IT'S FINALLY HERE! THAT'S RIGHT PEOPLE...
CAPTURE THE FLAG!
Though, to be frank, it's the stuff AFTER Capture the Flag I'm excited about. ;)
I think this chapters relatively long.
Guys...93 pages. 93 pages on Google Docs. That's how long this story is so far. Now I've began writing stories before. I've never gotten past like 70, and that'd be in like 2 months. This shows how much motivation you guys give me! CRAZINESS!
If you guys haven't I want you to vote on what memory you want Zack to see of Lena's! Go back to chapter 32 if needed and read options. So far I have two votes for A and two for C! PLEASE VOTE!
I had a Swim Invitational meet today, which is like a mini conference. Did okay. CUT TWELVE SECONDS OFF MY 500! I now have a 6:42. :) Which kinda sucks cuz now my coach is going 'Oh, she's pretty good. I should put her in the 500 more often.' Shit. For like 300 of it I didn't even look what lap I was on. I was just singing in my head. The song The Girls A Straight-Up Hustler by All Time Low (I've been obsessed with it as of late). When I finished it, I sang it again! :)
VRTUAL HUGS! (SO MANY!): Meepmeep123 (twice? Once on chapter 2. Haha.), Pandastyle, If Only I Knew, Guest, Anonymous, The Avian-Olympian, Love2read9, thuyngan.2111, UrWorstNightmare, storm35-50(twice), Pokemonchen, 100stars, skybrezz everdeen, Vivi007.
As you can imagine, this MADE MY LIFE! OMIGOD PEOPLES! SO FREAKING MANY! XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD and on and on...
REPLIES TO REVIEWS:
Meepmeep123: RIGHT? And again...haha! RIGHT? I mean, I'm sorry, your not a real die hard fan unless you hate the move...yet plan to see the second one in theaters...cuz (if you look DEEP DOWN) it's still PJO! ;) And yes, I find that a highly appropriate plan name. Plan A46 Zebra-chipmunks. Very nice. ;)
Pandastyle: No I wasn't actually. Ha. Sorry. Lena wins. She has Riptide. :) Dude, have you seen those odd love stories between Percy's sword and Annabeth's hat? I'm like...REALLY? Anyhoo, yeah that'd raise some questions. :) Movie Star planet? No. Is it fun? Should I get one? And Avengers? YEAH! Loved it! Iron Man is my fave cuz he's the first superhero movie I saw and he's so sarcastic and such, and half the stuff that comes out of MY mouth is sarcasm. And Percy...Idk! He isn't one to follow rules like Captain America...I guess maybs he'd be kinda a Thor...yeah I'd have to agree with you, but more towards the end of the movie Thor, cuz Percy's not prideful. (And to let you know, right now, as I type this, it's 9:35, so it'll be probs 9:45-9:55ish by the time this is posted. To give you perspective on my time zone.)
Guest: Ya know, it was only after I typed that I realized it sounded like Twilight, but I thought it sounded cute. What is it with this PJO vs. Twilight thing? I mean, I'm team Jackson all the way but I'm also not a Twilight hater. Though, sometimes the jokes about it are too funny. :)
anonymous: Ha. I hope it is! Again, though, the real interesting part is coming up!
The Avian-Olympian: yeah. That's why I love my phone that has internet...which I felt in high school pool locker room...sigh... and THANKS!
thuyngan.2111: Yeah, but I have no social life whatsoever. :) It's school, swim, shower, eat, whatever little homework I didn't do during classes, write, sleep, repeat. No joke. And sorry, I know my A/N's are long, but I write them knowing full well most will just skip them. I would. Let's be legit here. And I just thought Hephaestus would kinda be on the more rational side, not really understanding human life you know? He doesn't understand humans.
UrWorstNightmare97: Course she'll kick ass! :) This is Lena we're talking about!
Storm35-50: Yeah, cliffhangers suck but they get me readers. Haha. :) Chocolate gravy? Can't say I have, but I'm not a huge gravy person. But BRING ON THE CHOCOLATE! ;) And thank you for your vote!
Pokemonchen: You were the first to vote I think! Thank you!
skybrezz everdeen: I'm gonna guess Hunger Games fan? Good book, very impressed by how the movie stuck to plot. (UNLIKE THE PJO MOVIE!) And MWUAHAHA! I have plans for everyone finding out!
Vivi007: RIGHT? MARK OF ATHENA! PERCABETH REUNION! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD And thank you for your vote!
EVERYONE PLEASE VOTE! GO BACK TO CHAPT 32 TO READ CHOICES AND VOTE! PEASEPLEASEPLEASE!
