Young Writers Society

Ben Richard- Son of Apollo- Capture The Flag- Red Team

I watched as the dark clouds rolled in and I shivered slightly as the hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge. Even the breeze seemed to contain an electrical presence to it. I hoped it wasn't going to rain.

Laila and I had stopped and I rested against a dry, slightly rotted tree trunk. I leaned back my head against the soft moss like it was a pillow as I sat with my arms wrapped around my legs, my chin propped up by the backs of my hands. I was sore from my fight with the Ares girl and I knew there were going to be bruises from where she had kicked me.

"Are you alright, Ben?" Laila asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just need a breather," I sighed, pushing a strand of brown wavy hair away from my eyes. I was sweaty and the electricity in the air made things even more humid.

After awhile, I stood up and stretched. It was not good to stay in one place for too long in the woods, it gives prey more time to find out where you are and predators a sense of where they should hunt.

"Let's keep moving Laila,"

"Fine, and thanks for staying by me Ben, to tell you the truth I was nervous about capture the flag, but with you here it almost feels like nothing can get in our way of the flag," she smiled slightly then looked away and started walking again.

I was surprised, I think that was the longest sentence I had ever heard come out of her mouth. I just smiled and shook my head, slowly returning to my position slightly behind her. I am making so many new friends at camp.

I loved the forest, there was just something about it that calmed me. But that calmness was shattered as I heard the sounds of yelling come from infront of us. Something was wrong. I quickly started running towards the source of the noise, ignoring any and all rules of staying quite.

When I reached the source I stopped dead in my tracks, my bare feet stinging from the small wooden splinters buried deep. It took a few seconds for my mind to register what I was looking at. But when I realized it my heart dropped.

Daemon kneeled beside a boy who looked fine at first but as I slowly walked closer to them I noticed that he was not fine.

"Daemon!" I yelled as I started jogging over.

Daemon looked up, his face full of panic, his eyes wide.

"Ben, I- he- we were- it was an acciden-"

I cut him off. "It doesn't matter now, we need to get this kid out of here, now."

I may not be as gifted with medicine and healing as some of the other Apollo kids, but even I know when somethings wrong. The kids whole body was flushed pale, like whiter than Daemon pale, yeah, that pale. And when I opened his eyelids, his eyes were rolled into the back of his head. He was barely breathing and his heart fluttered in an off beat, erratic pattern.

I turned around as Laila came jogging up to us, her eyes filled with concern. "Laila, I need you to go find some herbs and bring them to me, now," I said as I started listing off herbs for her to collect.

I groaned inwardly, I had no idea if I had even listed the right herbs, but right now, this kids doesn't have time to be brought back to camp without immediate attention first.

After a few minutes of me checking the boys pulse and trying to calm Daemon down, Laila came back with the herbs, I just hope I described what they looked like vividly enough or if she had even grabbed the right ones.

I grabbed a bottle of water from Laila as she took out of her backpack, crushing up the herbs with my hands and pouring them in at the time.

I then swirled them around and doing something I hoped I wouldn't of had to do infront of anyone, I started heating up the concoction. I felt a warm tingling start in my shoulders and slowly travel down my arms, towards my hands, it felt so good. I watched as an orange flame slowly overlapped the edges of the metal bottle as it sat in my cupped hands. The metal starting to glow a bright orange until the insides boiled.

I didn't even wait to see the others reaction as I started pouring it into the boys mouth, hoping he would swallow it. Luckily enough he did and I started to slowly see color return to his cheeks, but his breathing was still erratic. At least now Daemon has enough time to bring him to the camp to get some real treatment.

I watched as Daemon started slowly make his way back to the camp with the boys arm wrapped around his shoulder, I wanted to help him, but I knew right now, Daemon wouldn't want the company of anybody .

I looked at Laila and sighed, almost laughing with relief. "Well, that was... exciting,"

She just looked at me and shook her head. "What was that..."

I knew she was talking about my power but I didn't want to talk about it. "It's nothing, now lets just move on,"

I hoped I wasn't too blunt with her as I got up and started walking again, avoiding her eyes. Besides I bet even she has secrets she wouldn't want to share with me.

As we started walking again towards what I hoped was the right direction, I noticed something in the woods, was it another someone on my team or an enemy?

Ness Derack - Posiedon

"Do you have a plan or not?" I looked between Aiden and the girl. Wow, someone's pushy. "You don't, do you? What kind of leaders do you think you are?"

"Well, I guess we could--" I started.

"No guessing," she snap. "I need definite answers." The conch horn blew right then, signaling the start of the match, "Now preferably. We don't have much time." She glares at me and I raise my hands in defense.

I walk about, at first telling people where they should go, but then shouting random orders as I noticed Lexi reassigning everyone anyway. I even told one guy to stab a tree until he saw us coming with the flag. I mean, why not, that Ares chick was just gonna come buy and tell him to go fight or something.

"I'll leave you with everyone else. Divide them up between border patrol and defense, got it? I'm going to find that flag." She said, running off.

"Oh yeah, no problem. I'll just be here leading everyone," I looked around at all the campers staring at me, "On second thought, you guys spread out and attack anything that gets near you."

After a few nods of the head they were off. I looked up at the sky and pursed my lips. My my, Zeus must be having a bad day. There were clouds grumbling as if lighting would come flying out at any moment. I smirked, I'd love for lighting to show up out of no where. Suddenly, two of the Demeter kids popped out infront of me, hey, a girl works too.

"Where have you guys been?" I asked, "Nevermind. I need you guys at the flag. We've been so low on people today! "

"Yes sir," the girl, Maya, I think, said.

I turned my head to the sky, the heavy clouds roaring above, "You guys had better get to your posts." Before they turned to leave I added, "Oh, and welcome back, Maya."

She smiled at me and I returned the look. Isn't she adorable, I looked between them, We'll get trampled if I let them guard the flag on their own.

We set off towards the flag and took up our positions. Oddly enough, Aiden wasn't anywhere near me anymore, which both worried and surprised me. Everything was eerily quiet, and I hated the silence. I looked toward the sky once more, wondering if the clouds were getting ready to fall with the weight of the water in them. Don't ask how I knew that.

