A/N: Hello again fellow PJO fanfictioners! Here I have a strange take on a rather overused plot. I love reading the books fics but don't have the time to write one myself, therefore I am doing a short mini reading the books thing with one of the stories in the demigod files. I hope you enjoy and please review!
Disclaimer: I swear on the River Styx that PJATO does not and will never belong to me *thunder booms*
It had been three days since the "battle of the labyrinth" as the surviving campers had started calling it. For the past few days everyone had been busy with preparations for the fallen heroes and the coming war. Today however was peaceful and happy, the campers were enjoying the last times of peace they would get for a while. Dionysus and Chiron were in the big house, playing yet another game of pinochle and observing the relaxing campers (Chiron had postponed all regular activities for a while, letting the campers rest and come to terms with the aftermath of the battle). Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and when it cleared; a small book was lying in the middle of the table with a letter on top. Curious, Chiron opened the letter and began to read:
Dear Chiron, Dionysus and Demi-Gods,
The book I have sent you is showing you that we must all work together if we are to survive the coming war. This book is one of the untold adventures of Percy Jackson and a rather surprising demi-god. I hope that this message will reach you in time and that you will learn to work together as all families should. Good luck heroes, may the gods bless you.
Lady Hestia (Goddess of the Hearth)
"What do you think then Mr D, should we read it?" Chiron asked curiously, wondering how bad the war would be if Lady Hestia saw fit to intervene.
"I suppose we must if my aunt has sent it, ugh more time with those brats. I need a drink" Dionysus groaned; secretly glad that he could spend more time with his son Pollux who was greatly missing his brother castor. He clicked his fingers and the sunlight bent and became a glass of wine.
"Mr D Your restrictions" Chiron said, not bothering to look up from the letter Lady Hestia had sent.
Dionysus stared at the wine glass in feigned surprise "oh yes, old habits I'm afraid. Sorry!" he yelled at the sky and a roll of thunder was distantly heard. "Alright, alright" Dionysus clicked his fingers again and the wine glass turned into a can of diet coke.
"I shall gather the heroes and meet you at the pavilion" Chiron instructed and cantered off, not letting Mr D come up with an excuse.
*20 minutes later*
"Why are we all here Chiron?" Annabeth Chase daughter of Athena asked confusedly "Is it something to do with the war? Are we going to be attacked? Must have a plan, Athena always has a plan" her voice grew louder and some of the campers were beginning to get frightened.
"Shut up Annie Bell and stop jumping to conclusions like old owl head, all will be explained if you stop talking" Dionysus interrupted her spiel rather rudely and everyone in camp stared at him in shock because he sounded like he was almost… joking with her? No impossible and they turned back to Chiron as he began speaking again.
"We have received a letter from Lady Hestia, informing us that we will need to work together in order to win this war and she has also sent us a story to reinforce this belief. It will be one of Mr Jackson's previously unknown adventures with another unknown demi-god." Everyone turned to look at Percy who was frowning at the fire, trying to work out which adventure Chiron could be talking about.
"Can we start already?" Dionysus moaned, already bored.
"Alright, the story is called The Stolen Chariot."
Immediately Clarisse and Percy groaned, it just had to be that one didn't it, the one time they actually got along and everyone would know. The other campers just looked confused, why would Percy and Clarisse be groaning?
I was in fifth-period science class when I heard these noises outside.
SCRAWK! OW! SCREECH! "HIYA!"
Like somebody was getting attacked by possessed poultry, and believe me, that's a situation I've been in before.
"Tell, tell, tell!" The Stoll brothers chanted with childish glee on their faces.
"Err, maybe some other time." Percy grimaced remembering that particular, fiasco.
Nobody else seemed to notice the commotion. We were doing a lab, so everybody was talking, and it wasn't hard for me to go look out the window while I pretended to wash out my beaker. Sure enough, there was a girl in the alley with her sword drawn. She was tall and muscular like a basketball player, with stringy brown hair and jeans and combat boots and a denim jacket.
"Why in Hades name are you there Clarisse?" Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite cabin asked incredulously, everyone knew the legendary rivalry between Clarisse and Percy.
"The book will explain" Clarisse groaned back and buried her head in Chris' shoulder, getting ready for the huge teasing that she would get when everyone discovered her fear.
She was hacking at a flock of black birds the size of ravens. Feathers stuck out of her clothes in several places. A cut was bleeding over her left eye. As I watched, one of the birds shot a feather like an arrow, and it lodged in her shoulder. She cursed and sliced at the bird, but it flew away.
Unfortunately, I recognized the girl. It was Clarisse, my old enemy from demigod camp. Clarisse usually lived at Camp Half-Blood year-round. I had no idea what she was doing on the Upper East Side in the middle of a school day, but she was obviously in trouble. She wouldn't last much longer.
I did the only thing I could.
"You went to help Clarisse" everyone chorused
"Am I really that obvious?" Percy asked surprised
"Yes" Thalia grinned at him and dodged the marshmallow thrown at her.
"Mrs White," I said, "can I go to the restroom? I feel like I'm going to puke."
