riley doesn't like it when they fight

that night before dinner, everyone was ready to beat the hunters at capture the flag. 

it was going to be a small game: only thirteen hunters, including bianca di angelo, and about the same number of campers.

zoë nightshade looked pretty upset. she kept glancing resentfully at chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. the other hunters didn't look too happy, either.

unlike last night, they weren't laughing or joking around. they just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. some of them even looked like they'd been crying. i guess zoë had told them about her nightmare.

on our team, we had beckendorf and two other hephaestus guys (jake, and lu), a few from the ares cabin (clarisse was still on her mission), the stoll brothers and nico from hermes cabin, and a few aphrodite kids. ayana and nina sat out, and decided to be medic along with will, and the apollo kids. brooklyn, ellie, and cythia also sat out.

it's not often that the aphrodite kids chose to play capture-the-flag. i was one of the only familiar faces to the game. once they found out it was against the hunters, they were all ready to go.

cayden and theo grumbled curses about the hunters as they strapped their weapons on. theo began cursing in french, and let's just say, he can be quite creative. let's hope the apollo cabin never put a rhyming curse in him.

"i'll show them 'love is worthless,'" silena grumbled as she strapped on her armor. "i'll pulverize them! burn their quivers to the ground!"

"love isn't weak. it's not worthless. i'll fucking run them through with my sword, then hang their head in front of my vanity. all without even chipping a nail," aurora muttered, strapping on her sword.

"i've never seen you're siblings so mad," percy whispered to me. "well, except aurora. i've seen her mad a few times." he shivered, remembering aurora's threats.

i tightened my shoulder armor. "yeah, well we're children of the love goddess. we're usually overlooked. but these hunters, ugh, they think we're weak. useless. worthless. they think we're dumb little kids who believe in fairies and pixie dust. why i'm gonna—"

"easy there, tink. i got your message," percy said, holding his hands up.

i rolled my eyes, and strapped a shield to my back.

thalia and percy went to talk about battle plans. i helped aurora with her armor, because she almost chipped her nail trying to get it on properly. thalia came over after a little bit, and took over.

i looked over to see percy and nico talking.

i walked up to them, and put an arm around nico. "what are my best friend and my child talking about?"

"wait — your what?!" percy exclaimed confused.

"she didn't tell you?" nico asked. "riley adopted me." he exclaimed. then he whispered, "not really, though. it's kind of joke, but it's funny. i like being riley's kid."

i ruffled his hair, "aawhh, squirt. i like having you as my kid too."

chiron's hoof thundered on the pavement.

"heroes!" he called. "you know the rules! the creek is the boundary line. blue team — camp half-blood — shall take the west woods. hunters of artemis — red team — shall take the east woods. i will serve as referee and battlefield medic. no intentional maiming, please! all magic items are allowed. to your positions!"

"sweet," nico whispered between percy and me. "what kind of magic items? do i get one?"

i never got a chance to answer because thalia said, "blue team! follow me!"

we cheered and followed. percy had to run to catch up, and tripped over somebody's shield. i grabbed his arm before he fell over, and pulled him up.

"thanks," he muttered.

"don't mention it." i smiled. "the team," i motioned with my head.

"oh, right." 

we ran, pulling nico along to catch up.

we set our flag at the top of zeus's fist. it's this cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods that, if you look at it just the right way, looks like a huge fist sticking out of the ground. 

if you look at it from any other side, it looks like a pile of enormous deer droppings, but chiron wouldn't let us call the place the shit shack, especially after it had been named for zeus, who doesn't have much of a sense of humor.

anyway, it was a good place to set the flag. the top boulder was twenty feet tall and really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.

i set nico on guard duty with beckendorf and the stoll brothers, figuring he'd be safely out of the way.

"stay here," i ordered him. "if you need me, yell. i'll be scouting in the trees."

he nodded.

"we'll send out a decoy to the left," thalia told the team. "silena, you lead that."

"got it!"

"take aurora and jake. they're good runners. make a wide arc around the hunters, attract as many as you can. i'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise. riley, you stay in the trees. you're one of our best archers. use sonic arrows, whatever you got. keep them away from the flag."

everybody nodded. it sounded good, and thalia said it with such confidence you couldn't help but believe it would work.

thalia looked at percy. "anything to add, percy?"

