The Son Of Hercules Chapter 4: We Attempt To Capture A Flag, a percy jackson and the olympians fanfic

I gotta say, this chapter is longer than the rest and took me a while to write. But I'm really happy with how it turned out, I think it's the best one yet. So enjoy!

Alright it's Capture the Flag and beat up bullies time! (Some classic characters finally make their appearance in this one.)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, or Trials of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

4. We Attempt To Capture A Flag

I stormed across the camp, searching for any sign of a big, stupid looking guy named Jett Atkinson.

The anger on my face must've been evident, because once I crossed other campers' paths, they parted, knowing something was about to go down.

I didn't even bother looking for him. I just cupped my hands over my mouth and shouted, "JETT!"

Everything went silent. All nearby campers stopped whatever they were doing to look at me, most of them nervously, as if saying have you lost your mind, new kid?

For a second, nothing happened. Either he was a coward, or he just wasn't around, and I made myself look stupid.

Just as I considered walking away and going somewhere else, I heard, "Who's asking?"

I looked a little to the left, where the crowd was parting for another group. There he was, the big bad wolf himself, with not three, but four big, burly looking idiots behind him, all of them with their arms crossed and beady eyes going in circles to make sure nobody was invading their jerk bubble. Jett took one look at me and snorted.

"Oh, it's just this dweeb. What? You feeling brave or something? Get the hell out of my face."

I walked right up to him and stopped when we were chest to chest. "So you're the toughest kid in camp, huh? You like bullying?"

He snickered, "Look kid, I don't know who you are, or what your deal is, but since you're new, I'll give you one chance to walk away. If not...this won't end well for you."

I nodded, pursing my lips. "I'll walk away if you stop ganging up on kids that are weaker than you. And assaulting girls, can't forget that."

His goons stopped their chuckling and exchanged nervous glances. Everyone that now surrounded us all started murmuring quietly to each other. Jett's face turned red, and he stepped closer to me, now inches away.

"What the hell did you just say?"

"You heard me."

His face twitched. I could tell he was seconds away from trying something, his arms were itching to grab at me and squeeze the life out. "I see you and cyclops have gotten close. What are you, her new boyfriend or something?"

Did he just call Harper cyclops? Okay, I might've let him go without hitting him, but I got to get at least one punch in after that. Still, I kept my cool. "No. Just a regular guy who doesn't like people like you. Look what you're doing to this place, man. Stop taking out your unhappiness on other kids that use this camp as an escape from the outside world. We're all in this together."

Jett busted out laughing, "Didn't think she'd go for the goodie two shoes type, but I guess there's a first for everything." His laughter died down, and it turned into mock friendliness. "Just a little advice moving forward, newbie. You'll have your hands full with that one. She's got a lot of issues."

"That's none of my business. We're not talking about her, we're talking about you."

He ignored me. "So damaged. But the sad ones are always the sexiest. You'll have to listen on and on about the dead father though, and the missing brother. Oh, and some guy she wants to kill..."

I tried not to show it, but that took me by surprise. Dead father? Missing brother?

I scowled at him, "Leave her alone, leave all of these campers alone, and grow up. Got it?"

He feigned surrender, backing up a step and putting his hands up. "Alright, alright. I give in, you win, I'll leave everyone alone."

But just as he said that, he swung his fist at my face. I didn't even flinch as his fist made full contact with my jaw, not budging me in the slightest. I didn't feel a thing. He pulled his hand back in recoil, wincing. "Alright, you're tougher than I thought, but now I'm gonna get serious."

He prepared to strike again, when a voice shouted, "Hey, douchebag!"

I turned to my right. It was Aiden, and he was running at Jett with his sword. I also caught a glimpse of Harper standing behind everybody in front of the arena. I guess she'd been watching the whole scene this entire time. Her eyes widened with horror at what Aiden was doing.

"Aiden, no!" I heard her shout.

"You wanna fight Matt, you're gonna have to fight me too!" He yelled, his sword gripped with both hands, charging and roaring defiantly. I had to give it to him, he was brave, but there was no way he stood a chance against all five of these punks.

Jett chuckled, "Stupid kid."

Aiden almost made it to him, but he was stopped by two of Jett's goons, who stepped in between them and smacked the sword out of Aiden's grip. Pushing him to the ground, they picked him up by his arms and dragged him back to where they stood before. Aiden kicked and struggled, but they were too strong. At one point, he bit one of their hands, and the guy punched him on the nose, blood pouring out of the right nostril a few seconds later.

"AIDEN!" Harper yelled. Her stare became deadly, both eyes narrowed as she stormed over to where we were, squeezing through the onlooking crowd and marching right up to Jett's minions.

They threw Aiden on the ground and ran after her. What came next was so satisfying to watch. She took all of them down within seconds, before they could even realize what happened. Two of the goons swung their fists at the same time, aimed for Harper's head. She was far faster than them though, ducking under their punches and going to one knee. She quickly withdrew her knives and bashed the butt of their handles into the back of their knees, right on the soft spot.

It made them groan out and fall on their face. Cue the other two to draw their swords and charge her. Harper deflected their blows and began engaging with them, but it was clear she was far more skilled. It would be over in less than a minute.

I started to help her, but Jett reared his hand back and slammed it into my face again, with the same result. Nothing. I felt my anger rise, ready to let loose on all three of them. With one hit, I could break every bone in Jett's body, and all it would take is one jump to reach the other two.

But right after his failed jab, Jett brought out his sword from his waist, a four-foot-long blade that glowed the same bronze color as Harper's knives. A different shade than most of the practice swords in the arena. It must be a special type of metal.

He was fast with it. He swung it down before I could block or unsheathe my spear, so I decided to just tank it. Guess we're about to find out how tough my skin really is.

I prepared myself for the hit, when all of a sudden, Jett's sword was stopped by another sword. The clang made my ears ring, the crowd gasped, and Jett looked at the newcomer in shock.

A boy an inch taller than both Jett and I stood there, his arm outstretched and holding a three foot long sword in hand. The very same one from my vision. It had to be Percy.

