A/N : Odd as it is for me to upload without months of interval, this is the second part of the previous chapter which I cut.

However, do not raise your hopes up as, seeing this is the second part of the previous chapter, this is just sub-plot stuff. Mostly fights and a bit of fluff.

Disclaimer : I own nothing, except my OCs.

~0~

Two Flags in an Empty Forest

~0~

On the third day he was at camp, sitting on the Hermes dinner table with the other kids, Percy was surprised when he saw Ray stepping into the pavilion with Stalker on his shoulder. He hadn't seen his brother since morning, when Ray had trained him to have more control over frozen water and ordinary water.

Percy immediately went worried, remembering about his brother's phobia of flames, but he relaxed slightly when he saw Ray's purple eyes were clouded- Ray was using the Mist on himself so he wouldn't see the fire.

Ray glanced at him, shot him a small smile, then instead of walking over to Hermes' table or the Keepers' like he thought he would, Ray went to Chiron's table and sat down. Mr. D looked over to him and tossed a piece of meat into the air. Stalker snatched it without moving from his position, and the director grinned slightly. Ray turned to Thalia who, as Alexa told him, started sitting on Chiron's table years ago because she felt alone sitting… well, alone, on Zeus' table.

Percy turned to his counselor. "Is something happening?"

Alexa looked up from cutting her steak with a butterfly knife. "Hm? Oh crap, it's Friday, isn't it? Dang, it's been so long, I forgot. It's capture the flag time."

They all ate- Percy stole glances at his older brother. Sometimes, Ray was talking to Chiron over goblets of whatever it was they drank (he assumed Ray had milk), sometimes to Thalia, grinning and laughing at whatever it was they talked about, and sometimes to Mr. D.

It was weird seeing someone act so civil with Dionysus. Alexa had told him that Ray befriended Mr. D so the Keepers had better freedom in camp, but Ray honestly seemed like he was enjoying it. Stalker ignored all the humanoid creatures around him, and got a plate of blood-red meat on his plate, complete with the blood pooling in the plate.

When the plates and bowls were taken away, a conch horn sounded. Everyone cheered.

Percival, Annabeth, and one of their siblings walked into the pavilion, carrying a 10-foot tall grey banner, depicting an owl above an olive tree. Percival seemed bored, whiles his siblings looked excited. From the other side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her big bad batch of buddies entered, carrying an equally large flag, this one red with the pictures of a bloody spear and a boar's head.

Percy turned to Alexa. "Those are the flags?"

"Yeppity-doo-dah."

"Athena and Ares lead the teams?"

"No, the winners of the previous capture the flags get to lead teams."

"Why isn't Thalia the leader of one? I mean, she's a daughter of Zeus, right?"

Alexa shrugged. "She doesn't take Capture the Flag seriously."

When the ruckus had died down, Alexa declared that the Hermes cabin had made an alliance with Athena and Apollo (the two biggest cabins, Percy remembered). Ares made pacts with the rest of the cabins; Hephaestus, Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and… Zeus.

Percy looked around the pavilion, thinking of what their current enemies were. Hephaestus' kids were big and burly, muscles bulging from their camp t-shirts, the result of their daily metal bangings. They could be trouble. The only one not as big as them was one of Ray's close friends, Marcus, the silent guy who always wore a black cap, watching his younger siblings eat silently. Which was weird seeing he was their counselor. But, seeing as he was their counselor, he was probably more troublesome than the rest.

Dionysus's kids, from what he saw, were athletic, and while they might not be good with a sword, they weren't bad either. Still, there were only two of them, so they were probably easy to take care of.

Demeter's were good with outdoors-y stuff, but they didn't seem to like fighting, mostly tending to their gardens. Still, their counselor, Sophia- the blonde girl who liked talking a lot- was another member of the Keepers and apparently had a wicked weapon. He had to keep an eye out for her.

Aphrodite's he wasn't too worried. They rarely took any martial arts classes, preferring to just sit near the lakes, did their hair, and gossiped about the latest trending topic or whatever. In Capture the Flag, they'd probably stay out of the main areas, not wanting to get hurt, or worse, get dirty.

Ares, well, they were definitely a problem. Those kids were huge, strong, and liked fighting a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. This could be hard.

