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DAYS IN THE SUN

chapter two
❛ 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝, 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚋𝚘𝚢. ❜

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AMARA WASN'T INTERESTED in many things, a trait of hers that often drew others in. She was a mystery, a puzzle piece that many wanted to try their hand at to put back together. There was some things, however, the demigod found interesting, Capture the Flag. The thrill of the game was intoxicating, she never wanted to stop playing. Running through the forest with the wind blowing her hair back, the danger of the opposite team's campers jumping out of nowhere to try and stop her. The fighting, the ability to let loose and enjoy herself while having fun. She's never experienced anything like playing Capture the Flag, it was her release, a time when she could drop the daughter of Zeus act and fully enjoy herself. She loved it.

That was why she was currently having a hard time containing her excitement, the nymphs were clearing the plates away, and the oh so familiar conch horn sounded, signaling it was almost time to begin. She stood alongside the other campers, a grin forming on her lips as the Athena Cabin ran into the pavilion with their silk banner.

An arm was thrown around her shoulder, pulling her smaller body into a much older one. Her attention was diverted to Luke, who held a smile that showcased a thousand words to her. He was as excited as she was, if not more. Much like Amara, Capture the Flag was a game where Luke was able to let loose too. He, like the rest of the campers, had grown up too quickly, experienced and seen things no one should see. So during games like these, he was able to feel like a kid again, and thrive in that feeling.

Annabeth waved at them, passing the duo as she and her siblings ran by. Amara's grin seemingly widened as she gave a high-five to the demigod. Seconds later her eyes landed on a oblivious boy, one who looked like he had no idea what was going on. The son of Hermes followed her eyes, his blue eyes landing on the demigod as well.

Without a word, he began guiding them over to the boy. An action that startled Amara as she wasn't expecting the sudden movement, but Luke's childish smile made up for it. Percy's attention landed on them, his sea green eyes locked with her electric blue's as he spoke.

"Those are the flags?"

"Yeah."

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always," she said. "But often."

"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do, repaint the flag?"

The older demigod grinned at Percy, she knew there was a meaning behind that grin. They all did, the Jackson boy was going to be bait after all, and that in itself is enjoyment enough, especially when one doesn't know about it. "You'll see. First, we have to get one."

"Whose side are we on?"

Luke gave Percy a sly look, and she once again knew the meaning. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you, are going to help."

Shortly after, the teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, followed by the Zeus cabin, Amara's cabin, and which, she was the only one who stayed in it. A smirk replaced the grin as she made eye contact with stormy grey eyes, it wasn't a good thing whenever she and Annabeth were on the same team. When paired together, they wreck more chaos than the Hermes cabin could dream of.

Because of Annabeth's plans, and the daughter of Zeus's powers to execute them, they were unstoppable. Whatever the blonde needed or demanded, Amara followed without so much as a complaint. She needed someone to take down the Demeter cabin by themselves? Amara had it covered. Cause a distraction to allow other teammates to sneak towards the flag unnoticed? She would summon a windstorm, throwing the opposing team off their trail, the trick usually left her out of commission for majority of the game until she regained her strength. They had became a powerful duo, and many times the other cabins had tried to spilt them apart.

But that in itself was a bad idea, together, they were an unstoppable duo. But apart? Capture the Flag games always lasted way longer whenever the duo was separated, Amara was always able to figure out Annabeth's plans, and Annabeth knew when and where she liked to strike, so the opposing team was always ready whenever she finally showed up, sword in hand.

The rest of the cabins had an alliance with Ares.

Her electric blue eyes surveyed the remaining campers. Dionysus's kids were good athletes, but there was only two, so she had nothing to worry about. She knew the Demeter kids had the edge with nature skills and being outdoors, but as long as she fried whatever plants they tried to send her way, they'll be easy to get through. She didn't even have to waste time thinking about Aphrodite's children, they never participated. Her eyes landed last on the Hephaestus cabin, but more so on a certain camper. Charles Beckendorf would be a problem, specially if it came down to physically strength.

"Heroes!" Chiron bellowed, drawing her attention back to the matter at hand. "You know the rules." He announced. "The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magical items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as reference and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

The campers began to cheer, waving their weapons high in the air. Luke and Amara made their way to Annabeth, the blonde sending the two a smile as they drew their swords. "Now go!" Chiron ordered.

