Jasmine's POV
We arrived in Long Island just after Clarisse, thanks to the centaurs' travel powers. I continued to ride on Toothless behind Will. Percy rode on Chiron's back, but they didn't talk much, especially not about Kronos. I knew it had been difficult for Chiron to tell him. Percy didn't want to push him with more questions. I mean, Kronos wasn't exactly the kind of dad you invited to school for career day.
When we got to camp, the centaurs were anxious to meet Dionysus. They'd heard he threw some really wild parties, but they were disappointed. Dionysus was in no mood to celebrate as the whole camp gathered at the top of Half-Blood Hill.
The camp had been through a hard two weeks. The arts and crafts cabin had been burned to the ground from an attack by a Draco Aionius (which as near as I could figure was Latin for "really-big-lizard-with-breath-that-blows-stuff-up"). The Big House's rooms were overflowing with wounded. The kids in the Apollo cabin, who were the best healers, had been working overtime performing first aid. Will went into help them as soon as we arrived. Everybody looked weary and battered as we crowded around Thalia's tree.
The moment Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece over the lowest bough, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from gray to liquid silver. A cool breeze rustled in the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way into the valley. Everything came into sharper focus—the glow of the fireflies down in the woods, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach.
Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.
Everybody cheered. It was happening slowly, but there could be no doubt—the Fleece's magic was seeping into the tree, filling it with new power and expelling the poison.
Chiron ordered a twenty-four/seven guard duty on the hilltop, at least until he could find an appropriate monster to protect the Fleece. He said he'd place an ad in Olympus Weekly right away.
In the meantime, Clarisse was carried on her cabin mates' shoulder down to the amphitheater, where she was honored with a laurel wreath and a lot of celebrating around the campfire.
Nobody gave Annabeth, Percy, Will, Toothless or me a second look. It was as if we'd never left. In a way, I guess that was the best thank-you anyone could give us, because if they admitted we'd snuck out of camp to do the quest, they'd have to expel us. I didn't care about not being given any attention, but everyone else deserved it, especially more than Clarisse, who almost got us fucking killed more than once.
Later that night, as we were roasting s'mores and listening to the Stoll brothers tell us a ghost story about an evil king who was eaten alive by demonic breakfast pastries, Clarisse shoved Percy from behind and whispered in his ear, "Just because you were cool one time, Jackson, don't think you're off the hook with Ares. I'm still waiting for the right opportunity to pulverize you."
Percy gave her a grudging smile.
"What?" she demanded.
"Nothing," he said. "Just good to be home."
I smiled too. Yeah, it was good to be back.
The next morning, after the party ponies headed back to Florida, Chiron made a surprise announcement: the chariot races would go ahead as scheduled. We'd all figured they were history now that Tantalus was gone, but completing them did feel like the right thing to do, especially now that Chiron was back and the camp was safe.
Tyson wasn't too keen on the idea of getting back in a chariot after our first experience, but he was happy to let Percy team up with Annabeth. He would drive, Annabeth would defend, and Tyson would act as their pit crew. While Percy worked with the horses, Tyson fixed up Athena's chariot and added a whole bunch of special modifications that we weren't allowed to know about or even help with.
I decided to go ahead and team up with Will again and not back out this time. The circumstances were certainly much better now than the last time. And there was definitely no one I'd much rather lose it to than Annabeth and Percy, which Will knew. But that still didn't mean I would go easy on them. Like many things about me and Annabeth, we were competitive with each other.
We spent the next two days training like crazy. Annabeth and Percy and Will and I agreed that if we won, the prize of no chores for the rest of the month would be split between our two cabins. Since Athena had more campers, they would get most of the time off if Annabeth and Percy won, while it would be about even since Apollo has more campers. Either way, Athena cabin would win something from either of us winning. I didn't care about the prize. I just wanted to win.
The night before the races, Percy, Toothless, and I stayed late at the stables. I wish I could've used Toothless instead of the horses, but that was unfair to everyone else.
