It had only been a week now and Chanyeol had already grown used to the early morning breakfasts and tight training regime at camp. He would get up in the morning after the camp inspector looked over the sub-par cleaning he’d managed to do in ten minutes and let him out. He imagined if he lived with someone else in the cabin life would be just a tiny bit easier. 

He emerged towards the training grounds, but was surprised to see that no one was in their usual places. He searched for his mentor, Kyungsoo and found him surrounded by several campers who were all whispering. They wore steel helmets with blue manes.

Chanyeol approached the crowd, wondering what was going on.

 

“Oh good, you’re here.” Kyungsoo flung a metal piece at him.

 

His fast reflexes enabled him to catch the flying helmet. He held it to his waist, looking at the crowd who were all pumped up and ready to do...something.

 

“Whats going on?” Chanyeol asked.

 

“We talked about this yesterday, Chanyeol. Remember? Bi-weekly the camp hosts a capture the flag tournament. The team who wins gets immunity for the cabin check ups.” He grinned.

 

Kyungsoo had mentioned something about capturing the flag a while back, but it hadn’t dawned on Chanyeol that it was finally approaching his second week at Camp half blood. It had really been that long? Time was flying by. He remembered Kyungsoo telling him there was a blue and red team and they’d have to make a plan to reach the other team's flag and capture it. That meant preparing to fight campers, using knives, arrows you name it.

Chanyeol thought it was a bit....counter productive. Weren’t they supposed to be cooperating with each other? Not going at one another's throats. 

Needless to say, the blue team around him looked more than happy to do anything in order to bypass cabin check ups. He could understand why. Most of them were Kyungsoo’s siblings, sons and daughters of Ares. He’d taken a glimpse of their cabin before, it was...to say the least...dirtier than most. It wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that the cabin who scored lowest on their inspection had to do all the chores in the dining hall.

 

“We’re gonna win this for sure. I mean we got most of the Ares kids with us and Athena kids help us with strategies. We’re a dream team.” One of the taller guys, one of Kyungsoo’s brothers perks up.

 

Chanyeol nodded, happy with their possible outcome. His head peaked around, wondering if by the chance of gods, Baekhyun was here, but it was obvious he was placed on the other team. He didn’t want to seem like he was invested in the boy, but he was so intriguing to Chanyeol and quite frankly he saw them as friends. It was just a matter of time before the demi-god opened up. The son of Zeus was a people pleaser, who could blame him.

And yet, it was hard being a people pleaser when half the camp attributed all their problems towards your father. 

 

“Okay, here's the plan.” Came an Athena girl, she was wearing rounded glasses and her brown hair was braided on both sides.

 

“The only strong suits they have are some hephaestus kids and a few hermes kids. The Hermes kids we have to watch out for because they don’t fight head-to-head. They tend to rely on sneaky methods to get the flag. It sometimes works, but if it doesn’t then it also works as a great distraction for the opposing team. The trick is to not look in front, but below. They're usually underground, waiting to jump out and get the flag.” She explained.

 

“So what do we do? I mean we can’t just stand around and wait for them.” Someone said.

 

“Well, we actually can. We can have one person stand here and guard the flag, while three others head in opposition so that those who come in combat can’t get through.”

 

“I’ll go in front,” Kyungsoo offers without a thought.

 

Some other heads nod in agreement, knowing that Kyungsoo was the perfect man to have doing face-to-face combat. 

 

“I can come with you,” Said one of his sisters, she had a serious look on her face as she held her sword close to her belt.

 

Then the blue team looked around, wondering who else would volunteer 

 

To their surprise everyone looked at Kyungsoo for direction, to which he smiled slyly before patting Chanyeol on the back amicably, “My friends we’ve got ourselves fresh new meat who would greatly appreciate the experience of fighting at the front.”

 

The son of Zues looked side to side, realizing that everyone was now staring at him.

 

“M-me? I’ve only ever trained on a dummy. I can’t fight a real person.” Chanyeol's face grew red.

 

“Well!” Kyungsoo took out his dagger for him, “It’s about time.”

 

----------------------------------------------------------

 

“They’re opposition isn’t the best. They’ve got a couple of aphrodite kids which shouldn’t be too much a hassle.” One of the athena kids explained.

