[Unedited] Wisdom's Daughter

Chapter XXI

Luke's POV

As we walked away, Brianna looked at me and said, "Well, that was weird."

I smiled. "MC has her moments, and, besides, she's really a nice person."

She nodded. "You have your moments too."

I rolled my eyes. "I can't believe you said that!"

She shrugged. "It's true...I cannot tell a lie." I raised an eyebrow.

"Now you're quoting Shakespeare?" I asked.

Brianna slapped me gently on the arm. "You're hopeless! George Washington, not Shakespeare!"

I pretended to be annoyed. "You sound just like Annabeth!" Before she had a chance to respond, I heard a voice. A very angry voice.

"Luke Castellan!" I spun around and sighed. Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares-my worst nightmare. Well, one of them. Behind her, she was dragging Travis by the back of his camp t-shirt. "I found this thieving brother of yours IN MY CABIN!!"

"Well, I am a son of Hermes," I heard Travis mutter. I shot him a look that said Shut up. You'll only cause more trouble for yourself.

I just looked at her. "What do you want this time, in exchange for Travis?" I know, I know. It sounds like we're trading goods. But, that's how Clarisse works, considering that she is a daughter of the war god. When she got ahold of Travis (or anyone else) if they were doing something they shouldn't have been, she treated them like a prisoner of war.

"I want you to keep him away from my cabin. Otherwise, a 'small' accident may occur during Capture the Flag on Friday," Clarisse responded.

"Fine," I said, sighing. She released Travis, gave him a shove towards Brianna and me, shot him a warning look, and stalked off. I could've sworn that she was muttering something about land mines.

"Man!" Travis said. "She didn't have to be so rough! My neck's gonna be sore for weeks!" I exchanged a look with Brianna before glaring at him.

"I've told you before, don't antagonize Clarisse. You're lucky you survived this long. Next time you get in a tangle with her, don't expect my help." I've said this before, but never been serious about it. I guess he could tell that I meant it this time, though, because he nodded. I mean, honestly. It had been a week since he had last pranked the Ares cabin. "For the next month, you're on cleanup duty for our cabin. Understood?" Travis nodded again and ran off. Brianna looked after him.

"I'm guessing that it wasn't the first time he had problems with the Ares kids?" I looked at her.

"More like the hundredth time," I said, sighing. "I don't think he'll ever learn."

"He will, eventually," Brianna replied. "Just give him time."

To tell you the truth, I'd begun to wonder again if she was a daughter of Athena, like MC. She was smart enough to be one. The only trait about her that made me doubt it was the fact that she had blue eyes. Everyone else in Cabin Six had gray eyes. It was a trait from their mother.

"Luke! Are you listening to me?" I blinked and realized that Brianna was waving her hand in front of my face.

"Um, sure I was listening," I responded, having absolutely no clue as to what she had just said. Evidently she could tell, because she rolled her eyes.

"You're impossible! I said what exactly is Capture the Flag?" Brianna asked, sounding exasperated.

"Well," I began, "In the mortal world, you have two flags. The object of the game is to capture the other team's flag. The only catch is that both teams have guards. The teams have to keep their respective team's flag safe from the other team. The difference between their version and ours is that in ours, we use weapons, powers, and any magic items that we may have."

She frowned. "That sounds dangerous."

I shrugged. "It is. But, so is the mortal world. We're literally training to fight and kill monsters with this game. Monsters aren't going to be fair."

"True," she said. "So, what are you going to do for it on Friday?"

I shrugged again. "If you mean about Travis, then it'll depend on his behavior. Otherwise, my only goal is keeping you alive."

Brianna smiled. "You realize how sweet that sounds?"

I felt my face turn red as I mentally rewound the last couple of sentences. "Um," I said, letting my voice trail off.

"Ya know, it's not that bad. I mean, it was sorta cute, but-" I quickly cut her off.

"Yeah. I know. Sorry." I realized that a) I had put her in an awkward spot, and b) I had almost spilled my secret. I hadn't been thinking about what I'd said when I said it. The fact of it was was that I had a small crush on Brianna. I just didn't want to let anyone know, especially not Lakyn. I had a reputation to uphold, and none of it had to do with sappy, lovey-dovey dating. And there was the problem of my previous crush on Thalia. See, Thalia was now a tree, and, well, I didn't want Brianna to think that she was second-best. I didn't want her to think that I'd decided to like her only because I couldn't date a tree.
"Luke!" she said.
"What?" I responded absentmindedly. She frowned. "You know, if its too much trouble, I can get Lakyn to give me a tour of the camp. You obviously are preoccupied with something else."
I shook my head. "No, it's just...um, well, I'm thinking about who your mom might be."
"And?" Brianna said.
"Well," I said cautiously, "I'm thinking Athena." She looked at me, evidently surprised. I knew that I'd have some explaining to do.