And I'm back! hello I had a great holiday break I hope you guys did to ! enjoy the story

Grover showed me the stables next. Big wooden doors opened to a big open barn with big straw covered stalls housing big, big horses. These were greek war horses, not the sort you find in the petting zoo, they were very very big. I tucked my fingers into my pockets, suddenly conscious of the fact that I was surrounded by animals who could take off a digit like eating a carrot. Grover noticed my hesitation.

"What's the matter?" He asked, pausing while I caught up.

"I'm not an animal person…" I explained.

Grover snorted. "Come on, animals aren't that bad. Look at me, I'm half goat." Grover wiggled a fury hoof and grinned.

I smiled slightly, trying to cover my worry. Grover smiled back, as if comforting a child who was scared of monsters in her closet.

"Don't worry, every horse in this barn is tame and gentle as a fly."

Grover stepped up to the nearest stall. He beckoned me form over his shoulder. I followed warily.

I took a spot next to him at the stall gate. Grover nodded his head towards the stall. "See, this one's called BlackJack. He's my friend Percy's horse."

I looked into the stall, and froze. 1000 pounds of midnight black pegasus stared back at me. The horse was tall enough that he had his neck bent to match my gaze. My breath caught in my throat, just as he blasted a gust of air from his nostrils flaring them. BlackJack shook his mane and snorted again, pawing the ground. I could see pure iron cord muscle straining in his shoulders and neck. Only his eyes were still, anchored to my face. Suddenly, He whined and reared. The sound was high and strong, like a train whistle, and sudden enough to make Grover and I jumped back off of the gate. Grover fell down onto his rear, his goat hooves kicking up dust as he landed. Black Jack came down again on all fours, his hooves striking the ground with a sound like the crack of a whip. Several other horses let out loud bellows, answering BlackJack's call.

Grover bleated. He caught his breath and gasped.

"Are you alright?" I asked, trying to control the waiver to my voice.

Grover nodded shakily took my hand as I offered it to help him up.

"Yeh-neh, sorry…" He apologized as another bleat shuddered through his sentence. He stood up and brushed the curly fur of his legs off. "I've never seen BlackJack act like that…" He muttered. "Usually he's as friendly as a cottontail…"

I shrugged and simpered at him. "Sorry… I did tell you. Animals just don't like me…"

Grover still seemed puzzled over it. " I've only ever seen that in-"

"Isn't the Archery range next?" I interrupted briskly. Grover looked at me quizzically. I tried to look as oblivious as I could. Grover apparently didn't think anything of it because he didn't finish his thought.

"Yeah, maybe we'll have better luck there."

I nodded enthusiastically. "It sounds cool! I could be a daughter of Athena!"

Grover took the bait. "That might be it, I can definitely see it in the grey eyes!" He added.

I smiled and feigning as much interest as could, allowed him to lead me out of the barn. As we left the great doors behind, I felt my heart rate to resettle. If I was going to hide under my fake non-title, I would have to be a lot more careful than that.