Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Capture the Flag

In the next few days, I got used to the routine here, and the lessons were almost normal, regardless of whether the teachers were satyrs, elves, and centaurs. Every morning, Annabeth taught me ancient Greek, and we would talk about the gods in the present tense, which was kind of weird. Annabeth was right about my dyslexia, because ancient Greek is not that difficult for me, at least easier than English.After two morning classes, I could speak a few lines of Homer without a headache. After Greek, I went to field classes and tried to figure out which sport I was good at. Chiron taught me how to archery, but it soon became apparent that I was completely incapable of using a bow.Although Chiron had to remove the arrow I accidentally shot in his tail, he didn't complain.

What about racing?Not at all.The forest elf trainers left me far behind their dust.They told me not to worry, saying that they had practiced for centuries to get this speed in order to escape the pursuit of lovesick gods.However, it's a shame to run worse than a tree. What about wrestling?Forget it.Every time I stepped on the wrestling mat, Kressa would knock me out. "I haven't done my best yet, idiot," she whispered in my ear. The only thing I am good at is canoeing, and this project is definitely not the skill that everyone expects the hero who hit the Minotao should have.

I knew that the senior trainees and instructors were watching me trying to figure out who my dad was, but it wasn't easy.I am not as strong as the children of Ares, nor as good at archery as the children of Apollo.I don't have Hephaestus' blacksmithing skills, nor Dionysus' ability to make vines grow. Luke said that I may be a child of Hermes, there is no particularly powerful project, and it is applicable to all walks of life.However, I think he's just trying to make things easier for me, and he's the kid who can't figure out who I am anymore. That aside, I still really like the camp.I am used to the fog on the seaside in the morning, the heat from the strawberry fields in the high temperature in the afternoon, and even the strange roar of monsters echoing in the forest at night.I had dinner with the cadets at Cabin Eleven, cut up some food and threw it into the fire, and tried to feel a connection with my biological father.Too bad I can't connect at all.For a long time, I only had a warm feeling, which seemed to be the warmth brought to me by his smile in memory.I try my best not to think about my mother, but I still have this doubt: If gods and monsters are real, if magic exists, there must be some way to save her and bring her back...

I started to understand Luke's bitterness, and his resentment towards his father, Hermes.Well, maybe the gods have important things to do, but can't they come to say hello occasionally, or even thunder or something. Dionysus can turn thin air into Diet Coke, so why can't my dad, whoever he is, make a call? Thursday afternoon was my fourth day at Camp Half-Blood, and it was my first fencing lesson.All the students in Cabin Eleven came to the amphitheatre, Luke was our coach. We started with basic stabs and cuts, practicing against straw dummies in Greek armor on the bed.I guess I'm doing pretty well, at least I know what to do and I'm pretty quick.

The only problem is that I can't find a sword that fits my hand, either too heavy or too light, or too long. Luke tried to help me find the right sword, but he also agreed that none of them worked for me. We progressed to duel practice and Luke announced that he would spar with me as it was my first practice. "Good luck." One of the students told me: "Luke is the best swordsman in nearly three hundred years." "Maybe he'll let me down," I said. The student snorted disdainfully. Luke demonstrates moves such as reaching out, shifting blocks, shield blocks, etc. Every time I swing, I get more bruises and bruises on my body. "Percy, defend," he said, and immediately hit me in the ribs with the flat of the blade. "No, it's too high!" Ah! "Long thorn!" Ah! "Hinder! Quick!" Ah!

By the time he called for a break, I was sweating profusely, and everyone was crowding over to the cooler. Luke poured ice water over his head, which looked great, and I did the same. After a while, I felt much better, power poured into my arms, and the sword seemed less difficult to control. "Okay, everyone form a circle." Luke ordered: "If Percy doesn't mind, I'd like to ask you to do a few demonstration moves." Very good, I thought, let's all watch Percy get slaughtered! The children of Hermes came to gather, and they all held back their smiles.I knew they must have had the same experience as me before, and now they couldn't wait to see Luke punch me like a punching bag.He told everyone that he wanted to demonstrate a technique to automatically disarm the enemy: use the flat surface of the sword to wrap around the enemy's sword body, forcing the enemy to have no choice but to abandon the sword and surrender.

