The Legacy of Aphrodite
Capture the Flag
We had spent way too much time looking throughout the pegasi. I looked at my watch. 12:05. "Oh, Gods, I'm so sorry. Time always flies with these beauties. You had better sprint to the mess hall if you actually want some food. Merena'll be waiting for you right here, don't you worry." Adam said apologetically. I gave the palomino a last final pat, then dashed away. `
I arrived at the Mess Hall. After the peace of the stables, it seemed way too loud. It was like a high school canteen, the noise roaring up as everyone tried to speak over everyone else. Apparently the cabin table rule was disregarded at Lunch. Everyone sat wherever they wanted. Good, I thought. As much as I loved teasing Lily, Lunch with Tanaka did NOT sound good. The prospect of dinner didn't sound too romantic either. But I shouldn't worry about that now. Right now, I needed FOOD. I spotted Lily and Amy sitting at what should've been the Demeter table. I jogged over, and sat down with an ungraceful thud. I pulled a plate towards me. A sandwich materialised out of nowhere. I dug into it.
"Hey", Lily said, seemingly forgotten all about her death threat. "How were the Pegasi?"
"Completely and Utterly Amazing", I said, slightly dreamily.
Lily snorted. "Someone's in love", she commented. Amy elbowed her.
I rolled my eyes at her. "I'm a child of Aphrodite, aren't I? I'm supposed to fall in love on a regular basis. Even though my best friend seems to have beaten me to it."
She sighed. "You had to", she said, groaning.
"Yup", I said, grinning at her widely. "You're the one that started it".
"What are you doing for your Rec?" Amy asked me, completely ignoring me and Lily's conversation.
"I don't know. What is there?"
"Depends on your tastes, really. You can make something at the forge, or you can go swimming or canoeing at the lake or something. There is the climbing wall, but thats usually for the more, uh, competitive campers. You won't want to try it just yet, until you've learned more skills"
"Err….."
"You have Rec next, right? I can just take you to every single one to try them out, if you want"
"Sounds fine to me", I said, kind of relieved. I had never been someone to make decisions. It had always been someone else making them for me.
We finished eating, and walked out of the mess hall. We waved to Lily, and headed in the direction of the lake.
"We're gonna start with canoeing," she said, pulling a small boat-like thing out of the shed with ease. "Uh, prepare to get wet".
45 minutes, two sore arms, and a pair of wet shoes later, Amy finally let me paddle to the shore.
All I could say is that I DID NOT like the lake. Actually, I can say much more than that, including some curses about the nymphs, but that would just be wasting time. So I kept it to myself, grumbling slightly, and trudged out of the muddy bank, my hair muddy, wet and stringy, shoes clogged with mud, and in need of a warm bath. I was SO not trying anything else now.
The rest of the afternoon was spent on theory and sword and shield combat. Surprisingly, "school" here wasn't boring. Bright eyed children of Athena would stand up the front and talk animatedly about the weak spots on a Nemean Lions body, or draw and explain complicated replicas of Archimedes (Yes, THE Archimedes) designs. And they didn't make you sit still. You could yell out whatever you wanted, and they wouldn't get annoyed at you. For once, I actually understood something. It definitely wasn't anything like the lessons I had before I came to camp. And all I had to say about the sword fighting….the Ares cabin was completely terrifying. If you didn't do your absolute best-they wont stand by it. Especially since I was a child of Aphrodite. They looked down upon us, like they weren't even bother to try. Which was seriously unfair. I had just come from the most boring and depressing life ever. Didn't I at least deserve the tiny bit of tolerance they gave the other cabins? Still, I learnt something. Which is more than could be said for the past six years.
However fascinating the stuff at camp was, it was tiring, so when the burly children of Ares finally barked a dismissal at us, I was relieved.
That relief, however, was short lived. Lily materialised behind me on my way back to my cabin.
"We have Capture the Flag after dinner", she said. "Like the game Capture The Flag, but with armour. And swords. And a lot more fun."
Dang. I was never good at these things. Last time I played something like this, in what…Fifth Grade? I was on the sidelines, listening to music. I wasn't the kind of person to exactly jump into the mess of things and thrash about with a sword. I was probably rubbish with a sword, anyways. I had had exactly one lesson. I wasn't really looking forward to it. I was gonna die.
Lily must've sensed that, because she smiled at me sympathetically.
"You'll be fine. Um…just stay out of the way until you're more experienced, I guess? Especially out of Ares way. Just do whatever Your team captain tells you to do . Should be easy enough. Who knows, it might be fun!" She tried to sound upbeat, but it wasn't really helping. She patted me on the shoulder.
"Enjoy your free time", she said, and raced off to do who knows what. Probably to escape the tension. I spent the next hour lying on my fluffy blanket and listening to music. Might as well get some relaxing time before I completely screw up, right? So I just lay there, eyes closed, listening to the soft lyrics of Coldplay. Feeling pretty useless, but that sat okay with me. I didn't like the spotlight. Plus, I was tired. And it was only my second day of camp. You gotta cut me some slack.
