The Hunt had been at Camp Half-Blood for a few days now, and the weekend was fast approaching. Hazel and Frank had arrived the day after the Hunters on Arion, Nico had shadow traveled in the day before to spend time with his sister and cousins, while Leo and Calypso were due to arrive sometime that day. For now, Nico had been letting everyone stay in the Hades cabin, but there was talk of building a more permanent structure once Leo arrived. Percy was taking a morning stroll along the edge of the forest, reminiscing about the games played inside. He was just thinking about his first ever Capture the Flag game when a certain someone strode up to him. "What do you want?" Percy growled.
"To try and convince you," Annabeth said while lightly touching his arm and biting her lip.
"Of what?" he said coldly while brushing her off.
"I am the hero, you must see that," she said. "There are no other possible options."
Percy had started walking away, but turned around when she said that. "I look around, and I see many heroes," he snapped. "You may have been on quests, but it was never your own."
"Then who are the other renowned heroes?" Annabeth asked smugly.
"Thalia Grace," he replied. "She is essentially a living legend. A hero widely known and greatly renowned. Nico Di' Angelo, he aided in returning the Athena Parthenos and was a savior at the Battle of Manhattan. While not as widely renowned, still a great hero. Clarisse LaRue, she recovered the Golden Fleece and defeated the Drakon at the Battle of Manhattan. Any of the seven would also do, for they did many things on their quests," Percy stated. Annabeth's smug look started to fade, but grew back when he mentioned the seven. "Do not get your hopes up," Percy glared from behind the sunglasses. "I highly doubt you are the hero, your pride has blinded you." Having said his piece, Percy turned on his heel and stalked away.
Annabeth stood there, fuming. How dare Periplanómenos defy her, after all she's done. Oh, he'd be sorry, she'd show him.
# # #
It was mid-morning by the time Leo arrived. He landed Festus softly at the edge of the cabins, and his friends rushed over to greet him. The rest of the camp avoided him, remembering what had happened last time Festus had been there.
"Repair Boy!" Percy called, pulling his friend into a bro hug.
"Hey man, good to see ya!" Leo then frowned as he looked around. "I wish we didn't have to meet here of all places though."
"Ya, but Annabeth and her minions leave us alone. For the most part."
"Is that Leo McShizzle, Bad-Boy Supreme?" Jacob exclaimed while he walked up. Hannah shook her heard from beside him, embarrassed for the both of them.
"Oh gods, please don't encourage him," Calypso muttered.
"You know it!" Leo exclaimed, doing a fist-bump with Jacob. He then snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Oh, I just remembered! I got the things you asked for!" Leo whistled, and a hatch on the side of Festus opened up. A large burlap sack launched out, and landed on the ground at Jacob's feet with a large metallic clatter.
"Thanks man," Jacob grinned. "This will be useful tomorrow night."
"No problem! Oh, and Percy, I got something you might like', Leo said as he reached into the open hatch and pulled out what looked like a sheath. "For Riptide," Leo explained. "This way you can use your sword without suspicion. Nobody expects a legendary sword like that to be hiding in plain sight," he finished with a wink.
"Awesome, thanks! You're the bomb, Leo!" Percy exclaimed as he took the sheath, immediately strapping it to his left waist and sliding Riptide in.
"No, I'm the fire," Leo said dramatically while sliding a pain of sunglasses he had pulled out of his tool belt on his face.
Everyone groaned, and Jacob walked away with his canvas sack. "Hey Sunny," Hannah said, running after him. "You gonna tell me what's in there?"
"You'll see," Jacob replied with a wink.
# # #
Percy, Frank, Nico, Leo, and Jacob were all hanging out, just catching up. As much as Percy loved his sisters, it was nice to see 'the guys' again. "Hey Percy," Nico said while they were hanging out in the Hades Cabin. "When was the last time you went out in the water?"
"Oh, man, I don't even know," Percy replied, running the back of his neck. "It's been years."
"Well, what if we. . . went canoeing?" Nico said hesitantly.
"Oh really? I'm surprised you would suggest that Neeks," Percy started.
"Oh, no," Frank muttered.
"Because I thought," Percy continued.
"He better not do it," Jacob muttered back.
"That Water wasn't your type!" Percy finished.
"And he did it," Frank sighed.
Nico looked taken aback at Percy's comment. Percy tried to hold a straight face, but he couldn't.. "Come on," he laughed while standing up. "Let's go." With that said they all headed down to the lake.
