“This has to be some type of hazing,” Yujin muttered as she sat on a rock and scanned the area. Behind her on top of a stone formation was the bright blue flag of their team. Yujin knew the rules stated that they display the flag prominently, but this seemed a little bit too out in the open. Yujin elected not to question it though as Yeji probably had her reasons.

“Weren’t you the one getting jitters from having to go out there and fight?” Chaewon countered.

Yujin scoffed. “Well, at least if we were on the attack, we would have people with us. Instead, we’re stuck here waiting for an army to arrive.”

“An army of campers who already seem to dislike us,” Chaewon added before unsheathing her sword and fiddling around with it.

The weapon was given to her earlier this morning by a woman named Eunbi, and compared to the bronze sword Yujin was wielding, this one had an eerie aura to it. The blade was colored obsidian with faint wisps of mist emanating from it.

“How’s the sword?” Yujin ended up asking curiously.

“Haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but the grip feels nice. There’s just the occasional whispering…” Chaewon replied, her sentence trailing off as she stared at her weapon.

“Whispering?”

Chaewon nodded. “Yes, it’s like there’s voices within that are calling out to me. It’s strange.”

Yujin figured that couldn’t be good, but before she could prod again, Chaewon turned the tables back on her.

“What’s been up with you though? You looked like you barely slept.”

Yujin stayed silent for a couple seconds before ultimately deciding to share her experience from the night before.

“I… had a dream. But it didn’t feel like a normal one.”

~~~~

One night earlier…

When Yujin opened her eyes, she found herself in a giant palace similar to the historical ones littered around Korea. The only difference was that this place was five times bigger than any of the usual ones. All around Yujin were jade vases, fancy jewels, and intricate art pieces that looked like they were made for giants.

The atmosphere felt rather peaceful, that was, until a loud scream pierced through the silence from where she assumed the throne room was. Yujin scurried over to check, but by the time she turned the corner, all she could see was a woman crying over the body of a lifeless man.

“Who would do such a thing?” she wept as she clutched onto the man’s hand. Yujin assumed it was a murder scene, but instead of red blood dripping on the ground, it was golden. Suddenly, a new voice boomed.

“This must be the work of the Greeks! Those interlopers are trying to take over, and I will not allow it!” It was a tall man with rugged features, and he looked visibly upset as he stormed into the room.

“Are you sure?” the woman stammered.

“It has to be. They even have a camp here in the country. I have let them live there in peace until now, but someone needs to be held responsible. I have felt a disturbance in the energy of Seoul, as if a great power has awoken. We must snuff it out before they do the same to us.”

At this, Yujin let out a subtle gasp, though, not subtle enough to not attract attention. The man turned swiftly at the noise, and all Yujin could do was run away.

“SEE! Here they are still scheming against us!”

Yujin ran and ran past the gardens and porcelain fountains, which would’ve been pretty to look at had it not been for the fact that she was being chased. Her one mistake was taking a second to turn and look back as this caused her to have a misstep and fall. By the time she got up, the man was standing right in front of her.

“Tell your gods that we will be coming for the murderer…”

~~~~

“And what happened after that?” asked Chaewon who had been listening intently the whole time.

Yujin shook her head. “It all went to black after that…”

“Maybe we should tell Seunggi. If he’s as old as they say, he might know what’s happening.” Chaewon suggested.

“Yeah, maybe after this-” Yujin stopped what she was saying once she heard the sound of a twig snapping.

“They’re here…” she whispered.

“No duh, what do we do?” Chaewon said, holding her stygian iron sword out defensively.

To their surprise, instead of a quick ambush, a short girl stepped out of the brush and into the open. It was Nako. “You do what every demigod should know how to do- fight.”

At this, campers began jumping out of the foliage, swords drawn. Yujin and Chaewon were surrounded.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit unfair compared to our 1v1s?” Yujin said with a nervous chuckle.

Nako raised her eyebrow. “Does this mean you think you could take me in single combat after just a day of training?”

Yujin’s pride didn’t want to concede but given that they were surrounded by the entire Ares cabin, there was a part of her that wondered if winning capture-the-flag was worth the beatdown.

“Maybe we should even the playing field then,” Chaewon interjected, raising a hand towards the ground.

Beside Nako, Wooseok had started to get impatient. “Enough messing around, Nako. Let’s run them over and go!”

Wooseok charged towards Yujin and Chaewon with his sword in hand, but before he could reach them, his foot snagged on something below.

“What in the- AGH!” Attached to Wooseok’s foot was a skeletal hand. The child of Ares jumped in shock and backed up. All around the rock formation, skeleton warriors kitted with their own tattered armor and weapons rose from the ground.

The attackers were now shuffling nervously as the skeletons fanned out to defend the area.

“Chaewon-unnie, did you just…”

Chaewon nodded before Yujin could finish the question. “Didn’t think it would work, but it did.”

“Yah, these skeletons are all bones!” Nako said in an effort to rally her troops. “They’re no match for us!”

To prove her point, Nako ran up on one of the skeletons, gracefully dodged its sword swing and kicked its head clean off.

The Ares cabin cheered, converging on the makeshift army and beginning to plow through. The skeletons’ shields could only slow them down for so long until their bones would chip or get dislocated. It was only a matter of time until they were all decimated.

