The teams were announced. Athena had allied with the Apollo and Hermes cabins—the two biggest at camp. Apparently, they'd traded privileges like shower times, chore schedules, and the best activity slots to secure their support. While our opponents are everybody else. The Ares cabin allied themselves with the others, Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus rounded out the rest of the teams. There are only two kids for Dionysus; from what I've seen of them, they are decent fighters.
Aphrodite, I shouldn't worry about them too much. While of course being mortal, they are very dangerous to me, but for the other demigods, they aren't exactly the warrior type. Though I still have to be careful, if I were to encounter one. Demeter, they have natural abilities, but from what I've seen, they rely on their powers rather than brute force. Hephaestus are the one I'm worried about, there may be four of them, but Beckendorf and his siblings were big and looked like they could squeeze me to paste.
But the biggest problem of them all is definitely the Ares children. Their father is the god of war, and their close-range combat ability is strong. I learned firsthand that they are brutal and strong. They are definitely the biggest challenge of them all.
Chiron hammered his hoof against the marble.
"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be clearly displayed and guarded by no more than two campers. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming. I will act as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
He spread his hands, and in an instant the tables were covered with equipment—helmets, bronze swords, spears, and oxhide shields plated in metal.
I eyed it, the weapons. I kind of want to use the spear, but pretty much all of them are celestial bronze, and I couldn't grab it no matter how hard I tried. I equipped myself with some light leather armour while everyone else wore celestial bronze armour pieces and helmets. I then put on a rather worn steel helmet that has a slightly different design that everyone else. Unlike their bronze helmet with blue mohawk hair, mine was a rusted metal steel helmet with a blue feather on top.
I can hear some of my teammates laughing at me. I was annoyed, but what can you do? I can't wield any celestial bronze, but I can use that to my advantage. The Ares cabin was wearing the same helmet, only their mohawk was colored red. Annabeth yelled forward, and we shouted manly as we followed her south of the woods.
The red team shouted taunts at us as they headed to the north side. As we walked, I started forming plans and strategies in my head. Okay, when it comes to numbers, we got it by a good amount. We also have Luke and Annabeth. We got the Apollo kids at our side who can heal or shoot projectiles expertly. And the Hermes cabin is all-arounders, while Athena handles the brain.
Our opponents, on the other hand, have raw power thanks to the area cabin, with everyone else being a decent threat but not the one I'm worried about. Overall, our team is stacked, and we have a good chance of winning if we play it smart. But what could Percy and I provide? Percy is pretty strong and has the talent of a swordsman. According to Luke, I, on the other hand, am a fragile mortal. I may have nicked and punched Clarisse; there were a lot of factors that caused that to be the case.
While they could probably still underestimate me, my performance in fighting Clarisse might keep them on their toes and more focused. But one advantage I do have is my conditional invulnerability. I might not be able to wield celestial bronze, but any attacks made by will simply pass through me like a ghost. Melee attacks like punches and kicks can still harm me, but I could still use them to my advantage. I was eager to fight and prove myself. Only for Annabeth to station Percy and me by the creek to guard and keep any reds away.
Meanwhile, everybody else is charging forward to fight and probably have epic battles, while Percy and I stood by the creek like a couple of dunces.
"Dude, what the heck?" I sit, dropping my shield as I sit on the grass.
"What is it?"
"They get to have fun and actually have an epic fight like it's a movie. Us? Guard duty."
"Could be worse."
I very much doubt that Percy. He's taken his helmet, sword and shield down. And just stretches. After a couple of minutes doing nothing, he starts...doing something. He planted his feet, raised his arms, and started swinging them stiffly back and forth across his body while his hips moved in the opposite direction. Then he switched sides, trying to keep rhythm.
"What-? What are you doing?"
"Just doing a dance move I saw online, I heard it was floss or something like that."
"Well, stop it, it's giving me an aneurysm, and I have no clue why."
But he didn't stop, he just kept on dancing. I felt my stomach twist, and a part of me wanted to rip the eyeballs from my sockets. But then, for what I can only describe as a demon possessing me, I stood up and started to do...the floss thing with him. It took me a couple of tries, but I eventually matched Percy's move.
