The campfire that night is a little more subdued. I can tell the Apollo campers singing about putting armor on aren't fully invested into the song. The fire is a sad, flickering little blue thing.

Jay sighs, looking bored. "This is worse than the time the Stolls stole the campfire." he mutters. He sends a sidelong glance above my head hopefully. Then sighs. Again. "Why can't you get claimed already?"

"Don't ask me." I say defensively. "I can't control it."

Jay shrugs. "No harm in trying, though."

I glare at him.

"Fine. I'll stop pushing. At night." He clarifies. "We'll still try during the day."

"That's fine with me." I say, satisfied. The campfire ends without any notable occurrences, and so I walk back to the Hermes cabin with a growing annoyance.

How hard can it be? Seriously? Take two seconds, send a glowing thing above my head, and then I'll understand why Sera didn't want me telling anyone right off. This is getting a little tedious, honestly!

Sera comes up behind me, whispering in my ear. "Capture the Flag starts back up tomorrow. Since big ol' dragon is gone, we're free to play. You ready to get stabbed, or you wimpin' out?"

"Is there a right answer to that?"

She claps my shoulder proudly. "You're in, then!"

I sigh. "I guess I have no choice."

"GREAT! Hermes will be teaming up with Ares and Apollo, so be prepared." Sera warns. "When we fight, we fight hard."

"So we'll be going against Athena and basically everyone else?" I ask incredulously. "Isn't that a little unevenly matched?"

She elbows me. "You're forgetting---Apollo has a lot of kids. So does Ares. And all the unclaimed go to Hermes, so you've got a lot there, too. Plus, a few other cabins'll be joining you guys. I'm pretty sure you're also getting Hephaestus, and Hecate. Athena gets everyone else."

"Great." I mutter. "So I'm going against Annabeth Chase in a fight. And Endora!"

"Welp, ya beat her in fencing earlier." Sera snickers. "So you're probably fine."

I feel a little bit better until she pats my shoulder, nodding comfortingly. "Unless Endora decides to single you out and end your life for beating her."

Somehow, it doesn't comfort me. 

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This one's even shorter... I apologize. Filler between big things is HARD to write. Next chapter in a few more minutes!