Chapter 27 - Capture the Flag

Red team

"Seriously, what are they thinking?"

Isaac was confused, Thalia picking the Hermes Cabin was understandable but the rest? That was throwing the game away. Even with his natural ability to strategize he had a hard time understanding what plan Thalia had, this wasn't like her, neither was it like Luke.

"It's Lucas'"

"Huh?"

Isaac turned to see his younger half-sister, Annabeth.

"Lucas. The one who joined the camp with me and the others."

"You're saying he is the reason for such a weird line-up?" Seeing Annabeth nod, he continued "So what's his plan?"

"No clue, you wouldn't understand anyway."

Isaac frowned, both slightly insulted and confused.

Annabeth seeing this explained: "He doesn't think like others, whatever goes on in his head only he can understand, it's best to plan for adaptability rather than like traditional games"

"Enough, it doesn't matter whose plan it is or what it is. Thalia made a mistake and I'm not going to let this go, gather a squad of seven and flank right across the river and take their flag. Hepheseus and Demeter Cabins, you spread out around the flag's general area; no one is allowed to pass. Athena Cabin, select two Ares and two from Apollo, you're on scout duty, spread out and scout. The rest move with me, we head down the middle and confront them."

Clarrise wasted no more time, seeing Isaac unable to form a plan. She took the lead and dished out orders, planning to directly confront Thalia and Luke and restore Ares Cabin Honor.

...

Isaac led six others - three from Ares, two from Hephaestus, and one from Apollo - a strong team structured for all scenarios: combat, scouting, and trap detection.

They moved quickly, quietly. Slipping through the undergrowth, scattered skirmishes, sometimes a chase, sometimes a clean fight. The blue team was resisting, but it wasn't an expected pattern.

That tugged at him.

Hermes Cabin was known for stealth, yet he passed multiple clashes with them. It wasn't the usual attacks from the shadow. Recalling Annabeth's warning, he grew curious and uneasy.

When the forest finally opened up, they saw him.

A single figure, relaxed, standing casually in the open, staring at them. Almost like he was waiting. Expecting them.

Isaac, normally calm, found himself unnerved. The game had felt off from the beginning.

They paused at the treeline, eyes scanning the area. Too quiet. Too easy. Where were the traps? The backup?

Whispers followed. The Apollo camper scouted. The Hephaestus pair scanned the terrain for anything unusual, traps or trigger points. An Ares camper tossed a stone into the clearing it bounced, rolled... nothing.

That feeling was tugging at him again.

"Screw it," Isaac muttered through clenched teeth. "We've got numbers. Let's go."

They charged.

The figure still didn't move.

Not until they were nearly on him, then, his head tilted slightly.

And he collapsed.

His body fell backward, motionless.

His head rolled from his shoulders.

They froze.

Someone gasped.

Then the eyes of the fallen head snapped open and screamed, a high and shrill scream, before exploding into colorful confetti and thick smoke.

The clearing vanished into the haze.

Yelling erupted. Panic. Confusion.

From within the fog, a shape moved, darting, weaving. A shadow laughing. Mocking. Silent one second, right behind them the next.

Isaac shouted orders but his squad collapsed, one by one.

When the smoke cleared, Isaac sat dazed on the ground, disarmed. His teammates sprawled around him, similarly defeated. Their weapons gone. The flag untouched.

The figure stood, arms folded, unharmed. In the same spot he originally was.

No one had even seen when he'd reappeared.

Before they could speak, the sound of rapid footsteps made them turn.

Through the trees came a blue team runner; red flag in hand, hair flying, eyes wide with disbelief and adrenaline.

Game over.

...

Blue team

"You're our ace," Thalia had said, calm but serious. "You'll have one shot to slip through. Hermes will draw them out. You just need to get the flag."

She nodded. Not because she believed in herself, but because she didn't want to let Thalia down, let down the trust and expectation Thalia had for her.Or his.

"Target scouts and stragglers," Thalia ordered the Hermes kids. "Hit fast, disappear faster. Make sound, make confusion; let them chase you."

She turned to two Dionysus boys, pale, wild-eyed.

"You know your location," she said. "You'll know when."

They nodded once, then stumbled into the forest, clearly not used to such terrain.

Thalia turned back to her and said, gentler now, "Good luck."

And then she was gone, running with Luke and a small Hermes unit toward the heart of red territory. Hoping to draw Clarrise as a decoy.

She moved under the weight of expectation.

Through brush, beneath leaves. Darting when needed, crawling when forced. Twice she narrowly avoided scouts, saved by the deliberate chaos Hermes kids unleashed. She didn't know if they'd escape capture, only that they had chosen to buy her time.

Eventually, she reached the red base.

Two guards. Alert, but relaxed.

Hephaestus Cabin.

Silena exhaled slowly.

She whispered, voice laced with velvet charm: "Would one of you kindly bring me that flag?"

They blinked.

One moved.

The other frowned, caught in a tug-of-war with something invisible.

Pouring more strength into her voice, she asked, "Would you kindly drop your weapon?"

The first camper returned and handed her the flag. The second dropped their sword.

What she didn't expect was the sword landing on a trap. Its activation snapped both campers out of her control.

She ran.

Alarms shouted through the forest. Thundering boots followed, Clarisse's barked orders growing louder.

The first wave of red campers tried to intercept her, but were ambushed by Hermes scouts. Outnumbered and outmatched, they threw themselves into the fray anyway, buying her seconds.

Clarisse broke through the brush like a battering ram, leading a wall of red.

Unstoppable.

Just before they overtook her, two shadows stepped from behind a tree.

The Dionysus brothers.

They screamed.

Not with rage. But with Madness.

The magic tore through the red team like a storm-shattering formation, sowing confusion. Some screamed. Others attacked their own. A few dropped their weapons and bolted.

Clarisse fought it; sheer will burning in her eyes, but her team clung to her, holding her back.

She burst into the blue team's territory.

Ahead, the blue flag.

And nearby, he was there.

Lucas.

Watching a semicircle of red prisoners, seated, disarmed, dazed.

She drove the red flag into the earth beside the blue one, gasping for breath.

The horn blew.

Chiron's voice echoed from the woods: "Blue team wins!"

She doubled over, chest heaving then straightened, wearing a grin that would shame the Cheshire Cat.

Lucas offered her a deep, theatrical bow.

Then, with a puff of silver mist, he vanished.

Blue team erupted, surrounding her, cheering.

Aphrodite Cabin hadn't just participated.

Tonight, they'd won it.

Thalia pushed through the crowd, grinning wide, and clapped her on the back.

"Well done" she said.

Silena couldn't stop smiling.