Camp Half-Blood changed. It was bigger, much bigger. The cabins seemed to triple in size, and there seemed to be at least a hundred more cabins for minor gods and goddesses. The Big House was no longer its baby blue color that had been there when Theron was a camper. Now, it was a sea green color with black trimming.
There also seemed to be more obstacle courses for the campers to train. The Climbing Wall was still there, that didn't seem to change much. Now, there seemed to be many different obstacle courses, probably thanks to the Hephaestus cabin. Campers bounded across the course, avoiding arrows, poison, rocks and other dangerous objects.
After inspecting the Big House and Obstacle Courses, Theron made his way to the ring of cabins. Hestia's Hearth sat in the middle of the rings, but what he saw surprised him more than anything else he had seen so far.
The Hearth was cold and dark. There was no flame and no 8-year-old girl tending the flames.
Ignoring this fact and the glances from the campers, Theron walked up towards the outer ring of cabins. He found a spot that was unoccupied by any cabins. He closed his eyes and, once again, linked his mind to Chaos's.
Hey Chaos, if we're gonna be staying here, we'll need a cabin. I found a good spot.
On it.
The ground rumbled as Theron disconnected his mind link. A few moments later, a cabin, about the size of the others, shot up from the ground. It was black and had constellations twinkling throughout the cabin. By the time the Earth stopped rumbling, a crowd of campers surrounded the cabin.
Theron turned around, "Campers," he yelled, causing the demigods to fall silent, "I expect none of you to enter this cabin unless told otherwise by me, or one of the other Commanders. If you break this rule, you will get a punishment on how we see fit,"
The demigods gave their signs of approval before turning and going back to their activities. At least, most of them did.
"Theron?" a feminine voice asked.
The assassin turned to face the speaker, standing there was the Seven, and Max along with a few other campers. He did not recognize one of them but decided to ignore it for now.
"Yes?" Theron answered through gritted teeth, he wished they would leave him alone.
"You've been all over the Universe, right?" Hazel asked looking at the cloaked figure.
Theron hummed in agreement.
"Have you, by chance, seen or heard of a guy named Percy Jackson?" Jason continued, studying him.
"No," Theron answered a little too quickly, "Uh, no I have not. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go check on...something,"
The Commander then opened his cabin door, walked in, and shut the door, all before the demigods could stop him.
"He's hiding something," Annabeth muttered, studying the place where Theron had previously been standing.
"I agree with Annabeth on this one, Theron knows something about Percy," Piper agreed.
"This is all my fault," Max said, putting his head in his hands, "If I had just fought the spell, none of this would have happened."
"It's not your fault, Max. That spell put most of the Olympian Gods under its control, and besides, you redeemed your self." Hazel comforted.
"Come on guys," Annabeth said sadly, "It's Capture the Flag against the Hunters tonight, let's go make some plans."
Theron shut the door and breathed out a sigh of relief. It was a pain just being on the same planet, but now Theron would have to see them daily. Theron took a deep breath and looked around the room. The cabin appeared bigger on the inside thanks to Chaos, so there was a kitchen, living room, and the Commander's room which all had their personal bathrooms.
Theron walked over to the fridge and opened it. Luckily, Chaos supplied the Commanders with Blue Coke. The assassin grabbed a bottle and opened it, taking a long sip before going to the living room and sitting on one of the couches. He thought back on the camper that he could not identify.
The camper was a girl, she looked to be about 16 or 17. What unnerved him the most is that he felt like he knew her, from a very long time ago. The girl brown hair that matched the color of milk chocolate, she had tanned skin and it was obvious that she worked out regularly. Her eyes were slightly darker than her hair, more of a dark chocolate color.
Before Theron could think about Mystery Girl any longer, the door opened and in came the rest of the Commanders.
Charm and Blaze were holding hands and talking to each other, along with Phantom and Chance. Stardust and Scout were talking about Archery contests and how they were going to win. And Mercy, Hunter, and Medic were talking about prank ideas to pull on the Campers.
"Hey guys," Theron said, standing up, "Dinner is in about five minutes, go change if you want to get more comfortable,"
The Commanders nodded and headed off to change in their rooms. They would have to keep their identities secret though unless Chaos says otherwise.
Five minutes later, all the Commanders set off for the Dining Pavilion. When they entered, all the Campers went quiet.
"Didn't your parents tell you it was rude to stare?" Theron scowled.
The Campers stopped looking but continued to talk in hushed tones. The Commanders walked over to an empty area that wasn't occupied by anything and waited for a few moments.
The ground started shaking again and a black table rose from the ground, and the Commanders sat happily around it.
Theron summoned a burger for himself and watched the other Commanders summon their own things, thanks to the specially enchanted Camp Half-Blood plates. The assassin smirked.
"Hey guys, watch this," Theron proceeded to get up and walk over to the brazier that was located near their table. Everybody, including the demigods, watched as Theron tore off a piece of his burger and toss it in the brazier, muttering a few words under his breath.
A few moments passed and nothing happened. The Campers were about to turn back to their friends to continue their conversations when a cloud of black smoke appeared. When the smoke cleared, an angry looking teenage boy stood there with his arms crossed.
