11 Chapter 11: Capture-the-Flag!

Beckendorf led Isaiah towards Cabin nine which is the cabin dedicated to the god of blacksmiths and fire, Hephaestus. The boy examined it and saw lots of bricks and gears on it.

"It looks like a factory." the boy said.

Beckendorf chuckled,

"Well, we are the children of Hephaestus so our home looking like something else would be very weird."

The dark-skinned boy arrived in front of the door which looked more like the door of a submarine. He twisted the locked, opened the door and led the boy inside. As soon as he went in, the little boy admired the interior, it was a large room and there were multiple bunks that looked like they could fold in the walls. Each bed had a control pad that they could input commands, multiple light bulbs and gears. It looked so futuristic.

"You like it?" Beckendorf asked seeing his expression.

"Yeah. It's amazing."

"Well, this is nothing. Wait till you see the other stuff. Come." Beckendorf said before going to a corner of the room.

The sorcerer followed him and saw that there was a door with a staircase sign and beside it was a sliding pole that went through the floor and to, which Isaiah assumed, another floor. Beckendorf then asked,

"Come, we have to go downstairs and this pole is the fastest way." the buff boy said with a grin before gripping the pole and sliding down.

"That looks fun," said Isaiah with a grin. He then grabbed the pole and slid down and unto where the son of Hephaestus led him. As soon as the boy touched the floor, the first thing he felt was the heat wafting over him.

"There you are! Follow me." Beckendorf said.

Isaiah looked around and saw multiple kids working on their projects. One was hammering on a cooling piece of metal. Another was on a workable with a magnifying glass as he was handling tiny parts of a machine.

*BOOM!*

Suddenly, an explosion was heard from one of the rooms as dark smoke emerged from it with a boy who was violently coughing. Beckendorf's eyebrows twitched in annoyance,

"Dammit, Jake! This is the third time this week!"

"Sorry, Beckendorf!"

The councillor sighed before they arrived in front of a workshop. Tools were lying on the table with some blueprints strewn across it.

"So what did you bring me here for?" Isaiah asked.

Beckendorf cleared the table a little before turning to the little boy.

"Can you explain to me how whatever you did outside works?"

Isaiah shrugged seeing no harm and explained it.

"And you can materialize anything with that spell?" Beckendorf asked after Isaiah finished explaining.

"No, I can only materialize objects that I analyzed and have the mana capacity."

"And how do you analyze?"

"With another spell."

"Another?"

"Yes, it's called (Structural Grasp). How about I show you?"

"Sure, but what do you want me to do?"

"Bring me something I have never seen."

The taller boy thought about what to bring before walking up to a younger girl of about fourteen who had goggles on and was working on something.

"Hey, Nyssa!" he called out.

The girl didn't seem to hear him.

"Nyssa!"

Once again, he wasn't heard.

"NYSSA!", the girl looked up and saw her camp counsellor.

" Oh, hey Beckendorf! What's up?"

"Jeez Nyssa, are you deaf or something? Anyway, I need to borrow a complete work of yours. Can I?"

"Huh, Sure... But what for?"

"You'll see"

The girl looked at her leader before shrugging her shoulder.

"Alright."

Nyssa put her tools down before looking at the wall in front of her where numerous objects were hung. She then grabbed one of her inventions and followed the boy. She then saw Isaiah waiting at Beckendorf's workstation.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"This is Isaiah, he's a guest at Camp Half-Blood."

The girl was perplexed,

"What do you mean by a guest?"

Isaiah then spoke,

"What he means is that I am not a half-blood so I won't be living here."

"Not a half-blood? Then what are you?"

"I'm just your normal human being."

Beckendorf snorted,

"Yeah right. The fact that you can enter this camp is a testimony of how normal you are," he interjected.

The girl looked at her leader before looking at Isaiah.

"So what makes you special?"

"I'm a sorcerer. I can do magic."

Nyssa opened her eyes wide before an awed expression appeared on her face.

"Really? Can you show me?"

"I was just about to do that." the boy grinned.

