the hunter's face, making her hunting knife clatter out of her hand due to surprise and threw the object. Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, modified several times after that slimy ferret used it to lead a death eater attack into the castle. It has a eight feet radius and lasts ten minutes, the caster will be the only with the ability to see through. Also if you weren't far away enough when the darkness was casted, you will be walking around in circles, never be able to get out.
Judging by the hunter girl's scream, she found that out pretty quick.
Sure I felt bad, but from what I saw so far, these campers took these games seriously. Besides, compared to having a blade against my neck, this darkness stuff really didn't cause any harm.
"They're escaping!" Five hunters broke through and headed our way. These girls are fast. There was thirty feet between us and the border. Twenty five.
And then Pollux fell, silver arrow sticking out of his thigh. They were catching up, but I couldn't abandon him. Besides, there's no way through the wall of vines unless he used his powers. Those things grew faster than Sprout's venomous tentacula. "I can still run." He said through gritted teeth. "Leave the arrow there, it's stopping most of the blood." I pulled him up and he ran with a limp, using the flag pole as a crutch.
The hunters we're almost onto us until one of them at the rear jumped and tackled them, make the four girls in the front crash.
"Adelaide! What the Hades?" One of them growled. Teddy's lycanthropy strength held them all down as I used this as an distraction and tossed a Pygmy Puff there way.
"Get that- What is that!?" Success! I grinned as we reached the border. Pollux panted as he placed his hand on the vines. The arrow wound drained him more than he admitted, because the vines curled away more slowly.
I glanced frantically behind, because Teddy and the Pygmy Puff can't hold them off for long. When there was a hole about the size of a ten year old, Pollux shoved the flag in my hand and passed out, eyes rolling up in his head. I felt bad for the kid but once I'm through, we win. We win because of him and his plant voodoo. I'll make sure he get recognized, I promised myself to lessen the guilt of leaving the kid there undefended.
Feeling resolved, I squeezed under, biting down on my lower lip to avoid calling out when the thorns ripped away part of the shirt. I reached out to tug the flag in the hole, seeing how it was too long for me to hold as I made my way through, when I felt a tug on the other side.
"Oh no you don't."
Reagan's POV
Was it irresponsible to let Piper handle the two hunters? Probably, but she was doing fine. Besides, I saw the rest of the Weasleys (the annoying ones) battling it out with the red of Clarisse's troupe of monkeys.
There are no way I'm gonna pass up this opportunity.
"CHARGE!" I yelled to myself, which in retrospect just alerted my enemy. But who cares.
I chucked knife after knife, scaring the Hades out of the Marauders as they barely deflected it. Once I'm out, I relied mainly on charmspeak and wand. Now, Piper is the real charmspeak expert. The most I've done was convince the trolley witch that she absolutely wanted to give me the entire trolley for free. But to unsuspecting idiots like them who had no idea what charmspeak is, it worked like a charm.
Look, at me, making puns mid-fight.
I wanted to say I demolished the red team and the hunters, but that would be lying. You see, I forgot about a certain factor that goes by the name Ginny Weasley.
Being an adult, she didn't have to worry about the trace. She also had a double sided axe and muscular build from years of playing quidditch. Plus, she really didn't like me bullying her son(Albus is a sweetheart, James is the devil), which, in my defense, totally deserved it. They hung me upside-down, suspended by invisible ropes over the Black Lake, while a group of younger kids from Hogsmead visited Hogwarts for a field trip. "And that, children, is why it's called the Black Lake." The Marauders had concluded their so-called tour and gave a bow grandly. Of course, if I just hung there peacefully, I wouldn't be called Reagan Black. No, I protested all right. Those children's purity and innocence probably got destroyed after hearing me protest.
The parents probably got some very interesting questions to answer to that night. "Mom, what does it mean when you stick out your third finger at someone?"
But I cleverly evaded the attack of an army of women armed with wands and magical spatulas by keeping the incident a secret, knowing the Marauders would never walk up to McGonagal and admit that their atrocious crimes. I thought I had gotten away with it, until now...
Karma's a real bitch, I thought to myself as Ginny Weasley dragged me by the ankle off to the red team's prison, wand disarmed and out of throw knives. My back and head endured pebbles, rocks, and tree stumps while twigs, leaves, and who know what got tangled in my hair.
Things at the red team's territory were quite heated.
"GET THEM! THEY HAVE THE FLAG!" Sherman Yang hollered. Everywhere around me there were battles ranging, swords clanging, voices shouting. One of my siblings burst into tears ten feet away, scaring a couple of the younger Apollo campers who went forward to comfort her. Annabeth leapt through the fray a couple yards away, Malcom at her heels and red team's flag in tow. A crack of lightning overhead momentarily brought a stop to their pursuers, allowing them to gain speed.