"I can't believe I'm doing this...this is really what I'm doing after training my butt off, is this really my life now?"
"I can believe it." Says Percy, not even looking at me.
"...Okay, I see how it is, #####."
"Prōktós." He fired back immediately.
"I know what that means, you're not slick Jackson."
"I was hoping you knew."
Okay, looks like Prissy wants a fight. Okay, fine. Percy had the same idea as both glare at each other and size each other up. But then Percy stops, blinking before rushing back to equip his shield, helmet and sword.
"What happened?" I whispered.
"Someone is here!" He hissed.
I unsheathed my sword and grabbed my shield. Percy and I look around, back to back. I couldn't see anything, but he's a demigod and has better senses than I do. Then we heard footsteps, and we whipped around to see Clarisse, along with four other Ares demigods, approaching us, walking with confidence.
"There you are..." Clarisse let out a bloodthirsty grin. "It's time for payback, both of you."
Percy and I look at each other with concern. This was bad. Terrible actually.
"Cream the punks."
The four Ares kids howled in delight as they charged at us. Percy tried to get in front of me, but Clarisse was thrusting her spear, which collided with Percy's shield. But Percy yelped as Percy was zapped by red lightning coming out of Clarisse's spear. Oh, great, she has a magical weapon too, fantastic. One Ares demigod slashed at me, and I allowed the blade to pass me through as I raised my sword.
"Wait, what in Hades-"
It was too late as I hit him with the butt of my sword; his helmet protected him, but it made him lose his balance, and he fell into the creek. Before I could turn around, someone kicked me, causing me to fall to the ground.
"He's mortal, celestial bronze won't hit, but my fists are free game!" I whipped around to find one of the Ares kids, who cracked his knuckles before throwing a punch.
I rolled away and got up the floor. I tried to swipe at him, but he backed away. He had a savage, brutal grin like Clarisse had. Speaking of the Ares girl, she, as well as two of her siblings, jumped at Percy. Percy, to his credit, is actually holding his ground despite being ganged upon by three opponents.
I looked at my opponents. One guy who I thought knocked out earlier got back up, with a furious face, aiming his spear at me. The other was the dude who kicked my back and nearly clocked me with his fist. This was bad; my eyes briefly looked at Percy. He was indeed holding his own, but I know that wouldn't last long.
I got to help him, but first take these two stooges out. I backed up to the creek, feeling my legs become soaked with water. They followed me, ready to pounce. They stepped near the creek, my eyes drawn to where their foot were, and they were on wet mud. I moved to my right, and they followed me, but it was fake as I immediately went to the other side, and they followed me again, only this time, their foot slipped on the wet mud, sending their butts to the ground.
I use their stunned state to rush at them and swing my sword. But since I didn't want any trouble, I used the flatside of my blade, using it as a baseball bat to whack one of them on the head. Even if protected by the helmet, it made the demigod fell face-first in the mud. I wanted to double-tap to make sure he doesn't get back up, so I started stomping on his back.
"Get off him!" The other guy finally stood up, their pants covered in mud.
I stopped and blocked with my shield just in time as he performed a spartan kick at me. While I blocked it, the power of the attack sent me crashing back. There was a splash around me as my back collided with the shallow water. It didn't hurt too much, as I quickly got back, but they were already on me, grabbing both of my wrists and squeezing. I yell in pain from the pressure.
"You, slippery mortal worm. You think you could match a child of Ares!? Don't make me laugh!"
He squeezed even harder, making me lose grip on my sword.
"Clay!" I see in the corner of my vision, Percy crying out in concern.
But it distracted him as Clarisse grabbed Percy's hair, causing him to yell with an impressive amount of strength, shoving Percy, crashing to the creek and into the water near me.
"No!"
"Worry about yourself!" The pressure on my wrist increases any more, my wrist might actually snap.
I glared at the Ares camper, who glared back with a nasty grin.
"Look, the flag is that way! Just leave us alone!" I say, hoping that would leave us alone.
