Published: August 5, 2021

Edited: May 25, 2022

'•'

The night of Capture the Flag there was a lot more excitement than usual. When the dinner plates were whisked away by nymphs the Ares and Athena cabins crept away to get ready for the games. I got my usual armor and double checked that Whirlpool was in my pocket before lining up with the rest of the Athena campers. The conch horn sounded in the dining pavilion and everyone stood up at their tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and I along with the rest of the Athena kids ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. 

From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head. We circled back to where the rest of our cabin was standing with our allies. Then the teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support. Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. For the most part, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters we weren't  too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet. Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced to the crowd of half-bloods. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic 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 referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal. I hurried to get a blue plumed helmet as I already had on a breastplate. I couldn't use a shield as I fought with a double handed sword. I passed Percy and Luke who were rummaging through the pile of weapons and caught Luke's words:

"Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here, Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol." He was explaining to Percy. I mentally groaned as I remembered Annabeth's plan to use Percy and I as bait for the Ares kids. It was a good plan but it involved me and Percy potentially getting killed by Clarisse. I jammed my helmet onto my head and moped for a few more seconds before Annabeth let out a yell.

"Blue team, forward!" She cried, raising her knife. We all cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north. I marched along next to Annabeth when Percy ran up to us.

"Hey." Percy said. We kept marching but I offered him a half-smile. "So what's the plan?" He asked. I winced but the excited ravenette didn't notice. "Got any magic items you can loan me?" He asked excitedly. Annabeth's hand drifted toward her pocket where I knew her magical Yankee's cap was hidden. 

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said finally. "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?" I rolled my eyes. Annabeth knew what job Percy had; the whole plan was her idea in the first place. I grouched mentally at the rapidly looming prospect of not being able to fight and instead having to get beat up by war children.

"Border patrol, whatever that means." Percy said nonchalantly, struggling to march in time with us. 

"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to Annabeth, Athena always has a plan. I'll be with you though, I'm on border patrol too." I explained. Annabeth pushed ahead, leaving us in the dust. She seemed to be avoiding me, perhaps out of guilt. She knew my thoughts on her plan. I didn't like it one bit, and I knew Percy wouldn't either once he found out.

"Okay," Percy mumbled darkly. "Glad you wanted me on your team."

'•'

It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed us next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. Standing there alone with Percy, I sensed he felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the swords he'd tried so far, was balanced wrong. Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past us like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory. Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun. Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by. I raised Whirlpool instinctively; I had the feeling something was stalking us. Percy had raised his shield, looking around. Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating. I relaxed for only a second before the underbrush on the other side of the creek exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark. They were waving swords and shields. One of them even had a celestial bronze club.

"Cream the punks!" Clarisse demanded, splashing through the creek towards us. 

Here goes the plan, I thought. Right now Annabeth would be in enemy territory, capturing the flag. We only had to hold the Ares kids off for a little while. Clarisse's ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red electricity. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords (and the idiot with a club), not that that made me feel any better. I was a good fighter but these were literally the children of war and the plan involved me throwing the fight. 

The rest of them charged across the stream to join Clarisse. There was no one else in sight. Percy looked like he was about to run but stayed put all the same. Percy managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded us, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My sword deflected the point easily, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My black hair stood on end. My arm went numb, and the air burned. Her stupid electric spear. I stumbled  back. Another Ares guy slammed Percy in the chest with the butt of his sword and he hit the dirt. They could've kicked him into jelly, but they were too busy laughing.

"Give him a haircut," Clarisse cackled sadistically. "Grab his hair."

Percy managed to get to his feet but he looked woozy. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb. I was itching to feint and slam my sword into the side of her leg and then on the top of her head but I stayed put, taking the hit like a champ.

"Oh, wow," Clarisse mocked. "I'm scared of these guys. Really scared."

"The flag is that way," Percy told her, trying to sound angry no doubt, but it just came out waver-y and scared. 

"Yeah," one of the boys said, "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about the kids who made our cabin look stupid."

"You do that without our help," I told them. 

It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say. Two of them came at me. I raised Whirlpool but but both my arms were still numb from the electrical shock. I backed toward the creek. Percy jumped in front of me and tried to raise his shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck him straight in the ribs. If Percy hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, he would've been shish-ke-babbed. One of the cabinmates slashed his sword across Percy's arm, leaving a good-size cut.

"Hey! No maiming!" I shouted angrily, hefting Whirlpool. I wasn't about to let these bullies break the rules and hurt my new friend, plan or no.

"Oops," the guy in mock regret. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege.

He pushed both Percy and I into the creek, one with each arm. We  landed with twin splashes. I wanted to beat them up (with a sword because they could all destroy me in hand-to-hand combat) but the plan was to keep them distracted so I had to play weak. They all guffawed stupidly. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, Percy and I would be attacked again. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a double-espresso latte.

 Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get us, but Percy stood to meet them. He seemed to have experienced the same jolt of adrenaline that I did. Percy somehow knew what to do, despite being pants at sword fighting before. He swung the flat of his sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I wasn't about to let Percy have all the fun and it seemed like enough time so I raised whirlpool and hit the guy who had pushed us so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water. Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at us. Percy slammed one in the face with his shield and I used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Then I feinted right, now back to back with Percy. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of  my sword, and I snapped it like a twig.

"Ah!" she wailed in horror. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!" She probably would've said worse, but Percy smacked her between the eyes with her sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek. I grinned and Percy and I high-fived.

Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. I smirked, Annabeth was right as always, the plan worked like a charm. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.

"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick." I smirked proudly.

"Yep! And you fell for it! Hook, line and sinker!" I declared, my eyes glittering with triumph. 

The Ares kids staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. The game was over. We'd won. I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said:

 "Not bad, heroes" She said, sounding grudgingly impressed. I looked, but she wasn't there. She was hiding with her cap I rolled my eyes at her melodrama.

"Where the Hades did you learn to fight like that?" Annabeth asked Percy. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding her Yankees baseball cap as she'd just taken it off her head. 

 "You set us up," Percy accused. "You put us here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out." Annabeth shrugged off-handedly. 

"I told you. Athena always, always has a plan." I lamented, picking at a small cut on my arm. "A plan to get us pulverized but still- a perfectly executed plan."

"I came as fast as I could. I knew you'd be okay 'Dia and was ready to step in to help you but," Annabeth shrugged again. "You didn't need help." Then she noticed Percy's wounded arm and her eyes bugged out. "How did you do that?"

"Sword cut," I explained in confusion, she'd seen battle injuries before. "What do you think?"

"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it." The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As we watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

"I—I don't get it," Percy gasped, looking to Annabeth and I for an explanation. I was thinking hard. I could almost hear the gears turning in Annabeth's head. Then I froze. The sudden energy spurt, the canoe race, Percy's healing cut. No. No. No. Annabeth looked down at Percy and my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and whispered, her voice trembling. 

"Step out of the water, Percy, 'Dia."

"What—" Percy asked, looking annoyed.

"Just do it." Annabeth snapped, her eyes wide.

I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My
adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.

"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want... I assumed it would be Zeus... ."

I knew what she meant but I never thought it would be me, it made sense, perfect sense, but I was scared to believe it. I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest, an all too familiar howl. The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek, which I understood perfectly:

"Stand ready! My bow!" Annabeth drew her knife. There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers. It was looking straight at me and Percy. I froze with fear. I felt seven years old again, watching a hellhound advance on Thalia at the top of half-blood hill. Nobody else moved either except Annabeth, who yelled, 

"Dia, Percy! Run!" She tried to step in front of Percy and I, but the hellhound was too fast. 

It leaped over her—an enormous shadow with teeth—and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet. By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat. Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... they're not supposed to..." hearing the name aloud made my vision swim. My breathing was ragged and I noted with a detached sense of horror that I could taste blood bubbling in my throat as I breathed.

"Someone summoned it," Chiron whispered gauntly. "Someone inside the camp." Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone. 

"It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!" Clarisse yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the horrified Percy.

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her sternly. We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared. I let out a breath of relief but blood caught in my throat and I collapsed backwards. Percy lunged forward and caught me before I hit the ground.

"You're wounded," Annabeth told me frantically. "Quick, Percy, put her in the water."

"'M okay." I slurred my words, the faces above me blurring and shimmering.

"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, w-watch this." I was too tired to argue. Percy stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around us. He laid me in the shallow water and let it run over my torso and limbs. Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.

"Look, I—I," I stuttered, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry...." But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head. And Percy's head. I sat up in confusion, dripping water from my hair. 

"Percy, Dia," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um..." 

By the time I stood and looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident. I felt sick to my stomach. I might be the one in the prophecy, after so many years of waiting to be claimed I realized I might be part of a prophecy that might get me killed. Or Percy. Percy. I had a brother. The words from my dream came back and I knew who had been speaking-

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good." She looked at me in despair. I didn't make eye contact, my entire body was numb as though I had been struck with Clarisse's spear.

"It is determined," Chiron announced grimly. I noted with a sinking feeling that he didn't look surprised. All around Percy and I, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.

"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered.

"Our father Percy," I corrected quietly. "We're siblings."

"Poseidon," Chiron called gravely, as though announcing our deaths. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus and Neridia  Jackson, Children of the Sea God."

'•'

Word Count: 3157