Percy handed us he flag and grinned, it was actually pretty heavy for just a stick with a flag on it. I'm kinda glad Lyra was there and holding it with me. I turned to face her and I beamed a smile.
"Let's go up a tree!" I couldn't help but smile at Lyra's confused expression, but it quickly formed into a grin. I grabbed her wrist and we raised the flag higher as we both broke into a speedy run with the blue team flag streaming behind us like a floating river.
We finally stopped at a tall tree by one of the many streams, the leaves camouflaged the branches that were higher and the lower branches far apart, which made it harder to climb. But hey, what's life without a little challenge?
"Hm," I began "How are we going to get up there?" I looked at Lyra and hoped she would have some brilliant spark of idea. Her eyes widened suddenly, the horn that signalled the beginning of the game had sounded, and we needed to hide.
"Uh... Oh, look!" She pointed to a tree next to our hiding tree, "The branches are close enough together to jump from." She pulled me forward and takes the flag from me. I started to climb and Lyra followed closely behind. We reached our jump spot and I looked down which was a big mistake. The fear of falling made my stomach flutter and I looked at Lyra with wide eyes.
"C'mon, you can do it Kaylee." Lyra smiles at me and I stepped out onto the branch. I took a small step forwards and took the biggest inhale of air ever before leaping off the branch.
I landed -not so- smoothly onto the other branch and had to move forward to make some room for Lyra. She jumped like an acrobat and landed gracefully on the branch-I couldn't even feel the impact. I took the flag from her and hanged it on a thin branch above me. I sat close to Lyra, but we sat on separate branches; hers was slightly higher than mine.
"Dang it, we should've brought some food!" Lyra groaned, staring down at me.
"Stephano and Felix are going to bring us food and water in a bit-" but then I stopped talking (which was rare for me) and I looked down. Someone was already near our hiding spot. I quickly lied down on my stomach and lean my head over the leaves, trying to see the person. When I saw who it was, I nearly threw up... Okay that's exaggeration but I didn't like this kid at all. I pulled myself back into a comfortable position and looked up at Lyra.
'Who is it?' she mouthed, but then I waved my hand to signal it was okay to talk now. I gave her a solemn stare and then said the dreaded name.
"Jax." I said with a slight clench in my jaw.
"Who?" She asked, leaning forward to see him better.
"That really annoying Hermes kid who won't leave me alone..." I looked down and had to use my amazing willpower to stop myself from throwing a walnut at his head.
"Who?" She repeated, practically hanging off her branch to try and get a good look at him.
"That kid who is completely obsessed with me and won't give me any space." I glared down this time and my amazing willpower gives in and I pick up a walnut. Lyra looked at me with her eyebrows raised and I smiled at her as I threw the walnut right at Jax.
"Ouch!" Jax said, rubbing his head angrily. He skulked away and once he was out of sight, Lyra and I explode with laughter.
"Nice shot!" We heard someone say with a fake, but very good French accent.
"Stephano..." I stopped myself then, knowing something was up.
"Felix, the hunters are coming!" I heard Stephano whisper softly, Felix nodded and takes a bag from Stephano before climbing the tree to jump to the one we were in. I was shocked at how good he could climb. Stephano drew his sword and headed over towards the stream with light footsteps.
"Good thing we're up a tree." Lyra randomly stated.
"Why?" I asked, turning my head slightly.
"Because we didn't get any swords" Lyra laughed.
"Oh, then yea, we'd be screwed." I laughed with her.
Felix finally dropped down onto one of the branches that was slightly lower than mine, his sandy blonde hair was matted with sweat and his light blue eyes were shimmering with the early sunlight. He smiled at us and tosses me a bag, which I instantly passed to Lyra because I knew I would drop it. Lyra's position suddenly shifted. Her arms were crossed and her legs crossed at the ankles- her classic sitting down 'I know something you don't know' look.
"What?" I asked and Lyra's smug grin changed into a sly smile.
"What!?" My voice cracked lightly and Felix laughed alongside Lyra who was smirking evilly like how she looked whenever she saw ice cream or snow (do not challenge her to a snowball fight, I've heard way too many stories...).
"Seriously though, what is it?" I feel my cheeks beginning to heat up slightly, but then I had to shake it off when Felix climbed up to my branch to sit beside me. Lyra leaned forwards and swung her legs off the branch.
