2

Capture the flag, in normal circumstances, is competitive and fun.

Capture the flag, Camp Half-Blood style, is a battle zone and crazy.

The war chants get your blood pumping and you could feel the Mist crackling in the air with so many demigods geared for a fight.

I listened absentmindedly to Chiron, the referee and battlefield medic, as he repeated rules and all the technicalities of the game. My stomach was pleasantly full from dinner and making me slightly drowsy. Creek is the boundary line. Entire forest is fair game. All magic items allowed. I've protested at that one several times, do you realize how much of an advantage it has? Banners must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming (but accidents happen). Yadda, yadda, blah, blah.

For this game, the camp has split up. Athena has an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins in camp. Ares has joined with all the other cabins: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.

It's expected that Athena's cabin would be leading since Athena is all about strategy and wisdom and all that, however Ares' cabin can be just as powerful. Most would expect the children of Ares being all brawns and no brains, but that's not the case. They have brains. They just use it in warfare and petty fights far too often.

I forced myself to concentrate when Chiron bellowed, "Arm yourselves!"

Immediately, everyone began bustling at the picnic tables, strapping on armor and talking excitedly.

I scanned the crowd with a critical eye to see if anyone brought in troublesome additions to their armor. Everyone had their own preference of defense. The Hephaestus cabin in particular always had some sort of plating they used to cover themselves with that was tricky to deal with. Weapons would vibrate in contact, forcing the wielder to drop the weapon as a result. In contrast, my gear was simple. Light coverage, enough for the vital spots, and built for mobility. I preferred sneaking around and wasn't made to be a tank or a heavy hitter.

In addition to the armor, there was a lot of Celestial bronze being carried around. Spears, swords, javelins, shields, knives, and guns of all sizes were scattered among the campers. I spotted a gardening hoe and a shovel lying on Demeter's picnic table. I raised a brow. I had seen them working the soil with those and those tools could crack the hardest of rocks and gravel.

I mentally reminded myself to not go near a camper from cabin four. Getting beaten by one of those would be embarrassing.

I wouldn't be using my preferred weapon of choice today though. I casually flipped a borrowed Celestial bronze long dagger between my hands and checked my armor. Since we were on the same sides, our cabin was able to use some weapons from the Athena cabin's shed if the ones offered to us on the table didn't suit our tastes. Privileges for shower times, chore schedules, and slots for activities have been exchanged in return.

I took a glance at Katoptris and turned it slowly in my hand. Even if it was only meant for decoration and ceremonial purposes, Katoptris was a fine blade. It well crafted, easy to use. At a certain angle, there was a flash of an image against the many lighted torches. However instead of seeing myself in the reflection, I saw green light. A trident spinning.

I made a 'tsk' sound and sheathed the knife away at my right side. I didn't need a reminder from an all-seeing dagger on what was going to happen tonight.

When I finished readying myself, I sat on the side of the picnic table, swinging my legs idly, watching everyone else scrambling. I helped the occasional camper who couldn't reach over a shoulder to tighten a strap. Then I saw Luke beckoning for me where the unit leaders of our team had gathered in a circle. The group was breaking up, so Annabeth must have finished explaining her battle plans. I tugged on the Stoll brothers' sleeves.

"Luke's calling us," I said to their questioning faces. The three of us walked over to our cabin's head counselor. Along the way, I swatted Travis' hands away from the flare stick hanging from my belt.

"Annabeth told us the strategy. Connor and Travis, you guys take one more person to scan perimeters of stragglers and lay traps all around the holes in our defense around the banner. Be sure to use trip wires and explosives, so that reinforcements can know where the other team is coming from. It's covert."

"Got it," they chorused and scampered off after grabbing a camper from our team to follow them.

"Jade, you're on border patrol."

I frowned at that.

"I already know I'm on border patrol."

Luke grinned and his scar gave off a disturbingly sinister glisten in the torchlight.

"With Percy, but like the Stoll brothers, be covert," he added and gave me a sly look. My shoulders sagged down when I got the hidden message.