Clarisse and his siblings laugh as they step into the creek, just as Percy groans, getting back up using his sword as a crutch.
"You think we care about the flag, Morty-Boy? No, I'm going to make you and Prissy suffer!" She says menacingly, her spear sparking up with red lightning again.
Percy got back up, looking refreshed and clean for somebody who was getting manhandled. He looks to me and starts running to get the guy off of me, but one of them swings at Percy, forcing him to roll to the side. He was surrounded, with no shield and only his sword.
"Come on, Prissy, show me what you got." One of them jeered, pretending to charge, which made Percy flinch; they laughed once he did.
Percy glared hard. "I'm going to send you crying back to your dad!" Percy charged at the same time as them.
Percy moved to the side just when one of them tried to stab him. Percy then punched him in the gut before kicking him away. He jumped back as Clarrise tried to swipe at him with her spear. The second one charged, but Percy intercepted her weapon, disarming her before using the butt of his sword to hit the Ares girl's temple. He was doing surprisingly well, but I still need to help him.
I looked back at the camper holding me.
"Hey, are you a guy?"
He scoffed.
"Of course I am-"
I interrupted him by kneeing his groin. His grip loosened, but he didn't let go of me, so I kneed him at the same place five more times, and he let go, groaning while holding his nuts.
"I hope you're planning to have kids in the future!" Then again, I don't have to worry about that; the dude's face already done my job for me.
I then punched him in the chin, a part of the helmet which was unguarded. As hard as I could, I made him stumble before falling back, groaning. I had to shake my finger. Punching a demigod's tough body feels like punching concrete. Percy was actually overpowering Clarisse, making her go on the back foot as Percy swung his sword, with Clarisse blocking it.
I noticed an Ares demigod sneaking up on him, sword in hand. The other was knocked unconscious earlier, but this one was awake and ready to deal some damage. I grabbed my sword and shield and rushed up to the sneaking guy, who noticed my splashing. But it was too late as I jumped and slammed the pomel on his head.
And for good measure, while he's down kicked his nuts.
Is it a manly? No.
Am I being a proper warrior for doing this? No.
Am I winning? Yes.
I dropped my sword and grabbed my shield with my hands on the edge.
"Heads up!"
I then threw my shield like a Frisbee at Percy. It was made out of light metal, so it flew high. Percy jumped and caught it in mid-air. Before using it, parry Clarisse's spear. And before she could bring it back, Percy, with a mighty should, cleaved the spear, breaking it in half.
"Ah!" Clarisse screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"
Clarisse would have shouted worse names for Percy if he hadn't slammed the pommel of his sword right into Clarisse's face, which sent her stumbling backwards out of the creek. We both just breathed heavily as the Ares demigods groaned.
"My children..." One of them said.
"With that face? You can forget it." Percy gasped out between breaths.
Ha! Knew it. We both looked at each other, we walked forward and slapped our palms together in a high-five.
"Nice moves, Jackson!"
"You're not bad yourself, Brandon!"
We both grinned at each other. I looked at the groaning campers and felt an immense amount of satisfaction. I may not have beaten them in a clean way, but a win is a win. And me, Percy and I just beat Clarisse and her henchmen while being inexperienced and outnumbered. Our training paid off.
Then I heard shouting—excited screams—and saw Luke sprinting toward the boundary line with the red team's banner held high. Two Hermes campers ran beside him, covering his escape, while a handful of Apollo kids behind them held off the Hephaestus cabin.
The Ares campers scrambled to their feet. Clarisse blinked, stunned, then muttered a curse.
"A trick!" she yelled. "It was a trick!"
Luke dashed into friendly territory, and our side erupted in cheers. The red banner shimmered, then transformed into silver. The boar and spear faded away, replaced by a large caduceus—the symbol of Cabin Eleven.
Everyone on the blue team lifted Luke up and carried him around on their shoulders. Chiron trotted out of the woods and blew the conch horn. Percy couldn't contain his grin slapped me hard on the back. I playfully shoved him; I couldn't contain my smile either. We won, and dang, I had a lot of fun.