"It's very difficult," he emphasized. "I want Percy to use this technique to fight me. Be careful not to laugh at Percy. Most swordsmen have to practice for many years to master this move." He demonstrated the attack moves to me in slow motion, and as expected, the sword came out of my hand with a bang. "For real this time," he said, after I regained my sword, "We kept dropping the sword that hit one of them. Are you ready, Percy?" I nodded and Luke followed suit.I kept dodging to avoid being hit by the hilt of his sword.At this time, I suddenly became enlightened, and as soon as I saw him attacking, I immediately fought back.I stepped forward and tried to make a gesture of reaching out. Luke tilted his body, more relaxed, but his expression changed.He narrowed his eyes and began to press down harder.

The sword in my hand was getting heavier and out of balance.I knew it would only take a few seconds for Luke to knock me down.I thought to myself: what are you doing? I began to try to use the trick to disarm the enemy. I hit the bottom of Luke's sword with the blade, twisting and twisting, putting all my weight into the thrusting downward motion. bang. Luke's sword hits the stone, and the point of mine is only three centimeters from his unprotected chest. All the students were silent. I lowered my sword and said, "Well, I'm sorry." At this moment Luke was dumbfounded and unable to speak.

"I'm sorry?" His scarred face showed a smile, "Percy, seeing that the gods are scattered, why say sorry and show me again!" I don't want to do it, the brief burst of power is completely out of my reach, but Luke insists. This time I have no ability to parry.When the two swords collided, Luke hit my hilt, knocking my weapon out of the way and gliding on the ground. After a long period of silence, a student said, "Isn't that just a novice's luck?" Luke wiped the sweat off his brow and judged me from a whole new perspective. "Perhaps," he said, "but I wonder if Percy's sword isn't off balance..."

On Friday afternoon, Grover and I sat by the lake after another similar climbing experience. Grover hopped like a goat up to the top of the hill, and I was nearly engulfed in lava.I had a few smoking holes in my clothes and a few singed hairs on my arms. We sat by the pier, leisurely watching the elves weaving bamboo baskets under the water.I couldn't help stirring up the tension and asked Grover what he and Mr.D were talking about. His face turned a dull khaki. "Very good," he said, "just good." "So your job is still functioning normally?" He glanced at me nervously and said, "Chiron has sue... tell you I want to get a profiler's license?"

