The Worst Tuesday Ever
CassiaI never liked Tuesdays. Something bad always seemed to happen. Like last Tuesday I fell of my Pegasus before we'd even left the stables or the Tuesday before when I told somebody from the Ares cabin about the hidden stash of soft drinks in my cabin and they later raided us for them or when I accidently dropped my favorite hat into the brazier at dinner or….well you get the picture. At least Hermes now has a very nice trilby. However this Tuesday may have been the worst yet. I managed to make it through the whole day without any major screw ups and then just as I'm drifting off to sleep, thinking everything was ok, Kye decides to call the camp to war. I woke up with a start, leapt out of bed and reached for my sword. Which wasn't there. That's one of the problems when you live with children of the god of thieves, stuff gets stolen. A lot. By the time I'd had a quick look around almost everyone else was geared up and running towards the sounds of fighting. I cursed and ran towards the door picking up one of the blunt training swords on the way out. I sprinted towards the ring of campers and quickly slipped through to the front to see what was going on. Just as I squeeze past the last people I hear Marshall screaming something.
''No Chiron, it's a trap!'' and the next thing I know is a gale hits me from nowhere and sends me flying backwards knocking people over and causing general chaos amidst the ranks. I'm thrown so far back I crash into one of the garden habitats that surround the central green and was instantly entangled in whatever species of bush it was. Eventually I regain most of my senses and realize I number of things. Number one: I lost my sword, Again! Number two: my friends were fighting and I was useless due to being effectively restrained by a bush and number three: I was upside down. With no choice but to watch I saw the rest of the battle including Kye and Marshalls' attempt to save Gwen from the giant bird and the evil pigeon whisperers. I saw the famous Percy Jackson and his girlfriend Annabeth Chase and a few other brave campers such as Lee and even the Stoll brothers attempt to go to war with a gale created by the world's ugliest bird. I saw the bird and its three passengers fly off into the night but the most terrifying sight of I saw was the girl from the Demeter coming towards me with a trowel and a look of fury.
''what are you doing in my bush!'' she screamed and a few campers that heard looked our way and smirked. ''You think that's funny? Come here and we'll see how funny you think it is then!'' She yelled at them brandishing her trowel like a dagger and sending them looks so horrible medusa would have been proud. They left quickly. The trowel wielding girl turned her attention back to me. ''Of all the places you could have crashed you picked my garden! Do you know how hard it is to grow plants let alone that tree your tangled in, I knew I should have grown poison ivy, that would have taught you.'' She muttered to herself as she freed me from my leafy bonds.
''Thank you!'' I yelled back to her as I ran towards the Ares campers that had assembled. ''Hey do any of you know where Kye or Marshall are?'' I asked
''they're under house arrest due to their connections to the girl who was kidnapped.'' I was told by the one closest to me. ''Now buzz of.'' I turned and started towards the weapons shed, my mind racing. I knew I needed to get them out but I wasn't sure how I'd get past the guards that were sure to be guarding them and I couldn't count on Kye and Marshall to be able to help me and I couldn't have taken to Ares guys on my own. With these questions fresh in my mind I reached the weapon shed and went in looking for a sword to replace the two id already lost today. Normally I would tell you what the inside of the shed looked like but as there was nothing but weapons hanging of the walls its easier if I just tell you about them. Firstly the sheer amount of weapons still astounded me. there were swords, spears, axes, bows, knifes, javelins, maces, firearms and something that looked suspiciously similar to a rocket launcher. And that doesn't even include how many variations of each of the weapons were in there. Some were simple some looked ancient some had buttons and switches up and down the hilts and some were intricately designed enough for a king. I walked towards the swords when something caught my eye. I went over to get a better look and as I realized what it was I plan came together in my head. I double checked I was alone before taking the weapon before going over and taking a short double edged sword made from celestial bronze as practically every weapon was and matching sheath before strapping it on my back and going over to the more modern section to grab the last few items I would need. As soon as I had everything I left the shed and made a beeline for the Ares cabin. As I got closer I saw a figure silhouetted in the doorway. I took cover behind some bushes in one of the Demeter cabins gardens. As I watched the figure I could see they were talking to someone inside the cabin. Their back was turned. Perfect. I pulled out my secret weapon. A bronze device shaped like a handgun but with a chunky barrel and no slide on the top. I flicked the small lever on the side and it immediately sprung open into a miniaturized crossbow. I cocked it and loaded the first bolt before I started walking straight towards the figure in the doorway. As I got closed I realized he was one of the Ares campers id seen around camp. I approached him silently as possible until I was close enough to pounce at which point I leapt towards him swinging the grip of the crossbow right at the back off his head. It mead solid contact and he was unconscious before he hit the ground. I then turned to see who he was talking to. Another Ares camper. As he realized what was happening I turned and fired the crossbow point blank into him. The tip of the bolt pierced his arm and then opened to release the sedative inside the shaft, knocking the campers out in seconds and perfectly silent. Until the crashed to the ground with their weapons and armor clattering as they hit the floor. On the far side of the cabin I saw something move. It was Kye and Marshall.