"um, yeah. keep sharp on defense. we've got four guards, two scouts. that's not much for a big forest. i'll be roving. yell if you need help."

"and don't leave your post!" thalia said.

"unless you see a golden opportunity," percy added.

thalia scowled. "just don't leave your post."

"right, unless—"

"percy!" she touched percy's arm and shocked him. the sparks literally flew off of her. she's been known to fry off people's eyebrows.

"sorry," thalia said, though she didn't sound particularly sorry. "now, is everybody clear?"

everybody nodded. we broke into our smaller groups. i ran ahead, looking for a good tree to keep eye from. finding one, i climbed it quickly. i held my hand out, and my ring transformed into my bow. a quiver appeared on my back. 

i looked back at the blue team's base. the horn sounded, and the game began. silena's group disappeared into the woods on the left. thalia's group gave it a few seconds, then darted off toward the right.

i sat in my tree, and kept an arrow ready. looking around i realized that the hunters were following the decoy. five or so hunters were following silena, aurora, and jake. the decoy was  working.

i looked at thalia. there was no one behind her. a few minutes had passed before i noticed a few hunters were on her trail too. she'd been spotted. 

"fucking hell," i cursed, getting a sonic arrow ready. 

i waited a few seconds, until the hunters appeared in their view. they began to attack, and i shot a sonic arrow in the middle of them. the closest hunters went flying backwards, and thalia kept running towards the flag. looking back at the hunter's flag, i realized it was gone. someone took it.

i whipped my head back at camp half-blood's base and noticed percy was missing. i frantically searched in all directions, until i found him, running with the flag in his hand.

"riley!" i heard nico scream. "the flag!"

i turned my head, again. there was no flag at the top of zeus' fist. zoë was running towards friendly territory with our flag. she was dodging campers. she'd beat percy by a mile. i knocked a sonic arrow and let it fly.

it fell by her feet and she fell over. cursing, she got up and ran, shaking her head (probably trying to get rid of the rattling in her skull).

percy had a chance. i let a few regular, feathered arrows fly, but she dodged them. i couldn't shoot any more sonic ones, because the campers were too close to her.

percy finally noticed zoë and he ran faster. he was a few feet away from the creek, and she made it. she slammed into percy for good measure.

i jumped down from my tree and ran to the creek.

"the hunters win!" i heard chiron announce without pleasure. then he muttered, "for the fifty-sixth time in a row."

i made it to where everyone was gathered. my bow and quiver had returned into the ring sitting on my middle finger. i was about to go towards percy, but thalia stormed up (pun intended).

"perseus jackson!" thalia yelled, marching towards him. 

she smelled like rotten eggs (courtesy of fart arrows), and she was so mad that blue sparks flickered on her armor. everybody cringed and backed up because of aegis. i diverted my gaze from her shield.

"what in the name of the gods were you thinking!?" she bellowed.

percy balled his fists. that's when i realized he was also getting mad. uh-oh. 

"i got the flag, thalia!" he shook it in her face. (not smart). "i saw a chance and i took it!"

"i was at their base!!" thalia yelled. "but the flag was gone. if you hadn't butted in, we would've won."

"you had too many on you!"

"oh, so it's my fault?"

"i didn't say that."

"argh!" thalia pushed percy, and she shocked him so hard that he blew backward ten feet into the water. some of the campers gasped. a couple of the hunters stifled laughs.

"sorry!" thalia said, turning pale. "i didn't mean to—"

a wave erupted from the creek, blasting into thalia's face and dousing her from head to toe.

i cringed.

percy stood up. "yeah," he growled. "i didn't mean to, either."

thalia was breathing heavily.

"enough!" chiron ordered.

but thalia held out her spear. "you want some, seaweed brain?"

my jaw dropped. how dare she steal my nickname?

"bring it on, pinecone face!"

percy raised riptide, but before he could even defend himself, thalia yelled, and a blast of lightning came down from the sky, hit her spear like a lightning rod, and slammed into his chest.

he sat down hard. there was a burning smell. i wasn't sure if it was skin, clothes, or a mix of both.

