Please note: I do not own any of the PJO characters.

Chapter 4

Camp Half-Blood is Attacked

When we got back to camp we could here the clashing of swords and yells coming from the woods. Chiron had decided to begin capture the flag later in the morning so Thalia might have a chance to play before it was over. When we landed Thalia ran straight for the forest to play capture the flag, while I went to the Big House in hopes of finding Chiron there.

I walked up the steps of the Big House and knocked on the door, "Daniel?" I turned around to find a girl with bright red hair standing there. She had on a long white T-shirt and pair of jeans covered in paint. "I'm Rachel," she reached her hand out for me to shake.

"Hi," I said shaking her hand. After a few minutes of silence I spoke, "Um, shouldn't you be playing Capture the Flag?" I asked, nodding towards the woods.

"Oh, no." She shook her head, "I'm not allowed to play."

"Why not?"

"I'm not a Demi-God like you." She leaned against the porch railing, "I'm the oracle."

"The oracle?" I thought back to my English class when we learned about Greek mythology, "Don't they tell the future?"

"Well… sorta." She smiled proudly, "I tell prophecies."

"Don't you feel out of place?" I asked motioning to the woods, "I mean it must be weird being the only… mortal here."

She sighed, "Do you feel out of place?"

I stared at her, "Why would I feel out of place?"

"Why would I feel out of place?" She smiled. "Well I have to go." She said, "See ya later." She walked down the porch steps; leaving me there to think.

I turned around just as the Big House door opened. Annabeth walked out with a grim look on her face, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Are you looking for Chiron?"

"Um, yea. I just got back from Mount Olympus and I wanted to talk to Chiron about it.

"Oh! You went to Olympus today? How was it?" Chiron walked out of the Big House, his face also grim.

"Annabeth lets give Daniel some space…" He looked at me with hurting eyes. "Why don't you take him down to the woods. Maybe talk him into playing the game of capture of flag." I stared at him. Something was definitely wrong.

Annabeth nodded and grabbed my arm. After we walked a few yards away from the Big House she let go. "Sorry about that. He… He received some bad news while you were gone.

"Bad news?" I stared at her.

"Yea," She sighed. "I can't tell you more than that. Now come on let's hurry. If we're lucky we will get to the woods before the game is over."

As we walked into the woods I looked around. Off to the right were a couple of campers fighting over a red flag. "Have you ever played?" I asked Annabeth.

She stared at me, "Of course. Everyone plays. It really fun if you don't get hurt too bad."

"Has anyone… you know. Died?" I ducked as an arrow flew inches above my head.

"Not that I know of." She was looking around for something.

"You don't sound so sure about that…" I laughed.

"I'm not." She smiled at me. "I think I just saw Percy." She grabbed my hand and dragged me over to a tree. Percy had been hiding behind a tree (Which wasn't a very good hiding place if you ask me). "Hey Percy!" Annabeth said a little too loudly. A few arrows were shot in his direction.

"Annabeth! Could you please be quiet…" Percy crouched lower for more protection.

Annabeth laughed, "Sorry. Can Daniel be on your team?"

"Wait. Who said I wanted to play?" I looked at Annabeth.

Percy sighed, "Yea I guess."

Annabeth smiled, "Great! Good luck." She ran off. Going further into the woods.

"What team is Annabeth on?" I asked pointing back towards camp.

Percy pulled me down, "She's on the blue team and we're on the red team."

"Oh." I thought for a moment, "Do you know if anyone has ever died during capture the flag?"

"I don't think so." He didn't sound so sure of himself either. I sighed and sat back against the tree. "Listen up." Percy looked behind him before continuing, "You see that blue flag over there?" He pointed to a flag positioned between two trees. It looked completely unprotected. "That's the flag we want. We need to capture it and bring it back over the creek onto our territory."

I looked over at the blue teams flag, "Where's the creek?"

"That doesn't matter. The point is I need your help to get the flag.

I stared at him, "You want me to help?" He nodded, "But I don't even have a weapon. And even if I did have one, I wouldn't know how to use it."

He sighed, "You need to learn sometime." He handed me a long sword, "This is riptide. It's very special to me. So DON'T lose it." He laughed, "I need you to be the distraction while I get the flag. Ok?"