Watch over Percy, but don't let yourself be seen.

"This is what Annabeth wants?"

"Yep." Luke clapped a hand on my shoulder before rallying his own private unit. I sighed and stalked off to my own position, keeping my eyes peeled for Percy. As usual, Annabeth formed a plan, but wouldn't let the rest of us know about it. Obviously, Percy-boy's the bait for the Ares cabin. Clarisse clearly hasn't let go of the bathroom incident and Annabeth was playing that to an advantage. Yet I couldn't think of why I'm need as back up. Unseen, even. Have I been downgraded to being a babysitter?

Talk about being useless.

When I reached down the creek where the water trickled into smooth rocks, I climbed up a tree with enough generous foliage to cover me once I gained height. After positioned myself comfortably against the trunk and branches, I waited. I waved away some bugs and tried to avoid moving too much. To my displeasure, the night was warm and sticky, my least favorite combination of weather. Fireflies popped in and out of view as I forced myself to stay awake. Despite my suspected godly parentage, I wasn't as sleepy as I thought I'd be all the time. Instead, I had three modes: caffeine-alert, in-a-daze, and sleep-anywhere-that-works. There was no in-between setting among the three.

However for tonight, I actually didn't have to try very hard. Anticipation, nervousness, and some adrenaline were keeping me alert and tense. Ready. The drowsiness from before was gone.

I heard some bushes rustling and the soon-to-be-claimed Percy appeared and stood next to the water. He looked awkward with his oversized helmet leaning lopsided on his head, huge shield, and unmatched sword. Percy-boy glanced around, checking if he really was alone. I pitied him a little. He seemed so alone, unsure. Unaware.

I snapped back to attention when the conch horn blew. Whoops and yells traveled in the air and the sound of clanking metal and campers crossing blades echoed in the woods. Austin, from the Apollo cabin, leaped out of nowhere and bounded over the creek like a deer into enemy territory. I had to refrain myself from laughing at Percy's pouting face. After a few seconds, only the sounds of flowing water and crickets chirping were heard.

I was planning on relaxing in my tree when goosebumps prickled my skin and a chill crept up my back. My body shivered and I rubbed my arms. A low growl, as though coming from an oversized canine, came from somewhere close by. Something was out in the forest. Hellhound.

Just as I was about to reach for Katoptris, the growling stopped and five warriors in red charged from the other side of the creek, yelling war cries. I covered my ears. The children of Ares were always so vocal in their fights. It seemed like the Greek monster had retreated for the moment so I put my focus on the upcoming scene.

Clarisse screamed for Percy's blood and her siblings split up, surrounding the poor dude from both sides. I kept my hand hovering over the dagger's hilt because Clarisse's five-foot-long spear was looking especially mean in the moment. The barbed metal tip was even flickering with red light. Percy was hopelessly outnumbered.

"Move to the left, you moron," I muttered under my breath. Although Percy had no chance in defeating these campers, they were experienced Ares' kids after all; he would've had an easier time if he'd only move to side to avoid being completely surrounded. Then he wouldn't have to face all five at once. They wouldn't be able to attack him all at the same time either.

I ignored the guilt settling inside my chest as I watched Percy get thrashed around by Clarisse and her siblings. It was pretty much over once he let the electric spear hit his shield.

"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."

I grit my teeth. Clarisse was annoying, and always will be, but as a girl, cutting off hair was a little over the line. Luckily, Percy managed to pick himself up on his feet before anyone could touch him. Clarisse slammed down a poorly executed sword slash with her spear. More sparks flew and Percy's other arm dropped. I strained my ears to hear their conversation.

"The flag is that way," Percy let out. I could tell he was angry, but he was tired and hurt.

And I made a face. He gave away our flag's location, the idiot.

"Yeah," one of her siblings said. Was that Sherman? "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about the guy who made our cabin look stupid."

Don't be dumb, Percy, you need to alive for the next couple of years at least.

