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Our chariot was probably the best. Percy had talked some of the fastest horses into pulling our chariot, and although Pegasi weren't allowed, Blackjack had recommended them. One was a steely gray color, and the other was a dark brown. Our chariot was made of polished wood and brassy metals, and spikes rimmed the wheels. Our armor complimented the chariot and the reins glittered in the sunlight.

We could see some of the other chariot riders next to us. People had mostly chosen partners from their cabins; Lacey and Drew were posted in a full-on pink chariot that glittered different shades when it was in direct sunlight. Pearls even decorated their armor, and Lacey looked pained and embarrassed to be in a chariot that screamed for attention like that. Raine and Mika had gone the furthest with their chariot. In honor of their mother, Isis, they had constructed a miniature fountain in front of their chariot that spewed water, creating a small rainbow. Small specks of glittery dust fell from their helmets and decorated their armor, and each had small rainbows painted under their eyes like baseball players. They look like what unicorns crap. Gods, Percy, for the last time, unicorns do not crap rainbows. Whatever you say.

"Attention, riders!" Chiron was standing on a raised podium on the opposite side of the stadium. His voice was being magnified by Dionysus, who was sipping a Coke, bored, and holding his hand up to cup around Chirons mouth; he must have been using some sort of magic. "Ready your horses!"

As if they understood what Chiron was saying, Wisp (the gray horse) and Spud (the black horse) raised their heads in unison and whinnied, causing a few others in chariots to look over, startled.

"On my mark…" Chiron began. Flames shot from mechanical horses' nostrils a few chariots down. "Get set…" There was a cry from a shiny golden chariot a few more chariots down, and my eyes rested on hair curling out from under a golden helmet and chiseled features. Darren. Are you seriously thinking about boys at a time like this? I wasn't—

"Go!" Chiron roared, and we were left in a cloud of dust. Percy ransacked my brain with curses before I could correct him, and we wheeled off in a late start.

We instantly passed Raine's and Mika's chariots; the fountain was spraying straight into their faces from the force of the wind, and they were being spun in circles, blinded. The next chariot wasn't close enough to fight against yet, so I took the reins and nodded to Percy.

"Hiya!" I shouted, and the horses whinnied. They sped up, kicking up dirt and dust as we neared the other chariot, and the final bits of the Mist lifted, and the course was revealed.

I didn't have much time to look around, though I could tell that bits of the course were still hidden by tiny partitions of Mist. Percy drew his sword and looked around wildly before we drew up to the chariot. He raised it to fight as the opponent raised theirs, and Percy brought his down, hard, on the wheels. One went spinning off, and the chariot fell with a ker-plunk to the dirt.

Nice swing. Thank you— but Drew and Lacey are up ahead, and they look like they're struggling. Trap, maybe? Don't thank me yet. I pulled my helmet down further over my eyes and cried out at the horses again. Their hooves dug into the dust, and we soon neared Drew and Lacey.

"Cut the stupid wires!" Drew was screaming, banging at the top of the chariot. Their horses were panicking, and glitter was spraying everywhere. Their chariot looked like a car stuck in the mud. The back wheels weren't budging, but the front was going insane, whipping from side to side. The horses were straining and toppling back, whinnying. Lacey was trying to cut thick, golden wires from the back wheels with her dagger, but she could barely reach them.

"I'm trying!" Lacey called back to Drew, who screamed in frustration as she was thrown to the side of the chariot. We drew up next to them, and then zoomed right on past.

"Why didn't you cripple their chariot? They'd be eliminated!" I yelled. Did he have feelings for Drew or something that kept him from getting her eliminated?

"I don't have feelings for Drew!" Percy shot back as we neared another chariot. He quickly tried to cut the wheel off, but it swerved away. He was shouting over all of the noise. "I just couldn't— duck!" A barrage of golden contraptions swooped down over our heads, and we both ducked down into the chariot. "I couldn't reach the wheels," Percy continued, quieter as we drew into a gap. A few chariots lay ahead of us, and I could clearly see Darren's golden helmet. He was the biggest threat, weaving ahead of the others. His chariot looked deadly fast, though his horses seemed like normal horses.

"Yeah, that is weird," Percy agreed, turning to challenge Katie Garner, who we had reached in our chariot. He instantly disarmed her, and she drew back in panic, causing the girl beside her to topple over. Their chariot spun away in a cloud of dust. "Is he using magic or something?"

"That's against the rules if it isn't for decorations," I informed him.

"I knew that, Wise Girl. I was just thinking out loud."

"You kind of don't need to do that for me to hear you."