I looked back at the Demeter kids and smiled, Why not show them why you're leader?

I walked between them and said, "You guys wanna see something cool?"

I pulled out my trident and pointed it at the sky, focusing all my energy into the godly weapon. It began to glow as I found my target and soon enough, drips of water began touching the dirt. It was slow at first, but after a few seconds, it was pouring over the entire wood, maybe even the camp if I was lucky.

I turned back to the Demeter kids, who didn't look very happy about being soaked. Now that I thought about it, wouldn't this mess with their crops or something? Ah well, all in the spirit of the game.

I giggled, "Heh, sorry guys."

They waved me off and I looked out into the woods. Now no one would be able to come near the blue flag. As long as I was surrounded by water, no one would be able to get past me. It's not like the water could weigh my clothes down. Now hopefully mother nature didn't decide to screw with me and make it bright and sunny out of nowhere.

I sheathed my trident and pulled out my blade, ready now to wait for anyone to show up. That's when I saw the first lighting strike the center of the forest.

Laila- Hermes
Capture the Flag

The whole night had taken a weird twist, right from the moment I'd stepped into the forest. Or maybe, that was how the game was. I wouldn't know, so there.

Everything was going fine, well fine according to my books anyway up until Ben decided to sneak up from behind me.

Lucky for me, I heard his breathing. I turned swiftly and struck my dagger in his stomach. But he caught my wrist before I could push it in. That didn't mean I didn't hurt him. I did draw a little blood from his stomach. Served him right for creeping up on me.

He'd heard my grumbling? Oh snap. I blushed and looked away. This was going to be one awkward walk. I thought he'd leave my side and go fight some blue team members, but no, he stayed by my side and even promised to have my back if something happened. People made everything so difficult.

He tried talking to me, but I kept the conversation short. I was so not good at talking to people. Why didn't he get that?
We crossed a river. Suddenly, I heard a little cry. Turning around I saw a girl was fighting Ben. I stepped forward to help him but he told me to move forward.

I walked among the trees.I was doing a good job, hiding myself from others. I didn't want to harm anyone, especially since I was new to this camp. I didn't want to make any enemies. But of course, I did do things like stealing their daggers or swords and throwing it away, so they couldn't attack anyone.
One particular guy was being too vigilant, looking from side to side, searching for potential danger. I stood among the shadows and watched him. And sure enough, he turned and saw me. He was a little startled at first, but then charged straight for me.

Uh oh. I put my hands up in a peace sign and said, "I don't want to hurt anyone!"
If he heard me, he didn't say anything, just charged forward and nicked my elbow, That was it. I took my dagger and struck his legs. He fell forward. I din't strike too deep, but deep enough so that he wouldn't be able to run. I picked up his sword and threw it among some bushes. Muttering an apology, I walked forward. Soon, Ben caught up with me and I didn't question him about his fight.

After a little while, things got a little comfortable with Ben. No one had attacked us and he didn't try talking to me anymore. Good. I enjoyed silence. We stopped, just as dark clouds and lightning struck the sky. Ben leaned up against a tree. He looked drained. I hoped it wasn't because of my cut.
"Are you alright Ben?" I asked.
"Yeah, I just need a breather."
I looked relieved and before I could stop myself, I thanked him for accompanying me and keeping me safe. Realizing what I'd said, I turned my head away and smiled lightly. Beside me, Ben shook his head and we resumed our march.

It wasn't a while later that I saw Daemon leaning over a kid, with a panicked look on his face. Something was very, very wrong. The kid didn't look right. He looked almost..dead. I felt nauseous, but Ben was already on the move. He asked me to go look for certain herbs and bring it to him. I didn't understand. Oh! Ben was the son of Apollo. Of course, he knew how to heal. I collected the herbs he'd asked and gave it to him along with water.

What happened next was so bizarre. As Ben mixed the herbs and the water, an orange flame or something glowed in his hands as he held the metal bottle in his hands.
Fire. He could control fire. I stared at him with my mouth open. Ben gave the dying boy a sip of the concoction and colour returned his cheeks. What? Daemon slumped down in relief and carried the boy back to the camp.

My mind was still digesting the fact that this guy could control fire. How was that possible? I wanted to ask him what on earth that was, but he just shook his head and walked ahead. I watched his wavy hair bouncing with every step and walked with him. I was stung by his refusal to talk especially because it was I who wanted to talk to him and not the other way round.

But he didn't want to. OH well, it was his secret. It wasn't like I was his best friend or anything.

We walked a little and I suddenly stopped. I could hear voices a bit ahead of me. I pulled Ben with me and pushed him against a tree, shushing him with my hands. I told him to stay there and quietly crept up behind a nearby tree and peeked. And there it was, the mighty blue flag! Ha! Only three people guarding them. I wanted to go right there and snatch it from there as the three were busy talking. Lightning struck and I cringed a little. I heard slow breathing behind me and saw that Ben had followed me. I glared at him. His expression said, What are you gonna do about it? I sighed and pointed towards the flag.

His expression darkened and he whispered in my ear, "That's Ness, son of Poseidon. He's surrounded by water. There's no way we can retrieve that flag."
I took in a shaky breath and looked over to them again. I was really sure I could snatch the flag if I was stealthy enough. I leaned towards Ben and whispered in his ear, "I can take the flag, but I need you to distract them."
He was silent for a long time and then nodded.
Another flash of lightning. I told him to wait till I gave him the signal to make a move.
A rush of adrenalin coursed through me as I inched closer and closer to the enemy.

Harlow Van Halen - Daughter of Athena
Capture The Flag - Blue Team
Monday night

After the red moon incident, Harlow and some of the other senior counselors did their best to wrestle, hoard, and shove the campers back into their cabins for bed. It was a big hassle, as it always is when kids refuse to leave a party.

Finally, Harlow managed to get all of her siblings back inside Cabin Six and closed the door, then idly shoved a desk covered in maps aside.

