Annabeth

"Hey, Annie, pass me that water flask."

I frowned at Thalia's demand and reprimanded her with: "One, don't call me 'Annie,'—my name is Annabeth. And two, you could say 'please' every once in a while."

The lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis looked lazily at me, "Okay. Annie, hand me that water flask."

Sighing, I handed her the flask. "Don't ever change, Thals." Thalia smirked and took a gulp.

You see, Thalia is one of those girls that don't care. Really. She doesn't care. And nobody can change that, because it's just her nature. Her style is black. She wears black leggings, with black leather boots that have blue laces, a black tunic, and black hair dyed blue at the ends. Electric blue eyes lined with kohl sparkled with energy above a freckled nose. Normally, being a kid of Zeus, you would be a "big deal," but Thalia didn't like being a big deal, and decided to become a hunter. Her personality is . . . sarcastic I guess. But I love her for it. Just don't insult her. She's really good at getting revenge.

At the moment, we were stopped for the night in a small grove about two miles from the nearest town. We were still a three days ride away from the Teleporting Twins' fortress. So far, nothing bad has happened, other than a guard's horse getting a lame hoof. Tomorrow we were scheduled to meet Piper in the town right next to us—Larissa.

I was sitting next to the fire with my guards and Thalia, eating some cooked fish that we had traded for when we went into Larissa. We had only gone into the city for the food, and not all of us did. It was just me and my three brothers, sons of Athena. All three of them had blond hair cut military style and stern grey eyes, but you could tell them apart pretty easily. For example, Malcolm was tall and skinny, with muscle, but not overly buff. His main weapon was the bow, and he could rival Thalia pretty well with it (although she still wins every time they compete with each other). He's quiet, and nice, but not shy.

Then there was Castor, who was small and wiry, but extremely fast and agile. He used the dagger like me, but I could still beat him. He had a witty brain, and could always make silly remarks about everything. That got on Thalia's nerves a lot, so he was always watching her warily.

Last, but not least, there was Darryn, who was huge. Not huge as in fat—huge as in brawny. He was about six feet and three inches, had large muscular arms and upper body, and his main weapon, unsurprisingly, was the broadsword. But instead of being just a decent swordsman, he was probably the best swordsman I knew, other than the gods. I had no hope in beating him. You would think, being one of the best swordsman in Greece, he would be cocky and arrogant, but he was quite the opposite. He had the softest heart. Half of his heart belonged to the animals. He loved animals.

So there is a description of the three brothers on my trip. We all were very close, and nobody was uncomfortable in this small and tightly knit group.

I recalled our morning while sitting and staring at the flames of the fire that we cooked the fish on.

When we walked into Larissa, I was fascinated by all the little things, as always. I loved going into cities, and hearing the venders' cries, and the mothers looking for their children, and the little boys and girls that would run about, completely oblivious to their surroundings as they laughed. Cities were full of life, full of people.

I walked up to one vender and started a conversation with her. She was selling beautiful fabric. She introduced herself as Farah. I told her I was just looking, and she was fine with that.

But I didn't come up to her to just ask her her name, instead, I questioned, "Do you know where we could find fish? Would it be by the docks or do you know a vender or a shop that would sell some?"

Farah smiled and answered, "Of course I do! There are a few fish stores down by the dock, but there is also one just up about a block from here."

She gave me directions and I thanked her, saying it was nice to meet her.

As I was walking back to my brothers who were waiting for me by the water fountain, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned around to the sight of a young man, about my age. He had the typical rich snobby boy look, and I instantly disliked him, for I knew exactly what his attitude was going to be by his upturned nose, smug look, perfectly cut brown hair, arrogant eyes, and the smirk that is used to getting everything it wants.

"Yes?" I said, not coldly, but not kindly either.

He smiled at me. "Hello gorgeous. Are you looking for anything? 'Cause I would love to help a pretty little thing like you. I wouldn't want any bad men hurting you, for you are hard to resist." When he was saying this, he wasn't looking at my face, instead at my body. I suddenly felt conscious of my leggings and fitted tunic.

"Thanks, but no. I'm very sure that I can defend myself." Hostility tinted my voice, and the glare in my eyes should've made him back off, but he was persistent.

"You may be able to defend yourself, but I still think I'm a gentleman, and gentlemen don't let the lady go by herself." He was really close to me now, and I could feel his breath on me in little puffs. But I looked over his shoulder and saw something that made me smirk.

"Ah, but you see, I'm not alone," I said innocently. He frowned, but couldn't say anything back for then was yanked away from me and thrown into the air.

Darryn was holding the neck cuff of the rich boy's tunic, making the boy hang about three feet off the ground.

