Screw it, its short and bad but if I work on it more it won't be up for months I'm sure.

Cassie looked at her shoes as she prayed for an end to the awkwardness. Why did she have to open her mouth? She knew being claimed would be a sore subject for some campers. Especially in her cabin. And really, it should be a little bit of an uncomfortable subject for her too- no one had claimed her yet either.

Not that she didn't wish her father would….

"Alright, everybody gather around" Luke suddenly called out.

Like a switch, Cassie was alert and cheerful again. Because of course, this was, yet again, it.

This is it!

Cassie hurried to the front of the crowd as Luke called Percy forward.

It briefly crossed her mind that Luke seemed to be enjoying using Percy as a pin cushion that lesson. She had the pair earlier and the older camper clearly hadn't been going easy on the newbie. And Percy was drenched. Eww. Cassie hoped that was more than just sweat. Was he really that out of shape?

"We're going to practice a simple disarming technique today" Luke started speaking, instantly gaining Cassie's full attention. "For those of you who haven't done this before, or forgot since last summer, remember, it's simple, but effective, when you don't have a shield to use as well." He explained how you start with the sword on the inside of your opponent's sword, then step closer and bring your own up almost vertical.

"While still touching their blade, wrap your sword around your opponent, yes," He stressed, "This is possible. Point the tip down towards the outside, you have to do it suddenly, then slide your sword down and jerk your sword in towards you. This part has to be quick, or else it won't work.

"This is difficult; I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

Someone snorted, and a guy near Cassie chuckled. The camper next to her, Connor, or maybe Travis, she wasn't sure, leaned over and explained quietly, "It's the easiest disarming technique there is. You'll have it down by the end of the day."

Cassie nodded, now understanding that Luke was joking.

Percy had joined him and they started demonstrating the technique. Even in slow motion, and with Percy expecting every move, he dropped his sword.

"Now in real time." Luke said. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"

Percy nodded, ready, and Luke lunged. He stabbed at Percy. Percy, instead of blocking, sidestepped and tried an attack of his own.

He made a swipe for Luke's side, which Luke blocked easily. Luke's eyes narrowed after Percy's strike.

Not threateningly though. More like a cat, toying with its food. Luke swung at Percy again, and again, and again. All of his attacks looked simple enough to Cassie; straight forward sideswipes, and Percy blocked each of them relatively easily.

But on Luke's fourth swing, Percy's block changed. He tried the disarming maneuver. Without any hesitation, he stepped forward twisted his blade to point downwards on the outside of Luke's sword, just like they were shown.

Clang.

Luke's sword clattered onto the ground. He stared at his empty hand in shock.

Everyone was silent.

"Umm, sorry?" Percy lowered his sword.

Luke blinked, still in slight disbelief. Cassie couldn't blame him. Luke was the best swordsman at camp and Percy had disarmed him during his first sword lesson ever. But slowly, Luke's face broke into a grin, "Sorry? By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

Though, Cassie wondered how excited for Percy he could really be. It was embarrassing, getting beat like that. Cassie had a (big) suspicion that Luke told Percy to do the maneuver again only so Luke could rightfully whip his butt.

Which he did.

Cassie held back her smirk as Percy fumbled to retrieve his weapon.

"Beginner's luck?" Someone said after a few moments.

Luke dropped the point of his sword in the ground and rested his hands on it. He canted his head ever so slightly and glanced at Percy. "Maybe…" He considered the younger camper for a moment. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword…"

Cassie instantly rolled her eyes, remembering his earlier ordeal at the weapon's shed. She knew Riptide would be perfect for him, but at the moment it didn't seem like a 'balanced sword' even existed for the guy.

Cassie and Chris, who had both for the most part forgotten about Cassie's unthoughtful ramblings, paired up again to practice the disarming technique for a bit. Even though it was only Cassie's first lesson, she could tell she wasn't a natural. Or even very good. Or, even slightly competent, if she was being honest with herself.

She did have a lot of fun though, and she enjoyed the lesson enough; Chris was a great teacher; but she could tell swords weren't for her.

Neither was wrestling, she discovered. Cassie hated that class. Hated getting all gross and sweaty and having to grab other gross and sweaty people.

She did like seeing Percy getting pummeled though. She thought that was kind of funny.

Cassie had planned it out though, and had so far been able to avoid getting beaten up in the class.

She had made sure to compliment Clarisse the first few times she saw the bigger girl— 'Wow is that your spear!? Its electric!? Awesome!', 'Your dad is Ares? Oh wow, I hope my dad turns out to be someone as cool as him', 'Ugh I hate that Percy kid'; it seemed to do the trick.

Clarisse didn't seem to hate her guts. She maybe even thought that Cassie was a sort of charming admirer. And since Clarisse was the head of the cabin, the others did what she did.

Everyone ignored Cassie. It was very nice.

Overall, Cassie's first week was going really well. She was in a 'honeymoon' period. Everything about the camp was new and exciting. She was loving it all. Loving all the new things, the new campers, even the new threat of monsters. She didn't have time to worry about anything else.

