Valentine's Games (Wiki Contest: February 2013)

This is a story for the February 2013 Wiki Contest written by DarkCyberWolf. I think it... sorta makes sense... right?

Chapter <3 One
FEBRUARY THIRTEENTH

"See you tomorrow," Jesse said. He kissed Lissa on the cheek and then walked over to the Hermes cabin and stepped inside.

Lissa waved goodbye and went back to the Athena cabin. She jumped into her bunk just beneath Andy's. Andy poked his head off of his bed to ask, "You ready for tomorrow?"

Lissa grinned. "Oh, yeah I am. Jesse and I are going to dominate in the Random Valentine's Day Games That Seem Like They Were Explicitly Designed For A Lame Story."

"Now that I think about it, that is a weird name for the game," Andy pointed out. "Good luck."

"Don't think you can beat me so you're just praising me now?" Lissa gloated.

"I wouldn't have the chance," Andy reminded her. "It's Valentine's Day Games. You and Jesse have been together a month now so you're competing. Me, I'm still single, so I'm just watching."

"Unless you can get a girl to compete with you before the Games start conveniently near the end of the day. That is, unless you really don't think you can beat Jesse and I?"

Andy's hubris got the better of him. "You're on."

Chapter <3 Two
FEBRUARY FOURTEENTH

Okay, easiest way to find a girl at camp: Go to the Aphrodite cabin.

Andy walked over to the Aphrodite cabin and knocked on the door. Teresa answered it.

"Um... Randy, right?" Teresa asked.

"Andy, actually," Andy said. "Say, Teresa, what are your plans for the Games?"

"Cory and I kick everyone else's collective butts. Why?"

"Just wondering... So does everyone in the cabin already have a partner?"

She looked at him like he was an idiot. "This is the Aphrodite cabin. It's Valentine's Day. Of course we all have partners."

"Okay then... Well, good luck then!"

"You too, Arnold!"

Chapter <3 Three
A DIFFERENT CABIN

Eleven o'clock. Only nine hours until the Games began and Andy walked over to the Apollo cabin.

The cabin was nearly empty. The only one inside at the time was Darrell, playing a guitar. He didn't even notice Andy walking in.

"... play along with the charade," Darrell was singing in purely musical tones. "There doesn't seem to be a reason to change. You know I feel so d-"

He was interrupted by Andy clearing his throat. Darrell turned to him, startled. "How long were you standing there?"

"The first word I heard was 'play,'" Andy said. Darrell visibly calmed down. "Do you know where your sister Flo is?"

"I think she went to the Big House," Darrell said. "Looking for a partner for the Games last minute, you know?"

"Yeah. Thanks." He left the cabin.

Chapter <3 Four
SOME STUFF HAPPENS

"What about him? Jesse?" Teresa asked. "He scores a solid ten out of ten."

Flo gave her a disappointed look. "He's with Lissa from the Athena cabin, remember?"

"Well, if you're not interested I'll go for him," Teresa grinned. "You can have Cory instead then. He won't mind."

Teresa skipped over to Jesse. Flo was about to tell her off but then a guy she vaguely recognized walked up to her. "Flo?"

"Um... you're..."

"Andy," he supplied. "From the Athena cabin. So, have you found a partner for the Games tonight?"

"No one," Flo said. "Why? You interested?"

"Well... yeah..."

"It's a date, then. See you tonight, Andy."

Chapter <3 Five
DID YOU THINK IT WAS ALREADY OVER?

Lissa opened the door to the Hermes cabin.

"Hey, Jesse, the-"

Then she saw him.

Jesse hadn't heard her. His focus was solely concentrated on the Aphrodite girl - Teresa, right? - whose lips were all over his. Both of them had closed eyes, and his hands were on the back of her head, his fingers in her hair.

"Jerk!" Lissa shouted. Jesse and Teresa broke apart for a second to see her slam the door on the way out.

