Event ϟ Cabin 11 vs The World

[empirestategods]

Who: OTA
When: May 31st
Where: The woods
What: Capture the flag!
Warnings: Violence! If anything specific, please mark it in the subject lines!

Friday morning, before training, Chiron pulls each of the campers aside to the armory. Everyone is fitted with a breastplate and helmet, and loaned the weapon of their choice. Parent by parent, of course, starting with Zeus’s children, and ending with the unclaimed in Cabin 11. Yeah. Sorry about that. Cabin 11 is outfitted with red-plumed helmets. Cabins 1-10 and Cabin 12 are given blue plumes.

Keep it safe, you’ll need it later if you don’t want severe head injuries, he says. Completely casually. Like that’s not worrying.

Mr. D and Chiron wait at the edge of the forest, just after lunch, waiting for the demigods they’ve informed of the mandatory meeting. It’s time for a time-honored camp tradition to come off of hiatus. Though Chiron seems enthused at testing the thus-far-unexamined skills of the new campers, Mr. D is obviously just here because he needs to be.

Nevertheless, he steps up to explain.

"Right. So."

He's already rolling his eyes. Evidently, someone can't wait for this to be over.

"For those of you who have never had the privilege to play this exciting game. You people," he points at those with the red plumed helmets, "and you people," now at those with blue plumed helmets, "each get a flag. Each team picks a part of the forest, and puts their flag someplace visible. While I don't particularly care, if you put more than two people there to guard it, we will be here all day, so don't. The rest of you, go out and grab the other team's flag, and try not to kill each other because that is a mess nobody wants to clean up."

A sigh. He looks so put upon, honestly, why can't you kids already know all this?

"Right. The creek will be the borderline, so if one team manages to grab the other flag and carry it all the way across, they win. Questions?"

He doesn't actually wait for anyone to speak up.

"No? Good."

“What,” Chiron sighs, trying not to seem exasperated, “Mr. D means is that we are playing this to help prepare you for what’s really out there. This is to see how your skills have progressed, where you still need work, and how you all work together as a team. When you become more accustomed to camp and more of you have been claimed, you will choose your own teams. Each of you have your own strengths and weaknesses. Now, it’s time to see what they are.”

He smiles at the campers. He’s ridiculously fond of you all already. He likes that no one’s died yet! It might very well be a record. “You’ve all been here for a month and aside from one or two... incidents, you’ve performed well. Continue to do so and rewards might be in store. It isn’t uncommon for the unclaimed to find their parents in this game.”

He looks Very Meaningfully at Cabin 11.

“I will reiterate what Mr. D said, however. You are not to purposefully maim or kill any other campers. You’re all on an even playing field at the moment. Play fair, work hard, and most of all, have fun. Guards of the flag can be no closer than ten yards away at any given time, magical items (when you have acquired them) are allowed, the flag must be displayed in your territory--it cannot be hidden, and the game is won when the flag crosses the river.

“Now, go make your bases!”

The blue team’s flag waves with a beautiful painting of Mount Olympus--all the Olympians but one. The red team, a caduceus--the symbol of Hermes.

Fight hard, tiny demigods!

[OOC: It was determined via coin toss that the Blue Team will be the victors this round. How close you want this to be is up to you guys and don’t forget, we do have a plotting post!

Please feel free to make your own threads, but the mods have a thread for both the blue team base and red team base!]

Comments

[pheromonecoffee]

[He wishes he'd thought to bring some basic first aid.]

Yeah. Capture the flag. [He gestures back toward the base of Cabin 11.]

What did they tell you?

[orangehoodie]

To capture the blue flag and cross the river to win. I'm on the red team with the rest of Cabin 11.

[He pauses, thinks about what happened before he met Chiron and the person named Mr. D., about going to that place they called Olympus and the people -- could they even be called people? They were huge, taller than some of the Personas... gods?]

Minato-san, what's going on?

[pheromonecoffee]

It's complicated.

[He should be comforting, right? Sure of things? Even though he's not. Like always.]

You'll be all right.

[orangehoodie]

[Well, it certainly didn't sound simple. He blinks at Minato, accustomed to this sort of reassurance but wanting to ask a few more questions. But maybe this isn't the right time or place.]

... Got it. Is there anything we should do right now?

[pheromonecoffee]

Not get stabbed. [That is a very real threat, since they're obviously all armed.]

Stay by the flag so you don't get too close to the other team. [Because he's not sure Akihiko would be merciful to their eleven-year-old buddy. Not in a game like this, anyway. If he's by the flag, he'll be easier to fill in, too.]

[orangehoodie]

[He thought you said this was a game. Minato-san, he would really like an explanation anytime now. He frowns, even less sure how comfortable he is being stuck in America at a weird camp with a sword he doesn't know how to use and armor he isn't used to wearing.

He nods, and takes a step forward. He doesn't know where the flag is but Minato should, he thinks.]

Okay.

[pheromonecoffee]

[He nods toward the base and makes sure Ken is following him.]

We're demigods. They said we were born in this world.

[He's going to need a lot of words for this.]

[orangehoodie]

[He follows, definitely more mindful of where he steps now, not wanting to fall again in front of the leader of all people.

