The day came. The weapons were unsheathed. The armor was donned. The magical items were readied...

The biggest Capture-The-Flag event ever (since Ren's first one, when he was claimed) was about to take place.

And Ren was still a guinea pig.

Man, did life suck.

Ren was preparing to sit out yet again, but Isaac Hatchet (the head counselor since Clarisse was gone) scooped him up. "Hephaestus kids have a plan for you," he muttered, and stuffed him upside-down in his pocket. Ren squeaked in discomfort and got into a better position.

He grabbed the rim of the pocket and poked his head out, watching as Isaac and the rest of his siblings headed out. Isaac herded them along like he was in charge, which Ren had to remind himself that he was.

Clarisse was gone on some sort of scouting mission. Nobody really knew anything about it. Chiron refused to tell anyone. He said they didn't need to worry about it. Naturally, that made Ren worry more.

They got to the dining pavilion, where people were starting to put on armor. Percy, Thalia, and Grover were all together. Ren watched as Nico, the new kid, ran up to them with ill-fitting armor and an unbalanced sword and started chatting. He winced.

Tango, Zedaph, and Bdubs were all with their cabins. Normally Ren didn't like the Athena campers, but now he was glad they were on the same side. The entire Athena cabin looked grave and ready for murder.

The Hephaestus cabin consisted of Tango and Beckendorf for this winter. But in a stark contrast to the Athena kids, they were smirking and whispering about... something.

Isaac was already joining Malcolm Pace from Athena, and they started going over plans. Beckendorf and Tango joined them before long.

"We'll tell everyone the plan when we find a place to hide the flag," Beckendorf said. "Do you have Ren?"

Ren perked up.

"I have him," Isaac assured them, as if he was talking about a child that he had to keep track of for fear that it would get itself killed (that made Ren mad, but he didn't stop listening).

Ren was pulled out of Isaac's pocket and handed to Tango. "We have a job for you," Tango said. Ren didn't like the way the redstoner was smiling. It reminded him of Grian.

Zedaph and Bdubs came over to them. Zedaph seemed to be telling Bdubs something, which was kind of weird since he had just been with his cabin a minute ago. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"Why?"

"To get to the idiot's house."

"That's horrible."

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

Zedaph grinned evilly. "The chicken."

"HEY-"

"Campers and Hunters!" Chiron called. Isaac, Malcolm, and the Hephaestus kids stopped planning. Zedaph stopped annoying Bdubs. Everyone came to attention.

"I must remind you, all of you, that this is a friendly game. As always, no maiming, killing, anything along those lines. Apollo cabin and Hunters of Artemis, remember to use practice arrows so nobody gets seriously injured. Magical items are allowed and encouraged. Sabotage is also allowed, but try not to kill anyone. The boundary is the creek - pass it, and you are on enemy ground. You have thirty minutes to hide your flag and prepare. When you hear the conch horn, the game will begin. Go!"

Ren clenched the rim of Tango's pocket as the son of Hephaestus started to run with the rest of the campers, toward the east side of the creek. Apparently claims had been staked already - of course, Ren hadn't been involved. He was never involved anymore. He winced to think about how rusty his PVP skills would be when - if - he turned human again.

"Okay, Ren," Tango said. "I'm guessing nobody told you the plan."

Ren shook his head.

"CAMPERS!" Malcolm yelled. "WE HAVE A PLAN."

Tango looked at Zedaph. "You sure you have enough?"

"For the Ares cabin, yeah," Bdubs said.

"Hermes, as in, children of Hermes, you are in charge of stealing the flag," Malcolm was saying. "You're the fast runners. Remember to be stealthy. Sorry Ares, but we need to play it smart against the Hunters."

Isaac and Ren's other siblings nodded in understanding.