Chapter <3 Six
THE MADE UP GAMES ACTUALLY START (FINALLY)

"For the first of the Valentine's Day challenges," Chiron announced. "Each pair will have to shoot an arrow with their hands tied together. Greatest accuracy for the target fifty meters away. Whoever invented these games based this challenge off of Cupid's arrow and the Valentine's Day practice of holding hands."

"Um, since this is a Greek demigod camp, shouldn't it be Eros's arrow instead of Cupid's?" someone asked.

"Begin!" Chiron shouted.

Flo held the bow in her right hand while Andy loaded the arrow into it with his left hand. It wasn't so bad, having his hand tied to Flo's. The real issue was the fact that, since his left hand was the usable one, he would have to be the one firing the arrow instead of the daughter of Apollo he was partnered with.

Andy felt his hand move. Flo was putting her hand on his left shoulder and pulling him in. "Just remember, stay calm and aim high to account for gravity."

Andy nodded. He pulled back on the bowstring and sent the arrow flying. Every other pair in the game did the same.

"All pairs have fired," Chiron announced. "First place goes to Janine and Cory. They get twenty points. Second place goes to Teresa and Jesse. They get fifteen points. Third place goes to Flo and Andy. They get ten points. Fourth place..."

"We got third place," Flo said. "We actually stand a chance of winning!"

Chapter <3 Seven
IF THE FIRST CHALLENGE MADE TOO MUCH SENSE...

"For the second challenge," Chiron said. "We're going to dump all of you randomly into the woods. By 'we' I mean me. Each pair just wander until you find a monster, then get rid of it. Your scores will be based on what monster, how fast you kill it, and how awesome it is. This one was based on how love can be a pain... or something."

"Why didn't you check before starting the challenge?" someone asked.

"Begin!" Chiron shouted.

Andy and Flo landed in the middle of the woods. Their hands were still tied together. Beside them were Jesse and Teresa, their hands also tied together.

"How long do you think it'll be before we find one of the monsters?" Flo wondered.

"Hey, aren't you dating Lissa?" Andy asked.

"Probably about ten seconds," Teresa answered, pointing to a minotaur and a hydra.

"Not anymore," Jesse responded.

Chapter <3 Eight
I THINK THAT LAST CHAPTER ENDED ON A CLIFFHANGER

"Dibs on hydra!" Jesse said. With his hand still tied to Teresa's, there was only one way he could really run fast.

He picked Teresa up and held her in his arms as he ran right at the hydra.

"Guess that leaves us with the minotaur," Flo said. Her hand tightened on Andy's. "You ready?"

He looked her in the eyes. "Definitely."

The two of them ran at the minotaur before they even realized they were unarmed. The minotaur grabbed their heads, one in each hand, and smashed them together. Before they were actually "smashed," though, Andy kicked the minotaur between the legs. It winced in pain and let go.

"Dishonorable combat!" Teresa cried.

Flo removed her mouth from Andy's to point out, "Chiron never said anything against it!"

Andy and Flo tightened their grip on each other's hands and gave one perfectly synchronized punch right at the minotaur, who fell unconscious and landed right in the water.

After that ended, Chiron announced the places. "First place, Flo and Andy. They get twenty points. Second place, Teresa and Jesse. They get fifteen points. Third place, Li-"

But neither Andy nor Flo was listening. They were just grinning, in both anticipation of the third event and memory of the second.

Chapter <3 Nine
BREAK FROM THE CHALLENGES

"So Flo's your partner, huh?" Lissa said. "Smart choice, but you're still going down in the final round. If we beat you by more than fourteen points, you lose."

"That reminds me," Andy said. "You do realize that Jesse is partnered with that Teresa chick from the Aphrodite cabin, right?"

"Yeah, I found out this morning." Lissa waved her hand. "No big deal, though. I found another partner who's even more awesome than that two-timing-"

"Lissa," Andy interrupted. "How long until the last challenge starts?"

"Well, it shouldn't be until after any plot-relevant conversations are ov-"

"The third challenge shall now begin!" came Chiron's voice.

