Author's Notes: Well, that didn't work out. I guess I didn't expect to get so busy last week. School has been really rough on me, and since I need good grades for college, well... You can see why I don't update every story every week. Once again, I'm sorry about not getting an FE:L chapter out, but I had very little time to write, so I devoted it to getting another chapter for this out. Really hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer:...Rick Riordan owns everything but the OCs.
Efialtis' POV
Despite the looming claiming, I enjoyed dinner. The dining pavilion, as Samantha had told me, was recently enlarged to accommodate all the extra people. As a result of The Second Giant War, the Romans and Greeks visited each other often. As a result, many Romans joined the Greeks for dinner, and vice-versa. And, as a result, the dining pavilion needed to be enlarged, especially considering the children of the minor gods.
Many long tables stretched across the pavilion, with one running perpendicular to the rest, at the head of the pavilion. Chiron and a short chubby guy sat at this table, along with a couple of satyrs. The first two tables to the head table's right were empty, and the third only held two people. The rest of the tables held a varying number of people. Most had orange t-shirts on, but some were wearing purple. At the end, a pure black table of obsidian sat, its only inhabitant a lone guy in a trench coat.
"Sit wherever you like." Samantha had told me. "Ever since the last war, We did away with the specific gods' tables rule. However, don't sit at the first three."
"Why?" I'd asked.
"They're reserved for the Big Three's children...and friends." Was her reply.
"...Okay..." I'd muttered.
And so, after some debate, I decided to sit across from the trench coat guy. When I sat down, he looked up, a surprised look on his face as he regarded me with suspicion.
"Judging from the table and you're clothes, I'd peg you as Hades' child. Am I right?" I said as I sat down.
He studied me for a second.
"Nico." He replied.
"Efialtis." I greeted.
He snorted. "'Nightmare?'" He translated.
"Yep."
Before he could speak further, Chiron raised his voice above the general clamor.
"I believe everyone is here. I'd like to start tonight by introducing two newcomers. Jacob and Efialtis!" He gestured to us, and so we stood. Many people murmured to each other as they looked at me and Nico, but Chiron quickly hushed them.
"Jacob is a son of Hecate, goddess of magic and crossroads. Efialtis has not been claimed of yet. But now that we have that out of the way, let us eat!"
I looked down at the plate in front of me, then up at Nico, who was staring at me with slight interest. A Naiad came by and put a large piece of steak on my plate, then moved on, barely sparing Nico a glance. A couple more came by with other various food items. After they were down, Everyone got up, and headed over to a large fire, where they scraped some of their food into it. When it came my turn, I scraped some in, and looked up.
Well, I thought, I'm here mother. I'm not entirely sure what you want, but I'll trust your judgement.
I headed back over and sat back down in front of Nico again. I noticed this time that he only had a couple of beans on his plate, and he was picking at them.
"So," He said as I sat down, "not claimed yet?"
"Nope," I said as I began to eat.
"Hmmm," He stared at me, as though trying to place me in a cabin. "Definitely not Apollo or Hermes," he concluded. "Which of your parents is mortal?" He asked.
"Father," I answered.
"Not Aphrodite, that's for sure," He muttered to himself. "Doesn't look like a Demeter child either."
"You'll find out tonight." I cut into his thoughts.
"What?" He asked, surprised.
"My mother'll claim me tonight, after Capture the Flag." I explained.
His eyes narrowed. "How do you know?" He asked.
"Hestia told me." I explained.
His eyes narrowed as he stared thoughtfully at me.
"You ever used a sword before?" He asked me.
I smirked. I reached into my pocket and pulled a small sword replica out of my pocket. I flicked it, and it elongated into a black sword. I twirled it a couple of times, then pressed on the side of the handle. It immediately shrank back down, and I pocketed it again.
"Yeah, you could say that." I took another bite of my food.
His eyes had widened slightly as he stared at my pocket where the sword was.
"Wasn't that Stygian Iron?" He asked after a moment.
"Your's is to, isn't it?" I asked, nodding to the sheathed sword at his side.
"Yeah..." He trailed off, obviously deep in thought. He stared at me for a couple of minutes. When I'd finished my food, he spoke again.
"Since you haven't been claimed, you're a free agent, free to choose which side you'll take during this Capture the Flag."
"Who are the captains?" I asked.