Lyrics: Let The Flames Begin by Paramore
What a shame we all became such fragile, broken things.
A memory remains just a tiny spark.
I give it all my oxygen,
To let the flames begin
To let the flames begin.
Oh, glory.
Oh, glory.
This is how we'll dance when,
When they try to take us down.
This is what will be oh glory.
Somewhere weakness is our strength,
And I'll die searching for it.
I can't let myself regret such selfishness.
My pain and all the trouble caused,
No matter how long
I believe that there's hope
Buried beneath it all and
Hiding beneath it all, and
Growing beneath it all, and...
This is how we'll dance when,
When they try to take us down
This is how we'll sing it.
This is how we'll stand when
When they burn our houses down.
This is what will be oh glory.
Reaching as I sink down into light.
Reaching as I sink down into light.
This is how we dance when,
When they try to take us down
This is how we'll sing it.
This is how we'll stand when,
When they burn our houses down.
This is what will be oh glory.
Great song. Meaning pretty self explanatory. A very Lena-ish song in my opinion.
Once again, if there's any House of Anubis fans, go check out myheartsastereo!
Song: None, needed Ipod to due replies.
Disclaimer: ...
The rest of the afternoon was spent getting a sword for me, since I didn't want to bust out my fathers sword. I think people would get suspicious if they saw 'Anaklusmos' on my sword. It took awhile because every sword felt awkward in my hand. I took a sword that worked the best, but was not perfect, and decided I would use my mother's knife. While it was often talked of in the tales of my parents, nothing about her knife was distinctive.
Dinner was uneventful. Mostly my table talked about strategy, though it sure sounded like their strategy was stand at the river and don't be killed. Apparently we were the guards or whatever. That sounded extremely boring to me.
I was never much of a 'rule follower' anyways.
Dinner everyone put on armor, which I found kinda sissy. I've survived without armor for years against real monsters, and for a little game in the forest their putting on protection? Weak.
Zack bid me good luck, as if I needed it, and went over to his team.
I felt the reassurance of my mothers cap in my back pocket. Before dinner I had gone back to the Big House, where my stuff still remained, and stuffed it in my pocket.
I was on the blue team. I followed them out to a small clearing in the woods. "Kinda small battle ground," I noted.
Mara shrugged. "Supposedly this wasn't where it always was played."
"What changed?" I asked.
Before Mara could respond a girl about a year or so older stepped in front of our crowd of blue-helmeted demigods.
"Okay, guys, listen up!"
"That's Alexa." Mara told me. "Head of Athena cabin."
"We're doing this how we usually do. Poseidon's cabin, you're on border duty."
"Yes, ma'am!" Max said as he saluted. I found out at dinner he was Cabin Three's head.
Alexa rolled her eyes but continued. "Apollo, I want you guys high okay? Get to the trees, climb high, don't miss."
A boy with a bow smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."
She nodded and turned to a large portion of the group. "Minor gods, I want you guys cutting in half and attacking the sides. Athena, we're cutting down the middle, attacking head on. Hermes? I want you all over the place, wreaking whatever havoc, distraction, and destruction you can."
A group cheered and a blond boy of about eighteen smiled. "You got that Alexandra!"
Alexa narrowed her eyes. "I'll stab you." She warned. The boy seemed unconcerned.
The team then started getting in positions. When the conch horn blew they all charged into battle, screaming and shouting, hooting and hollering, which seemed far too obvious to me.
I, on the other hand, was standing by a creek, my arms crossed over my chest. I felt idiotic and useless. When the team tried to put the dumb helmet on me, I adamantly refused, causing the one trying to 'help' me to mutter, "Fine. You're life on the line, Sea Spawn."
Eventually, though it was probably only thirty seconds, I gave in.
"I'm going in," I told my 'cabin mates'.
"Lena," Max said sternly. "Don't be a hero. Stay here. You'll be destroyed out there."
My blood had gone cold at the word 'hero'. "Heroism is the last thing on my mind." I told him coldly as I ran across the small clearing. Once I was out of view I slipped my mothers hat on. Undetectable by normal eyes, I slipped through the forest. Occasionally I strolled across a battle or an archer or a child of Hermes doing I-don't-even-want-to-know. Once I went through what I determined to be a good portion of the battles, I took the cap off. What good was winning, and therefore gaining respect of the Camp, if no one saw me do it?
I wandered around the forest, uncertain and unsure, searching for the flag.
It was out of pure luck, not strategy, that I stumbled upon it. I was sitting in a crook of a tree. Mostly concealed, but not completely, as per the rules.
I began walking to it when I heard a voice.