"Ugh. Touché." We approached the front of the line of chariots, and we weaved in between the different horses. A few people tried to swipe at our chariot, but Percy quickly blocked their blows.

Right as we were pulling ahead of the others, a chill went down my spine. It was quick but freezing cold, like a warning. I glanced at Percy instantly, who hadn't seemed to have gotten it. If it was only me and Percy didn't feel it—

"PERCY!" I screamed, and my arm shot out to rip in half the spear that had been careening right for his head. He blinked in alarm and surprise at is before it was knocked off of my blade.

"WHAT THE HADES?!" Percy yelled once he had gotten over his shock. WAS THAT AIMED FOR MY FACE? Yeah! I don't know how I knew— I just— THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES. I know it is! Percy, listen to me! OH MY GODS, THAT WAS AIMED AT MY FACE. WHOEVER DID THAT SHOULD BE— PERCY! WHAT? His eyes were wild and his face was pale. Stop thinking for, like, one second! Did you even question how I knew that spear was coming even when I was driving the horses? I would have had to have been staring right at it to have knocked it away. What… What are you implying? Percy, I think this empathy link comes with a sort of warning system. Like if one of us is in danger, maybe the other is warned. That's how I knew to look and see the spear and stick my sword out. Oh… Wow. Cool!

"Not really if you could possibly be killed in that situation," I said out loud, sheathing my dagger. Percy nodded slowly, and we sped away from the other chariots, approaching the only one that was in front of us— Darren's.

He stood up front with a girl from Aphrodite who was definitely trying to flirt with him— I think her name was Jess. To my surprise, I didn't feel any jealousy towards the situation, and I tried not to think too hard about for fear of hinting something to Percy. Don't need any hints. I'm going to take that sucker down. Dammit, Percy.

Darren seemed oblivious to Jess's flirting; he stared straight ahead, unmoving, and as we pulled up, he didn't even seem to notice us. However, Jess did.

"Darren!" she yelled, and Darren jumped. For a second, their chariot jerked and then it began to slow down slightly. We pulled ahead for a few moments before Darren pulled out his sword quickly, a challenging expression plastered onto his face. They were dragging behind a little, and Jess tried to flap the reigns to get their horses to go faster. They looked exhausted, and a light seemed to go out from behind their eyes. One bucked its head a little. They're confused… One is freaking out. Why? Let me ask them—

Before he could finish, Darren had swiped at Percy, catching him off guard. I glanced back and forth from their fight to the horses, genuinely concerned that Percy was being challenged; Darren was a skilled fighter.

Right as Percy was turning, grinning, after parrying away one of Darren's blows, Darren sprang back from where he had stumbled into Jess. He had looked like he too dazed to fight anymore, but now he looked downright murderous. A familiar chill shot up my spine, this time much stronger than the last one.

"PERCY!" I screamed as Percy spun around to see Darren's raised sword coming down quickly. It would have sliced his arm almost clean off if not for my dagger, which I ripped out and used to block Darren's blow. Percy grabbed the reins quickly, his face very white, as the horses panicked from the absence of a driver. Almost killed twice? I'm popular! Shut up, Percy! Now really isn't the time.

Darren drew away from me as soon as I blocked his blow, his expression unreadable. He backed up a little, but I felt a little swell in my stomach.

"Fight me!" I cried so confidently that I almost fell over. Darren looked struck, his expression a little surprised.

"Annabeth, I'm not going to—"

"You almost killed my best friend!" I shouted, and now an anger was rising up in my stomach.

"I— I didn't mean to!" Darren shouted back, and some of the anger trickled away. But another anger filled me, and this time it was Percy's. I felt a defense mechanism kick in and I was in Darren's face taunting him with my dagger. "I'm not going to fight you!" he repeated, and he even dropped his sword to demonstrate.

"Darren! What the Hades do you think you're doing?!" screeched Jess right as Percy grabbed my arm and nearly threw me back towards the horses. What are you doing?

"Damn right you won't fight her!" Percy shouted, right next to Darren's face. He was leaning over the side of the chariot a little because Darren's chariot was trailing behind even more now.

"Jackson," growled Darren with an anger I couldn't even register. Even Percy looked confused as to why Darren looks so angry. What— Darren had his sword again in a flash. I almost knocked Percy down, who had raised his sword, when bam!

Something clicked loudly above us and a light too blindingly bright to be natural flickered to life. I had seen the finish line just a little ways ahead, but now all I could see was white, hot light. I could also just hear Darren and Jess's screaming.