You know how teachers tell you the magic word is please? That's not true. The magic word is puke. It will get you out of class faster than anything else.
"Thank you Percy!" The Stoll brothers yelled in excitement, already planning what they could do with this new information back at school.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled and smacked him on the head
"Ow! Sorry!"
"Go!" Mrs White said
I ran out the door, stripping off my safety goggles and gloves and lab apron.
"Nice look mate" Charles Beckendorf from Hephaestus cabin smirked at him "I'm sure that'll get Annabeth to fall for you" the rest of the campers fell about laughing as Percy and Annabeth went bright red and chucked marshmallows at Beckendorf.
I got out my best weapon-a ball-point called Riptide.
Nobody stopped me in the halls.
I exited by the gym. I got to the alley just in time to see Clarisse smack a devil bird with the flat of her sword like she was hitting a home run. The bird squawked and spiralled away, slamming against the brick wall and sliding into a trash can. That still left a dozen more swarming around her.
"And it's going, going it's gone! Another home run for Clarisse La Rue!" Connor Stoll commentated and Katie thumped him on the arm. Next to him, Travis Stoll thought Katie is only supposed to thump me with a frown on his face.
"Clarisse!" I yelled.
She glared at me in disbelief. "Percy? What are you doing-?"
She was cut short by a volley of feather arrows that zipped over her head and impaled themselves in the wall.
"Don't talk, fight!" The whole Ares cabin yelled, pumped from the fighting in the book.
"This is my school," I told her.
"Just my luck," Clarisse grumbled, but she was too busy fighting to complain much.
"Yes, it is bad luck to run into fish face here, however if you were to run into me, the awesome Nico di Angelo, You would be having awesome luck" Nico said grinning at Percy who did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at him.
I uncapped my pen, which grew into a three-foot-long bronze sword, and joined the battle, slashing at the birds and deflecting their feathers off my blade. Together, Clarisse and I sliced and hacked until all the birds were reduced to piles of feathers on the ground.
"This children," Chiron lectured, "is why teamwork is always the best strategy, we need to trust each other and work together if we are to win this war." After this speech everyone went silent, thinking about the brewing war.
We were both breathing hard. I had a few scratches, but nothing major. I pulled a feather arrow out of my arm. It hadn't gone in very deep. As long as it wasn't poison, I'd be okay. I took a baggie of ambrosia out of my jacket, where I always kept it for emergencies, broke a piece in half, and offered some to Clarisse.
"I don't need your help." She muttered, but she took the ambrosia.
We swallowed a few bites-not too much, since the food of the gods can burn you to ashes if you overindulge. I guess that's why you don't see many fat gods.
"Except for D-" Travis started but Katie covered his mouth with her hand and hissed
"Do you want to get vaporized?" Connor nodded at Travis from behind Katie and put his thumbs up, Travis went red.
"Smart move Kate" Dionysus rumbled, glaring threateningly at Travis who squeaked and hid behind his brother.
Anyway, in a few seconds our cuts and bruises had disappeared. Clarisse sheathed her sword and brushed off her denim jacket. "Well…see you."
Hold up!" I said. "You can't just run off."
"Sure I can."
"What's going on? What are you doing away from camp? Why were those birds after you?
"We'd like to know that too" Annabeth muttered trying to figure out what this could be about. Stolen chariot… Clarisse… Ares Chariot! She turned to look at Clarisse and Check she was right. Clarisse saw and gave her a nod and Annabeth sat back in her chair and paled.
Clarisse pushed me, or tried to. I was too accustomed to her tricks. I just sidestepped and let her stumble past me.
"Come on," I said. "You just about got killed at my school. That makes it my business."
"It does not!"
"Let me help."
She took a shaky breath. I got the feeling she really wanted to punch me out, but at the same time there was a desperate look in her eyes, like she was in serious trouble.
"It's my brothers," she said. "They're playing a prank on me."
"Ooooh what kind!" The Hermes cabin yelled excitedly.
"Oh," I said, not really surprised. Clarisse had lots of siblings at Camp Half-Blood. All of them picked on each other. I guess that was to be expected since they were sons and daughters of the war god, Ares. "Which brothers? Sherman? Mark?"
"No," she said, sounding more afraid then I'd ever heard her. "My immortal brothers. Phobos and Deimos."
There was a collective intake of breath, those two were the worst of the minor gods and everyone was scared of what they could show you.
We sat on a bench at the park while Clarisse told me the story. I wasn't too worried about getting back to school.
Annabeth whacked Percy upside the head
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You need to take your schoolwork more seriously"
Mrs White would just assume the nurse had sent me home, and sixth period was shop class. Mr Bell never took attendance.
"So let me get this straight," I said. "You took your dad's car for a joyride, and now it's missing."
"You are such a seaweed brain!" Thalia exclaimed incredulously (A/N: say that out loud "exclaimed incredulously" sounds awesome!) "Ares kids respect and fear their dad; they would never joyride with his war chariot!" (Artemis was at Olympus and Thalia decided to see her friends at camp half blood in her absence).
"Sorry! It was just a joke!" Percy cowered away from Thalia "Just a joke!"