"Theron!" the teenager bellowed.
"Yes?" the assassin replied innocently.
"How many times have I told you not to sacrifice to me?"
Theron paused for a few seconds.
"About...63 times I think?"
"Then why do you keep doing it?"
"Because I can and will!"
The teenager sighed before finally noticing that he had an audience.
"Hello, Campers! You have already met my Commanders, but you haven't met me. I am Chaos,"
Chiron stood up quickly and bowed to the Creator, the Campers following his lead.
Chaos groaned while the Commanders tried, and failed, to stifle their laughter.
"Stop bowing! Makes me feel old, anyways I have to go now, the paperwork won't finish themselves!" and with that, the Creator disappeared in a flash of black smoke.
Chiron regained his composure quickly, "Campers!" the centaur bellowed, "We have a Capture The Flag game against the Hunters tonight, will our guests be joining us?"
The Hunters, who were also in the Dining Pavilion, and Campers turned to look at the Commanders. They were discussing what they would do.
"I say we play," Mercy said, bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Of course you do," Stardust replied, rolling her eyes, "But it would be fun if we could play,"
Theron thought about it for a moment, "What if we do boys against girls? Girls join the Hunters and the Boys join the Campers."
Phantom frowned, "It would be unfair, there are six boys and four girls,"
"I'll sit out," Medic said, "I'm a medic, not a fighter."
"Five to six, you girls up for a challenge?" Stardust asked.
Everybody agreed to this and Theron turned back towards the centaur.
"We would like to play, however, if the hunt accepts, the female Commanders will play with the Hunters and the males with the Campers?" Theron looked towards the Hunt, requesting permission.
The Hunters immediately accepted, and the games began.
The Hunters took the Southern Woods, the Campers the Northern Woods.
Chiron stepped up, "You know the rules, no maiming and magic items are allowed, prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged, however for our guests, please don't use Chaos Magic, as it will be unfair for the rest of the players. And with that, let the games begin!"
Chiron blew the conch horn and the teams were off.
Hunter and Chance would be guarding the flag with the Demeter, Iris, Nemesis, Janus, Hephaestus, and Aphrodite cabins. Mercy, Theron, and Blaze would be going offense with the Athena, Ares, Zeus, Hades, and a few other cabins. Apollo, Hermes and a few additional cabins would provide support to both defense and offense.
Theron raced through the trees with Mercy and Blaze by his side. They ran until they crossed the river into enemy territory and decided to take a slower, stealthier approach. Mercy was the best, seeing as his dad is the god of thieves. The three Commanders were stumbling through the trees when an arrow whizzed right by Theron's head. Theron pulled out Vortex, Blaze and Mercy pulled out their swords as well. They stood back to back watching the trees for any movement.
Suddenly, Charm, Scout, and Stardust came flying out of the trees. Charm charged her boyfriend, Stardust attacked Mercy and Scout engaged Theron.
Soon, they were all in a 1v1 against one another. Scout and Theron went against each other, neither one was able to get the upper hand. Scout was fast and agile, but Theron was a master swordsman. Scout came rushing at Theron with her dagger and slid in between his feet, Theron got out of the momentary shock and turned around to catch Scout's foot a moment before it hit his back. He grabbed the Huntress's foot and attempted to flip her over. Scout went flying in the air but managed to land on her feet and quickly turned to face Theron. That was how most of the fight went, Theron and Scout both attempting offensive moves and the other blocking them. Theron pushed Scout off with his sword, allowing a minute of breathing room. He studied here form. Scout rushed again, but this time Theron saw a flaw in her movements. She left her right side completely vulnerable. Theron ducked under her swipe and hit her right side with the smooth side of his sword, knocking the breath out of her. She gasped as her dagger fell from her grip. Theron grabbed the dagger and pointed Vortex underneath the Huntress's chin. Scout scowled.
"You win this time, boy," she said in between breaths.
Theron smirked and looked towards his comrades. Blaze seemed to have already defeated Charm and Mercy and Stardust were still going strong.
Abruptly, the conch horn sounded, signaling the end of the game. The Commanders headed over to where the large crowd of demigods was standing. Thalia and a camper, the Mystery Girl, seemed to be in a shouting match.
"I CROSSED THE RIVER FIRST!" Thalia bellowed, the winds seemed to grow stronger by the second.
"NO, I DID!" Mystery Girl shouted back, the water from the river seemed to get rougher and more dangerous.
"What is going on?" Theron asked as he approached Chiron. The centaur looked a little shocked at first but quickly regained his composure.
"They are arguing about who won. They both crossed the river at the same time." Chiron said. Theron nodded.
"Quiet!" the Commander yelled, causing both Hunters and Campers to fall silent, "Both parties crossed the river at the same time, therefore we have the first tie in the history of Capture the Flag!"
There was a roar of disapproval until Theron raised his hand.
"This matter is non-negotiable," the assassin said, deadly calm, "Please give a round of applause for Thalia Grace and..?"
"Estelle," Mystery Girl spoke, "Estelle Blofis."
A/N:
Words: 1,987
Published: July 1st, 2019