"Not bad."
We heard Annabeth's voice from behind us, but we didn't see anything aside from empty air. Percy and I look at each other in confusion. Had the adrenaline of the fight caused us to hear voices?
"I didn't think you two would last long, much less beat Clarisse and her squad." Annabeth's voice called out again.
The voice came in front of us, but there was literally nothing there aside from empty air. Then that empty air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head. I blinked, a magical item that turns people invisible. Well, thank goodness a girl is using it, not a dude. Percy, beside me, glares at her.
"You set us up; we were bait for Clairsse. You know she was going to come after us!"
"And it worked." Annabeth shrugged with that infuriating smug smile.
"Would it have killed you to help?" I say, crossing my arms.
She rolls her eyes, "Don't be a baby, you handled it pretty well for someone who isn't a demigod. Besides, I wasn't here the whole time. I pretty much sprinted to get here, but by then, you were making sure those kids don't have children in the future."
My cheeks flush, and I rub my hair, a little embarrassed. Annabeth's eyes shifted to Percy and squinted.
"You look relatively unharmed for someone who got ganged up on. The mortal here looks like he has a couple of bruises; you, on the other hand, are unscratched."
Percy raised a brow. "Are you blind? You don't see my cut here?" He says, pointing at his cheek, which made me question his sanity.
"Uh, what cut are you talking about, Percy?"
He looked at me like I was crazy.
"What do you mean, it's-?" He poked at his cheeks only to spot and remove his hand before looking at his fingertips.
He scratches and pokes his cheeks again and checks his fingers as if trying to find a mark of blood.
"What, but I could have sworn-"
Annabeth's eyes squint even more. "Step out of the water, Percy."
"Huh? Why?"
"Just do it."
Percy gives me a look, and I just shrug. Percy did step out of the water, and I followed behind him. As soon as Percy reached land, he suddenly collapsed, but before he could fall, I caught him.
"H-Hey!" I cried out in alarm.
"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want... I assumed it would be Zeus..."
"What!? What are you talking about!?"
Then I heard a growl, it sounded like a dog, but it sounded far more menacing and bloodthirsty. I turned to face where the sound came from, and there on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers. And it was looking at us-no, it was staring right at Percy. Annabeth drew her weapon, and I could hear campers shouting.
It pounced, it was fast, way too fast. I threw Percy at Annabeth and rushed in, raising my shield, but with one swipe, I was sent skipping at the water like a stone. I hissed as my elbows and arms received cuts from being dragged by objects like rocks and branches underneath the water. I pushed the pain as my friend was in danger, but luckily, I didn't have to do anything as the beast was covered in arrows. It lay dead, before vanishing into a golden light.
I coughed as I ran to Percy, who had Annabeth supporting him. I asked if he was okay, and he said he was, though I could clearly see him shake a little bit. Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.
"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... they're not supposed to..."
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."
Luke quickly ran over his sword, tightly wielded. He touched my shoulder with a concerned expression on his face.
"You alright?"
I was exhausted, but I gave him a thumbs-up. Annabeth shakes her head to get focused and tosses Percy into the water.
"Hey, that's not how you treat-"
"Shush!" Annabeth said, not even looking at me, instead at Percy, who rose out of the water looking confused and annoyed.
"Annabeth, what the heck was that for-" He tries to say, but then he notices something, he was looking at his hands, opening and closing them.
Wait, but just earlier, he was so exhausted he couldn't even walk without support. In fact, he's much healthier now. But then it happened, something appeared on Percy's head. It was a green hologram of a three-tipped spear, a trident. I was confused until it hit me even harder when Clairsse stomped on my face.
"Percy's dad is..." I started to say.
"It is determined," Chiron announced.
All around Percy, campers started kneeling — even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. Annabeth literally pulled me to bow with her.
"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, son of the sea god."
I looked at Percy's bewildered sea-green eyes. As my mouth opens agape. I remembered Thalia's story, and my face became pale. My best friend is a forbidden child of one of the big three gods.