“What now, unnie?” Yujin asked, frantically looking around for anything they could use to turn the tide.

“Don’t look at me! That’s all I got!” Chaewon heaved, clearly drained from the effort.

“If that’s all you got, I’m pretty disappointed.” Nako said from behind, having finally broken through the skeleton blockade. Yujin tried swinging her sword, but it was easily deflected by her spear. With a quick maneuver, Yujin was easily disarmed, her sword sent flying.

“Surrender, and my siblings might go easy on you two.” The short girl threatened, pointing her sword at Yujin’s face.

That’s when Yujin began to hear something buzzing. When she looked down, she realized it was coming from the necklace she’d picked up on the beach. The white pearls stringed on it were beginning to glow.

Yujin slowly took the accessory off and watched as it split and shifted into two stark white scimitars with bronze handles.

“Now we’re talking!” Yujin said excitedly as she brandished her new weapons against Nako.

“You think a new toy is going to help you beat me? Think again!” Nako charged with her long spear, but Yujin just managed to catch it between her blades. With a quick twist, Nako’s weapon was flung into the air and landed behind her.

The forest was silent at what just transpired.

“What…” Nako muttered, equally stunned.

“Looks like I won this round, unnie.” Yujin said, pointing her blades back at the short girl.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Wooseok interjected. Yujin noticed him running at her from the corner of her eye but wouldn’t be able to defend without giving Nako a chance to grab her spear again.

Luckily, Chaewon managed to close the distance first and block Wooseok’s sword away with hers.

“Yah! Get out of my way!” Wooseok yelled as he swung his blade again. This time, it was clear Chaewon’s fatigue was getting to her. As their blades clashed together, Yujin could see Chaewon getting pushed back, her heels digging into the ground.

Even worse, the rest of the Ares kids had started forming a ring around the two. There was no escape.

“A valiant effort, Yujin-ah, but I am not about to let myself be defeated by a newbie. Now, just hand over the flag and- what?” Nako’s gaze had begun shifting towards the rock formation only to realize that the flag was gone.

“Yah, did one of you take it???” she asked confusedly towards her fellow cabinmates before a loud thunderstrike boomed from across the forest followed by a loud horn.

“What was that?” Yujin muttered. Judging from Nako’s face though, it couldn’t have been good for them.

“Blue team has the flag! Fall back!” she ordered before glaring at Yujin and Chaewon.

“I don’t know where the flag is, but there better not have been any foul play.” she then said before she and her siblings raced back towards their territory.

“Woah… that was intense,” Yena said, letting out the breath she’d been holding the whole time.

“Heh, tell me about it,” Chaewon heaved. “Did you actually do anything to the flag?”

Yujin shook her head, equally confused as the Ares kids. “No, where on earth could it have gone?”

“What if I said it never left,” a voice laughed from atop the rock formation. As if by magic, a familiar face began to materialize out of thin air- Minju. On one hand, she was holding their flag, and on the other, was a Lotte Giants baseball cap.

“What? How?” Chaewon asked confusedly.

“Like the rules said, all magic items are allowed,” Minju said as she twirled her cap around her finger.

“You have an invisibility hat? That is awesome!” Yujin exclaimed.

“A gift from my mother. I can let you two try it on later, but for now, let’s go celebrate our win.”

~~~~

By the time the three girls arrived at the creek, the camp was already in a buzz, but it wasn’t from the blue team’s victory.

At the center of attention was Yena, who had a large lightning bolt floating over her head.

“So our guesses were right…” Minju said.

“What guesses?” asked Yujin.

“Hades claimed me two days ago, and Poseidon claimed you yesterday,” Chaewon replied. “It makes sense that Yena’s dad would be Zeus.”

Minju nodded. “Yes, and if the big three are claiming children one after the other, that means something is on the horizon.”

Yujin could only think of that dream she had last night. That had to be connected to this in some way. Her train of thought was derailed though by Seunggi calling everyone’s attention.

“Okay, everyone, please settle down!” he announced over the growing whispers. Yujin could already feel the eyes staring at her and Chaewon from all around them.

“Congratulations to the blue team on a convincing victory, but more importantly, we have also witnessed a claiming. Master of the skies, controller of thunder, and king of the gods, hail Choi Yena, daughter of Zeus!” At this, Seunggi gets down on one knee and bows his head. The other campers followed his example, even the Ares kids who did so begrudgingly.

Yujin exchanges glances with both Yena and Chaewon, all three girls sharing the same thought.

“What kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into?” 

A/N: Hi everyone, I'm back! I'm really sorry for the delays. I was out last weekend, and with my shifts at work causing me to get home late, I didn't have the time to complete it when I wanted to. Nevertheless, we have another piece of the puzzle revealed. Who is the god that was killed?

Hopefully the action sequences here were worth the wait. Each of our trio now has their own signature weapon! And yes, Minju has the Korean version of the Yankees cap.

I'll try not to have these delays often, but I can't promise it. I'm just happy that there are people who actually wait during weekends to read my story. Thank you all for your patience! It means a lot!

Have a nice day, and I'll see y'all in the next one!