"You're… Mirabelle Benson?" I asked, amazed. "The one who designed my school? And you're a demigod! A child of Athena! "
"Yes, I am," Mirabelle replied. "And you are the great Annabeth Chase. You've helped the gods greatly in both the Titan War and the events leading to it. You have faced difficult challenges with courage, strength, and wisdom, even when you were scared. You make me, and all other children of Athena, proud. You are a true hero."
Gods, this was so cool. Mirabelle Benson thought I was a hero. Pride started tingling through me. Maybe she was right. If I were so courageous, strong, and wise, maybe I could stop whatever problem seemed to be looming with the gods. The Olympians' enemies could be defeated once and for all, demigods could live in peace, and it would be a perfect world… I shook my head to clear it. I was getting really carried away.
"Thank you," I said to Mirabelle, "I love your designs on the school. They're so unique and beautiful."
Mirabelle laughed. "That's nothing compared to you. I've heard how you are renovating Mount Olympus. The honor can't get any higher than that. And at such a young age, too. "
"Thank you," I said again, flattered. "So… have you always been interested in architecture, too?"
"Not really," she admitted. "I've only developed an interest in it about three years ago, when I was fifteen. That was when my family completely fell apart – I won't bother you with the details. Well, I found that studying buildings took my mind off of my problems – there was a new library being built next to my house at the time, and I'd always stare out my window at it at night. Day by day, I watched new parts being added to it until finally it was done. I went inside, read some books, and was amazed by how beautiful it all was. And I realized how long that library would last – if people took care of it properly, of course. And I wanted to make things last. Unlike my family."
I was shocked, by a lot of things. First, she became interested in designing because of the same purpose as I – building something that would last. That made me appreciative. And the family problems, of course… But something else that was surprising was that she was fifteen three years ago – which meant that she was eighteen now. Yet, I had thought she was in her mid-thirties when I'd first seen her. Why would she look so much older than she was?
I glanced at her face again indistinctly. I tried not to appear rude as I looked her over… she still appeared as if she were thirty.
Mirabelle noticed my confused look. She laughed. "Oh, I forgot." She waved her hand, and suddenly she looked her age – eighteen. Her face became rounder, more childish, no creases. Her hair became darker and richer brown. She looked strong and full of fresh energy.
"How…?" I asked.
"The Mist," she replied. "I can appear however old I want to look."
"But even demigods can't bend the Mist for other demigods," I said.
Mirabelle nodded. "That's true. However, the goddess of youth, Hebe, granted me the ability to be able to change my appearance, age-wise only, of course, after I helped tricking Geras – Hebe's opposite, the spirit of old age, and basically her arch-enemy – into thinking that the local nursing home was a bowling alley with a 'seniors bowl free' policy."
Mirabelle picked up a plate, got some food, and cast a generous part of it into the fire. Like with my offering, there was no pleasant aroma that the food dissolved into. The gods weren't responding.
"Gods, that's cool. Why did you want to look middle-aged just then?" I asked.
"I'm an architect," she explained, "Most people wouldn't hire an eighteen-year old for designing their building, would they? Well, maybe with a lot of complications and questioning, but I really don't want to have to go through all that."
"Five minutes left for dinner!" Chiron called out loud to all the campers. "Then we will play Capture the Flag."
I hadn't even sat down at my table yet, I had been so busy talking. I told Mirabelle to come sit at the Athena table. I picked up my fork and started eating the barbecue. Yum.
"So," she continued, after buttering some bread, "That's my typical appearance in the mortal world. But here at camp, it feels great to look my real age."
"Do you come to camp often?" I had so many questions that I probably sounded like Pandora.
"Whenever I have time," Mirabelle responded brightly. "I'm just an extra counselor – not a cabin counselor, of course, just someone who helps around with anything that needs to be done."
"Wow. Hey, are you going to play in the game of Capture the Flag tonight? It'd be great if you did," I told her.
"Definitely. Capture the Flag has always been one of my favorite things here at camp." Mirabelle replied, just as Chiron clapped his hands for our attention.
"Dinner is over! Tonight for Capture the Flag, these are the teams that you have chosen: On the red team; Ares as the team leader, along with Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Hermes," he announced as the plates were cleared away.
Athena and Ares wouldn't be on the same team. We'd show those Ares kids who ruled. They had Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Hermes. Well, the Aphrodite campers probably wouldn't be much use. They'd be too worried about chipping a nail or messing up their hair to be serious fighters.
