While Bianca and the other Hunters piled into the back of the bus, Nico was obsessing over the front.

"This is awesome!" Nico swooned, trying to press every button he saw while Apollo knocked his hands away. "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios was the sun god, that guy from the Odyssey with the cows."

"Downsizing. The Romans couldn't keep up with all the sacrifices when they stole all the Greek gods, so they gave me and Artemis the important parts of Helios and Selene's jobs so they could prioritize us. At first it was annoying, you know, responsibility and all that, but at least I got this cool car.

"But how does it work? I thought the sun was a giant ball of plasma!" Apollo looked at him funny.

"You mean gas?"

"No. Scientists figured out that all stars were made out of superheated gas called plasma."

"Huh. Anyway. It depends on how you look at it. Astronomy or philosophy? You wanna talk astronomy? Bah! Where's the fun in that? But how humans think about the sun? Now that's more interesting."

"You lost me."

"Oh."

"Can I drive?"

"No too young." Nico pouted and Apollo looked around.

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.

"No too furry." He looked past Percy and zeroed in on Thalia. "Daughter of Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Perfect!"

"Umm… No thank you."

"Come on, how old are you?"

You let Apollo make Thalia drive and he reveals that she is fifteen and will turn sixteen in a week.

That was a pretty random bit of information. Percy cut in.

"I'll do it." Apollo raised an eyebrow.

"Poseidon's kid? I'm not really supposed to lead my stuff to uncle's kids. Shouldn't you be afraid of heights, anyhow?" Percy shrugged.

"I'm trying to conquer my fears. Plus, Zeus isn't gonna shoot down you, the Hunters, and Thalia." Apollo still wasn't convinced. "Please? This is my only chance. I'll owe you one." The sun god's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Be careful with you words, Jackson. Owing a god is not a position you want to be in. Are you really sure you want to do that?" Apollo offered his hand.

Percy thought on it. Would Thalia do the same for him? Probably not, they weren't the closest of friends, but… Annabeth would. And that was enough for Percy.

"Yeah. I'm sure." He grasped Apollo's hand and it burst into flames. For a second, he panicked, but he quickly put together that it wasn't hurting him and calmed down.

He could feel Thalia's eyes burning a hole into the back of his head, but ignored it. For now, he'd just let her guess.

Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. Turns out that his fear had less to do with heights, and more to do with the inevitability of death while up there. As a whole, the experience was relaxing and made him all the more excited for when he could actually drive. After a few moments, they were at camp and he brought it to a nice, slow, stop.

He turned to see Thalia as white as a ghost. Apollo patted him on the back.

"Good job, kid. You're a natural." His eyes caught fire. "Remember your debt. I'll be calling it into play at any time." Percy nodded quickly and got off the bus as fast as humanly, or demigodly, possible.

Camp Half-Blood had snow. That was a surprise. Coming back from Maine, Percy was hoping for… Well, anything but that. Usually it was bright and sunny, that was how Mr. D liked it, but right now, snow was allowed to lightly fall. The entire camp had a different atmosphere.

"Whoa. Is that a climbing wall over there?" Nico asked, climbing off the bus.

"Yeah."

"Why does it have lava?"

"Extra challenge. Come on, I'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoë, have you-"

"I know Chiron." Zoë dismissed me briskly. "Hunters, Cabin Eight. Let's go." The hunters marched off with Grover clumsily trying to lead them, and Percy was left with Nico, Thalia, and Apollo. Before she went, Bianca whispered something in Nico's ear, but he just scowled and turned away.

"Take care sweethearts! Watch out for those prophecies, Percy-" He stopped himself, seemingly coming up with an idea. "Actually…" He grabbed Percy and pulled him in close, hunching them like two criminals going over a plan. "The moment the next prophecy is issued, I want you heading out. You can go to the meeting, but you have to get your stuff and leave right afterwards. If you complete the quest before the main group does, I'll consider our debt even. If not… Well, I guess you'd still be in the palm of my hand, huh?"

"What? That hardly seems like an even exchange, not to mention, isn't the quest completed in a group for a reason?" Apollo gave him a wicked smile and pushed him away.

"That's what happens when you make deals with gods, Percy. Remember that. Bye Thalia." He changed his bus back into a sports car and took off like a jet. Leaving a blast of heat in his wake.

Thalia went to go confront Percy, but Nico got to him first.

"Who's Chiron? I don't have his figure." He seemed grumpy, making Percy wonder what exactly Bianca said.

"He's out activities director. He's… Well, you'll see." Percy began leading Nico away, leaving Thalia to trail silently behind.

"If those girls don't like him, that's good enough for me."

Chapter Ten Done. I'll leave the question here though.

How do you characterize Percy?

From what I've seen on this site, there are two main types of Percy, the smart and the dumb. The dumb one is the classic hero who can't come up with plans, or even basic strategy and runs at everything with his sword. While the smart one is not 'Annabeth' smart, but can actually think logically without rushing into things and isn't completely blind to the world around him.

I, personally subscribe to the 'smart' Percy idea. Because from reading the books, yeah he wasn't the brightest and he never really showed off his thinking prowess, but he wasn't a bullheaded idiot.

I can understand why the 'dumb' Percy is a thing people use though. He gets kicked out of schools, he fails his classes, and since he's the strongest, and best, demigod ever. So he must be an idiot.

Until next time,

-AGR