"It's going to be an interesting day tomorrow," I said.
"You're going down," Percy told me.
I smirked. "We'll see about that."
I gave him a playful push against his shoulder with mine.
We were talking to our horses, giving them one final brushing, when somebody right behind us said, "Fine animal, horses. Wish I'd thought of them."
A middle-aged guy in a postal carrier outfit was leaning against the stable door. He was slim, with curly black hair under his white pith helmet, and he had a mailbag slung over his shoulder.
"Hermes?" Percy and I stammered.
"Hello, Jasmine, Percy. Didn't recognize me without the jogging clothes?"
"Uh . . ." Percy replied. "Oh, listen, Lord Hermes, about Luke . . ."
Hermes arched his eyebrows.
"Uh, we saw him, all right," Percy said, "but—"
"You weren't able to talk sense into him?"
"Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death."
"I see. You tried the diplomatic approach."
I suppose that was the gods way of being "diplomat".
"I'm really sorry," Percy told him. "I mean, you gave us those awesome gifts and everything. And I know you wanted Luke to come back. But . . . he's turned bad. Really bad. He said he feels like you abandoned him."
He did, I thought, but I knew better than to say.
We waited for Hermes to get angry. Now I'm glad I was here. I figured he'd turn Percy into a hamster or something, and there was no way I was going to let that happen. I had the ability to counterattack him if I needed to, and I hope he already knew that.
But instead, Hermes just sighed. "Do you ever feel your father abandoned you, Percy?"
Oh, boy. I pretty much already knew the answer to that question. It's a common thing among the demigods in camp. Especially for ones who haven't been claimed yet. The major thing I didn't share in common with anyone here.
I know Percy met his father for the first time last summer, which is more than most of the demigods here have been able to do. And with Tyson being claimed as his brother and Percy being made fun of because of it . . . I can tell Percy wasn't too happy about that either.
I looked at him, trying to read his expression. He was angry. I read his mind a bit to understand why: Like every child, he wanted his father to notice him.
Hermes readjusted the mailbag on his shoulder. "Percy, the hardest part about being a god is that you must often act indirectly, especially when it comes to your own children. If we were to intervene every time our children had a problem . . . well, that would only create more problems and more resentment. But I believe if you give it some thought, you will see that Poseidon has been paying attention to you. He has answered your prayers. I can only hope that some day, Luke may realize the same about me. Whether you feel like you succeeded or not, you reminded Luke who he was. You spoke to him."
"I tried to kill him," Percy said.
Hermes shrugged. "Families are messy. Immortal families are eternally messy. Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we're related, for better or worse . . . and try to keep the maiming and killing to a minimum."
It didn't sound like much of a recipe for the perfect family. But I knew Hermes was right. I had a feeling Percy did too. Poseidon had sent the hippocampi to help us. He'd given Percy powers over the sea that he had never known about before. And there was Tyson. Poseidon brought them together on purpose. He saved Percy's life many times already this summer.
In the distance, the conch horn sounded, signaling curfew.
"You two should get to bed," Hermes said. "I've helped you get into quite enough trouble this summer already. I really only came to make this delivery."
"A delivery?" Percy and I both asked.
"I am the messenger of the gods." He took an electronic signature pad from his mailbag and handed it to Percy. "Sign there, please."
He picked up the stylus and apparently didn't realize it was entwined with a pair of tiny green snakes. "Ah!" He dropped the pad.
Ouch, said George.
Really, Percy, Martha scolded. Would you want to be dropped on the floor of a horse stable?
"Oh, uh, sorry." He didn't seem to like touching snakes, I don't either, but he picked up the pad and the stylus again. Martha and George wriggled under his fingers, forming a kind of pencil grip.
Did you bring me a rat? George asked.
"No . . ." Percy said. "Uh, we didn't find any."
What about a guinea pig?
I clenched my teeth to keep from busting out.
George! Martha chided. Don't tease the boy.
Percy signed his name and gave the pad back to Hermes.