Ginny and Angelina exchanged looks, each let go of my ankles and charged in to stop them. A seasoned fighter like Annabeth had no problem hold off both of them, tossing the flag to Malcom, who went left to evade Albus.
Unfortunately, while his attention was preoccupied, he didn't have any time to see what's ahead of him. I was too busy wondering whether or not I could still salvage this shirt to warn him.
In short, he tripped over me, face planted in the mud, while I swore loudly and rolled over, clutching my sides. I would of felt bad for him if he didn't just kick me in the side. From personal experience, having mud up your nose sucks.
And that was where we stayed until Jennifer and Will found us later. Even kindhearted souls like them dragged us off to prison before they tended our wounds, though no amount of nectar or ambrosia would get my dignity or Mal's unclogged nose back.
We stayed there until the conch shell blew, signaling the end of capture the flag. I dared to hope maybe Annabeth had gotten the flag across border and we had won after all.
"Maybe.." I started but immediately shut up at the look Malcom shot me. I called it an improvement since he would barely look at me when we first got captured.
"I apologized! If it makes you feel better, my outfit is also ruined. So is my street cred and dignity." Another look. "Fine I'll shut up."
Jennifer untied us elatedly later, leading me to the conclusion that red won. Surprisingly the hunters were a good sport, although this may have something to do with them coming in second. While they went off to celebrate, our team mulled over why we lost. I slunk out, not wanting to get involved in that conversation.
I decided to go back to the northern part of the woods where the hunter's territory were. Reason being my knives still out there somewhere, seeing how only Percy Jackson has magical weapons that reappear in his pants. Besides once I'm there I could use magic to scourgify myself clean. I could ask Lou for help but I don't think anyone on the blue team wants to see me right now. Also, the retribution for losing is showering last. And there is no way in Hades am I going to stand under freezing water long enough to get the muck out of my hair.
Here's how I feel about the woods at night: zero stars, would not recommend unless hosting a creepy Halloween party.
Even though it's summer, the woods were extremely chilly at night, making me wish I had more clothes on as I rubbed my bare arms. It was also foggy, obscuring whatever it was five yards in front of me. I ran into a tree too much times to count. The sounds of nocturnal animals and who knows what shuffling and clawing in the distance send goosebumps down my back. You'd think I would be familiar to the woods after playing capture the flag, but after all, that was just a game. You knew campers were out there, that you're not alone, and that they won't kill you. It's reassuring to know if a monster jumps out, your fellow campers would come to your aid.
Now...not so much. I was alone and no one knew I was in the woods. I'll admit it, it was terrifying. I jumped out of my skin when a droplet of water landed on my head.
I tried to calm myself down my reminding me that once I get to the northern part, I'll have my weapons and magic. I won't be completely defenseless.
News flash: I was completely defenseless.
Some things like a giant glowing owl just can't be defeated by magic and blades. So I got to my destination successfully without getting mauled to death, scourgifyed myself(yay!), and was collecting my throw knives when I saw a strange glow reflecting off one of the blades.
I spun around so quickly, I would make a ballerina proud. And then I saw it. It was about the size of a TV, with silvery feathers that gave off a luminous quality under the moonlight. And then the owl's head turned around 180degrees so that it faced me.
I jumped back. Surely that's not normal, is it?
The owl's gaze seemed to pierce me. My heartbeat increased rapidly as I tried to get away, only to find my legs numb and unresponsive. There was a loud pounding in my head as if someone decided to play drums in my skull. Six words was chanted over and over again, the pace quickening and voice echoing in side my skull, making my brain vibrate. I couldn't make out what it was saying but knew I desperately wanted it to stop.
I suddenly felt bad for a cellphone on vibrate.
Then the earth rumbled beneath my feet as if it was laughing. Foolish goddess, this one is useless. Your plans will fail, nothing will stop me.
As these words echoed all around me, and the I noticed the owl disintegrating. The feathers turning into dust and was blown away by an unseen breeze. At last only the eyes remained, two glowing orbs of light suspended in the air.
They, too, started to fade.
And as they faded, a terrible pain flared up in my right palm. It was worse than anything I've ever felt before, like something was burning through my flesh. I screamed and tried to reach for the wand I had dropped. Anything to alleviate the pain. I tripped over something and fell, head connecting with a sharp rock I could've sworn was not there a moment a ago. The pounding in my head increased to a crescendo, drowning out the sound of my own screams.
It's a conspiracy, I thought before I passed out.
Oooooooooooh! The suspense! What will happen next?
Again pleasepleasepleaseplease give me feedback, write a review. It might only take you a couple seconds but can make me happy for an entire day. You could tell me what you think of this chapter, some book recommendations, what you had for breakfast last week, or even some theories about what's going to happen next in this story! Anything!
Oh man, I'm so pumped right now! I need to calm down...
Peace out, fellas!