The Hephaestus and Hermes kids might be a problem, though. Those Hephaestus kids were strong, and could build pretty much any kind of device you could imagine. And the Hermes kids were fast and definitely tricky.
The Ares kids had probably tempted them all with bribes of shower times, activity slots, and chore schedules.
"And the blue team," Chiron continued, "Will have Athena as the leader, along with Poseidon, Demeter, Apollo, and Dionysus."
I was really glad that Percy would be on my team. It was always nice to have him at my back during Capture the Flag – during anything, actually.
We'd also have the Demeter kids. People didn't usually see them as a threat, but they could be pretty powerful sometimes, with their growing powers. They could create all kinds of traps with plants and weeds, maybe trip a few people.
The Apollo kids were very skilled archers, of course. They'd be able to attack and defend long-distance. That was good.
The Dionysus kids… well; they would be useful in some way.
There were five cabins on the blue team and only four on the red, but it all balanced out because the red team had the Hermes cabin, which was always overcrowded, and the blue team had some cabins, like Poseidon and Dionysus, that only had a few campers.
Everyone got up from their tables and started grouping together, talking about plans.
I cleared my plate and ran over to the cluster of blue team members gathered at the left of the pavilion. I saw that my half-brother, Malcolm, who was also my second-in-command, was raising up the familiar silvery gray Athena banner. On the other side, where the opposing team was gathering, Clarisse held up the meretricious red Ares banner.
The teams started walking farther away from each other, creating a distance in-between, so the opposing team wouldn't overhear the plans.
"So, what's the course of action this time?" asked Roslyn, a Demeter kid who had flowery decorations all over her, after everyone had gathered. Everyone looked at me expectantly.
No! I wanted to punch myself. I'd been so busy talking to Mirabelle during dinner that I hadn't given one thought about a game plan. And I definitely could not lose this game, not after what I'd said to Cassie, not when everyone's expecting so much out of me. It would be mortifyingly humiliating.
I hated disappointing people. One of the things I absolutely detested was when people had high expectations for me that I didn't live up to. Whenever that happened, I felt like a total failure.
"Um…" I hesitated. "Well…"
Everyone stared at me in anticipation.
I racked my brain for any possible spur-of-the-moment ideas. I couldn't think of any, which really lowered my morale. What was wrong with me?
Percy saved me. "I have an idea!" he announced, a little uncertainly.
Our teammates' stares swiveled to him.
"How about, uh, we separate into some groups. One group can keep some of the red team members busy at the right of the forest. Another group can be of archers – you Apollo guys, um… go to the left and defend, long-distance. A third group can go capture the flag, a fourth group can have two guards for the flag, and the last group can defend our flag right in the middle, you might have to do more than fight to hold them off there… I'm guessing the red team will send the majority of their team members there… we'll have to make a plan or something… Annabeth, can you and another group do that?"
"Sure," I said. I looked at him gratefully.
The members of the blue team started murmuring amongst themselves.
An Apollo kid named Kendall raised his hand as if he were in class.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"That's all? No extremely brilliant twist or anything that we're famous for? I mean, you're famous for?" he asked, a little crestfallen.
I wasn't so sure how to reply to that. I didn't like disappointing him – he was one of the younger campers, about ten years old – but the plan wasn't bad at all, even though it wasn't the kind we usually had.
Another Apollo kid, Valerie, spoke up. She was two years older than Kendall and always acted like his big sister, which she sort of was. "Kendall, be quiet! This plan is wonderful! Besides, we'll win for sure if the Athena kids strategize how to protect our flag from the middle. And don't you want to defend our flag, too? You might get to use your bow and arrows!"
Kendall's face lighted up. "Yeah! That would be cool!" He started talking excitedly to some of his half-siblings. I silently thanked Valerie.
We started organizing the groups. The Apollo kids, of course, would be the archers at the left. The Athena kids like me, and a few other campers, would guard in the middle of the forest. The rest would go to the right to keep them occupied, except a small group containing Percy, Malcolm, and Roslyn that would go after the Ares flag, and our two guards – Kendall and Valerie.
Now I just had to think of that plan for my group. We wouldn't be able to take the red team just by fighting them off here. With Malcolm going after the flag, we only had about seven or so Athena campers.
No doubt the red team would send a large group to the middle, to attack head-on. That was usually Ares's way – straightforward. Which meant we'd be outnumbered. If we were fighting one-on-one, the remaining red team members would capture the flag while we were occupied.