"Lights out! Yes, you too, Barbara! You can work on the Big House remodeling blue prints tomorrow. Anyways, we've got Capture The Flag tomorrow so get some rest. You'll need it."

They bustled around the cabin, using the restroom, changing into pajamas, and quite a few times, Harlow had to drag the younger ones away from the Lego blocks in the corner. They all eventually settled into their beds and Harlow turned a fan on, then shut the lights off.

It was silent for a moment, then she heard some shuffling around. Their newest addition to the family, Audrey, had gotten out of bed and moved to kneel beside her single bunk.

"Harlow, what was the red moon all about? Are we gonna die?" She whispered, her tone frightened.

"Hmm? Oh, that.. I don't know what it was, Audrey, but you're safe. Trust me, nothing can hurt you here." Harlow murmured to her, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. "Alright, go back to bed."

Audrey gave her a small smile and nodded, then went back to her bunk.

Harlow settled back into her bed and closed her eyes, the memory of the moon burning behind her eyelids. No, she didn't want to think about the incident, or Rand, or Abri, or anything. She just wanted to..

~*~*~*~*

Tuesday

"Harlow, wake up! Daemon's cat had kittens!"

She was awakened by a large hand, grasping her shoulder and shaking her back and forth roughly. She opened her blue-green eyes, blinking tiredly and clearing her vision to see her brother smiling down at her.

"Adrian, what are you talking about? Daemon doesn't like cats. Daemon doesn't like anyone." She grumbled in exhaustion.

"Well, apparently he does. There's a whole litter of kittens! Seven, I reckon.. C'mon!" He yanked Harlow out of bed and shamelessly went through her drawers, making Harlow yelp in surprise. He grabbed up another Camp Half-Blood orange t-shirt and tossed it to her, then a pair of blue skinny jeans. He grabbed one of her white bras, a pair of socks, and threw those at her, then stomped out of the cabin.

Harlow stared after her brother in shock, then sighed and looked around. She was alone in the cabin, so she slid off her teal nightgown and dressed quickly, then used the restroom and brushed her teeth. After lacing up her black boots and putting her hair into a ponytail, she sighed and walked down to the Dionysius cabin, feeling gross and in need of a shower.

She was surprised to see many campers inside the wine god's house, especially since his son was rather.. antisocial, to put it nicely. Harlow slipped through the open door and moved through the crowd to smile at Daemon, who was sitting on his bed and glowering angrily around the room.

"Congrats." She said softly. He grunted, which she took as a response, and suddenly junped up. "What is he doing with the youngest one- Put her down!" He yelled, then pushed through the mass of people and was gone.

Harlow spent some time greeting and socializing, playing with the kittens and especially falling for one of the white ones, secretly naming her Winter. She had always wanted a cat and felt a pang of jealousy towards Daemon.

~*~*~*

Harlow had went back to her cabin and showered, feeling a need to be clean, even though she would get dirtied up again after CTF.

Meeting in the Arena, she made her way to the front of the group, her long celestial bronze sword secured in one hand, a shield in the other. She wore her protective armor, which had been blessed by Athena herself, many years ago. It had been passed down from Athena head counselor to counselor, and one day she, too, would pass it on.

"… Athena, with the blue team.."

Damn! Harlow's lips twisted into a frown as she and Rand were on seperate teams. Oh well, no matter, as long as- No! Aphrodite to team red. Ugh, Abri was already giving Rand that look, the one she always used to push over the other campers. She felt a strange happiness as theh bickered for a bit; obviously, they don't get along, ever since Abri had the nerve to play him. To think that a player played the player himself.. It was a bit ironic, and Harlow had hoped that he learned a lesson from it last year, but wasn't sure.

She shook her head, focusing as Chiron dismissed the teams to huddle up. Harlow listened as their team leaders, Poseidon's cabin, nominated Ness as leader without question. He gave off some basic instructions to the newcomers, then ordered them into positions, with Athena kids on border patrol, which they did not like one bit.

"Border patrol! Ness, put someone else on border patrol!" One of the sixth years, James, yelled in anger.

"Yeah!"

"We're children of the goddess of war!"

"Ness, seriously!" Harlow pleaded with her friend, but he wouldn't budge. He dismissed the team and everyone reluctantly dragged tneir feet off to their positions, while the blue flag was hidden.

"Screw this." Harlow muttered under her breath as the horn was blown, then watched as major fights broke out. Her sword drawn, her eyes narrowed, she shifted into warrior mode. As one Apollo guy came at her, she met him, sword against sword, clashing and thrusting until she disarmed him, then spun in the air and flipped her sword. She grasped the handle and knocked him out. "Sorry." She muttered.

All around, she heard Athena kids groaning in frustration as they watched Ares kids make way into the forest, looking for the flag. Harlow reluctantly kept her position, helping fend back people that wandered too close to the location of the flag, when she saw Adrian wander off. "Hey! Adrian, get back here!" She yelled, then nervously looked around for Ness.

It was dangerous to disobey your captain during CTF, but she didn't care. Harlow quickly whispered to James, who nodded and took up guarding both his spot and hers. Harlow ran after her brother, who had disappeared in the woods.

"Adrian! Damn it, Adrian, where are you?" She hissed, having lost him already. She was searching aimlessly when she heard a scream to her right. Harlow whirled around and quickly made her way out of the forest and into a clearing, where she saw Daemon staring in shock at her brother, who was lying on the ground. His face was abnormally pale, breathing irregularly, his leg crumbled behind him in an unnatural way.

"What did you do?" Harlow whispered, pointing her sword at Daemon as he turned to gaze at her. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

A few people started to show up, Laila and a few Apollo kids. Then Ben, who immediately ran towards Adrian and started to do some weird healing stuff. Something with fire, which was odd, considering he was a son of Apollo and not of Hephaestus, but Harlow didn't care. She was too busy keeping Daemon still, the tip of her sword to his chest, eyes flashing dangerously.

"He'll live." Ben said, and Harlow felt her shoulders cave in as she let out a deep exhale, relieved.

