Celestial Flames (Percy Jackson Universe)

The Dragon

"So I was thinking maybe we ally with Cabin Eighteen and instead of Nineteen," Malcolm said. 

I nodded and stabbed my chicken. 

"I mean, don't get me wrong, it would be great to have some good luck on our side, but Cabin Eighteen believes in balance, and there are a lot more Tyche kids then the Nemesis children and I feel like they might help us with that." 

I hummed in acknowledgement. 

"I also decided to throw all your tapes in the lake and burn your American Ninja Warrior t-shirt." 

"Yeah, sounds good," I said. 

Malcolm kicked my leg under the table. 

"Malcolm, what the Hades was that for?" I asked. 

"What's going on with you?" he questioned. "You're quieter then normal ever since you got back from your trip. That was a week ago. What happened?" 

I pushed away my plate of food and put my head in my hands. "I don't know." I knew exactly what was wrong with me. I heard Anna's sobs in my nightmares, they were the soundtrack to her daughter's frightened eyes. I deserved each sweaty wake, each stab of guilt that pierced my heart. 

But I couldn't tell that to Malcolm. 

"You know you can talk to me," he said. 

I nodded. "I know, I just... I don't know, I think I just need time." 

"Is tomorrow night enough time?" he asked. "Cause it's the first game of Capture the Flag since the end of the Titan War and we need to be ready." 

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'll be ready." 

I knew I wouldn't. 

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I wasn't ready. I knew that, but I still put on my armor and filled my quiver with blunt tipped and fart arrows. 

Terrorem was stuck between my belt and my jeans as always. 

I joined Malcolm in running the grey flag through the pavilion. We were allied with Cabins Seven (Apollo), Eleven (Hermes), Twelve (Dionysus), Eighteen (Nemesis), Twenty (Hebe), Twenty Two (Hecate) and Twenty Five (Clio, Muse of History). Cabin Five was the opposite team with their blood red banner and boars head. They had allied with Cabin Four (Demeter), Nine (Hephaestus), Ten (Aphrodite), Sixteen (Iris), Fifteen (Hypnos), Seventeen (Nike), Nineteen (Tyche) and Twenty Three (Enyo). 

There were about thirty on each team. Our team had blue horsehair helmets while the other team had red. I let Malcolm mostly design the plan, adding small details here and there.

We set our flag on the east of the Zephyros Creek in a clearing beside a limestone cliff. It was a good place, trees everywhere, one clear path to the east. We had archers from Cabin Seven and Hailey from Twenty Five around the trees. Kayla was up on the limestone cliff, being the best shot. Caster from Cabin Twelve was on defense with his long sword along with five of the children of Hecate. Everyone else was on offense. 

The conch horn blew deep in the forest. I followed the line of Hermes kids into battle. Malcolm was right when he said that Cabin Five would try an outright offense. They had Enyo, the goddess of war and destruction, the children of Nike, the goddess of victory and Tyche, goddess of good luck, not to mention Cabin Four that could manipulate the plants around them. But Hermes kids were fast, agile. The three children of Hebe we had were great knife fighters. The Nemesis kids believed in fairness, so they would work their butts off to make sure we had a good chance at fighting. The Hecate children had more then a few tricks with the Mist and their magic.