"Blue team, forward!" Annabeth yelled, but failed in earning the campers attention. She turned to Amara with a helpless look in her eyes. The brunette let a snicker out at the demigod's face, before flicking her wrist. Thunder roared across the sky, earning the blue team's attention as their gaze landed on the demigod. Her smirk was gone, her face serious as she treaded ahead with Annabeth, the campers following behind.

"I don't know how you managed that," the daughter of Athena commented. "You go from grinning like a manic, to being serious within a matter of seconds. It's a bit scary." A smirk reappeared at the blonde's words, and the brunette could only offer a shrug in response.

She straightened herself back up and her smirk disappeared once Percy made an appearance on the other side of Annabeth. "Hey," they kept walking. "So, what's the plan?" He asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"

The girls shared a look with one another. "Just watch Clarisse's spear," Amara finally answered, earning sea green eyes to land on her. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares."

"Has Luke given you, your job?" Annabeth questioned, quick to get to the point.

"Border patrol, whatever that means." Percy muttered.

"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always, always has a plan." Annabeth responded before pushing ahead.

Amara looked back at him with a smug look. "Let's see how long you last, drool boy." Percy frowned and muttered protests at the daughter of Zeus who walked after her friend, a smirk on her face after successfully annoying the demigod.

It didn't take long until the brunette heard the horn blow in the distance announcing the start of the game. She shared a look with Will Solace at the noise. Will was a younger camper, son of Apollo, claimed the moment he stepped near cabin seven. Amara had been his camp guide back then, but ever since, she's kept an eye out for him and made sure to be there whenever he needed her help.

He sent her a nod, taking a few steps backwards before getting a running start at the older demigod. Her hands folded together just in time as his foot stepped into them, ready to be launched upwards. Feeling the power of the wind coursing through her lower arms, she threw the blond up, giving him a boost as he grabbed onto a low hanging branch. He climbed the tree until he reached a point where he had a bird's eye view of the forest, pulling out his bow and arrows as they waited.

Amara knew Annabeth had purposely put the two together. Will was the eyes and ears while she was the defender. It was a good mix, despite the blond being only ten. As a child of Apollo, his archery skills were good, but his healing skills were beyond impressive. The boy patched her up more times from training than she could count, always doing an incredible job. He often left her wondering if he truly was ten at times.

"Ares campers, ten o'clock." The son of Apollo called as he aimed his bow and arrow towards the group. "You got this?" She asked, hovering her fingertips over her necklace chain that was hidden underneath her shirt. "Or should I?"

He shook his head as he pulled back the arrow. "Nah," he released the arrow from his fingers, sending it soaring into the sky and towards the campers. It was silent for a moment before the cries of the Ares campers reached her ears. "Sticky goo, they'll be fine, just trapped . . . for a couple hours . . ."

A smirk was twisted on her lips. "Micheal," she spoke, pulling her necklace out from under her shirt. "Has taught you well."

He grinned back at her, until his eyes widened. "Beckendorf! Behind you, Beck—"

At his cries, Amara yanked her necklace free from her neck. The silver blade came to life in her hand as she spun around, clashing her blade against another's. Using the strength in her arms, she pushed the opposite blade back before striking the weapon. The demigod stumbled from her sudden brute force, regaining their balance after a few seconds.

Her eyes landed on a familiar dark skinned boy, a green bandanna tied around his neck with his signature old brown goggles resting on the top of his helmet and bandages wrapped around his left upper arm. Work gloves covered in dirt and grimes protected his hands with his famous tool belt wrapped around his waist. He swung his blade around, customized to fit him as it was bigger than usual weapons. "Grace," the older demigod greeted as a smile curled onto his lips.

The smile widened as he swung the sword once more before lunging at Amara, his dark brown eyes sparkling from excitement as she jumped back, narrowly missing his blade. Moving her left hand back, she caught a wind current in her grasp before changing it's direction towards the boy in front of her. The gust of wind followed her instructions, knocking into the son of Hephaestus as he fell off his feet, rolling until he landed on his back.

He groaned, rubbing his back from hitting a tree root.

"Beckendorf," she greeted in the same tone, squatting down to his level as her sword rested across her shoulder blades, her head tilted as she offered a cocky filled grin, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him knocked over. The older boy sent her a glare before his eyes widened. Scrambling to his feet, he managed to get out of the way of Will's steel arrow that should've caught his orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and impaled the material to the grass beneath them.