"Well, I think Jason will make it back in time for the game, but I don't know about Percy..." He trailed off again.
"That helps me none." I spoke.
"Jason is the son of Jupiter, while Percy is the son of Poseidon. usually, when they're here, they're captains, although I've been captain more than once." He seemed to shudder slightly at the memories.
"Which team will you be on?" I asked.
"Red. Temporary alliance with Poseidon." He answered.
"I suppose I could join that team." I said, not really wanting to have to think about which side I was on.
He gave a small twitch of his face, as though he was trying to smile, but his face couldn't remember how.
Our conversation was interrupted, however, by Chiron.
"Twenty minutes until the game starts! Everyone down to the woods!"
Dutifully, everyone got up, and trailed off in two separate directions, each to a different end of the woods. I followed Nico as he led the way down towards a large collection of boulders. When we got there, I noticed that everyone was crowding around someone in the middle, who was waiting patiently for everyone to arrive. When he spotted Nico, he nodded and walked over. That's when he noticed me.
"Who's this?" He asked, turning to Nico.
"Efialtis, undetermined." Nico replied.
The guy turned back to me, and I got a good look at him. He was wearing an orane Camp t-shirt, coupled with a pair of pants, and some sea green running shoes, which matched his eyes.
"Percy Jackson." He introduced himself, extending a hand towards me. I took it, somewhat hesitantly, and retracted it quickly. He raised an eyebrow, but shook his head slightly.
"You have any skill with a blade?" He asked.
"I do." I replied.
"Okay. Good, cause you'll need it." He turned and led the way over to the main group of people.
When he had made sure that everyone was listening, he spoke.
"The plan's simple. George, Tasha, and James, you'll guard the flag. Everyone else, except the Apollo cabin and you, Efialtis, will engage the main enemy force. Apollo cabin, I need you to make sure no one gets through."
"What about you?" Someone asked.
He turned to me. "I'll be taking Efialtis around near the beach. We'll circle and try to take their flag."
There were some grumbles about me being new, but no one argued.
Everyone was given a helmet with a red plume to denote our team, and the choice of armor, which I declined. Percy declined as well, and so for a few moments, Everyone stood and waited. During that time, Nico spoke to Percy.
"Annabeth here?" He asked.
"Nah. She's with the baby." Percy answered.
Suddenly, the conch horn blew again.
"That's our cue. Let's go!" Percy led the way towards the woods, where we split from the main group, skirting the edge as we made our way down to the beach. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the sword, and turned it into the larger one.
"Heh," Percy gave a short laugh when he saw it. He pulled a pen from his pocket, and uncapped it. It grew until he held a bronze blade in his hand. He nodded to me, and we continued on towards the beach.
It was silent when we arrived, save for the hoot of an owl in a nearby tree.
"Stay sharp." Percy whispered.
We made our way slowly across the beach, within easy sight of the forest.
"Look out!" Percy suddenly shouted. A lightning bolt arched down, and I barely had enough time to dive away before it struck the ground where we were just standing.
"You're predictable." A voice called.
From the sky descended a blond haired guy in an orange camp shirt, wielding two swords.
"Jason," Percy greeted, getting to his feet.
"I see you recruited the new kid." Jason said, nodding to me.
"Actually Nico did, but whatever." Percy said. He charged Jason, saying to me, "Go for the flag!"
I didn't watch what happened next. I shot forward, into the forest, in the opposite direction than our flag, figuring that they'd be on opposite sides. Sure enough, the trees thinned, and I spotted their flag set in the ground in the middle of a clearing. Two people stood guard in front of it. One was a really buff woman in an orange camp shirt, wielding a spear. The other was Samantha.
The spear girl cried out when she spotted me, and took a couple of steps towards me, while Samantha looked around for others from my team.
"All alone, are we?" The spear woman spoke when no one else appeared.
"Just me." I agreed.
"Be careful, Clarisse," Samantha warned. "He's good."
"Whatever." Clarisse said, and charged me.
I stood my ground as she closed the distance, readying myself to face her. Despite her size, she ran at quite a considerable speed, brandishing her spear, which crackled with electricity. She stabbed forward when she reached me, but I sidestepped the stab and swung down with my sword. She raised the handle of her spear and deflected the blow, swinging her spear like a club at me. I ducked underneath it, then pushed upwards, vaulting over her. When I landed, I hit her on the back of the head with the butt of my sword. She stumbled to the ground, dazed. I immediately spun around, raising my sword to deflect an arrow as it came at me.
