After dinner that night, it was their first game of Capture the Flag. Chiron enthused it was every demigod against thirteen Hunters, but although it sounded like an easy win, Eithne did not believe it. Bianca was the only nervous Hunter, whereas three Ares kids already puked in the bushes. The stench was worse than Connor, who she learned yesterday could blow the roof off their cabin after eating hellhound jerky.

Clad in bronze breastplates several sizes too big and helmets with ridiculous blue plumes, Nico and Eithne watched the Ares kids stumble to the medics on standby.

"This is so cool," he laughed.

She gave him a weird look and pushed Nico's helmet down until it practically swallowed his face. "Okay, squirt. Just go grab their swords."

"Sweet! I'll be right back!"

Eithne kept a close eye on him, praying Nico remembered to wash the vomit off, when a slim brunette suddenly stomped on her foot.

"Fuck!"

"Sorry," the brunette whined as she adjusted her unbuckled armor. "They've just-! I mean, love? Worthless? Ugh!"

Her smile twisted at the corners like frayed thread, and her eyes glowed as they flickered between colors too quick to get a read on. It was then Eithne had a brilliantly bad idea. She put on her best sympathetic smile and helped tighten the girl's shoulder straps.

"You're Silena, right," Eithne questioned. It would be weird if Eithne didn't know the girl with how popular she was, but she shouldn't sound too eager either. "From Aphrodite? I heard all about that at dinner. It sucks that wasn't the worst of it."

Silena froze, eyes narrowing into gray slits. "What do you mean?"

Now, look, Eithne hadn't lied to Nico earlier. She wasn't mad at Bianca for joining the Hunters. She was just annoyed at the manhandling his sister did. And maybe she paid a little extra attention when Travis gossiped about how Silena Beauregard worsened the longstanding feud between the Aphrodite cabin and the Hunters when she swore to defeat them. 

This was just giving the feisty cabin leader...a little extra nudge. After all, it doesn't matter what you do when your Jenga tower starts leaning like a drunk tourist. The next move will always send it crashing down.

"Well," Eithne whispered, glancing at the Hunters like she'd die if they heard her. Silena watched them too in a perfectly practiced move that made it look like she wasn't. "I know they don't like boys and everything, but they really tore into this girl. She was just trying to decide what to wear, and the way they acted was like reading Facebook comments-"

"No!"

"Yeah," she sighed, "the poor thing cried a river and hid in the pegasi stalls. And! They think they're so much better than us! Chiron said they won the last few times, and now I bet they don't even take us seriously. Something about ex nihilo nihil fit? "

Despite her crappy Latin, the message came through loud and clear: Camp Half-Blood was nothing compared to the Hunters of Artemis. Silena shook so hard at the insult that her spear rattled.

"Those bitches! When I get my hands on them..."

Eithne watched with a satisfied grin as Silena turned on her heel and marched on, pulling several other campers with her to tell them the news. She must have been an even better gossip than Eithne thought because soon they all matched her fury, one even taping their nail filers on like Freddy Kreuger. It was amazing what a pissed-off chick could do.

"Hey, Eithne," Nico called out, his voice brimming with enthusiasm.

Turning back to her friend, Eithne couldn't help but grin. Nico was bounding towards her like an excited retriever, awkwardly half-carrying-half-dragging two swords. His eyebrows scrunched into a fuzzy caterpillar as he tried to get a better grip, fumbling with the hilts. He barely managed to reach her, breath coming in shaky gasps.

Eithne felt the familiar warmth bloom in her chest again, spreading from her ribs to her throat and then the rest of her body. It made her skin feel a little tight but in a nice way. She couldn't help but pinch Nico's chin, her fingers still tingling when she let go.

"Need some help there, hero?" she teased, rocking on the balls of her feet.

Nico looked up, a sheepish smile tugging at his lips. "Yeah, these things are heavier than they look."

With a rough chuckle, she took one of the swords from his grip. It was weightier than the training weapons, but it was manageable. Eithne swung it a few times, noting the difference in balance. Her movements weren't as quick as she would have liked, but it would have to suffice. As long as she didn't come out of Capture the Flag as a permanent pancake, she'd consider it a success.

Eithne and Nico followed the crowd as their team grouped up, pushing their way to the front when they caught sight of their co-captains: Percy and Thalia. The two were locked in a heated debate, Thalia as cuddly as a porcupine and Percy's face darkening with every second. The air itself felt charged, as tense and heavy as the night before a terrible storm. 

