THALIA'S POV:
Today it was the weekly Capture the Flag game, and because the Hunters and I were here, it would be campers versus Hunters. Normally Annabeth, Percy, Nico, and I would be having fun. Now, it was late in the afternoon and I sat by the canoe lake, throwing rocks into the water, mulling over possibilities that could have driven Percy out of the camp. I shook my head and snorted. You know you're spending too much time with a child of Athena when you start to analyze situations.
Plop.
The hunters and I arrived at Camp Half-Blood a couple days ago. And a couple days since I found out that Percy was missing. I practically blew up the camp. And then Annabeth told me what happened. Geez, Kelp Head makes a mistake, and walks out of here like he can avoid it. Well, maybe he can. For a while. Does he have a death wish or what? And then I found out Nico was gone too. Well that just made my day even darker. He supposedly went with Percy. So now, I'm stuck here without anybody to keep me amused.
Plop.
Anyways, there was Marcus, his half-brother and the idiot who thinks the sun shines out of his rear end. But Percy wouldn't let that get to him, unless he did something to REALLY tick Percy off. Personally, I don't think it's possible to tick Percy off THAT much to drive him out. So what really drove him out?
"Thalia. What are you doing?" a voice behind me said.
I turned around. It was Phoebe. I resumed throwing my rocks into the lake.
Plop.
"Thinking about that Kelp Head who just got up and left. Apparently from mistake if you take Annabeth's word. So now I'm stuck here with no one to vent!"
"A Hunter of Artemis should never worry about boys." she said scornfully.
"I KNOW THAT! I'M NOT WORRIED! HAVING NO ONE ELSE AROUND HERE I CAN HOLD NOTHING BACK COMPETING AGAINST THEM IS DRIVING ME NUTS!"
I was so frustrated I accidently summoned a lightning bolt out of the sky. It struck the lake with a loud bang, leaving the air smelling of ozone. I sat back down trying to calm back down. I closed my eyes. I heard the sounds of Phoebe sitting down next to me. And then I felt a massive wave of water crash onto both of us. The water receded and I was left, spluttering and coughing. Phoebe wasn't too much better. I glared at the lake and saw a nymph floating near the shore. She was glaring at me and here hair seemed to be singed. Woops. I shouted an apology and the nymph sank back into the lake looking slightly less angry.
"Phoebe. Go and take my place to discuss the tactics for tonight. I need to calm down for a bit. I can't think right now."
Phoebe nodded and walked away. I resumed my thinking. Percy gone. Nico gone. At least there was one bright side to my week; Annabeth, immortal.
Flashback:
"It is under the consensus of the Olympian Council that the Heroes of Olympus shall be made gods."
The room had gone deathly quiet. Zeus rolled his eyes.
"Well, Heroes step forward!"
Annabeth, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, the Stolls, Clarisse and whoever else was of significance in the battle stepped forward.
Athena stepped toward Zeus.
"It seems Percy Jackson is missing."
Zeus smirked.
"The less heroes, the better."
"My lord, if you continue, this spell has a high chance of resulting in overloading on of the demigods. We need to wait for his return."
"No. We continue. We select a new hero to join the ranks of the old."
Poseidon cleared his throat.
"Might I suggest my son, Marcus?
Zeus grumbled.
"Very well. It's only fitting, I suppose. A younger son of Poseidon to replace the old. Fitting indeed..."
Zeus closed his eyes and extended his hand toward the assembled demigods. His outstretched fingers began to glow. The heroes were engulfed in light and the smell of ozone filled the air. And simultaneously, shrieks and yells of pain were heard from inside the cocoon. This all continued for moments more. Then the light faded. The former demigods were huddled on the ground, shivering. Then slowly, each began to stand. My attention was focused on Annabeth. She seemed taller, and glowed with power.
"Annabeth Chase, goddess of architecture."
Katie stood up and smiled at everyone.
"Katie Gardner, goddess of growth.
The Stolls stood up and grinned mischievously.
"Travis and Connor Stoll, twin gods of mischief."
Will stood up and groaned in pain as he straightened his back.
"Will Solace, god of health."
Marcus stood dizzily and promptly fell face first onto the dirt. He hurriedly got back up and attempted to brush himself off. Zeus gave an amused snort.
"Marcus, god of lakes."
Clarisse stood up and glowered at the mud splattered deity that was Marcus.
"Clarisse, goddess of warriors."
Flashback End
MARCUS POV:
My plan took a really unexpected turn. For the better. I became a god. Nevermind the fact that I tripped and face planted before my transformation. The basic idea of my plan was basically to push Percy away. Nothing much more than that. The timeline? I arrive, kill two hellhounds. Already a big achievement. Push Percy away from his friends. Took some time. Turned Annabeth against him for the final shove. I expected that to be harder. But I accomplished all that. The unexpected? I'm a god now. That's got to be a bonus of being the top demigod around here. I felt a pair of arms grab my shoulders. I knew it was Annabeth. I felt a flicker of irritation. She had already served her purpose.
I stepped forward enough that her arms fell off my shoulders and turned around.
"What do you think you're doing?" I snarled.
Annabeth looked at me confusedly.
"I thought we would still be dating even through this."
I gave a scornful laugh.
"Well you thought wrong. Annabeth, we're gods now. And we both know that I'm better than you in this form. I don't need you anymore."