Rising back to her feet, she tapped her sword against her converse, using her free hand to give the blond a thumbs up. Looking up with a slight scowl resting on his face, Charles Beckendorf greeted the son of Apollo. "Will," he mumbled in a tight tone. Earning himself a wide teeth showing smile as the ten year old waved. "Heyo." The healer greeted.

Getting to his feet, he pointed up at the tree. "Didn't think you let anyone younger than you work with you during Capture the Flag. Didn't want them to get hurt." She let out a shrug, twirling her sword's handle as she spun it around her body. "What can I say, Will makes a good look out."

"Ah," he let out a slight laugh as the demigods began moving in circles, their swords ready and pointed at one another. "Now that, makes a lot more sense."

Stopping in her tracks, Amara pointed her silver sword at the fourteen year old who mocked her moves. "Ready for this, Charles?"

He gave her a smirk as he adjusted his footing. "Don't hold back."

Cocking her head to the side, she gave the boy an innocent look as she adjusted her own footing. "Me? Hold back," she got into a launching position, her grin widening as their eyes met. "Never."

The demigods lunged at one another, silver and bronze swords readied as they threatened to clash. Charles swiped his sword, causing the brunette to bend backwards as she fell to her knees, sliding across the grass as she aimed for his legs. She attempted to cleave his leg, but he managed to dodge at the very last second, getting away only with a small bleeding slice.

Getting back on her feet, the son of Hephaestus swung at her once more, but she met his blade with her own as they clanged together, creating a rumble effect that echoed through the forest. Grabbing a hold of the blunt side of her sword, he gave her a grin as she attempted to pull away, but his grip was too strong.

Sending an innocent look, she swiftly grabbed a small dagger from it's sheath that had been hanging from one of her belt loops. Flipping it in her hand so she was holding the blade, she swung the handle at his helmet. Beckendorf let go of her sword as he stumbled a few feet backwards, trying to maintain balance.

A chuckle escaped the boy's lips as he found his balance once more. "Not bad, let's see what else you can do."

"Gladly."

The demigods lunged at one another once more, but it was over before it could even begin. Their fight was cut short by the cheers in the forest. Amara looked over to see Luke running over the boundary line with the red flag in his hand, Travis and Conner Stoll flanking him, all three boys were cheering as they ran. A smirk appeared as she thought about how a certain daughter of Ares was going to react to the news of her losing once more.

Charles chuckling brought her attention back to him and the predicament they were in. Her sword was held against his throat, his against her own as she held her dagger in front of his torso, and it was clear who the winner was. "Barely," he spoke as if reading her mind while he sheathed his sword. "You brought that dagger out of nowhere, the work of Dionysus?"

Sheathing her dagger, she tore her sword away from the boy, giving him a shrug as her weapon morphed back into her necklace, slipping it over her head. "He's a strict trainer, annoyingly so."

"That's to be expected," the son of Hephaestus sent a warm smile her way. "Chiron did personally ask him to train you since you're both children of Zeus. He knows what type of pressure that's like and what's to be expected. And after today, it's clear it hasn't been a waste of time."

Will's figure entered her eyesight after he swung off the lowest hanging branch, his blue eyes landing on the sword scratch on Beckendorf's leg. "Come see me later," he spoke, offering a smile as Micheal Yew called his name. "I'll treat it for you." With that, he gave a wave before taking off towards the short brunette child of Apollo. Micheal stood with his arms crossed as he waited for Will, a smile reaching his lips once the blond joined his side.

"Come on," Charles shoved his shoulder into hers playfully as he started walking off. "Seems like everyone's heading towards the creek, we should too." She easily caught up to the older boy, shoving her shoulder against his.

Once they reached the creek, a certain blond haired son of Hermes came into view, he was still holding the flag in his hand with a proud look. Amara sent the son of Hephaestus a silent question, who waved her off as he gave her a last smile before going off to join his siblings. The brunette made her way to Luke's side, she attempted to scare the older demigod but he had sensed her before she had the chance. A smile curled onto the son of Hermes's lips as he wrapped an arm around her, quickly pulling her into his side with a swift motion causing laughter to escape the daughter of Zeus.

Ruffling her hair, he gave her a quick look over as he tried to scan for any injuries, bruises, anything. "Luke," she pried his hand away from her curls. "I got nothing."