"So, you and Nico, huh?" She winked at me and my mouth dropped in shock. Felix slammed his back against the trunk of the tree.
"You and Nico!?" He shouted in shock.
I began to mumble incoherently and I only managed a short "I don't know wha-" before I was cut off by Lyra.
"Don't bother. You know I can tell when you're lying." She said, grinning vigorously.
"Truthfully, I think she's the only thing that is keeping Nico sane." A voice in that familiar fake accent said from above us.
"Hey, Stephano- you're back!" Felix smiled up at him and Stephano swung himself down onto Lyra's branch.
"What do you mean by that?" I raised my eyebrows inquiringly at Stephano for him to continue and elaborate on the subject about Nico's sanity.
"Ellos Felix," The fake Frenchman looked at me, and his accent dropped. "Kaylee, the dude's been to Tartarus and back, he has seen things we only think of in our worst nightmares." Stephano sits next to Lyra, who was looking at me with her eyes widened and her mouth hanging open.
"What?" She looked at Stephano and then back at me, her eyes got impossibly wider. "Did you know?"
"He never told me." My voice sounded hollow and unlike me, but then I looked up at the Frenchman with serious eyes. "How come you knew?" He smiled softly at me.
"Word travels fast around here, in fact, I already know about Lyra's blood complex." He said, glancing around but focused more importantly on the ground, I followed his gaze down and began to scan the forest floor for any red team members.
The four of us suddenly fall silent as we heard a whistle from a few feet away. I hoped with all my might it was a blue team member, but I had to crane my neck to see well.
Felix gave a little scared 'meep' sound and pulled me back up, I looked at him questioningly. From the look in his eyes, I knew we could tell which team colour to expect. I quickly came up with a plan in the limited moments we had, but Stephano beat me to it.
"If they attack, Felix and I will fight them off and you and Lyra can take the flag away before they see it because then they will think that we are just decoys." Stephano said to us, his accent came back as fast as it had left.
"No need for that Steph, I'm on your side." A voice said, the humorous tone rang through and I recognised it all too well, but my brain didn't register it entirely.
"What is up with that helmet then?" Felix asked, his usually hidden courage shining through.
"Okay, well, I highly doubt that boys are allowed on the hunter's team." The person who the voice belonged to finally came into my view, why did I not realize it sooner?
"Nico, why on earth did you steal a red team helmet?" I looked down at him and he smiled up at me.
"Nico?" Lyra and Felix say together, making me jump in surprise.
"I should've known." Stephano grinned.
"Is there any more room up there?" He asked, removing his helmet that wasn't exactly his.
I didn't hear the answer because my ADHD kick started once again and wandered off into the magical realm of fairies until it felt like I was seeing through someone else's eyes. It was peculiarly odd but interesting.
"Kaylee?" Someone said and nudged me in the arm.
"Ah?" I looked at the person who had nudged me. Felix was going to say something, but Lyra intervened. She really was a worry heart half the time...
"Kaylee, you okay?" She asked, taking a water bottle out of the bag, with extreme slowness.
"Yeah, I just phased out for one second." I looked down at the ground and quickly jumped to my feet, I accidently alarmed the others and Felix had something of a heart attack/breathing problem attack. Nico accidently shifted and a stick snapped, I shot him a glare and threw a walnut at the back of his head.
"Hey! What did I do...?" Nico starts, but shuts up instantly when I signalled I'd throw another walnut at him. Felix let out a gust of his breath in the sudden awkward silence.
"What's going on?" Felix asked, trying his best to whisper as quiet as he could.
"We're surrounded by hunters." I answered and crouched down a little to stay out of sight.
"What are we going to do?" Felix mumbled absent-mindedly, trying not to freak out.
"You, me, Lyra and Nico will draw the hunters here and Stephano... You sneak out and theif the flag." I ordered strictly and I saw Lyra roll her eyes casually.
"You sure that's gonna work?" Lyra asked me.
"Well, we're gonna have to find out." I said, turning to Stephano, "Get ready."
"We know you're up there!" I heard Thalia yell.
"And we know you're down there!" I yelled back down and grinned at Lyra.
"Now, let's take this nicely, we don't want to hurt anybody." She reasoned as more hunters gathered around our tree. Felix looked nervous.
