AN: Well, first of all, I'd like to apologize for not uploading for almost a month. I've been buried under a mountain of homework and exams so I had little to no time at all to read a book let alone sit down and type this chapter down.
Second of all, my internet connection's been acting up ever since my brother started playing WoT so there's another reason for not writing.
I honestly have no idea when I'll be able to update the next chapter so let's just say it's gonna' be a while.
Believe it or not this chapter was written in about two hours. I say I have my current cold and Ed Sheeran to thank for the inspiration. Given that, I'd say if this chapter would have a theme song it would be Ed's You need me, I don't need you.
Like I've said in the last chapter, this is going to be the first chapter to follow the plot of the movie and I can only hope you'll like it. Have a great weekend, like, review and don't catch a cold like I did. Oh, look, Boondock Saints are on!
Chapter 3Well, it was official. All the gods were idiots in her mind. How could they think that one of their own would even think of getting their kid to steal the Lightning Bolt? From Zeus himself, no less. Hell, she knew that even Hades wouldn't think of something like that, and it was a well-known fact that he's always been jealous of his brothers.
When she'd first heard of the whole ordeal, she honestly thought it was some stupid joke. Imagine her surprise when she realized it was all true. Not to mention when she found out from some of her roommates that Percy Jackson, the boy accused of stealing the said Bolt, was currently at camp.
Apparently, he'd had a little run in with a Minotaur in front of the Gates which resulted in his mother being sent to Hades. Not good.
All of this had already gotten her in a bad mood but, to top it all off, Chiron told her that there's no way she'd be able to avoid today's game of Capture the Flag.
So here she was, putting her gear on with a deep frown etched on her tanned face. On the rare occasions she actually took part in the game, she would wear some fingerless gloves, gauntlets and shin pads so she wouldn't badly hurt anyone she hit during the game. Last guy she hit without them got two broken ribs and a badly bruised side. Not her fault, the guy kept coming on to her when she was clearly not interested.
''Ooooh, judging by your face I'm extremely grateful you're on my team,'' said Luke's voice from behind her. ''I'm so sorry for the red tem.'' She could hear the smirk in his voice even without actually seeing him.
''I'm not in the mood, Luke,'' she answered fastening the last straps on her gauntlet.
''Oh, I can see you're not in the mood. I'm just trying to rile you up so you can beat those guys up better.'' She turned to him with a blank look and started following him to the grounds tying her long hair in a high ponytail in the process.
''If, I were you,'' she said ''I'd watch my back on the field. Just because I'm on you team doesn't mean I won't hesitate to pummel you into the ground.'' A small smirk appeared on her lips when she saw him slightly pale. 'This is just too easy,' she thought.
Well, on the bright side, it was sunny today. A small drop of positive in her normal daily sea of negativity. What wouldn't she give to be able to climb on a high tree and snuggle up in its branch with a fantastic view and an even better comic-book? She'd been dying to get some free time to read the newest issue of the Avengers she'd managed to get her paws on. The only problem, so far, was that, in the last couple of days she'd been so busy with her training that she could barely manage to drag her sorry ass back to her bed, let alone stay up long enough to actually read the comic. So, it stayed untouched and packed in a box under her bed. Thinking about it now, she'd have to devise some sort of a plan to hide from Chiron in the next few days because, gods know, she will go all ape-shit on the centaur if she couldn't get to read in the next 24 hours min.
Speaking of the centaur, there he was, talking to some guy she was sure she'd never seen at camp before. The guy had to be Percy Jackson. Sure, she didn't usually care for most of the campers and chose to ignore them completely but that didn't mean she didn't know them. Okay, so she definitely couldn't tell you their names or divine parent but at least she knew they were like her and could recognize them in the outside world if she happened to run into them.
''Looks like the new guy will be joining us in the field today,'' Luke said looking him over before turning to face Merri. ''What do you think, Mer? We take him on our team or give him to the reds?''
Merri turned her attention to the new guy, also looking him over, scanning him in order to decide if they should, in fact, take him on their team. The boy seemed to be around their age, maybe two to three years younger. 'No,' she thought. 'More like only two years younger.' Judging by his built he wasn't built so much for strength but speed. That was good; the other team's members were mostly bulky sons of Ares, Crazy strong but slow both in body and mind. Still, she could definitely tell that he'd never even held a sword in his hands until just recently; bad because he would need all the experience he could get if he wanted to help them to beat the reds. They had the daughter of Athena of all, which said enough about how good their team was.
She was just about to say 'no' to Luke, when she gave the boy a better look. That was enough for her to make her final decision.
''I think,'' she said in an emotionless voice,'' we should take him on our team. He seems like he could be of use.'' She crossed he arms in a matter which told Luke not to ask for any other explanation on the matter. Luke nodded and they approached the boy just as Chiron asked if anyone would take him on their team.
''Hi, I'm Luke, son of Hermes,'' Luke, being the more social of the two, introduced himself first shakin the boy's hand. The boy gave them both a smile.
''I'm Percy, son of Poseidon.'' He then proceeded to shake Merri's hand and she gave him a hint of a smile. She may be mean to most people but she decided to try and be nice to this kid. After all, he did just learn he was a demigod and that must've been taking its toll on him still.
'' Name's Merria, but call me Merri. We know who your father is.'' Merri said in a deadpan tone. '' Most of the camp does too.'' And so commenced the slight humiliation of Percy. Totally not her fault. That had Luke written all over it.
About 20 minutes later, they were in positions and were about to start the game. Luke told Percy to stick to him so he wouldn't get knocked out too quickly. That, and the fact that Luke and Merri usually fought in pair also helped save Percy's ass given Merri's natural talent and almost flawless skill with a sword. Luke often told her she might even be the best in the entire camp. Who knows? Maybe she is.
After the game started it didn't take long for the three to get separated. Merri had decided to stay behind and stall some of the members of the red team in order to give Luke and Percy more time to locate the red flag and, hopefully, capture it before they get their own flag captured or fall into one of Chase's traps. Having a child of Athena just complicated things more for the blue team. Good thing she never liked the girl, since beating her always gave Merri a sense of accomplishment.
Engaged in a fight with four sons of Ares, Merri chose to keep her sword sheathed since fighting these guys bare hand was more difficult, more so given the fact they had swords and she wasn't using hers. Dodging left and right, jumping over and under their blades made her muscles burn in a way only a hard workout could make them. With a few well precise and perfectly forceful hits, two of the boys were unconscious, the other two following suit very quickly.
With a smirk on her face, Merri dusted her hands and ran in the direction she last saw Luke and Percy go. She wasn't as worried for Luke as she was for Percy. Luke was a big boy and could very well take care of himself. Percy, on the other hand, was completely new to all of this, not very skilled in the sword department and she doubted he knew how to use his powers to aid himself. This notion only made her legs pump even harder.
Merri found Percy at the riverbank, the red flag in his arms and the other members of the blue team happily cheering for him. Guess she was wrong; the kid could take care of himself. Judging by the girl's face, it was Annabeth herself he faced.
'Not bad, kid,' she thought. 'Not bad at all.'
With a smile she waved to Luke and started walking back to her cabin. 'And now for a hot shower and some well-earned comic-book time.'