Tears started to form in her eyes. And through a pained voice she snarled at me.
"I thought you were better than Percy!"
My eyes narrowed at this. I hated that name. I hated the owner more.
"It's always about Percy isn't it? When are you people ever going to understand that I'M better than HIM?! He's GONE!" I shouted.
Annabeth looked at me with steel in her eyes, turned around and ran away. I could really care less.
ANNABETH POV:
I ran to my cabin. I burst through the door. Luckily no one was around. Thoughts were darting through my head. I should have known. I should have stayed by Percy. But now, Percy's gone and I'm alone. I buried my head in my arms and sobbed freely. There was nothing I could do.
"You could go tell your friends the truth", a little voice inside my head said.
"No. Absolutely not. I will not stoop so low that I have to eat my own words." I shot back.
And then I heard the horn calling us to dinner. I wiped my eyes and got up. It was capture the flag tonight anyways.
THALIA POV:
When we heard the horn, we all gathered at the dining pavilion. As usual, Dionysus and Chiron gave their announcements.
"Capture the Flag will be tonight after the meal."
"Canoe races have been scheduled for next Wednesday at 3 o'clock."
"That will be all. Enjoy your meals."
There was the usual offering to the gods, and we all sat down to eat the rest. The Hunters and I sat down at table for Artemis. Phoebe and I reviewed plans for tonight. She would be heading the defense while I took a small team of hunters to go after the flag. Having finished our discussion, we finished our meal and headed toward the Artemis Cabin. We quickly put on our hunting gear and slung our quivers onto our backs. We walked toward the armory to pick up the flag and blunt tipped arrows we were to use. As we walked out, we saw that the campers had just finished eating and were preparing for the scrimmage. Phoebe and I waited for the rest of the Hunt to return from the armory.
"Everybody ready?" I asked when it seemed like everyone had gathered.
There was a turning of heads and everyone nodded.
"Let's go." I picked up the flag and walked to Zeus's Fist. Phoebe climbed up onto the rock and I tossed her the flag. She wedged it into a crack and we proceeded to walk back to the clearing to hear the usual rules. The campers stood on the other side and listened.
Chiron recited the rules. "There will be no maiming, all magical items may be used, and lastly, prisoners may be taken and bound but cannot be gagged. To the new gods, powers of godly proportions are restricted. Limit you powers to demigod levels. There is an hour and a half time limit."
He stamped his hoof and we took off.
When we arrived back at the Fist, my hand picked team gathered around me. I chose a team not entirely composed of archers. There was a couple Hunters wielding two-handed axes, a handful with swords, and there was one with a mace. We poised and we listened for the horn. At last, we heard it, my team and I were off like a shot.
ANNABETH POV:
We heard the horn and the Ares and Apollo Cabins ran off. Quickly there were noises of clashing swords and twangs of bows. I slapped on my invisibility cap and ran into the forest. After a few yards, I almost got decapitated Hunter's mace swinging through the air toward an Ares camper. After picking myself up, I resumed my run toward the forest. I stopped near the clearing of Zeus's fist and hid behind a tree. The flag of Artemis was up on the rock, guarded by a couple of hunters. The rest were patrolling the ground. I took a step forward and there was a crack I stepped on a tree branch. Great. The hunter nearest to me strung and released an arrow. It impacted my breastplate and sent me reeling. I stumbled a bit and fell. A tree branch knocked my cap off my head.
"Well look what we have here. A camper." the hunter sneered. I think her name was Phoebe.
I didn't reply. They dragged me of toward the fist and tied me up. A hunter stood watch over me with an arrow notched in her bow. Then I heard shouts of alarm coming from the boundary. Thalia sprinted into the clearing being covered by her archers and leaped on the Fist like a deer and wedged it into a crack next to their own flag. They had won.
We headed out of the forest with the bruised and battered leaning on their healthier comrades.
MARCUS POV:
This defeat should not have happened. We were beat by a bunch of girls. That lieutenant just sprinted into the middle of the clearing where we stashed our flag and ran off with it while the Hephaestus campers just stood there. When we gave chase, we were showered by arrows. Completely and utterly humiliating. I walked back to the Poseidon cabin and crashed on my bunk. My only thought was how humiliated I was feeling. I soon fell asleep. As I fell asleep, I felt a dream along with a presence enter my mind.
I saw a battlefield. The ground was littered with bodies. Some of the bodies were wearing orange shirts. Some were wearing purple shirts. All were wearing tattered pieces of armor. Smoking craters ran through the ground like Swiss cheese.
"Your camps will fall. I will rise, and I will rule! Everything that you worked for will crash and burn around you!"
Malicious laughter filled my head as I woke up in a cold sweat.
I quickly got dressed and went to see Chiron. As much as I hated to admit it, he knew more than I did.
I knocked on the Big House door. Chiron opened it.
"Come in. What brings you here at this unholy hour?"
"A dream."
Chiron looked up. He no longer seemed tired and groggy.
"Tell me."
So I told him. I told him everything except for the part about the purple shirted bodies. That part seemed weird. There were no purple shirts sold at camp. There was something I didn't know. I was sure of that. Telling Chiron would probably only make him try to keep the secret away from me.
"What did the voice sound like?" the old centaur questioned.
"Sleepy and hurt."
Chiron thought hard. Finally, he sighed.
"I think it's about time we consulted the Oracle."