He had somewhat short black hair, a little unkempt in the front, with a blue jacket, orange camp t-shirt, light blue jeans, and sneakers similar to mine. I looked at his neck and saw a camp necklace, very similar to every other kid's here, only his had six beads on them. More than most of the kids here. If that wasn't enough, one look at his face told me he was older too, most likely nineteen.

Percy was good looking. I don't say that out of attraction or anything, but if it quacks, it's a duck, and I can say the obvious. He looked like a bad boy skater punk, if that skater punk swam laps around a swimming pool everyday and did CrossFit workouts at the gym.

His eyes were a sea green, his cheeks lined with dimples that told me he smiled a lot. But not right now, right now he was angry.

I then noticed behind him, a girl. She was tall, probably five-nine, and she had long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, a natural color shaped by a lot of time in the sun, it seemed. She was gorgeous. Again, stating the obvious here. She was tan, maybe even a little more so than me, with a very athletic figure, long legs clad in jean shorts, a camp t-shirt like Percy's, and her neck...she had a whopping ten beads on it. Four more than Percy's, which was already high on the list for most beads at Camp. But she blew it out of the water. She must've grew up here from a young age to have that many.

In her hand, she held a white sword, pointed at Jett's goons, who had stopped fighting Harper to see what was going on. That white sword...it was identical to the one in my vision. The other girl. This must be Annabeth!

Annabeth glared at the two boys, "Step away from her, now."

To my surprise they backed away from Harper immediately, averting their gaze from her, unable to even meet her...gray eyes. I hadn't even noticed it, but Annabeth had gray eyes, completely different from anyone I'd seen so far. They were like two little storms, able to read your thoughts and see your every move.

Percy hadn't taken his eyes off of Jett the entire time. "You too, Jett. Drop the sword nice and easy." Then he looked at the big kids who tried to attack Harper, shouting, "You're lucky we got here in time! Harper would've eaten you guys for lunch!"

They looked furious, grumbling about being unable to exact revenge on Harper. I couldn't believe that they just dropped, no problem, not even putting up a fight. Just who the hell are these two?

Percy repeated, "Drop it, Jett."

"No way, Percy. This punk called me out." He growled.

"Then settle it during Capture the Flag. Otherwise, if you try to swing that thing again, I'll be your opponent." Percy said, an underlying threat at the end.

Jett looked uneasy, started to sweat a little. But he didn't drop the sword.

Annabeth walked over and stood next to Percy, "Don't be an idiot, Jett. Sheath your sword. If you guys have a problem, setting it later, like Percy said. And don't gang up on one person. That's just cowardly."

Jett looked double uneasy. It was clear as crystal who really ran the Camp now. Percy and Annabeth as a team seemed to be unstoppable. No wonder they're a couple.

Jett grit his teeth, and finally lowered his sword, sheathing it back into its strap on his waist. He looked at me and pointed, "Tonight at Capture the Flag, you're dead meat, newbie."

"I don't think so, tough guy. Cause tonight, I'm actually gonna hit back."

He gave me one last look of loathing, and took off, picking his fallen goons on the way out.

Annabeth jogged over to Aiden to check on him. His nose was really bleeding, a bunch of red now covering his entire mouth.

Percy shook his head, "That guy really gives Hermes a bad name. I feel sorry for Travis and Connor."

I had no words. The two people that I saw in my first vision, just showed up and stopped this whole fight within a minute. This was real, they were finally here.

Standing next to Percy, I could feel the thing Chiron mentioned. Aura. Even if Percy hadn't awakened his yet, I could still feel the experience tied to its abundance. The years of practice, his skill, his accomplishments, and it was all so overwhelming. It almost reminded me of Hera's. This guy was the real deal.

Suddenly Chiron's faith started to make sense.

"Thanks, man." I said.

He shrugged, "No problem. You didn't need saving, but I figured it was best to stop before things got out of hand."

I suspected he meant me. As in, it was best to stop you from accidentally breaking his body in half.

I noticed Harper had joined Annabeth next to Aiden. Percy and I walked over to them. The poor kid was okay, wiping his nose with his wrist, trying to clean the wound.

"Is he alright?" Harper asked.

Annabeth nodded, "Yeah, he got hit hard, but he'll be fine."

Harper actually dropped the stoic, cold expression when looking at Annabeth. She clearly respected her, and had probably known her for years. "It's good to see you again, Annie."

Annie? So she had a nickname too? Guess it's a personal talent.

Annabeth smiled, "You too, Harper."

I knelt, "Aiden, man. What you did was either really brave, or really stupid."

He chuckled, wincing, "Let's go with a little of both."

I smiled, helping him up. I put his arm around my shoulder. Before I walked to the Nemesis cabin, I turned to Percy and Annabeth.

"Hey, you two. I know this is gonna sound weird since you don't know me, but I really need to talk to you in private at some point. Maybe after Capture the Flag."

They looked confused. Percy said, "Okay...we can talk now if you want. After you get him back to his cabin."

I shook my head, "Nah, I've got a lot to say. So it's better if we do it after Capture the Flag. Is that okay?"

They still looked puzzled. Annabeth studied me like I was a strange new blueprint, which was uncomfortable. Her eyes were very intimidating, similar to Harper's. Only Harper's was a repelling defense to keep others away, while Annabeth's was an analyzer.

Eventually, they both nodded and started walking towards the Big House. I took Aiden and carried him back to the Nemesis cabin, Harper following me. I opened the door with my foot and gently put Aiden down on his bed. He sat up, grabbing his nose and wincing in pain.

Harper came in and shut the door behind her angrily. "What is wrong with you? Charging out of nowhere at a guy three times your size?"

Aiden shrugged, "I wasn't gonna let Matt be the only one standing up to that jerkoff. I wanted revenge too, you know. He's bullied me more times than I want to admit."

"I know, Aiden. But you don't need to be so reckless."

"Don't worry," He shot me a toothy grin, "We'll get em' tonight, won't we Matt?"

I looked at him, "You let me worry about that. Just play a smart game, don't focus on Jett."

Harper nodded, "Exactly. I get where you're coming from, Aiden, but you're too young. You need to stay out of it, for your own safety."

He huffed, "Fine."

I turned to Harper, "You good? I saw those guys gang up on you." Oh who am I kidding, of course she's good. If Percy and Annabeth hadn't showed up, she would've beat the crap out of those two.