 

Chanyeol tightened his hold on his dagger, knowing that he’d had to fight anyone was confusing to say the least. Maybe demi-god life wasn’t for him. These campers seemed numb to the idea of potentially hurting their friends.

 

“Don’t underestimate Aphrodite kids.” Kyungsoo said, “They’ve got their ways.”

 

Chanyeol’s mind came back to Baekhyun at the thought of his god parent’s name. Kyungsoo was right, and if all the other campers knew how well the guy could throw an arrow, maybe they’d be a little more afraid. Sure, the son of Zues had his prejudices, but he knew from watching Baekhyun train tirelessly that this man was powerful.

 

“Oh whatever, charmspeak can only go so far,” an Ares kid retorted.

 

“Baekhyun could kill you,” Chanyeol spoke up then.

 

“Huh?” 

 

“He’s strong enough to get any of you, quite frankly. Instead of labelling someone as weak or incapable, how about you try to fix yourself before you get killed because you think all your opponent can do is charm speak.” 

 

With that small, and yet, nervously said speech, Chanyeol got up from the crowd, conveniently, when the horn to start the game actually began.

Why did all these campers have such a prejudice against aphrodite kids?

Kyungsoo came to stand beside him and whispered lowly, “You okay?” He asked.

 

“I’m fine. Lets win this.”

 

-----------------------------

 

The forest at the camp was vast and really,really green.The coniferous species had pines tightly packed together. The only way to see around the premises would be to climb up a tree. Perhaps that is why Kyungsoo immediately held a branch and pulled himself up the highest evergreen and scanned the surrounding area. 

 

“I see a red colour poking out from the west end. I’ll go in that direction.” Kyungsoo told the two of them, “Roger,” He told his brother, “Guard us from behind, and Chanyeol will go to the east.”

 

Chanyeol’s throat seized at the idea of going alone in the woods, but before he could protest, Kyungsoo was already running in the opposite direction.

He wandered off into the forest, wondering where on earth he should go or weather he should be hiding behind a bush. As he walked for a few moments, he was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes. 

With a chill, Chanyeol realized someone was probably watching him. Turning around a full 360 he was surprised to find that everything was too silent now. Not even the wind made a sound. Still, his gut told him someone was still there.

 

“Get out! Show yourself!” Chanyeol yelled.

 

He slashed with his dagger in an x-motion such that if anyone were to come and stand in front of him he’d have a good line of defense. Finally, he felt a gust of wind pull his back on to the grass. 

He fell on his . Someone was sitting on top of him, holding his neck in a chokehold.

It was someone he didn’t recognize at first, but once he could think and see clearly he was surprised to find an aggressive girl-Seulgi on top of him, her legs between his chest holding him down. But that was it. It seemed that all she was told to do was hold Chanyeol down and that struck him the wrong way.

 

“What the-”

 

“Stay down!” She ordered.

 

Her voice on any other day around camp was happy and cheerful. Yet, in this moment, Chanyeol felt different. Her voice was commanding-a little bit deeper and ghostly. It was like someone-something was inside of his blood and it was controlling him to move his nervous system. He was working against his brain. It was like he could think consciously but couldn’t control an ounce of his body. It was painful, physically and mentally, to say the least.

 

“Argh!” Chanyeol tried to flail his arms around, weakly slashing his dagger, but it was no use.

 

Seulgi was only a petite person and here she was holding down a six foot giant with her bare hands. No weapons needed. 

 

When the time came, she let go of Chanyeol’s arms prompting him to sit up and cough like no tomorrow. He wanted to throw up but decided he needed to take care of what was at hand. 

“Give up now Park, it's no use.” Seulgi said, she was now holding a sword where-for the love of the gods had come out from thin air.

 

Perhaps he would have given up because her tone was so...demanding. 

 

Chanyeol gulped down hard, before lifting himself off the ground. He unsheathed his dagger.

And charged.

 

Sure enough, Seulgi was right. She was faster, smarter and knew almost every move that Chanyeol was about to hit her with. It was like she was reading his mind-without actually reading it.