"You do that without my help," the boy retorted and immediately, I could see written on his face oops. The cabin five siblings looked enraged and I could tell Percy was in deep trouble.

"Yeah, you better look sorry," I huffed and jumped down from my comfy tree. Annabeth must have purposely stationed me here to keep Percy from getting pulverized since he had such a loose mouth. Clarisse was going to pummel the kid. Even though they weren't too far away, she was already getting a few hits in. I winced and quickened my pace when her spear struck Percy's armored breastplate at the rib. He was going to feel that one in his teeth. Sherman slashed at Percy's arm, leaving a long cut, deep enough for blood to start dripping down. Percy's face paled at the sight of his own blood. I forced myself from breaking into a sprint.

Be careful. Don't be so involved.

I walked up behind them and kept my right hand on the knife's hilt. Keeping an even voice, I interrupted their bullying.

"Hey, Chiron said no maiming."

Percy jerked his head up to me in shock. I could see comprehension registering in his face. How I had been hiding the entire time, simply watching him getting beat up. Sherman turned on me and sneered, "Oops. Guess I lost my dessert privilege." Sherman stared me down and pushed Percy into the creek without even glancing behind him.

"Let's see how you fight, goody two shoes."

Sherman swung his sword at me while his siblings splashed into the water after Percy. I whipped out Katoptris, holding it in reverse grip, and met Sherman's blade at midpoint. I grunted under the strain. Sherman was a year older than me, and even though I had gone to camp earlier, he was still a year rounding camper. Unless I finished the fight quickly, he'd soon gain the upper hand. Since I had a shorter reach with my dagger, I needed to decrease the distance between us, so I pushed forward, letting our weapons slide against each other. Once I was less than a feet away with the dagger still in my hand, I pushed away his blade with my own and viciously elbowed the back of Sherman's sword hand, letting the weapon drop to the ground. I kicked it a good distance away and loosely pointed the tip of my knife at Sherman's neck. The son of Ares cursed and held his hands up, knowing defeat when he saw it. I should have taken him prisoner, but it wasn't worth it because one, I knew the game was almost over, and two, Clarisse's screaming caught both of our attention.

Percy was holding the broken pieces of Clarisse's precious electric spear, surrounded by stunned and beaten campers in red.

"You idiot," she shrieked.

I had to agree with that.

"You corpse-breath worm! You-"

Percy smacked the daughter of Ares between the eyes with the butt of his sword before she could finish another insult.

As if on cue, elated cheering erupted from the other side of the creek and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner with his unit made up of a couple of guys from cabin eleven. A few of Apollo's were fighting off disgruntled Hephaestus kids. The scene made me a little envious of the action I had missed out on. I could've been a part of that, but no, I was stuck on babysitting duty.

"A trick!" Clarisse shouted. "It was a trick." She muttered a curse and yelled at her siblings to follow her. Sherman bent over for his weapon and they tried running after Luke. Percy and I, still in water, followed them, but it didn't matter because we had won. The instant Luke ran into our territory, the red banner shimmered and turned to silver. A huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven, replaced the boar and spear symbol. Chiron cantered out from his spot and blew the conch horn, signaling the game to an end. I had a vague smile and clapped when the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. It was interesting to see that he could be so relaxed and happy, at ease with his fellow campmates, but still be a traitor secretly.

"Thanks for watching after Percy." I turned to my left, but didn't see Annabeth. She must have her dumb blue baseball cap on. I shrugged and shot a mild glare where her head should be. Which must have looked weird to onlookers since I was facing no one.

"Don't stick me to babysitting next time."

"I was planning to come back to help him, but in case our cabin was held up, I stuck you there just in case. In the end, the back up plan worked."

"Yeah, yeah. Go talk to Percy now," I waved her away and took an uneasy scan of our surroundings. Still waiting for that hellhound.

"I'm right here." Percy appeared next to me. He gave me a weird look.

"Why are you talking to air?"

I ignored his question. I found myself doing that often to Percy. It wasn't like I hated him or anything, but I had to let everything take its natural course of how things are supposed to go in this world. And that meant pretending I didn't hear things occasionally.

