The Trident Seekers

At last, it was time for capture the flag.
When the breakfast plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables. Aaron guided my hand towards his and he squeezed it reassuringly. It was like he could read my nervous thoughts, my anxiety of the game, not knowing how to play with the swords or any of that.

Campers yelled and cheered as Malcolm, the head of the Athena cabin, and two of his siblings ran into the dining pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening grey, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, the head of the Nike cabin, a girl named Stephanie, ran in with her half brother, a boy named Jeremie. They both shared glistening black hair and ombré eyes. I guess the apple didn't fall too far from the tree in family resemblances. Their banner was white, with the painting of a burning torch in the centre of a pair of beautiful, outspread wings. Saying as their mother, the goddess of victory, is winged.
I turned to Aaron, " Those are the flags?" I ask.
"Yeah."
"Do Athena an Nike always lead the teams?"
"Not always," he said. "But often enough."
"So if another cabin captures the flag, what do you do? Repaint it?" I ask.
He grins that smile of his. "You'll see. First we have to get one."
"Whose Side am I one?" I said, disappointed as I'm reminded that we're on opposing teams.
He gives me a shy look, then a sad one but quickly hidden.
"I'm on the Athena side, your on Nike's side. But don't worry, I'll talk to Stephanie and Jeremie an let them know your new to this. So they don't over achieve their hopes of the rest of the team leading you on and not showing you how it's done. " he said softly.
"And we'll be starting our private lessons tomorrow," he leans forward, our faces centimetres apart. "And you'll learn how to handle a sword," he kisses my forehead. "And you'll learn how to skewer any boy who bothers you," he kisses my nose.
"And soon enough, you'll be kicking serious ass." He says.
"Mhm course because your going to be an amazing teacher." I say, pulling him down and closing the distance between us, pressing my lips to his. His mouth tastes like peaches, from the smoothie he had earlier, his lips were soft, so soft, like little clouds…I lean into the kiss, an I feel his tongue inch into mine slowly-
"Mr. Redmond and Ms.Thomas, can we please continue or are we interrupting you." Mr.D says, snapping me back to reality. Ouch.
Aaron and I blush furiously before looking towards the head of camp, our faces red as tomatoes.
"Alright, so as I was saying, the Nike cabin has made alliances with Apollo, Hecate, Hypnos, Hephaesutus, Iris, Tyche and Hermes, and the Athena cabin has made their alliances with Demeter, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, nemesis, Hebe and me." He continued.
From what I'd seen, Dionysus's son Pollux was a very athletic looking guy, but the way he hung his head told me something; there must have been someone else in that cabin, a brother or sister, but he looked almost depressed that he was the only one. He looked lonely.
Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff, but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They probably just sat out and let the other team deal with the fighting while they laid their hair or something. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty but there were only 3 of them, their head of the cabin was on a quest at the moment, something about Gaia or whoever was it Aaron was telling me about, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem.The Hecate cabin had all the magic tricks and could control the mist. They would definitely be a problem.
All of the minor gods and goddesses had some kind of amazing advantage; the nemesis cabin could give you a dangerous ultimatum for something you did in the past, being the goddess of revenge. The Hypnos kids, though not many of them, could knock you out cold for hours. I wasn't quite sure wha the Iris cabin were capable of but no dought I would find out today. Nike was the goddess of victory so that gave my team a sort of insurence.
That, of course, left the Ares cabin; a dozen of the biggest, ugliest kids in camp, or anywhere else on the planet.
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble flooring of the dining pavilion. Making our heads snap up from our conversations.
"Heroes!" He announced. "You know the rules, the creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed, the banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more then two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed but may not bound or gaged. No killing or maiming allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. The game shall begin in 20 minutes, meet on the field fully armed in 15 so that I may continue the rules. You are dismissed."
"I'll go talk to Jer and Steph, meet you back here in a few?" Aaron said, when everyone was off heading toward the armoury.
"Yeah, see you." I said. He gave me a quick peck on the lips and was off.
So I have Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apollo was amazing with archery, and Hermes had they're own tricks up their sleeves. Literally.
"Hey." Someone said. I turned and found myself face to face with Liam Carter, The boy I had met at dinner last night.
Up close, she notices how blue his eyes are, and she even notices some green flecks around the iris.
"Liam, hi, What's up?" I ask, trying to create small talk.
A smirk tugs at his mouth. "We're on the same team, so if you need any help with the sword, just ask. I hear your boyfriends giving you lessons, not a bad idea, Aaron is pretty skilled."
I'm surprised at the straightforwardness, he kinda just came out and said was on his mind, no filter. It's impulsive almost.
"Yeah? Good to know, hey do you know where I can get those armour thingies and the swords? I'm kinda running short." I ask.
"Yeah, but I couldn't help but overhear what You and Aaron were saying, how you'll meet back here in a few minutes? Wouldn't want to just take you away and he come back like, uhhhh, where'd my girlfriend go? So how about I just-"
"Take me To the armoury anyway? He won't mind, he'll know where I went. Come on let's go." I said, cutting him off as I walk toward the armoury.
He smiles mischievously. "Alright, to the armoury we go."