People started to leave. She released Daemon, who ran over to help Adrian up and take him to his cabin to recover. Not trusting him at all, Harlow ran over to get her brother's other arm and helped balance his bulky weight, then they started to lead him off the battle field and to the Athena cabin.

The silence was thick, Harlow's eyes flashing with a barely contained rage as she opened the door and helped lead Adrian over in his bed, then tucked him in carefully. She gazed at him, feeling more relief as color started to come back to his checks, then turned to glare viciously at Daemon.

"What.. the hell happened?" She said in a low, dangerous voice.

Lena ~ Poseidon

I didn't want to come here at first. I mean, leave all my best friends to join some camp in the middle of nowhere? After a while, I just gave in and let my mom take me here. She just dropped me off, saying that someone would find me. She gave me a quick peck, shed a few tears, and left. She told me to write to her at least once a week, so I don't think there's internet access here. Darn it.

To tell you the truth, I think my mom was glad to be rid of me. She left me here without a glance back. Of course, she could have just been trying to be brave, but I doubted it.

So now, here I was, walking through an unknown forest like Little Red Riding Hood, waiting and watching for the Big Bad Wolf to find me. I paused as I heard rustling in the leaves, and I swear I could've heard voices, but I decided not to call out.

It was getting dark, and I hoped someone would find me. All I had with me was a duffel bag filled with my belongings, my outfit that I was wearing at the moment, and a set of throwing daggers on the inside of my leather jacket. Mom said I couldn't bring my bow and arrow set, even though I had trained for years using that bow, but Mom probably didn't care.

I hoped I would find that camp soon before I was eaten by some wandering minotaur. Or, hopefully, someone who wasn't ready to kill me would find me.

I put my bag down against a tree and sat on top of it, then leaned my head back and wondered how long I was going to be in this forest.

I need to get back into this. Anyone can take this.

Ella Pond I Blue Team

It is at this moment I realize the absolute uselessness of Barbie dolls.

They may have made a camping Barbie (though she was still pale and blond, but whatevs), outfitting her with camoflauge stilettos and a fashionable hat; obviously, that doesn't mean that a dolled-up girl won't get lost in her frst game of capture-the-flag, because she will.

I'm kind of mad at Abri for leaving me, but its mixed with loathing for my own ignorance. I was put at our border as a guard by a bossy- but attractive!- Apollo kid. Honestly, I was just trying to pace the borders like a good guard, and now I find myself lost? This is so not my day.

I lean aganist a tree, trying to peer around it's thick bark to see if I could find any trace of a living thing. Nervously, I apply my poison lip stick, just in case.

The words, "Watch it!" cause me to jump out of my (still uselessly fashionable, though not plastic) boots.

"Who said that?" I am stupidly brave in my reply.

Suddenly, a force that feels weirdly like hands pushes me to the ground, and there's a girl standing over me. "That would be me."

She looks like a barbie doll in figure, all unrealistic chest and hips, way to thin for her own good- and jeez, it's so unattractive on someone who isn't plastic. The thing about this Barbie, though, is that she looks like some idiot brother dipped her in a bucket of moldy water. She was, and I kid not, freaking green.

"What happened to your skin?" A thought dawns on me. "Oh-oh! You're a child of Demeter! Goddess of plants and agriculture, right? So all her kids have green skin!"

Barbie looks down on me, sneering. "I've met a lot of stupid demigods, but you take the cake. Idiot."

Okay, so it wasn't my best moment. 'Idiot', wasn't really necessary, though. I've had worse.

With one fluid motion, I'm back on my feet, towering over Barbie. "What are you, then? A thrown-out old doll?"

"I'm a tree-nymph, demigod!" Barbie raises her voice so that it sounds like an angry wind. The trees around me bristle.

"Oh..." I'm kind of disappointed, and I'm sure to let Barbie know that. "You're a tree? People around here are so weird. Trees, horses, goats..."

Barbie snorts. "Are you new here or something? Of course I'm a tree!"

"Yes. New. Idiot. This has all been established. Tell me why you act so threatening? Aren't trees nice?"

Barbie's eyes flare up. "I've had enough of you're stupid demigod ranting!"

I put my hand on my hip. Barbie is so little and ridiculous looking, I can't possibly find it in my heart to act threatened. "What are you going to do, thrown sticks at me?"

Worst. Idea. Of. My. Life.

Out of nowhere, a log falls down next to me, and I scramble closer to Barbie. Something whips me across the butt, and I scramble away from her.

Barbie snickers. "Absolutely."

Something hits my back with a shirt-tearing screech. Another stick hits my leg, tearing my flesh. My brain suddenly decides that running might be a good idea, and my legs obey.

Let me tell you, running through the forrest persued by sticks is not a fun past time. I reccomend avoiding it for the rest of your life.

A person comes into view, and I grab their hand without even thinking about it. The sticks are fewer, but bigger.

"Hi," I greet them, catching my breathe for a moment as the sticks bounce off my flesh. "I'm Ella Pond. Basisically, I made a tree mad and it's coming after me. So, run!"

I drag them after me, not even catching their gender, much less their name. The bits of twig and stick keep persuing us until I drag my partner around the bend, collapsing behind a large rock.

"That was fun," I observe.

Anyway, remember what I said about the uselessness of Barbies? Yeah, they are useless until you turn them into a psycho tree.

They should totally make a doll after that.

Person can be anyone, even someone from a group that Ella stole. Don't know who needs some interactions, figured this would be the way to do it.

Lena Tran ~ Poseidon

I barely had time to snatch up my duffel bag as an unfamiliar girl grabbed my hand and blurted out something about mad trees and running. She pulled me along with her and I yelped softly as I hit my toe on a tree root, stumbling -- but I regained my balance quickly and run for all my life is worth. Twigs were raining down all over us; the girl sure wasn't lying about making a tree mad. It seemed like she had just turned the whole forest against us!

When she stopped and collapsed onto a rock, she murmured, "That was fun." I think her name was Ella. Ella Pond, or something like that.

