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Percy tightened the strap on her chest plate and she wheezed as it squished around her ribs.

"This is the worst idea you've ever had."

"You'll be fine!" He slapped her on the back and she stumbled.

"Y'know, the last time we fought you got concussed and I broke my nose."

He rolled his eyes. "You were also concussed incase you forgot."

"Argus's headrest was at eye-view!" She sheathed her sword into its hilt. "Who has it set that high?!"

Percy shrugged. "He's a very particular dude. Maybe you're just good at getting yourself into very dangerous and situations."

He was making fun of her. The audacity.

"I hope the Ares kids burn you alive."

"Very Roman of you."

A bunch of Athena kids scrambled past holding a silk banner marked with cursive writing. The long awaited capture the flag game, held at the peak of twilight. Nothing like running around in the dark to get your blood pumping.

On the opposite side of the pavilion was Clarisse and her brothers. They were laughing as they carried a blood-red banner painted with spears and boar heads across the field. (Name) could suddenly feel the sweat dripping down her back when Clarisse turned her way. She didn't look happy to see her. (Not that she'd expected a warm reception).

Percy and (Name) moved off towards the arena where Chiron was announcing the teams. Athena, Hermes, Poseidon and Apollo had an alliance. (Name) had been unquestionably appointed to their team despite how little interest she had in dumb demigod games. Percy had ignored all of her complaints.

Ares had allied themselves with everyone else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite and Hephaestus. The Dionysus children were actually quite athletic and the Demeter kids knew a lot about the land and agriculture. Even though they were less aggressive than the Ares and Hephaestus kids, they still had their strategies and plans. The Aphrodite kids spent most of their time looking at themselves and worrying about chipping nails, so they weren't the biggest threat. The burden of being beautiful (Name) supposed.

Percy shoved a shield into (Names)'s unwitting hands and she gawked at him, her goofy-looking helmet tilting to the side. The blue plumes at the top weighed her down until she could barely see. The shield weighed about forty kilos and was the size of an NBA backboard.

Annabeth yelled something (Name) couldn't really understand and suddenly everyone cheered.

She stumbled along, following everyone down into the south part of the woods were the river flowed into a delta of small creaks. The forest was rich with green. Moss and foliage shimmering in the last specks of sunlight. Nothing like the parks near her apartment. It was pretty, to say the least. A surprisingly tranquil area of Camp held together a bunch of disorderly half-gods.

She could've stood there all day, but Travis Stoll slammed right into her, head-on.

"What the—? Are you even watching we're you're going?" She readjusted her helmet. "I broke my nose this morning!"

"Easy!" He laughed. "I just came over to see the setup."

She stared at him, unimpressed. "Pretty sure you could see it from over there."

His face went bright red. "Y-Yeah well, it was also a good excuse to come talk to a cute girl, right?"

She scowled. "There'll be nothing cute left if you guys keep slamming into me."

He laughed again, this time even louder. She didn't think she was being that funny.

"Awh c'mon, you've gotta get used to the rough play. That's the life of a demigod."

"Maybe you're the concussed one," she flicked his chin. "I'm not a demigod, remember?"

"Coulda fooled me."

"Why, cause I kicked your ass?"

"Once." He corrected. "And no, not because you're suddenly good with a sword."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why then?"

"C'mon. No mortal could have eyes like that."

All the fun back and forth died with that comment, and her eye's lidded into a seething glare. All her life she'd been bullied for that exact thing. Gold eyes weren't the beautiful accessory her mother and father had thought they'd be. They were creepy. No one would play with her on the playground because they thought she was a ghost. In grade school, they called her names and pretended like she was invisible when she was standing right next to them.

Monster! Monster!

(Name) the creepy ghost!

They said she'd never get married. That she was too ugly to get a boyfriend.

"Jeeeez! What's with the look?" Conner let out a nervous laugh. "You could put Medusa to shame!"

"Good. I hope you turn to stone then."

He arched an eyebrow. "Did I piss you off or something?"

"You're the one who's got a problem with my eyes."

"I don't have a problem," he insisted. "They're pretty!!"

"Uh-huh."

"C'mon, cut me some slack. I wasn't trying to insult you."

"They're creepy." She corrected.

"Creepy? What jerk told you that?"

She folded her arms over her chest. "Does it really matter?"

"I mean, it's clearly left the wrong impression," he nudged her shoulder. "They're not creepy. They're cool! I mean, gold eyes? That's some Aphrodite stuff right there!"

She tried to stifle her smile, but it didn't work. He was trying so hard to cheer her up and she appreciated the sentiment.

