13. Capturing a Flag

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1st Person
Adira

That night after dinner, it was time for capture the flag

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That night after dinner, it was time for capture the flag. When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables. Campers yelled and cheered as me, Annabeth and Asher ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner.

It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of an olive tree, a barn owl, and bow, and the moon. 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.

Teams were announced. Artemis was in charge, Athena was co-Captain, along with Hermes and Apollo, and we were getting the flag from Ares, who allied with Dionysis, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. Dionysis were good athletes, but they're were only two. Not much competition. Demeter's weren't a problem, they were the vegetarians at Camp Half-Blood. Aphrodite would rather look in a mirror and gossiped, except for a select few. Hephaestus's weren't really "pretty", no offense but they were big and burly for working with metal all day, every day. And then, there's Ares; a group of the ugliest, meanest, annoying kids on Long Island, or anywhere else.

Chiron clammored his hoof on the marble. "Heroes," he announced, and everyone shut up. "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!"

Of course, I didn't have to arm myself with much, just a helmet and I didn't bother with armor. I watched for everyone to be armed and I nodded to Annabeth.

"Blue team, foreword!" I shouted, with my arrowhead in hand. Everyone cheered and shook their swords. I walked down to the path of the south woods, bow ready, even though there probably wasn't any danger. Annabeth was in the back, making sure no one wandered off and got lost. I shut everything out, except my hearing, maybe a little too well, because all that I could hear was people talking behind me, and the sound of someone running up to me, where I just kept along the path.

"Hey," Percy said, and I realized he held a shield twice his size. I batted my eyes once, then looked along the trail. "So what's the plan," he asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"

I let out a sigh. "Nothing important. Just.. watch Clarrisse's spear. You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry about anything. Luke gave you your job, right?" I asked, glancing at him.

"Border patrol, whatever that means," Percy scoffed.

"It's easy, stinkbrain. Just stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan, and Artemis always finds the way out of things," I said, reciting the mantra. I began walking faster, because the faster we got this done, the quicker we'd win. I dropped people off where they were stationed, and I felt bad for setting Percy up as bait. I just hoped he'd forgive me.

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