I snorted, giving her a little grin. "Thrilling. So, how often do we get to run from-" I paused, giving the forest around us a nervous glance. I lowered my voice, afraid of the dryads who were probably watching us. "-crazed, angry trees? Is that part of daily life here?"

Ben Richard-Son of Apollo- Capture The Flag- Red Team

I watched as Laila slowly started to make her way out from behind the tree. But I stopped her as I noticed two more people coming from the side. I think one of them was Rand.

"Laila, stop," I whispered quietly, pulling her back slightly.

"What?" she questioned, probably not liking that I pulled her.

"Lets just wait a little before we go into this, I don't think we could take them on alone if something happened, especially Ness."

She just gave me her now signature 'do whatever you want but if something goes wrong you're never going to hear the end of it from me' look. But at least now she looks me in the eye whenever she does it.

We started quietly making our way towards Rand and the girl next to him, I think her name was Abri? Either way, I could tell he found her annoying, by the fact that he, well, wasn't flirting with her even though she was attractive and by Rand's flirting standards, female.

Rand saw me before Abri did, and his face instantly instantly melted with relief. I couldn't tell whether he was reliefed that his beloved little brother was still alive or that he finally had an excuse to ignore Abri. Either way his look still made me chuckle.

"Ben! Where have you been, I have been worried sick about you, we should get you somewhere away from here, maybe it's too soon for you to play capture the flag, yeah, so lets go now, sorry Abri, it looks like I'm going to have to go somewhere else with Ben before he gets too injured," Rand rambled off as if he had rehearsed it for the time he might run into me.

I just stood there, and gave him my now signature 'suck it up Rand' look. I mean really, by the way he was acting it was like this girl had some sort of disease. Besides she looked really nice and pretty oh and did I mention pretty?

"Oh, you must be Benny, awwww, you're so cute, you even have the same eyes as Rand," Abri gushed as she came up and hugged me. Wow. Even her hugs felt like you're being enveloped in a sweet, nice smelling, did I mention pretty? Cloud.

Rand snorted and rolled his eyes as I let her continue to hug me for another good ten seconds. Hey don't look at me like that, I'm only a teenaged guy and it's not everyday you get a hug from a daughter of Aphrodite.

After that... memory, we all recapped what had happened to us since capture the flag had started. I started and we ended with Rand who told us the riveting tale of how he had to suffer through Abri talking about guys and him killing misquotes before they came near Abri or she would have a fit while they searched for the flag. Suddenly I was a little less jealous of him being paired with her for capture the flag.

But we were all shocked into silence as lightning started ripping through the now dark sky and rain started coming down in sheets. Man what was Zeus doing up there? I'm pretty sure gods don't throw frat parties, but if they did, then Zeus must be having one Hades of a time, by the look of the storm that was now all around us.

I could tell this was just the start as lightening started connecting with the ground near us and the sound of thunder reverberated through the forest. The exciting part of capture the flag was just underway.

Abri Moreau, daughter of Aphrodite, CTF Red Team

Take it slow and be careful, Rand had said.
Yeah, right.

At first everything was alright; they were for the most part silent and alert as they sneaked their way in the forest. Then they met some kid in the Blue Team that she didn't even remember the name of, and he came gushing out with sword wielded and everything. Rand was fast in cocking his bow and arrow, but Abri was quicker with her words.

"Stop," she said firmly to the blue member. The guy slowed down then came to a complete stop, fully entranced by her hypnotic words. Because of how fast he reacted, Abri noted that this must be a weakness of his, and he'd easily tell her information."Where is the blue flag?" she asked.

He pointed in the direction behind him. "Past the grove of trees and the big boulder near the little stream," he said back, his voice sounding a million miles away. "Poseidon and Demeter are guarding."

Abri exchanged grimaces with Rand, but he looked too shocked by what she just did to say anything. "Thanks, darling. Don't attack anyone in the Red Team, okay?" she said back, releasing him from her alluring captive. She didn't look back to see what he did.

"Wow," Rand said blankly as if he, too, was just freed from some kind of trance. "Do you always play with people's emotions like that?" There was a dangerous venom laced into his words.

Abri frowned at his words, mushing the words with confusion and anger and sorrow all at once, but yet she continued to wear the pretty mask. "Do you want to win or not?" she replied back sharply. "Besides...it's been a while since we teamed up, hasn't it?"

He didn't say anything back. They continued to trot through the grass, making their way closer and closer to the flag.

"Don't you miss it? The old times, I mean. Before you started to get all close to that Harlow girl," Abri said, putting a vile emphasis on Harlow. "In the summer, we'd go see the sun come up and down together, and you'd swish away all the bugs for me. And in the winter when all the summer campers left, we'd walk through the snow and we'd make snowmen out of them. Don't you miss those times?"

Rand tried his very best to look down and away from Abri, and he knew very well that she was using that power again—that stupid, cowardly power of hers.
He knew he shouldn't fall for it, but it was sweet, so sweet, and just for a moment, he looked and listened. It came all at once: his old fond memories of Abri and her perfect skin, her perfect body, her perfect smile, her dazzling eyes, her silky cascading hair that fell into perfect bouncy curls, and her cooing melting words when she said, "Rand, Rand, handsome Rand, how are you?" For a very brief moment, he let himself drown in these old feelings he buried inside of himself.

But as quick as he was in the endless waterhole, he had already pulled himself out. He had already been victimized; he was not going to fall for that same spell anymore. "Yes, I remember," he said in reply after a long pause. "Just like I remember how you treat me and everyone else like dirt. Harlow, especially. What did she ever do to you?"

Abri was taken back, but more disappointed than anything that Rand stubbornly continued to hold a blocking stone wall against her and him. It's been a long time since the incident, but this was the first time Rand has ever mentioned their past together, and to be honest, the first time that they even had a decent conversation...if you can even call this decent.

"It was a ritual for my cabin, Rand," Abri said just as cooly, swishing the topic of Harlow apay. "Why does this still bother you?"