Chapter <3 Ten
JUST GUESS WHAT THE LAST CHALLENGE IS

"The third and final challenge is a race," Chiron said. "Each pair will have their hands tied together again. First to get to Bunker 9 gets first place. The race comes from how... er... love can feature running really fast?"

"How come you didn't come up with a reason beforehand?" someone said.

"Begin!" Chiron shouted.

Jesse picked up Teresa in his arms and started running.

"You know, we're tied for the lead with those two," Flo said. "All we have to do is beat him and they go down."

"And we are taking Jesse down," Andy said. "For Lissa."

Chapter <3 Eleven
A FEW CUTE RACE MOMENTS

"We still... have a... chance, right?" asked an out of breath Flo.

"Yeah," Andy said. "Jesse and... Teresa are still... only a couple feet... ahead of us."

Andy picked up a rock and tossed it at the back of Jesse's head. "Come on, that's just a cheap shot!" Teresa said. "Ref! Ref!"

"No need," Jesse said. "I can settle this here and now." Using the hand tied to Teresa's, he tried to punch Andy in the face. Flo punched his arm out of the way though.

"Ow!" Teresa complained. She kicked at Flo in retaliation, only for Andy to sweep beneath Teresa's feet and make her - and by extension, Jesse, fall to the ground.

Andy put his free arm around Flo's shoulder and looked at Jesse and Teresa. "You're not going to hurt her, got that? I won't let you."

"Ditto, there," Flo said, smiling. "Come on, we've got a race to win."

With that, they started running again.

Despite the delay from the fight, they were still only the second team to make it to Bunker 9. Chiron did not announce the scores until after everyone arrived, though.

Chapter <3 Twelve
THE TOTALLY UNEXPECTED WINNERS (SARCASM)

"First place goes to Lissa and Darrell," Chiron said. "They get thirty points, bringing their total up to fifty-six points. Second place goes to Flo and Andy. They get twenty points, bringing their total up to sixty. Third place goes to..."

"Well, you win," Lissa said, still holding Darrell's hand even though they were no longer tied together. "And Jesse and Teresa finished the race dead last. This turned out to be a pretty sweet Valentine's Day Games."

"So, overall, the winners were Flo and Andy," Chiron continued. "Coincidentally, they had some of the most Valentine's Day-y moments in the games. Take a look."

Through an Iris message, the participants watched Flo putting her arm around Andy in the archery challenge. Then another scene where the minotaur brought their heads together... Come to think of it, if the minotaur were removed from that scene it would look kind of like they were kissing. Then their perfect teamwork in taking down the minotaur. Then a scene of every single held hand and held gaze, followed by the exact same scene as before but without the minotaur in it. Finally their confrontation with Jesse and Teresa where they defended each other so adorably.

Yeah, all that.

Chapter <3 Thirteen
'''I FELT LIKE ADDING ANOTHER CHAPTER. GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?'''

Final picture for commemorating the event:

''Darrell and Lissa were off to the side, still holding hands, though Darrell was also holding his guitar and Lissa simply had her other hand behind her back. Jesse and Teresa were on the other side, making an... interesting face that made it look like they were the stars. Various other pairs around them. The winners, Andy and Flo, were in the very center, their arms draped over each other's shoulders.''

Andy put the picture down and looked back at Flo, still sitting beside him, her hand in his.

"Can you wait for next year's completely random Valentine's Day?" he asked.

"Nope," she said with a smile. She leaned in and met his lips with hers for a second before saying, "But we can try."

Felt <3 Like <3 Pointing <3 Out

 * This is DarkCyberWolf's first fanfic to be 100% based on romance... and there was still a non-romance part to it... Maybe next time...
 * For the record, Andy and Flo are officially a couple after this.
 * Also, for those of you who think it was random that Lissa and Darrell got together, look up the lyrics that Darrell was singing and remember who Lissa was dating at the time. IT WAS FORESHADOWED!!!
 * All of those cute shipping moments between Flo and Andy? Those were deliberate.