PERSEUS' POV

I turned back towards the group of demigods. I was slightly miffed at Poseidon. First he sends me across the country, delaying the quest Zeus sent me, for one demigod, but there were three. And the sad thing was I couldn't tell which girl was supposed to be the daughter of Poseidon. Neither of them looked anything like him. I'm not sure if that offended me more.

There would be no way I could train these three on my own. I would have to make a detour back to Camp Half-Blood. Which irritated me more.

"Hey!" a girl said.

I turned to look at her. She had long, black hair, and honey brown eyes. It took me a minute to realize she was pouting. "You just can't throw people into the Grand Canyon! That kills people!"

I scowled. "I can do what I want. Besides, he's not even dead, so don't worry." I patted her head and walked off.

My back ached from the stab wound. That punk stabbed me! I still couldn't believe it. I extended my hand, and water pooled into the palm of my hand. I willed it to run up my body, and to heal the stab wound on my back.

"I'm not done talking to you!" The girl said. "You owe me an explanation!"

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Get your friends, get in the chariot, and I will explain."

She crossed her arms. "Fine." She stalked off, over to the group of other kids. They had gotten the doors open, but the mortal kids were acting like nothing had happened.

I made my way back over to the chariot, but I suddenly found a satyr in front of me. "Hey." He grunted. "You here for them?"

"Yes." I said. "I'll take them to the camp."

"Good, I'm glad someone finally got the letter I sent. I sent it like two months ago." He looked at me.

"Oh, yes." I lied swiftly. "Good letter, very enthusiastic."

He seemed pleased with my answer. "Three demigods are just too much to handle for one satyr, you know?"

"Yes." I agreed. "If you'll excuse me…"

I didn't wait for him to respond, instead, I just pushed past him and continued onto the chariot.

Yo, boss! Blackjack said as soon as he saw me. I smell demigod!

I chuckled lightly. Yes, we'll be taking three back to camp.

Three? He asked. We're going to need some doughnuts.

We can stop for food as soon as we leave here. I told them both. And then we'll make camp and you two can catch some sleep.

Thank you, Lord. Guido's voice brayed in my mind. Didn't want to argue with ya.

No worries, guys. I smiled. You guys have done good.

"Okay, I thought he was kidding when he said chariot." A boy's voice sounded.

I turned around. The group of three demigods had rounded the corner, and were staring at the chariot and Pegasi with looks of varied shock and awe. "Not joking. Get in." I told them.

The Pegasi whinnied fearfully. He smells like fire, Lord! Guido said fearfully.

I rolled my eyes. Calm down. He probably just smokes. You know how kids are these days. Everything's going to be fine.

"What do we hold onto?" The bronze-skinned girl asked.

"The sides." I replied, hopping into the back of the chariot myself. "Come on you three, I don't have all day."

"Why doesn't this thing have a back?" The boy said.

"I didn't design the damned chariot!" I growled. "Get in."

The three shared a glance before climbing in. The Pegasi unfurled their wings, and took off into the sky. I glanced back to make sure nobody fell out, but beyond that I kept my eyes forward, scanning for any threats. Demigod aura this strong would be sure to attract some sort of monster.

After a long silence that lasted either minutes or hours, a voice broke the silence.

"Soooo." The girl with black hair said. "I'm Estelle Jackson, and this is Piper McLean and Leo Valdez."

I turned around. "I'm Perseus, Greek god of storms and natural disasters."

"So you're an actual god?" Estelle asked.

I raised my eyebrow. "Yes."

"That's cool!" Leo said with enthusiasm. "So, does that mean other Greek gods are real? Like Zeus, and Poseidon, and—"

"Boy, names have power!" I hissed, cutting him off as thunder sounded in the distance. "You just can't throw those names out like that."

"Oh, sorry." He said quietly.

"To answer your question, yes. Greek gods are real." I replied.

The three were silent. I supposed they were taking in the information.

"What does this have to do with us?" Estelle asked.

I shook my head. "You three are the children of the Greek gods. Don't ask which ones, I don't know."

"Children of a god?" Piper asked. "That's not possible. They aren't real." She seemed to thing about what she said after she said it, because she shot a quick glance at me.

"Not real? Now I'm offended." I scoffed. "Do I not look real to you, girl? Would it not be real if I shoved you out of this chariot to your death?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to offend you." She said quietly.

"You'd better be." I turned back around without a word, keeping my eyes on the horizon.

Uh, boss? Blackjack hesitated.

What is it? I asked him.

Do you see what I'm seeing?

What? I squinted, looking forward. We had been flying through some clouds. I hadn't thought much about it, clouds appeared all the time. The more I concentrated through the clouds, the clearer I could see it. There was an anemoi thuellai heading towards us. It was hard to see where the storm spirit stopped and actual wind began.

I cussed in ancient Greek. Blackjack, Guido, we're almost to Camp Half-Blood. Take them there.

What about you, Lord? Guido asked nervously.

I'll meet you there. I can't let this spirit topple the chariot. I'd never be able to catch all three of them in time. I looked back at the demigods. They were taking in the view; completely unaware anything was wrong.

"I'll be right back." I told them.

"What?" Estelle said. "There's literally nowhere else to go."

"If I'm not back by the time you land, look for the centaur." I said, ignoring her.

"What?!" She said again. "You're making no sense."