"Sunglasses, Percy!" I hollered, pulling mine out from under my armor. Once I put them on, the world was normal again. Percy blinked next to me. Darren's chariot was nowhere to be seen.

"What—?" Percy began, but I silenced him, my eyes focused on the finish line.

"Shh. Hephaestus' own invention. We're almost there." I willed the chariot to go faster, and the horses neighed and strained. Everything was a blur of light and clashing metal, and then—

The crowd roared. I whipped my head up, confused. We still had a few meters until we were to cross the finish line. Right as we did, another cheer went up, but fainter, like they were distracted. I immediately halted the chariot and jumped out, almost falling over in the process because of dizziness.

"What—?" I began, but then I saw Clarisse standing in front of us, a golden wreath glinting on her head. Beside her was Chris Rodriguez, who was nearly hidden by Clarisse's gloating frame.

"Better luck next time, Jackson," she sneered as she passed us. They must have pulled ahead when we were distracted with Darren. DAMMIT. Oh, hush. We have, like, fourteen or so other courses to win on. We lost to Clarisse. Yeah, whatever, so what she'll rub it into our faces until the day we both die? We can win this whole thing. Then we'll be the ones telling her to suck it. Fair point.

"Good job, guys," Chris muttered shyly as he passed us. Percy clapped him on the back and he flinched. At least it wasn't Drew paired up with Clarisse. That would have been a nightmare. At that very moment, Drew's chariot pulled up alongside another chariot that had just finished. Speak of the devil.

Their chariot looked horrible; it was banged up and dirty, and the back two wheels had some spokes slashed out. However, it was still intact, which was fair game, and neither Drew nor Lacey bore any injuries except for a small gash above Lacey's right eyebrow.

"Hey, guys!" Lacey breathed as Drew stalked off.

"What's her problem?" I muttered. Lacey shrugged, her blond pigtails bobbing.

"She's been in a bad mood for a while. I mean, we did get stuck at the very beginning, and my arms were too short to cut the wires. I saw you guys pass us! Thanks for not choppin' us down." She grinned her familiar, white smile that made my insides turn to mush. Aww. Okay, let's maybe not tell her that the fact we didn't chop off the wheels was because I couldn't reach. Agreed.

"Good luck on the next race, Lace," I said, mussing her hair affectionately. She grinned again. "And don't let Drew boss you around."

"I'll try!" Lacey chortled, and then she skipped off in the direction Drew had stormed off in.

Percy turned to me. Darren's chariot still hadn't crossed the finish line, and I wondered if it was still stuck in the light trap. Probably. Why do you care so much? I felt my face go bright red. I… Don't. No reason, Percy. Damn right there's a reason, Annabeth. Listen—

The crowd cut him off with a roar as Darren and Jess nearly threw their chariot across the finish line. Darren looked beat, and their horses nearly fell over trying to lie down. Jess was saying something about if there was so much light in the trap how come she didn't get a tan, and many of the other girls were agreeing with her. Some were trailing off to Darren, barraging him with questions. He was nodding, looking tired of their company, when his eyes found mine. And stayed on mine.

Stop looking at him. I was so surprised at Percy's comment that I tore my gaze away and raised an eyebrow at Percy. My stomach flip-flopped at his somber expression. The expression quickly melted away to a slightly embarrassed look as he realized I'd heard what he'd said. I— you just looked like you were going to murder him? Was I? Percy ran a hand through his hair and shifted his weight from one hip to another. I placed my hand on my own.

Percy looked amazing when he was flustered; his cheeks were red from the fighting, the bridge of his nose sprinkled with little drops of sweat, and his hair was wild and handsome from the wind. His clothes were crumpled, but that just complimented the muscles in his arms more. I realized how much I was thinking about him and felt a rush of embarrassment as I remembered he could hear everything I was thinking. My eyes met his beautiful— I MEAN NORMAL— green ones, which were flashing. Your thoughts are entertaining. If I didn't know better, Annabeth, I'd think you'd have the hots for me. Ha-ha. Thankfully, we're too good of friends for that. There was a little pang of longing in my stomach, but I willed it to go away. Percy didn't say anything, but he smiled a little.

"We should get ready for the next race," he said quietly, sheathing his sword. I shook myself as if I were dreaming and sheathed my dagger, too.

"We're going to win it," I assured him. I even glanced at Darren, who, to my surprise, was glancing my way every few seconds. His strong jawline was slack, and he looked like he wanted to talk. His pretty blue eyes sparkled in the dusty sunlight— Don't. Percy's possessiveness stuck me again like a blow. I guess he really didn't like Darren. I nodded slowly. "We're going to win it," I assured Percy again. "I know we will."

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