Gab's PoV

By the time I woke up and was allowed out of the infirmary, it was time to go to dinner. Then after that, of course, was Capture the Flag. I really wanted to go get another weapon, like a bow and arrow, before I played the game, but my knife wasn't that bad. I needed to get better at using it anyway.

After the excitement at dinner with Nelson being claimed, I found myself sat around a table full of Athena kids, Annabeth, and Percy as they talked about different strategies for the game tonight. They seemed to have everything under control, so I just listened quietly as they went over the plan with the rest of the Greeks.

"Percy, you need to take border patrol along the left side-" began Annabeth, but Perch cut her off in protest.

"Border patrol again?! Annabeth, why don't you ever let me be a runner?" He complained loudly.

"Because you can control water, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth exclaimed in exasperation.

"What does the have to do with anything?" Percy huffed.

"You can use the creek to stop people from crossing the border. Also, every time I send you to get the flag, you take a detour because you saw 'a different path that would be quicker,' and we end up losing because you end up fighting some monster or a group of demigods!" Annabeth argued.

They continued to bicker until Malcolm, Annabeth's brother, yelled, "Would you please stop fighting! We don't gave all night! Percy, just go on border patrol please!" Percy only huffed in response, but he kept quiet.

"Thank you," Annabeth sighed. "Does anyone have any ideas as to where we should put the flag?"

"How about in one of the trees?" One of Annabeth's sisters that I didn't know the name of asked. "We could put it in this area," she pointed to a spot right behind a pile of rocks on the map in front of us. "If we position it in a certain way, we could make it look like it's on top of Zeus's fist, so the Romans will waste time trying to climb the rocks when it's actually in the tree."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "It's settled then," Annabeth began, "let's go-"

"Wait!" I exclaimed suddenly, startling everyone including myself. Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to look at me, and I shrank in my seat a little. "Um... We forgot to set up a border patrol on the right side of the creek," I mumbled.

Annabeth looked at me curiously before saying, "Thanks for pointing that out, Gab. I can't believe we missed that. Why don't you take Annie and Ari with you to guard the creek."

"Can the Stolls hide a few hundred yards away from the border behind us? They can be back up border patrol." Annie piped up with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Annabeth looked at her and the Stolls, who were snickering quietly, wearily. "Fine, but you guys better not throw the game for whatever it is you have planned," she said while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Yes!" They fist pumped the air. I groaned internally. I really didn't want to find out what they were planning. If the stories I've heard about the Stoll brothers were true, and if Annie was helping them, the end result couldn't be anything good.

"Demigods! You know your teams and which side of the woods you have. Do not maim or kill anyone please. When I blow the horn, the game will begin. Take your places!" Chiron shouted to be heard as he cantered around the pavilion.

The demigods cheered and ran into the woods. I split from the main group, and Annie, Ari, and I followed the Stolls to the creek. The Stolls then disappeared after giving Annie a wink, and the conch horn blew. Sounds of battle began almost immediatly.

"Good luck, guys," I said uncertainly. Annie tugged at her bow nervously, and Ari just leaned against a tree looking bored.

After several minutes, there was a rustle in the trees, and Reyna along with a small group of Roman demigods walked out into our clearing. Annie loaded her bow, and I stood next to her, holding my knife nervously. Ari was still leaning against the tree.

"Looks like we'll have a clear shot to the flag from here, Reyna," one of the guys chuckled. "They only sent the newbies to guard this side."

"Excuse you, we're perfectly capable of stopping you," I said heatedly, taking a step forward. What was I doing? We could never take them on by ourselves without training first.

Ari seemed to agree with most of what I thought. She snorted with scorn and said, "You guys? Probably not. I could probably hold you lot off for a little while though if I wanted to."

Annie and I glared at her, but before either of us could say anything, the same guy that spoke before said, "I think you're just too scared to try anything. That's why you're letting us pass."

"What did you just say?" Ari hissed angrily. She stepped toward the demigods and took out a wicked black blade similar to Nico's. "You better take that back."

"I can't take back the truth," he said with a smirk.

Ari lunged at him with her sword, and everything went into chaos. Annie was shooting arrows that filled the air with colored gas, Ari was dueling the guy who had been taunting her while raising a few skeletons to battle the others, and I found myself locked in combat with none other than Reyna. She was fast and really knew how to use her sword. I could barely block her attacks, and I was forced to take several steps back until I was backed into a tree. Reyna disarmed me easily and smiled in triumph. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Guess you're my prisoner now," she said with a laugh. I felt myself blush slightly, and I looked away to watch how my friends were doing. Ari was disarmed, but she was still holding her own by using her powers. I can tell she was getting drained, but I knew she wouldn't admit defeat. Annie's bow lay on the ground forgotten, and she was in hand to hand combat with another demigod. She was doing pretty well, but she too was getting tired.

A sudden cheer went up from the creek, and I saw Leo running across the creek with the other team's flag with Calypso covering his retreat with a complicated looking cross bow. I turned to look at Reyna who was staring with a face full of shock and a slight bit of anger. "Guess Annabeth was right. Athena always has a plan." She turned to look at me incredulously, and I laughed. Then she gasped and looked at something above my head. A gray circle with an olive tree in the center was above my head.

"Well, child of Athena, I expect you and Annabeth will get the chance to try and prove me wrong next time. I still say we'll beat you in the next Capture the Flag game." Reyna laughed. I laughed with her, and we walked over to help the others walk out of the woods.

All of a sudden, a voice yelled, "Ready, Annie?"

"Ready!" She yelled back.

"What are you-" I started to ask, but I never got the chance to finish. Just then, Annie ran to a tree and tugged on a rope hanging from it. Blue paint dumped on our heads and completed covered our bodies. Considering the shrieks from behind us, more paint had been dumped on those people too.

When we finally succeeded to wipe the paint from our eyes, we saw Annie, Connor, and Travis leaning on each other for support as they laughed their heads off. I glanced over at Ari who looked livid.

"Annie Cortez!" She shouted. Uh oh.

Sorry the ending of this chapter sucked. I hope you guys had a great day, and I hope I can update tomorrow!