I grabbed the side of the chariot in front of me, and jumped over the side. I heard shocked screams, but I barely paid attention to it. I willed the clouds to get darker to hide the chariot. Rain began to fall, and I used it to keep my balance in the air. I grabbed the storm spirit, willing it to take a solid form. It hissed in protest, and I pulled it away from the chariot.

I wouldn't be able to corral it for long; these spirits only bowed to Zeus because this was his domain. But I could piss it off enough to attack me instead of the chariot. I willed a storm to create around me and the spirit, just as I let go of it. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't break through the storm to find the chariot.

"You are only delaying the inevitable." The spirit hissed.

"You know I never knew storm spirits could talk." I said to him.

"Oh yes, we know all about you, Perseus. The lone god, cast away from the ocean." He laughed, his voice turning sing-song like. "Doomed to die at the hands of another."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Gods can't die; you're just making this up."

"No, but they can be injured, and they can fade." He said, as if he was smiling at the thought. Perhaps he was.

"Enough talk!" I said. "What master do you serve?"

"We serve Gaea, of course. But Gaea has not yet risen." He twirled around my body, the cold wind making me shiver.

"So you serve Kronos." I said. "Works for me."

I reached into my pocket, and uncapped my pen. It turned immediately into a sword, and I pointed it at (what I assumed) the spirit's neck. "I'll give you a choice, spirit. You and your kind side with the gods in this war, or I'll destroy you and send you to Tartarus."

"Very temping. I'm going to decline." He said.

"Sucks to be you, then." I smirked. I brought my sword down the spirit's form, but he just reappeared behind me.

"Made you look." He said.

I scowled, and swiped through his form again.

"Ooh, you almost had me that time." He laughed.

Angry, I swiped through his form a third time.

"This is a fun game." He sang. "Can we keep playing?"

"Enough!" I growled. Obviously the sword wouldn't work. I capped my sword, putting it back in my pocket. I pooled water into my hand, and fashioned it into the form of a jar.

"Whatcha going to do with that?" He said. "Drown me with water?"

"I'm going to play your game." I decided. "Why don't you pop yourself into this water jug and we'll play?"

He seemed to consider this. I felt his essence wrap around the jar and then enter into it. I swiped my fingers around the top of the jar, and at once it became solid, trapping him in there.

"Okay, I can't believe he actually fell for that." I said to myself. Grasping the jar tightly in one hand, I willed the storm around me to disperse, and the water to shoot me through the air. I panicked for a second when I couldn't find the chariot, but it was just too far ahead. As I got closer, I noticed that the horses were about to drop out of the sky from exhaustion. I swiped my fingers through their manes, transferring them some of my energy.

I didn't reenter the chariot, I circled around it, keeping the storm going. Inside the clouds was calm, but outside was a raging storm worthy of being deemed a hurricane.

I coasted around the clouds, and when I was positive we were in the clear, I let the storm disperse. From the scenery, if I had to guess, I'd say we were somewhere in Pennsylvania. We were so close to camp but if these Pegasi didn't rest they were going to fall out of the sky.

Good job guys. I told them as I floated beside them. Touch down in that field there and I'll find you some food.

The chariot dipped down, ready to land. As soon as they landed, I touched the ground beside them with a gentle landing. I walked casually over to the Pegasi and unstrapped them. Both of the Pegasi tucked in their wings and sat down pretty much immediately. I leaned forward, rubbing their muzzles slowly. "Sleep." I said out loud, and they both rested their heads on their legs and were out immediately.

"What did you do to them?" Piper asked me.

"I have power over Pegasi since I am their patron and a descendant of Poseidon." I said softly, trying to not wake them. "It was a simple spell to lull them into sleep."

I got up slowly. The field we were in was huge, probably about the size of a mile or so of cleared land. All around us were densely packed trees. The sky was cloudy, with rain falling lightly.

She walked over beside me, and was about to pet the Pegasi when I stopped her. "Don't. You'll wake them."

She retracted her hand with a heavy sigh. "Sorry, they're just so beautiful. I always have loved horses."

"These aren't horses." I replied. "They're Pegasi."

"You know what I meant." She rolled her eyes.

I walked away from the Pegasi. I didn't want our conversation to wake them. "We're almost to camp." I told the three demigods. "Perhaps about 200 miles south of it."

"So why did we land then if we're so close?" Leo asked. "Not that I was enjoying freezing to death."

"Look at the Pegasi and ask me again." I told him. "I've pushed them hard enough."

Leo shrugged. "Whatever. So what now?"

I looked at the jar in my hand. I tossed it to him, and he caught it. "Keep that safe, I'm going to find some food for the Pegasi."

"So do I need to protect a jar?" He asked.

"Because I told you to. That should be a valid enough reason." I scowled, walking away from them. I scanned around the trees. Obviously, we were in the middle of nowhere, there weren't going to be any doughnut shops anywhere. Which left a second option: hay. If I had to guess, we were on someone's farm, so we might be able to find a barn and take some of the hay. I looked up at the sky. The sun was low in the sky, starting to set. The horizon had turned an orange shade, with the setting sun's rays bouncing off of the chariot in a dazzling array of color.

I turned around slowly. I had been so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't stop to scan my surroundings for threats. I stared into the eyes of Zoë Nightshade, and her sword aimed at my throat.