A/N: I don't own the rights to any of the Percy Jackson series or it's characters. That right goes to Rick Riordan. I also don't own the rights to Animorph including it's title.

I am, however, the person who posted 'The Tales of...' series.

This is not a crossover of the Percy Jackson series with the book/tv series Animorph, despite what you might think from the title. I just thought it be a proper name for the ability to turn into animals since that's why the tv/book series 'Animorph' was called that in the first place.

If you haven't read this yet, read:

Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Animorph Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters

Thalia Drives the Sun Through New England

Artemis assured us that dawn was coming, but you could have fooled me. It was colder and darker and snowier than ever. Up on the hill, Westover Hall's windows were completely lightless. I wondered if the teachers had even noticed the di Angelos and Dr. Thorn are missing, or the Mist kicked in yet. I just hope it does not lead to another nationwide manhunt on me again.

After two and a half years, I finally was getting use to what the Mist does to mortals. There is stuff about it I am getting use too, but now I am starting to relax around mortals when mystical stuff happens, if I am not getting framed for something.

The Hunters broke camp as quickly as they had set it up. I stood shivering in the snow (unlike the Hunters, who did not seem to feel at all uncomfortable), and Artemis stared into the east like she was expecting something. Bianca sat off to one side, talking with Nico. I could tell from his gloomy face that she was explaining her decision to join the Hunt. I just hope her decision does not come back to bite us later with Nico.

Kronos was able to turn my old enemy Luke—son of Hermes—against Olympus using Luke's hatred toward his father. And not just Luke, but possibly most unclaimed kids still waiting for a sign of who their godly parent is. Even if Nico is claimed quickly after we get to camp, we would have to keep an eye on him.

Thalia and Grover came up and huddled around me, anxious to hear what had happened in my audience with the goddess.

When I told them, Grover turned pale. "The last time the Hunters visited camp, it didn't go well."

"How'd they even show up here?" I wondered. "I mean, they just appeared out of nowhere."

"And Bianca joined them," Thalia said, disgusted. "It's all Zoë fault. That stuck-up, no good—"

"Who can blame her?" Grover said. "Eternity with Artemis?" He heaved a big sigh.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "You satyrs. You are all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?"

"But she's so… into nature," Grover swooned.

"You're nuts," said Thalia.

"Nuts and berries," Grover said dreamily. "Yeah."

Well, that would explain why nymphs would agree to join the Hunters. With the great god of wild Pan missing, Artemis is probably the closest thing to Pan's power they can find.

…

Finally, the sky began to lighten. Artemis muttered, "About time. He's so-o-o lazy during the winter."

"You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" I asked.

"For my brother. Yes."

I wonder how Apollo drives the sun? Mortals think of the sun as a star zillion of miles away, but of course the myths say different.

There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon. A blast of warmth.

"Don't look," Artemis advised. "Not until he parks."

Parks?

I averted my eyes, and saw that the other kids were doing the same. The light and warmth intensified until my winter coat felt like it was melting off me. Then suddenly the light died.

I looked. And I could not believe it. It was the type of car I always wanted. A red convertible Maserati Spyder. It was so awesome it glowed. Then I realized it was glowing because the metal was hot. The snow had melted around the Maserati in a perfect circle, which explained why I was now standing on green grass and my shoes were wet.

The drive got out, smiling. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, for a second, I had the uneasy feeling it was Luke. This guy had the same sandy hair and outdoorsy good looks. But it was not Luke. This guy was taller, with no scar on his face like Luke's. His smile was brighter and more playful. (Luke did not do much more than scowl and sneer these days.) The Maserati driver wore jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt.

"Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."

"He's the sun god," I said.

"That's not what I meant."

"Little sister!" Apollo called. If his teeth were any whiter, he could have blinded us without the sun car. "What's up? You never called. You never write. i was getting worried1'

Artemis sighed. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister. I helped mother gave birth to you."

"Yeah, but you keep taking form younger than me," Apollo joked.

"We're twins! Why does it matter anyways?"

"So, what's up?" He interrupted. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"

Artemis grit her teeth. "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

"Sure, sis!" Then he raised his hand in a stop everything gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on."

The Hunters all groaned. Apparently, they had met Apollo before.

He cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically:

"Green grass breaks through snow.
Artemis pleads for my help.
I am so cool."

He grinned at us, waiting for applause.

"That last line was only four syllables," Artemis said.

Apollo frowned. "Was it?"

"Yes. What about I am so big-headed?"

"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." He started muttering to himself.

Zoë Nightshade turned to us. "Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. 'Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I had had to hear one more poem that started with, there once was a goddess from Sparta—"

"I've got it!" Apollo announced. "I am so awesome. That's five syllables!" He bowed, looking very pleased with himself. "And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."

"These demigods will also need a ride," Artemis said, pointing to us. "Some of Chiron's campers."

"No problem!" Apollo checked us out. "Let us see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."

Thalia blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."

"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half-sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you are back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time—"

"Brother," Artemis said. "You should get going."

"Oh, right." Then he looked at me, and his eyes narrowed. "Percy Jackson?"

"Yeah, I mean… yes, sir."

It seemed weird calling a teenager "sir," but i learned to be careful with immortals. They tended to get offended easily. Then they blew stuff up. Plus, I know the gods were undecisive about me and my shapeshifting ability. Artemis does not seem to concern, but Apollo might be a different story.

Apollo studied me, but he did not say anything, which I found creepy.

"Well!" he said at last. "We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way—west. And if you miss it, you miss it."

I looked at the Maserati, which would seat two people max. There were about twenty of us.

"Cool car," Nico said.

"Thanks, kid," Apollo said.

"But how will we all fit?"

"Oh." Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose…"

He took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button. Chirp, chirp.

For a moment, the car glowed brightly again. When the glare died, the Maserati had been replaced by one of those Turtle Top shuttle buses like we used for school basketball games.

"Right," he said. "Everybody in."

Zoë ordered the Hunters to start loading. She picked up her camping pack, and Apollo said, "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that."

Zoë recoiled. Her eyes flashed murderously.

"Brother," Artemis chided. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart."

Apollo spread his hands. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"

"Hunting," Artemis said. "It's none of your business."

"I'll find out. I see all. Know all."

Artemis snorted. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!"

"No, no! I never mess around."

Artemis rolled her eyes, then looked at us. "I will see you by winter solstice. Zoë, you oversee the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."

Zoë straightened. "Yes, my lady."

Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looked troubled. "So much danger. The beast must be found."

She sprinted toward the woods and melted into the snow and shadows.

Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?"

…

The Hunters piled into the van. They all crammed into the back, so they would be as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of us highly infectious males. Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang in the front with us, which seemed cold to me, but Nico did not seem to mind.

"This is so cool!" Nico said, jumping up and down in the driver's seat. "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?"

"Downsizing," Apollo said. "The Romans started it. They could not afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."

"But how does it work?" Nico asked. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!"

Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico's hair. "That rumor probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you are talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that is more interesting. They have got a lot riding on the sun… er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It is as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky rom east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceived it. Make sense?"

Nico shook his head. "No."

I lost him sometime around what humans think of the sun.

"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car."

"Can I drive?"

"No. Too young."

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.

"Mm, no," Apollo said. "Too furry."

He looked at me for a bit. "Too risky with Zeus."

I do not know if I should be grateful or annoyed.

Then he focused on Thalia.

"Daughter of Zeus!" he said. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."

"Oh, no." Thalia shook her head. "No, thanks."

"C'mon," Apollo said. "How old are you?"

Thalia hesitated. "I don't know."

It was sad, but true. She had been turned into a tree when she was twelve, but that had been seven years ago. So, she should be nineteen, if you went by years. But she still felt like she was twelve, and if you looked somewhere in between. That is why it was easy to arrange her to be placed in eighth grade with Annabeth. The best Chiron could figure, she had kept aging while in tree form, but much more slowly.

Apollo tapped his finger to his lips. "You're fifteen, almost sixteen."

"How do you know that?"

"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy and oracles. I know stuff. You'll turn sixteen in about a week."

"That's my birthday! December twenty-second."

"Which means you're old enough now to drive with a learner's permit!"

Thalia shifted her feet nervously. "Uh—"

"I know what you're doing to say," Apollo said. "You don't deserve an honor like driving the sun chariot."

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid that got to drive."

"Last kid?" I asked.

