She laid her head on my shoulder as Chiron slammed his hoof against the table. He hadn't noticed Aphrodite yet, which is probably for the best. It could make things a bit awkward.
"Heroes!" he announced. "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, and ox hide shields coated in metal.
Not my style. I'm probably going to duel wield my sword and spear.
Gordon yelled, "Blue team, forward!"
We 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.
Aphrodite and I tore through the woods, Annabeth by our side.
"What's the plan?"
She kept marching, her dagger glinting in the sunlight, "Wait until you hear the signal. I think Gordon said it's going to be a bird call."
"Then…"
"Then, Mr. Superhero, you and your girlfriend are going to take out all of the campers so we can snag the banner," Annabeth said, pulling out a ratty hat. She put it on her head and vanished. "I'm going to play defense."
"Not bad, Wise Girl," I complimented as her footsteps sounded off toward our banner.
Aphrodite and I calmly walked through the forest for a while. Honestly, it was kind of a warm, sticky afternoon.
The woods were dark, the thick trees blocking out most of the sunlight with a gigantic canopy. A little creek gurgled over some rocks, and we could hear the noises of the rest of the team being scattered into the trees.
Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!
The signal!
I turned to Aphrodite. "So…what can you do? I'm trying to figure out how to play this."
"I have better reflexes and strength than anyone else here," Aphrodite said simply. No hesitation, no emotion—nothing. To her, it wasn't a boast or question, just a statement of fact. "That being said, I'd rather not fight with my fists. So, I'll just blast them and keep you safe."
That means she's long-range, huh?
Good. I'll get in close.
— - —
[Accelerate]
— - —
"Set your beams to stun," I reminded her, the words flowing out of my mouth as the ground around me cracked. Dirt kicked up around my sneakers.
Thank Zeus I changed—if I got Triton's expensive shoes dirty, I'd feel like shit.
"Get on my back," I bent down slightly. "I can get us there fast, and you can take them out."
"Your back is nice," I was told for the second time today as Aphrodite settled onto my back. Her arms wrapped around my neck. "When are you—EEK!"
BOOM!
The dirt around me exploded as I went tearing down the woods. My eyes blurred from right to left, activating [Observe] every couple of seconds to make sure no one was hiding in the bushes.
Eventually, we ran into the two Dionysus kids I was talking about earlier—Castor and Pollux. Not too shabby in terms of levels, 20 and 21 each, but that isn't enough to hold me back alone, even, let alone with my superpowered girlfriend.
"Damn it," Pollux swore. He held out his shield—a bronze, glinting, metal behemoth. It looked like the size of an NBA backboard. "We're the ones that have to fight you first?"
Castor groaned from behind him. "Come on, Perce! You're a monster. Can't you, just, like, let us go? This once?"
"Sorry, boys," I said sincerely as Aphrodite's hands lit up. "A game's a game."
SCHWING!
Both boys yelped as they were tossed backward by a beam of pink light. They slammed into the trees hard enough to put them out of commission.
Maybe it's sort of cheap to abuse your godly wife's power in a little Capture the Flag game, but hey! I want her to feel appreciated and useful, too, you know?
"Good?" She pressed her lips to my ear.
"Good," I replied, grinning.
I enjoyed her shriek as I sped down the woods again.
Next up, the Demeter kids.
"Hey, guys!" I said brightly. "Any chance you want to let us through?"
"Honestly, I don't feel like getting knocked out," Katie Gardener, I think, spoke up. A few of her brothers and sisters nodded in assent. "But, we did put in some work to set up this obstacle thing. Can you at least, like…" She gestured toward a wall of interlocking vines, leaves, and flowers. "It's all we could do in a couple of minutes."
"Of course," I said, my voice dropping for a moment as I focused. I lifted a hand. My hand lit up a bright green.
I saw the other demigods stare at me in awe for a few moments before a plume of flame shot forward. The mass of leaves was exenterated in mere moments, and I cut off the fire.
"Thanks for letting us through," I raised a still-smoking hand. "See you guys."
"Show-off," Katie said good-naturedly as we stepped through. "Good luck!"
We stepped out to a creek a few moments later, where everyone else seemed to be standing.
"Prissy!" Clarisse yelled, a wicked smile on her face. She unstrapped a spear from her back—a brand-new weapon. It was the size of a baseball bat, with a sharp-looking tip. "How kind of you to come see your teacher!"
I gently lowered myself, allowing Aphrodite to hop off. A moment later, I took Malice off of my own back.
"Of course. I hope, for your sake, that you've been practicing."
"Don't you worry about me, Jackson," Clarisse roared as she broke out in a run, hauling towards me. "I haven't skipped a beat!"
Honestly, she hadn't. I noticed that her level had jumped up by five— she was sitting around level 35. This is going to be fun.
I met her in the middle of the clearing, our spears colliding. Hers was flickering with red light—it meshed well against my own, which was glowing green.