She smirked, "Yeah, I'm fine." Then she frowned, "Hey Matt, I gotta ask, why did you do all of that out there?"

"Are you kidding me? After seeing that jerk in action, after what you told me, what Aiden told me, I couldn't just stand by and mind my own business. Somebody had to do something."

"Yeah, but everybody here's a stranger to you. And you have a quest to go on, I just figured..." She trailed off, uncertain as to what she really wanted to say, but I knew what she meant.

"Look, I don't care if these campers are strangers. I don't care if I don't know the first thing about them, what's right is right. And I'm going to do my best to abide by that. Whether it be an innocent mortal, or an innocent demigod, if I have the power to help, I will."

She was stunned. It sounded corny, but I didn't care. I meant every word.

We stared at each other for a second, almost challengingly. She didn't oppose my point of view in the slightest, I could tell. But I could also tell that she was surprised anyone would just come in here and do such a thing. She'd probably only seen it a few times in her life. If that.

She shook her head in disbelief, and If I'm not mistaken, a bit of admiration too. "You're not bad, Shark Boy. You've got guts."

"Don't say that yet. Not until we've won tonight." I walked out of the door, and into the open again. A bunch of campers glanced at me, some in awe, some whispering to each other, and couple of them even clapped me on the shoulder.

I ventured over to the Hephaestus cabin and found a big kid on one of the personal forges, working on something, but I couldn't tell what it was. The heat made me grimace, I didn't see how he could stand it. Unless Hephaestus being the god of fire gave his children heat resistant abilities. That would be pretty cool.

I endured the temperature and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and cooled the flames a little, "Uh, hey..."

"I'm new to camp. My name's Matt." I said, holding out my hand."

"Oh, cool. I'm Jake Mason." He shook it, his hand was warm.

"Listen, can you do me a favor? I've got this pelt that I need attached to a shield. Could you make one for me?"

He looked kind of confused, "I mean, sure, but why?"

"For Capture the Flag. I'm on your team tonight." He didn't look convinced, so I figured this detail would seal the deal. "The pelt's from the Nemean Lion." I lifted my eyes suggestively, "Huh? That'll be a real help, especially on a shield. Don't you think?"

His eyes lit up, and he nodded. "That sounds awesome, man. You give me the pelt and I'll get started."

I went straight to Percy's cabin, grabbed the pelt, brought it to him, and thanked him. If I could actually have an indestructible shield...that wouldn't just help me in the game, that would be huge for the quest.

Eventually, Chiron gathered the campers to the pavilion for lunch, announcing that Capture the Flag would start earlier than expected. In just five hours' time. Still plenty for the teams to get ready. I decided to spend it trying out various camp activities.

It turned out to be really fun. When I came here, I honestly didn't expect to get out of my shell this much, but I'll be honest, it felt really good to just have fun and interact with like minds. I went around camp, doing all kinds of stuff, one by one. I canoed with some other kids first, I was pretty good at it. My super strength allowed me to move very fast in the water. I tried racing with the nature spirits, I was very good at that, even outrunning the spirits, which is apparently pretty hard. I then tried archery, which was awful because I sucked at it. I kept shooting arrows at every other place but the target. Chiron tried to help me, showing me some tips, but I didn't get any better. I gave up when I shot an arrow and almost hit a poor satyr in the horn, causing him to run away, terrified.

The next activity was Pegasus riding. Which again, didn't go so well. The Pegasi kept neighing and trying to buck me off. Even when some of the campers found one that wouldn't throw me, I couldn't steer it, or control it, so I ended up crashing in the lake. I was soaked and the Pegasus was on the shore, nickering angrily.

I got pretty annoyed by that, so I took a shower and changed into some new clothes Percy let me borrow. He wasn't in his cabin, but he must've known I was bunking there, because he left a note next to his drawer saying, if you need something, just grab it! Except underwear. That would be weird.

I chuckled and threw on a shirt and jeans, deciding to just bear the damp underwear and socks. It wasn't so bad. After a while, it sort of dries out on its own.

Thinking of another activity, I remembered the arena. I hadn't even tried that out yet, and I could definitely use some practice before this quest.

I slipped inside and saw only one person occupying it. Percy, swinging his sword from earlier at a single training dummy, almost like a fencer, with a long stance and skillful strikes.

I walked in and whistled, to let him know that I was impressed, and that I was here.

He noticed me and laughed, "I appreciate it, but I'm way out of practice."

My mouth fell open, "That's out of practice?"

He nodded, sighing, "Yeah, living in peace for almost two years will do that to you."

"What do you mean?"

He tapped the point of his sword, and the coolest thing happened. It turned into a ballpoint pen. That was so cool, it made my shark tooth thing kind of lame.

Percy put it in his pocket, "Well, it's a really long story. Let's just say I've been around a while. I've been a part of two great prophecies, faced death so many times I consider it an old buddy, killed a mountain's worth of monsters. So on and so on. When the opportunity came to live out the rest of my life in peace with the person I love, you better believe I jumped on that."

"So Annabeth's the person you love?"

He grinned, "Yeah. More than anything." His grin fell, "Wait, how do you know her name?"

I was gonna lie and say because Harper called her Annie, but even still, it would take a good guess to elongate that to Annabeth, which isn't exactly a common name to begin with.

So I went with, "I heard a lot about you guys."

"Oh, well that's cool." He said. I noted that Percy didn't seem to question things all that much or push me to reveal more. He seemed like a really easy going, nice dude. "So, you said earlier you wanted to talk about something?"

"Oh, yeah, But not right now. It has to be you, Annabeth, Harper, and maybe Chiron too."

"Alright, so I guess you're here for some practice?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm the son of Hercules, so I usually rely on pure strength. But I've realized lately that I'm gonna need more weapon technique."

His eyes widened, and he pointed at me, like he didn't think I was real. "Hold up, your dad is Hercules?"

"Hercules, Heracles, yeah. It's unusual, I know."

"No, it's...well, it's unusual. But like, how? I didn't think Hercules could have children, him guarding those straits and all."

"Wait, what straits?"