Although Abri didn't notice, Rand was fuming with how oblivious she was to another person's feelings. "I can't believe you said that," he murmured softly, probably listing her as a person that just was not worth his time talking to.

It was silent after that. They've come across another person on defense, and after Abri got more information from him, Rand threw an arrow that's been itching to be thrown for a while now, clanging onto the victim's armor.

"I hate Capture the Flag games. It makes my clothes dirty," she suddenly said, bringing in a new topic and dismissing the old one away as if it never happened.

Rand was a little taken back by the sudden topic change. "You didn't even fight anyone."

"So? Just being in these woods makes me feel dirty." She sighed then swatted something near her face. "And the stupid bugs just won't leave me alone!" She stopped walking. "Swat them away from me or I'm going to stop walking."

"Suit yourself." He walked forward a little too fast.

Abri groaned in irritation that he didn't laugh and say, "Wow, Abri, you're truly the daughter of Aphrodite," like old times, but she caught up, reluctantly accepting herself in this gross and icky environment, complaining the whole way there.

---

"The flag's just ahead," Rand said while squinting in the distance, talking to himself more than anything since Abri wasn't much of a fighter.

"And so are the Poseidon and Demeter kids," Abri said back. "I think we should find backup or something."

Rand nodded. "You're not a dumb as I thought you were."
She furrowed her brows, not sure what to take that as. "Thanks?"
"That wasn't a compliment..."

They searched for a bit while being careful not to bump into any Blue Team members, and to their relief, they found Ben and Laila.

Though Rand looked more relieved than anyone, even saying that he and his little brother should leave now before he gets hurt.

Abri ignored this and instead embraced Ben, Rand's adorable little brother. He seemed okay with that—accepted it, really—and Abri pulled out, showing off her bright pearly smile that could make any boy melt. Although Ben could easily pass as someone of her own age, Abri couldn't help it; he was Rand's brother, and even in the past, she's always seemed to be more welcoming to them than anyone else. And hey, look at that—they shared the same blue attractive eyes that reminded her of the sky.

From there, the four of them shared what happened. Rand explained that they found the flag thanks to Abri, but totally made up the facts of him killing mosquitos for her while she talked about guys. She almost wanted to object to this, but decided against it; she found it cute that he even said that, and now that she thought about it, that was exactly what she did in a past Capture the Flag game with him.

And then the worst thing in the world happened.

It was so bad, so wretchedly horrible and gross.

It made Abri's stomach flip and flop is despair and woe and loss, and it made her shatter in a million pieces.

Why? Why? Why?

Why did it have to be this way?

Didn't the gods have mercy on her?

She knew it was the end of it.
This was it.
The end of her life was near.

It was raining.

"Noo, it's raining!" Abri whined as if it was all his fault. "Rand, make it sunny."

Thunder boomed and crackled in the distance.

"It's not as easy as you think," Rand said. "Besides, I don't think this is natural."

"Ugh, this is so bad for me!" Abri went on anyways, ignoring him. She looked down at her clothes as the drizzles started to get heavier and heavier. "My hair!" she whined again. "It's not good under the rain—it's going to frizz!" By then, the group has pretty much already tuned her out. She continued to complain anyways, moaning and whining and groaning as the water licked her fingers and clothes and hair, totally ruining her appearance. It was a good thing she wore waterproof makeup today.

Suddenly Laila, who was standing out in the edge of everyone listening while anxiously waiting to actually do some action, fired an arrow ahead. The rain suddenly started to get heavier and heavier as it started to pour more than anything, and under the gloomy sky as thunder continued to crackle overhead, everyone turned to see who she was aiming for.

It was Alex, son of Ares, a loyal friend to Abri—and he was on the blue team. It was a little strange to see someone from Ares guarding the flag since, well, they're kind of demigods of war, but whatever, their leader must be cuckoo.

Alex grunted and ran full speed towards Rand while wielding his sword, and everyone cocked their bow to attack. Abri was the only one who stepped back because...well...everyone around her chose a bow and arrow as their weapon choice, and unless Rand or Ben or Laila wanted to accidentally get stabbed in the face, she wasn't confident in using her daggers as a close-range fight.

Rand was the quickest. He used some shiny power of his and some weird kind of energy formed before hitting Alex, which to Abri, looked like he was pulling back on purpose and purposely missed the little crack in between his armor, instead hitting him with a clang on his breastplate. They were, after all, pretty close friends; she didn't blame him that he didn't want to hurt him right away. This was the first time that Alex has ever even went against them. Well, when Abri was with Rand, anyways.

"Sorry, Rand; you're my friend, but I'm still going to fight you," Alex said, approaching him with his sword.

And then they went at it. It was difficult for the bow and arrows to go against the sword in such a close-range fight, but since it was three against one, it wasn't too long before Alex was losing energy.

But he was the son of Ares, the son of war. Suddenly something snapped in him and he screamed and was about to attack like a madman, and Abri had a tiny panic attack. What if he hurts Rand or poor little Benny?! Oh, no, think of the scars that they're going to be infected with for the rest of their life!

"Stop, Alex!" she found herself yelling with forced charmspeak, and to her surprise, it worked pleasantly well. Alex stumbled and stopped in midstrike with a confused and faraway loko in his eyes, and then he turned to Abri, just like every other guy that she cast this spell to.

Okay, so maybe it weirded her out just, like, you know, a little; Alex was Abri's friend, and that was it. That was it, right? She remembered that, after the incident, there were rumors going around that it all happened because Abri and Alex had a thing instead. Of course, they both immediately denied this. They were only friends, loyal friends, and even when Abri admittedly lost a few friends after the incident, Alex was always there for her.

So here, right now, she found it just a tad bit awkward to be seducing Alex. His jaw dropped as he looked at her, and looking into his gray-blue eyes, she did not want to know what he was thinking as he saw her drenched self wearing small-fitted armor personalized herself that she somehow managed to pick up before she left.

"Stop attacking us," she said firmly as her hair uncurled and stuck to her face, and he continued to stand there as if he was expecting more orders. Suddenly an idea sparked in her mind. "Attack with us," she said. "You're on the Red Team now, and you're going to attack the Blue Team guards."