After what seemed like only a couple of minutes, the hollow sound of the horn sounded. I sighed, and pulled the earphones out of my ears, and headed in the general direction of everyone else.
The mess hall was already crowded. I was about to head to the Apollo table, where I could see Lily's head, but I remembered about the cabin rule. Gods. This is just getting worse. I walked slowly to the Aphrodite table-all lace tablecloth and high backed chairs.
"Jess, honey!" Drew said sweetly. Ew. Her voice was like medicine. Disgustingly sweet and syrupy. I sat as far away as possible from her, ending up between a guy and a girl, earning myself a hateful glare fro Drew. Meh. Fine by me. Last thing I needed right now was a budding BFF relationship with Drew. The idea made me shiver. The girl ignored me, but the guy offered a small smile. Well. Looks like the cabin isn't so bad after all. Mostly. When dinner appeared, I looked around. It was like sitting on a table of cheerleaders before a school dance. Salad. Green leafy stuff everywhere. Even Piper. I looked at her incredulously. "Vegetarian", she mouthed. Oh. Ok. Well, they weren't going to stop me. Drew was watching me eat with a wrinkled nose. Gods, the girl was rude. Mind your own business, much? Apparently not. I sighed. This was gonna be a long night.
When dinner was finished and the plates were cleared away, Chiron stamped a hoof.
"Heroes!" he boomed over the noise. We fell silent. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. Magic items are allowed. The banner must be displayed where people can actually see it, and have no more than to campers guarding it. Prisoners may be disarmed, but cannot be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. Any injuries will serve as severe penalties. I will be referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!" He opened his hands, and the tables when we looked back, the table was covered with battle equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, shields.
Everyone on my table looked at it distastefully. Some sighed and pulled it on like it might poison them at any moment, but the others just rolled their eyes and sauntered away haughtily.
I sidled over to Piper, who was fitting her helmet on delicately. "Er…..help?" I whispered.
"Oh, right, ok, so basically, grab a helmet. We're on the Blue team this time, along with Athena, Demeter, Hermes, Zeus, and the minor cabins-Hecate, Hypnos, Iris. The Red team has everyone else-Dionysus, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus. I admit, we Aphrodite people aren't much help-I suck at sword fighting. But, mostly, I just help on border patrol-keep the other team out with my charmspeak, buy them some time."
"Charmspeak?" I asked.
"Mmhm", she said. "Like this. Sit down."
I could see what she meant. Her words held a persuasive power that made me want to just collapse into the nearest chair. But funnily, I could resist it. It wasn't that strong. Like I could just block out the command with my mind, the way music blocked out outside noise.
According to her frown, that wasn't normal. "That should've made you sit", she said.
She muttered something about the rules of charmspeak. Something about gods and awareness. Then she turned back to me, her eyes bright. "Why don't you stick with me?", she asked. "I get the feeling you won't be one of my useless siblings."
"Uh, Ok….", That I could live with. Following people around was my specialty.
Just then, a great cheer arose from the camp, as the Apollo and Athena cabins ran out, carrying two long, fluttering silk banners. Lily and two of her siblings ran out from one side of the pavilion carrying a flag of golden yellow, emblazoned with a lyre. The other emerged from the other side, carried by a blonde girl and two others. Not Amy. It was a gaudy grey, painted with an owl over an olive tree.
"Those are the flags", Piper murmured. "The Athena girl? Annabeth? You want to be careful of her. She is the smartest mortal person that I've ever met. I haven't been here long, but trust me. Especially now that her boyfriend Percy's missing, you don't want to get on her bad side. She'll always have a plan. The other teams led by Apollo. Usually, its led by Ares, but this time its different. They're terrific archers-but you probably know that. We have the edge in powers, though. Demeter have their nature skills. Hecate and Hypnos can work some magic. And, of course, we have Jason." I noticed that her eyes lit up with a dreamy smile. "He can conjure up some serious lightning. He's not allowed to hurt anyone, of course, but a searing bolt right next to you can scare you. On the other team-Ares are brutal fighters. Steer clear of them. Hephaestus have strength. And they have fire. Theres a scrawny guy who can summon fire at will. They have numbers in the Apollo cabin, too. So basically, let Annabeth and co. do their work. If we're lucky, they'll have the flag in no time."
I nodded, and started moving towards the woods. Border patrol. Stay out of the way. Seemed okay to me. Maybe this wasn't so bad.
We got into position, the Athena and Hermes cabin darting into the trees, A tall blonde that radiated power-I assumed it was Jason from the way Piper looked at him-and a Demeter boy strode into the trees with the flag. Was it just me, or did the boys face seem a little red? He seemed to be trying to catch my eye too. Hmm. I followed Piper to the edge of the creek, where we were joined by a sleepy eyed boy, a wild looking girl, a muscular guy with a rainbow tattooed onto his shoulder, and a couple of other campers I didn't recognise. Farther away, I could see a group of girls sitting with their feet dangling in the creek, doing their hair and gossiping somewhat loudly. A moment of silence as the scuffling stopped, and then a faraway conch horn blew.
"Let the Games Begin", Piper muttered.