In exchange, he handed him a sea-blue envelope.
His fingers trembled. Even before he opened it, we both could tell it was from his father. I could sense his power in the cool blue paper, as if the envelope itself had been folded out of an ocean wave.
"Good luck tomorrow," Hermes said. "Fine team of horses you both have there, though you'll excuse me if I root for the Hermes cabin."
"Of course," I agreed.
And don't be too discouraged when you read it, dear, Martha told Percy. He does have your interests at heart.
"What do you mean?" Percy asked.
Don't mind her, George said. And next time, remember, snakes work for tips.
"Enough, you two," Hermes said. "Good-bye, Percy and Jasmine. For now."
Small white wings sprouted from his pith helmet. He began to glow, and I knew enough about the gods to avert my eyes before he revealed his true divine form. Percy did the same. With a brilliant white flash he was gone, and Percy and I were alone with the horses.
Percy stared at the envelope in his hands. It was addressed in strong but elegant handwriting.
Percy Jackson
c/o Camp Half-Blood
Farm Road 3.141
Long Island, New York 11954
An actual letter from his father. Maybe he would tell him he'd done a good job getting the Fleece. He'd explain about Tyson, or apologize for not talking to him sooner. There were so many things that I'm sure Percy wanted that letter to say.
He looked at me for encouragement. I nodded and put a comforting hand on his shoulder to let him that I was there for him. I always would be.
He opened the envelope and unfolded the paper.
Two simple words were printed in the middle of the page:
Brace Yourself
Annabeth's POV
I was standing in a dark room, not sure where I was.
There was a faint light coming from a lamp on the ceiling. A few feet to my left, I noticed cage bars separating half the room. There was a growling sound coming from the other side and two yellow eyes appearing out. I couldn't make out exactly what it was, but I was glad I was on the other side.
To my right, at the other end of the room, there was light coming out from the slit at the bottom of a door. I noticed chains attached to a wall with handcuffs at the other end of them. And someone was in those handcuffs.
It was the girl that helped us escape when we first stowed away on the Princess Andromeda a few weeks ago. I remembered Luke calling her Cia. As grateful as I was for her help, I was still confused as to why she helped us in the first place.
She was sitting on the floor, facing the wall and leaning her head against it. She looked bored for the most part, but unharmed. So far, anyway. She turned toward the creature behind the bars and glared at him, as if she was saying, "I dare you to try and eat me." The creature glared back at her.
I think I understood what was going on: I was on the Princess Andromeda, most likely on the first or second deck. This is probably where Luke wanted Oreius to take us, to be fed to the Aethiopian drakon, before Cia had intervened. Now she was being given her punishment for doing so.
The door opened and the light coming from it brightened the room. Luke and Chris Rodriguez—whom was holding a foot-long sword with . . . oven mitts? And the blade of it covered with a cloth—entered through it. Chris closed the door behind them as Luke walked up to Cia, looking better after being hit with an arrow boxing glove twice and falling into the pool in Miami.
"You look happy to see me," Luke said.
"I'm thrilled," Cia responded sarcastically. "I heard a lot of knocking above. Did you fail again?"
"Nothing we can't recover from."
"In other words, yes, because otherwise, you wouldn't be here so soon to celebrate your victory."
"Well, if I thought I could rely on you, we may not have."
"Aww. Do you rely on me that much? I'm touched." She laughed. "I wish I could've watched you get beat up."
Luke lunged at her and grabbed her arm, forcing her against the wall.
"I do not appreciate spies for the gods," he told her.
"And yet you have your own," Cia remarked.
"So you admit it."
"I am not a spy."
"Really? Then do you dare explain why you helped those stowaways escape?"
She stayed silent and continued to glare at him.
"Very well."
He let go of her arm and walked away from her toward Chris.
"So what are you going to do to me?" Cia asked. "Feed me to him like I stopped you from doing to them?" She gestured toward the drakon behind the bars, who was watching her while licking her lips.
