Finishing my meal and heading towards the cabins, I heard a horn sound off coming from the woods which alarmed me. Seeing Ebony leaving the cabin in full armor, I jogged towards her. "What's going on?" "It's time for capture the flag, it's a four on four match today so you need to go get your armor on pronto!" She ordered as she jogged of towards the woods with everyone else. Not knowing what to truly expect nor wanting to get left behind I jogged inside to grab the armor that was locked away in the foot locker by my bed. Unlocking it, I pulled out my armor and began sliding it on, even though I didn't know what I was doing when it came to tying it. With my armor feeling a bit loose I slid on my helmet, grabbed my shield that was under my bed which had a Rams Head painted on it and ran out the cabin with my sword strapped to my side.

Following all the others, we made our way to a clearing near the entrance of the woods where the creek entered. As we all stood there in front of a stage built by wood, I felt someone tap my shoulder causing me to turn around and see Adrien standing mere inches away from me which made my brain to go haywire. "You need some help adjusting your armor?" He asked with a smile causing me to blush. "That would be nice, thank you." As he adjusted my armor, I watched how he tied the straps into place and reaffirmed that they stayed put. "There you are." He said with a smile. Looking him over, I noticed that he wasn't wearing any armor nor had his sword. "Where's your armor and sword?" "My cabin tries our best to keep from doing things like this. We're more suited to watch, observe, and help out when we can." As he said this he waved his hand over at the other campers as other children of Aphrodite were helping others with their armor. "So how is it that you guys don't participate?" "Well we mutually agreed that this isn't our strong suit. So unless your cabin as a whole says so within good reason, you'll mostly likely will end up playing depending on who your cabin allies with."

"Are you serious?" "Unfortunately, but I'm sure you'll do fine. Eris was known for her speed and Grace as well as causing mayhem so you'll be fine on the field. Just follow your instincts and becareful. I'll be out here rooting for you." As he said this he walked off to help another camper with their armor while my face turned red. Unable to stop my mind from replaying the last words he said, I saw Ben talking with one of the children of my cabins greatest rival. Walking over, I pulled Ben away from his conversation with one of Athena's children so we can chat. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" "Really, you seemed to be doing fine talking with Adrien." As he said this I could feel my face burn up "Listen Eve, if you want to crush on a son of Aphrodite then becareful. Also, if you want to talk to me then say excuse me next time." I was shocked and surprised by what he said. Ben never stood up to me before and I didn't really like it at all. "Get over it, I came to talk strategy." "I'm with the Athena cabin so all they do is usually talk about strategies. So I'm perfectly fine." " So you don't want to be on the same side?" "We're not choosing the teams, the choice belongs to Mr. D and who ever won the last game." As he said this he began to backtrack back into the group consisting of the other members of his cabin.

Not knowing what to do, I looked around at all the other campers as they developed close nit groups to discuss how they plan on winning. Walking through the crowd, I watched as everyone seems to be busy until I saw a familiar figure leaning against the tree with a scythe leaning beside him as the arc of the blade curved above his head. Walking over to him I saw as Avery was looking up with his eyes closed as his lips moved as if mumbling something via memory and twitching his fingers. As fun as it would be to bother, I didn't know whether that would be a good idea or not. "Hey Avery?" I whispered to him to see if that would get him out of his trance. "Avery, hello!? I called as I snapped my fingers in front of his face but I got no reaction from him which bugged me. I didn't like the fact that he was ignoring me so I shook him as I said his name.

As his eyes suddenly opened there was a flash of a white that glowed in them causing me to take a step back as they faded. Blinking, he looked around as he started to regain his senses before looking annoyed at me. "What do you want Eve?" " I just wanted to know what you were doing." "I unfortunately have to mentally prepare myself for what's about to happen. Why, do you need something?" "No." I said glancing around before looking at Avery who had a smirk on his face. "You feel like an outcast. Since Ben finally found a place he fits in and your life outside this place doesn't mean anything, you finally feel alone." As he said this I wanted to say something badly but couldn't. "The roles between the two of you have reversed which is kind of funny. Maybe you can do some sort of self discovery here and drop the diva act." "What act?!" "The one your doing right now by looking at people like they're beneath you, talking anyway you want as if nobody will do anything about it, and just being overall rude. Learn some modesty and kindness if you truly want someone to help you get over your insecurities." As he said this he sat down and placed the scythe on his lap as he closed his eyes.

