Raised on Olympus

Capture the Flag

Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.

The other campers were silent.

I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.

"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

I eyed Thalia hesitantly and she shook her head.

'Enough' she mouthed.

I nodded.

This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.

After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"

Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword..."

"How come they have never told us that camp was this fun?" I said, laying down on the grass beside the lake with hands under my head

"Who knows?" Bianca raised her hand causing the ring on her finger to reflects the sunlight.

"There is no cabin for Hades."

"Yeah. Not really surprised though," Bianca gave a bitter smile.

She stared at the pine tree in the distance as I rubbed her hair and we fell into a comfortable silence.

That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our 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, an Ares girl and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

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

"Yeah."

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?" Thalia asked.

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

He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I 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."

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.

The rest are with Ares.

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.

"Here Percy, Chiron thought these should fit you. You'll be on border patrol."  A familiar sound said.

I turned to see Annabeth pushing ahead.

"Border patrol? Great." I said, adjusting the straps on my armor. "Glad you want me on your team."

It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view.
Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.

Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.

After the noises died down, I started making shapes with the water to cope with my boredom before I heard a low canine growl.

I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling something was stalking me.

My eyes searched the surrounding and meanwhile the growling stops.

Before five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the darkness of the woods with their weapons shining in the low light.

A daughter of Ares was in the lead.

"Beat that punk!" she screamed. I took a defensive stance with my sword and wooden shield.

Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She held a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. The weapon sparked with electricity. I had fought against Ares before with a similar weapon. It should be a gift from her dad.

The other swords pointing at me were ordinary ones which were much less worrying.

I sidestepped the first kid's swing, but these guys were not so stupid. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.

I fell back towards the stream. One of the Ares kids swung his sword cutting off the top part of my shield. Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.

I continued to play the clumsy fool. In fact, they could've pounded me into bloody smear on the ground, but they were too busy laughing.

"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his head."

I stood up quickly and they all looked at me strangely for a moment. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew.

I gritted my teeth and held the sword with my numb hands.

"The flag is over there." I said with a straight voice.

"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "We don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who just make our cabin looks stupid."

You do that without my help," I quipped.

____

A/N

I made some changes in chapter 5, please have a look.

Hope you like it.