"Well, we were on a quest a little while back, some of my buddies and I, and we came across Hercules. I didn't get to meet him, but my friends said after he accepted godhood, his task was to guard the entrance to Ancient Greece for eternity."

I felt like I'd been smacked by the Nemean Lion. My father was on an island? That...changes everything. Is that why he never talked to me? Or visited? If he's supposed to be there for all time, then how did he escape and meet my mom?

I figured if I kept thinking about it my mind would explode. I had to focus. Capture the Flag. I need to train. Not just for that, but for the quest.

"That...only raises more questions to be honest."

Percy cringed, then said, "So, you're his kid! That is pretty cool. Does that mean you're really strong? Do you rip heads off of monsters?"

I smiled. He was trying to cheer me up, and he barely knew me. People at this camp were so nice, other than Jett and his goon squad, of course.

"I guess I'm pretty strong, I managed to survive this long. But I'm pretty bad at swordplay."

He nodded, "Well, if you want, I can help you out a little. Although, I'm not sure how much help I'll be, since I haven't trained my own swordsmanship in a few months."

"Yeah, I'd like that." I said, a bit excited to actually have a verbal lesson instead of just figuring it out on my own. From someone like Percy, no less.

He smirked, "Alright, well, since you said you use your hands a lot, I guess we'll have to pick out a sword for you-"

"Oh, I have a weapon. It's just concealed. Kind of like your sword pen thing."

"Really? Cool! Let's see it."

I took off my necklace and gave the shark tooth a squeeze. It formed into the spear, with the giant pointed shark tooth at the end of it.

Percy stared at it in awe, like a kid discovering something for the first time. "Whoa, that's really awesome, dude. Is that a giant shark tooth?"

"Yeah, it was a spoil of war from this monster I killed. Turned out to be a spear, necklace combo."

"Nice, man. Does it have a name?"

I wasn't expecting that question. I never even thought about naming it. The spear was just an essential tool I needed to survive, I guess I never thought of a reason to name it.

"No, I...I never thought about it."

"Don't worry. Weapons don't have to be called anything. I was just asking because that thing looks like it could have a million sick names."

I was kind of embarrassed. He was right. I'd had it all these years, and never even thought about it. A weapon's supposed to be like a part of you, yet I just treated it like a really sharp toy.

"Well, what's your sword called?"

He pulled the pen out of his pocket, uncapped it, and it sprang into sword form again. Percy pointed to one word inscribed on the hilt, "Anaklusmos." He said, "It means Riptide, which is what I call it. But I didn't come up with the name, I'm not that clever." He swung it once and spun it around. "It's centuries old, and it was actually your father's at one point. Chiron gave it to me when I was twelve. My first year at camp."

Wow. Twelve years old? He really had been around for a while. No doubt going on crazy adventures, making tons of friends, getting a girlfriend, eventually having everyone know who you are and see you as a hero. Why couldn't I be more like this guy?

"That's awesome. Does it ever run out of ink?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "You know I was asked that before. I actually didn't find out it could write until a couple of years ago. I never thought about it. I was too busy using its other end. I don't know if it ever runs out, but the ink is made of celestial bronze."

Celestial bronze. That must be the metal Percy's sword was made of. Cool.

"Alright, it's official, you have the coolest weapon in the world."

He laughed, "I don't know about that, your spear is pretty nice. I could seriously come up with some great names for it. Like Ripper, or the Great White."

He looked at me, expecting applause and praise for the creativity, but I just stared.

"Yeah, never mind. Those are kind of lame." He said.

"I thought Ripper sounded pretty good."

He smiled, "Well anyway, a spear is different from a sword. They both have their pros. A spear is longer, has more range, and heavier, so it has more force behind each blow. You mainly use them for stabs and big swipes. A sword on the other hand is shorter, better if you get in close, and lighter, so you can strike faster. Now the cons, a spear isn't as good at parrying strikes as a sword. And a sword doesn't have the range a spear does, so it's frustrating when an opponent dodges."

Percy had obviously been doing this a while. The way he talked about everything, making little movements with his sword, Riptide. It looked so comfortable in his hand, he held it like it was literally a part of his arm.

He then motioned to the middle of the arena. I followed. We ended up standing a few feet from each other. "Alright, we'll spar for a minute so I can see where you're at."

I protested, "But I haven't had any real training. I can already tell you where I'm at. I suck."

"You've killed monsters with it before, haven't you?"

"Well...yeah, but that doesn't-"

"You've got raw talent. And if you train raw talent, then you truly have something." He took a stance, "You've gotta start somewhere."

I couldn't argue. Maybe some of my self-training had paid off and I'm just being doubtful. I may be a little late as far as learning from an actual person goes, but Percy's right. Better late than never.

"Alright." I took a basic stance.

He motioned his head for me to strike first, so I did. I closed the distance and stabbed at him, not trying to kill, obviously, but I don't think it would have mattered at all. He parried easily and sidestepped to the right, swiping Riptide at me casually, I barely dodged.

He was pushing me back. I held the spear in my right hand and swung a couple of times in a horizontal arc, he parried the first one with no effort, then ducked under the second one, closing the already short distance between us and tapping the point of his sword on my chest, letting me know if this was serious, I'd already be dead.

"Use both hands when swinging like that, it gives you more power and control." He advised.

I took it, grabbed the handle with my left hand, and swung again. He parried it like last time, but Riptide rattled, and I could tell he was using more effort to block than last time.

"Good, way better." He said in between strikes.

I brought the spear above my head and swung down big. He rolled out of the way, and when my spear made contact with the ground, it cracked the floor, leaving a small crater.

But Percy didn't register it, or just didn't think it was worth stopping for. He swung at me again, this time I parried, then stabbed and lunged a few times, he blocked and dodged.

This went on for a few minutes. I was trying, using a decent chunk of my strength in the swings, which if it were any other person defending, they would have been sent twenty feet into the wall. But Percy blocked and deflected with ease, not even breaking a sweat. He must've had some level of superhuman strength too, because there was no way a regular demigod could withstand some of these strikes, let alone toy with them.

I wasn't angry at this. I knew I had raw power and super strength, but I also knew that I hadn't really trained in swordsmanship, or well, spearsmanship, in this case, until today. And Percy had, for years, on top of fighting ten times more monsters and opponents.