"thalia!" chiron said. "that is enough!"

percy got to his feet and willed the entire creek to rise. it swirled up, hundreds of gallons of water in a massive icy funnel cloud.

now i'd seen percy fight. control water. even go against a god. but this, this truly terrified me. i'd never seen him so angry. 

"percy!" i stepped forward, trying not to sound scared. "please."

percy looked at me, and he seemed to sense my fear. he relaxed his stance and the water fell back into the creek. i turned to give thalia and percy a piece of my mind, when i saw it.

surrounded in green mist, someone... something was approaching. campers, and hunters followed my gaze, gasping at the sight in front of them.

a hand rested on my shoulder, and i knew it was percy. i almost flinched, then caught myself. 

i wasn't sure if percy realized, but the stunt where he got the creek to rise really freaked me out. a little hand grabbed mine, and i looked down to see nico.

"what's that?" he asked.

"the oracle of delphi. long story," i told him.

he nodded. he looked like he still had a bunch of questions, but he held them in.

"this is impossible," chiron said. i'd never heard him sound so nervous. "it... she has never left the attic. never."

and yet, the withered mummy that held the oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

none of us dared move. then her voice hissed inside my head. i squeezed my eyes shut in response. apparently everyone could hear it, because several clutched their hands over the ears.

i am the sprit of delphi, the voice said. speaker of the prophecies of phoebus apollo, slayer of the mighty python.

the oracle regarded each of us with its cold, dead eyes. then she turned unmistakably toward zoë nightshade. approach, seeker, and ask.

zoë swallowed, "what must i do to help my goddess?"

the oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. i saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. it was artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. she was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain. the oracle spoke: 

six shall go west to the goddess in chains, 
one shall be lost in the land without rain, 

the bane of olympus shows the trail,

campers and hunters combined prevail,

daughter of doves must tread her own path,

those in her way should fear her wrath,

the titan's curse must they withstand,

and one shall perish by a parent's hand.

then, as we were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. the oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

grover and percy were elected to carry the oracle back to the attic. 

i would've accompanied them (for moral support) but i couldn't shake the look percy had on his face, when he lifted the entire creek. i shook my head and tried to clear my thoughts. 

i didn't like when thalia and percy fought. they were both really powerful, and sometimes things got out of hand. when things got out of hand (like after the game), it got scary.

i knew i would have to face percy and thalia sooner or later. unfortunately, it was sooner. 

mr. d had called for a council for cabin leaders. silena was technically head counselor, but she brought me along. chiron had nothing against it, since i was at camp almost as long as annabeth. and mr. d, well, mr. d couldn't care less about it (or anything). 

the council was held around a ping-pong table in the rec room. dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: cheez whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. then chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of us were underage.

 mr. d sighed. with a snap of his fingers the wine turned to diet coke. nobody drank that either (who would? it's disgusting. kind of beats the point of a sugary drink).

mr. d and chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. zoë and bianca di angelo (who had kind of become zoë's personal assistant) took the other end. thalia, grover, percy, and i sat along the right, and the other head councilors — beckendorf, silena, and the stoll brothers — sat on the left. 

the ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs ('accidentally') during capture the flag, courtesy of the hunters. they were resting up in the infirmary.

zoë started the meeting off on a positive note, "this is pointless."

"cheez whiz!" grover gasped. he began scooping up crackers and ping-pong balls and spraying them with topping.

"there is no time for talk," zoë continued. "our goddess needs us. the hunters must leave immediately."

"and go where?" chiron asked.

"west!" bianca said. it was crazy how much she'd changed in just two days. her hair was braided back, and she looked stronger. she had this sort of immortal glow to her. she seemed much more confident.

"you heard the prophecy. six shall go west to the goddess in chains. we can get six hunters and go."

"yes," zoë agreed. "artemis is being held hostage! we must find her and free her."

"you're missing something, as usual," thalia said. "campers and hunters combined prevail. we're supposed to do this together."

"no!" zoë said. "the hunters do not need thy help."

"your" thalia grumbled. "nobody has said thy in, like, three hundred years, zoë. get with the times."

zoë hesitated, like she was trying to form the word correctly. " yerrr. we do not need yerrr help."

thalia rolled her eyes. "forget it."

"i fear the prophecy says you do need our help," chiron said. "campers and hunters must cooperate."

