Friday evening arrived with a kind of electric tension that you usually only feel before a thunderstorm or a fistfight.
Capture the Flag wasn't just a game here. It was a tactical military exercise run by teenagers with deadly weapons.
I stood in the Hermes cabin, trying to strap on my armor. It was heavy bronze plating over leather, scavenged from the armory. It smelled like old sweat and metal polish. The helmet had a blue horsehair plume—Blue Team.
We were allied with Athena (the strategists) and Apollo (the archers). The Red Team was Ares (the tanks), Hephaestus (the builders), Dionysus, Demeter, and Aphrodite.
"It's not a fashion show, Val," Luke said, tightening a strap on my shoulder piece. "Make sure you can move your arms. If you can't lift that hammer over your head, you're dead weight."
I rolled my shoulders. The bronze plates clinked. I looked like a Greek riot policeman. "I'm good. What's the plan?"
We gathered outside. The sun was setting, painting the sky in bruises of purple and orange. Annabeth Chase was waiting for us. She was wearing full battle armor and held a Yankees cap in her hand.
"Here's the strategy," Annabeth said, her gray eyes scanning us. "Athena and Apollo will take the flanks. Hermes, you're the distraction force. You push up the middle."
She looked at Percy and me. "Percy, you take border patrol. Stay by the creek. Keep the flag safe."
"Boring," I muttered.
Annabeth glared at me. "Valerius, you're with Luke. You're the heavy infantry. Your job is to draw the Ares kids away from their flag so Luke can sneak in."
"So I'm bait," I summarized.
"You're the tank," she corrected. "Don't go rogue. Stick to the plan."
I didn't answer. I had my own plan. Find the biggest guy on the other team and flatten him.
The WoodsWe marched into the forest. The woods at Camp Half-Blood were not like a normal state park. The trees were ancient, towering oaks and pines with trunks as thick as cars. The canopy was so dense that as soon as we stepped in, day turned to night.
The air was cold. Strange noises echoed in the gloom—twigs snapping, owls hooting, and occasionally something that sounded like a giant snake slithering through dry leaves.
"Stay sharp," Luke whispered to his group. "The woods are stocked. Monsters live here."
"On purpose?" I asked.
"Keeps us on our toes," Luke grinned. He signaled for us to spread out.
As soon as the conch shell blew to start the game, chaos erupted.
I heard shouting to my left. Arrows whistled through the leaves. Explosions of green Greek fire lit up the darkness from the Hephaestus sector.
I ran. I didn't stick with Luke. I veered right, heading deep into enemy territory. My hammer, which I'd nicknamed Mjolnir-Lite, rested on my shoulder.
I came across a clearing near a pile of boulders known as Zeus's Fist.
Three Demeter kids popped out of the brush. They weren't holding swords; they were holding sharpened wooden staves.
"Wrong turn, newbie!" one of them yelled. Vines exploded out of the ground, wrapping around my ankles.
Magic, I thought. Annoying.
I didn't try to cut the vines. I just pulled. I stomped my boot down, tearing the roots right out of the earth. The Demeter kid's eyes widened.
I swung the hammer. I didn't aim for them—I aimed for the ground in front of them.
BOOM.
The impact shook the clearing. Dirt and rocks sprayed everywhere. The shockwave knocked two of them off their feet. The third one scrambled back, tripping over his own vines.
"Blue Team coming through!" I laughed, stepping over their groaning forms. I didn't hurt them bad—just enough to wind them.
I felt incredible. The adrenaline, the armor, the power—this was what I was reborn for.
But then, I heard the roar.
The CreekIt wasn't a monster roar. It was a human roar of triumph.
"Get him! Break his legs!"
Clarisse.
The sound was coming from the creek—the border line. Where Percy was supposed to be guarding.
Ah, hell, I thought. The plot.
I changed course, sprinting toward the sound of running water. I crashed through the bushes, ignoring the branches whipping my face.
I burst out onto the bank of the creek.
It was a mess. Five Ares campers, led by Clarisse, had Percy surrounded in the mud. Percy was on his knees, holding a broken shield. He looked battered. Clarisse was poking him with her electric spear, laughing.
"Not so tough now, are you, Prissy?" she sneered. "We don't care about the flag. We want you."
I stood on the top of the bank, about twenty feet up.
"Hey!" I bellowed.
They all looked up.
I jumped.
It was a stupid, reckless, movie-style jump. I fell twenty feet, hammer raised. I landed in the mud with a wet, heavy THUD right between Percy and Clarisse. Mud splashed everyone.
I straightened up, hefting the hammer. "Five on one? That's my kind of math."
"Valerius!" Clarisse screamed. "Get him too!"
The Ares kids charged.
I swung the hammer low, catching the first kid in the chest plate. He went flying backward into the creek.
But there were too many of them. Clarisse lunged, her spear crackling with red electricity. I blocked it with the haft of my hammer, but the sparks flew into my face, blinding me.
"Argh!" I stumbled back.
Another Ares kid slammed his shield into my back. I went down on one knee.
"Hold him down!" Clarisse yelled.
"No!" Percy shouted.
I looked over. Percy stood up. He was standing in the water.
And suddenly, the look on his face changed. The fear was gone. He looked... ancient.