I was suddenly glad that he was a part of this quest.

And Annabeth too. She intimidated Jett's two thugs enough for them to not even look at her. Ten beads on her necklace. That's ten summers at this place. And if she was eighteen, then she's been here since early childhood.

Finally, I almost got him, but of course he moved out of the way and tapped my chest with Riptide again. I was panting and sweating, while he breathed a little faster than normal, as if just returning from a light jog.

"You're a fast learner. What's your name?"

"Matt Beckett."

"Well Matt, you catch on quick. If you keep training, you'll be pretty tough to beat."

"Thanks...so, um, I gotta ask, who taught you?"

To my surprise, he answered immediately, but not without his face darkening a shade. "A guy named Luke Castellan. He was good, really good, but he's no longer around."

I nodded, regretting asking the question. "Oh, sorry man."

He shook his head, "Oh no, it's fine. He was...complicated. Had a lot of issues, but in the end, he sacrificed himself in the second titan war."

Wow, maybe Percy didn't have it so great after all.

I wanted to change the subject, "So, um, you and Annabeth are senior counselors?"

His face lit up a little, "Yeah, it's pretty cool. We're basically in charge of the campers, under Chiron of course. But we're in New Rome now, going to college, so we'll have to figure out a way to balance time between here and there. It's gonna be kind of weird, being here not really as a camper." He shrugged, "But apparently when you're nineteen, it's an option."

So they are nineteen.

"Did you guys meet here? You and Annabeth, I mean."

He nodded, "Yeah. I first came here when I was twelve with my best friend Grover-"

"Really? He's the one that brought me here too!"

He smiled, "Grover's the man. He was honestly my first real friend, and the first person from this world that I met. Anyway, he took me to camp, well actually, my mom did, then she got captured by Hades and I fought the Minotaur-"

He noticed my face, trying to keep up. But he was talking so fast.

"Oh, my bad. The point is, it's been a long ride. I'm just glad most of it is in the past now, and I can live a somewhat normal life."

My face scrunched up with guilt. That made me feel a whole lot worse, because I knew that he and Annabeth were involved in this quest, and all they wanted was to avoid another quest.

"Look man, that may not be the case in the upcoming two weeks." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you later. I gotta go capture a flag and beat up Jett Atkinson."

He seemed to somewhat forget what I said, and waved. "Good luck. And don't pummel Jett too hard!"

I waved at him half-heartedly. I hated that because of me, two people that seemed to deserve a peaceful life the most, were not gonna be dragged back into another dangerous mission.

I ran off, getting ready for Capture the Flag.

About thirty minutes later, the two alliances stood in front of the pavilion, getting ready for the game.

In those thirty minutes, I picked up my shield from Jake Mason, which looked awesome, by the way. It was round and silver, like a giant pizza, but on the outside, it was wrapped with the Nemean Lion pelt. That guy did an amazing job. If I had money, I'd give him all of it for payment.

Everyone was gathering their weapons and making last minute preparations. Which included putting on the camp armor. Little gauntlets, shin guards, breastplates, and a helmet. I wasn't too keen on it, since I'd never worn armor, and had no idea how to even put it on. Cue me struggling with my breastplate strap.

I looked like an idiot, and was about to say screw it, when I heard someone walk up behind me.

"Need some help?"

I darted around, ready to run away from the teasing, until I saw it was just Harper. Actually...nah, I might still need to run.

But instead, I frowned. "I can't reach behind my back to...tighten the strap." I averted my gaze at that last part, my cheeks heating up.

She snickered and rolled her eyes. "Turn around."

I did, and she fixed them for me, tightening up the armor until it felt snug. Well, at least it wouldn't fall off now.

When she was done, I turned back around to face her. She was trying not to laugh, but it was still noticeable, which only made my face get hotter.

"I...think it's a little small for you."

I grumbled, almost like a little kid. "I feel like I've just been shoved in a robot."

She playfully punched my shoulder, "Relax, you'll be fine. So, what's your game plan?"

"Game plan?"

"You gonna go after their flag? Defend ours? What are you gonna do?"

I hadn't even thought about it. I figured I would just follow the others and make a plan on the run.

"Not sure. I'm a go with the flow kind of person, so I'll figure it out."

She nodded, "Well I'll tell you what I'm doing. I'm going after that flag. It's so boring just sitting back and waiting at the starting point. If anyone shows up, it'll be at the end anyway."

"Nice." I fidgeted with my gauntlets, "So, you didn't just come over here to help me with my armor, did you?" I didn't have to know Harper to see that she only does things out of purpose. She meant to come over and tell me something, not to make idle small talk.

She feigned surprise, "How'd you know?"

"Because I doubt you have many conversations that don't have a point. Spill it."

She nodded, impressed. "Look at you, Shark Boy. Ever so intuitive. Well, you're right, I did have something to say. I was going to tell you that...I'm in."

"In? In what?"

"I'm in on your quest. I'll go."

"Really? When did you decide this?"

"Oh...a couple of hours ago. I've been itching for something like this for a while. I need to spread my wings, you know?"

I could see right through the half-lie. Half, because I know she has been itching for this, just not for the reasons she wants me to think. I know this has something to do with that cloaked man.

Before I could say anything, I heard a whoop from across the clearing. It was Jett, chest bumping his crew and looking at me, gesturing with his eyes in a Iseeyou manner.

I scoffed, a disgusted look on my face. "Ugh, what did you ever see in him?"

I expected her to come back strong and just shrug it off, saying something sarcastic. But she actually hesitated, her gaze aimed to the ground. She didn't look angry, she almost looked...sad.

"When I first came here, I was going through a lot. He pretended to care, and I believed him." She shrugged, ashamed. "It takes a lot of trust, you know? Having all your secrets and hardships inside someone else's mind...only for them to completely break that trust and shatter everything you thought was there."

That took me by surprise. Before, she brushed it off as a casual thing. But now, I could clearly see that whatever she was going through, she clearly needed someone in her life, and Jett was that temporary person. But he didn't turn out to be the guy she thought he was.