"No," Luke answered her. "That would be too easy. You deserve something more severe. More permanent."
"What do you have in mind?"
He smiled in a way that even made Cia look concerned for herself.
"Lord Kronos wanted me to do something to remind you who's side you're on." He eyed the sword Chris was holding. "I think this will do well."
"A sword?" Cia asked in disbelief. "Come on. Even I thought you could come up with something more creative."
Luke smirked. "Like this?"
He unsheathed his sword, Backbiter, from its sheath on his side and before Cia could react lunged at her and brought it down. She screamed and instinctively turned away. I had to turn away too.
When I turned back, Cia wasn't harmed. Her back was to Luke. She looked over her shoulder to see that she also was not hurt. However, her shirt was cut in half, exposing her bare back.
Luke sheathed his sword and walked up to her. He ran his hands across her back toward the remnants of her shirt and slid the rest of it down her sleeves, making her top-half completely bare. She shivered against his touch. I was shivering watching the whole thing unfold before my very eyes.
"Chris," Luke called. "Bring it here."
Chris walked over to Luke and handed him the one-foot sword. When Luke grabbed onto the hilt and pulled the cloth from the blade off, it was glowing a faint red, as if it had just come out of the forge but wasn't put into water to cool it. It probably was.
"I hope you learn from this," Luke whispered into her ear. "And remember who's side you're really on every time you feel this, see it, and remember receiving it."
"Receiving what?" Cia asked.
In response to her question, he took a step back and drove the blade into her left shoulder.
She screamed in agony.
I could hardly watch as he appeared to be carving something into her back, she screaming with every movement, and me begging him to stop with tears streaming down my face. But I wasn't really there. Nobody could see or hear me. I could only watch this horrific thing unfold and being unable to stop it.
It felt like forever before Luke finally put the sword down and took a step back, wiping the sweat from his forehead away with his arm.
Cia slid down to the floor against the wall, shivering. She was crying and panting. There was way too much blood on her back for me to be able to make out what Luke did exactly. But I doubt it mattered. The damage was done.
"Leave her here for the night," Luke told Chris. "Wash her down tomorrow."
He nodded in understanding.
"You won't forget this," Luke whispered in Cia's ear. "I've made sure of it. Don't betray us again, or who knows what I will do next. I'm sure you don't want to find out." He stood up and looked at the drakon. "Not today, buddy."
He and Chris left the room, leaving Cia to sob from the injury he had inflicted upon her.
I didn't know what to do. I wanted to run over to her and look over her wounds. Comfort her. Do something to assist her. But as I already mentioned, I wasn't really there.
I watched helplessly as Cia continued to sob into the night.
I woke with a start. It was the middle of the night. Everyone was still asleep in the cabin.
I looked across over at Jasmine, but she was sound asleep. At least one of us seemed to have a peaceful dream.
I didn't want to wake her up, but I had to tell her. Toothless, however, was awoken by me. He raised his head and looked at me quizzically, as if asking if I was ok. I shook my head. He flew up from Jasmine's pillow and onto my lap, rubbing his head against my body. He was definitely Jasmine's dragon. But I was grateful for the comfort.
I couldn't go back to sleep. I wouldn't. Not after seeing that. I relaxed back on my bed as much as I could, with Toothless in my arms. I stayed awake the rest of the night, my eyes not even daring to try to close.
When morning came and it was time for the cabins to get ready for breakfast, Jasmine looked across at me from her bed and knew immediately something was wrong, especially since Toothless was in my bed, which he's never done before. And I was usually the first one out of my bed. "What happened?"
"Nightmare," was all I could say.
She understood. "Hey, guys, do you think you can leave me to talk to Annabeth alone? Tell Chiron we may be late for breakfast."
They nodded. They finished getting ready and headed on out, leaving us behind to talk.
Jasmine sat down on my bed and put her hand on my shoulder. "What happened?"
I sat up on the bed but did my best to keep the blankets around me. "It's too horrible to explain."
"Can you show me?" she asked.