"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" Annabeth asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized with a Yankees cap in her hand. Percy paused for a moment, gaping at that fact she had been invisible, but quickly forgot about his surprise, growing anger evident on his face.

"You set me up. You put me there because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out," he bit out.

Annabeth dismissed his irritation. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan." I might've given a little grunt at that. I appreciated the Athena kids because they're really earnest, hard-driven, goal oriented demigods who, for the most part, succeed because of their plans. However they had a habit leaving people out of the loop so that their plans could work perfectly. Even though we all knew that the results would justify the intentions, it was still annoying. Since the conversation was going the way it's supposed to, I slowly turned the other way and tried to get away from the creek while Percy-boy was still venting.

"A plan to get me pulverized. And you!"

My foot froze midair and I glanced over my shoulder. I pointed to myself in disbelief.

"Me?"

"Yes, you! Jade! You were just hiding in that tree when Clarisse and her crazy siblings were smashing me!" Percy even stomped a foot down to show his frustration. Water splashed and sprayed at my feet.

Annabeth defended me. "I wanted it to appear that you were alone, so Clarisse would go after you. That's why Jade stayed out of sight. Besides, I came as fast as I could, but...you didn't need my help. Or Jade's help either."

"Good job going against Clarisse," I complimented. I only threw that out there because an agitated Percy was making me feel even more nervous. I wasn't supposed to be around in this moment. I think I only said that to placate myself.

Come on, hellhound, any second now.

"Is that a sword cut?"

"What do you think?" Percy sarcastically replied.

Annabeth frowned. "No. It was a sword cut. Look at it now." The three of us watched Percy's injury disappear without a trace of blood. The long red line on his arm vanished and a new white skin appeared in its stead. Even the white was fading, and within a few more seconds, there was no trace of a sword cut.

I whistled. Self-healing.

I'd kill for that.

Well. Not kill, but enough to make me consider it.

Percy's eyes grew large and started stammering at his confusion while holding his arm at a distance as though it was growing feathers. The clamor of campers celebrating went unnoticed as Annabeth set her mind to the first clue about Percy's godly parentage.

"Step out of the water, Percy." Even I could see the thinking gears turning in Annabeth's head.

"Wh-what?" His eyes were so unfocused and glazed that I was getting impatient. I took his shield arm and yanked him, somewhat gently, out of the creek. Suddenly, Percy's knees buckled and his arm grew slack. He would've face planted if I hadn't stepped forward as a support, which was strange. He wasn't that tired after the game in the book, was he?

I shifted him carefully, so that I wouldn't accidentally stab him with Katoptris, and had him leaning on my shoulder. Percy was still recovering from the unexpected energy drain when I heard that canine growl again. It was much closer, and Percy's body stiffened, telling me he also heard it.

A low and guttural howl ripped through the forest. The campers' cheering behind us died instantly and Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek.

"Stand ready! My bow!"

Annabeth drew her sword and I cursed. My hands were occupied holding up Percy. My eyes darted around, trying to locate the monster.

About time. Let's get this over with.

Percy saw it before me.

"What is that?" He asked in a faint voice.

On a higher elevation was a black hellhound the size of a rhino with lava-red eyes and a complete set of dagger-sized fangs. The beast was huge. Larger than any other beastly monster I had seen. It looked at me for a moment and then shifted its gaze next to me. To Percy.

At least it got its priority right.

"Hellhound," I breathed.

The oversized monster dog crouched, ready to pounce.

Everyone was frozen, in fear or waiting for Chiron's orders, I didn't know, but Annabeth was the first to make a move. She jumped out in front of us, clutching her sword.

"Jade! Take Percy and run!"

Oh come on, why me.

I hefted Percy and tried to step back, but the hound was fast. Too fast. It leapt over Annabeth's sword and crashed into Percy, forcing the both of us to stumble backwards. The sound of razor-sharp claws ripping through Percy's metal armor screamed in my ear and I yanked my arms free of the baggage, tightening my grip on Katoptris. Campers weren't cheering anymore; they were yelling their heads off in fear.

