I woke up by the sound of someone banging a sword against a shield. I groaned, and turned over. The sound stopped for a few seconds, then reappeared next to my bunk. I grabbed my pillow, and flung it at the sound. There was a swish, and a sound like ripping fabric. I groaned again, and tucked my whole body under my blanket. The banging got really loud this time. I sighed, and opened my eyes. I lifted my wrist up to my face. Then I remembered I didn't have a watch. The banging stopped, then someone got symbols and slammed them together.
"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!" I yelled from under my coverers.
"Not until you get up." said Malcolm's voice.
I groaned, and threw my blanket off. I sat up, glared at Malcolm, and said, "Better?"
I then noticed that the whole cabin was grinning at me. I sighed, and said, "Ok, fine. I'll get up."
A pair of clothes were tossed at me, and I caught them. It was a pair of tan cargo pants, and an orange "Camp Half-Blood" shirt. I look at the sizes, and said, "How do you know my size?"
Malcolm grinned. "We brought an Aphrodite kid in, and asked her to get you a pair of clothes. She agreed, and just glanced at you. She left, and arrived not that long ago with these. Oh, and a fedora, but she took it back, realizing it wouldn't fit y-"
Then, a blond haired and hazel eyed girl ran in.
"Got it!" she said, waving a grey fedora.
The girl ran over to me, and placed the fedora next to me.
"Try it on! Please!" she said, almost begging.
"Er...uh...sureeee..." I said, slowly placing the fedora on my head.
It fit fine, felt a little itchy, but I guess it worked. I guessed that mainly because the girl squealed in delight. I gave her a crooked smile, and said, "Uh, thanks."
"No problem!" she said, running out.
"Well, that was random." I said.
The cabin laughed, and continued with what they were doing. I put on the clothes, and inspected myself. I looked good, needed a watch, but I was fine. I started to make my bed, when Malcolm said that it was almost breakfast time. I quickly finished making my bed, but I needed my pillow. I spun around, and saw it under a table. But it was cut in two. I frowned, and went to pick it up. I dusted it off, and placed the two halves next to each other on my bed.
"Ok, breakfast time!" said Malcolm, strapping his sword to his side. We filed out, and walked to the pavilion.
When we got there, I noticed that the place was half packed. Malcolm escorted me to a long park bench, with a grey owl in the center. I sat down, and took off my hat. A plate was set in front of me, and I licked my lips.
"M n' M pancakes, with lots of whipped cream and syrup. Oh, and some snausages."
"Snausages?" questioned Malcolm, across from me.
"Sausages. But cooler."
And with that, my meal appeared on my plate. I licked my lips again, and was about to dig in, but Malcolm stopped me.
"Remember, you have to give some of your food to the gods."
I frowned, took my plate, and walked over to a brazier. I pushed my sausages into the bowl, and said, "To Hades, for letting your son find me."
The fire turned black, and then back to the yellowish red. I walked back to my table, and began to eat. I reached for my cup, but noticed it was empty. I frowned, and then said, "Apple juice."
The cup suddenly started to fill up with apple juice, like someone was pouring it in with a pitcher. But there was no one there. I grinned, and chugged it down. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve, and sighed.
"That was the best apple juice I have ever had."
Someone from the table behind me tapped me on the shoulder, and said, "I think that's the only cup of juice you had!"
I grinned, and said, "I think you're right!"
The two tables laughed, then continued their meals. I smiled, and ate down some of my pancakes. The meal continued like that, until Mr. D started with the morning announcements.
"Ok, first...HEY, LISTEN UP!" he yelled, as we stopped talking.
He sighed, and continued. "Ok, we are all happy that Oliver got claimed by Athena, yay, but there also is more things. Like, capture the fl-"
A great cheer went off.
"HEY!"
It went silent.
"Ok, yay, we're all happy, now, capture the flag will begin a little after lunch. So, I suggest that you get ready as soon as you finish you're meals. The two team captains are Warren Sillcon, and John Green...er, Will Solstice, and Jason Grace!"
They both stood up, and walked to the front of the pavilion. The whole pavilion ratted with chants and cheers. The two met up at the front of the pavilion, and shook hands. They faced the tables, and Mr. D cleared his throat. Everyone went silent, and Mr. D started to talk.
"The two will pick teams, now. Cabin leaders, or whatever you want to call them, please, stand up."
The oldest kids of the cabins stood up, and faced Jason and Will.
"Athena." said Jason.
"Demeter." said Will
"Aphrodite." Jason.
"Dionysus." Will.
"Hades." Jason.
"Nike." Will.
"Ares." Jason.
"Hermes." Will.
And it went on until all the cabins were called.
"Good, now that your teams are made, you can continue your day. Remember, go to the forest when you finish your lunch. May the best team win."
With that, the chatter started up again. Everyone sat down, and continued with their breakfast.
"Hey, Malcolm, what do we do in capture the flag?"
Malcolm ate a little bit more of hit fruit salad, and said, "It's like regular capture the flag, but more dangerous."
"As in?"
He gulped down some water, and said, "Well, we get to use our weapons, there are monsters loose in the forest, and sometimes people get hurt."
"Hurt?"
"Yeah, like cut with the weapons, things like that."
I gulped and said, "What do I do? I got nothing."
Malcolm held his finger up as he downed his cup. "I'll take you to the armory after you finish up."
I looked down at my plate. The only thing on it was a little piece of pancake. I picked it up with my fork, and swallowed it. I got up, and brushed myself off.
"Ready." I said, picking up my hat.
***
Malcolm pulled out a box from a shelf in the armory. Inside were regular, every day, objects. Nothing special. He walked over to a table, and paced the box there. He looked around, and disappeared into the armory. I walked over to the box, and rummaged around in it. A small white box caught my eye. I uncovered it, and discovered it was a card box. I smiled. I took it out, and flipped open the lid. I removed a card, and suddenly, the card turned into a bronze sword.
"WHAT THE FREAK?!?" I said, dropping the sword.
Malcolm came rushing over, with a few knives in his hand.
"Oh, whew, I though a monster got in here." He said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"BUT THE CARD TURNED INTO A FREAKING SWORD!!!" I yelled at Malcolm.
"Hey, its ok, it's one of the enchanted items that the Hephaestus kids made. Pretty smart, actually. It allows our weapons to pass unnoticed by mortals." He said, picking up the sword after dropping the knives on the table.
"Hm. Too small for me." He said, swishing the sword in the air.
He gave it to me, and said, "You try."
I swished it in the air. It felt fine, not too heavy, and not too long. Like and extra limb.
"This feels nice." I said, running my finger along the flat of the blade.
"That's good. It could be your weapon, if you don't want anything else." said Malcolm, picking the knives back up.
I picked the dropped box back up, and said, "How do I turn this thing back into a card?"
"I don't know. Figure it out. That's what us Athena kids do." He said, walking away with the knives.
I inspected the box, and found nothing. I then inspected the sword, and also found nothing. I frowned. Nothing could get it in the box. Other than attempting to shove it back in the box.
I sighed. "Well, worth a try."
I turned the sword so that the blade would go first into the box, and pushed the sword. It silently slid into the box, making no sound at all. I grinned. I had found my weapon of choice.
^%