"No! I don't want to watch it again."
"Watch what?"
"Luke . . . He . . ."
Jasmine's eyes narrowed. "What did he do?"
"I . . . I can't . . ."
"Then show me!"
"No, Jasmine. I would, but not if I have to see it again."
"What if I set my powers to not allow to see anything?"
"Can you?"
"Maybe."
"That's reassuring."
"Well, I'm willing to at least try."
"You don't want to see it, Jasmine."
"Perhaps not, given the way you're acting. But I need to know what happened, especially about Luke."
I hesitated for a moment, but nodded.
"You probably won't see or hear anything until it ends," Jasmine warned me. "It'll be like you're in solitary confinement."
"That's fine," I said. "I'd much rather be in solitary confinement than watch that ever again. Even less, listen to it."
"Ok."
She touched my forehead and closed her eyes. I closed mine as well. There was a dark silence for some time. I couldn't see, hear, or move anything.
When it finally ended and Jasmine pulled her hand away from my head, I could open my eyes again. She looked like she had looked into the depths of Tartarus. I probably did too. Toothless jumped onto her head and waved his tail in her face, but she didn't react to it.
"Oh my God," she finally said, a tear streaking down her face.
"I know," I agreed.
She stood up from the bed and walked toward the door.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"What do you think?" she said. "I'm going to check on her."
"Are you crazy, Jasmine?" I pushed the covers off me quickly and grabbed onto her arm before she could even touch the doorknob. "You can't go on that ship! Who knows what Luke would do to you."
"I can't just stand here and watch that and not see if she's ok!"
"She's definitely not ok. But you can't risk yourself to save her from something that's already been done."
"I can save her from more happening to her."
"We don't even know her. Why she's there, fighting alongside the Titans."
"Does it matter?! She did help us escape."
"And leaves us with more questions as to why."
"I can't believe Luke would do that. Did you see the way he touched her?"
"Yeah."
We both shivered at the memory of it.
"Did you think he was going to . . . ?" Jasmine asked.
"Kind of," I admitted. "I couldn't tell what he actually did to her."
"I couldn't either. Based on the way he was moving that sword, he was doing something specific, but with all the blood, I couldn't make out what. What do you think he'd do to me if he caught me?"
"Nothing, because you're not going."
Toothless nodded in agreement.
"Annabeth, she needs help," Jasmine insisted.
"Not for the sake of your freedom," I said.
She sighed. "Well, I guess Emily and my grandmother go there. I could ask them to check on her."
"Yes, do that. Don't risk yourself."
She crossed her arms. "Fine."
"Good. We need to get ready for the chariot race. We'll talk more about this later."
"And since you won't let me go help her, I'm going to take you down."
"Because of that?"
"Yes. You know how I hate not being able to help, and you're not letting me. Therefore, I'm taking you out."
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."
We finished getting dressed and ready and headed on our way.
I could still see Luke carving into Cia's bare skin every time I closed my eyes.
Everybody was buzzing about the chariot race, though they kept glancing nervously toward the sky like they expected to see Stymphalian birds gathering. None did. It was a beautiful summer day with blue sky and plenty of sunshine. The camp had started to look the way it should look: the meadows were green and lush; the white columns gleamed on the Greek buildings; dryads played happily in the woods.
Percy, on the other hand, looked miserable. I wasn't sure how much sleep he'd gotten, if any at all, like me. Even Jasmine looked concerned. She probably knew why, as she sat with him at breakfast. She always seemed to know everything, or was determined to always find out what. I was considering telling Percy about my dream, but I wasn't sure if that would be a good idea or not. He did seem to pull himself together for the race, though.
As he and I drove onto the track, I couldn't help admiring the work Tyson had done on the Athena chariot. The carriage gleamed with bronze reinforcements. The wheels were realigned with magical suspension so we gilded along with hardly a bump. The rigging for the horses was so perfectly balanced that the team turned at the slightest tug of the reins.
