we capture a flag

It was time for capture the flag. The Zeus cabin allied itself with the Athena, Hephaestus and Hermes cabin, united under the Athena banner. The two Zeus cabin members were stationed as one of their attack teams. They waited for the conch horn to sound and got into a little conversation, "so… what is it like?"

"What is what like?", Thalia asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Being born so powerful. I mean, I know all demigods are stronger than mortals but as a big three kid, you are so much stronger than any other demigod I personally know. Heck, Wulfgang is a son of Herakles and you beat him like that", It was so unfair. He had a system, a literal cheat and yet he was nowhere as strong as Thalia.

"Guess I never thought about it like that… it isn't just fun and games though, my scent is way stronger than yours. I have to be this strong to even have a chance at survival. You have seen what kind of a horde of monsters was after me when I was turned into a tree. Not as fun as it sounds, believe me", she recounted, swinging her sword lazily in the air.

"Yeah, that must be hard", he nodded thoughtfully, "hey, I was thinking when we attack, I could fly us over to-"

"No!"

"Huh?"

"I mean… I don't think that is a good idea", Thalia swallowed, she looked tense, her face contorted into a frown. He looked at her puzzled. What had gotten into her? He noticed that every time he offered her to fly with him, she declined. Gears were turning in his head, before it finally clicked.

"Do you, by any chance, happen to be afraid of heights?"

"I- no- I- I'm not scared", she lied, badly.

"Come on, it isn't that bad, I am just a little surprised, y'know? A daughter of Zeus, afraid to be in the sky, hehe", he chuckled, watching her face turn bright red in embarrassment.

"Let's just win this"

The sound came, signaling the beginning of the games. Thalia forgot her embarrassment as the two rushed into enemy territory. Border patrol were two brutish looking Ares kids, "I'll take the right, you take the left"

Alexander swung at the Ares cabin kid, overwhelming him with quick slashes and stabs. With every passing second, more and more cuts appeared on the boy and as he counter attacked, he couldn't even pierce his orange camp half blood shirt, firing was his armor, just in a different form but just as resilient as celestial bronze. With one final strike, he knocked out the boy. The duo proceeded to further advance and strike down one camper after the other. Together they were unstoppable. They were some of the best swordfighters in camp. With Percy and Luke gone, they were unstoppable. They quickly found the flag, it was guarded by clarisse and four other campers. They hadn't spotted them yet, "okay, you distract them whilst I swoop from above and fly their flag away", he whispered into her ear before muttering out, "anemo"

His wings appeared and he flew high above them, waiting for his chance the strike.

Thalia charged in, battling Clarisse and two other, less experienced campers, whilst another strike team charged the remaining guards. Seeing his opportunity, he swooped down and snatched the flag. Clarisse saw him and shouted, "someone, stop snowbreath!"

Immediately, from somewhere which he couldn't see, arrows flew at him but he weaved through them, getting farther and father away. It was obvious that whoever was shooting had never tried hitting a moving target, so used to the stationary targets in the archery range. He flew over the border and touched down on their side of the forest, the crimson red flag with a boar's head on it changed to an electric blue with an eagle on it.

Chiron sounded the horn and the game was officially over. His teammates carried him off to a victory lap towards the dining pavilion.

There, they sat him down.

"Good work, Alex", Thalia said, planting a kiss on his cheek. Warmth rose through his body and he could feel a spark where her lips had touched his skin, though he didn't know whether that was a normal spark or one enhanced by Thalia being a daughter of Zeus.

"Awww~ they are so cute together", one of the Aphrodite cabin kids cooed.

The nymphs looked on with jealousy.

Alexander wasn't embarrassed, Gamers mind cancelling that reaction out, instead, he was grinning ear to ear.

Chiron had a small smile on his face and even Mr D thought it was cute, though of course, he would never admit that. On the outside, he was still the same grumpy god as ever.

The winning team celebrated that night, toasting to the Zeus cabin in honor of Alexander.

After dinner, they went to the campfire sing along. The atmosphere was warm and full of joy. Even those who had lost couldn't help but sing along, laugh and chat. After the worrisome period where the tree had been poisoned, this era of relative peace was welcomed and appreciated.