"Demeter, Dionysus, unclaimed demigods, Thalia, Percy, watch the perimeter. Guard it however you can. You've all been given flares - send one up if any Hunters appear. Percy, stick close to the creek - we need every advantage we can get. Aphrodite - we know they hate you, try to distract them if they come over while you wait for Ares or Athena. Apollo, you're in charge of guarding the flag. Some Athenas will help. Dryads, satyrs - you're going to go into enemy territory, hinder them however you can. Send a team to get their flag if you get a chance. And, everyone, keep an eye out for piles of leaves - don't step in them. Hephaestus set traps all along the border last night. If one goes off, run. An Athena kid will go with each group to remind everyone of the plan and keep us on track."

The claimed Hermes kids started making their own plans.

"What about Ares?" One of Ren's sisters called.

Isaac smirked at the rest of the cabin. "Come here," he said to them, as the rest of the demigods, satyrs, and nymphs started spreading out around the clearing where they would hide their flag, waiting for the conch horn to start the game.

Tango, Beckendorf, Malcolm, Zedaph, Isaac, and four whole Ares kids gathered in a group. "You're going to be the reinforcements," Malcolm said. "The surprise attack."

The Ares kids were smart enough to know what a surprise attack was. They nodded, although a little bit grumpy about having to take orders from a son of Athena.

"And how will we know when to come in?" someone asked.

"That's where this little guy comes in," Tango said, holding up Ren.

Ren felt enormously uncomfortable.

"Ren's going to have a flare," Zedaph said. "Are you listening, Ren?"

Ren did his best to nod.

"You're going to have a flare," Zedaph continued. "And if Hunters show up at the clearing, you'll set it off - that'll tell the border people that the Hunters have breached so they can turn their attention inward."

"Ren, it has to be you because we need all the campers we can get fighting. You can't fight, so your job is to watch and set off the flare," Tango said.

Thanks for the reminder, Ren thought sarcastically.

"Ares, you're going to be on border patrol as well," Malcolm stepped in. "Until-"

"Enderporters," Beckendorf said, grinning.

All of the Ares campers except Isaac looked confused.

If Ren was human, his eyebrows would have shot above his hairline. This was a stretch. Ender pearls were from Minecraft. And most of the campers didn't know that they were from Minecraft yet. As far as Ren knew... It was only Percy, Annabeth, Grover, sort of Clarisse, and the Stoll brothers. And Ren wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

"Like in Minecraft?" one of Ren's siblings asked.

Ren mentally facepalmed.

"They were based off Minecraft, yeah," Tango said. Beckendorf took off his backpack, set it on the ground (it made a bunch of clattering noises), and unzipped it. Inside were a bunch of bronze bowls.

Even Ren was confused now.

Beckendorf flipped a switch on one. What looked like fans all along the inside of the bowl turned on, blowing air into his face. He turned it off.

"We spent all night making these," Beckendorf said gruffly. "If they don't work, then we go to Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" Zedaph asked.

"Run in screaming like a bunch of lunatics and hope we surprise them."

Zedaph considered that. "Makes sense." He dug in his pocket and pulled out five small, round objects. He handed one to each of the Ares kids plus Isaac. "Don't drop them."

He did NOT just give them ender pearls, Ren thought.

He had, in fact, given them ender pearls.

This is not going to end well.

Zedaph handed another pearl to Beckendorf, who set a bowl-fan-thingamajig on the ground and turned it on.

The son of Hephaestus dropped his pearl into the bowl, and it floated.

The pieces came together. This was the closest thing Tango could get to one of the bubblevator enderporters that Etho frequently used.

Dang. Ren missed Etho. And the rest of the Hermits.

"The air current is really strong," Tango explained. "It'll hold the pearl up."

Beckendorf backed away, almost into the trees. "Now," he said, and Tango turned it off.

Vvwoop. Beckendorf was standing with one foot in the bowl.

The Ares cabin let out exclamations of excitement. Beckendorf passed out bowls.

"Ren, your job is to turn them off right after you set off the flare," Tango told him.

Ren would have grinned if he was capable of it. Just like Operation Bubblevate. But full-on enderporters instead of just people in bubblevators.

The five enderporters were hidden and set up behind trees and boulders just outside the clearing.

And just in time, too.

The conch horn sounded.

~~~

Idk what that chapter was honestly but yea here ya go, Ren finally proving himself useful

-Indigo