 

This isn’t fair, Chanyeol thought. She’s been training for who knows how long. I’ve been here for three weeks.

 

Still, he attempted to at least scratch her, but she was good at dodging. Ten minutes passed with Chanyeol’s missed attacks. It really was no hope. That is,- until he felt a eureka moment. 

 

It dawned on to the son of Zues that perhaps Seulgi didn’t mean to fight him at all. Rather…

 

“,” Chanyeol cursed at himself when he realized the figure who was rushing through the forest ahead of them.

 

It was a diversion.

 

Chanyeol bolted towards the figure, using every ounce of strength he had left, leaving Seulgi behind. His long legs took his farther than he hoped and little by little he caught up with figure who’d been able to bypass Chanyeol strategically while Seulgi distracted him. Of course, she had no intention of actually fighting. This was all part of the plan.

 

“Stop!” Chanyeol yelled.

 

As if one queue, the person in front of him tripped over a a tiny hidden branch and fell fast first into the ground. He stood up quickly revealing the tired face under the helmet. Drooped eyes which held a fiery gaze that matched the red mane of his helmet. 

 

“Baekhyun-”

 

The demi-god unclasped his bow and arrow, and pointed it swiftly at his heart. There was complete silence. 

 

“Don’t move. I’m going to go get the flag. If you move you’ll be sorry.” Baekhyun narrowed his eyes.

 

Under the helmet, he could make our those sharp violet eyes that glared at him from a meter away. 

 

       With a sharp arrow aimed at his chest, it was hard not to obey the man.

 

Chanyeol looked around desperately, knowing that the fact Baekhyun was even near the blue team's flag was his fault. If he had protected the east end well enough and not fallen for the diversion trap none of this would have happened. Maybe his pride took over him because he got the courage to take out his dagger.

This was all a bluff right? Baehkyun wouldn’t actually aim an arrow at his heart? Right?

Chanyeol came at him first, slashing furiously like his eyes were closed because he kept missing. 

 

Baekhyun ditched the arrow realizing it would be useless in face to face combat. He pulled out his very own silver dagger hidden under his armour. 

Boy, was Chanyeol wrong to assume this man was only good at using an arrow. 

The son of aphrodite pulverized him. Kicking his shin and then making him topple over so that he could restrain him from standing up.

 

“Let me make this easier for you. None of us needs to get hurt. All you need to do is give me the flag.”

 

The dagger was at his throat, cutting it too close at one point. Chanyeol held his breath, scared for his dear life.

 

No. No he wasn’t going to be a coward. Not when his entire team was depending on him.

 

Suddenly there was a gust of wind that swept the both of them up in havoc. Baekhyun was lifted from the ground where he was restraining Chanyeol. He flew up a couple of meters off the air, driving into a bunch of trees and the mysterious mini tornado overtook his body. 

Chanyeool stood up groggily, watching in utter disbelief as he saw Baekhyun being carried away by some unknown wind. 

Was this? Chanyeol wasn’t too sure, but this could have been him.

He was so caught up in trying to figure out why in the hell he could control wind, Baekhyun had already fallen to the ground as the draft had picked up somewhere else.

 

“What the hell-”

 

“I’m sorry I don’t know what that was-”

 

Baekhyun shook his head in annoyance, holding it still for a minute because he felt so dizzy. He sat there, with Chanyeol watching him with concern. He wondered if it was alright to approach him. Maybe he’d even forgotten they were playing a game of capture the flag because suddenly, Baekhyun was bolting in the other direction again.

 

Chanyeol was fast. He felt faster now. There it was. The wind again, almost working against gravity to help him run quicker and catch up to the highly trained demi god. 

It was like he was flying almost. Reaching his arm out he grabbed Baekhyun by the collar, breaking their run.

They both toppled on the ground. Now, they were close to the blue teams flag.

All Chanyeol had to do was hold Baekhyun off just a little longer before some defense came through.

 

Baekhyun punched Chanyeol in the gut.

 

“Ow!” He held his stomach in pain.

 

Then, the skilled demi-god grabbed his arm and judo flipped on the ground really hard.

 

“Was that really necessary!” Chanyeol groaned in pain.