As I stood there speechless, I decided to leave him be as I walked past a group of kids whispering to one another which made me self-conscious. 'Were they talking about me? No, of course not. Why would they when they don't even know me?' feeling paranoid, I saw Ben's other friend Arch as he and the girl I remembered as being Miranda where both talking as they held their staffs in there hand. With hers being twice the size of Arch's with a one foot bronze blade on one end and a small spiked ball on the other. As I approached I could hear a bit of Miranda informing Arch on something.

"So with this seed, I can grow a full grown tree in a matter of minutes even though it would use up a lot of energy. So I would suggest practicing with something small and low maintenance, like flowers or a sapling." Miranda informed. "Wow, so you can control any tree?" Arch asked which earned a smile from Miranda. "All but the tree's connected to the nymphs and only if the dryads doesn't mind." Hearing them talk about how the tree's and their gifts work was kind of boring me unfortunately. Luckily, as I heard everyone begin cheering I turned to see Mr. D and Chiron walk on to the stage to look at everyone. "Okay campers," Mr. D said with little enthusiasm "for tonight's game of capture the flag, the black team led by Nico from cabin thirteen has allied with cabins four, six, and seventeen. As for the white team led by Jason from cabin one has allied with cabins five, eleven, and nineteen. Cabin thirteen, Hades is the current champion, hurrah." He said sarcastically.

"You all know the rules: the creek is the boundary line and the forest is fair game. Magical items are permitted but maiming and killing to my dismay are not. No binding or gagging and guards or not permitted within ten yards of the flag. Not to mention that the flag must be prominently displayed with no more then two guards. Did I get everything?" He said as he glanced over to Chiron tiredly. Nodding Mr.D shooed us off causing me to follow my cabin mates towards the east side of the woods.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jogging behind Nico, I observed as we we passed several trees and animals I noticed a couple of boulders stacked on top of one one another that looked a bit like a fist from here. "What's that over there?" I asked causing Nico to glance over. "That's Zues's fist." He answered "why not place the flag up there?" "We killed a creature there and ever since then it just feel weird over there. So it's believed to be cursed and no one will go near it." "Wouldn't that make it the perfect place to put the flag?" Arch asked causing Nico and everyone else to stop. "What are the chances of them heading towards it Malcolm?" He asked as he stared at the Rock. "I would say that the possibility of any of them coming towards Zues's fist first are low even with cabin nineteen's ability." As the tanned skinned blond haired guy said.

"Ok, we need a gaurd for the flag." Nico said as he began jogging over towards Zues's fist with us in tow. "I'll stay and gaurd the flag." I volunteered "It seems the easiest and safest. Besides, I'm new at this and I won't be much help on the battlefield. But I've been training for defense." As we reached the pile of boulders, Nico turned around to look at me as one of the kids from cabin seventeen placed the flag. "If you think you can handle it then you can gaurd it," He said uneasily "anyone else?" Looking around at the others I saw Arch step forward to volunteer. "I'll stay behind, it would make sense to go all out I guess." "Okay." Nico said as he nodded. "So here's the plan Malcolm and I came up with, cabin four would take the left and cabin seventeen will take the right. Archers will find any kind of high ground and fire at the enemy before two handed weapon users as well as cabin six and I will move down the center just like the bull horn formation. Archers as we approach, I want you to fall back behind us even if you get a perfect shot for the flag. Only go after the flag if you think there's a clear shot for you to get it, if not then leave it up to seventeen okay?" They all agreed before going to their positions and readying up their gear. As I watched them all prepare, I saw three kids from the cabin seventeen shimmie up the tree with a quiver of arrows and bow strapped across their back.

Walking over to Nico who was checking his weapons I asked him "who are the kids of cabin seventeen and nineteen?" Glancing up with a smirk he replied. "Cabin seventeen houses the children of Nike, the goddess of victory. They're really competitive so be carful in challenging them because they don't take coming in second very well. So I hope you guys do a great job at guarding the flag." "Why did you let us knowing what kind of people they are?" I wondered out loud. "I don't know" he replied nervously. "What about the other cabin?" "Cabin nineteen belongs to the children of Tyche, the goddess of luck and fortune. The two cabins are rivals since Nike's children don't like to loose at anything and they usually loose against them." "Oh okay, so it like rival cabin versus rival cabin?" Not exactly since the Hermes, Zues, Hades, and Demeter cabin doesn't really have a rival cabin." As he said this the sound of a horn echoed through the forest signaling the start of the game and before I knew it, both cabin six and seventeen charged off without any hesitation as the archers quickly surged forward on the ground as well as through the branches.

Within minutes everyone left, leaving Arch and I behind to defend the flag which made me nervous. The fact that my gift from my mom was supposed to come tonight by this rock made me nervous with anticipation before I began to clearly hear the clashing of metal and shouting. Glancing over at Arch, he wore the same disturbed expression I was feeling. What made it worse was knowing that Ben was out there going through who knows what. Deciding to take a seat next to a tree, I faced the fist of Zues as the flag waved on top of it. Stretching my arms towards it, I closed my eyes and began to focus on what I wanted to achieve before uttering the words "abyssum irent".

As I spoke the two words I felt as if there was something tugging me from inside my gut as I felt a bit dizzy as the ground shook. "What the..?" I heard Arch say surprised causing me to open my eyes to see the the ground around Zues's fist was replaced by a hug bottomless pit that surrounded the pile of boulders. Looking down into it, all I saw was darkness. "They were right about this thing being cursed huh?" Arch said worriedly. "It's fine," I told him "I did this." "How?" " It's what I've been doing in my cabin, I've been doing some simple stuff but I've memorized a dozen different spells." "Spells? You can use spells?" "Apparently so, but it takes a lot of concentration since I'm not that good at remembering what each one does or how to pronounce it fluently." "How do you know you don't say one that blows your head off?" " You know that book I found? Well the wording tells me what it does more or less. It's just a feeling I get. If I happen to blow my head off then I didn't do it right unfortunately."

"Well can you boost up the defense on the flag?" Arch asked causing me to roll my eyes as I closed my eyes and tried to remember if any of the spells can be used for defense with no such luck. "I don't know of any that means wall or shield." I told him as the sound of metal grew louder. "What about barriers?" Going back through my head I remembered a spell that had 'barrier' in it. Pointing my index and middle finger towards to rock formation I whispered the incantation which seemed to summon a thin layer of mist which flowed from the top of Zues's fist down into the pit. Feeling a bit weaker I dragged myself further behind the tree I had my back against to prevent myself from being seen by anyone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing what Avery just did, I was impressed that he could use spells. It made me curious if I could do something like that? But seeing how tired he was after just doing two of them, I should focus on making sure that nobody gets past them. Kneeling behind a tree with my staff ready, I began practicing with my control over the small batch of flowers that were growing next to me. As I watched them grow and lengthen, I heard some footsteps quickly heading this way. Making sure I kept hidden behind the tree, three figures sprung into view near the edge of the pit. All three were from the white team which ment that they somehow broke through or got past our team. As I looked on, I recognized the other teams leader among the three of them as well as that one guy who was staring at me at the pavilion earlier today. The only one I didn't recognize was the boy who had black with splashes of white hair and a eye patch that looked like a casino chip.

"I told you they would of hidden it in the last place you would of thought." He said as he smiled at the tanned skinned guy from earlier as he adjusted his quiver of arrows "You owe me Clay." "Yeah I got you covered." Clay replied as he looked down the bottomless pit. "I knew this place was considered curse but this is a bit much don't you think?" "Nico or his brother probably did this before they ran off for our flag." Jason said as Eve came running through the woods with gashes on her armor and shield. "Whoa," she said as she noticed the pit "can one of you get it?" "Just leave it to a pro, Maia." Phillip said casually as wings sprouted from his shoes. With his winged shoes lifting him off the ground, he took off towards the flag. Thinking that he was going to slam right into the barrier I watched as he quickly flew over the ten yard wide pit in mere moments from the flag before disappearing and reappearing on the other side of the 10 foot wide pile of boulders in a puff of mist. Nearly flying into a tree, he was able to avoid it and fly back towards the flag.

"What just happened?" Eve asked. "Zues's fist must have a barrier over it" the checkerboard haired boy said curiously. Shrugging his shoulders, Jason hurriedly unsheathed his sword and thrusted it in the direction of the flag causing a bolt of lighting to come down on top of it. With the bolt striking an unseen barrier that was 5 feet above the flag, it slow started to become visible as it became apparent that a mist like dome enclosed the flag and the rocks it was on top of. Seeing as the barrier began to spider web, I decided to try to stop them but I didn't know how to exactly achieve that. Hearing some crashing in the woods, I saw Ben charging up towards Joseph with his halberd raised as if he was planning to chop him in two. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed him, Eve ran off towards him and swung her sword as he brought his weapon down causing both of them to clash against one another.

The moment their weapons made contact, a huge bolt of lightning struck the area around them causing a shock wave which knocked everyone down. Looking around, I could see that both Ben and Eve were unconscious and that the only person who was up was Jason who was kneeling as if he was drained. Watching as Clay got up, I tried to snake my way back behind the tree until I heard someone clear there throat beside me. Glancing up I saw the checkered hair boy looking down at me with a bow in hand readying to release the arrow in it. "Get up" he said with a grin, which I did since I really didn't want to know what an arrow felt like.

"Look what I found." He called to the other three. With clay back in the air they all looked my way. "Knock him and and let's hurry and get the flag" Jason ordered as Clay swooped down and grabbed the flag. Not knowing what would happen next I saw Avery appear out of nowhere from a mere foot in front of me within a cloud of mist. As the mist dissipated, he shouted a word in an incomprehensible​ language as he thrusted his hand towards me before quickly doing the same to Clay as he quickly began flying over the pit. As he finished the phrase, Clay's wings froze in mid flight causing him to fall down towards the pit. Thinking that it was it for him, he landed on top of the unforgiving ground as the pit dissipated into mist the moment he made contact with it. Seeing how Avery was able to stop Clay's winged shoes, he stood up and brandished his sword as it turned into a javalin and charged towards Avery who held his scythe in preparation for the upcoming fight.

Seeing his chance, Clay quickly got up and ran off towards the flag and seeing him run off, I didn't k ow what to do. Glancing back, I saw the checkerboard hair guy who was standing behind me was paralyzed in mid swing as he had a small war hammer in his hand. Seeing that he was a statue at the moment, I quickly took off after Clay who wasn't that far ahead of me. As I ran after him, I could see that he was slowly expanding the distance as he kept glancing back at me with a teasing smile causing me to get angry and fustrated. Seeing the glimmer of the creek ahead, my anger grew to desperation as I tried to will the tree's and everything around me to stop him. Feeling a strong tug in my stomach as if I've been punched I, stopped as the water in the creek began the churn and move before shooting upwards in front of Clay causing him to almost run into it.

Looking back at me dumbfounded, clay looked as if he didn't know which way to go. Turning towards the wall of water, he tried to jump through it for only the current of the wall to push him up and back causing him to fall into the ground with the flag. Feeling as if the whole world was rocking side to side, I dropped to my knees as I released my mental will to stop him which caused the water to come crashing down onto Clay before I passed out.