Samantha's eyes were wide as she notched another arrow. I took a couple of steps towards her. Immediately, she launched an arrow at me. I once again deflected it. She started launching arrows one after the other as I made my way to her, dodging and deflecting the arrows.
Finally, she reached back, only to find an empty quiver. She cursed as she drew her sword, dropping her bow to the ground as she got between me and the flag. I sighed, th rushed forward.
Immediately, the ground erupted beneath me as bronze bars shot up, trying to lock me in. Thinking quickly, I jumped forward as one erupted, and I landed on top of it, using it to launch myself over Samantha. I landed beside the flag. She cursed again as she lunged forward. I deflected the blow, but instead of engaging her, I turned and, picking up the flag, made a beeline for the woods. She shouted after me, giving chase as I entered the woods. I dodged around trees, making a zigzag pattern as I headed for our flag. Before I noticed, something wrapped around my leg and pulled me to the ground hard. I rolled, gripping the flag tightly, and found my feet quickly, sword ready as I looked at what had tripped me. A small bronze wire ran between two trees, and a skinny guy stood nearby, wielding a small sledge hammer. He was about twenty, with curly brown hair and dark skin.
"I'll be needing that." He motioned to the flag.
"Tempting, but I think I'll have to decline." I answered. As I spoke, Samantha caught up.
"Oh thank the gods you were here, Leo." She spoke to the skinny guy.
"Just doing my duty." He answered.
"Yeah, great job guys," I broke into their conversation, "But if you don't mind, I have a game to win, so..." I didn't finish, but instead turned to run.
I heard a spark, and had enough time to turn around before I saw a ball of fire hurtling towards me. I dove to the side, barely dodging the blast, I rolled to my feet again, staring at Leo, who's hands were on fire.
"Going somewhere?" He asked.
I smirked. If we were using powers, then...
"Yeah, now you see me..." I took a step back, and melted into the shadows, reappearing behind them.
They blinked in surprise, but each gave a grunt as I knocked them out.
"Now you don't." I finished, and headed back towards our flag. As I cleared the tree line, an unwelcome sight graced my eyes.
Jason stood there, swords drawn as he regarded me with interest. Some ways behind him, Percy was busy fighting a couple of people in Roman armor.
"Well, this is a surprise." Jason spoke.
"Not really," I answered. Jason shrugged.
Then he rose up into the air a few feet, readying his weapons. I pushed the flag into the ground. As much as I wanted to win this game, this guy meant business, and actually seemed like a strong opponent. Couple that with the fact that he was the son of Jupiter, and...
He dove towards me, the air around him crackling. I raised my blade to block his blow. We sat there a few moments, pushing against each other, before we separated. He nodded, and dove again, with the same result. On the third attack, he swooped past me, and then, raising one sword to the sky, pointed the other at me. There was a crackle, and a lightning bolt shot down, through him, and towards me. I blinked in surprise, but raised my sword.
Guess this is it, I thought.
Suddenly, the shadows around me erupted, forming a large shield in front of me. The lightning bolt hit them, at they shattered, but they had stopped the bolt.
"What the?" Jason exclaimed.
Before he could recover, I pointed my sword at him. A black orb shot forward, colliding with him. He grunted in pain as he was knocked from the sky. He landed with a thump on the ground. Without pausing, I turned and grabbed the flag, rushing towards our flag, I leaped across the river, and it was done. I heard a cheer from Percy as Chiron trotted up, looking at me strangely.
"How di-" He started, but was cut off.
At that moment, everything grew dark. Above my head appeared what seemed like an orb of dark mist. A churning ash cloud billowed inside the mist.
"By the gods..." Percy gasped, having run up.
"It can't be..." Chiron muttered, his voice wavering. He was shaking slightly, and he stared at me in wonder.
Other campers wandered up, fear in their eyes, because they'd never seen Chiron like this.
I took a step forward as the symbol faded.
Chiron swallowed, then raised his voice.
"Hail Efialtis, son of Nyx, Primordial of Darkness.
End Notes: Dun dun dun! I feel pretty good about this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please don't hesitate to leave a review telling me how I can improve. Hope to see you next week! R&R! RayTheZoroark Out!
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