"Phaethon, son of Helios. It was a complete disaster. The Sahara never recovered from the luscious green paradise it once was." Apollo said. "But Thalia is Zeus' daughter. I'm sure she be a natural, and even not, Zeus won't blast her out of the sky."

Thalia tried to protest, but Apollo was not going to take "no" for an answer. He hit a button on the dashboard, and a sign popped up along the top of the windshield. I had to read it backward (which, for a dyslexic really is not that different than reading forward). I was pretty sure it said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER.

"Take it away!" Apollo told Thalia.

…

I will admit I was jealous. I could not wait to start driving. A couple of times that fall, my mom had taken me out to Montauk when the beach road was empty, and she had let me try out her Mazda. I mean, yeah, that was a Japanese compact, and this was the sun chariot, but how different could it be?

Still, Zeus made it clear first time I met him, I was not to fly outside my powers and Poseidon's creation. Except for Eagle form since eagles is Zeus's sacred animal. My father warned me Zeus takes serious pride in his sacred animals. I know how possessive Zeus is of his master bolt, so I did not dare attempt eagle form.

"Speed equals heat," Apollo advised. "So, start slowly, and make sure you've got good altitude before you really open her up."

Thalia gripped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. She looked like she was going to be sick.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing," she said shakily. "N-nothing is wrong."

She pulled back on the wheel. It tilted, and the bus lurched upward so fast I fell back and crashed against something soft.

"Ow," Grover said.

"Sorry."

"Slower!" Apollo said.

"Sorry!" Thalia said. "I've got it under control!"

I managed to get to my feet. Looking out the window, I saw a smoking ring of trees from the clearing where we had taken off.

"Thalia," I said, "lighten up on the accelerator."

"I've got it, Percy," she said, gritting her teeth. But she kept it floored.

"Loosen up," I told her.

"I'm loose!" Thalia said. She was so stiff she looked like she was made of plywood.

"We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo said. "Hang a left."

Thalia jerked the wheel and again threw me into Grover, who yelped.

"The other left," Apollo suggested.

I made the mistake of looking out the window again. We were at airplane height now-so high the sky was starting to look black.

"Ah…" Apollo said, and I got the feeling he was forcing himself to sound calm. "A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over."

Thalia tilted the wheel. Her face was chalk white; her forehead beaded with sweat. Something was wrong. I had never seen her like this.

The bus pitched down, and somebody screamed. Maybe it was me. Now we were heading straight toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand miles an hour, the New England coastline off to our right. And it was getting hot in the bus.

Apollo had been thrown somewhere in the back of the bus, but he started climbing up the rows of seats.

"Take the wheel!" Grover begged him.

"No worries," Apollo said. He looked plenty worried. "She just has to learn to—WHOA!"

I saw what he was seeing. Down below us was a little snow-covered New England town. At least, it used to be snow-covered. As I watched, the snow melted off the trees and the roofs and the lawns. The white steeple on church turned brown and started to smolder. Little plumes of smoke, like birthday candles, were popping up all over the town. Trees and rooftops were catching fire.

"Pull up!" I yelled.

There was a wild light in Thalia's eyes. She yanked back on the wheel, and I held on this time. As we zoomed up, I could see through the back windows that the fires in the town were being snuffed out by the sudden blast of cold.

"There!" Apollo pointed. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let us slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."

Thalia was thundering toward the coastline of northern Long Island. There was Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the woods, the beach. I could see the dining pavilion and cabins and the amphitheater.

"I'm under control," Thalia muttered. "I'm under control."

We were only a few hundred yards away now.

"Brake," Apollo said.

"I can do this."

"BRAKE!"

Thalia slammed her foot on the brake, and the sun bus pitched forward at a forty-five-degree angle, slamming into the Camp Half-Blood canoe lake with a huge FLOOOOOOSH! Steam billowed up, sending several frightened naiads scrambling out of the water with half-woven wicker baskets.

The bus bobbed to the surface, along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes.

"Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let us go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"

If this was Apollo's idea of under control I do not want to be there back when Phaethon drove the chariot. I am just glad Zeus did not blasted out of the sky.

A/N: I actually share birthday with Thalia. December 22nd.

And by Sahara, I do mean the Sahara Desert.