 

Baekhyun perhaps lost a little fluidity in his moves when he lost balance so Chanyeol took his chances and tackled him to the ground. Now it was Chanyeol who had the upper hand, his arms on either side of his opponent.

Baekhyun pursed his lips tight, struggling in the demi-gods hold. 

The wind. Chanyeol thought. It’s helping me. At this point, Baekhyun wouldn’t be able to move against nature.

He stayed in that position for a while, hoping this would give his team enough time for his teammates to catch up.

 

“Stay still.” Chanyeol told him.

 

“I’m claustrophobic, get the hell off me.”

 

“You expect me to believe that?” Chanyeol scoffed. 

 

“Ugh!” Baekhyun wiggled his legs around.

 

Eventually after a good moment of struggle, the demigod under him somehow….gave up. Just like that one of the strongest people Chanyeol had met at Camp half blood let loose.

 

“Congrats you win. Big three scum,” He spat.

 

Chanyeol glared at him, wondering where all this toxicity about the gods came from, especially his own father. True, he’d never actually met Zeus, but he could understand the needy schedule of a god. He probably had better things to attend to.

Baekhyun looked straight at him, not breaking eye contact once. His eyes were a deep purple. They danced against the sunlight. It was strange. Almost like looking into a galaxy of sorts. 

While looking through his eyes he noticed tiny specs of stars. It was the milk way. Chanyeol didn’t realize how...interesting Baekhyun’s eyes were.

It took all of Chanyeol might to try and look away. Break the poisonous gaze of his violet eyes. 

 

“You’re eyes they’re-”

 

Whoosh.

 

A camper ran  through the trees. Before Chanyeol could even react, he saw Seulgi, run up top the rock near their flag hideout and clinch the prized possession.

Baekhyun smirked,punching Chanyeol square in the jaw so that he could get off him.

Doubling over in pain, he didn’t get to see the regretful looks on his teammates faces. 

 

-------------------------------------

 

To say the least, the blue team was furious at him.

 

“It was all because he went all googly eyed for that no good son of aphrodite.” One of the Ares kids complained.

 

“I wasn’t-” Chanyeol blushed, “He could charm-look I swear!” 

 

Kyungsoo smiled, trying not to laugh, “Charm look? What do you mean.”

 

“Like charmspeak without speaking. It was like I was being possessed. I swear.”

 

“Dude’s gone nuts.” One of Kyungsoo’s siblings laughed.

 

He closed his eyes, trying not to start a tantrum, but knowing full well that his blood was boiling at this point. One more wrong saying and he’d blow up. This son of aries, he’d heard named Issac was more than getting on his nerves and he was more of a people pleaser and yet, he found himself wanting to punch this dude anytime he saw them.

 

The red team was crowding around Seulgi, who was being held up in the crowd cheering after she’d successfully captured the flag. Baekhyun was slightly smiling in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. He had taken off his helmet to reveal his damp temple.The strands of his silver hair plastered on his forehead.

Meanwhile the blue team slumped in their places, all eyes directed towards the son of Zues. It was quite obvious they were blaming the entire loss on him.

 

“I mean-what do you expect from me?” Chanyeol asked, as he spoke to his team members, “To be a pro fighter in three days.”

 

Isaac snickered between his brothers, coming to stand near the rookie demi-god.

 

“You’re a spawn of the big three. Live up to the name.”

 

“Maybe if you weren’t so bossy things could get down around here-”

 

“Chanyeol don’t-” Kyungsoo wanted him.

 

But it was too late. Issac, the son of the God of War had him in a chokehold. The blue team gasped, some not wanting to try and get in between the fight.

Chanyeol’s head spun. It wasn’t normal to have someone put him in a choke hold at least three times today. With all his might, he elbowed Issac in the stomach, faltering his stance a little so he could get out his hold.

The red team turned then, wondering what all the commotion was about.

 

“You big three think you’re all that-but when  it comes down to it-”

 

Suddenly, he was being spun up in the air. It was like before. A sudden gust of strong wind had taken over and lifted him off the ground into a spiralling mess.

 

“Ah!” Issac yelled from ten feet above the forest.

