•as the world caves in•

•a very eventful capture the flag•

I loved Capture the Flag. It made my nights a little more exciting and gave me the chance to put my training into context.

I couldn't contain the grin that formed on my face as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the mess hall, carrying their banner: a barn owl and olive tree. From the other side came Clarisse and two of her siblings with their banner: a spear and boar head.

I was annoyed at the teams. I had to fight for Ares against all my friends, I would be utterly alone on this team. I seriously needed to figure out a new alliance. But for now, I would guard the flag and let Annabeth take it so that way she would win. I didn't care if I had dish duty, Clarisse would be stuck with me.

Chiron slammed his hood against the floor, looking out to us. "Heroes! You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line, the entire forest is game. The banner must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

I looked away from him and towards the table as it covered itself in armor and sword. In front of me was my regular armor, a classic Greek design with doves engraved in various spots on the helmet. It was a birthday gift from Silena about two years ago. She and Charlie would hang out a lot during the winter since they stayed behind, and so they would spend time on it. Charlie had also made the idea to enchant it so that it would always fit me, something I am so grateful for.

He ended up just making two of the same ones, but the plumes on top were different, depending on who Aphrodite Cabin was allied with. This week was Ares, so I had my red plume.

As I gave a quick kiss to the dove on the right side of the helmet, my good luck practice, Silena worked on tightening my chest plate and arm guards. "Go get them, Cor."

I smiled and nodded, then walked to Katie, who's cabin was also allied with Ares. She shared a smile with him and suddenly I remembered what happened four days ago in the fields. She didn't seem to, though.

Annabeth gave a mock scowl as the blue team walked by. "You're a traitor!"

I stuck my tongue out. "Whatever!"

She started to laugh, and Luke, who was behind her, did as well. Percy was between them and looked scared out of his mind. Oh gods, he was here and so was Clarisse. This was not going to end well.

Finally, we all did a cheer as we ran into the woods to set up post. I was fully prepared to stay at the flag, but Clarisse insisted I go on patrol duty since I was one of the few who could handle Luke, which I rolled my eyes at.

The horn sounded, announcing the start of the game, and we all started to run into the woods. I was going to run in the opposite direction of the Ares kids, but one of them snagged me by the back of my armor and literally dragged me with them.

I huffed and folded my arms as I stared up at the sky, before they shoved me into a bush and was met with sea green eyes.

Percy scrambled away from me. "Dude! You can't scare me like that!"

I frowned before the realization came to me. "Percy, run!"

"Cream the punk!" Clarisse shouted.

I was trampled over and shoved to the side as they circled Percy. I felt a pounding in my head as I assumed I hit it against a rock or something and the next thing I knew he was already on the ground.

"Give him a haircut, grab his hair!"

"Oh, wow. I'm so scared of this guy!"

They mocked, over and over, as they knocked his sword away from him, and his eyes grew wide as he pointed. "The flag is that way."

"Yeah, but see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."

"You can do that without my help," Percy snapped back.

That idiot!

I finally scrambled to my feet, taking my ring off and twisting the gem and caught the sword. I held a tight grip as I charged at Clarisse, ready to duel with her.

Instead, I was grabbed not at the back of my arm, but at my throat. Instantly, I dropped my sword and my hand clamped around her wrist. My vision went fuzzy and I was seeing double of everything as black spots crept into the corners of my sight. My breathing grew shallow as I felt my windpipes being crushed and I knew there would be marks on my neck. I weakly smacked at her hand as I kicked my legs, sputtering for any form of air.

"Let her go!" I heard Percy shout, but his voice sounded like he was miles away.

"Ha! What are you gonna do about?"

I could feel panic rising in me as my vision was almost entirely black, the only thing I could see was a blurry Percy. I couldn't even kick my legs anymore, my sole focus on getting any oxygen in my system.

Before my vision turned entirely black, I was dropped and I crumbled on the ground as I gulped for air, gasping as I held my aching throat. I probably looked like a fish on land as I started sobbing while gasping.

I didn't hear any cheers as a crowd gathered and Percy was looking at me in horror as he scrambled over. "Coriane?"

"Cor!" Annabeth shouted as she kneeled in front of me. "I saw the whole thing up until she grabbed you by the neck! I went to get help as soon as I could, I'm sorry it didn't come sooner!"

"Annabeth, calm down," a gentle voice said, and it sounded like Luke. I looked to him and frowned, blinking rapidly. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

I went to respond, but nothing left my mouth as I winced in pain. I removed my hand from my throat and the three of them gasped. Annabeth rose. "I'll get Silena."

Percy and Luke carefully moved me from the ground and sat me up against a tree. I poked Percy's chest and then gave a thumbs up with an arch of an eyebrow. You okay?

He gave a single laugh. "Coriane, you shouldn't worry about me. I'm in perfect condition compared to you."

He looked up and him and Luke backed away as Chiron and Silena hurried over.

"Cor!" Silena gasped as she cupped my face. "The moment Annabeth found us and said you were being attacked, being choked out? I was worried! I was horrified!"

Chiron had the most disappointed look. "Clarisse and her siblings will be severely punished for this. Never in any of my years have I seen a camper attack another with this much injury. I have ambrosia and nectar for you, it will help bring you some relief, but with an injury this bad... it will take time."

Silena took it from Chiron, and she carefully fed it into my mouth, rambling on about how worried she was. Suddenly there were shouts and I looked to see a hellhound jumping over Annabeth before latching onto Percy.

Silena helped me up as we looked to see Percy fighting it off before he stepped into the water, and my mouth dropped.

Above Percy, was a green trident. The sign of Poseidon.

"Poseidon. Earth shaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."