"We're not scared of our dad!" The Ares cabin (minus Clarisse) yelled at Thalia and gave her murderous looks.
"It's not a car," Clarisse growled. "It's a war chariot! And he told me to take it out. It's like… a test. I'm supposed to bring it back at sunset. But-"
"Your brothers carjacked you."
"Chariot-jacked me," she corrected. "They're his regular charioteers, see. And they don't like anybody else getting to drive. So they stole the chariot from me and chased me off with those stupid arrow-throwing birds."
"Ugh, boys are such jerks" Thalia rolled her eyes most of the girls nodded along with her
"Hey!" The boys yelled
"Your dad's pets?"
She nodded miserably. "They guard his temple. Anyway, if I don't find the chariot…"
She looked like she was about to lose it. I didn't blame her. I'd seen her dad, Ares, get mad before, and it was not a pretty sight. If Clarisse failed him, he would come down hard on her. Real hard.
"Not a pretty sight" Grover agreed with Percy and they looked at each other and winced, remembering the fight on the beach.
"I'll help you," I said.
She scowled. "Why would you? I'm not your friend."
"It's just who Percy is" Annabeth explained "He wants to help anyone and everyone, his fatal flaw is personal loyalty"
"I wouldn't help just anyone! I-"
"Yes you would seaweed brain and we all know it" Annabeth interrupted again and they smiled at each other, making the whole Aphrodite cabin squeal and everyone else to roll their eyes.
I couldn't argue with that. Clarisse had been mean to me a million times, but still, I didn't like the idea of her or anybody else getting beat up by Ares.
"Aww" the girls cooed as Percy went red.
I was trying to figure out how to explain that to her when a guy's voice said, "Aw, look. I think she's been crying!"
A teenage dude was leaning against a telephone pole. He was dressed in ratty jeans, a black T-shirt, and a leather jacket, with a bandana over his hair. A knife was stuck in his belt. He had eyes the colour of flames.
"Phobos" Clarisse, Percy and Annabeth said, Percy and Clarisse balled their hands into fists.
"Phobos." Clarisse balled her fists. "Where's the chariot, you jerk?"
"You lost it," he teased. "Don't ask me."
"You little-"
Clarisse drew her sword and charged, but Phobos disappeared as she swung, and her blade bit into the telephone pole.
"You're lucky you weren't electrocuted" Chris said worriedly and pulled Clarisse closer.
"But I'm ok" she smiled back at him and the Aphrodite cabin burst into squeals again.
"At this rate we're all going to go deaf" Nico complained in Percy's ear.
Phobos appeared on the bench next to me. He was laughing, but he stopped when I stuck Riptide's point against his throat.
"You'd better return that chariot," I told him, "before I get mad."
"Wow! Who wouldn't be scared of fish boy who rides pegasi!" Thalia said mockingly and received a blast of creek water in the face in retaliation, successfully filling the whole camp with laughter.
He sneered and tried to look tough, or as tough as you can with a sword under your chin.
"He failed miserably by the way" Clarisse smirked vindictively, she really hated those jerks.
"Who's your little boyfriend Clarisse? You have to get help fighting your battles now?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" Clarisse tugged her sword, pulling it out of the telephone pole. "He's not even my friend. That's Percy Jackson."
"Thanks for that by the way, it made him really want to kill me." Percy said offhandedly as if having a god (even minor one) as an enemy was normal. People looked at him in surprise that he wasn't more worried. He just ignored them and turned back to Chiron who started reading again.
Something changed in Phobos's expression. He looked surprised, maybe even nervous. "The son of Poseidon? The one who made dad angry? Oh, this is too good, Clarisse. You're hanging out with a sworn enemy?"
"I'm not hanging out with him!"
Clarisse screamed. She swatted the air as if she were being attacked by invisible bugs. "Please no!"
"What's he doing to her?" Some people cried out in scared voices. Sure a lot of people didn't like Clarisse but they didn't want her hurt. Badly.
"What are you doing to her?" I demanded.
Clarisse backed up into the street, swinging her sword wildly.
"Stop it!" I told Phobos. I dug my sword a little deeper against his throat, but he simply vanished, reappearing back at the telephone pole.
"Thanks for trying though Percy" Chris Rodriguez said to his feet. He had just recently gone back to the gods' side and was uncomfortable around most of the campers.
"Don't get so excited, Jackson," Phobos said. "I'm just showing her what she fears."
The glow faded from his eyes.
Clarisse collapsed, breathing hard. "You creep," she gasped. "I'll . . . I'll get you."
Phobos turned toward me. "How about you, Percy Jackson? What do you fear? I'll find out, you know. I always do."
"That's really creepy" Nico said frowning, making people look at him weirdly "What?"
"You're a son of Hades, you exude creepiness and you think someone saying they will find out somebody's fears is creepier?" Thalia smirked at him.
"Yeah… Hey!"
"Give the chariot back." I tried to keep my voice even. "I took on your dad once. You don't scare me."
"You did ok at that actually Prissy" Clarisse said through gritted teeth. Lots of people stared at her in astonishment until she growled at them "What are you punks looking at?"