"or do they?" mr. d mused, swirling his diet coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet. "one shall be lost. one shall perish. that sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? what if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

i scowled. of course, the one time mr. d listens, he decides to be such a downer.

"mr. d," chiron sighed, "with all due respect, whose side are you on?"

dionysus raised his eyebrows. "sorry, my dear centaur. just trying to be helpful."

"we're supposed to work together," thalia said stubbornly. "i don't like it either, zoë, but you know prophecies. you want to fight against one?"

zoë grimaced, but she didn't argue.

"we must not delay," chiron warned. "today is sunday. this very friday, december twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"oh, joy," dionysus muttered. "another dull annual meeting."

"artemis must be present at the solstice," zoë said. "she has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against kronos's minions. if she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. we will lose another year of war preparations."

"are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" dionysus asked.

"yes, lord dionysus."

i nodded, impresses with zoë's bluntness to a god.

mr. d nodded. "just checking. you're right, of course. carry on."

"i must agree with zoë," said chiron. "artemis's presence at the winter council is critical. we have only a week to find her. and possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"three and three." percy said.

everyone stared at him.

"we're supposed to have six." he spoke nervously. "three hunters and three campers. that's more than fair."

thalia and zoë exchanged looks.

i looked at percy slightly surprised. it wasn't often that he had answers.

"well," thalia said. "it does make sense."

zoë grunted. "i would prefer to take all the hunters. we will need strength of numbers."

"you'll be retracing the goddess's path," chiron reminded her. "moving quickly. no doubt artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. you will have to do the same. the prophecy was clear: the bane of olympus shows the trail. what would your mistress say? 'too many hunters spoil the scent.' a small group is best."

zoë picked up a ping-pong paddle and studied it like she was deciding the best way to commit mass murder using it. "this monster — the bane of olympus. i have hunted at lady artemis's side for many years, yet i have no idea what this beast might be."

everybody looked at dionysus, i guess because he was the only god present and gods are supposed to know things. 

he was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glanced up, "well, don't look at me. i'm a young god, remember? i don't keep track of all those ancient monsters and dusty titans. they make for terrible party conversation."

"chiron," percy said, "you don't have any ideas about the monster?"

chiron pursed his lips. "i have several ideas, none of them good. and none of them quite make sense. typhon, for instance, could fit this description. he was truly a bane of olympus. or the sea monster keto. but if either of these were stirring, we would know it. they are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. your father, poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. i fear this monster may be more elusive. perhaps even more powerful."

"that's some serious danger you're facing," connor said. (i gave him a sarcastic smile when he said you and not we.) "it sounds like at least two of the six are going to die."

"one shall be lost in the land without rain," beckendorf said. "if i were you, i'd stay out of the desert."

there was a muttering of agreement.

"and the titan's curse must they withstand," silena said. "what could that mean?"

"one shall perish by a parent's hand," grover said in between bites of cheez whiz and ping-pong balls. "how is that possible? whose parent would kill them?"

"and daughter of doves must tread her own path. is it possible they're the one who gets lost in the land without rain?" beckendorf asked.

there was a long pause as everyone absorbed the information.

"there will be deaths," chiron decided. "that much we know."

"oh, goody!" dionysus said.

everyone looked at him. he glanced up innocently from the pages of wine connoisseur magazine.

"ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. don't mind me."

"percy is right," silena said. "three campers should go."

"oh, i see," zoë said sarcastically. "and i suppose you wish to volunteer?"

silena blushed. "i'm not going anywhere with the hunters. don't look at me!"

"a daughter of aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," zoë scoffed. "what would thy mother say?"

silena started to get out of her chair, but the stoll brothers pulled her back.

furious, i grabbed a ping-pong paddle off the table and was about to charge zoë when grover and percy held me back. i shook the paddle at her, "back off my mother you little—"

"stop it," beckendorf said. he was a big guy with a bigger voice. he didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen. 

i straightened, and shook myself out of percy and grover's grasp. i didn't set the paddle down, though. 

beckendorf nodded. "let's start with the hunters. which three of you will go?"

zoë stood. "i shall go, of course, and i will take phoebe. she is our best tracker."

"the big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" travis asked cautiously.

zoë nodded.

"the one who put the arrows in my helmet?" connor added.

"yes," zoë snapped. "why?"