There were no second thoughts. No thought-out-thinking. Just an automatic, natural instinct in what I had been taught to do at Camp Half-Blood.

To kill Greek monsters.

I twirled Katoptris and with my back to the ground, I stabbed the hellhound's neck.

The monster yelped in pain and released its grip on Percy.

The dagger sunk in and in the back of my head, a part of me recoiled in disgust because I could feel the blade sliding through flesh, but I steeled my fingers on the hilt and pushed the metal further into the hellhound. The planted knife was joined with a cluster of arrows that each made a "thump" sound when it hit the skin. With a grunt I kicked the two-ton monster away with both feet, its body landing heavily to the ground.

I scrambled to my feet, breathing deeply, and held out a hand to help Percy get to his feet. His hand was shaky, but I managed to heave him up. I had gotten away with only a few bruises on my back, but Percy was in worst state. His face lacked color and his eyes were wide-eyed in fright. His armor was shredded. His shirt was damp and covered in a dark liquid substance.

Blood.

I wasn't afraid of a bit of red, but Percy had a lot of blood on him.

I took in a shaky breath.

It had all happened in less than ten seconds. My sleeve felt damp. It wasn't blood, but a syrupy, clear substance. Hellhound drool.

I made a sound of disgust.

Chiron came closer with a bow in his hand. All the good feelings from the game were gone and replaced by an unsettling blanket of fear over the campers.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth exclaimed. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't...they're not supposed to…they could only be..."

Chiron confirmed her suspicion. "Someone summoned it, someone inside camp." And at that, many campers broke out into whispers. How could someone in camp summon something so dangerous? Someone did something dangerous on purpose. Hellhounds of that size weren't simple to conjure. Summoning in general wasn't something campers knew either. And for what reason? Why did it attack Percy? Was it on intentionally targeting him?

Luke came closer. I warily looked at him from the corner of my eye. I could tell he was concerned, but honestly, for what? For Percy? Concerned that his plan wouldn't work? He was still holding the banner, but he could care less about it. Everyone didn't care about the game anymore. I could feel hysteria mounting among the campers. The fact that it entered camp meant that we were no longer safe. They were growing restless, they wanted answers. Someone snapped under the tense atmosphere.

"It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!" Clarisse yelled. I made a sour face at her. I thought she was smarter than that.

"Be quiet, child," Chiron said sharply. Clarisse immediately quieted and retreated into the crowd. I watched the body of the dead hellhound melt until it was nothing more than a shadow on the ground, sinking away. I had to appreciate the convenience of not having to clean up the carcass.

My fingers twitched. I tightened my fists and breathed deeply. My body was still jittery from all the action.

Too many things happening now, but it's not over yet.

Taking advantage of the moment, Annabeth ordered Percy to get into the water. Percy, probably being too tired to argue, complied and I could see the changes once he stepped into the creek. Immediately, his back straightened and his legs weren't so wobbly. Clarity returned to his previously dazed eyes and his wounds were closing.

A bright light flashed for a millisecond and above Percy's head, was a hologram. The same image I had seen on Katoptris about an hour ago.

A three-tipped spear made of green light, spinning and gleaming against the dark.

Some of the campers behind me gasped. We all knew what it meant.

Percy stammered in confusion. He obviously didn't see the light above him.

"Look, I-I don't know why this is...I'm sorry…" he apologized. He apologizes a lot when he's confused, I noted.

Annabeth pointed above his head and Percy followed her finger and froze when he saw it too.

Annabeth murmured something I couldn't catch underneath her breath while Chiron raised his bow to command the attention of all the campers.

"It is determined," Chiron announced. Immediately, campers started kneeling. The Ares cabin took a fraction of a second longer, but soon enough, everyone was on their knees.

"My father?"

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

I kept my head down, but I cringed a little. So dramatic. Not all claimings were like that.