And finally… Zeus. Percy turned to look at Thalia on the main table, boredly dragging her finger on the table, her head propped on one loose fist. He had never seen her fight, but he did know she was one of the two teachers in Mist-control class (the other trainer was Ray apparently), so that meant she was good at Mist-ing people.

And, as to how seeing he and his brother could control water as children of Poseidon, she could probably control something dangerous as well. Wind, maybe? If she could control lightning, that would be sick.

Percy glanced at Ray, who was also staring at him. But his eyes were unfocused, so he was probably thinking of something. When his older brother realized he was being stared at, he blinked, and gave him a thumbs up.

What would they do in Capture the Flag, Percy wondered. If they were supposed to be keeping their parentage a secret, what would Ray do?

Chiron's hooves hitting the marble floors turned his attention to the old teacher.

"Heroes!" Chiron bellowed. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line! The entire forest is your arena. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners are allowed to be disarmed, but are forbidden from being bound or gagged. Neither killing nor maiming is allowed. I will serve as a referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

The centaur spread his arms, and all sorts of equipment filled the empty tables. Bronze swords, spears, shields, and all the other fun stuff. Still, scanning the table, he noticed that the weapons displayed here weren't as varied as the ones in that Ray's hideout a few days ago (that happened like, three days ago, but felt like a long time). Probably since this was just a game, and not for actual, life-or-death combat.

Percy asked, turning to Alexa. "No guns?"

"Nah. Us counselors agreed that guns are a bit more dangerous than melee weapons. I mean, just a single mishap, a trigger got accidentally pulled, and boom, we get lead shrapnels, fleshy-fleshy things, and bone fragments all over the frickin' place."

He tried not to imagine that situation- he kinda liked his dinner, he didn't want to puke it out in less than five minutes. "That… happened before?"

Alexa grinned at him, and skipped away. She yelled over the commotion, cupping her hands in a cup over her mouth, "You got border patrol duty, kiddo!"

"You want to use a shield, Percy?" A familiar voice asked from behind him. "I'm hoping you will, but I understand if you don't. Those things are quite heavy."

Percy turned around, then ducked when Stalker swooped in and landed on his head, laughing a bit. He raised his head again, grinning at his brother, who smirked at his fate. "Yeah, probably. How heavy are we talking about here?"

"In truth, fifteen pounds. Personally, I believe it is twice as heavy."

"Of course you'll think that."

Ray raised his eyebrows at him, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Percy laughed again, but then his smile faltered. He leaned in- a bit hard when trying to balance a crow sitting on his head, and whispered. "Hey Ray… anything I should be worried about?"

"Why are you asking?" Ray whispered back.

"Nothing, but since we're… you know, that, maybe there are things I'm not supposed to do?"

"Ah." Ray nodded. "Yes, well, just be in control of yourself at all times, li'l brah. Try not to lose your cool, and if you can, stay away from water sources just in case."

"Okay. That's easy enough."

"Yeah. Also, Clarisse got electricity coursing through her spear, just a heads-up."

"Okay. That's easy enough."

Ray grinned at his tone. His brother ruffled his hair (oh for goodness sake), and walked backward away from the crowd and into the forest, Stalker flying back to his shoulder. "Good luck, Percy."

"Where are you going?" Percy asked, curious.

His older brother winked at him, and disappeared into the Mist.

~0~

"Blue team, forward!" Annabeth yelled.

The entire Athena-Apollo-Hermes alliance had blue hair plumed helmets on top, as a sign of their, you know, alliance, while the enemy team had red. Right before Alexa left, he saw her pulling out a wad of blue hair from a helmet, muttered something to her goblet, and used the summoned glue to stick the hair to her t-shirt's shoulder.

Thalia had also shuffled somewhere away into the forest, yawning in boredom. Weirdly enough, even Percival was nowhere to be seen- Percy saw the guy striding away into the woods earlier, right after the groups were formed.

Shrugging it off as the jerk doing jerk things, Percy jogged to catch up with Annabeth, who looked upset about something.

"Hey," he said, starting a conversation. He had uncapped Riptide earlier, so he pointed the sword to the ground as they walked.

He pretended not to see Annabeth's frown just dipped lower.

"So… got any plans? Alexa told me I got border patrol."

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said coolly. "Border patrol is easy, you just defend and make sure no reds get the flag. Ask Malcolm for its exact locations. Leave the rest to me- Athena always has a plan."