Leo, Nico, and Jacob all piled into one canoe, while Frank and Percy hopped into the second. Once they were floating in the middle of the lake they all started talking again. About the war, and how things had changed since then. Of course, they also teased each other about their relationships. At one point Percy saw Thalia with some of the Hunters at the dock attempting to launch a canoe, so of course his ADHD mind launched into a train of thought. Once again, Percy found himself wondering why Thalia had grown her hair out, and about how it looked so good. He remembered when they first met, and the quest that followed that winter. Percy had wanted to save Annabeth badly, so had Thalia, and they had grown close over that time. Percy's thoughts then moved to more recent events. Why did Thalia care so much when he had left and assumed a new identity? Percy wondered.
"Yo, Percy!" a voice said while hitting him over the head with a paddle.
"Dude, what the Hades!" Percy exclaimed at Jacob.
"I would appreciate it if everyone would stop using my dad's name as a curse!" Nico practically yelled.
"You zoned out for a while staring at Thalia," Jacob said, ignoring Nico.
"He was probably day dreaming about this," Leo joked while hugging himself and making kissing noises.
"Oh shut it!" Percy said, hitting Leo with his paddle,
"Percy and Thalia, sittin' in a tree," Leo sang. "K-I-S-S-I-"
"I said, shut up," Percy said through gritted teeth. He didn't know why this bothered him so much. Do I. . . like Thalia? Percy questioned himself. No, of course not. She's just my best friend, he reasoned with himself.
"Hey Kelp Head, what's up?" Thalia said, a slight blush on her cheeks, as herself, Atalanta, and Hannah paddled over.
"Oh. . . nothing," Percy awkwardly replied, a slight blush also evident on his cheeks. "Just hangin' out." Jacob's and Hannah's eyes met and they exchanged a look, Percy was so oblivious. Thalia too for that matter.
"You know, the purpose of a paddle is to use it," Thalia smirked.
"Oh, you mean like this Pinecone Face?" Percy said innocently before using it, along with a slight push of the water with his powers, to flip her canoe.
"You are so dead Fish Face!" Thalia sputtered once she had resurfaced.
"Gotta catch me first, Thunder Thighs!" Percy laughed before paddling away with Frank.
"Well," Hannah said expectantly to her boyfriend. "Aren't you going to help us?"
Jacob seemed to think for a moment. "Nah, we're good," he replied nonchalantly before paddling away, also laughing.
"Oh, they are so dead," Thalia growled as she watched them head back to shore.
# # #
Annabeth sat perched in a tree with some binoculars. Periplanómenos was an enigma. Something seemed familiar about the tousled black hair and smile, but she couldn't quite place it. Part of her had suspected that Percy wasn't dead in the beginning. After all, it was suspicious that the two people who advocated for him the most claimed to kill him. It got even more fishy when one of them was a Daughter of Hecate who was known for great skill in manipulating the Mist, but as time passed Annabeth dismissed her doubts. Perseus Jackson was too dumb to stay hidden this long. However, Periplanómenos seemed familiar with much of the Seven and some of the older demigods on a personal level, meaning that it must be an older demigod from at least the Giant War. Likely a veteran of the Battle of Manhattan too, based on the references he had made to it earlier that day. Annabeth had to find out who this mystery man was, her plans depended on it.
# # #
The Hunters along with Hannah and Jacob stood around a table in the Artemis cabin, a map of the forest laid out before them. The rest of the Hazel, Leo, Frank, Nico, and Calypso had decided to remain neutral in the Capture the Flag game that night; they refused to work with the campers and didn't feel super welcome with the Hunt yet.
"They'll probably set up on Zeus' Fist," Thalia reasoned. "It's what they always do." Everyone nodded in agreement.
Percy frowned at the map while studying it. "I think I have a plan," Percy suddenly blurted out, surprising everyone there.
"Um, okay," said a surprised Thalia. "What were you thinking, Perce?"
"Well, we have Bunker 9 on our side, and I'm sure Leo would let us use it. Even with the doors open, it's an easily defensible position." Everyone nodded at that logic. "Now, I know Annabeth, and her plans. She likes to think that she comes up with a new one each time, but over the years I've noticed trends. She loves a distraction push through the center, usually led by a decently powerful demigod and/or the Ares cabin to attract attention. She then sends a real force around the flanks. She loves flanks, so keep an eye out for them. She also loves to have a prominent role utilizing her invisibility cap. So keep sharp, she'll either try to steal the flag or take out prominent members of the other team while invisible. I suggest we change tactics to compensate. The Hunt favors a strategy of sneaking close then overwhelming the defenders, so there could be a trap for that eventuality." Percy paused for a second to look back up at everyone since he had been pointing at the map as he talked, everyone seemed enraptured by what he was saying. "I suggest we do this. There's a ridge above the bunker, I say we put six snipers up there to take down large groups. Then, inside we can have five more guards. This leaves us with ten offensive players, which should be more than enough."
