ʙᴏᴏᴋ ɪ : 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛 | 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚢 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Chapter 7

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and all stood at their tables.

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head. Y/N was adjusting her weapons, which just included her sword and arrows. She looked at him from the distance and gave a nervous smile to Percy. She quickly looked away though, afraid of letting him see through her. She knew about Annabeth's plan and she wanted her to win against Clarisse.

Percy turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"

"Yeah."

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always," he said. "But often."

"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do- repaint the flag?"

He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."

"Whose side are we on?"

He gave Percy a sly look, as if he knew something he didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help," Luke said.

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded-shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities-in order to win support. Y/N already had enough of those after picking fight with Clarisse so she decided it was better to work it the way Annabeth wanted.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped.

Y/N wondered if they were actually talking about her and Percy. Annabeth did say they were and she wouldn't lie about something like this..right? She blushed at the thought and sighed, hoping to clear her mind before they started.

Hephaestus's kids were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. And lastly, Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest and meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet. Y/N wanted them to be off the high pedestal they think they're in. She had no personal grudge against them ofcourse, but their arrogance ticked her off.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.

Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"

They cheered and shook their swords, and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at them as they headed off toward the north.

Percy tried to search for Y/N but she was nowhere near. He wanted to know if there was some kind of plan, but she wasn't there to talk to. Reluctantly, he managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over his equipment and "Hey."