That only pissed me off more. How could someone do something like that? How could you take such vulnerability and completely waste the value of that trust?

I made a bold move and put my hand on her shoulder, the part where the breastplate strap didn't cover, so it was soft. She flinched, but she didn't back away. She just looked up at me with wide eyes.

"You don't have to lie to me." I said, softly. "I know there's something else going on that's making you want to join my quest. It's okay to tell me, we can solve whatever it is together."

It sounded forward, but I meant it. Cloaked man or not, I can't stand to see anyone in pain. I have this urge deep down to help them, even if I don't know the full situation. Even if it's for my own good to avoid it.

She stumbled over her words, never blinking while she looked at me.

"Matt, I-"

But before she could say anything, I heard Chiron shout from the pavilion, "Campers!"

Everybody shut up from their chatter, and turned to face him, Percy, and Annabeth, who were overseeing the competition. Harper stopped whatever she was about to say, and tightened her lips, as if forcing the words to stay inside.

I let go of her shoulder, knowing the moment was over. We both faced Chiron and listened to what he had to say. It was mainly going over the rules, any last-minute changes, the teams, the starting locations, etcetera.

He left us with a final, foreboding message. "Just remember the two main rules; Have fun, and don't kill anybody! Go to your starting positions!"

Well, that was brooding. Nobody seemed to mind though, just same old same old, it seemed.

The opposing team marched into the woods. Jett glanced back at me and smiled mischeviously, his eyes pointing to the area behind Harper.

I looked to see one of his thugs on our team. A Hephaestus kid. I already knew what that meant, he was going to sabotage us somehow. I'd have to be on the lookout for him.

After a few minutes, the other team must've gotten in their spot, because Chiron motioned for us to go to ours. We all walked into the woods until coming upon a pile of boulders with our flag sitting at the top. Three demigods opted to guard it, while the rest stood in a line, waiting to go to town.

We stood there, waiting. I felt adrenaline run through my me, a shiver of excitement. The breeze blew by briefly, and then after a minute or so, we heard the conch horn. It's sound echoed through the forest, ringing in our ears.

We immediately sprang into action. A bunch of us running like it was the end of the world. Some of us split up from the main group. Harper, myself, a couple of Apollo kids, one Hephaestus girl, and a boy from the Athena cabin.

We were pretty solid. We ran close together, hearing sounds of yells and swords clashing, a couple of explosions from what I guessed was inside of these weird jars some kids were carrying. Like green jelly that must have explosive properties or something.

Everything was going to plan, until the steel boars attacked.

There were six of them, all twice as big as regular wild boar, and all made of metal. They snorted fire out of their noses, and charged at us.

I was caught off guard, trying to think about where the hell these came from. Monsters weren't allowed in the game, Chiron said. But he also said that you can use whatever weapons, inventions, and magical items you liked. So I guess these were created by the Hephaestus cabin. But then I remembered that they were supposed to be on our team. It hit me what must've happened.

Jett.

His thug from the Hephaestus cabin must've made these to attack me. The guy was a jerk, but I'd have to give it to him, he was pretty clever.

I had barely registered the fact that they had charged, until one of the boars knocked a shield out of one of our group's hands and dragged him away, creaking loudly. I heard screaming, and I was about to bolt after him, when one of the Apollo guys said, "He's my brother, I'll take care of it." He ran off after them, his bow drawn. I didn't know what good a bow and arrow would do against that thing, but maybe it had celestial bronze arrows or something.

The rest of them attacked us all at once. The one coming at me tried to go for my leg, but I latched onto its snout and swung it like they do in the Olympics where they throw the weights. It went flying thirty feet and slammed into a tree, going through it like a hot knife to butter. The boar skidded across the grass and came to a stop, creaking loudly, like the other boar. The tree fell slowly to the ground and made a loud crash when it made contact.

I turned and saw Harper slashing at another boar with deadly accuracy. She had sliced off one of its legs, oil sprayed everywhere, and electricity crackled. She didn't need any help. But then a boar opened its mouth and a pillar of fire erupted from it, heading directly for her face.

I was about to jump in and help, when she rolled out of the way and closed the distance on the boar, stabbing it in the side, causing it to make this weird grinding noise that sounded like a grunt of pain. She brought down both knives on the boar's face, and the machine moved no more.

I stood there, dumbfounded.

She turned to me and shouted, "Don't just stand there! We need to help them!"

I saw the other two kids struggling with their boars, the boy from Athena, I'm pretty sure his name was Cole, was scraped up, and the girl from Hephaestus, whose name was Tori, has singed hair from fire breath.

I moved fast. I jumped on a rock and used it as a springboard. As soon as I pushed off, I saw the rock crumbled and turn to pebbles behind me, the force of my liftoff sending them flying. I shot in the air like an arrow at a hundred miles an hour and tackled the boar on Cole. We both went tumbling down the hill and eventually landed in a stream. I groaned once the water touched my jeans and combat armor. I hated moving around in wet clothes, but I had no choice.

I saw the boar get up, it seemed to be moving just fine in the water. But it had a huge dent in its side from where I tackled it at the speed of a muscle car. It creaked and moved weird, like its leg had been jammed. It let out that horrible grinding noise, which I guessed was supposed to be an angry squeal, and charged me.

But I was ready. I reared my fist back and punched it in the snout with about half of my strength, and even that was a little overboard. The boar crumpled into an unkempt ball of metal and went skidding back hundreds of feet. It finally stopped and started steaming, then caught fire, and exploded, leaving nothing but a few pieces of shrapnel.

I was surprised at what I did. Man, I wonder what would happen if I had that red aura thing right now? That would be way overboard.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of loud creak squealing. I turned to my right and saw a boar tumble down the hill, a knife in its side. I then saw Harper at the top of the hill, now without a helmet. She threw the other knife with incredible precision and pierced the face of the metal creature, effectively stopping the squealing.

What happened next surprised, and impressed me. Harper raised her hands, showing that she was wearing these thin, leather black gloves. She pushed her thumbs into her palms, and almost instantaneously, the knives began to struggle on the boars, as if trying to get out. And after a few seconds, they did, soaring back into Harper's hands.

My mouth widened with awe. That was really cool. It was like she used the force to call them back to her.

"How did you do that?!" I shouted.

She looked at me, and shouted back, "It's a mix of magic and magnetism. Those boars aren't the only things the Hephaestus cabin's made!"

I shook my head, inwardly hoping I wasn't drooling. "That's insanely cool, Harper."

She smirked smugly at me, "I know." Then her look got serious, "Come on, we need to finish them off."

I ran up the hill quickly and saw Cole and Tori finishing off a boar, and the Apollo brothers coming back from their fight. The older one carried the younger one in his arms, he was bleeding. The older one didn't look too good either, limping heavily and wincing with each step.

He gently sat him down against a tree. The kid was barely conscious. The older brother managed to speak through his ragged breaths, "I got the boar, I got it...but Tommy here, he needs some ambrosia or nectar quick."

Harper pulled out a small canteen and handed it to him. He muttered a thanks and made his brother drink it. Tommy perked up, but winced in pain and slumped back down.

"He's done," I said, "You should stay here with him, keep an eye out. Cole and Tori should go with Harper and I forward. We're still gonna get that flag."

The older brother looked up at me, "Hold up, who made you the leader?"

"I never said I was. I'm just saying that the nectar will take a little while to heal him fully, and he needs to rest. He can't defend himself, so he needs someone to look out for him. I figured you'd want to."

He was a little taken back, "Um...yeah, yeah, I'll keep an eye out."

"Alright, you guys follow me. We'll keep going and get that flag." I was shocked at my sudden confidence. I never really thought I was the leader type. I always had trouble talking in front of a group of people.

Even Harper seemed impressed with my sudden leadership. She didn't ask any questions, and we jogged forward.

We kept going through the forest, Cole and Tori following close behind.

"So what's the plan here?" Harper asked, her voice low.

"We keep going until we see the flag. Then we hide, scout, and figure out the best course of action."

She raised her eyebrows, "Wow, Shark Boy. You sure you're not a son of Athena?"

"Shut up."

She chuckled, which was good to hear.

We jogged in silence for a few minutes, occasionally interrupted by the sound of battle. At one point, we were attacked by two members of the other team. They ran at us, swords drawn, but I didn't even need to do anything. Cole and Tori disarmed one of the guys and forced him to surrender, while Harper caught the other mid run and Judo flipped him to the ground. She put one of her knives at his cheek, and he raised his hands in submission.

We moved on, passing trees and rocks and more streams, until eventually finding ourselves running up a hill, not too steep, but steep enough to make you work. I felt fine, my legs weren't tired, and I had a feeling the flag was at the top. But I could hear Cole and Tori panting heavily behind me. Even Harper was breathing a bit faster than normal.

I almost called for a break, when I saw the flag at the top of the hill, surrounded by two guards. No doubt part of Jett's gang. They were about a hundred feet from us. I motioned for everybody to stop with my hand, and directed we crouch behind a boulder just ten paces to the right.

We knelt behind the large rock, and I said, "The flag's up there, guarded by two big guys, no doubt Jett's goons. Anybody got any ideas on how we should approach this?"

Tori spoke up, "I say we just charge them head on. I mean, there's four of us and only two of them."

Then Cole chimed in, "But what if there are more? What if their strategy is to appear weak in numbers, but there's actually more of them hiding in the bushes?"

Harper snorted, "This is Jett we're talking about. That guy couldn't come up with a strategy to feed meat to a dog."

I snickered, "Maybe we should sneak around the side, then see for sure if there's any hiding out there."

They considered this, then nodded.

"Alright then, let's-"

I was interrupted by four figures jumping down from the trees, they each landed on top of us, even I was knocked to the ground. I recognized the attackers. The big guys from Jett's gang, and an extra that I didn't recognize.

I sprung up and tossed the two hundred-and fifty-pound beef head like it was nothing.

He got up, grinned stupidly and pointed to my right.

I looked at the ground and saw one of the jars with the green stuff in it. It was too late. It exploded right next to me, causing me to stumble, but I didn't feel any pain. He threw two more at me and they each exploded beside my face. Each one with more power than a grenade, I felt the heat of the blast now, blowing my head to the side in recoil, but not leaving any lasting damage.

I began to charge him, and he looked nervous, yelling, "A little help here!"

The other three each pulled out two jars, lit them, and threw them at me. The beefy guy in front of me did the same, and they all exploded at once, right on top of me, Now, I could say that yes, I felt that. I was blown face first into the dirt, a burning sensation on my back and chest, throbbing in my arms.

The beefy guy took his opportunity and placed large handcuffs on me. Not the modern police kind, but the old-style ones, the kind that cover your whole forearm. He tightened them furiously, but I didn't feel any pressure until I tried to break them. They wouldn't budge.

He picked me up and grabbed my neck. "It's made of celestial bronze, punk. Not even you can shatter it."

The other three picked up Harper, Cole, and Tori, each one wearing the same pair of cuffs as me. We moved along, trudging up the hill with them constantly telling us to go faster, or they would just shove us and chuckle.

Eventually we made it to the top, and we were ten feet in front of the flag. The guards stood there, smirking. They were in on it too, as I thought. Jett must've had more in his little gang than I anticipated.

I heard rustling behind the bushes. From them, emerged Jett himself, looking at victorious as if he'd won the lottery. With no helmet, I could see the smugness in all its glory.

He pointed to Cole and Tori, "Get rid of them."

"NO!" I yelled, but it was too late.

They turned Cole and Tori to the downward slope of the hill, the one we literally just spent several minutes walking up, and pushed them. They tumbled and skidded down for a few seconds, until finally stopping at the bottom in fetal positions, not moving.

I glared at Jett, wanting so badly to just punch him in the jaw. It's what he deserved.

"So newbie, cyclops. You made it." He spread his hands out, like he was the king of the world. "How about we settle this right now?"

"You're a piece of shit, Jett. You know that?" Harper said, her eyes narrowed, the good one dangerously cold. "You had to ambush and handcuff us just to stand a chance. Take these things off so I can break your nose again!"

Jett growled, "I think it's about time you learned your lesson, bitch." He walked right up to her and slapped her on the face, which made my blood boil right up to the surface. Hitting a girl? I mean, Harper isn't fragile in the slightest, but it's still the principle. She's tied up and virtually defenseless. This guy is absolutely horrible.