"What about us?" Jacob interjected.
"I'll get to that, I have an idea," Percy replied, to which Jacob nodded his head. "The campers have to enter the bunker, so I suggest we lay traps along these vectors here to funnel them into the view of our defensive archers. Then I suggest the offensive players break into two groups. One to the north and the other to the south. However, when the horns sound we should stay mostly on the defensive. We should take out the distracting party, and then sneak into the enemy territory. There are less of us, so we should try and take out as many campers as possible before moving in for the kill. Besides, it'll be more humiliating if it's slow," Percy said with a twinkle in his eye. He then turned to Hannah and Jacob. "I have an idea for you guys; remember my first game where I was used as bait?" They both nodded. "If you agree, I have a similar idea. Lou Ellen mentioned that Annabeth wants to recapture you, and this would be the perfect time. A disappearance in the forest could be easily blamed on monsters, so I think that Annabeth will come for you during the game. My guess would be personally with some powerful backup, her pride will be hurting after the escape and Lou Ellen's failure."
The two exchanged a nervous look before turning back to him. "What if I. . . just used the shadows to jump in and grab the flag?" Hannah asked.
Percy nodded. "I thought about that, but I don't think it would work. Not many people know that some children of Hecate can Shadow Travel like other children of Underworld Deities, but Annabeth does. She's seen you do it, and will likely be expecting it." Hannah nodded, there was no arguing with that logic.
"We'll be fine, we can decoy," Jacob said resolutely.
"I'll use the shadows to jump around, keep Annabeth moving," Hannah said.
"That'll work," Percy nodded. "I'll try to stay close, but no guarantees." His friends reassured them that they would be fine.
The Hunters were all gawking at Percy as he finished explaining his plan. "That's. . . really smart Kelp Head," Thalia said, clearly impressed. "And here you are letting everyone think that you're a complete idiot."
"Um, thanks," replied a blushing Percy. "Being around Annabeth makes anyone look dumb in comparison, and I kinda dumbed it down because she feels threatened if people try to be clever around her. . ."
# # #
The sun was setting, and the Hunt was outside their cabin preparing for the game. Chiron had appeared that night at dinner to announce that he would ref the game, which shocked all that were present. Chiron hadn't been seen outside his office for months.
"Greek breastplates got nothin' on lorica segmentata," Jacob said proudly as he adjusted the last strap on his Imperial Gold armor. He actually looked quite striking with his gold armor over a silver Hunter's jacket and black pants.
"You just say that because you're a Roman demigod," Hannah said, rolling her eyes and slipping her breastplate over her head.
"Oh ya?" Jacob challenged. "Why don't you try it then." He then picked up the burlap sack sitting next to his feet and throwing it to Hannah.
Picking it up and looking inside, she could see it was another set of Imperial Gold Roman armor. "You planned this, didn't you?" Hannah asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Hey, I couldn't let my girl go into battle without the best armor known to demigod," Jacob grinned. Sighing, Hannah peeled off her breastplate and slipped on the Roman design, Jacob helping adjust a strap here and there. Once the greaves were strapped to her shins Hannah flexed around, twisting and bending to test the maneuverability. "So?" Jacob asked.
"It's good," Hannah muttered.
"What was that, I didn't hear you?" Jacob teased.
"I said, it's good," Hannah snapped.
"What?" Jacob said while he pretended to clean out his ear.
"You won't stop until I say it, will you?" Hannah sighed. Jacob just flashed an Apollo-level smile and shook his head. "Fine, it's better. I feel so much more protected yet maneuverable at the same time. Happy?"
"Very much so. Now come on, we have a flag to capture," Jacob said while slipping a helmet on his head and jogging to catch up to Percy.
A/N: I know that this chapter wasn't super exciting, but I was trying to set up for the next one. To compensate, I tried to add a few funny moments and a Perlia glimpse. Also, Percy be a smart boi, which I think is justified considering how much time he has spent around Annabeth and the fact that most of his enemies have been defeated through some sort of clever strategy on his end.
Anyways, have a fantastic day!
P.S. Thanks so much you guys for 2K reads, I never imagined that this story would get even close to that many views