I stared down at the sword he called, 'Riptide.' It was amazing. "Ok. What exactly am I supposed to do?"

He smiled, "Go out there in the opening. I know it seems like it's not being guarded, but trust me. It is being guarded." I pulled out a small dagger, "All you have to do is go out and try to distract the other team while I go in and snatch the flag. If you do a good job they won't realize the flag is gone until after we win."

I sighed, "Will I get hurt?" I knew the answer to this was probably yes, but I had to ask.

"Most likely." He though a moment, "Unless the Aphrodite kids attack you…" He winced. "But don't worry about that. We need to win this."

I sighed and walked out into the small opening. The flag was only a few feet away from where I was standing. I wanted to grab it and run. It was so close I could see every detail on it. Just then I heard a yell. Percy had been attacked. I looked from the flag to where Percy and I had been sitting only a while ago. I sighed, grabbed the flag, and ran. I had no idea where I was going. This was only my second time being in the woods. Arrows flew above me. Only missing by a few inches. I scattered up a tree hoping to see where the creek was. I got to the top and saw the creek. Only a few yards away from where I was now. I looked down to find two campers climbing up towards me. They were about half way up when I realized who they where. Annabeth and Thalia. I was pretty much trapped. There was now way for me to get down unless someone came and took care of Thalia and Annabeth for me. I climbed upwards a few feet and carefully positioned the flag in the tree. I took out Percy's pen and uncapped it. The pen turned into a long sword.

In the distance I heard a loud explosion. I looked over the camp and saw the Big House set in flames. It was horrifying. Kids were screaming and monsters were invading the camp as if they owned the place. Annabeth and Thalia had jumped to the ground and were fighting a couple of monsters.

I sighed, "Is it always like this?" I asked myself. Ever since I found out I was a Demi-God my life has been weirder than usual. Everywhere I turn there's always a monster!

I jumped down off the tree and began fighting alongside Thalia and Annabeth. "Aren't you a bit inexperienced to be fighting?" Thalia asked as she killed a monster that was about to attack me from behind. I nodded in agreement and she laughed. My heart was racing and I thought for sure that it would pounce out of my chest and onto the ground in front of me. Sweat was flowing down my face in rapid currents and every bone and muscle in my body screamed in pain as I continued to fight. After twenty minutes of fighting the monsters I finally caught a break and ran towards camp. Thalia and Annabeth ran after me screaming things like, "Are you crazy!" and, "You're going to get yourself killed!" Even though I was running at full speed Annabeth and Thalia had no trouble catching up with me.

Annabeth grabbed my arm and forced me to stop, "What are you doing! You have to stick with us! You could get hurt…. Or worse!"

I pulled away and stared at her, "Did you not see the Big House? It's in flames!" Neither of them had been high enough to see the Big House on fire. "We need to get to the Big House… Chiron may still be inside." They stared at me in shock, "Come on…" I sighed and began running towards the Big House. Thalia ran ahead, but Annabeth stayed behind and ran beside me.

"This is bad…" She muttered. We ran out of the woods and the Big House was destroyed. Several monsters were laughing and fighting some of the campers whom had already arrived at the scene. I wanted everything to just stop. I prayed to the Gods for the first time since I found out who I really was. I prayed silently as the Big House fell to the ground. Thalia was standing a few yards from the Big House shaking in rage. Annabeth put her hand on her shoulder but Thalia just shook her off. Many of the monsters had left but some stayed still fighting with some of the campers. We were alone. That night everyone slept in the Lunch Pavilion… the only building that wasn't destroyed. Chiron wasn't found that day and no one really knew what to do. Some said the Gods would come down and help us, but so far nothing happened. I lay down in a corner and thought about how this was probably entirely my fault. Everywhere I go I always get attacked. Thalia and Annabeth sat together and talked quietly. Percy knelt down by a young girl trying to comfort her. And I… I was alone. I had no one.

All of us were on our own. We needed to find Chiron… we needed a leader. I fell asleep, thoughts swimming through my mind, hoping I wouldn't have to wake up to see tomorrow.