Until that Saturday, at least. Friday was her last worry-free day.

Because how could it not be worry-free?

Everyone was pumped for the first capture the flag game of the summer. Bets were being waged, magic items readied, weapons being sharpened and armor getting polished.

Cassie herself wasn't overly excited about the game— it was significantly less exciting when you knew how everything would play out and what the outcome would be. And she was excited about… Certain parts…

But the energy of the camp was contagious.

"Eat up Cassie!" Luke patted her on the back as he sat back down at the Hermes' table for dinner, "You'll need your strength for tonight!"

Connor (she thought) leaned forward and shook his head, a grin on his face, "Naw, man, this'll be a cinch,"

Cassie had to appreciate his confidence. Not that it was misplaced, she knew what the outcome would be, but even knowing that she couldn't help but be a bit nervous.

She could picture it now. The game starting, battle cries with everyone running towards the other's flag during the first charge. She would be following, somewhere in the crowd, not really knowing what was going on, but joining in the attack anyways. Her sword would be held clumsily, her shield more in the way than it was worth.

She would fall behind relatively quickly; she was fast, but not in nearly as good shape as the other campers. Their team would quickly meet opposition. Swords and shields clashing, the sharp sound of metal on metal along with grunts and shouts from the campers. Cassie wouldn't have a clue what to do.

Keep going towards the flag? Find the nearest enemy and attack them? Pff, she thought. Like that would work. She wouldn't run up to them— she wasn't confident or aggressive enough for that. And if she did, she would get skewered instantly. A shish-kebab. Either her or the other person. Not that she had any confidence in her abilities after her single sword fighting lesson, but she also knew she didn't have the ability to control her sword well enough to prevent hurting the other guy.

Yeah, it would go horribly.

She dropped her head into her hands and groaned.

"Aww," Connor laughed, "What's the matter Cassie, not excited?"

"I'm going to be killed." She deadpanned.

He gave a short chuckle again. "Don't worry, I hear they have you on defense. You won't see any action. We'll get that flag long before they can make it to you."

Cassie didn't pay his cockiness any attention.

Quicker than she ever wanted, but somehow also not quickly enough (Cassie was still very excited to see Percy get claimed), it was time.

Someone directed Cassie to the other guard she would be with, Travis, it turned out, and she followed him deep into the forest.

Travis was instructed to place the flag up in a tree and, after a bit of wandering, he found a nice climbable one and headed up. Cassie watched as he awkwardly juggled the flag in one hand while trying to climb a reasonable way up. Just as he laid it between two branches so the banner was hanging down, visible, as the rules required, the conch horn sounded.

The game began.

"Keep your eyes peeled for any scouts," Travis instructed as he climbed down, though Cassie was obviously already doing just that. She was on guard duty— it wasn't too complicated.

Cassie had seen Annabeth lead Percy in the opposite direction and was only slightly disappointed that she had no chance of seeing him.

"Not that the game should last long enough that we'll even be needed." He finished.

Cassie figured he hadn't meant to make her feel useless, but she had to admit she'd probably be more of a burden than a help if she was more involved anyways. Still, she pretended her job was important and stood at the ready, sword and shield in front of her chest like she was taught. Her eyes scanned the woods, never lingering in one spot, just waiting for an enemy to show themselves.

The chirping birds and occasional shuffling of leaves from scurrying squirrels didn't seem to fit the mood of the game.

Cassie and her partner waited, focused and silent; attentive. She knew they probably wouldn't be needed, but she was taking her job seriously— if they were the reason their team lost the first game of the summer….

It was the first time Cassie wondered if they could lose the game. Could she actually change anything? She had pondered over what she would change if she could, but had never considered if it would actually work. It had already been written. But how much did her being there affect the story?

Something flashed in the corner of Cassie's vision, cutting off any other thoughts she might have had. She froze.

So did the enemy. About 50 yards of her, the girl with a red plume sticking out of her helmet stared. Not at Cassie, but behind her, at the huge tree; at the flag.

"There!" She called to Travis, not bothering to be quiet since the enemy scout had already seen them.

The scout took off, sprinting, making an arc around their defense to get back towards her side.

Cassie didn't move, not sure if she was supposed to give chase or stay where she was told.

She turned to Travis for instruction.

"Get him!"

Cassie, not thinking it through, not sure how she was supposed to get her, or what she was supposed to do when (if) she did, dropped her shield (since it was super heavy and weighing her down) and dashed after the scout.

Cassie was fast, and had gained some ground on the other girl, but she didn't yet have the stamina to keep up for long. She quickly realized she wasn't going to be able to catch the other camper.

If she had taken the time to think it through, Cassie never would have done it. But nonetheless, the second the idea had crossed her mind she went for it. Within a single moment, Cassie had stopped, yanked off her shoe, and hurled it the girl.

In a moment of clarity as her shoe hurled towards the scout, a feeling of embarrassment and regret washed through her. And then, amazement.