"We don't want to hurt anyone either!" Lyra echoed back and we all tried hard not to laugh out and fall out of the tree.
"What weapons do you have?" Thalia asked.
"What weapons do you have?" I questioned.
"Bows and arrows" She answered smoothly.
"Well, we have walnuts!" I hunched over with my shoulders bobbing with silent laughter. Nico was trying not to laugh so hard that it looked like he was going to turn purple and drop dead, Lyra was also trying not to laugh, but she didn't seem up to much. Felix was silently laughing, but he was still nervous.
"What?" Thalia asked dumbstruck, as the majority of the hunters showed up.
"I said; WE. HAVE. WALNUTS!" I yelled victoriously and Stephano smiled, vanishing/sneaking away to retrieve the red flag.
"How will walnuts save you against arrows?" A random hunter asked, confused.
"We don't know, but they sure are fun to throw!" Felix answered for us before either me or Lyra could open our mouths.
"They can't harm anyone." Thalia said with a relieved sigh.
"They will if you throw them hard enough!" Nico said with laughter dancing in his dark eyes.
"Darn you guys are so..." Thalia was clawing at the tree like a cat. Then she suddenly stopped and stared at something with her eyes widening in such shock I'd thought she had been electrocuted.
"Ello ladies," Stephano said in his fake French accent, adding in a formal bow for fun.
"Stephano!" We all yelled in unison with big grins on our faces. He had got the flag.
"BLUE TEAM WINS!" A sudden chorus of laughing, cheering and yelling reached our ears and came closer and closer. Soon enough, a wave of blue surrounded the hunters.
"But... How did... He... What?" Thalia managed to ask in utter shock.
"WALNUT POWER!" Lyra and I yelled together, throwing the walnuts in the air for a dramatic effect. Lyra, Nico, Felix and I had to wait for the stampede of campers to clear before moving off of the tree.
-Back at camp-
"Congratulations on your teams victory." Artemis told us and I noticed her form had changed from a young girl's, to an older girl's of around the age 14 or 15. She extended her hand with a gracious smile that caused a silvery glow to be cast around her again.
"Thank you Lady Artemis." I said, taking her hand. She shook it softly and then moved to Lyra. Her silver eyes glittered for a moment.
"I hope to see you two again soon." She smiled, putting her hand on Lyra's shoulder. I did manage to choke out a few words though, but of course they were in my head.
"You too, Artemis." Lyra smiled back staring beside me. Artemis turned to leave.
"My offer still stands Lyrian, I hope you will consider it." She said as she walked away.
"I shall..." Lyra whispered to herself.
"C'mon!" Leo suddenly appeared, his hair curling out of his blue helmet. I was going to question why he still had it on, but we did too so I forgot about it.
"Why?" Lyra and I asked, jumping in surprise.
"It's our victory dinner!" Leo smiled hugely.
"This is the first time in 56 years, that camp half-blood has won against the hunters!" He looked like a dog that had finally seen its master after a month- dying of excitement. My attention is drawn away by something squawking at my feet impatiently.
"What!?" I asked, bending over and scooping up the small brown dragon. "How did you get here?" I questioned and Festus jumped from my hands to my shoulders, perching himself up proudly.
"Really?" Lyra eyed the dragon nervously. "Camp half-blood hasn't won in that long?"
"Yep, until now!" Leo yelled cheerfully.
"Leo, calm down." Somebody said from behind us. As I went to turn, Lyra smacked my arm so hard I almost cried out in pain- good gods she had a good hit.
"Good job girls." Jax said as he approached us.
"Thanks." Lyra said with a steely gaze, rolling her eyes. I tried not to laugh.
Jax took a step closer to me for comfort. Leo stepped closer to the tree beside him.
"You did really well Katie." ...Oh, he did not just call me Katie.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, "Katie? You okay?" Jax asked and I clenched my fists and tried not to freak out. Festus snarled and chomped down on Jax's fingers. "What the?" He smacked Festus's snout angrily. "Stupid lizard, Kate you should keep that thing-"
I swung around angrily and Festus jumped from my shoulder and leaped into Lyra's arms-trying to lick at her face again.