"Um...no." I have no idea what a scout license is, but now doesn't seem like the time to ask. "All he said was that you had a great plan...and that you had to complete Guardian missions to gain trust. Did you complete it?" Grover looked down at the water sprite. "Mr.D suspends the decision. He said that I have not failed or succeeded in this mission to protect you, so our fate is still connected. If you are assigned to find a mission and I go to protect you, then we Come back alive, so maybe he'll think the job's done." I feel refreshed. "Well, things aren't too bad, are they?" "Meaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaible! He might still send me to clean out the stables, and if you're given the chance to find a mission...or actually get a mission, why would you want to go with me?" "Of course I want to go with you." Grover looked sullenly into the water. "Know how to weave bamboo baskets...it's nice to have a useful skill." I wanted to reassure him, I told him he was talented too, but he looked more miserable.We changed the subject and chatted a bit about canoeing and fencing, then discussed the pros and cons of different gods, and finally I asked him what happened to the four empty huts. "Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She's sworn to be a virgin forever, so of course there are no children, and the cottage is... an honor, and she'll be angry if she doesn't have one." .” "Oh, so that's the case. What about the other three buildings? Are they the 'Three Great Gods'?" Grover tensed up, which meant we were approaching a sensitive topic. "No, the one on No. 2 belongs to the Queen of Heaven." He said, "That's another house that symbolizes glory. She is a married goddess, so of course she can't wander around and have love affairs with mortals. This is her What a husband would do. By the Three Gods we mean the three mighty brothers, the three sons of Cronus." "Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades." "Correct. You also know that after the battle with the Titans, they defeated Cronus and won the whole world, and the lottery decided who got which part." "Zeus got the day," that's what I remember. "Poseidon gets the ocean, and Hades gets the underworld." "Uh-huh." "But Hades doesn't have a hut here." "He doesn't, and he doesn't have a throne in Olympus, he's sort of doing his own thing in the underworld. If he has a cabin here..." Grover began to tremble, "Well, it's not a pleasant thing , don't talk about it again." "But Zeus and Poseidon both have countless children in mythology. Why are their huts empty?" Grover twirled his hooves uneasily. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Three Gods decided that they would no longer be the fathers of any half-blood heroes, because their children were too powerful, had too much influence on human events, and caused too much carnage. Like two World War I, basically the children of Zeus and Poseidon were on the same front to fight against the children of Hades. The winning side was Zeus and Poseidon, who forced Hades to swear a heavy oath on the river Styx with them, never to fight with mortals again Women in love." Thunder rumbled. I said, "That's the worst oath ever made." Grover nodded. "Did the three brothers keep their promise and no longer have children?" Grover's face hardened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus left the team. There was an unknown movie actress with a bouffant hairstyle from the 80s, and Zeus was so fascinated that he couldn't control himself. Their baby was born, a girl named Terry Ya's little girl. Well, Styx took the promise seriously, and though Zeus got away with being a god, he brought a tragic fate to his daughter." "It's so unfair! It's not the girl's fault at all." Grover hesitated and said: "Percy, the children of the three gods possess far more power than other hybrids. Their smell is strong and will attract monsters. When Hades found the girl, he was very angry that Zeus broke the oath, so Unleash the fiercest monsters of Tartarus to haunt Talia. When she was twelve years old, a satyr was assigned to be her guardian, but he couldn't help. He tried to escort her Came here with her two biracial friends, and they tried their best to get to the top, and they just missed it." He pointed to the pine trees at the other end of the valley, where the Minotaur and I fought. "The three Goddesses of Mercy all set out to chase them, plus a pack of hellhounds. When they were about to be overtaken, Talia asked the satyr to protect the other two friends from arriving safely, and she stayed behind to delay the monster. .She was injured and very tired, and didn't want to live like a prey forever. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the other two. So, Talia Ended up standing alone on the top of the hill. After she died, Zeus took pity on her and turned her into the pine tree, and her spirit still went on to protect the borders of the valley, which is why the hill is called the 'Hill of Half-Blood'." I looked at the pine tree in the distance. This story made me feel at a loss and guilty.A girl my age sacrificed herself to save her friend from an army of monsters.My victory over the Minotaur seemed nothing compared to her.I couldn't help but wonder, if I had acted differently, would I have saved my mother? "Grover," I said, "do heroes really go on quests in the Underworld?" "Sometimes," he said, "like Orpheus, Hercules, Houdini." "Then have they brought people back to life?" "No, never, Orpheus almost...Percy, are you serious..." "No," I lied, "I'm just curious, so... must satyrs be assigned to protect the half-bloods?" Grover looked at me carefully, he couldn't believe that I had given up on the idea of ​​entering the underworld. "Not necessarily, we are lurking in many schools, trying to find hybrids who have the potential to become great heroes. Join us and find hybrids with strong smells, such as the children of the three gods, and we will notify Chiron. He will keep an eye on them , because they cause really big problems." "And you found me, Chiron said you thought I might be someone special." Grover looked at me like I'd just dug a trap for him to jump into. "I didn't... oh, you're fine, it's not what you think it is. If you were... Anyway, you wouldn't be allowed to go on a search mission, and I wouldn't be able to get a license. You might be Hermes or a child of one of the lower gods, like Nemesis or something. So don't worry about it, okay?" I think he is persuading himself far more than convincing me. After dinner, the night was more exciting than usual. It's finally time for the capture the flag contest. After the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood around the table. When Annabeth and her two siblings ran into the gazebo holding a silk team flag, all the students shouted and cheered.The flag was about three meters long, shiny gray, and featured a barn owl perched on an olive tree.On the other side of the pavilion, Cressa and her mates ran into the arena with another team flag, the same size, but tacky red with bloody spears and boar's heads painted on it. Amidst the noise, I turned my head and shouted at Luke: "Is it just to capture those two flags?" "right." "Aris and Athena are the team leaders every time?" "Not every time," he said, "but often." "What if the flag is captured by another cabin leader? A new flag?" He laughed. "You'll understand then, first of all, we have to capture the flag." "Which side are we on?" He gave me a mysterious look, thinking he knew something I didn't know.The scars on his face made him look a little sinister in the torchlight. "We are temporarily allied with Athena. Tonight, we will take the flag from Ares, and you must help together." The composition of the team was announced. Athena, Apollo, and Hermes, the two largest hut alliances, will obviously allocate the number of baths, chores and activities according to the amount of credit this time. Good seats and more. Ares allies with the remaining lodges, including Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.In my opinion, the children of Dionysus are very good athletes, but there are only two of them.Demeter's children have the advantage of field skills, but they are not very aggressive.So the sons and daughters of Aphrodite don't have to worry too much, because they just sit aside in almost every activity, looking at their appearance, combing their hair, and chatting against the lake.Hephaestus's children were not very handsome, and there were only four of them, but because they worked all day in the blacksmith shop, each of them was thick and might be a hindrance.Finally, of course, there are the twelve full-length islands of Ares Lodge, no, the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on earth. Chiron struck the marble with his hoof. "Heroes!" he announced, "everyone knows the rules. The river is the limit, the entire forest is the playing field, and the use of all kinds of treasures is allowed. The flag must be clearly displayed, and the flag must not be guarded by more than two people." Individuals. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged, nor killed or maimed. I will be referee and field medic. Now, arm!" He spread his hands, and suddenly there were weapons and equipment on the table, including helmets, bronze swords, spears, and cowhide shields covered with metal. "Wow!" I said, "Are we really going to use these things?" Luke looked at me like I'd gone mad.He said, "Unless you really want to be picked up by your friends in Cabin Five, go ahead and use it! Come on, this, Chiron thinks these should be suitable for you. You are doing Border Patrol this time." My shield is about the size of an NBA backboard, with a big double snake staff in the center.It weighs about a million pounds, and I'm fine with holding this ski, but I hope no one will seriously ask me to go fast.My helmet is the same as the rest of Team Athena's, topped with blue horsehair, while Ares' League is red. Annabeth yells: "Blue Team, go!" We cheered loudly and waved our swords as we followed her into the southern woods.The red team laughed at us and attacked north. I managed to catch up to Annabeth, but was careful not to trip over my gear. "Hi!" I called her. She moves on. "What's your plan?" I asked, "Can you lend me some magic treasure?" Her hand moved to the pocket, as if she was