A perfect shot- it had hit the scout right on the head.

The girl let out a startled cry as she stumbled and fell to the ground.

Cassie stared in shock. It worked!?

It had worked! And then the feeling of embarrassment and regret came back. "Oh gosh!" Cassie exclaimed, and ran towards the girl, hoping she hadn't actually hurt her. "Are you okay!? I'm sorry! I'm sorry, are you okay?"

Cassie recognized the girl as Katie as she came next to her to try and examine the wound; there was dirt, and maybe the slightest bit of red from it scraping away skin, but it didn't look bad.

"I'm so sorry!" She continued to apologize, but Katie just started to laugh.

Laugh?

Cassie blinked.

"Cassie, it's a game," Katie smiled as she got to her feet, "You're supposed to try and win."

Katie opened her mouth to continue, her face twisting with a sinister smirk making Cassie take the slightest of cautious steps backwards, when they heard the elated screams and cheers racing towards them.

Cassie looked past Katie to see Luke sprinting with the red team's banner towards them. He was closely followed by about a dozen other members on the blue team who were fighting off any last attempts for the other team to take back the banner.

Katie's shoulders fell as she saw the scene as well and she sighed, understanding that the game was over. The two girls started making their way towards the creek as Luke ran the final few feet, crossing back into his own team's territory.

Everyone on the blue team exploded into cheers as all the campers started to converge on the creek.

Everyone besides Cassie, who had started to look for the only two members of her team not there celebrating; Percy and Annabeth.

She noticed Chiron cantering towards the group and blowing his conch horn the same time she spotted them. There, a couple dozen yards away, she saw Annabeth gesturing towards Percy.

Cassie started making her way past the celebrating crowd to head towards the two.

"Great game, huh Cassie?" Conner caught her as she strode past, "See, what'd I tell yeah? Piece of cake."

She smiled, nodded, and mumbled something in agreement, but he was gone before she had finished.

Up ahead she saw Percy stumble and almost collapse as he stepped out of the creek. Cassie sped up instinctively to make sure he was okay, but before she had made it a few yards, she froze.

Everyone froze.

A thunderous growl had ripped through the forest.

All interest Cassie had in getting closer to Percy vanished.

She wasn't afraid of dogs, and was actually stupidly unafraid of angry dogs as well. But this…. The hellhound was huge! It wasn't some fluffy bear-looking dog that some breeds managed to pull off either.

It was a thousand pounds of pure terror.

And it was glaring right at Percy.

Cassie knew what happened next. She even heard Chiron call everyone to stand ready. But she just couldn't believe Percy wouldn't be a dead man within seconds.

The monster was terrifying! Cassie couldn't breathe. It would kill Percy- It would hardly take a full bite to remove his head. It would get Annabeth too. And then, since she was only yards away, it would come for her.

She was dead.

And then it lunged.

At Percy. Not Cassie, who was later ashamed to realize how relieved she was that it had gone after him instead of noticing her.

Before she even had time to think about spinning around and running away though, the beast was dead, a dozen arrows sprouting from its neck. Chiron trotted up to it, looking more serious than Cassie had ever seen him before.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth exclaimed, "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't…. They're not supposed to…" She trailed off just as Luke came up next to them.

In the short silence, Clarisse, upset and embarrassed about being tricked and beaten, yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child" Chiron snapped.

Nobody spoke for a moment as the hellhounds body dissolved into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.

The rest of them were still too shocked to speak as Annabeth spoke up, "You're wounded. Quick, Percy, get in the water."

Cassie hardly computed what was happening with Percy's upcoming healing and turned to look at the rest of the campers just behind her. None looked very happy with this new situation. Shocked, displeased, angry. But she knew at least one of the campers understood what was going on then.

Alex, one of the closest to her, was frowning slightly, her eyebrows pulled ever so closer together in thought. Then, as Annabeth insisted again to Percy that he get in the creek, instantly her face fell in dread.

Cassie turned back to see Percy take a few heavy steps until his feet were back in the water.

And there it was, a little green hologram spinning above his head.

Some of the campers gasped. Others cursed. Percy tried to apologize.

Chiron didn't say anything, his expression guarded.

"This is really not good…." Annabeth murmured.

Then Chiron drew back his shoulders and announced in a short, yet neutral voice, "It is determined."

Cassie knew to kneel at this part.

Percy seemed to have no idea what was going on. He was still swiveling around, somehow unable to connect how he healed in water, or the trident above his head, or that he had just been claimed.

"My father?" He asked completely bewildered.

"Poseidon," Chiron explained grimly, "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Ta-da.

Or, I shouldn't be ta-da-ing, this story is crap. Please tell me what you don't like about it for future improvements… Or else I'll get (more) uninterested in it and lazy and not bother making any part of it nice.

So, after a period of 0 interest in this story, I figured out where its going and the rest of the plot. Apparently, it's a lot easier (or really, quicker) to write when you know where your story is going.

Thanks for reading.