When Percy turned away from Thalia, running a hand through his wild mess of hair, Nico bounded forward with an infectious grin. Eithne kept a careful eye on the girl, slightly relaxing when she walked off to talk to another camper.

"Percy, this is awesome," Nico's words tumbled out in an excited rush. "Do we get to kill the other team?"

"Um...no?"

Eithne bit back a laugh as Nico remained undeterred, Percy's concern flying right over his head. "But the Hunters are immortal, right?"

"Yeah," Percy agreed, tan skin slightly pale. "Only if they don't fall in battle. Besides-"

"It'd be awesome," Nico rambled, swinging his sword back and forth. Eithne jumped away from the blade, ignoring the hand Percy offered until he awkwardly dropped it. "If we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed so we could keep fighting and—"

"Nico!"

Both Eithne and the boy froze at Percy's voice, firm and laden with gravity. The older teen pulled a pen out of his pocket and pressed a button to transform it into a sword. The blade gleamed wickedly, its bronze catching the fading sunlight. Percy sliced a finger on his sword, bright red blood pooling as he held it up for them to see.

"This is serious," he emphasized. "Real swords can hurt."

As Nico's excitement deflated a bit, Eithne patted him gently on the back. "Come on, Nico. You'd burst into tears if you actually hurt someone."

Nico sighed, shoulders slumping. Percy glanced between the two of them, groaning after a moment and rubbing his neck. He crouched down to Nico's eye level, voice softening into something sweet and warm.

"Hey, it's cool. Just stick with the team, follow our lead, and we'll have fun out there, alright?"

Even Eithne felt her heart flutter a bit at that, but before she could get too embarrassed, Chiron's hooves thudded against the pavilion floor with a loud, echoing clack. The centaur waved when everyone turned towards him, and the sharp whine of a megaphone pierced the air as he began talking.

"Heroes, you know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team – Camp Half-Blood – shall take the west woods. Red team – Hunters of Artemis – shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"

Thalia was the first to thrust her spear in the air, whooping and hollering as the rest of the blue team followed her lead. Everyone fell in line behind her and Percy, and Eithne held the corner of Nico's shirt as they marched. Her hand dropped when they reached Zeus' Fist, needing both to scramble her way to the top of the large pile of boulders. It was rough, rocks shifting under her feet before Eithne could catch her grip, but it had a clear view of the creek snaking its way through the trees. Eithne turned back to her team, squinting as the sun's reflection turned the boulders into a molten heap of blacks, oranges, and reds.

"We'll send out a decoy to the left," Thalia announced. "Silena, you lead that."

Silena nodded, a rare seriousness etched into her brow. "Got it."

"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise. Anything to add, Percy?"

Percy jolted, reeling back in from whatever daydream he was having like a fishing line. He wiped his palms on his pants and locked eyes one by one with the rest of the campers. "Um, yeah. Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's not much for a big forest. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help."

"And don't leave your post," Thalia added with a stare sharp enough to cut glass.

Eithne's insides danced to a jumpy salsa rhythm. She was waiting for the explosion that was bound to happen between Thalia and Percy. They could barely go four seconds without snarking back at each other, two stubborn flints trying to spark a forest fire.

"Unless you see a golden opportunity," Percy said, voice easy but his back ramrod straight.

"Just don't leave your post!"

Eithne couldn't help but roll her eyes. If there was an Olympic event for smart-mouthed retorts, Percy would definitely bring home the gold. As it was, the Stoll brothers were standing at the edge of the crowd taking bets.

"Right, unless-"

"Percy!"

Thalia grabbed Percy's shirt collar, lifting him off his feet as the team tensed. Suddenly, Percy was a human circuit board as little shocks of bright blue electricity ran up and down his arms. His expression caught between surprise and irritation, the smell of burnt hair settling on him.

Eithne exchanged a wry glance with Nico, eyes dancing with mischief as she muttered under her breath. "Well, she's shockingly persuasive."

Nico's lips quirked into a half-smile, and he leaned in conspiratorially. "Yeah, gave him a real jolt."

"Sorry," Thalia droned as she let go of Percy, sounding as sincere as Charles Lee Ray. "Now, is everybody clear?"

Everyone nodded simultaneously, Eithne with a sarcastic little salute, and the horn went off. Capture the Flag had officially begun.