Nyssa turned to her half-brother,

"Is that why you asked me to borrow my stuff?"

"Yeah, I saw an example before, but I want to see more," the latter said before turning to Isaiah, " so do your thing, Isaiah! Nyssa, give it to him."

The girl in question then gave the boy a sword who then placed it on the work table.

'Root, Shine.'

The word glowed as circuit-like lines ran along the blade before disappearing.

Isaiah then began to speak,

"A no-named xiphos of 56cm in length and a weight of 876g. It is a sword created by the daughter of Hephaestus, Nyssa Barrera and was completed on July 25, 2006. It has no known history since it hasn't been used yet except for the method of its creation. The material used is an ore found in mount Olympus called Celestial Bronze which has anti-monster properties and is unable to affect normal humans." Isaiah said before looking at his spectators.

They both looked shocked.

"W-Well, I'll be damned." Beckendorf let out.

"How did you do that!? I didn't even give you my name yet and you said my full name!" Nyssa screamed/asked in awe as she went right up to the boy's face before turning to the buff boy

"Did you give him my name?"

The latter held his hands up.

"I didn't give him anything. I'm just as shocked as you are."

"It's a spell called (Structural Grasp). It lets me analyze the object right down to its history."

Nyssa's jaw dropped.

"Can you project it?" Charles asked.

"Project?" the girl asked.

Isaiah nodded,

"I can do that."

He then projected the blade and gave it to them. Nyssa gingerly took it before examining both identical-looking blades.

"What is this? They look the same and they feel the same. But the one Isaiah projected has an energy coursing through it." Nyssa said.

That's when she remembered something,

"Wait, you said it doesn't have any history except its the method of creation. Does that mean you know how my blade was forged?"

"Yup

"Yeah, it's what he calls Mana, the source of the spell."

When the girl turned around, Isaiah could've sworn he could see her eyes shine.

"Children of Hephaestus like us can instinctively know how machines work, but we don't get as many details as you do," she then bore her eyes in the boy's very intensively and grasped his shoulders before asking, "Is it possible to learn it?"

Isaiah shook his head,

"Sorry Nyssa, but you can't."

"Huh? Whyyyyy? This spell is like Hephaestus's children's wet dream." She whined.

The boy tilted his head in confusion,

"What's a wet dream?"

Like deers caught in a headlight, both teens simply stared at him.

"Huuuuhhhh...." Nyssa began before her half-brother saved her.

"Nyssa, you can't just ask him like that. Have you never heard that a magician never reveals his secret?" the latter quickly changed the subject.

Isaiah shook his head,

"It's not because of that. It's because you guys don't possess mana."

"I heard you mention it, but what's that?"

Isaiah then explained it and both teens sighed a little sullen.

Charles then spoke,

Oh well. What a shame," he turned to Isaiah,

"Anyway, let's go, Isaiah!"

The boy looked confused,

"Huh, where?"

The son of Hephaestus looked at the boy with a grin,

"To work. You told us that you saw the creation method of the Xiphos. I want to see you make it."

"I'll come too!" added Nyssa.

"Sure, why not. I like building stuff," he said and followed the step-siblings.

Soon night had fallen and Isaiah walked out of cabin nine tired with Beckendorf behind. However, they were both smiling as they started walking toward the Big house.

"Well, today was a productive day!" he said.

Isaiah nodded,

"I learned a lot of things. I also had lots of fun."

the taller teen smacked the little boy's back.

"No problem, Isaiah. Your spells also helped create a lot of new things. You're our friend now, Isaiah."

The boy stopped in his tracks when he heard his words. Looking at him, Beckendorf asked in concern,

"Is something wrong, man? Did I say something I wasn't supposed to?"

"A friend?" the boy asked.

Charles looked confused,

"Well, yeah. We're friends now. Isaiah is something wrong?"

The boy shook his head and started walking again.

"No."

Beckendorf looked at him weirdly before shrugging and following him.

'A friend, huh? It feels warm. Then are Bianca and Nico friends?' thought Isaiah with a small smile as he touched his chest.

They soon arrived at the Big house and saw Chiron inside reading a book.