 

Kyungsoo looked nervously between his brother and Chanyeol, wondering what he should do. Clearly, this wasn’t something that could be dealt with easily. Combat was one thing, but elemental powers? This wasn’t something to meddle with.

Suddenly, the sky turned dark and it began to rain.

Chanyeol’s body felt fuzzy. It was like he was using all the energy in his body to summon a full fledged storm.

 

“Chanyeol, let him down,” Kyungsoo advised him carefully.

 

He could see from the corner of his eye Baekhyun’s still figure, frozen in shock as a storm pretty much overtook the entire camp. 

 

It was almost like the son of Zues had lost all his rational thoughts when his eyes grew a deep shade of grey. There was a loud boom of thunder.

 

“ENOUGH!” came a booming voice.

 

All campers' heads turned in unison. It was a voice no one wanted to hear when angry. 

 

Chanyeol suddenly dropped on the ground, holding his throbbing head in pain.

 

Kyungsoo ran over to his brother Isaac who’d dropped from the air and yelled out in pain from the impact. 

 

From the clearing emerged Alec holding a sword and a scary looking expression.

 

“Issac you should know better. Chanyeol-come with me this instant.”

 

“But-”

 

“Now.”

 

------------------------------------------------------------

 

If there was one reason to enter Alec cabin in the middle of the day, it shouldn’t be the fact that you were in deep . Chanyeol was visibly shaking, wondering what on earth he was going to explain to Alec about almost killing Issac. 

Although he blamed himself for lashing out, he worried that something had overcome him. It wasn’t like him to be so aggressive.

He opened the creaky door of the cabin, revealing a well lit and tidy room. There was a rug that was quilted in the centre and a fireplace to the right side brewing with hot steam. It smelled like green tea. 

 

“Have a seat.” Alec pointed at the black leather couch.

 

Chanyeol did a double take when he looked at Alec. One second the man was half horse and the next, he was sitting in a wheelchair.

 

Alec almost laughed at Chanyeol’s bewildered expression.

 

“This is my human form.” He explained, “I usually need it when I go into places I can’t freely walk. Also if I’m craving starbucks and need to cut the line, I’ll use this.”

 

Chanyeol nervously smiled, unsure about his intentions of brining him here. Should he laugh at the joke? Or was this some type of test to prove he was immature? Either way, he sported a small smile.

 

“Listen, Chanyeol. You should know better than anyone else that you are a powerful demigod. Take it as a curse or a blessing. Within a few months, your physical strength may outnumber a lot of the campers here.”

 

“Then how do I fix it?” Chanyeol asked.

 

Alec blinked slowly, clearly taken aback by the prospect.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean...how do I-stop this? I don’t want this power. I never asked for it.” Chanyeol said.

 

“No one asked to be a demigod. You can ask everyone here. If they had a choice of having a mortal life they would. But we are here now and we must accept our fate.”

 

“Can I atleast...control it?” asked Chanyeol.

 

Alec nodded, “Because big three children tend to be really powerful their elemental powers are often hard to use. Although we don’t have much knowledge of them, I can refer you to someone who can help.”

 

---------------------------------------------

 

“Welcome cousin.” Suho grinned from ear to ear. 

 

They met at the training grounds at the ripe time of 6 am before any other campers woke up. Chanyeol was nervous to say the least. Yesterday Alec had informed Suho that he’d take part in Chanyeol’s elemental power training. After all, he was the only other big three kid around. 

Surprisingly there wasn’t much the son of poseidon had come prepared with. No weapons, nothing, just a cunning smile.

 

“I take it you have finally begun to use your elemental powers?” He asked.

 

Chanyeol nodded quickly, “I don’t know where it comes from but-”

 

“Don’t stress. It’s actually quite easy to control. Of course, using them wisely may take months. Especially a son of Zues….” He surmised.

  

            Chanyeol wondered what that meant. He knew Zues was a powerful god but he didn't know that translated to uncontrollable. Then again, he’d learned from other demi-gods that his father wasn’t the nicest guy. 

 

Suho stood leaning on one leg and scratching his chin as if in deep thought. He stood there silent for a moment, to the point where Chanyeol wasn’t even sure he was present right now.

Before he could speak up, he felt a wave of water undertake his feet and he flung 10 ft to the back of the yard.