Phobos laughed. "Nothing to fear but fear itself. Isn't that what they say? Well, let me tell you a little secret, half-blood. I am fear. If you want to find the chariot, come and get it. It's across the water. You'll find it where the little animals live-just the sort of place you belong."
He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a curtain of yellow vapour.
Now, I've got to tell you, I've met a lot of godlings and monsters I didn't like, but Phobos took the prize. I don't like bullies. I'd never been in the "A" crowd at school, so I'd spent most of my life standing up to punks who tried to frighten me and my friends. The way Phobos laughed at me and made Clarisse collapse just by looking at her. . . I wanted to teach this guy a lesson.
I helped Clarisse up. Her face was still beaded with sweat.
"Now are you ready for my help?" I asked.
"I don't think he was going to let you go on your own now Clarisse, Phobos just made things personal." Grover chuckled
"Yeah and he would keep bugging you until you let him" Annabeth finished smirking at Percy ashes held his hands up in surrender
"Guilty" he smiled at his two friends.
We took the subway, keeping a lookout for more attacks, but no one bothered us. As we rode, Clarisse told me about Phobos and Deimos.
"They're minor gods," she said. "Phobos is fear. Deimos is terror."
"What's the difference?"
She frowned. "Deimos is bigger and uglier, I guess. He's good at freaking out entire crowds. Phobos is more, like, personal. He can get inside your head."
"That's where they get the word phobia?"
"Yeah," she grumbled. "He's so proud of that. All those phobias named after him. The jerk."
"So why don't they want you driving the chariot?"
"It's usually a ritual for just Ares's sons when they turn fifteen. I'm the first daughter to get a shot in a long time."
"Good for you" Thalia and Nico said. Percy looked at them strangely "What?" Chiron smiled and read on
"Good for you."
"That's…weird" Katie Gardner shivered
"Yeah" Thalia agreed with her "Ugh I think the same as corpse breath and kelp head"
"Shut it pinecone face" Nico and Percy told her as the three cousins looked at each other and cracked up laughing
"Tell that to Phobos and Deimos. They hate me. I've got to get the chariot back to the temple."
"Where is the temple?"
"Pier 86. The Intrepid."
"Oh." It made sense, now that I thought about it. I'd never actually been on board the old aircraft carrier, but I knew they used it as some kind of military museum. It probably had a bunch of guns and bombs and other dangerous toys. Just the kind of place a war god would want to hang out.
"That actually sounds… awesome" Nico said slowly with a look of horror on his face.
"We've got maybe four hours before sunset," I guessed. "That should be enough time if we can find the chariot."
"But what did Phobos mean,' over the water'? We're on an island, for Zeus's sake. That could be any direction!"
"He said something about wild animals," I remembered. "Little wild animals."
"A zoo?"
I nodded. A zoo over the water could be the one in Brooklyn, or maybe . . . someplace nobody would ever think to look for a war chariot.
"Staten Island," I said. "They've got a small zoo."
"Wow Percy, that was actually a good guess, I'm surprised!" Annabeth looked at him in surprise. When Percy grinned back she hastily added "You're still a seaweed brain though"
"Maybe," Clarisse said. "That sounds like the kind of out-of-the-way place Phobos and Deimos would stash something. But if we're wrong-"
"We don't have time to be wrong."
We hopped off the train at Times square and caught the Number 1 downtown, toward the ferry terminal.
We boarded the Staten Island Ferry at three thirty, along with a bunch of tourists, who crowded the railings of the top deck, snapping pictures as we passed the Statue of Liberty.
"He modelled that after his mom," I said, looking up at the statue.
Clarisse frowned at me. "Who?"
"Bartholdi," I said. "The dude who made the Statue of Liberty. He was a son of Athena, and he designed it to look like his mom. That's what Annabeth told me, anyway."
"You actually listened?" Nico, Thalia, Grover, Annabeth and the Stoll's asked incredulously.
Clarisse rolled her eyes. Annabeth was my best friend and a huge nut when it came to architecture and monuments. I guess her egghead facts rubbed off on me sometimes.
"Oh, that'll be it. We haven't lost him to the dark side yet" the Stoll's laughed as Nico, Thalia and Grover sighed with relief. Annabeth glared at Percy who cowered behind Nico.
"Useless," Clarisse said. "If it doesn't help you fight, its useless information."
Annabeth then turned her glare on Clarisse who shrugged at her and glared back.
I could've argued with her, but just then the ferry lurched like it had hit a rock. Tourists spilled forward, tumbling into each other. Clarisse and I ran to the front of the boat. The water below us started to boil. Then the head of a sea serpent erupted from the bay.
"Ugh, you guys really can't catch a break can you?" Michael Yew groaned at Percy and Clarisse.
"Not with Percy's luck" Beckendorf snickered back.
The monster was at least as big as the boat. It was grey and green with a head like a crocodile and razor-sharp teeth. It smelled . . . well, like something that had just come up from the bottom of New York Harbour.