The woods came alive as a line of blue plumed campers burst out from our side of the 'field', yelling defiantly. Somewhere in the enemies lines, an answering roar sounded and the metallic clang of swords against shields sounded, accentuated by the yes, the occasional flash of lightning and smell of smoke. I scanned the trees for anyone that came trying to sneak into our territory. I thought I caught a flash of red, but when I blinked, it was gone. We stayed there, along the edge of the creek, alert, waiting for something to happen while the sound of battle reverberated around the air. Being close to the Hypnos guy wasn't helping. He made me feel woozy, like nothing was better right now than a fluffy pillow and a warm blanket…..
"OI!" Piper yelled. I snapped back to attention, just in time to see half a dozen red plumes dash across our line. I sprang into action. Me and Piper sprinted after them. There was something exhilarating about the chase. Just the blood flowing through my veins, urging me to go faster, the win whipping through my hair-it was a pretty cool feeling. No matter how much we tried, however, it still wasn't helping. I wasn't the fittest person alive. And the lithe Apollo campers were no match for us. Piper sensed it too, because after about 2 minutes of chasing, she slowed to a jog.
"Hey", she called out. "Why don't you slow down? Take a break from all this running?" The words washed over me, tempting. Her charmspeak working its magic. The Reds in front of us slowed.
Piper jerked her head subtly, and I jogged forward, until I was standing behind them. "Yeah", I said, joining in. They seem startled slightly at someone behind them, and tried to fight back, but I raised my arm and let Kathreptis fan out from my wrist. They yelped, and jumped back. "Why not just give up and leave it all to everyone else? I'm sure they can take care of everything." I tried to put power in my words, like Piper had. It worked. They started retreating quickly back to Piper. She stared at me with those kaleidoscope eyes, astonished. I was pretty surprised too. I REALLY hadn't expected it to work at all. I herded them back until they were only a few metres away from Piper, and then went to stand with her. The five campers came closer, and I realised that their eyes looked slightly filmy. I hadn't realised it, but there was something familiar about that expression. The hellhound on my first day of camp. The way it had retreated without a fight when I had yelled at it.
"Lou!", Piper said. The wild haired girl emerged and snapped her fingers. All the weapons they were holding immediately clattered to the ground, as if there was an imaginary magnet in the earth that attracted celestial bronze especially. Then she held out her hands, as if holding a rope, and pulled. The reds stumbled along like zombies. She led them away, back to the creek, and then let go. The campers woke up out of their trance-like mode. They stood up, confused, and tried to walk away. Piper gestured to the sleepy boy, and he shuffled over and touched all of them on the head, which immediately made them all fall into a deep sleep. Piper looked at them, satisfied, before turning back to me.
"How did you do that?", she asked
"Uh…I…um…I just….", I stammered.
She smiled. "Trick question", she said, laughing. "Welcome to the company of charmspeakers, Jess. Oh, and nice weapon."
"I…I have charmspeak?"
"Just as much as Drew and me", she said. "You might need some training, but its pretty easy to manage. I'll give you some tips, though." Then she sobered. "Charmspeak is a useful tool, Jess. You seem like a good enough person. Some people can use charmspeak for the wrong reasons-bending people to all their will with horrible intentions. I want to make sure you won't do that before I coach you."
I nodded gravely. "When you say the wrong reasons….do you mean like Drew?
She winced. "Drew is bad, yes. But there's more evil to the world than arrogant, stuck up girls, unfortunately", she said, a dark cloud passing over her face. There was probably a story behind that, but I decided not to ask.
A great charging of feet interrupted our conversation. A sole son of Demeter ran in front of a huge crowd of red plumes with a shining golden banner streaming behind him. He was close, but the crowd was gaining on him, a pack of dogs snapping at his heels. I looked at Piper, and we nodded at each other.
We ran in front of the crowd, and motioned for the boy to cover his ears. He lowered his helmet. "STOP!", we shrieked at the top of our lungs, throwing all the power we had into the words. The entire team of red halted, braking as they slammed into one another. They stumbled around, confused. A large girl, probably from Ares, came to her senses and shouted at everyone to keep going, but it was too late. As I turned back to look at the son of Demeter, the silk of the flag turned grass green and the lyre disappeared, replaced by a shimmering tree. A great series of whoops and cheers resounded from the blue team as Chiron galloped forward, blowing the conch horn, as the boy lifted the flag triumphantly. I tried to cheer along with them as well, but found that my throat was raw and nothing but a strangled rasp would come out. Still, I clapped along as loudly as I could. Because we had won. And I had helped. And it felt awesome.
-PercicoAnatle
AN: Okay, I'm sorry, I have no excuse. Just glad this finally made it up. Sorry for the long wait! Hopefully this slightly longer chapter made up for it. Oh, just a heads up, I might not update that quickly from now on-I really need to somehow sort my ideas into neat, tidy rows, AKA chapters. They're kinda all over the place at the mo. Not to mention I have a billion of other stuff to do, as well as exams coming up. =.= Anyways, how was it? Good? Okay? Completely and Horribly Intolerable? Leave a review! It means a lot to me! Thanks :D