{BOOK 2} Percy Jackson's Sister

Fart Arrows, and Why They Should be Banned

      That night after dinner, we were all buzzing with excitement. The campers had loosely gathered around at the edge of the forrest. The Hunters looked angry at Chiron, making it clear they didn't want to capture a flag.

     Percy and Thalia stood at the front. They had agreed to be co-captains but neither of them looked happy about that.

     Our team consisted of a few Hephaestus kids, Justin and his siblings from cabin five, Hermes cabin with Nico, and even a couple Aphrodite kids. They almost never participated in anything violent but tonight, they looked ready for battle. Especially Silena.

     "I'll show them 'love is worthless,'" she said. "I'll pulverize them!"

      I helped her strap on her armor, which a most of our team was dressed heavily in. The blue feathered helmets signaled our team color. I wore only the light breastplate and a helmet, because even that weighed me down and worked to the advantage of the other team. Last time I had played without armor, I ended up in the infirmary for a full week.

     Thalia patted me on the shoulder. "You're on offense with me."

     I nodded and let her help the rest of the Aphrodite cabin strap their armor. I made my way over to Percy.

     "What's wrong?" I asked. His face was in a slight pout and he seemed to be trying to think of a plan.

     "I'm stuck in defense," he sighed.

     "Why?"

     "Percy, this is awesome!" Nico came running over, practically tripping over himself in excitement. His helmet fell over his eyes and his breastplate hung just above his knees. He heaved up a large sword he had gotten from the armory.

     "Do we get to kill the other team?" He asked, hopefully.

     "Well... no," Percy answered.

     "But the Hunters are immortal, right?"

     "That's only if they don't fall in battle. Besides-"

     "It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and-"

    "Nico, this is serious. Real swords. These can hurt."

      Nico's face dropped at Percy's drastic change of tone. I glared at Percy who immediately regretted sounding that strict.

      "Just have fun out there and try not to get stabbed, okay?" I poked Nico in the chest with the tip of my sword.

      He smiled. "Okay!"

     Percy patted him on the shoulder. "Just follow the team. Stay out of Zoe's way. We'll have a blast."

     I walked back to our small group and leaned on Travis, which was easy because he was much taller than me.

     "Ready?" I asked.

     "You kidding?" He lifted the sweater he had on under his armor, revealing a pouch, no doubt filled with all kinds of magical items. "They won't know what hit them."

      "Heroes!" Chiron 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!"

      "Blue team!" Thalia shouted. "Follow me!"

      We all cheered loudly and treaded behind Thalia, who led us to our positions in the woods. Percy tried catching up to her but tripped on Justin's shield. I wanted to believe it was an accident, but all Ares campers hated Percy because he had beaten their dad in some fight when he was twelve. I gave Justin a judgmental look and the smile wiped from his face. He silently apologized.