"Eeeeeewww" The girls yelled
Riding on its neck was a bulky guy in black Greek armour. His face was covered with ugly scars, and he held a javelin in his hand.
"Deimos!" Clarisse yelled.
"Hello sister!" His smile was almost as horrible as the serpent's. "Care to play?"
The monster roared. Tourists screamed and scattered. I don't know exactly what they saw. The Mist usually prevents mortals from seeing monsters in their true form, but whatever they saw, they were terrified.
"I wish I could go over and shoot him in the ass" Thalia growled with a terrifying look on her face "He's such a jerk!"
"Leave them alone!" I yelled.
"Or what, son of the sea god?" Deimos sneered. "My brother tells me you're a wimp! Besides, I love terror. I live on terror!"
He spurred the sea serpent into head-butting the ferry, which sloshed backward. Alarms blared. Passengers fell over each other trying to get away. Deimos laughed with delight.
By now electricity was sparking off of Thalia and people closest to her were slowly backing away.
"That's it," I grumbled. "Clarisse, grab on."
"What?"
"Grab on to my neck. We're going for a ride."
"Ooooh looks like Annabeth has competition!" Travis said waggling his eyebrows at Percy
"Yeah, Clarisse are you sure the hate is just an act and that you really loooove Percy!" Connor carried which made Clarisse and Percy go bright red and the whole camp fell about laughing.
"Watch it Stoll's, unless you want Flamer up your asses!" Clarisse yelled back which made both brothers pale and shut up immediately.
She didn't protest. She grabbed on to me, and I said, "One, two, three-JUMP!"
We leaped off the top deck and straight into the bay, but we were only under water for a moment. I felt the power of the ocean surging through me. I willed the water to swirl around me, building force until we burst out of the bay on top of a thirty-foot-high waterspout.
Thalia shuddered as other people marvelled at how powerful Percy really was.
I steered us straight toward the monster.
"You think you can tackle Deimos?" I yelled to Clarisse.
"I'm on it!" she said. "Just get me within ten feet."
"Yeah cream the punk!" The Ares cabin yelled in support to Clarisse. None of them really liked their immortal brothers and wanted to see (or hear) them getting pounded.
We barrelled toward the serpent. Just as it bared its fangs, I swerved the waterspout to one side, and Clarisse jumped. She crashed into Deimos, and both of them toppled into the sea.
The sea serpent came after me. I quickly turned the waterspout to face him, then summoned all my power and willed the water to even greater heights.
WHOOOOM!
Ten thousand gallons of salt water crashed into the monster. I leaped over its head, uncapped Riptide, and slashed with all my might at the creature's neck. The monster roared. Green blood spouted from the wound, and the serpent sank beneath the waves.
I dove under water and watched as it retreated back to the open sea. That's the one good thing about sea serpents: they're big babies when it comes to getting hurt.
"We've never faced any sea serpents before though, how did you know that?" Annabeth questioned with a confused look on her face.
"I think I just knew, you know part of my powers."
Clarisse surfaced near me, spluttering and coughing. I swam over and grabbed her.
"Did you get Deimos?" I asked.
Clarisse shook her head. "The coward disappeared as we were wrestling. But I'm sure we'll see him again. Phobos too."
"They are cowards and unworthy of the title of being Ares sons" This surprisingly came from Percy. Everyone looked at him astounded "What? The entire Ares cabin is brave and they weren't."
"I guess you're pretty brave as well Prissy" Clarisse muttered still in shock that Percy Jackson, her enemy would defend her and her cabin.
Tourists were still running around the ferry in a panic, but it didn't look like anyone was hurt. The boat didn't seem damaged. I decided we shouldn't stick around. I held on to Clarisse's arm and willed the waves to carry us toward Staten Island.
In the west, the sun was going down over the Jersey shore. We were running out of time.
Everyone tensed, wanting to know whether they got back in time.
I'd never spent much time on Staten Island, and I found it was a lot bigger than I thought and not much fun to walk. The streets curved around confusingly, and everything seemed to be uphill. I was dry (I never got wet in the ocean unless I wanted to)
But Clarisse's clothes were still sopping wet, so she left mucky footprints all over the sidewalk, and the bus driver wouldn't let us on the bus.
"We'll never make it in time," she sighed.
"Stop thinking that way." I tried to sound upbeat, but I was starting to have doubts too. I wished we had reinforcements. Two demigods against two minor gods was not an even match, and when we meet Phobos and Deimos together, I wasn't sure what we were going to do. I kept remembering what Phobos had said: How about you, Percy Jackson? What do you fear? I'll find out you know.
"Like I said, it's creepy" Nico repeated, shivering
After dragging ourselves halfway down the island, past a lot of suburban houses and a couple of churches and a McDonald's, we finally saw a sign that said ZOO. We turned a corner and followed this curvy street with some woods on one side until we came to the entrance.
The lady at the ticket booth looked at us suspiciously, but thanks the gods I had enough cash to get us inside. We walked around the reptile house, and Clarisse stopped in her tracks.
"There it is."
It was sitting at a crossroads between the petting zoo and the sea otter pond: a large golden and red chariot tethered to four black horses. The chariot was decorated with amazing detail. It would've been beautiful if all the pictures hadn't shown people dying painful deaths. The horses were breathing fire out of their nostrils.
"What are you on about? The chariot is awesome!" The Ares cabin yelled enthusiastically. Everyone ignored them.
Families with strollers walked right past the chariot like it didn't exist. I guess the Mist must've been really strong around it, because the chariot's only camouflage was a handwritten note taped to one of the horses' chests that said OFFICIAL ZOO VEHICLE.
"Where are Phobos and Deimos?" Clarisse muttered, drawing her sword.
I couldn't see them anywhere, but this had to be a trap.
I concentrated on the horses. Usually I could talk to horses, since my dad had created them. I said, Hey. Nice fire-breathing horses. Come here!
One of the horses whinnied disdainfully. I could understand his thoughts, all right. He called me some names I can't repeat.
"Ha-ha poor Percy, not all horses love you" Travis laughed, thinking of a horse cursing.
"Of course not! Dad trained the horses to hate him so that if dad ambushes Prissy with the chariot he can't use his horse powers to get out of it." Clarisse explained indignantly.
"Great" Percy groaned.
"I'll try to get the reins," Clarisse said. "The horses know me. Cover me."
"Right." I wasn't sure how I was supposed to cover her with a sword, but I kept my eyes peeled as Clarisse approached the chariot. She walked around the horses, almost tiptoeing.
She froze as a lady with a three-year-old girl passed by. The girl said, "Pony on fire!"
"Don't be silly, Jessie," the mother said in a dazed voice. "That's an official zoo vehicle."
"Half-blood or clear sighted mortal?" Chiron asked
"Half-blood I think" Percy replied after wracking his brains.
The little girl tried to protest, but the mother grabbed her hand and they kept walking. Clarisse got closer to the chariot. Her hand was six inches from the rail when the horses reared up, whinnying and breathing flames. Phobos and Deimos appeared in the chariot, both of them now dressed in pitch-black battle armour. Phobos grinned, his red eyes glowing. Deimos's scarred face looked even more horrible close up.
"The hunt is on!" Phobos yelled. Clarisse stumbled back as he lashed the horses and charged the chariot straight toward me.
Now, I'd like to tell you that I did something heroic, like stand up against a raging team of fire-breathing horses with only my sword.
"Course you did" the whole camp said as Percy pouted.
The truth is, I ran. I jumped over a trash bin and an exhibit fence, but there was no way I could outrun the chariot. It crashed through the fence right behind me, ploughing down everything in its path.
"Percy, look out!" Clarisse yelled,
"Like he needs someone to tell him that!" Thalia snorted and Percy gave her another weird look
Like I needed somebody to tell me that.
"That's… weird" Percy and Thalia looked at each other and grimaced.
I jumped and landed on a rock island in the middle of the otter exhibit. I willed a column of water out of the pond and doused the horses, temporarily extinguishing their flames and sending them into confusion. The otters weren't happy with me. They chattered and barked, and I figured I'd better get off their island quick, before I had crazed sea mammals after me too.
"That would have been funny" Connor laughed.
I ran as Phobos cursed and tried to get his horses under control. Clarisse took the opportunity to jump on Deimos's back just as he was lifting his javelin. Both of them went tumbling out of the chariot as it lurched forward.
"Pound him Clarisse!" The Ares cabin yelled excited.
I could hear Deimos and Clarisse starting to fight, sword on sword, but I didn't have time to worry about it because Phobos was riding after me again. I sprinted toward the aquarium with the chariot right behind me.
"Hey Percy!" Phobos taunted. "I've got something for you!"
I glanced back and saw the chariot melting, the horses turning to steel and folding into each other like clay figures being crumpled. The chariot refashioned itself into a black metal box with caterpillar treads, a turret, and a long gun barrel. A tank. I recognized it from this research report I'd had to do for history class. Phobos was grinning at me from the top of a World War II panzer.
"Say cheese!" he said.
"That was crap" the Hermes cabin yelled, enraged that someone could use such a bad insult.
I rolled to one side as the gun fired.
KA-BOOM! A souvenir kiosk exploded, sending fuzzy animals and plastic cups and disposable cameras in every direction. As Phobos re-aimed his gun, I got to my feet and dived into the aquarium. I wanted to surround myself with water. That always increased my power. Besides, it was possible Phobos couldn't fit the chariot inside the doorway. Of course, if he blasted through it, that wouldn't help . . .
I ran through the rooms washed in weird blue light from the fish tank exhibits. Cuttlefish, clown fish, and eels all stared at me as I raced past. I could hear their little minds whispering, Son of the sea god! Son of the sea god! It's great when you're a celebrity to squids.
The camp burst out laughing again.
I stopped at the back of the aquarium and listened. I heard nothing. And then . . . Vroom, Vroom. A different kind of engine.
I watched in disbelief as Phobos came riding through the aquarium on a Harley-Davidson. I'd seen this motorcycle before: its black flame-decorated engine, its shotgun holsters, its leather seat that looked like human skin. This was the same motorcycle Ares had ridden when I'd first met him, but it had never occurred to me that it was just another form of his war chariot.