My big brother looked at the boy with disgust, saying, "Hello, I don't think we have met. I'm Darryn, second in command of Athena's royal guards, and winner of three War Games. I don't know if you know me or not."

The boy's head snapped up, and he looked fearfully at Darryn. You see, Darryn is kind of like a legend in Greece. He is well known for his skills with his sword, which could rival Ares', and he made history in winning the war games three times in a row, which has never been done before.

Athena hosts the War Games at her temple each year. It's where a bunch of demigods can come and compete. They have to pass a test, and out of those that do, the gods pick thirty warriors who are pitted against each other in the arena—every man for himself. The winner gets honor and country-wide recognition—but I think most demigods just do it to get attention from their godly parents.

I've always wanted to be in the War Games, but Athena would never let me, saying that it was too dangerous. Most of the time people didn't die, but there were a few . . . accidents. But I always admired the women that tried hard and trained and succeeded in being in the War Games. Most girls didn't care about that, they just cared about the latest fads and boys. But some girls actually want to be thought more of than just a group of "girlish" girls, if you get what I mean. I have always wanted to prove myself. Especially to my mother. Ironic how she was the one keeping me from this. This year, however, my mother had been more lenient, and there is a chance that I might be able to try to compete this year. I was super excited, and trained as much as I could.

Anyways, back to the trip to get fish. Malcolm walked over and looked at the rich boy with silver narrowed eyes.

Malcolm proclaimed, "I think you would be wise to stay away from our sister. We wouldn't want that pretty little face of yours to be damaged by Darryn's fists, would we now?"

Castor laughed mirthlessly . "Pretty? I see anything but pretty in that face."

I chuckled and shook my head at the three of them. Did I mention that they were extremely protective of me? Well, yeah, they were. They think that any boy I interact with other than them and my guards and a few other exceptions are evil men that will hurt me. It was sweet of them, but sometimes it just got over the edge for me.

"Thanks, guys. Though I could've managed him by myself," I said.

Malcolm looked at me, "It didn't look like you were doing anything, unless sitting there and doing nothing, letting him get closer to you is what you call managing him. Or are you a damsel in distress waiting for her brothers in shining armor to save her?" he said sarcastically, acting out a damsel. I was not a good for nothing damsel who couldn't defend herself.

I scowled at him, then walked over to the arrogant boy hanging in Darryn's grip and kicked him up his crotch. The boy grunted and Darryn let him go. We all watched as Mr. Rich and Snobby rolled around on the ground holding his damaged . . . areas.

Malcolm looked at the boy for a second, shrugged, then turned to me and grinned. "That'll do it." I smiled back at him, then looked over to Castor who was laughing his head off, and Darryn who was shaking his head.

"Come on boys, let's go get dinner."

It had been an interesting morning, to say the least.

Now everyone was by the fire, and all our horses were tied up or eating. Thalia looked at me staring into the fire.

"Whatcha thinking about?" she asked, spewing food from her full mouth. I looked at her in distaste.

"You could finish the food in your mouth, Thals," I said, criticizing her manners. She grinned in return and swallowed.

"Oh yes, your majesty. Now, am I worthy enough to ask what your great mind is thinking about, or is my presence too much of a filth and commoner presence to be in your majestic highnessness?" She said sarcastically, bowing in a dramatic way.

I laughed at her, "'Highnessness' is a word that I am presuming is in your personal dictionary, because it is definitely not in the human language."

She wiggled her eyebrows, then asked me again what I was thinking about.

"Just thinking about this morning."

Apparently Castor had been listening to our conversation, for he started to chuckle, then said, "Annabeth can definitely pack one hell of a kick!"

Malcolm laughed along with Castor and stated, "She showed me. That snobby little rat was rolling everywhere on the ground, holding his privates like he would hold a bag of drachmas." That sent up another round of laughter from Castor.

Thalia wrinkled her nose in disgust. "That is one image I did not need in my brain."

"You have a brain?" Castor said in fake surprise.

Thalia closed her eyes briefly, a snarl starting low in her throat. A second later she had bolted to her feet and started after Castor, hands out to grab him. Castor let out a yelp and ran away faster than I thought he could. My brother must be really brave, because it was not delightful, what Thalia does to her victims.

That night I fell asleep to the sight of a glowering Castor hanging upside down from a tree with rope, with no clothes but his undergarments on, and Thalia smirking at him, using his covers for extra warmth in the chilly night and his pillow as an extra cushion.

"How's the night?" Thalia taunted. "Cold yet? I'm super warm."

Castor grumbled back at her, shooting her a word that shouldn't be repeated.

I love my friends. That was my last thought before drifting off to a dreamless sleep.