"You guys seem to be getting along."

They both turned their plume covered heads. Percy was standing there, arms shoved into his pockets, looking between them with suspicion.

"I guess?"

Travis let out an melodramatic sigh. "You're so cold to me."

"Get over it, pick-pocket."

"Right," Percy cut in. "Travis, you're running with me. Annabeth's orders."

Travis moved to stand by Percy. "Alright, sounds like a good plan. Well, if Annabeth's behind it then obviously."

"Newbies are on border patrol," Percy continued. "Keep an eye out on the flag and watch Clarisse's spear, it's electric. Don't stay near the creak unless...unless you're me, really."

"So humble," she hummed.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Stay out of trouble."

With that, he pushed forward and disappeared into the woods with Travis.

Weird interaction, she thought.

The rest of the team spread out across the creak and into the woods, and she was left standing alone at the flag. For a daughter of the wise, Annabeth's plan was pretty predictable. Everyone would rush the apposing team, leaving only a couple of kids hiding in the bushes to help out while (Name) stood guard. Annabeth had stationed her at the flag by herself so she looked like an easy target. Anyone with a brain would take the bait though with her standing there looking like an idiot in a fluffy hat.

Her sword glowed faintly in the moonlight, almost like it was bored. (Name) gripped leather hilt, her hands perspiring with nervous energy. She prayed to the Gods Clarisse wouldn't be the one to find her defending the flag. She didn't particularly feel like getting grated into lemon rind today.

Far away she heard the conch horn blow and battle cries syphoned into the air. The distant clash of metal made her jump. Her nerves were shot. Here she was, a human playing capture the flag with a bunch of demigods. Minutes went by, stretched into long, tense moments where she was just waiting for something to happen.

And something did happen.

A rush of footsteps thundered against the grass. Clarisse emerged from the forest with four of her siblings. She could tell Clarisse apart from the pig-ugly eyes glaring at her from the slits in her helmet. She brandished a giant spear the size of a flag pole, made from barbed metal and celestial bronze. Her crudely painted helmet was dark red, like blood. Her nose was smushed to one side of the metal pikes on her helmet, which made (Name) realise those things didn't fit anyone.

She hardened her face and readied her sword, trying to look as menacing as possible, but all she managed to do was elicit laughter. Clarisse rocked back onto her heels, casually resting her spear on her shoulder. (Name) probably looked like an old grandma with a broom shooing away a bunch of kids from her garden patch. Not the scary image she'd been trying to display.

Okay. She knew she couldn't take Clarisse, let alone four of her siblings. Fighting was futile. So what else did she have? Could she talk her way out of it? She wasn't a particularly charming person. But what else could she do?

"...what a surprise meeting you guys here," she forced out. "Do you...need help or something?"

Fail.

One of Clarisse's siblings hefted their sword and pointed it at her. "Are you offering to beat yourself up for us?"

Big, fat fail.

"Uhhh...no. Not really."

"Then we don't need your help, girlie."

"Are you sure? Do you know a lot about anatomy? That's kinda important when your trying to stab someone."

"I know that if you hit someone with a spear, it scrambles their brains."

"Good...good. But what about the patela?"

"The what?"

She laughed. A good ole fake nervous laugh. "See, you don't know! If you kick someone in the kneecap, you can possibly dislodge it, and then they can't walk. Isn't immobilising your opponent a number one priority?"

"You askin' me to bust in your kneecaps?"

"Whatttt? Nooooo."

"You're makin' fun of me."

"Where did you ever get that idea from?" (Name) put her hands on her hips. "You guys are great! I'd never make fun of five morally ambiguous teenagers wearing stupidly oversized hats. That would be ridiculous!"

"You're also wearing a stupid hat." One of them pointed out.

She took it off. "No I'm not."

"You're annoying."

"Now that...that is probably true. But where would the world be if everyone was reasonable and easy to be around? You guys aren't either of those things either considering you're about to beat me up, again."

The expression Clarisse wore probably made children cry. "I'm going to enjoy this a lot more than I thought."

If you have ever watched professional ten-pin bowling you'd understand what (Name) meant when she said Clarisse stroke out. She picked (Name) up by the collar of her shirt and tossed her across the creak like she weighed nothing. She hit the dirt hard, sprawled on all fours facing the rising moon.

Strike, you're out.

She was met with pain. Lots of it. In her bones, in her skin, in her mouth. She struggled to her feet, her helmet lopsided on her head. Her hair was damp and sticking to the back of her neck, and overall, she felt very uncomfortable. .

They charged across the stream, directly for her.

Yikes.

(Name) dived out of the way as the first kid swiped at her. Hell, they weren't looking to maim, they were swinging at her like they wanted her dead. By pure fluke he missed, and she went rolling into the sandbank like an angry crab. The boy stumbled into the creak, slipped on some moss and smashed his chin into the rocks on the bank. He immediately passed out.

(Name) blurted out a laugh from sheer disbelief. What a game-ending final smash. Completely out cold. One down, four to go.

Unlucky for her, the rest weren't as dumb.

They surrounded her like a deer. Clarisse jabbed out her spear and (Name) barely blocked it with her shield. The blunt tip sent a dull throb up her arm. A tingling sensation undulated up to her shoulder, electricity crackling across her skin.

Damn. That hurt.

(Name) cemented her stances into the ground as another sibling charged at her. He knocked them both down, sending her sprawling into the wet sand. She wheezed. Blood started to pool in her mouth. She doubted they'd be sympathetic to her choking on her blood this time. Percy wasn't around to hand out sucker-punches anyway.

They circled her on the ground and started kicking her. She curled in on herself and protected her head. They didn't even care about the flag. It was standing right next to them, flapping in the wind. Tall and proud. Waiting to be plucked. Another kick sent gastric acid right up her throat. She gagged, feeling the heat permeate her mouth.

This was so dumb. A show of superiority with her as the martyr . A 'screw you' to Chiron and the rules. No one crosses Clarisse and gets away with it.

"I told you all that stuff yesterday was fake! She cant hold a sword to save her life! She's a spineless worm!"

"Worms are generally spineless." She spat out, clutching her aching ribs.

In hindsight that probably wouldn't have been the smartest thing to say in her current situation. Antagonising someone with a big-ass spear wasn't exactly smart, but if (Name) was going down she wasn't going to beg or cry, she could at least mock them at their own expense.

"Don't play smart with us," she sneered. "We could really hurt you if we wanted to."

"As apposed to what you're doing now?"

Clarisse grabbed her hair and pulled her face up until they were eye to eye. Her neck ached. Her nerves were fried and she couldn't stop shaking. Everything was cold.

Clarisse kicked her in the chest and she slammed back into the sand bed with a cough.

"Watch who you're talking to." She warned.

"This is gonna be so good!" Her siblings cooed.

"Way better then Jackson."

"Corpse-Breath," Clarisse muttered. "Broke my spear in half and beat my men to a pulp. Took us by surprise, like the wimp he is."

(Name) couldn't help but laugh. So what he said was true. He'd kicked Clarisse's ass and her pride had never fully recovered.

"No one makes a fool of Ares!" Clarisse boomed and she grabbed a fistful of (Name)'s long hair and cut straight through it. The kicking continued. Slamming elbows, knees, fists and feet into her ribs.

The whistles of victory called across the woods as Percy and Annabeth ran through friendly territory with the Ares flag in their hands. The banner immediately turned grey. Campers emerged from the forest, giddy with victory.

The beating stopped. (Name) let out a ragged breath, clutching her trembling body with raw fingertips. Clarity came to her mind. What happened to the guards there were supposed to protect her in case this very scenario occurred? What was Clarisse's plan after she'd beaten the crap out of (Name)? Run away and claim it had never happened? Surely no one would believe her. Or maybe she wanted to get caught?

Percy dropped the flag, his interest in winning gone.

"What are you doing CLARISSE!"

That was Chiron's voice.

She'd never heard him so angry before. If she'd been able to see, it probably would've been terrifying.

Someone touched her cheek, and her eyelids lifted. Percy was staring at her, horrified. His eyes clouded over. His lips were trembling. He looked angry. And sad. It mixed into his eyes, set his jaw, turned his usual lazy grin to a thin line.

"Where does it hurt the most?" He whispered.

"...e-everywhere, you d-dumbass."

The sadness flickered for a moment. "Glad you've still got your since of humour."

"If they'd beaten that out of me I'd rather be dead."

"Don't say things like that," he muttered tersely. "This isn't the time to be joking out death."

"Cry me a river."

He brushed the dirt away from her cheek. "You are so annoying, you know that?"

"Don't be mean to me on my deathbed."

"You're not dying, drama queen."

"I hate you."

"Ditto, idiot."

She couldn't help but grin. Leave it to Percy to make her feel better while her ribcage was in pieces

Will Solace from the Apollo cabin kneeled beside her holding a canteen of Nectar. Percy nursed her head as she drank, making sure she didn't have too much. The colour returned to her cheeks, but she still felt like death.

"Next time, you stick with me."

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