As we walked, he started to chat a bit, telling me about his cabin, his brothers and sisters, after all he pretty much told me all about himself at dinner last night.
After he was done, I told him about my mom, the draconæ attack, meeting Aaron…
He was a good listener.
After a few minutes we reached the armoury, where some kids were scrambling around, looking for a helmet or a sword or some other piece of equipment.
Liam led me down the passage, between chests full of breastplates, and wrist covers were stashed. He opened a door at the end of the hallway, revealing a room full of swords, javelins, katanas, bows, you name it. There were different types of ranged equipment, plumed helmets, knee pads, forearm covers, breastplates ...
"This is the armour room for the Hermes cabin, take what you want, gods knows that what we do all the time." He grimaces.
I look around, I have no idea what to put on.
"Um, I don't...?" I trail off.
"Oh! That's right I forgot." He says.
He walks towards a big chest full of equipment I can't even dream to name.
He pulls out a breastplate, two wrist covers and helmet.
He moves towards me. Holding up the breastplate.
"Here I'll put it on for you." He says.
He puts the plate over my head and it slides over me like a shirt. He goes behind me to buckle the buckles. His hands are gentle as they glide over my back, tying the buckles together. His fingers sending shivers down my spine, I flinch.
He stops. "Oh my god are you ticklish?" he asks, laughing.
"No! your hands are cold that's all." I tried to hide my fear of being found out; I was ticklish. And if he found out he would tackle me to the ground and tickle me until I passed out. That's how ticklish I was.
"Okaaaay. Just makin' sure." he said dubiously.
Next he put my wrist covers on.
"Okay, now just pick a sword." He said.
I wandered around the room, looking at the piles of swords.
I was looking into one pile when, something caught my eye.
A ring.
What the heck would a ring be doing in a pile of swords? I picked it up, and I examined it.
It was a beautiful silver trident, rounded to fit your finger. There were intricate words scripted on the band of the ring;

παλιρροϊκό Κύμα
Tidal wave.
I slid it onto my ring finger, it fit beautifully.
I felt the sudden urge to tap it. So I did.
"Uh Sandy? I'm not so sure that's a good i-"
In my hand was no longer a ring, but a long sword the size of my forearm. One side was a shimmering silver, the other was a glistening gold. The hilt was leather, beat and soft, and it fit my palm perfectly. On the base of the blade lay the trident; one half of it gold and the other silver.
"Uh oh." Liam muttered.
"This one. I want this one." I whispered firmly. Not taking my eyes off of the blade.
"Alrighty then." He said nervously. He heads out the door as I taped my new sword back into the trident ring. And we were out the door.
I got a new sword.
And have absolutely no clue how to use it.

Notes

Hiiii guys sorry I haven't updated in forever but I made this one longer to make up for it