So we had one less team member than usual, with Malcolm doing something else… wait, Mirabelle Benson! She'd be Malcolm's replacement. That still wouldn't be enough people, though…
A little idea came to me. Mirabelle Benson. She could change her appearance to look any age. That would be beneficial to us, since I was pretty sure no one but me knew about her ability. We could use that to trick our opponents somehow.
I started intently brainstorming what we could do. Then a simple plan arose from my mind.
"Mirabelle," I said, "Can you turn into an old lady? Seventy or eighty years old?"
"Of course," she replied. "I'm guessing that this is part of your plan?"
"Yeah," I said. "This isn't the best plan I've ever come up with, but let's hope it works."
Wynter, one of my half-sisters, demanded, "Well, what is it?"
"So – Ares kids are easily provoked," I started, regaining all my old confidence, "Everyone knows that. The plan is for Mirabelle – as an old lady – to taunt the Ares kids until they attack her. Mirabelle will not actually get hurt, of course, but she'll have to look as if they'd hurt her – by growing, maybe, 20 years older. After she does that she'll pretend to collapse. Then the Dionysus kids can come out of the trees – where they'd have been hiding all this time – and act shocked and scared. They'll tell the Ares kids that they think the old lady was Demeter in the form of an old lady," I explained.
"Dionysus kids?" Wynter asked doubtfully, and one of them, Fred, scowled.
"Their dad – Mr. D – " I started, and everyone cringed at the name. "Anyway," I continued, "He's the god of theater, drama, and acting, you all know that. That's why the Dionysus kids might be helpful, they could act and make it seem believable," I finished.
Everyone nodded slightly. Fred and his siblings seemed cheered up that they played such a big part.
"And the rest of the plan," I said, "The Dionysus kids will say things that will, hopefully, make the Ares kids back against the trees. That will give the hiding Demeter kids the chance to tie them to the trees with vines."
The Demeter kids looked happy that they would get to do that.
"What about us?" Wynter asked. "What will the Athena kids do?"
"There's not really much we need to do. We can just stay undercover in the trees and bushes, and be prepared in case something goes wrong."
"Yeah, Wynter," the Dionysus kid, Fred, gloated, "It's our turn tobe the important ones." Wynter scowled.
I gave the Dionysus kids the details on what they should say specifically while acting to make this work.
Soon both teams were ready. Chiron called for our attention. "Attention, campers! We all know the rules. The creek is the border between the two teams. Magic items of all kinds are permitted. All of the woods may be used. The banner has to be shown clearly and only two guards are allowed. You may only disarm your prisoners, no bounding or gagging. Killing or maiming results in losing your dessert privileges. I will be the referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
With a spread of his hands, the tables became loaded with weapons, armor, and shields. We all strapped on our armor and picked out some equipment.
Battle shouts were made, and the game began.
Our team marched down to the south woods, as the red team paraded towards the north.
"Good idea, tying the Ares kids to trees," Percy said as we were marching.
"I know," I replied. I smiled. "If this works, they'll be really mad."
"We'll have to watch out for more snowballs," Percy commented.
"Or toilet water," I added, remembering his first meeting with Clarisse.
"Or getting dumped into the canoe lake," he remarked. I grinned.
Once we got there, we split up into the groups we'd arranged. I led Mirabelle right to the middle of our territory. She immediately changed into an old lady. Her back was hunched over, her hair was silvery white, and her skin was wrinkly.
"Being old doesn't feel so good," she complained.
I led the Dionysus kids – there were four of them – into the trees near Mirabelle, about thirty yards in front of our guards. They would jump out and start talking as soon as Mirabelle pretended to fall over.
The Demeter kids were also well hidden in a clump of trees. My siblings and I took cover besides them to watch, and to jump out in case something went wrong.
We all waited for the red team members to come.
There's the third chapter, on May 28th, just like I'd promised! Yay! Thanks so much to all of you readers, you guys are awesome! And a special thanks to all the people who favorited/followed this story, and pjoperson and Cuddly Owl, who were the first and only people so far to review! REVIEWS, FOLLOWS, AND FAVORITES ARE VERY APPRECIATED! Hope you liked this chapter! Like I said before, updates will (hopefully) be made every two weeks, which means that the next will most likely be on June 11th. June 11th also happens to be my birthday! :D
-Awesomejoyce