He swung his sword. He knocked an Ares kid's shield away like it was made of paper. He spun and kicked another one so hard the kid flew into a tree.
Clarisse thrust her spear at him. Percy caught the tip—the electrified metal tip—with his bare hand.
Snap.
He broke the spear shaft like a twig.
Clarisse shrieked. "You idiot! You broke it!"
Percy slammed the butt of his sword into her helmet. She collapsed into the water, dazed.
I stood up, wiping mud off my armor. I was breathing hard. My "tank" moment had been hijacked, but I couldn't even be mad. Watching Percy go "God Mode" was terrifying.
"Did you see that?" Percy asked, looking at his hands. "I just..."
"Yeah," I said, leaning on my hammer. "Water buff. Nice hack."
Suddenly, Luke came sprinting out of the woods from the other side, holding the Red Team's flag. "We won! The line is broken!"
The rest of the Blue Team poured into the creek, cheering. They hoisted Luke up.
But the celebration lasted exactly three seconds.
The Beast from the DarkA low, guttural growl silenced the clearing. It came from the rocks above us—where I had just jumped from.
The campers froze. Even Clarisse, who was spitting water, went still.
On the ridge stood a monster.
It was a Hellhound.
If you've never seen one, imagine a Rottweiler the size of a rhino. Its fur was matte black, absorbing the moonlight. Its eyes were glowing red coals. It drooled acid that hissed when it hit the rocks.
"That's not supposed to be here," Annabeth whispered, her face pale. "Someone summoned it from the Fields of Punishment."
The hound didn't look at Luke or the flag. It looked directly at Percy.
And me.
It leaped.
It was too fast. The archers on the Apollo team fumbled for their bows, but they were too slow.
"Percy, move!" I shouted.
I did the only thing I could. I shoved Percy backward into the water and stepped into the path.
I raised my hammer, bracing for impact.
The hound hit me like a semi-truck.
My hammer jammed into its mouth, holding its jaws open, but the momentum crushed me into the mud. The claws—razor-sharp and black—raked across my chest plate. The bronze screeched and tore like foil.
I felt a line of fire sear across my chest.
"Get off!" I roared. I could smell its breath—rotten meat and sulfur. I pushed, my muscles screaming. I was strong, but this thing was pure darkness.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
Three silver arrows sprouted in the hound's neck.
It yelped, its weight lifting off me slightly.
Chiron galloped into the clearing, his bow drawn. "Stand back!"
The hound dissolved into black shadows, leaving me lying in the mud, gasping for air. My chest plate was shredded. I could feel warm blood trickling down my skin.
Silence fell over the camp.
"Valerius!" Luke dropped the flag and ran over. "You okay?"
I sat up, wincing. "It scratched the paint," I wheezed. "I'm fine."
"You're bleeding," Annabeth said, pointing to the claw marks on my chest. "That... that shouldn't be possible. That armor is celestial bronze."
"Look at Percy," someone whispered.
The Double DropI looked over. Percy was standing in the creek. He looked exhausted, but as the water rushed over his legs, his cuts and bruises were closing up. Fading away.
"The water," Annabeth said softly. "It heals him."
Above Percy's head, a green light began to flicker. It swirled and formed a hologram. A glowing, three-tipped spear.
A Trident.
"Poseidon," Chiron announced, kneeling. "Earthshaker. Stormbringer. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
The campers fell to their knees. It was a huge deal. The pact was broken.
I sat there in the mud, holding my chest. I felt a surge of jealousy. Of course. He gets the light show.
"Hey," I muttered, looking up at the sky. "What about me? I tanked the hit! I'm the one bleeding here!"
I was angry. Genuinely angry. The air around me grew cold. The smell of ozone—that sharp, electric scent—flooded the clearing, overpowering the smell of the swamp.
Thunder cracked.
It wasn't distant. It was right overhead. A deafening BOOM that made everyone cover their ears.
A bolt of lightning—pure, blinding white—shot down from the sky. It didn't hit the ground. It hit me.
I screamed, but it didn't hurt. It felt like being plugged into a nuclear reactor. The electricity surged through my veins, cauterizing the scratches on my chest instantly. My hair stood on end. My eyes, I knew, were glowing.
The light faded, leaving a hologram floating above my head.
It was a Master Bolt. A jagged spear of lightning, glowing electric blue.
Silence. Absolute, terrified silence.
Chiron looked from Percy (Poseidon) to me (Zeus). His face went chalk white.
"Two," he whispered. "The prophecy..."
The campers looked between us like they were watching a tennis match of doom.
"Zeus," Chiron said, his voice shaking. "King of the Gods. Lord of the Sky."
He turned to me and bowed lower than he had for Percy.
"Hail, Valerius Castellan, Son of Zeus."
I stood up. The static was still arcing off my skin. I looked at Percy. He looked at me, wide-eyed.
I grinned, though inside I was terrified.
"Well, Jackson," I said, my voice echoing slightly. "Looks like we're cousins."
Then, the exhaustion hit me for real. The healing, the lightning, the fighting—it was too much.
"I think I'm gonna nap now," I said.
And for the second time that week, I passed out. But this time, I passed out as a Prince of the Universe.