He let out a hum as he rested his hand on the top of her head. "I guess so, looks like you were right. You'd come out of this unscratched."

"Told you."

He rolled his bright blue eyes. "Fine, I'll make sure to stick to my end of the bargain. I'll sneak out and get you what you wanted from the outside world, got it?"

A grin curled onto Amara's lips as her electric blue eyes gleamed. "Got it." It was then she noticed how all the campers seemed to be looking at something, or someone. Sharing a look with Luke, she made her way to the front of the crowd as the son of Hermes followed behind.

Stopping and pursing her lips at the sight of the Jackson boy, her eyes moved over his body, trying to figure out what everyone was staring at, before they landed on something. "What's that?" She pointed at a sword scratch on his skin, but it wasn't a scratch so much anymore, it was healing as she spoke. Percy's sea green eyes widened at the sight of his smooth skin. "Step out of the water, Percy." She instructed, her eyes calculating.

As Percy stepped out of the water, his stature visibly shrunk. He almost fell over, but Annabeth grabbed his shoulders, steadying him. "I knew it." She smirked. "Amara owes m—"

She was stopped mid sentence as a growl ripped through the woods. Up on the rocks stood a large hellhound, one that only could have been summoned from the Fields of Punishment. The hellhound's lava eyes were trained on one person only, Percy, who was still slumped against the daughter of Athena. Amara moved out from besides Luke, but she wasn't able to get very far before he pulled her back towards him, his arm wrapped around her shoulders in a tight grip as he prevented her from going. The flag long forgotten on the ground as his other hand rested on his sword handle.

She seemed to be the only one to snap out of her trance from the sudden appearance, and called out to the sea green eyed boy. "Percy," she yelled. "Move!" The hellhound launched itself at him, clawing at his chest and tearing him out of Annabeth's balance.

The brunette went to reach for her necklace, but an arrow was released and fired into the Dorsal Root of the spine before she had the chance. The hound fell to the floor in a matter of seconds as she turned her head to meet glances with Micheal Yew who had moved in front of a certain Solace boy. The older son of Apollo sent a nod her way as he slung his bow over his shoulder.

"That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishments. They don't . . . they're not supposed to . . ."

"Someone must have summoned it." Amara muttered, dropping her hand away from the silver necklace. Luke nodded his head in agreement as he unwrapped his arm from around the younger demigod.

"It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!" Clarisse shrieked from the crowd but she was silenced by Chiron's chiding, something the daughter of Zeus would have snickered at if it had been a different situation.

"Be quiet, child." Amara looked down at the hellhound as the bronze arrow Michael had fired returned to his quiver and the monster soaked into the shadows. A frown rested on her lips as her eyes landed on Percy. He was still completely scratched up but was no longer bleeding despite how tired he looked.

"He's wounded." She stated, electric blue meeting stormy grey eyes as the latter nodded. "Percy, stand in the water." Annabeth instructed him, and he did exactly as he was told. Once he stepped into the water, his scratches began to close and his back straightened with strength, he no longer looked tired.

"Look, I don't know . . . I'm sorry." Percy apologized but no one was listening, they were too focused on the glowing trident that hovered ceremoniously above his head.

"Um, Percy." Luke pointed above his head. The Jackson boy looked up at the rotating trident with horror.

"Your father." Annabeth muttered. "This isn't good."

"It is determined." Chiron announced, sending a look of approval towards the blonde.

Amara and Luke, as well as all the other campers, kneeled before him as tradition dictated. "My father?" Percy looked even more confused by their kneeling, she almost felt sorry for him, almost. But it became clear to her why they didn't get along, not just because he was arrogant, he was a son of Poseidon, and children of Zeus and Poseidon never get along.

"Poseidon; earth-shaker, storm bringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, son of the Sea God."

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1-05-2023

hello! i hope ur all having a great twenty-twenty three so far! as you can see, we're getting mythology running at a steady pace once more. if you haven't seen my little announcement, updates will be every tuesday and thursday with the occasional saturday, only, if i have chapters to spare and are available to get three out in a week, by the looks of things for now, it'll probably only be two a week. now, as you can see, this was a totally different chapter two, and it is absolutely my favorite. i hope you liked it as much as i do, and i will see you all next week for chapter three. have a good weekend <3 !!