 

Chanyeol fell on his back. When he stood up he looked at Suho in disbelief. 

 

“What the hell! Why’d you do that?!”

 

“Go on. Fight me.” Suho insinuated.

 

This was out of pocket. To be fighting someone as skilled as Suho on the first day of elemental training. It would literally be impossible for Chanyeol to even scratch him. He thought training would involve special techniques not full out fighting. Maybe this was how the son of poseidon taught people? Or how he learned from someone else.

 

“Yah!” Chanyeol screamed, opening his arms wide to allow the wind to carry him towards Suho. 

 

But he only got so far. Sooner than later, he dropped on the ground from six feet and hurt his . 

 

“Tsk tsk. Seems we are going to be taking longer then I projected.” Suho said.

 

For some reason, this got under Chanyeol skin. Sure he was no doubt a newer camper, so why did everyone here doubt him so much? He’d been here for about three weeks. He’d remembered he couldn’t master his own job as a barista back in the mortal world. How was he going to be a full fledged fighter? Maybe the universe was telling him to stop.

 

“Let's call it a day.” Chanyeoo mumbled.

 

“I would, but Alec told me we needed progress.” He sighed.

 

“Then do something!” Chanyeol yelled.

 

The son of Poseidon sat comfortably on the grass, ignoring Chanyeol’s crazed state. He looked like a negligent teacher. 

 

“You do something, Park Chanyeol-son of Zues.” Suho said in a mocking tone.

 

That's when Chanyeol lost all his senses. His body felt all tingly and zapped. And now-it was raining. From afar there was a small hurricane hurtling towards them at 80 kilometers per hour. 

 

Suho got up from his sitting position and grinned at the way Chanyeol’s got agnered. His eyes glowering. 

 

“Excellent.” 

 

They were now officially fighting. Chanyeol threw a gust of wind his way, but the demigod deflected with a small wrist movement that triggered an earth movement. And earthquake? The ground shook violently and before Chanyeol could even scream he was being enveloped in a huge pothole. 

Thinking fast, he brought the wind from underneath him and forced it to fling him out of the hole. 

Suho looked surprised from his fast reflexes, but didn’t give up.

He charged at him again, this time with a sword. 

Chanyeol faltered. He wasn’t told they were going to be using weapons today.

 

Either way, he received his dagger from beneath his belt and held it at his own defense.

 

“Less protecting yourself and more offense!” Suho yelled over the water and wind that was being mixed together.

 

“I don’t want to hurt you!” 

 

Suho immediately shut off his powers. It was like a light switch, almost instantaneously. The mini-tsunami he was about to throw at Chanyeol halted for a moment. He walked over to his pupil in annoyance.

 

“You need to stop acting like a goody-goody- and start to bruise people.”

 

“Even if they're my own kind?” Chanyeol gulped.

 

“You never know who you’re gonna fight out there. Might as well be prepared.” 

 

“What? Your saying that...not all demi-gods are on our side?” Chanyeol asked.

 

Suho laughed loudly, holding his abdomen because he was getting too carried away with the humour. 

 

“If all demi-gods were on our side we wouldn’t be fighting wars and monsters. Half the time giants, cyclops and titans come back to earth is because some idiot demigod decides to let it loose because of their idiocy. I don’t blame them...with god parents like ours anyone could lash out.” Suho said bitterly. 

 

“Have you met your god parents?” Chanyeol’s eyes brighten.

 

Suho shook his head, “In my dreams-literally. At least Poseidon has the courtesy to check up on his kids. I know god parents that don’t even acknowledge they have demi-god children. Go have one night stands with mortals and forget they are still viable to have kids. The big three were especially banned from having any more children. So consider ourselves lucky to exist.” 

 

“Why are they banned from having children?”

  

           "It's a pact they made to avoid some huge prophecy." He explained, "Alec refuses to tell me what it is, though. Everyone assumed I would be the one in the prophecy, but since you're here there is a possibility that it may be you." 

 

       "Me? In a prophecy?"

 

       "Don't worry it's probably a quest that our generation won’t have to go through.” Suho reconciled, “But if any of us really does have to go on a quest. I suggest you hurry up and continue training.”