afraid that I would steal something. "You just need to pay attention to Cressa's spear." She said: "There is nothing to worry about. We will definitely capture the flag of Ares. Has Luke assigned you any work?" "Border Patrol, don't know what that means." "Simple, stay on guard by the small river, drive away the red team members, leave the rest to me, Athena will always have a plan." She pushed forward, leaving me in a cloud of dust. "Okay," I murmured, "I'm glad you asked me to join your team." It was a warm and humid night, and in the dark forest a firefly flickered on and off. Annabeth deployed me by the side of a creek, bubbling over rocks, while she and the rest of the team dispersed among the trees. Standing here by myself, with my bulky blue fur helmet and oversized shield, I feel like an idiot.The bronze sword in his hand still didn't fit very well, and the leather hilt felt like a bowling ball in his hand. It's impossible for someone to really attack me, right?I mean, Olympus must have rules about liability issues, right? In the distance, the conch horn was blowing, and I heard shouts, the clang of metal clashing in the forest, and the students were fighting.A blue-haired Apollo ally ran past me like a deer, jumped the creek, and disappeared into the enemy line. Good, I thought, as usual, I'm going to miss all the fun. That's when I heard a sound that sent chills down my spine, a low howling dog approaching me. I instinctively raised my shield, feeling something approaching quietly. Then the howling of the dogs stopped, and I thought the ghost was gone. Then there was an explosion in the bushes on the other side of the creek, and five Ares warriors shouted and screamed in the darkness. "Beat those idiots!" Cressa yelled. Her hideous pig eyes glared from the slits in her helmet.She wields a 150cm spear, the metal hook attached to the tip glows red.Her siblings had only ordinary bronze swords and no spears, but that wasn't much better. They attacked across the creek, and there was no one in sight to help me.I could choose to run away, or fight half of the Ares hut alone. I managed to dodge sideways, out of the way of the first kid's slashing sword, but these guys aren't as stupid as the Minotaur.They surrounded me, and Cressa raised her spear and stabbed at me.I blocked it with my shield, and the point of the spear deflected, but I felt a shock that caused pain all over my body.My hair stood on end, my shield arm went numb, and the air was hot. Real shop, her stupid long gun is live, I turn around. Another Ares boy hit me hard on the chest with the hilt of his sword, and I fell to the ground. They could kick me into a rotten jelly ball, but they're too busy laughing at this point. "Cut his hair," Cressa said. "Grab him by the hair." I struggled to stand up and raised my sword, but Cressa slammed me aside with a lance, sending sparks flying everywhere.Now both my arms are numb. "Oh." Cressa said, "I'm so scared of this kid, really scared." "The flag is over there." I tried to divert her attention and pretended to be angry, but it didn't seem to work. "Yeah," said one of her buddies, "but we don't care about the flag, we care more about some guy making us look like idiots." "You're stupid enough without me," I said.Such a session might not be a smart decision. Two of them approached me, and I stood up, holding my shield as I stepped back toward the creek, but Cressa was so fast that her lance hit me in the ribs, and without armor, I It has now become a kebab.At the same time, the impact of the charged spear almost knocked my teeth out of my mouth, and one of their accomplices drew a sword across my arm, leaving an obvious gash. I felt dizzy at the sight of my own blood, warm and cold at the same time. "Don't hurt others." I said reluctantly. "Oh," said the guy, "I guess the best thing I can do is get no snacks." He pushed me into the creek, and I made a splash as I fell.They laughed.I know when their fun time is over, it's time for me to die.But then something amazing happened.The water seemed to wake up my energy, like I had just eaten a bag of double espresso fudge my mom got. Cressa and her accomplices chased into the creek, and I rose to meet them.I know what to do.I swung the sword in my hand and hit one guy's head with the flat of the blade, bridged his helmet out, and I rammed him so hard I saw his eyes twitch as he fell into the creek. Ugly Two and Three came towards me.I'm head-on, bashing one with my shield, cutting the mane off the other with my sword, and they're both up on their hind legs.Ugly No. 4 didn't seem to want to attack, but Cressa continued to approach, the tip of her gun crackling with energy.As she lunged at me, I caught her hilt with shield and sword edge, and snapped the lance like a twig. "Ah!" she yelled, "You idiot! You blood-sucker!" She might want to swear even worse, but she didn't swear because I hit her on the bridge of the nose with the hilt of my sword and gave her a kick.She fell into the stream. That's when I heard whoops and screams of excitement as Luke ran towards the dividing line holding the red team flag.Two Hermes boys guarded him on both sides to cover his evacuation, and a few