The slap didn't hurt Harper. She just stuck her tongue against the inside of the area and glared at Jett. "That really all you got? No wonder you try to overcompensate."

His eyes widened with fury, and he hit her again. This one brought out more adrenaline in me, making me angrier by the second. I couldn't stand this, being confined and watching. I wouldn't let this happen, I wouldn't...

He pulled his hand back and shook his head. "You're a freak, Harper. Stuck on some stupid revenge quest that isn't gonna get you anywhere. You're gonna die alone, and you'll have done nothing throughout your miserable life. You're pathetic."

She spat at him, "Shut up."

He went to hit her again, but this time, she acted first. She bashed the back of her head into the guy holding her, directly on the nose. She jumped up and caught Jett's momentum head on, kicking him in the chest and knocking him back a few steps. But she was still limited in her ability, her hands were tied up, and unless she could maneuver her knives a certain way, she wouldn't be able to break from the handcuffs.

The dam inside of me broke when I saw the guys that pushed Tori and Cole draw their swords, aimed at Harper. In that moment, I saw a frame from the past, as if it were happening again. My mom against that wall, with the Chimera right in front of her. Her chest bloody and cut open. I couldn't save her. No matter how much I wish and dream of it, I can't go back and undo my mistake.

I won't let another one happen.

I saw nothing but red. My insides exploded in a burst of heat; every fiber of my being lit up by an invisible force. Steam came out of my mouth and billowed off my skin, the red aura soon following. It switched on like a nuclear lightbulb, lighting up the soon to be darkness from the sun setting, like a giant forest fire.

With a pull of my hands, I ripped through the celestial bronze cuffs like they were nothing. Time had slowed down around me, the two guys' swords were moving at half speed. I could walk up to them and disarm them no problem.

But I was far too enraged for that. I jumped at them and planted my fists in their backs. Time sped up again, and the two cried out in agony as their bodies bent. There was a moment's delay before they were sent flying forward, rolling helplessly down the hill until hitting the trees at the bottom, knocking them out cold.

The mere shockwave of my movement forced the guy Harper headbutted off balance, and he too fell down the hill, unable to gain control of his footing.

That left three more besides Jett. The two guards that had been here the whole time, and the guy that brought me up here.

In the time that I destroyed the other three, he had time to draw his sword. But it was no use. He swung it down on me and my arm came up in a blur, smacking the metal and splitting it in half. Now he just had a little stump of a sword.

I tucked myself into his personal bubble and dug my fist in his gut. Blood flew from his mouth, and he toppled over, unconscious.

The other two actually didn't even try me at all. They did the smart thing and ran, leaving their guard positions, and Jett, completely. I let them.

With a slow walk, I stalked towards Jett, who had tripped and fallen on his back. He looked terrified at the sight of me, lip quivering in fear and hands shaking. I noticed that my skin had gotten red from the heat, my muscles were a little bigger, and the steam was coming off even more now. It hadn't started hurting, but now I could feel it, like a million knives poking in my back, each one of them deep. It was the effect of the usage without training, like Chiron told me.

I had to end this quick.

Through the ringing in my ears, and my heartbeat pounding like a drum, I faintly heard Jett yell for mercy. "W-Wait man, I'm sorry! I'll leave you guys alone! I'll do whatever! Just-"

But I ignored him. I grabbed him by the throat and picked him up, slamming him down on the ground. The force was enough to push him five feet in the rocks and dirt, creating a crater. He cried out in pain and started squirming to get out of my grip, but I was relentless.

In the back of my head, I knew I needed to stop. Hit him once, and be done with it. Don't go overboard, or you might kill him. He's a jerk, but that's not what you're about.

Still though, my instincts and fury took over. Powering through whatever moral compass I had in place. I ripped his chestplate clean off, revealing a torn shirt underneath. I placed my forearm on his chest, allowing the heat coming from it to burn him.

I could hear the sizzling of skin, and I heard him yell at the top of his lungs, pleading for me to stop.

When I removed my arm, I saw that I'd burned through his shirt and left a big red welt on his skin.

STOP! My concious yelled.

NO! My body argued.

I began beating him senseless, hitting him slowly across the face with both fists, to the point where blood was flying from his mouth in clumps. He couldn't even let out a scream or a noise anymore, he was out cold, completely gone from my aggression.

I registered a voice screaming in my ear. The horrible onslaught stopped, and I saw Harper over my shoulder, on her knees, shaking me by my midsection, trying to get me to stop.

She looked terrified, as scared as Jett was. Her eyes were wide, her grip was desperately tight. She still had on those gloves, which was the only thing keeping her from getting burned too.

Seeing her scared of me, broke the anger. When I looked at her, I saw my mom scared of me. Scared of what I'd done and become on behalf of protecting someone. It wasn't supposed to be like this. This power...it isn't meant for this. I have to be able to control it.

The red glow faded, along with the steam and my immense strength. My skin color returned, and I noticed that most of my clothes had been torn off, save for my jeans, which looked more like Annabeth's shorts more than anything now. I was back to normal within a few moments.

Jett was a burned and bloody mess, but still breathing.

I was horrified by what I'd done.

"Harper...I'm so-" I started, but the pain hit.

The aftereffect of the red aura was worse than any pain I'd ever felt in my life. It felt like being pulled apart by two airplanes, my skin being peeled away by tweezers, my bones on fire, throbbing with intensity like never before. It was unbearable.

I screamed in agony, and couldn't control myself. I couldn't feel my limbs, I was completely engulfed in the pain.

I might've fallen face first if Harper hadn't caught me. She called for help, and that was the last thing I heard before I blacked out, the shock getting to me at last.

Everything was dark, like a corridor that never ended. I floated there, not even aware that this was a vision until a voice said-

"So, son of Hercules. You've finally tapped into your true power." I saw Malachi standing in front of me, hands behind his back.

"Y-You..." I managed.

"Yes. I'm glad you finally gave in to your rage. I was beginning to worry that there would be nobody to challenge me."

(000)

Stay tuned for chapter five!

Until Next Time.