"Hello loser," Phobos said, pulling a huge sword out of its sheath. "Time to be scared."
I raised my own sword, determined to face him, but then Phobos's eyes glowed brighter, and I made the mistake of looking into them.
"I wonder what Percy's biggest fear is" Annabeth said and leaned forwards trying to figure it out.
"Yeah it could make excellent blackmail material" Travis said trying to diffuse the tension after seeing Percy go pale and scared looking.
Suddenly I was in a different place. I was at Camp Half-Blood, my favourite place in the world, and it was in flames. The woods were on fire. The cabins were smoking. The dining pavilion's Greek columns had crumbled, and the Big House was a smouldering ruin. My friends were their knees pleading with me. Annabeth, Grover, all the other campers.
Save us, Percy! They wailed. Make the choice!
I stood paralyzed. This was the moment I had always dreaded: the prophecy that was supposed to come about when I was sixteen. I would make the choice that would save or destroy Mount Olympus.
Now the moment was here, and I had no idea what to do. The camp was burning. My friends looked at me, begging for help. My heart pounded. I couldn't move. What if I did the wrong thing?
"That's… horrible" Annabeth shuddered.
"It's what I see in my nightmares" Percy said quietly with the whole camp hanging onto his words "I see myself as a monster, it probably would have been better if I was never born at all." Annabeth, Thalia, Nico and Grover all grabbed onto Percy as he said this and gave him a huge hug as the other campers yelled that they were better off with Percy alive. The Aphrodite cabin had tears pouring down their cheeks as well as most of the other girls. Chiron put the book down and gave Percy a sad smile. Clarisse stood up and said
"Listen to me Punk cos this is the only time you will hear me say it. you won't turn evil, you're way too good for that and it is better for all of us that you are still alive." She sat down with the whole camp staring at her. "carry on" she growled at the people looking at her. Chiron picked up the book and read.
Then I heard the voices of the aquarium fish: Son of the sea god! Wake!
Suddenly I felt the power of the ocean all around me again, hundreds of gallons of salt water, thousands of fish trying to get my attention. I wasn't at camp. This was an illusion. Phobos was showing me my deepest fear.
I blinked and saw Phobos's blade coming down toward my head. I raised Riptide and blocked the blow just before it cut me in two.
"Thank gods for the fish!" Connor yelled and managed to break the remaining tension.
I counterattacked and stabbed Phobos in the arm. Golden ichor, the blood of the gods, soaked through his shirt.
Phobos growled and slashed at me. I parried easily. Without his power of fear, Phobos was nothing. He wasn't even a decent fighter. I pressed him back, swiped at his face, and gave him a cut across the cheek. The angrier he was, the clumsier he got. I couldn't kill him. He was immortal.
But you wouldn't have known that from his expression. The fear god looked afraid.
Finally I kicked him backward against the water fountain. His sword skittered into the ladies room. I grabbed the straps of his armor and pulled him up to face me.
"You're going to disappear now," I told him. "You're going to stay out of Clarisse's way. And if I see you again, I'm going to give you a bigger scar in a much more painful place!"
"Wooo! Go Percy" the campers yelled as Percy laughed and assumed a hero pose.
He gulped. "There will be a next time, Jackson!"
And he dissolved into yellow vapor.
"Looks like you do have another godly enemy seaweed brain," Annabeth stated.
"Yeah, how many is that now?" Grover added joining in.
"Well, let's see, there's Zeus," Connor started.
"And Hades," Travis added.
"And Athena,"
"And Ares,"
"And Hera,
"Ok! I get it!" Percy grumbled while everyone else laughed.
I turned towards the fish exhibits. "Thanks, guys."
"Good you remembered your manners" Thalia teased Percy with her arms still around his shoulders.
Then I looked at Ares's motorcycle. I'd never ridden an all-powerful-Harley-Davidson war chariot before, but how hard could it be? I hopped on, started the ignition, and rode out of the aquarium to help Clarisse.
I had no trouble finding her. I just followed the path of destruction.
There was laughter at this, with many people imagining the damage Clarisse could do at a zoo in a wrestling match with her brother.
Fences were knocked down. Animals were running free. Badgers and lemurs were checking out the popcorn machine. A fat-looking leopard was lounging on a park bench with a bunch of pigeon feathers around him.
I parked the motorcycle next to the petting zoo, and there were Deimos and Clarisse in the goat area. Clarisse was on her knees. I ran forward but stopped when I saw how Deimos had changed form. He was Ares now- the tall god of war, dressed in black leather and sunglasses, his whole body smoking with anger as he raised his fist over Clarisse.
"You failed me again!" the war god bellowed. "I told you what would happen!"
He tried to strike her, but Clarisse scrambled away, shrieking, "No! Please!"
"Foolish girl!"
"Clarisse!" I yelled. "It's an illusion. Stand up to him!"
Deimos's form flickered. "I am Ares!" He insisted "And you are a worthless girl! I knew you would fail me. Now suffer my wrath."