Suddenly something snapped in him, and it was like his loyalness in friendship shined through even in a time like this; he yelled, "For the Reds!" and went full speed ahead towards the blue flag, his flag.

Abri looked at everyone else, alarmed. They were too busy gawking at the fact that she could get away from a bloody fight—especially Laila and Ben, who must have been seeing her in action for the first time—but then snapped out of it when they realized that Alex, who wasn't even in their team to begin with, was already charging ahead.

"We should probably go now..."

Maya - Blue team, near the flag

Maya sighed and crouched near the base of the flag, pushing back her wet hair as it flopped in her eyes. Idly, she wondered where Misa was.
Probably with the dryads. Staying away from the rain, keeping dry.

She was irritated by Ness - he'd brought the rain on them, and just as the clouds broke, she'd seen a look of alarm cross Abrin's face. She knew why - the strawberry fields would be flooded, come morning.
Another sigh of irritation. Just to pass the time, she placed her palm at the foot of the flag, and accelarated the growth of some weeds growing at it's base. The weeds instantly shot up and covered the flag, wrapping and protecting it - effectively hiding it from view.

She looked sideways at Abrin, who still had a troubled look on his face. Don't worry, she said We'll replant the entire patch. Get the satyrs and dryads to help. Bet they're almost as upset as you.
Abrin glanced up and shot her a half-smile. She smiled back, glad her brother had cheered up.

The moment was broken when they heard a yell of "For the Reds!" coming from a distance. Maya looked around, and to her surprise, saw Alex charging straight at them.
Isn't he supposed to be with us...? Abrin let the question linger in his sister's mind. Maya, however, knew what she'd heard. Alex might be under Charmspeak - she'd seen Abri's skills before, and knew the extent of their effect well. Knowing this, she loaded a sleeping draft-tipped dart into the kretos, and let it loose, aiming it at Alex.

The boy, distracted as he was by the sudden absence of the flag, (which was wrapped in the plant at the moment), and the charmspeak that was controlling him, didn't notice the dart that flew toward him and knocked him out - for a good few hours, knowing the potency of Maya's draughts, noted Abrin. He bent down and checked the boy's pulse, noting that it was regular and calm. He straightened up and moved to stand with his sister.

Maya, on the other hand, had sensed danger, and immediately asked Misa to join them. The panther's acquiescence echoed through her mind, even as an arrow whizzed past Maya's head. She felt Abrin move to stand next to her, sickle in hand, and heard Ness draw his weapon and change his stance to a more battle-oriented one. She gripped her pikestaff and krestos, waiting for whoever was on the other team to make the first move.

Rand Aloemir- Son of Apollo- Capture the Flag

The rain was an inconvenience to say the least, if Ness was guarding the flag we would definitely be in trouble. We would need to get rid of the rain if we wanted to make getting to the flag easier. I wasn't sure where the storm had come from, more likely than not Gemini made the clouds appear and Ness had forced it to rain. We followed Alex's charge towards the flag, we drew close when I made a symbol for us to stop. "Everyone gather up I have a plan." They all crouched down close to hear my plan. "We need to deal with this rain first and foremost. Ben I'll need you to cover me as I charge my hour to cut through clouds, Laila and Alex sneak up behind whoever else is guarding aside from Ness and incapacitate them, and Abri...just please stay out from under foot."

Ben nodded, Alex and Laila prepared to flank, and Abri let out an audible huff. We broke through the tree-line and I pulled back an arrow, "close your eyes everyone." I started firing arrows of light all around where the flag was placed filling the grove where the flag was hidden with light. I used the light I had created to temporarily blind Ness, and as I noticed Maya and Abrin did the same. Alex had spoiled his and Laila'a position but Laila had stayed hidden from Abrin and Maya. "Ben strike fast while they're stunned I need to start charging."

I began to pull streams of light from my quiver make the arrow grow brighter and brighter. Laila seemed to choose this moment to strike and went after Abrin. He was caught unaware and quickly dispatched with but that's when Maya chose to attack wrapping Laila up with vines. My arrow was ready just in time, I fired it into the clouds towards where I knew the sun would be positioned. The clouds dispersed and I could finally level the playing field and really help out Ben. In the back of my head I briefly worried about Abri in the inevitable chaos.

Travis smiled to himself. It had taken a lot out of him to cook up this storm, but hey, a son of Zeus has to indulge himself a little. He took a deep breath and began to float. The air was pushing beneath him. He swung his sword experimentall and begn to run towards the enemy flag. He, the son of Zeus, would one day fulfill the prophecy he had been given...

@Skyguy: Check out the DT. You're missing some important plotlines there. Thanks!

@Wonder: Sorry if Lena's out-of-character anywhere here. Couldn't find her profile. Just contact me and I'll change things!

Ella Pond- Red Team

I'll be completely honest; I hoped that I'd accidently grabbed the hand of someone who has been in this loony bin for years and knew exactly why I had an insane tree after me.

Instead, I get a perfectly nice girl who doesn't have a clue what she's doing.

Again, I state- so not my day.

"No clue!" I reply cheerily. "Just got here yesterday, which makes me seem experienced compared to you bloke! What's your name?"

The girl looks confused, much to my (slightly twisted) pleasure. "I'm Lena Tran."

"I like the name Lena! Like I said, I'm Ella Pond. I may pretend to be British, but I'm not, apologizing beforehand. It'll blow over in, say, a week or two?" Remembering my people skills, I roll up the crazy and cook up the charming. "Do you know your godly parent yet?"

"My...uh, what?"

"Right. Utterly clueless bloke." I reach for my hair, trying to find a piece to curl around my finger until I remembered I straightened it. Darn my questionable self-confidence and weird need to impress my new sister. "Okay. So, you've been told you're a demigod." Lena Tran nods. "And you're okay with it?" Lena Tran nods again, slightly annoyed this time. "I'm apparently the daughter of Aphrodite, which may or may not be important- but you don't even know what team you're on, do you?"