Demigods. Hestia. Olympus. Chiron. Ken never looked so much into the Greek stuff past what he knew about Nemesis, but he at least knew the term "Olympus."]

But that doesn't make sense. I've never heard of anything like this. It's -- it can't be.

[pheromonecoffee]

[Minato would at least try to catch him. Probably fail due to being ahead of him and covered in armor, but he'd try.

He glances back at Ken with a kind of uncomfortable look. It doesn't make sense at all, but since when did anything in their lives make sense? It's just a pity that Ken's life is the way it is. He's too young to deal with this bullshit, and Minato knows that well.]

Hades is my father.

[If you want, he can prove it. Please don't want, though. He's only really got one power.]

Or so he says. [He tugs on his necklace, showing Ken the engraving on the back.]

[orangehoodie]

[He'll be just fine, Minato-san. He hops over a branch.]

... The god of the Underworld? That's him, right? [He tilts his head back in an attempt to see it. While walking, and from his height, it's hard to make out the engraving but he's not going to ask Minato to stop or make himself get on tiptoes for a better look. So he looks for a second.]

But why?

[pheromonecoffee]

[You say that all the time. Minato's starting to not believe it.]

God of the Underworld. [Minato shrugs.]

There are others here, too. Sanada-san... he's Zeus. [Cabin 1, the obvious.] Kirijo-san is Aphrodite. [Goddess of beauty. Also French, apparently.] Fuuka and Ryoji are in Cabin 11 with me.

[A long pause.] ... Aragaki-san is Poseidon.

[Yeah he'll. Stop walking and turn to look at Ken and hope he doesn't freak out. Because there's more.]

[orangehoodie]

... Aragaki-san?!

[No way. That can't be. That person can't be here. He and Minato-san shouldn't be here nor should anybody else, but he of all people shouldn't be here. He saw it. He watched it. Shinjiro Aragaki is dead.]

But... Minato-san... that can't be.

[It comes out a little hushed.]

[pheromonecoffee]

[Oh boy. He had a feeling. Though it's strange that he doesn't know that Minato's dead, too. Just Dead-senpai?]

... God of the Underworld. Death doesn't mean much here, apparently.

[orangehoodie]

[Just Dead-senpai. You are still Alive-senpai, Minato-san.]

But that's-- that's impossible! [It doesn't make sense. His head is starting to hurt. His heart beats stronger and his stomach does a flip. Shinjiro Aragaki is alive? Sadness, regret, and dread try to curl up his spine and he fights it off. His eyebrows furrow, and he firsts his hands as he squashes all other reactions with anger.]

But Aragaki-san just--!

[pheromonecoffee]

[... About that.]

I know. [He knows, Ken. He knows very well.

But he's watching Ken now, Leaderface on. He has to make sure of one thing: SEES doesn't die. Or a particular member doesn't die again.]

We have bigger problems.

[orangehoodie]

...

[He doesn't tell Minato that he doesn't plan to kill Shinjiro. He doesn't expect Minato to trust him, and that's fine. He did a thing that justified the lack of trust, and he's not going to waste both their breaths.]

What do they want from us, then?

[pheromonecoffee]

[No. Tell him, please. It's really worrying him]

Their kids are missing. The ones here before us. [Goddamnit Ken stop making Minato have to be the one to explain.] That's not what I meant.

Do you know someone named Minako?

[orangehoodie]

[That was really out of the blue. Ken's irritated expression fades into confusion.]

"Minako"?

No, I've never met anyone with that name.

[pheromonecoffee]

Sanada-san, Kirijo-san, Fuuka and Yukari don't know a Minato.

[Ah. Oh. He's... being bitter about it? Not with them, how could he be angry at them, but about the situation at all.]

The same things happened, but with different people.

[orangehoodie]

... Minato-san.

[He can't be joking. S-sure, Leader told weird jokes sometimes but this isn't something he would kid about, right? He sounds different from the usual, too. But it doesn't make any sense.]

Can you... explain that from the beginning?

[pheromonecoffee]

[For a second, Minato just looks tired. It's hard to go over, because he can deny it when he's not thinking about it directly. If not deny, he can ignore.

Minako's explained it to Ryoji. Surely Akihiko and Shinjiro have figured it out on their own. But Ken? He can't hand the kid off to someone else--not when he's not sure when Akihiko is from, and when he knows someone like Minako might just drive him away. And Ken doesn't even know Ryoji.]

There's a girl here. She was their leader.

[orangehoodie]

[He doesn't get it but Minato's "explanation" is simple enough and that, without context, is simple enough to understand and absurd enough to make him flare up again.]

-- Our leader is you!

[pheromonecoffee]

[How does he explain it? He really can't, even he hasn't gotten a full grasp on it.]

She's nice. You might like her.

[Stop it with the angry face, Ken.]

[orangehoodie]

[That is not comforting. Ken is kind of bristling.]

This doesn't make sense! First I'm here and you're here, and Aragaki-san and everyone else are here, and now there's another leader?!

[pheromonecoffee]

[Don't bristle, Ken.]

When was the last time anything made sense? [He doesn't sound annoyed. It's an actual question, very plainly stated, eyebrows raised. Ken, you had a deity in your head. You want to start talking about how things don't make sense now?]