"Good strength," Clarisse grunted, pulling her spear back. She twirled it around in her hand. "How's Atlantis been going? You better not be sitting around all day, eating fruit."
"Eh, same old," I shrugged, batting away her jab with ease. "Lots of training, though. You?"
We engaged in another evenly matched exchange—every jab I threw out there was smacked away, and every slash she swung was deflected.
"Mm. Same old. Luke left to go visit his mom, too, so I haven't had a good fight in a while."
Interesting. So that's why no one seems to be alarmed that he's gone. I mean, I'll keep it under wraps for now, but the truth will come out sooner or later. I don't love deferring to the gods on this, but they're pretty rigid on what they want.
"Well, I'll give you one to remember. Also—so much for two guards. I swear I've seen like ten people just leading up to here."
"Technically, only two are really guarding it. The rest of us are here for emotional support," Clarisse barked out a gruff laugh, pushing forward with her spear.
I vaguely noted behind me that Aphrodite was easily dismantling everyone else with her powers—I should get a move on. "Let's see about that fight, though."
Time to take the kiddie gloves off.
"Let's."
Clarisse, for all of her flaws and drawbacks, is one hell of a fighter. Especially with a spear. Even with my boosted reflexes, the glinting tip of her spear just barely missed the base of my nose.
She isn't the fastest or most analytical, but her raw strength and scrapper style of fighting make her an absolute dog on the mats. I'm honestly kind of excited at the prospect of fighting her seriously, like right now.
I let the momentum push my body downwards, falling onto my back and spinning my legs in a sweeping motion. I kicked up some dirt at her face and aimed for her ankles—the weakest part of her body.
She told me a while back that she fractured it as a kid and believe me, I'm using everything I can on her. I owe her that much.
Clarisse hopped over the kick, growling in annoyance as she pawed at her face. "Still up to your tricks, Prissy?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets," I smirked, batting away a slash and landing one of my own on her.
We danced around each other for a few moments, our spears clanging in the middle.
"Where's Piper?"
"You didn't seriously think I'd leave all of my teammates on defense, did you?" Clarisse scoffed. "She's on offense. Shame, though. I would've paid to see her take you on. She's been training every day."
"Noted," I said neutrally.
I went to open my mouth again, but Clarisse was suddenly lifted off of her feet by a pink hand and blasted into the creek.
"I got them all!" Aphrodite said cutely, landing back next to me as the hand retreated back into her outstretched palm. "She was heavy."
I blinked away some of my annoyance. Clarisse and I were just getting warmed up! That was going to be the best fight of my week!
Ugh, now I'm getting battle withdrawals. I want to fight something!
I glanced over at Aphrodite, who was smiling brightly. She's just trying to help, Percy. She's just trying to help. She didn't know, she was just trying to help…
"Did we win?" Aphrodite wondered aloud a few moments later, pointing at the flag.
"Yeah," I grinned at her, walking toward the flag. "We did. Honestly, I —"
SKREEEEE!
My combat instincts triggered, and I rolled out of the way as the ground next to me was eviscerated by a column of blue-green light.
The acrid smell of saltwater burned my nostrils.
"Shame,"
My attention was drawn to a man floating in the air above us, right outside of the camp barrier. To my shock and horror, his attack had ripped a hole through Thalia's dome of protection—there was a rip with steaming edges.
He was dressed in white robes and his face was covered by a weird white mask that only left his eyes open for us to see. The gemstones on his robe glowed with power as he raised his hands.
The golden dome of Thalia's protection was slowly regenerating, but the man simply smiled as he raised his hand, more shining light flickering between his fingertips. The gems screeched.
"Hold still this time."
I blasted backward again, the same pillar of light powering through the canopy with the force of an artillery shell. The land in front of me was forcibly excavated as a cacophony of light and sound lit up my senses like a Christmas tree.
I held up my arm to deflect the haphazard dirt as Aphrodite covered us both from the actual debris with a pink dome.
[Observe] activated almost instantly, the man's name knocking the air out of my lungs.
"Hello, little brother," The man said with a sarcastic drawl, his face twisting into a horrific smile. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. You see…I'm the real prince of the seas. The Salt Water Stallion, Freshwater Fumigator—nicknames, am I right? Can't live with them, can't live without them."
He bowed low as a rumble echoed off somewhere in the distance. "I'm here to bring you to my lord, Jackson. I suggest you come quietly."
My grip on Malice tightened. "I don't…I don't understand how this is possible."
"Oh, I'm sure I'll get around to explaining," The man cackled loudly, his hand closing around the ball of energy.
He leaned back in a pitcher's stance, only pausing for a moment before turning back and hurling the ball of energy at me.
"Of course, where are my manners? You were so nice to me earlier—it's only right that I give you the same courtesy. Dear brother, I—pleased to make your acquaintance for real this time. Let's dance."