"Hey, Chiron. It's us."

The centaur looked up from his book,

"Oh, Charles! And I see you've brought young Isaiah," he said before turning to the boy, "How was the camp? I heard from Grover that Charles had snatched you up."

"Hehehe. My bad." The teen in question scratched the back of his head.

"I liked it a lot. He showed me a lot of stuff in blacksmithing."

Chiron smiled,

"That's great. Would you like to stay tonight? I'm sure you haven't even slept yet due to the events of last night. You could also witness the game of Capture-the-flag that we are going to hold with the hunters of Artemis."

"Oh, it's tomorrow, right?" asked Charles

"That's right."

The sorcerer looked at both of them in confusion.

"What's Capture-the-Flag?"

"Capture-the-flag Is a game where 2 teams guard their flag while trying to capture the opposite team's flag and bring it back into their territory." the teen explained before adopting a fierce expression, "It will be Camp Half-Blood vs the Hunters of Artemis. And this time we will win."

Isaiah was interested. He wanted to see how the Greeks fight since he had read many tales of their military and fighting power.

"Then, yes I would like to see this game."

Chiron smiled,

"Very well, I have a room for you," he said before turning to Charles,

"You may return to your cabin, young Beckendorf.."

"Alright, Chiron. Good night! I'll see you tomorrow, Isaiah."

"Good night to you too, my boy."

"Bye, Beckendorf," replied Isaiah.

Once he left, the centaur turned to Isaiah.

"Come, Isaiah, I'll show you to your room. I never got to ask, but how is the current Sorcerer Supreme?"

"She is well. Well, as well as an immortal human can be. Have you met her before?" replied Isaiah.

"Yes, I have met her once. We had an enlightening talk as fellow teachers. Here's your room. The toiletries are already there and they are new. Have a good night, young Isaiah." Chiron said.

"Good night, to you too."

When Isaiah finished cleaning himself up, he went to the bed. When he touched the mattress, his smile thinned a little.

'It's too soft."

He was so used to sleeping on the bed of Kamar-Taj that a bed with a softer mattress would be very uncomfortable. He projected the bed he used at Kamar-taj and climbed on it. As soon as he laid down, he was hit with a wave of exhaustion. Staying awake for almost two days can do that to a person. He soon fell asleep.

The next day saw him waking up. He dispelled the bed and went to the bathroom to clean up. He then went out of his room and saw Chiron and Mr. D ready to head to the pavilion to eat breakfast.

"Good morning, Isaiah. Have you slept well?" asked the trainer of heroes as soon as he saw the boy.

"I slept well, Chiron. Good morning Mr. D,"

The god grunted,

"I see you're awake Illya Snape. Now, let's go."

"Hum, Mr. D? My name is Isaiah Sharpe."

"Yes, I heard you, Asia Shaw," replied Mr. D before leaving the house.

Isaiah looked at the god confused before looking at Chiron,

"Did Mr. D not hear me?"

Chiron sighed,

"Sorry, Isaiah. Mr. D gets everyone's name wrong."

"Is he unable to memorize people's names? Do gods not have a good memory?"

Chiron chuckled,

"A reasonable guess, but I suggest that you don't say that in front of the gods. They might not take what you said well."

"I heard you, Chiron!" Dionysus's voice was heard from outside of the house.

"See? Now, let's go. We don't want to be late for breakfast."

The trio soon arrived at the pavilion and Isaiah saw the kids at their table ready to eat. He saw Nico and Bianca with the Hermes cabin eleven since their father hadn't claimed them yet.

'Is Hades busy or is he not their father?'

Nico saw him and ran to Isaiah with Bianca training behind.

"Isaiah, where were you yesterday?" the boy asked.

"I was with Beckendorf learning blacksmithing. Good morning, Bianca, how was your day?"

Bianca smiled,

"I had lots of fun. Grover showed us many things. I still can't believe that everything is real." she answered.

At that moment, Chiron told everyone to seat down. Isaiah went to his table with the directors as the guest of the camp while the siblings went to their tables.