Tyson had also made us two javelins, each with three buttons on the shaft. The first button primed the javelin to explode on impact, releasing razor wire that would tangle and shred an opponent's wheels. The second button produced a blunt (but still very painful) bronze spearhead designed to knock a driver out of his carriage. The third button brought up a grappling hook that could be used to lock onto an enemy's chariot or push it away.
I figured we were as good as we were going to be for the race, but Tyson still warned us to be careful. The other chariot teams had plenty of tricks up their togas. I was really only worried about Jasmine and Will.
Tyson had pulled Percy aside just before the race. They stood out of earshot, so I couldn't hear what they were saying. But I did notice Tyson handing something small to Percy, though I couldn't make out what it was.
Chiron was at the starting line, ready to blow the conch.
I didn't want to interrupt them, but I didn't want to be late either. "Percy! Come on!"
He said one last thing to Tyson and climbed on board the chariot and got into position just as Chiron blew the starting signal.
The horses knew what to do. We shot down the track so fast I would've fallen out if I wasn't holding on tight to the rail. Percy's arms were wrapped in the leather reins. The wheels glided beautifully. We took the first turn a full chariot-length ahead of Clarisse, who was busy trying to fight off a javelin attack from the Stoll brothers in the Hermes chariot.
"We've got 'em!" Percy yelled, but he spoke too soon.
"Incoming!" I yelled. I threw my first javelin in grappling hook mode, knocking away a lead-weighted net that would have entangled us both. Jasmine and Will had come up on our flank. Before I could rearm myself, Jasmine threw a javelin into our right wheel. The javelin shattered, but not before snapping some of our spokes. Our chariot lurched and wobbled. I was sure the wheel would collapse altogether, but we somehow kept going.
Percy urged the horses to keep up the speed. We were now neck and neck with Jasmine and Will. Hephaestus was coming up close behind. Ares and Hermes were falling behind, riding side by side as Clarisse went sword-on-javelin with Connor Stoll.
If we took one more hit to our wheel, I knew we would capsize.
"You're ours!" Will yelled. He sure was confident. I blame Jasmine for that.
"Yeah, right!" I yelled back.
I picked up my second javelin—a real risk considering we still had one full lap to go, but they deserved it—and threw it at Will.
My aim was perfect. The javelin grew a heavy spear point just as it caught Will in the chest, knocking him against Jasmine and sending them both toppling out of their chariot in a backward somersault. The horses felt the reins go slack and went crazy, riding straight for the crowd. Campers scrambled for cover as the horses leaped the corner of the bleachers and the golden chariot flipped over. The horses galloped back toward their stable, dragging the upside-down chariot behind them.
I laughed. Even if we didn't win, being able to do that to Jasmine without even much of a fight was enough of a victory for me.
Percy held our own chariot together through the second turn, despite the groaning of the right wheel. We passed the starting line and thundered into our final lap.
The axle creaked and moaned. The wobbling wheel was making us lose speed, even though the horses were responding to his every command, running like a well-oiled machine.
The Hephaestus team was still gaining.
Beckendorf grinned as he pressed a button on his command console. Steel cables shot out of the front of his mechanical horses, wrapping around our back rail. Our chariot shuddered as Beckendorf's winch system started working—pulling us backward while Beckendorf pulled himself forward.
"Damn him," I cursed and drew my knife. I hacked at the cables but they were too thick. "Can't cut them!"
The Hephaestus chariot was now dangerously close, their horses about to trample us underfoot.
"Switch with me!" Percy told me. "Take the reins!"
"But—"
"Trust me!"
I pulled myself to the front and grabbed the reins. Percy turned, trying hard to keep my footing, and uncapped Riptide.
He slashed down and the cables snapped like kite string. Stupid sword. We lurched forward, but Beckendorf's driver just swung his chariot to our left and pulled up next to us. Beckendorf drew his sword. He slashed at me, and Percy parried the blade away.
