lacuna [connor stoll]

XL. Capture the Flag

CHAPTER FORTY: CAPTURE THE FLAG

Ellie huffed with annoyance as Connor stacked another cup on top of his pyramid.

They sat underneath the new dining pavilion, browsing over last minute Capture the Flag plans with Malcolm Pace. Why he had decided to partner up with the crazy Hermes cabin was beyond her, but he was smart, so she figured he had a plan.

The game was tonight, so Malcolm was tense. The Athena cabin had lost to Ares last time, and he was not happy about it. Ellie wasn't sure the last time she hadn't seen Malcolm not preparing for this game.

"Focus for thirty seconds, Stoll." Malcolm snapped, scrubbing something illiterate on his notebook.

"Right, sorry," Connor grinned, not looking very sorry. He stacked another cup on top of the pyramid. "What is it?"

"Please tell me you have the traps," Malcolm glared at him. "The whole operation fails without your nets."

"Got 'em. The whole cabin stayed up the entire night to work on the them."

Malcolm looked horrified. "You had two weeks to do them! Also, you're running on no sleep? I can't have a tired defense!"

"I thought I was offense!" Connor complained.

"You're going to be nothing if you don't take a nap right after this."

"Aye, aye, Captain Pace!" Connor announced, giving the boy a mock salute. "I would love to take a nap for you."

"Whatever. We have the Hecate cabin on our side, so we're manipulating the mist to create a distraction. Ares kids are impulsive, they'll go for whatever they see first. If they do notice the real flag, that's where Ellie comes in."

Ellie nodded. Her and Connor were placed on defense along with Kayden, the unclaimed boy from the woods, and Greg, another Athena kid.

"What about me?" Connor asked, glaring at the son of Athena. He placed another cup on his tower of plastic cups.

"I thought you wanted to be on offense."

Connor grinned. "I change my mind."

Malcolm rolled his eyes, rubbing his forehead. "Go take a nap, Stoll. While you're at it, make the entire Hermes' cabin take one. Ellie will wake you up before dinner."

Connor didn't argue. He ran off to find his cabin mates, sprinting through camp and almost being shot at by the demigods in archery lessons.

Malcolm rubbed his forehead again, scanning through a sketch of where he was going to hide the flag.

The plan was virtually perfect. The Ares cabin, stereotypically impulsive, would see Lou Ellen's manipulation of the mist of where they thought the flag was, and run off into the empty forest. In reality, the flag would be well-hidden and well-guarded in case one of them was not fooled. Athena and Hermes was on offense, where Malcolm inferred that they would be able to focus on offense, not so much defense. Apollo cabin were their archers, hiding in bushes and trees. Needless to say, Malcolm and the Athena cabin had thought of everything.