After that, Annabeth walked on ahead, leaving him behind.

He stared at her retreat.

"Hey," someone said. Percy turned around, ignoring the annoyance that rose within him from Annabeth's attitude. It rose again when he saw a blond guy with grey eyes standing there, smiling at him. "I got border patrol, too. The name's Malcolm."

"…Percy."

The smile seemed to turn into a smirk. "You don't look so happy to see me."

Looking at the guy closer, Percy realized it was the other sibling that had carried the Athena flag. Y'know, other than Prick Numero Uno and his sister. "Er, sorry. I just… thought you were someone else for a second."

"I understand. It took a while for us Athena kids to like Percival, too."

Percy winced. "Was it that obvious?"

"It was nothing but. Don't worry, I'm not as scary as my brother. I think. Hopefully as smart, though."

He sighed. "Just show me where the flag is."

Malcolm guided him through the dark woods, the only light enabling him to see coming from Riptide's- weird, but cool- glowing bronze blade. It was hot, and sticky, and he heard bugs buzzing all over his helmeted head. Malcolm either didn't notice, or didn't care, so he didn't make a comment on it.

Finally, they reached the flag. It was in a round clearing, and… that was it, really. Just a dark, grassy clearing. The woods were silent. The calm before the storm, probably.

"Here we are," Malcolm said, nodding at the flag. The guy turned around, stabbed his sword to the ground, and leaned his weight on it like a cane. "So… beautiful night, huh?"

"Uh, sure. If you like hot, humid, uncomfortable environments, then why not."

"To be fair, I said beautiful, not comfortable."

Percy shook his head, and turned around to face the woods. Athena kids were weird; Percival and Annabeth were annoying as heck, and now he got this Malcolm guy who started conversations on a bug-filled night. Whatever.

He blinked when he heard a conch horn somewhere in the distance.

"Oh, the battle's started." Malcolm lightly commented.

Yells and war cries came from the woods. Clangs of metal and thuds of dozens of feet, sounds of campers fighting each other. But on the flag area, it was relatively quiet. Which… was a shame, honestly. He thought this could be fun.

"Don't look so disappointed, Percy," Malcolm said, reading his face. "This is just the beginning. We'll have to fight at least two waves of enemy soldiers to defend the flag."

Percy just shrugged. "Whatever you say, man. Say… do you know why Annabeth looked so upset? Is she on her period or something?"

The slightest signs of a grin appeared on the Athena kid's face. "Don't say that to her face unless you want to be strangled to death. And no, it isn't. It's just, Percival went and does his own thing again. He always does."

"O… kay?"

"He doesn't take Capture the Flag seriously, while Annabeth does." Malcolm explained. "None of the older campers do. They just wandered off doing their own thing. The last time the Keepers went capturing flags, Alexa pickpocketed everyone she ran across. She wasn't even running to the enemy flag, she was running in circles. Percival also wanders around in circles, but mostly just to find people to fight."

"Oh." Percy wondered what Ray usually did. "Is it rare for Keepers to play Capture the Flag?"

"The last time they played was around… four or five months ago, if I recall correctly. 'They're just very busy' is the general excuse."

"Wow."

They went silent when one of the objects- or subjects, in this case- of their conversation, walked out of the forest from beside them, whistling a happy tune. Alexa waved when she saw them, grinning devilishly, and then just kept walking ahead, across the clearing, and into the other side of the trees, non-stop whistling all the way.

~0~

"Hey Thalia."

"What?"

"Do you ever wonder why we're here?"

Thalia blinked, and realization dawned on her face. Fighting to keep her face neutral and serious (Ray could tell- she was trying hard not to grin), she answered from her spot beneath a tree, laying against its trunk, "Every day. It's one of life's greatest mysteries, isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some… cosmic coincidence? Or… are there really gods. Y'know, with plans for us or something. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night."

Ray grinned when she followed along. They couldn't access the internet for safety purposes, but Marcus had downloaded the videos so they could watch them with Chiron's old projector. He tore open a package of string cheese and put it inside his mouth, listening to her talk, until it was finally his turn. He faked a blank look. "What? I mean why are we out here, in this forest?"

"Oh! Uh…" She trailed off in purpose. "Yeah."

"What was all that stuff about gods?"

"Uh… hm? Nothing." Thalia looked away, so he couldn't see her face, but he knew she was snickering to herself.

"…You wanna talk about it?"

"…No."

"Ya sure?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously though." Ray pulled out his cheese, pointing it at Thalia. Stalker flew down from his spot up in the tree in landed on his shoulder, waiting (well, demanding really) for his share of cheese. "Why are we here? As far as I can tell, this is just a forest on the edge of Long Island, infested with monsters, and there's only one way out that isn't guarded by monster nests."

"Mhm." Thalia nodded.

"The only reason we have a blue flag here." He jerked his thumb toward the general direction of the flag. Stalker crowed and snatched some cheese from its package, and flew back up again to his original perch. "Is because the reds have a flag over there. And the only reason they have a flag there, is because we have a blue flag here!"

"Yeah, that's because we're fighting each other. Also, 'cus Chiron told us to do it."

"I mean, even if we pull out tonight, the reds are going to have two flags in the middle of an empty forest. Whoop-do-frickin'-do."

"Frickin'?" Thalia grinned at him. "Seriously? Dude, we're alone out here, you can cuss all you want."

"Cussing isn't a necessarily good habit of doing, and besides, you never know who might be listening with literally everyone in this place." Ray chided. "Now shut up, continue it."

Thalia held her hands up, laughing a bit. "Okay, okay." She cleared her throat. "What's up with that anyway? I mean, I signed up to fight some monsters. The next thing I know, a guy called Reggie Jacques or something blew up a submarine, and now I end up fighting some red guys in the middle of a forest in the middle of the night!"

"What the- I told you it was Alexa! I didn't do anything! She was the one who fired that torpedo!"

"Not this bullshit again," Alexa said, stepping into view and rolling her eyes. "I told you before, I was nowhere near the button when the giant appeared. Percival did it."

"Uh, no he didn't, he went first into the telekhine base so he could kill everyone in it."

"Maybe Marcus did it?"

"What the heck are you talking about? He was in the RV, shooting at the giant."

"Then maybe y-"

"Hey, J," Thalia said, nudging his leg with the butt of her spear. "Clarisse's here. And she brought some friends with her."

Ray immediately whirled around, looking at the clearing where his brother and Malcolm stood (a wee bit awkwardly). He could see silhouettes of huge kids sneaking around the bushes on the other side of the clearing. "Huh. Faster than I thought. Alexa, ready yourself. Prepare to step in if necessary."

"You sure? I mean, Percy can handle himself, Reggie." Alexa reminded him. "And Malcolm's with him."

"Indeed, but then you remember that Ares' children have barely any control over themselves when they lose their temper. And right now, I can tell Clarisse's pissed as heck. She can have a sword skewering her in the stomach and she'd still run you over with her spear."

"Whatever you say, boss. And I'm telling you again- only old people use the word 'indeed'."

~0~

"Here they come, Percy," Malcolm warned.

Percy nodded silently, seeing the bushes rustle. His first wave of enemies… thank, well, whoever it was that is holy, that he had Riptide instead of some random sword. His body tensed in anticipation, and he held his shield a little higher.

He really shouldn't be surprised when Clarisse and her lackeys came bursting from the woods.

"Get the turd, boys!" she howled.

Percy quickly scanned the now-battlefield. 6… no, 7 huge Ares kids, all armed to the teeth with bronze weaponry and shield. He focused back on Clarisse, remembering both Ray's and Annabeth's words.

He felt the coldness of Ray's ice sword yesterday, so he wasn't looking forward to Clarisse's lightning spear today.

"Took you long enough, La Rue," Malcolm taunted. "You're too scared to come alone so you had to bring your whole cabin?"

"Shut up, Pace!" Clarisse snapped. "I'm not here for you. I'm here for you, Prissy."

The anxiety of fighting an outnumbered fight was briefly replaced by irritation. "Oh for gods' sake, it's Percy."

"Yeah, I don't care. You made us look stupid two days ago, punk." Clarisse raised her spear threateningly. The rage in her eyes blazed like fire. "Don't think we ever forgot about that."

Her siblings made various noises of agreement. Ray's words of him being impulsive were amplified in his head, but he just couldn't stop himself from saying, "You don't need me to help you with that."

Clarisse snarled. "We're going to make you regret that."

Percy had faced bullies, of course. Years of extensive training in various schools had honed his skills in fending off rabid kids; he could easily deflect insults with stride, he knew how to evade a fight, and prevent himself from saying things he shouldn't.

None of that prepared him for facing off against a horde of armored guys charging at him with deadly weapons.

Malcolm moved first. He stepped in front of one, slamming his shield to the guy's face, and the son of Ares crumpled to the ground with a flat nose.

"Let's go, Percy!" he yelled, brandishing his sword.

"Whatever, mess them both up!" Clarisse ordered.

It wasn't Malcolm's invitation that made him move, instead, he had to quickly step aside as a mace almost connected with his head, and not even a second later he had to deflect a sword before it turned him into a kebab. No rest was available for him because he had to keep defending himself from 2 of the Ares kids that assaulted him, while Malcolm got 3.

A quick glance confirmed his suspicion- Clarisse was standing at the edge of the clearing and glaring at him.

If he had the chance, Percy would've snorted. He parried a mace instead. So the girl wasn't as tough as he thought she was, letting her siblings fight against them while she watched on the sidelines.

He focused back on his fight. He tried to copy what Malcolm did earlier, but the Ares guys knew what he planned to do and brought their shields up in response. His shield-hand twitched frantically at the impact, and… it was probably going to hurt a lot later.

A sword thrust, deflected. Mace swing, shield. Both attacked at the same time, shield. Shield bash, dodge. His limbs worked overtime, moving as fast as they could, while his brain processed enemy moves, making guesses on how to counter effectively.

Thud thud thud thud sounds made itself home in his ears, and he glanced at the source. He grimaced when he saw Clarisse charging at him like a bull. Or… like a boar?

He had no time mentally debating what Clarisse looked like as she ran at him, since her siblings saw that they were being ignored and attacked at the same time again. Gritting his teeth, he shoved his shield into their faces and blocked the move, while at the same time twisting himself so he could deflect Clarisse's side charge attack.

His stomach fell to the ground when he saw that the spear was deflected (he felt slight tingling from the impact- the warnings in his head rearing back again), but Clarisse used one hand for the attack. Percy could see, with no little amount of dread, in a split second, Clarisse clenched her free hand, and punched with the aim of breaking his nose.

Both hands occupied, he had no choice but to clench his eyes shut and braced for impact.

…Oof, the girl had muscles. Head spinning, Percy dimly realized he was on the ground on his back. The blues' flag was in front of him, right behind the Ares kids, flapping proudly and ignored. He saw Malcolm got disarmed by the 3 remaining kids, and was forced to kneel. The guy caught his eyes, and sent him a sheepish and apologetic look (with a black eye).

"That's the flag," Percy said a bit slurringly, motioning weakly at the said item. His nose was beating, and he was too disoriented to hold his weapon. Great. "You… beat us, you can take it."

"Yeah, no. If you couldn't tell, we don't give a shit about the flag," Clarisse clarified. "We just want to beat up the kid that shamed us. Let's cut his hair, make him bald."

Like Malcolm, he was forced to rise and on his knees. The 2 guys that fought against him held his arms, while Clarisse pulled out a hunting knife and took a handful of his hair, gripping it roughly.

Dammit, if there was a water source nearby, then maybe he could fight back. But… if he used water, then he would probably get in a way, more significant trouble heading his way. Since he wasn't supposed to be born and all that stuff. Still…

Percy could feel his hair being cut, with the mocking laughter of the Ares kids. He could feel another thing… this familiar feeling.

Wait…

He felt wet.

Eyes suddenly focusing, the loss of touch in his limbs returning, he could see, across the clearing, inside the woods, his older brother being held back by a pair of people. Black clothes, one had a spear and one had bits of her hair painted blue… Thalia and Alexa. Ray was glaring at Clarisse's back, but he could tell his brother was doing something since he himself couldn't do anything.

His left shoe was suddenly filled with water.

Energy completely filling his entire being again, he ripped his right arm free from his captors' hold, snatching the dagger from Clarisse's hand and jammed the butt of it to the left Ares guy's face. If Ray sent the water to help him, then that meant his brother gave him the green light. He wasn't stupid enough to start dousing people with orbs of water, but he could use it to empower himself.

As the left Ares guy crumpled to the ground, Clarisse, seeing he was free, immediately held her spear with both hands and tried to impale him. Percy ducked the weapon, grabbed the pole with his free hand, and thrust it toward the right Ares guy. In the dark, he could barely see anything, but then the spear lit up with blue sparks all over it when it collided with the guy's breastplate.

The guy's eyes widened, his entire body quaked for a second, and then he went limp, falling to the ground with smoking armor. The scent of barbeque filled the air.

Well, seeing that Clarisse aimed the weapon at him in the first place, and the Ares guy looked way tougher than he was, he was probably okay.

Clarisse paled in the blue light. "Shit, sorry Mark!"

Malcolm saw that the tides were turned, so he took the other Ares kids' surprise to his advantage. He tore his arms free from their hold, and quickly snatched his weapons on the ground, spinning so that he faced his enemies, once again.

So… now it was 3 versus 2. A better chance of winning than before.

Clarisse moved to kick Percy in the face, but he dodged to the side, snatching Riptide in the process. As he rose up, Clarisse had also stood to her full height (which was a full head taller than he was, he noticed with a frown), and faced him.

They glared at each other for a second.

And without a word, they charged.

Percy dodged the first overhead stab, and swung his blade to her bare neck- and immediately froze.

"No killing or maiming is allowed!" Chiron had said.

Clarisse took advantage of his momentary weakness and sent a fist flying through the air. Seeing that she had the better idea, he deflected the punch with his arm and slashed her breastplate, hoping that Celestial Bronze armor was strong enough to withstand an attack from a Celestial Bronze weapon.

It did, withstand the attack, and Clarisse jumped back, making distance. Percival told him in his class that spear users are at their strongest with mid-range, and weak as heck at close range, so he closed in on her, Riptide's butt aimed to her face so she could kiss it.

She saw it, and blocked it with the pole of her spear. Without wasting time, they traded blows with each other, punches and kicks sent to each other, with the occasional spear stab or sword slash. A punch was gripped and thrown aside, a kick deflected, a stab parried, a slash dodged.

He had no idea what Malcolm was doing, or how he was faring. He only cared about the fight he was fighting in the present. And he realized his attacks were becoming slower- the water's effect was starting to wear off.

Any second now, and Clarisse would beat him.

Gritting his teeth, Percy immediately tried a risky move. He had nothing more to lose- if he didn't he'd tire out soon anyway.

He waited for a spear stab. When it came, Percy dodged and gripped the pole like before, and raised Riptide. Clarisse snarled, raising her gauntleted arm to shield herself, but the emotion on her face turned to shock when the blade went down… and slashed her spear in a half.

Then it turned to rage.

"You motherfu-"

She was forced to kiss Riptide's butt.

Percy was panting. But he felt victorious. He turned around, and smiled when he saw the blues' flag was still there. He turned around fully, and his smile went wider when he saw that Malcolm had downed one of the other Ares guys.

The last remaining Ares guy looked around. Seeing that his siblings were down, he decided to book it, whirling around and running away. Percy noticed a shadow was blocking the guy's way, and the guy did, too, so he slashed at it as he ran.

But when a cry of pain came from the shadow, the guy froze.

As did Percy. And that was when he realized, as his vision started to focus again, that the shadow wasn't a shadow at all. That was just a guy wearing a black hoodie.

And the only one stupid enough to wear a black hoodie in the middle of a battlefield was his brother.

~0~

Seeing that his brother had won that skirmish, Thalia and Alexa decided that it was finally time to release their hold on him. Ray just sighed when he could finally step out of the shadows, but then he raised an eyebrow when the last remaining Ares kid fled the battlefield… running straight at him.

An idea forming in his mind, Ray smirked, knowing this was a chance to be cool in front of his brother. He raised an arm, Mist gathering around him, but the kid (information flooded his mind; Sean Cogadh, 14 years old from Manchester, transfer student) wasn't slowing down.

Sean swung in a horizontal slash. Ray immediately conjured frozen water on the estimated point of impact- his torso. But then he stopped mid-process. Seeing he wasn't wearing any armor, people would be suspicious later on. Was it worth it? No, no it wasn't.

He sighed, and let the attack hit him, though he did step back a little so the cut wouldn't be too deep. There went his plan to be cool, deep into the drain.

Ray's eyes widened, and he cried out in pain, clutching his chest. Dammit, he was nowhere near as smart as Percival, he shouldn't have tried doing something like this. His calculations, nooo!

Sean's eyes widened, and the kid staggered back. "Holy…! Ray! I'm so sorry! I thought-"

The girls moved as fast as lightning. They didn't even use weapons, they just pummeled Sean senseless.

"Ray!" he heard Percy yell.

Silently sighing, Ray stepped into the clearing, grimacing when he felt his chest going wet. Yup, his calculations were wrong. Dammit.

"You two, stop!" he ordered the girls. Alexa and Thalia stopped, and met his gaze, eyes blazing. "This may not technically be classified as maiming, but beating someone to the point of unconsciousness will get us in trouble."

"He attacked you," Thalia growled furiously. "He saw you weren't wearing any armor, and he still attacked you."

"Look, to be fair, I was standing in the dark, he couldn't possibly see me until it was too late. And secondly, it's partially my fault for not wearing any armor in the first place."

Alexa kept kicking the kid on the ground silently, glaring at him and muttering unpleasant things. Rolling his eyes, Ray put a hand on each of the girls' shoulders, and pulled them back from Sean. The kid's face was bruised, with ugly purple bumps all over the place.

"What the- the kid is in a worse condition than I am!" Ray said, incredulous. "Hey, Sean! You're still with me?!"

"Hrgh… blergh… glurgh…"

"Ray!" Percy arrived, looking worried. "Are you okay? That doesn't look good."

Ray opened his mouth to answer his brother, but immediately stopped. 'I've had worse' would bring more trouble, as did the answer 'I'm used to it'. A mere 'I'm fine' wouldn't cut it, just like 'Don't worry about it'. What should he say… of course!

"Before I say anything else, I just want you to know that cuts look worse than they actually do," he assured his brother. "I'm confident that this such cut is one of them, so I'm sure it's fine."

Percy's eyebrow creased with worry, however. "What were you doing in there, anyway? And why weren't you wearing armor?"

"Stalking," Alexa muttered, deadpan. She crossed her arms and looked away.

"I wanted to help you directly." Ray shrugged, ignoring his friend. "But seeing as this was your business and La Rue's, I think it was best I help you indirectly."

"That's great and all, but I think you should get that looked at," Thalia pointed out to his chest, frowning. "Celestial Bronze is bad enough, but to pierce demigod flesh? That's not a good thing."

"Yes, whatever. I'm taking Cogadh with me."

"Who?" everyone asked at the same time.

Ray just rolled his eyes and knelt down next to Sean and helped him up. "I'll see ya'll later. Good luck, ya'll. Don't worry, ya'll. I'm sure ya'll can-"

Thalia pointed to Chiron's viewing area… with her spear. The threat would work, if only she didn't glance quickly at the cut on his chest with a badly concealed expression of worry.

"Okay, ya'll. Don't get yo panties in a twist, ya'll."

"Oh godsdammit." Ray heard Malcolm say from the clearing. He turned to look, as did everyone else, and saw another group of campers emerging from the other side of the woods. A few Hephaestus campers and at least 6 Demeter campers, forming a pincer attack formation as soon as they stepped on the battlefield.

"Darn it," Percy muttered. His kid brother turned around again. "Be careful, Ray. Sorry I have to leave you, I got a job to do."

As he stared at Percy, a previous inside voice from before spoke to him again. A chance to look cool in front of his brother. "Indeed. But please, a parting gift."

Heart beating with sudden anticipation and excitement, Ray raised a hand. He snapped his fingers, and a burst of Mist immediately covered the entire area. The great illusionary veil engulfed the invading Reds, and with proper manipulation of biological trickery… he could trick their brain to do what he wanted.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked, confused. Alexa and Thalia, however, weren't confused- the former smirked when she realized what he was doing, while the latter just rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

Thud. Charles Beckendorf of the Hephaestus cabin fell face-first into the ground. Another sound of a body- bodies- hitting the Earth, as Katie Gardner and Samuel Floresta of the Demeter cabin followed. Soon, every single Red who invaded was knocked out cold, their brains tricked by the Mist into thinking they were asleep.

"What did you do?" Percy asked, now awed.

"Nothing much, they're just asleep. I suggest you gather our prisoners up now before they wake… up. Now if you'll excuse me." Ray bowed- an act which Sean didn't make easy. "I need to have these wounds checked up. Oh, and you girls, please take care of my baby brother. Toodaloo!"

However, before he could use the Mist to make a mysterious exits, shouts of joy filled the forest. Percival calmly walked through the woods, dual-wielding a sword and a flag. Annabeth covered beside him, scanning the area like a haw- er, an owl.

A pair of Reds burst out of the bushes near them and immediately charged. Annabeth quickly held off one, while the other sidestepped them and slashed at Percival. Ol' Owl Face parried it with the flag, and countered with Einblick's butt slam. The invader stumbled back on the ground, right next to his partner who was defeated right at the same moment.

And then, the reds' flag- the one that had the Ares' sign on it, turned into the silver-coloured Athena flag.

The entire blue team cheered once more.

Alexa grinned when the guy approached them. "Why the frowny face, Mr. P?"

"I have two blue flags in the middle of an empty forest," Percival muttered. "Whoop-do-frickin'-do."

~0~

Percy only celebrated their winning when he saw Ray was being looked up by his healer, Sophia. Ray saw him peeking, so his older brother gave him a thumbs up, and pointed to the pavilion, where the current Blue team shared a toast and boasted about their victory.

In the dining pavilion, Hermes cabin was the loudest and most active. They laughed while holding their favorite drinks, boasting about the Reds they beat and had pickpocketed. Unsurprisingly, none of the Reds were there.

Malcolm grinned when he saw him, and brought him over to Annabeth who couldn't care less. After a brief nod to each other, the guys on Hermes cabin swarmed him after, saying how cool he was fighting Clarisse and her lackeys alone (they either forgot or just ignored that Malcolm was there- he tried to correct them, but they just waved it off).

Keepers member from the Blue side were there too, but since Malcolm said they didn't really care about the game, it was probably for formality. Alexa grinned when she saw him, shooting him with a finger gun and a wink. Percival ignored him. Thalia smiled lazily at him.

He didn't see Ray anywhere, until he was suddenly caught in a headlock and got a noogie. His older brother laughed, in a new (but still equally faded and frankly terrible) black hoodie, his sword cut hidden underneath it. When Percy asked, worried again, if the cut was bad, Ray just ruffled his hair and said no.

Which was clearly an answer to stop him from worrying. In the end, Percy just sighed and surrendered. Stalker decided that he looked fun to poke at, and the bird started bugging him instead of his brother.

They celebrated for a while. However, Ray was still doing his job as one of the heads of camp. His older brother had the most power in that room, so when he said it was late and everyone should go to bed, everyone did, despite the initial protests (Ray whispered quietly to him, "No matter who they think they are, they're still kids.").

Then, in his bedroll in Cabin Eleven, Percy was surprised to see Ray stepping into the cabin. All of the other kids were already asleep, except for Alexa who came right at the same time as his older brother. Ray saw him too, and ruffled his hair again, before yawning and climbed on a bunk bed- only now Percy realized no one had been sleeping on it for as long as he was there. Huh… so it was Ray's bed?

He didn't realize he was staring, until the words 'Σταμάτα να με κοιτάς και να κοιμάσαι' appeared in mid-air. Sheepishly, Percy lowered back into his bedroll and made himself comfortable. Still, he couldn't help it- he found himself looking back at Ray, who had laid down and looked at him with one exasperated, sleepy purple eye, Stalker sleeping in a ball on his stomach.

Percy only noticed it now, how much time had passed. The last time they even slept in the same roof was… what, 3 years. That was the last time they went to the Montauk cabin together as a family. After that, Ray always made excuses to not show up, mostly work-related things.

Now, sleeping in the same room again, after all those years, he suddenly felt… relief. Things certainly had changed, his life was forever turned upside down, but on the upside… some things went back to how they used to. Back when life was simpler, easier, safer, and maybe… happier?

Oh well, he didn't know. He didn't care. He just cared that, maybe, now, life would be more happy and fun to live now that he and his brother were close again. Like they used to be, back when Ray didn't have to go to work, when he didn't know he was a demigod and had to distance himself from his family.

He hoped.

~0~

A/N : The Greek words should mean 'Stop looking at me and go to sleep'. I'm sorry if it's wrong, again, this is Google Translate.

Also, that was a not-so-subtle reference to Grif and Simmons.

Don't worry boyos. If my calculations are correct, the next chapter should be a non-sub-plot chapter.

Ciao.