𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀.
everybody was ready for capture the flag.
hunters, including bianca di angelo, would go up against the campers.
zoe nightshade looked pretty upset. she kept glancing resentfully at chiron. the other hunters didn't look too happy, either.
they huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. some of them even looked like they'd been crying.
the camps team had beckendorf and two other hephaestus guys, a few from the ares cabin, the stoll brothers and nico from hermes cabin, and a few aphrodite kids.
cherry always sat out with the aphrodite kids, but now that they were up against the hunters, they wanted to go.
"i'll show them 'love is worthless,'" silena beauregard grumbled as she strapped on her armor. "i'll pulverize them!"
"i'll take the offense," thalia volunteered. "you guys take defense."
"sure." cherry nodded, with a smile.
"oh." percy hesitated. "don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defense?"
"well, i was thinking it would make better offense," thalia said. "besides, you've had more practice at defense."
"yeah, no problem." percy lied.
"cool." thalia turned to help some of the aphrodite kids.
cherry knew percy was upset.
as mean as it sounded, she was trying to branch away from percy, and actually speak to her other friends.
nico ran up to the duo with a big grin on his face, so cherry was compelled to stay.
"guys, this is awesome!" nico's blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes. "do we get to kill the other team?"
"no! definitely not." cherry's eyes widened.
"but the hunters are immortal, right?" nico asked.
"that's only if they don't fall in battle. besides-" percy tried to explain.
"it would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and-" nico began.
"nico, this is serious. real swords. these can hurt." percy sounded super serious.
nico looked a little disappointed.
"hey, it's cool. just follow the team. stay out of zoe's way. we'll have a blast." percy reassured nico, patting his shoulder.
"i think you'll do great, okay?" cherry smiled as she like to him.
"cher, he's not a baby." percy told her.
"uh.. yes he is?" cherry glanced at the ten year old, who immediately began to deny those claims.
chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.
nico turned his attention over to him, eager to begin.
thalia waved cherry over, and cherry waved goodbye to the two boys she had just been standing with.
"heroes!" chiron called. "you know the rules! the creek is the boundary line. blue team, camp half-blood, shall take the west woods. hunters of artemis, red team, shall take the east woods. i will serve as referee and battlefield medic. no intentional maiming, please! all magic items are allowed. to your positions!"
"blue team! follow me!" thalia called out.
cherry walked right beside her, admiring her nails.
she never wanted to participate, but she felt really bad for being so distant with thalia.
the redhead set up the teams flag at the top of zeus's fist, a cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods.
the top boulder was twenty feet tall and really hard to
climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.
percy set nico on guard duty with beckendorf and the stoll brothers, figuring he'd be safely out of the way.
"we'll send out a decoy to the left," thalia told the team. "silena, you lead that."
"got it!" silena nodded.
cherry looked over at her. "silena, i have a crush on you."
"oh, me too." silena grinned.
"take laurel and jason. they're good runners. make a wide arc around the hunters, attract as many as you can. i'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise." thalia interrupted the two girls.
everybody nodded.
the plan sounded good, and thalia said it with such confidence they believed it would work.
thalia looked at percy. "anything to add?"
"uhm, yeah. keep sharp on defense. we've got four guards, two scouts. that's not much for a big forest. i'll be roving. yell if you need help." percy informed the team.
"and don't leave your post!" thalia called out.
"unless you see a golden opportunity." percy interrupted.
thalia scowled. "just don't leave your post."
"right, unless-" percy went to repeat his sentence.
"percy!" thalia shocked percy. "cherry, come collect your boyfriend."
cherry snapped out of the conversation she was having with one of the aphrodite campers.
she thought for a moment, and then gasped.
"percy? that's not my boyfriend!" cherry grew defensive quickly.
thalia shrugged, ignoring her and percy's immediate denials.