"No. And the Goddess of Love and Beauty?"

Lena seems to be kind of disappointed, and that makes me mad. I take a deep breathe before I get out of control. Last time I got peeved, a tree came after me. "Lady of the doves, etc. Have no clue what any of that means yet, other than that everybody in my cabin is gorgeous. Okay. So, if you're the child of Athena or whatever, you should be able to come up with a plan off the top of your head. Okay, go!"

She mutters something about 'my Mom's mortal' before speaking up. "Uh, what's the situation?"

"It's raining, we may or may not be in hostile team territory. I have a mad tree that looks like a Barbie doll after me."

"Use that rock-" She points to a relatively flat-looking Shale rock -"as a shield and run until we get out of the forest?"

So, she's probably not the child of Athena, but it's better than any plan I could make.

"Okay, good enough!" I spring to my feet, sprinting over to the rock. It's surprisingly light to lift. I peer around the rock we've been hiding behind. A single stick comes and scrapes a dull edge across my face. "If anyone comes, let me kiss them. Don't question it, just go on my count. One...Two...Three... Run!"

Only a few sticks come and bounce off of my shield, which Lena does her part to help hold up. We're in an awkward lopsided run that continues until, I- annoyed and drenched, another outfit absolutely ruined- shove the shield aside.

"Barbie's done with us now!" I announce as we catch our breathe. "Now, let me be the hero and take you to Chiron."

"Who?"

"The Camp Leader-guy. He's a horse." I announce proudly.

"This place is weird." Lena says.

" I know, right?"

I grab her hand again, and we run, weaving through the trees until we come across the end of the forest, where Chiron is standing with knitted brow.

"I brought you a confused camper, Chiron."

"Ella Pond, daughter of love." He says, going into a zen moment without really noticing Lena. "Can you feel it? Can you feel the storm waiting happen?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Try, Ella. Can you feel any anguish there, any pulse of love."

Lena heaves a loud sigh." Ella, what's-"

I don't hear her anymore. I can't hear anything but my own heartbeat, and- suddenly- all the heartbeats in the woods. I can feel Abri, her heart round with misguided, and I can feel Lena beside me, so lost. I know, as I peer deeper, listen harder, that the one twisted with anguish is the guy I met on the beach. Besides him is one fading, fading until I can't hear it anymore. Up on a hill, there is another heart beat, but it sounds like the storm raging and when I see it, it is a shade of black I never could have imagined.

"-going on?" Lena finishes her sentence, pulling me out of my daze.

I turn to Chiron. "I can feel it. Someone is fading. Is that a bad thing."

Chiron gazes into the forest. "The worst. Lena, though, welcome! I promise you that things aren't always so chaotic."

New Ability of Aphrodite? Maybe...

@Sunshine: It's totally fine.

Lena Tran ~ Poseidon

"What's going on?" There's a centaur -- a centaur -- right in front of me, and Ella just went into a weird daze, then snapped right out. They started talking about heartbeats and 'the worst'.

The centaur welcomed me, and I forced a grin and replied, "Nice to meet you. My name is Lena Tran." I didn't hear his reply because I turned to look at Ella and asked for the second time, "What's going on? You're saying that you got chased by a tree that looked like a Barbie doll, and so we run, and you bring me to a centaur. I did not sign up for this! I didn't just throw away my life, my goal of becoming a geneticist, my chance at being accepted at Stanford for this!" I started pacing, still rambling. "My mom just threw me here in the middle of no where and I have no idea when I'll be able to see Kayla and Jojo and Abby and Kyler! I don't know when I'll be able to hang out with Charity and Kam again..."

I paused for a moment, to take a deep breath and stop the tears that were threatening to flow. "I would like to know what is happening, Ella and Mr. Chiron. I am more than a little confused at the moment."

I hugged myself tightly, biting my lip as I fingered the cold metal of my daggers underneath my jacket.

Laila- Hermes
Capture the Flag. Team Red

I eyed the group in front of me and with a small sigh, stood towards the edge, within hearing distance. Rand and Abri were the two latest members in our Team Awesome. Rand looked relieved when he saw us I didn't get why.

Abri was hugging Ben and he didn't look like he minded. I snorted, luckily no one heard. It didn't look like they even registered my appearance, so I moved away to to the edge.
I was restless and irritated. Why couldn't I just go forward and capture the damn flag?

I wasn't even listening to these people. Suddenly, I heard a sound from ahead of us. A blue team member charged straight for our little team meeting. Brilliant. Now we had to fight. As I drew my dagger, I noticed that Abri was talking to the guy-Alex. Seriously? We're fighting and she wanted to talk? But suddenly, Alex yelled "Go Team Red!"

What? I had no idea what had happened. Just that, now Alex was on our side. Rand started devising a new plan. He chose Alex and myself to sneak up on the group guarding the flag. Finally some action. And so the two of us crept along slowly without making even the slightest sound. Then without warning, Alex charged up ahead, yelling, "Team Red" alerting the three guarding the flag. Stupid son of Ares! I wanted to kick him in the shin.

I hid the moment I saw him charging like a bull. Good, they hadn't seen me. There were arrows of light flying in all directions, and while the Demeter kids were stunned, I took my chance and charged toward the Demeter boy. He hadn't expected me. I struck my dagger at his legs, right on the knees, so he couldn't chase us. I was so caught in my fight with the boy that I failed to notice the large vines that were snaking around my legs.

Aaaah! Vines? How- Demeter!

I struggled, and the vines slowly snaked around my torso, pinning my arms to my sides. I fell flat on the ground. I writhed against the vines, but that seemed to make them coil tighter. So I stopped struggling and sat still. The coiling stopped, but almost half my body was covered with the plant. I watched the others fighting and felt ashamed for my helplessness.

I still clutched the dagger. If only I could cut the plants with it. I was starting to itch in all places, it was unbearable. Tears, filled my eyes as I struggled with myself. Stupid itch!

As if things couldn't any worse, it was raining.

Ugh, I hope the game gets over soon. I didn't like the idea of turning into a plant.