Apollo boys were behind them, with Hephaestus' men on their thighs.Ares and his group stood up, and Cressa continued to spit out a series of curses. "Trick!" she cried. "Trickery!" They staggered after Luke, but it was too late.Everyone gathered by the river and there was a cheer from our side as Luke ran across the border and into our territory.The red flag shone and then turned silver, and the boar and spears were replaced by a huge staff of two snakes, the symbol of Cabin Eleven.The BLU mate lifts Luke up and throws him into the air. Chiron cantered out of the trees, blowing the conch horn. The game is over, we won. I was also going to join the festivities when Annabeth's voice came from the stream near me and she said, "Not bad, hero." I looked over there, but she wasn't there. "Where did you come up with that weird trick?" she asked.There's a little flash in the air, and then she emerges out of nowhere, holding a Yankee baseball cap as if it's just been taken off her head. I got so mad that it didn't even matter that she just became invisible, I said, "You put me in this position on purpose because you knew Cressa was going to come after me, and then you asked Luke to go around Here. It's all in your hands." Annabeth shrugged and said, "I told you, Athena always has a plan." "Your plan is to kill me." "I tried my best to come here. I was going to join, but..." She shrugged and said, "You don't need help at all." Then he noticed the wound on my arm, "how did you do it?" "It's a sword wound." I said, "What do you think?" "No, it should be said that it used to be a sword wound, you see." The blood was gone, and the big gaping wound had turned into a long, thin white abrasion that was gradually fading, turning into a small scar before my eyes, and then disappearing without a trace. "I... I don't understand," I said. Annabeth was thinking hard and could almost see the gears turning in her head.She looked down at my feet, then at Cressa's broken spear, and said, "Percy, get out of the water." "what……" "Just do it." Immediately after I left the creek my muscles ached, my arms started to go numb again, and the adrenaline drained quickly.I almost fell, but Annabeth came to help me. "Oh, Styx." She cursed. "It's not good, I don't want to...I guess it was Zeus..." Before I could ask her what she meant, I heard the dog howling again, but this time much closer than the last time.A howl pierced the night sky of the forest. The excited cheers of the students immediately fell silent. Chiron yelled in ancient Greek, which I should understand. After a while, I fully understood it.He said, "Ready! My bow!" Annabeth draws her sword. From the rocks just above us, a hound the size of a rhino appeared.Its eyes were red as lava, and its fangs were sharp as daggers. It looked straight at me. Nobody was moving except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!" She tried to run ahead of me, but the hound was too fast.A massive, fanged shadow leapt over her and crashed directly into me, feeling its razor-like claws tear through my armor as I fell back.At this moment, there was a series of whistling sounds.The hound's neck was shot with arrows, and the monster died at my feet. It's a miracle I'm still alive.I didn't want to see what happened to my body under the broken armor at all. I just felt hot and humid in my chest. It must be a serious injury.Just for a second, I think the monster will turn me into a plate of delicious cooked meat. Chiron quickly ran to our side, still holding the bow in his hand, with a serious expression on his face. "God!" Annabeth said, "Those are hellhounds from the prison of the underworld, they... they can't be..." "Someone summoned them," Chiron said. "Someone in the camp." Luke came running from a distance, the flag in his hand has been forgotten by everyone, and his glorious moment is gone. Cressa yelled: "It's all Percy! It was Percy who summoned it!" "Quiet, child," Chiron told her. We watched as the Cerberus's body melted into black shadow, absorbed by the ground until it disappeared without a trace. "You're hurt," Annabeth said to me. "Percy, come on, get in the water." "I'm fine." "No wonder, you have something to do." She said, "Chiron, look at him!" I was too tired to argue with her, so I walked into the creek, surrounded by the entire battalion of cadets. Immediately better.I felt the wound in my chest was healing and that was the gasp of some of the trainees. "I...I don't know why." I want to apologize to everyone, "I'm sorry..." But instead of looking at my healing wounds, they were staring wide-eyed at something on top of my head. "Percy," Annabeth said, pointing, "that's..." I looked up, and the mark was disappearing, but I still clearly saw a pattern of green laser dots spinning, shining and spinning. It was a three-pointed spear, a trident. "Your father is..." Annabeth murmured, "It's really not good." "Confirmed." Chiron announced. The students around me began to kneel down, even those in Ares, although they were reluctant. "My dad?" I was completely confused. "Poseidon," said Chiron, "Shaker of Earth, Maker of Winds, King of Horses. Ah! Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon."