The next morning before breakfast, Travis joined him on the bottom bunk. They sat together looking out the one window barely registering as the sky slowly changed colors. They would have to face the day soon, but Connor didn’t feel ready and it seemed neither did Travis.
“I can’t believe we lost!” Connor said and he buried his head into his hands. “It wasn’t a dream, right?”
Travis shook his head. “If only.”
“We never lose. Like ever. Like not even Luke, arguably the best of Dad, ever lost to us in poker.”
“The girls were there too. Silena promised she wouldn’t tell but Drew is the biggest gossip.”
“Katie is never going to let us live this down. She’s going to be annoying.” Travis pulled a face.
“How did the pipsqueak manage it? He was super good too. He actually won $50 and a five drachmas from us. Not to mention an actual bed. How did he manage to do that?”
Connor groaned. He didn’t need a shrug. He needed answers. “I’ve been up all night thinking about it. Don’t you think it’s kinda strange? We don’t lose games.”
“Well. Annabeth, Malcolm, Wyn.”
“That’s different. Sudoku. Chess. Capture the flag. That’s strategy. Tactic. Luck. Athleticism. But games with money, persuasion… that’s us, that’s ours. But he’s not ours.”
Travis curled a piece of hair around his finger.
If Nico was theirs as in their brother Dad would have claimed him. Aside from the fact Nico didn’t share any of the physical traits of his brothers and sisters, Connor had seen enough determinations. Unlike most of the cabins here, Dad claimed his kids as soon as they stepped through the borders. Nico hadn’t gotten that. He wasn’t their brother, but he had Connor’s attention.
“The kid is a little weird,” Travis said.
Connor nodded. “That’s the understatement of the century.”
“And our reputations is in tatters for the foreseeable future.”
“Suddenly I’m not sure where you are going with this.”
“Let’s just take a few minutes to let it go though. The kid is like ten years old. So, he got one over on us.”
Connor didn’t understand why his brother was being so easygoing about this. People didn’t just get one over on them.
Travis jabbed him in the ribs. “Stop it.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
Travis eyed him in the way only he could. Like he could see him beyond the goo that made human and god, he saw him and Connor resisted the urge to shrink away.
“You are vicious and ridiculous and it still surprises me that Luke was the one to turn,” Travis said evenly. “I suppose you’ve never had the ambition.”
Connor smirked. “That’s good.”
Travis rolled his eyes. “Yeah for the rest of the world, but those, you come into contact with, I’m not so sure. The kid got one over on us. Let it go.”
“I’m not planning to get him back. He just has my attention.”
Travis frowned before he stood up with him. “Whatever. Let’s just get this day started.”
“Why do all the Hunters look like they’ve been proposed too?” Beckendorf asked as he strapped on his breast plate.
“Cuz, uh, they’re about to get wrecked.” Sherman Yang said with bloodthirsty grin. It might have been terrifying if his war paint was red instead of a bright pink. And it was clear he didn’t know much about the Hunters. Which made sense as he had been dropped off last summer and had never seen Hunters.
Beckendorf caught his eye and rolled his eyes before he nodded encouragingly at Sherman. “Must be, man.”
Connor noticed their strange behavior too. Yesterday the Hunters had been all smiles and laughs and today it was the complete opposite. Whatever it was, Connor hoped it aided them to victory. “How many times have we lost again?”
“Fifty five times,” Malcolm said grimly, fixing an arm cuff.
Letting Nico drink Mountain Dew at dinnertime might not have been the smart decision. He bounced on the balls of his feet and moved his mouth a mile of minute as he pushed his helmet from his eyes a dozen times.
“We’re going to fight! And use swords! I’ve never held a real sword before.”
“I’ve never seen someone so excited over the possibility of maiming or death,” Connor said dryly.
Drew sauntered over. In her full armor plume and all. “How long have you been here?”
“One day!” Nico said. “I love it here.”
Drew laughed. “Where have they been hiding you? Con and Travie have been so cruel to keep you from us.”
“Stop teasing him before he turns red permanently,” Travis said. He finished plating the kid up in his protective armor with a final pat on his back.
“I’m not. He can spend time with us. Silena would just die over him!” Drew giggled. “He’s so cute I just wanna dress him up.”
Connor raised a single eyebrow. Drew wasn’t exactly a nice girl, but he knew her heart was melted over things like kittens and sweet fires and maybe just maybe naive little boys with anime eyes.
“Hey, I’m going to talk to Percy and show him my cool sword.” Nico darted from under them and he went straight to aqualad. His volume control clearly lacking. “If we die do we get to respawn?”
“He definitely needs to come and talk to us,” Drew said as she crossed her arms. She had a little smile on her lips.
“I feel like Percy is eternally screaming inside. He’s got the raised eyebrows. The thousand mile stare. Do you think Nico notices?”
“Nope.” Travis came to stand next to him. “Kid didn’t even say thank you. He just went straight to Percy.”
“I mean…” Drew trailed.
“C’mon Drew. He’s a kid.”
Drew shrugged. “Percy isn’t all that and bag of chips but if I was rescued by Percy as a ten year old, I might start planning our wedding and how many kids we’re going to have.”
“Your Mom is Aphrodite and your hobby is playing M.A.S.H with the richest poorest sucker you can find.”
Drew grinned at him. Connor felt it telling she did not deny him.
Chiron stomped hard on the pavilion enough to sound like thunderstorms.
“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.”
Thalia wasted no time. Between her and Percy they took up the leadership positions and Connor was just fine with them. “Blue team! Follow me!”
Beckendorf lead the rallying cry as they raced through the woods. He and his brother were some of the fastest campers, Travis being the fastest, but they fell behind and kept Nico in front of them. Connor remembered how armor felt when he was still new and rosy cheeked but Nico didn’t seem to care, or if he did, he wasn’t letting it slow him down.
He climbed up the Poop Pile–Zeus’s Fist—with surprising dexerity and volunteered to sit the flag in the correct position.
“Can I go scouting with you?” Nico squeaked and eyed Percy. “That’s what you’re doing right.”
Percy stared at them all wide-eyed and the rest of them team had the decency to laugh behind hands and buttoned lips. He rubbed the back of his neck stalling.
“Uh, yeah, but I have an even more important job for you.”
“Guard-duty. With the Travis and Connor and Beckendorf.” He swept an arm toward them. “I need you to guard the flag because uh, I trust you. To keep it safe for me.”
Connor audibly snorted and for the second time that day Travis jabbed him in the ribs.
“Really?” Nico asked.
“Really really.” Percy patted him on the shoulder before he gave him a little push in their direction.
Nico squeezed between him and Travis. He stood as tall as he could. Travis nudged him with a little smile. “Maybe you should have gone scouting with Percy. Your sister is a Hunter. You might give her the flag.”
“You make a good point, Connor,” Beckendorf said looking uneasy and Travis nodded in agreement despite the wrong name. “She is your older sister.”
“Maybe we should tell Percy to see if one the girls can stand guard with us instead…” Connor added.
Nico gaped. “No! I can do it!” he vibrated with purpose. “If Bianca comes I won’t give her the flag. Not even if she begs!”
“If you say so,” Connor prodded.
“I do say so. I promise!” Nico said. “I always keep my promises. No one is getting our flag.”
Connor nodded affirmatively. “Okay. We just want to make sure.”
Thalia and Percy shouted some orders. Everybody nodded and broke off into smaller groups.
Silena darted to the left with her team while Thalia went right with her scouts. Percy prowled the area climbing onto higher rocks. Connor wondered why Percy didn’t go with Thalia, he didn’t belong in defense. Not because he wasn’t good but he was so obviously an action guy; he lacked the patience.
Case in point: “Can you hold the fort?” Percy threw over his shoulder at Beckendorf.
He heard a response and raced off. Nico cheered and they followed behind more quietly.
“Our best fighter,” Beckendorf said when Percy was gone.
“We’re doomed,” Travis said.
“Way too sound positive boys,” a Hunter came from the shadows. She shot her bow with pin point accuracy to above their heads. Dense smoke spewed out.
It didn’t smell like sulfur, it wasn’t making their face break out and Connor had superior vision curtsy of his father. His confidence shot quick only to be shot down cruelly when the Hunters went forward in the smoke. Attacking with their hunting knives.
Connor raised his shield up blocking the attacks and pushing forward. He had to give it to the Hunters. They knew how to fight, he almost got neck sliced open in the few half seconds he managed to protect himself.
He fell deeper into the woods. With one hard grunt and all his strength and he tackled the girl, she sprawled into the ground with dazed ugh.
“Hey!” Nico screamed.
Connor rose. He made it half a step before the big beefy Hunter girl rose from the dead and clubbed him hard on the head enough. His ears rang and he was down for the count.
He felt two thuds on his helmet. He ate snow and laid there until Chiron came to him. He saw double of his brother on his broad back.
“They got you too,” Connor said to Travis.
“We lost…” and whatever else he was going to say was lost in the swirl of yelling. The air felt charged like before a thunderstorm. Connor knew it was Percy and Thalia.
“We’re missing all the fireworks,” Connor said.
Chiron must have heard them. He galloped first. “Just like their fathers. This is why I ignore the family invites.”
There was a lot of yelling, but that all went out the door when the world got quiet. Connor’s head still thumped something fierce, Travis gasped.
“It’s the Oracle, dude. She’s here.”
“I’m not kidding, dude.”
“She’s like a gajillion years old and she’s dead. Like calcified.”
“Hey, I realize this sounds insane but she’s out here. Walking. Not talking.”
“This is impossible,” Chiron said. “This has never happened. Never.”
Connor’s vision became a little clearer with the admission. He swallowed. Below him was a sea of sickly green mist covering snow.
“I am the spirit of Delphi,” the voice scratched in his mind like nails on a chalkboard. “Speaker of the prophecies Phoebus Apollo slayer of the mighty Python.”
Whoever she spoke to must have been a Hunter. In the swirling sea of green mist the eddies twisted together into one clear but terrifying picture. On a barren mountain there was a girl. Artemis. She was wrapped in chains and in pain.
Five 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, The Titan's curse must one withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand.
Another prophecy. People were going to die. But not his people.
Connor nearly passed out in relief.