Soon everyone praised their gods and began to eat. He had asked the nymph to give something light since that's how he had always eaten at Kamar-taj. When everyone was done, they went on their way. Isaiah was about to leave when he felt a large well of power. Looking at the hearth, he saw a girl of about eight years old tending the hearth. She had fiery eyes and dark hair. However, he could feel the smell of the food from Kamar-taj from her. The power was even greater than all the deities he had met. Looking around, it seems like no one noticed her so Isaiah walked up to her.

The girl turned to the boy and smiled.

"Hello child," she said with a voice that had a maturity way too old for her age.

"Hello, Ms..."

"Hestia."

"As in the goddess of the hearth, home and family?"

The girl's smile widened,

"The very one."

"I see."

Suddenly, Hestia put her poker down before reaching a hand towards him and gently placing it on the boy's cheek. Confused, he felt something weird at the sensation, like something was supposed to be there, but was not.

"You poor child." the girl whispered before transforming into a young woman.

Isaiah flinched at the transformation before Hestia hugged him. He didn't know what was going on.

"Huh, Hestia?" he asked.

"Shhhh. What a life you must have led to losing so many parts that make you human." she gently said.

"I see." Isaiah could only say.

They stayed like that a little while longer before she separated from him all the while no one witnessed this scene.

"You know this is the first time in a long time someone stopped by to talk to me."

"Did no one notice you?"

"They didn't need to since they were already at home. However, you lost yours but found a new one."

Isaiah thought about the Masters of Mystic Arts.

"I think I did."

"However, you still need to find the rest."

"The rest of what?"

"Your family."

"But I already have one."

"I know, but I am the goddess of Family and I know when someone has another thinking about them. Be it, friend or family. You may have found a family in Kamar-Taj, but there is someone else still thinking about you."

"But, I don't have memories of the first eight years of my life."

Hestia gave a sorrowful smile,

"It's okay. I'm sorry I couldn't say more since I can't find them. I can only tell you that there is someone.

"I see."

"Why don't you go back to your friend. It seems like she is trying to find you," she said pointing at Bianca.

"Okay. Thank you for telling me, Hestia,"

"No problem, Isaiah." and the child left.

'I wish you luck in finding your way, Isaiah Sharpe"

Soon, Night had fallen and it was time for Capture-the-Flag. Everyone was preparing for their game. Isaiah was beside Chiron as he oversaw the preparations. Isaiah could feel the tension in the air. The campers didn't like the Hunters and vice-versa. It didn't help that the Hunters' atmosphere was down since the beginning of the game. He saw Zoe glaring at Chiron.

'Something must have happened between them,' he thought.

He was kind of excited to see the game. At that moment, Thalia and Percy walked up to Chiron who looked at them.

"Hey Chiron, we wanted to ask you something," Percy said.

"Thalia. Percy. What's the matter?"

"We wanted to ask you if Isaiah can join the game," Thalia said.

Chiron raised an eyebrow,

"Well, why don't you ask him?" the centaur said before turning to Isaiah who spoke.

"You want me to join the game?"

"Yeah, we asked the others and they were okay if you wanted to join," Percy said.

"What about the Hunters? I don't want you guys to get in trouble because of an outsider's interference." the boy asked.

They all looked at the huntresses who were busy glaring at the campers. Thalia walked up to them and called their leader.

"Hey, Zoe!"

The girl in question turned to her,

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to ask if it's okay for Isaiah to join on our side?"

"Do whatever you want. It matters not since we are going to win anyway."

Thalia gritted her teeth before stomping her way back to the waiting trio.

"Well, she says that it was okay," she said rage seeping through her voice.

Percy turned to Isaiah,

"Well, then you got your answer. Do you want to come?"

Isaiah nodded,

"Sure. I want to join."

"Awesome, I always wanted to see a magic-user fight," he said before the three went back to their team.

Isaiah felt anticipation and excitement at his first fight outside of Kamar-Taj even if it was not a real fight.

'Let's how my training fairs against the companion of Artemis, a goddess.' he thought with a smirk.