Chapter 6: Prove them wrong

Piper would be lying through her teeth if she said that she wasn't nervous. Fifteen minutes into the game and there was no sign of any Roman as they walked in the enemy's territory. She should have been glad that no one had attacked them by now but the lack of any activity was making her wonder what their plan was. Because surely the reason why they had managed to get so far in their territory wasn't because of lack of battle strategy on the Roman part. They were up to something, Piper was sure of it. The real question here was what.

''Is it only me or there's something fishy about all this?'' Polux, the head councilor of the Dionysus cabin whispered as the two of them along with Lou walked through the woods in search for the flag. The three formed one of the three search parties, the other two including Annabeth, Travis and Connor and then Thalia, Clarisse and Katie. They had agreed that the smaller the groups are the easier it would be for them to sneak unnoticed.

''This is surely a trap but I don't know what kind.'' Lou responded in the same hushed tone while darting her eyes around, searching for something unusual. ''This or they are too self-righteous to even think that we can reach their flag. Which can only mean that we are close.''

''In any case be prepared. They aren't stupid no matter how arrogant they can get.'' Piper said while cutting a low twig with her dagger.

The others nodded but before anything else could happen their attention was drawn by a faint rustling of leaves not far away.

''Here!'' Polux hissed and the three ducked in the nearest bushes.

And they were just in time because a second later, two Romans in gold armor came from the direction they were heading.

''I swear I heard someone talking.'' One of them, a guy, insisted with his sword already drawn out in his hands.

''Yeah right.'' The other one, a girl, replied sarcastically. ''Let's go back to our positions. You know that we can be in serious trouble if we don't guard the damn flag.''

''I'm not going anywhere until I find the intruders. I'm sure of it Leila, I heard someone!'' the boy demanded and started rummaging through bushes around him.

A colorful French curse left Piper's lips. What now?

''Not so fast Roman boy.'' Lou warned under her breath before concentrating and suddenly, the boy yelped in surprise and pointed his sword with wide eyes as the nearest tree started crawling slowly towards him.

''Maledictus Graeci*…what the hell is that?'' he shouted, forgetting everything about being careful.

''Shit, this one is going to draw all the attention here!'' Piper realized with a delay.

Her anger quickly vanished as she came to another realization. She turned towards the other two.

''Guys, I have a plan.'' She announced but didn't wait for them to answer. ''Lou, we have to distract the Romans so Polux can get the flag easily. Once he do this he will run straight to our land and don't look back, understand?''

The buy nodded solemnly and sheathed his sword, preparing himself to run.

''Lets go then.'' Lou smiled wickedly and the two girls slipped away from their hiding place.

The daughter of Hecate didn't loose any time but started with her magic immediately, causing strange images of monsters to swirl around. Piper thought it was probably the mist and decided to concentrate on thinking that it wasn't real. A while ago Lou had talked with her about controlling the mist and she found it slightly similar to the charmspeak she had so she knew what she had to do to not fall in the trap. But actually doing it was another matter.

''Hey, over here! You want a battle right? Well, why don't you come and get it?'' Piper yelled with voice thick with charm. The girl didn't budge much, being too wrapped up in fighting a bush that was probably transformed into some monster by the mist.

The boy however caught a glimpse of her and tilted his head for a second, wondering if he should listen to her or not. In the end, the urge to fight won and he charged at her. Piper made a few steps back to allow some space for the fight before drawing her dagger out and getting ready to strike.

The Roman charged at her almost immediately, a battle cry emerging from his lips as he raised his sword for the first swing. Piper barely managed to duck and roll out of his way before he lunged at her again. Her shorter blade connected with his large one and she almost fell to her knees from the weight. She managed to twist her wrist and his blade slipped from hers, causing the Roman to tumble slightly forward which gave her a chance to compose herself.

She noticed that a small crowd had gathered both Romans and Greeks that were finding more interesting to watch then to fight with each other. But Piper didn't pay attention to them, she was too focused on her opponent and the way he crouched down and lunged at her again.

They continued like this for some time, attacking and defending. The thing was that the daughter of Aphrodite was growing tired, her knees throbbing from a recent kick in them. She had to think of a way to end this quickly.

She parried his swing but was too slow to escape the jab in the stomach. It sent her tumbling backwards and gasping for air as her breastplate bended at her stomach, digging in her painfully. One of her knees hit the ground as she grasped her stomach, wincing slightly in pain.

Snickering and huffing could be heard from the gathered demigods.

''Pathetic.'' Someone murmured ironically.