"now, is everybody clear?" thalia resisted laughing at the pair, who were still fighting for their lives against the accusations.
everybody nodded, and broke into smaller groups.
thankfully, percy and cherry weren't in the same group. they were fine being separated if it didn't mean anymore accusations.
the horn sounded, and the game began.
silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left.
thalia's group, including cherry, gave it a few seconds, then darted off toward the right.
percy waited for something to happen.
a clump of hunters headed to the right, bows ready. they must've spotted thalia and cherry.
cherry used her spear to knock the hunters bow from out of her hand.
a loud sorry came from a different direction.
cherry glanced over, watching as percy ripped down the silver silk flag from the tree and took off.
bianca managed to yell for help. a silvery cord raced across his ankles, and he fell over the trip wire and sprawled into the snow.
cherry giggled.
"percy!" thalia yelled, on his left. "what are you doing?"
an arrow exploded at her feet and a cloud of yellow smoke billowed around her team.
cherry covered her nose, and gagged.
"oh my god, that smells like percy!" cherry joked.
"no it doesn't!" percy also covered his nose.
"i agree with cherry!" thalia called.
"you always do!" percy huffed.
"fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!" thalia yelled to the hunters.
percy got up, and started running again.
hunters shot arrows at petcy. one of them slashed at him with a knife, but he parried and kept running.
cherry got lost in the crowd of all the hunters. she gripped thalias hand, and held up her spear.
zoe nightshade, and raced towards percy. she held their teams flag.
"no!" a loud voice yelled.
"i recognize that beautiful scream. it's percy." cherry realized.
thalia gave the girl a strange look.
it was a combination of anger and disgust.
before cherry could question it, zoe bolted across to her own side, slamming into percy for good measure. the hunters cheered as both sides converged on the creek. chiron appeared out of the woods, looking grim.
he had the stoll brothers on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head.
connor stoll had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae.
"the hunters win!" chiron announced without pleasure. then he muttered, "for the fifty-sixth time in a row."
"perseus jackson!" thalia yelled, storming toward him.
everybody cringed and backed up.
cherry only huffed and crossed her arms.
"what in the name of the gods were you thinking?" thalia bellowed.
percy balled his fists. "i got the flag, thalia! i saw a chance and i took it!"
"i was at their base! but the flag was gone. if you hadn't butted in, we would've won."
"you had too many on you!"
"oh, so it's my fault?"
"i didn't say that."
"argh!"
thalia pushed percy, and a shock went through his body that blew him backward ten feet into the water.
some of the campers gasped.
a couple of the hunters stifled laughs.
"sorry!" thalia said, turning pale. "i didn't mean to-"
a wave erupted from the creek, blasting into thalia's face and dousing her from head to toe.
"yeah," percy stood up. "i didn't mean to, either."
thalia was breathing heavily.
"oh no, guys. stop fighting, please." cherry spoke lazily, eager to see them fight.
"enough!" chiron ordered.
thalia held out her spear. "you want some, seaweed brain?"
percy frowned.
only annabeth could call him that.
"bring it on, pinecone face!" percy raised riptide.
before he could even defend himself, thalia yelled, and a blast of lightning came down from the sky, hit her spear like a lightning rod, and slammed into his chest.
percy fell to the ground.
"thalia!" chiron said. "that is enough!"
psrcy got to his feet.
the entire creek roses, and swirled up, hundreds of gallons of water in a massive icy funnel cloud.
"percy!" chiron pleaded.
cherry's face was no longer enjoying any of it.
percy watched the worry for thalia swirl in her eyes, and the creek returned to its place.
suddenly, he turned to stare deep into the forest.
cherry and thalia both looked in the same direction.
something was approaching.
it was shrouded in a murky green mist, but as it got closer, the campers and hunters gasped.
"this is impossible," chiron said. "it.. she has never left the attic. never."
and yet, the withered mummy that held the oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group.
mist curled around their feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.
nobody dared to move.
cherry looked over at thalia.
her voice hissed inside everyone's head.
"i am the sprit of delphi, the voice said. "speaker of the prophecies of phoebus apollo, slayer of the mighty python."
the oracle regarded percy with its cold, dead eyes. then she turned unmistakably toward zoe nightshade.
zoe swallowed. "what must i do to help my goddess?"
the oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out.
cherry saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl
standing at the barren peak.
it was artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. she was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. the oracle spoke:
"six shall go west to the goddess in chains, one shall be lost in the land without rain, the bane of olympus shows the trail, campers and hunters combined prevail, the titan's curse must one withstand, and one shall perish by a parent's hand."
the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth.
the oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.