I wanted to charge in and fight Deimos, but somehow, I knew it wouldn't help. Clarisse had to do it. This was her worst fear. She had to overcome it for herself.
"Come on Clarisse. You can do it!" The whole camp was yelling now, showing their support for Clarisse. Said girl hid her face in Chris' shoulder.
"Clarisse!" I said. She glanced over, and I tried to hold her eyes. "Stand up to him!" I said. "He's all talk. Get up!"
"I . . . I can't."
"Yes you can. You're a warrior. Get up!"
She hesitated. Then she began to stand.
"What are you doing?" Ares bellowed. "Grovel for mercy, girl!"
Clarisse took a shaky breath. Very quietly, she said, "No."
"WHAT?"
She raised her sword. "I'm tired of being scared of you."
"GO CLARISSE!"
Deimos struck, but Clarisse deflected the blow. She staggered but didn't fall.
"You're not Ares," Clarisse said. "You're not even a good fighter."
"Burnnn!" The Stoll's laughed.
Deimos growled in frustration. When he struck again, Clarisse was ready. She disarmed him and stabbed him in the shoulder—not deep, but enough to hurt even a godling.
He yowled in pain and began to glow.
"Look away!" I told Clarisse.
We averted our eyes as Deimos exploded into golden light—his true godly form—and disappeared.
We were alone except for the petting zoo goats, which were tugging at our clothes, looking for snacks.
The motorcycle had turned back into a horse-drawn chariot.
Clarisse looked at me cautiously. She wiped the straw and sweat off her face. "You didn't see that. You didn't see any of that."
"Too late for that now" Clarisse mumbled with her head still under Chris' arm.
I grinned. "You did good."
She glanced at the sky, which was turning red behind the trees.
"Get in the chariot," Clarisse said. "We've still got a long ride to make."
A few minutes later we reached the Staten Island Ferry and remembered something obvious: we were on an island.
"What gave it away?" Thalia joked making Percy pout at her
The ferry didn't take cars. Or chariots. Or motorcycles.
"Great," Clarisse mumbled. "What do we do now? Ride this thing across the Verrazano Bridge?"
We both knew there wasn't time. There were bridges to Brooklyn and New Jersey, but either way it would take hours to drive the chariot back to Manhattan, even if we could fool people into thinking it was a regular car.
Then I got an idea. "We'll take the direct route."
Clarisse frowned. "What do you mean?"
I closed my eyes and began to concentrate. "Drive straight ahead. Go!"
Clarisse was so desperate she didn't hesitate. She yelled "Hiya!" and lashed the horses. They charged straight toward the water. I imagined the sea turning solid, the waves becoming a firm surface all the way to Manhattan. The war chariot hit the surf, the horses' fiery breath smoking all around us, and we rode the tops of the waves straight across New York Harbour.
"That is incredible Percy!" Chiron said amazed "You have to be extremely powerful to do that!" Percy blushed from all the amazed and awed looks he was getting.
We arrived at Pier 86 just as the sunset was fading to purple. The USS Intrepid, the temple of Ares, was a huge wall of grey metal in front of us, the flight deck dotted with fighter aircraft and helicopters. We parked the chariot on the ramp, and I jumped out. For once I was glad to be on dry land. Concentrating on keeping the chariot above the waves had been one of the hardest things I'd ever done. I was exhausted.
"I'd better get out of here before Ares arrives," I said.
Clarisse nodded. "He'd probably kill you on sight."
"Congratulations," I said. "I guess you passed you're driving test."
"That's what you get out of this!" Nico exclaimed "You're a lost cause Percy"
She wrapped the reins around her hand. "About what you saw, Percy. What I was afraid of, I mean—
"I won't tell anybody."
"Too late for that" Clarisse grumbled, finally showing her face again.
She looked at me uncomfortably. "Did Phobos scare you?"
"Yeah. I saw the camp in flames. I saw my friends all pleading for my help, and I didn't know what to do. For a second, I couldn't move. I was paralyzed. I know how you felt."
She lowered her eyes. "I, uh . . . I guess I should say . . ."
"Whoa! Clarisse is actually going to say thank you! The world is ending" the Stoll brothers clung to each other as everyone chuckled or eye rolled
The words seemed to stick in her throat. I wasn't sure Clarisse had ever said thank you in her life.
"Don't mention it," I told her.
"And all is right again" The brothers sighed.
I started to walk away, but she called out, "Percy?"
"Yeah?"
"When you uh, had that vision about your friends . . ."
"You were one of them," I promised. "Just don't tell anybody, okay? Or I'd have to kill you."
A faint smile flickered across her face. "See you later."
"See you."
I headed off the subway. It had been a long day, and I was ready to get home.
"Is it just me or… did Percy and Clarisse actually say they were friends?" Connor said, looking (as well as the rest of the camp) amazed.
"No, definitely not" Percy and Clarisse denied vehemently glaring at each other until they broke into smiles and started laughing.
"Nah, Clarisse is alright really" Percy smiled at Clarisse as she returned with
"You're alright as well Prissy, Thank You for helping with the chariot."
"No problems Clarisse, we are after all friends right?"