''What the hell happened to your face?'' Marshall asked with a mixture of confusion, amusement and terror in his voice.
''What do you mean?'' I asked not understanding the problem. He handed me one of the polished shields and when I saw the reflection I almost had a stroke. A tree and my hair had had a very brutal fight and from what I could see the tree had won. There were leaves, twigs and dirt all in my hair and all over my face. I looked back at Marshall and he looked like he had had a seizure. ''Umm I came to rescue you.'' I managed to squeak. ''come on we need to get Gwen back.'' I said a little more confidently. At the mention of Gwen's name Kye was on his feet and out the door with Marshall pulling me along right behind him. As Cliché as it sounds he looked so cute when he was serious, just the way his face was set and his dark eyes burned with such intensity you couldn't help but either believe in him completely or run for your life. That with his short dark hair and athletic build he was extremely attractive but his brother Kye had the style so Marshall was normally ignored. I felt sorry for him because of that. Even despite being the son of Ares he was a very nice guy, he was very supportive and ready to help anyone and while he did join in the raiding parties the Ares cabin normally ran and was as vicious as any of his brethren he was liked by people outside of his cabin unlike the vast majority. My train of thought was interrupted by the sound of horns being blown.
''that's the alarm, what do we do now.'' Marshall shouted to Kye who was a couple of yards ahead.
"Through the forest, we can lose them and then circle around towards the road.'' He yelled back. We kept running towards the woods but as we got closer I was two figures running towards us from the right and two more between us and the forest.
''What now?'' I asked Marshall and from the look on his face I wasn't going to like the answer.
''just stay behind me.'' he said drawing his swords.
Calling Marshalls weapons swords is a bit like calling Zeus only fairly powerful. Marshalls 'swords' were a special type of sword called Xiphos. They were mainly used by Spartans in close quarters battles where spears were to awkward or clumsy. Xiphos have one side that's sharp ad designed for slashing with the opposite side serrated to cause as much damage as possible when you remove the weapon from the chest or leg or any other limb you might choose to stab. When those two elements are combine with a tip designed to pierce flesh armor bone or whatever else you chose to put in the way it makes for one very lethal and terrifying weapon. And Marshall had two. His first one he wore so the hilt was easily accessible over his left shoulder but his other one he wore upside down and parallel with his first in such a way that if he wore a hoodie or a coat you couldn't see it while it was sheathed and he could reach it with his right hand by reaching towards the small of his back just above his rather attractive bottom. Not that I looked at it a lot…
As we reached the two figures to the front it became clear that they were some of the Ares sentries Clarisse had posted, they looked tough, angry and ready to cause pain. Unfortunately they weren't our biggest problem. Clarisse and one of her subordinates were charging towards us from the right. And they didn't look happy either. I was sure we were in trouble but Kye and Marshall didn't falter. 10 yards away. Then 5 then 3. 2. 1.
Next thing I knew Marshall was still pulling me along towards the forest. I looked behind me and about 10 yards back there were the two Ares sentries who were blocking us falling to the ground, already unconscious. I looked at them but they had the same determined look as before. They were serious.
We kept running but there were more of them and they had Pegasi. Soon we were surrounded in a clearing by a mound of boulders called Zeus' fist.
''Your outnumbered and surrounded, give up now and nobody has to get hurt.'' Clarisse ordered, standing in the front rank of the assembled campers.
"How do we do this?" Kye asked Marshall.
"I'm working on it, just give me a sec." he replied eyeing up potential weak spots in the enemy.
"It's no good we got you and there's no way out!" One of the Athena boys yelled.
"Damn, they might be right." Kye sighed looking almost withdrawn.
"Guys, I got this" I said as I dropped my sword and marched towards Clarisse and her warriors.
"Finally come to your sense I see." she said in a tone that suggested she was looking forward to making shish kebab out of me.
"Actually quite the opposite." I said as I unzipped my jacked and threw it to one side reveling the large number and assortments of bronze grenades I had strapped to the bandolier across my chest. "Surprise!" I shouted as I unhooked two grenades completely at random and pulled the pins.