We were coming up on our last turn. We'd never make it. We needed to disable the Hephaestus chariot and get it out of the way. Just because Beckendorf was a nice guy didn't mean he wouldn't send us both to the infirmary if we let our guard down.
We were neck and neck now, Clarisse coming up from behind, making up for lost time.
"See ya, Percy!" Beckendorf yelled. "Here's a little parting gift!"
He threw a leather pouch into our chariot. It stuck to the floor immediately and began billowing green smoke.
"Greek fire!" I yelled.
Percy cursed. We'd both heard stories about what Greek fire could do. I figured we had maybe ten seconds before it exploded.
"Get rid of it!" I shouted, but I knew he couldn't. Hephaestus's chariot was still alongside, waiting until the last second to make sure their little present blew up. Beckendorf was keeping Percy busy with his sword. If he let his guard down long enough to deal with the Greek fire, I would probably get sliced and we'd crash anyway. Percy tried to kick the leather pouch away with his foot, but he couldn't. It was stuck fast.
I needed to think of a plan and fast.
Then, for some reason, Percy punched the stopwatch button on his wristwatch, which I didn't realize he had until that moment. Instantly, the watch changed. It expanded, the metal rim spiraling outward like an old-fashioned camera shutter, a leather strap wrapping around his forearm until he was holding a round war shield four feet wide, the inside soft leather, the outside polished bronze engraved with designs I didn't have time to examine.
That must've been what Tyson gave him just before the race. He had come through. Percy raised the shield, and Beckendorf's sword clanged against it. His blade shattered.
"What?" he shouted. "How—"
He didn't have time to say more because Percy knocked him in the chest with his new shield and sent him flying out of his chariot, tumbling in the dirt.
He was about to use Riptide to slash at the driver when I noticed the Greek fire was shooting sparks. "Percy!"
He shoved the tip of his sword under the leather pouch and flipped it up like a spatula. The firebomb dislodged and flew into the Hephaestus chariot at the driver's feet. He yelped.
In a split second the driver made the right choice: he dove out of the chariot, which careened away and exploded in green flames. The metal horses seemed to short-circuit. They turned and dragged the burning wreckage back toward Clarisse and the Stoll brothers, who had to swerve to avoid it.
I pulled the reins for that last turn. Percy held on. I was sure we would capsize, but somehow I brought us through and spurred the horses across the finish line. The crowd roared.
Once the chariot stopped, our friends mobbed us. They started chanting our names, even Jasmine—whom was covered in dirt but didn't seem to care at the moment that I was even the one that did that her—gave us both a big hug, but I yelled over the noise: "Hold up! Listen! It wasn't just us!"
The crowd didn't want to be quiet, but I made myself heard: "We couldn't have done it without somebody else! We couldn't have won this race or gotten the Fleece or saved Grover or anything! We owe our lives to Tyson, Percy's . . ."
"Brother!" Percy said, loud enough for everybody to hear. "Tyson, my baby brother."
Tyson blushed. The crowd cheered. I planted a kiss on his cheek. The roaring got a lot louder after that.
I couldn't help it. We both learned something during this quest. I just know Jasmine's not going to let this go for a while. She gave Percy a big hug, nothing special, probably because Will was present.
The entire Athena cabin lifted me and Percy and Tyson onto their shoulders and carried us toward the winner's platform, where Chiron was waiting to bestow the laurel wreaths.
I didn't realize until I came to post this chapter that it's been over a year since the last time I updated this story . . . Boy, do I have a lot of catching up to do. Happy New Year's, everyone! And like I guessed last chapter, last year was not that great. But, alas, I'm going to try, try again this year.
I am really going to try and update this story more often, and I have already written a couple new chapters. I'm getting closer and closer to the parts that I really believe I'm going to enjoy writing more, and that should hopefully motivate me to want to write more. But I can't promise anything more than that I'm going to try.
So for now, what did you guys think about this chapter? And the twist that I put into it?
Please review, and please check out my Discord server! at discord . gg / bMFV9g6 (no spaces). Make sure you let me know who you are!