"Don't ever call me Kate or Katie and Festus is a dragon, not a lizard! Don't you ever touch me, him or Lyra, Raven and Safdeisha or I swear to Hephaestus I will have Festus cook you alive." I said, slamming him into one of the trees behind him. Lyra threw Festus at Leo, trying not to laugh as Jax's terrified face. She pried me off of him and sat me down. Jax struggled to say something, but whatever he was going to say was cut off by Leo.
"I'd suggest getting the hell out of here before I let go of the dragon. He doesn't like people who hurt his mother." Leo threatened evilly and Festus snarled again, flicking his tongue. Jax high-tailed it towards the Hermes cabin and I really did feel bad for Lyra. Leo set Festus down and the little dragon jumped onto his usual place on my shoulder.
"Hey Kaylee." A soft voice said from above, I looked up and saw tree boy- I mean Nico.
"We'll just go inside." Lyra said with a casual friendly smile.
"See ya in there." I smiled back at her.
Lyra walked away with Leo. Leo didn't seem to mind walking away with Lyra, but then again she was the perfect target for his womanizing tactics. It was sort of fun having a perverted older brother though. Nico jumped down from the tree and sat down next to me. For some reason, I shivered, even though it wasn't cold and I'm wearing a black sweater.
"Are you... Cold?" Nico asked, looking as though he was about to take his jacket off.
"No, I'm boiling." I admitted.
"Then take off the sweater." He raised an eyebrow and it felt like he was studying my soul. Awkward.
"I can't..." I looked down and Festus nudged my cheek. I smiled and looked back at Nico, his eyes fluttered with a passing confusion. He moved closer to me.
"Why?" His knees were centimetres away from mine.
"Because nobody should ever know about my past, Lyra was the only person who knows and you seem like you are carrying your own demons Nico. You shouldn't have to deal with mine." I wished I could've said... But instead I bit my lip and (Banana? No.) lift Festus off of my shoulder. Nico held out his hands and Festus looked at me then back at Nico, then does the weirdest thing. Festus jumped to tree boy. "Hm. That's surprising."
I slowly began to take off my sweater and prayed to whatever god or goddess that could hide my scars. A sudden wave of darkness flooded over me. Anything for you, my young hero, a woman's voice flowed into my mind and a tingling went up my arms and Nico looked at me.
"You okay?" I realized that I had my sweater half off and was just standing there, staring at nothing.
"Oh, yeah." I said, finally managing to take the sweater off. I braced myself for the millions of questions I was going to be answering.
"See, that wasn't so hard." Nico joked.
"huh?" I looked at my arms; there were no scratches, bruises or scars in sight.
"They're arms, Kaylee, why are you so intrigued by them?" Nico took my hand and somewhere in my mind, fear and pain try to escape. I pushed the feelings back but then another thing pushes itself to my attention.
'Hades, being the god of the underworld, radiates fear and death.' Mrs. Sphine drawled on in my head. I shook my brain into scrambles and I now understood why people didn't hang around Nico too much. But why was I not affected?
"Kaylee?" Nico went to let go of my hand but my grip tightened by itself.
"We should probably go eat." I said and Festus flapped his wings happily and sat on the ground.
"Yeah, Nico looked down, staring at my palm. I frowned. "What happened?" He looked at me, I can see the anger flicker within his darkened eyes.
"Oh, them, um..." I struggled to remember how I did get the strange scars.
"Kaylee! Nico! The victory feast is about to start!" Felix yelled at us and I let go of Nico's hand reluctantly. I grabbed my sweater and pulled it over my head and fit it snugly to my body. Nico extended his hand to pull me up and I took it but stumbled. He tried not to laugh, but he still deserved the punch in the arm that I gave him. I kept my arm in the position and Festus climbed up it. Every time Nico and I have a moment together it gets interrupted.
Festus sat on my shoulder and spat out a small ball of flames. "GAH!" I yelled, startling myself and Nico. "Festus!" the little brown dragon nudged my cheek and I pat his smooth scaly head.
"Well that was unexpected." Nico said smiling.
"Yeah, really." I said with a laugh. "Remind me to bring you camping" I patted Festus again and he flicked his tongue wildly.
We entered the mess hall and Lyra waved for me to sit with her. I weaved my way through the crowd but just as I go to sit down, the Hephaestus table cheers and I'm grabbed from behind. "What the!?" I jumped and span around to face the person I was about to attack.