''A daughter of Venus, what did you expected?'' another one said with malice.

And that was it for Piper.

''You want a daughter of Aphrodite? Then you're going to get one.'' She breathed out to herself as she stood up, controlling the pain on her face.

If she wanted her plan to work, she needed to act this out perfectly. She hated to do this but desperate times called for desperate measures. And though she was sure that she looked awful with dirt smeared on her clothes and face, hair probably like a bird's nest and sweat dripping from her forehead she took a deep breath and sent the most dazzling smile she could muster towards the legionnaire. The hold he had on his sword wavered a little and she grinned even more.

''Do you really want to hurt me? I'm just a girl, right?'' she said with a voice that resembled a child's. The roman tilted his head, slightly confused of why was he fighting this girl in the first place.

His sword lowered even more as he shook his head in a dazed motion. Piper's smile grew impish as she drew out the sword and switched hands so Katorpsis was in her left hand.

''Too bad I want then.'' She replied sarcastically and charged at him.

The roman had good reflexes; at least she had to give him this. He managed to block her first blow but was too dazed to predict her ducking. She used that for her advantage and swung at his ankles, making him trip and fall to the ground.

His helmet clanked painfully on the ground and he groaned before quickly standing up and taking a battle stance. But Piper didn't wait for him to compose himself before attacking again, swinging and slashing as fast as she could. Because two could play that game and she would like to show him what was to be on the receiving end, trying to defend. She didn't stop sending smiles and comments here and there, distracting him even more.

''Shut up Venus spawn.'' He growled after a particularly high slash that caused a nasty cut to open on his jaw. His helmet was long since gone.

''Why, is it bothering you?'' she asked pretending sympathy. ''Poor unfortunate Roman can't stop getting distracted by a girl.'' She spat at him, anger and determination boiling in her. This had become personal long ago.

He growled in frustration and recklessly threw himself in attack. Piper tensed, getting ready for him. She noticed the perfect opening in his defense and waited until the last second before swiftly moving to the side and aiming for his head with the hilt of her sword.

The legionnaire stumbled a little and fell to his knees. The small audience they had was quiet as Piper's sword was pointing towards the base of the Roman's neck.

Just then, a loud cheering sounded from the other side of the forest. Piper could easily recognize the voices and she drew her sword and dagger back, smiling brightly at the guy on the ground.

''I think you just lost.'' She announced casually and in the next second felt Lou hugging her tightly.

Just then the rest of the Greek team stormed into the clearing with Polux on their shoulders that was happily waving the Roman flag above his head. Piper couldn't help but laugh. They had won.

Gods, she had won! She had beat a Roman; she, the daughter of Love!

Hands went around her and she felt being picked up in the air and twirled.

''That's a spirit Beauty queen!'' she heard Leo's voice in her ear a little too loudly but she couldn't care less as she laughed and hugged him back.

Just then she noticed the two praetors standing not far away, looking their way. Her eyes met Jason's and though she couldn't be sure because of the distance she thought she saw anger written on his face. Or maybe it was jealousy? She couldn't decide. Her smile dropped a little as she let Leo lower her on the ground. She raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking him What do you think of me now?.

He didn't reply. Instead he surprised the shit out of her by starting to walk confidently towards her, eyes darker than usual. But before he could reach her, somewhere in the distance a conch horn blew. The Greeks stopped cheering and listened intently, the light mood caused by the victory evaporating. The Romans stood a little hesitant but ready for battle as they saw the other demigods tensing.

The horn sounded again but this time from different direction, from the hart of the camp.

The members of camp Half-blood didn't wait any longer but took off simultaneously towards the centre of the camp, worried murmurs breaking through the night air.

''What's going on? Why is everyone so worried?'' Reyna's voice sounded from next to Piper and the daughter of Aphrodite was amazed to see the roman praetor running right next to her and actually taking the time to talk to her.

But her mind was too occupied to dwell on that now.

''No time.'' she answered quickly. ''We have to get to the rest and fast!''

''Why, what is going on?'' the daughter of war repeated her question more urgently this time.

''It's the horn…something's wrong.''

''What? What do you mean…''

''The camp is under attack.''

A\N:

*cursed Greeks

And…another cliffhanger, this one bigger than the previous one. I hope you guys liked the chapter. There is more to come so stay tuned! And thanks for the amazing reviews! You make my day! Happy Holidays! I'll ''hear'' you before New Year! LOVE YOU and I hope that you'll get the best of presents! My best one will be your reviews!