"Well, well, the newbie Sea Spawn. Didn't expect you."
I turned and faced the guy I presumed to be Zeke. He was just leaning casually against a tree. I finally got a good look at him. He had hair that at first look appeared black, but upon further inspection was dark brown. He had the electric blue eyes that went with children of Zeus, so it seemed. He was tall, taller than Zack. His muscles were broader as well. Like a football player on steroids.
"Oh, I'm just full of surprises." I informed.
He nodded, narrowing his eyes. "It would seem so." His voice was deep and gravelly, unlike Zack's smooth voice. And his eyes seemed colder. The way he looked at me made me shiver in disgust. If appearances would mimic personality, he would be coated in slime.
"You're not getting that flag." He told me.
"Maybe, maybe not." I said. "Let's find out, shall we?"
He smiled coldly. "Let's."
With that he pulled his sword and lunged. I pulled out my mother's knife and countered.
"A knife, huh?" He asked. "Short weapon."
Using the knife I shoved the sword away. He dropped it to his side for the moment.
"Takes a clever fighter." I told him, repeating what my mother had told me once. "Needs some one who's brave and quick."
He struck and I deflected again. This happened several more times before he spoke again.
"And you think this defines you?" He asked between grunts.
"I don't know I about brave," I admitted through grit teeth. "As for quick and clever...I'll let you be the judge of that." He swung his sword at my head and I ducked. When I stood I caught him by surprise when I jammed my elbow into his face.
He stumbled back, one hand clutching his nose. "You are dead, Sea Spawn."
"Please." I said, understanding how Zack felt about him. "You don't scare me you stupid, arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic, self-centered, prideful bastard." I snarled.
"You're gonna pay for that bitch." He told me.
I laughed bitterly and spread my arms out. "What can you deal to me that life hasn't already?"
He didn't respond. Instead he just shouted and attacked. I deflected and dodged skillfully. He began to tire out. After a few minutes of this I did one of the first maneuvers my father taught me.
The disarming maneuver.
Granted, it required more skill with a knife, but I had more than my share of personal experience and practice.
His sword clattered to the ground. He stared at me, mouth wide.
"The Hades?" I admit, I flinched at the name.
But I wasn't done. I punched him in the face and kneed him where it hurt most. He fell to the ground groaning and I felt immense satisfaction. I kneeled down and whispered in his ear.
"That was from Poseidon to Zeus, you sick jerk."
He just groaned. I left him to rot in his pain.
I then stood and walked over to the flag. I picked it up and looked at it. It was nothing special really. It was gold, giving it an elegant and stand-out appearance that reminded me of Zeus.
I then ran through the forest and battles, holding the flag high. I heard some people laugh, others cheer, others shout in frustration.
I crossed the border of the creek, seeing my 'cabin mates' laugh in surprise, when I felt the hand holding the flag tingle. I looked down. The color seemed to be changing, but it seemed unsure to which. For a moment, it was blue, and then it was silver. It first had a trident, and then an owl. Startled, I dropped the flag on the ground.
Alexa walked over, a wide smile on her face. "Well done, Newbie! Way to go!" She frowned when she saw my face, then looked down at the flag. A puzzled expression appeared on her face.
"The Hades?" I flinched again. She bent down and picked up the flag. When she picked it up it stopped being muddled and became the Athena silver/gray. "What was that?" she asked .
I shrugged, going for nonchalance, but it felt more like I was cringing. "I don't know. I'm new here. Maybe since Poseidon brought it over the creek, but Athena led the team it was kinda back and forth."
She shook her head. "It always turns to the cabin that brought it over the border." She stared at me and I suddenly found the rest of the crowd very interesting.
When I saw Zack I jogged over, eager to escape Alexa's intelligent and questioning glare. "Sup?" I asked him.
He was breathing heavy and had a decent stream of moisture on his forehead and chest. He smiled when I walked up. "Heard you won the game."
I shrugged. "Guilty."
He smiled wider. "Heard you kicked Zeke's ass."
I smiled too. "Guilty."
He laughed. "If we weren't in a huge crowd, I'd kiss you."
I laughed too, understanding that if he had kissed me, I wouldn't have been happy, and was relieved he knew that. On the other hand, a part of me wished we were alone so he could.
"Beating Zeke..." he said. "Isn't easy. You've got their attention now, Lena." He said seriously.
I looked around, the blue team smiling at me-except for Alexa who was still appearing as if she was trying to read my mind-and the red team glaring at me.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I questioned as I saw Zeke limp into the clearing. His expression could only be described as 'murderous'.
Zack narrowed his eyes at Zeke as he responded.
"I'm not sure."