Chapter 12: Almost Captured the Flag.

                                    

                                          
Raph hauled me up and proceeded to help fit my armour on and tie up the laces. He was quiet, didn't say much.
"What's your opinion?" I finally asked.
He glanced up at me. His dark eyes burning into mine. His face was impassive, hard as stone and just about unreadable. 
"Why would you want my opinion?"
"Alright. Then don't tell me." I shrugged, looking away, back out to the setting sun. I could feel the homesickness. I just wanted something familiar. Something normal. I tried to keep myself together, but the tears threatened to fall. 
"I think it wasn't fair for the Orical to force it on you. Annabeth is right, the curse has been a while, there hasn't been a new host for Delphi in forever. Wasn't cool what they did. But..." He trailed off.
"But?" I encouraged.
"But you gotta learn to show respect."
"I've learned that to show respect they have to earn it. I've been tossed around, dumped on, picked on, told I'm worthless, useless, stupid, too much trouble, I've been used and abused. So to drop all that and pretend everything is hunky-dory? It's not going to happen just like that."
He indicated with his hands for my bracers, and he tied up the armour on my wrists while I kept talking.
"If someone you've never met shows up at your door gives you a bunch of stuff, says you're important to them, yet you've never met them or heard of them...you'd be a bit hesitant to trust them too. Your the son of the war god, doesn't that make sense? You don't just trust everyone."
"Fair point."
"Thank you."
"Doesn't mean it's dumb."
"Wow. You're unbelievable!"
"Thank you."
I rolled my eyes. And jammed my helmet on, took my knives, Aurum and Argentum and slid them into the belt Raph hand handed me. 
"Ready."
"Good. Now we gotta hustle. Quintes said we were starting right away."
He turned and I followed him at a jog back up the beach and into the grounds. They were all milking about in the practice arena. I saw my cabin and jogged over. 
"There you are! We couldn't find you!" Will cried, pulling me into a tight hug. For being 13 he was tall and very strong. 
"Dude! Ribs!" I squeaked. 
"Sorry. But.. your alright?"
"Well your definition of all right is very different then mine. But I'm alive."
"Raph found you?" Kayla asked, raising an eye brow.
I rolled my eyes. "Not you too! I just spent half an hour with Aphrodite, please don't start."
"You did WHAT?" Lee yelped.
"I'll tell you later, right now something is happening." I said, ending the conversation and turned to the group as campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
I turned to Lee and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"
"Yeah."
"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"