"oh, nothing," travis said. "just that we have a t-shirt for her from the camp store." he held up a big silver t-shirt that said 'artemis the moon goddess, fall hunting tour 2002', with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "it's a collector's item. she was admiring it. you want to give it to her?"

i knew the stolls were up to something. they always were. i sent them a glance, but they cautiously avoided my gaze. 

zoë just sighed and took the t-shirt. "as i was saying, i will take phoebe. and i wish bianca to go."

bianca looked stunned. "me? but... i'm so new. i wouldn't be any good."

"you will do fine," zoe insisted. "there is no better way to prove thyself."

"and for campers?" chiron asked. 

"me!" grover stood up so fast he bumped the ping-pong table. he brushed cracker crumbs and ping-pong ball scraps off his lap. "anything to help artemis!"

zoë wrinkled her nose. "i think not, satyr. you are not even a half-blood."

"but he is a camper," i said. 

"and he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic." thalia added. "can you play a tracker's song yet, grover?"

"absolutely!"

"very well," zoë said. she was impressed with the tracker's song. "and the second camper?"

i didn't hesitate, "me."

mr. d looked up. "are you sure?" he asked cautiously. "two of the six will probably die. you'll risk your life for this quest."

i looked at him funny. since when did mr. d care about the campers? yesterday, he didn't even care if annabeth made it out. apparently the other campers thought the same thing, because they all looked at each other funny.

mr. d then noticed what he said. he shrugged. "things will change, very soon. i hope you're ready."

"great," i muttered, "another god with cryptic advice for me."

percy sent me a worried glance, but i brushed him off.

standing up i announced, "i'm going on this quest. i have charmspeak, i can create energy, and i have deadly accurate aim. this won't be my first quest either. i have experience. there's no reason for me not to go. and besides, the prophecy says daughter of doves. i'm the only child of aphrodite that would agree to go on a quest with the hunters."

"but fear her wrath?" connor pursed his lips. "that sounds like an aurora thing. she's scary."

the campers collectively shivered.

"you're right. it does, but she won't go on this quest," silena said, "trust me." 

"very well," chiron said. "riley and grover shall go."

"who will be the third camper?" zoë asked.

"i'll go." thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.

"whoa, wait a sec," percy said after a few seconds. "i want to go too."

"oh," grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. "whoa, yeah, i forgot! percy has to go. i didn't mean... i'll stay. percy should go in my place."

"he cannot," zoë said. "he is a boy. i won't have hunters traveling with a boy."

"you traveled here with me," he reminded her.

"that was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. i will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy."

"what about grover?" he demanded.

zoë shook her head. "he does not count. he's a satyr. he is not technically a boy."

"hey!" grover protested.

"i have to go," percy said. "i need to be on this quest."

"why?" zoë asked. "because of thy friend annabeth?"

percy stammered. "no! i mean, partly. i just feel like i'm supposed to go!"

nobody said anything to help percy.

truthfully, percy and thalia on a quest together wouldn't be my favorite choice. if thalia was going, i don't think i could have percy on the quest with me. i'd be too scared that they'd pull another stunt like at the creek. 

but, i'd probably pick percy to go on a quest with over thalia. every quest i've been on, he's been there. i wasn't sure how i felt about going without him.

"no," zoë said flatly. "i insist upon this. i will take a satyr if i must, but not a male hero."

chiron sighed. "the quest is for artemis. the hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

percy sat back down. he didn't look at anyone or meet anyone's eyes. 

chiron formally concluded the meeting. "so be it," he said. "thalia, riley, and grover will accompany zoë, bianca, and phoebe. you shall leave at first light. and may the gods" — he glanced at dionysus — "present company included, we hope — be with you."

REY WRITES !

so the titan's curse timeline is kind of confusing so i changed it up a little.

here's a quick timeline:

day 1: evening/nighttime -
arrive at military school to scout demigods
hunters arrive
annabeth goes missing

day 2: sunrise - 
apollo takes them to camp
evening -
apogee award ceremony

day 3: midnight - 
pepper's birthday
morning / noon -
tony leaves for afghanistan
before dinner -
capture the flag
* dinner postponed *
council of cabin leaders meeting
dinner

day 4: morning -
leave for quest
before noon -
tony gets kidnapped