I Yell at My Horse

Percy was almost worried until he saw the massive wings extending from either side of the black stallion. Unfortunately, there were some pretty angry thoughts running through his head, after such a perfect moment being ruined. Blackjack must have picked up on his emotions through that weird mental link they shared, courtesy of Papa Poseidon.

"Geez, sorry boss. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything too important." Percy was mad for a grand total of about two and a half seconds before he got over it. Blackjack had saved his life too many times for him to stay angry. Besides, he wouldn't have interrupted unless it was important.

Percy reached out with his mind to talk to his horse. "Don't worry about it buddy. It's nothing. Is something wrong?" Whatever it was, Percy wanted to deal with it quickly so he could finish his picnic. Him and Annabeth were supposed to have the entire afternoon together, but it had only just started.

"It's your brother, boss. The one who's obsessed with peanut butter, who almost broke my boy Guido's back a while ago." Percy felt nervous immediately. Tyson was in trouble, and it was bad enough that the big guy couldn't deal with it on his own. It was a really troubling thought. "Sounds bad. Explain it to me on the way," Percy responded.

He turned to look at his date. "Tyson's in trouble, I've gotta go find him, make sure he's ok." Annabeth's face paled in reaction. Percy knew she had grown to care about his half-brother, even if she had been a bit apprehensive at first. She was just as worried as he was. "I'll go tell Chiron, tell him we might have a problem on our hands." Percy knew her reaction was just the typical Annabeth response mechanism. But it frustrated him. Not her, oh gods never her - but the situation was enough to drive him crazy.

"Annabeth, wait. I'm not going to let this ruin our afternoon. I'm going to be back soon. Then we can talk to Chiron about our idea." Annabeth looked back at him and smiled. "Our idea now? Take care of yourself, Seaweed Brain. Don't you go and die on me, I won't be able to get this little project of ours started without you." Percy had to smile, despite how anxious he was. "I'll be right back," he said, uncapping Riptide.

As Blackjack rose faster and faster into the clouds, straining to flap his long dark wings with urgency, Percy looked down to watch Annabeth stride to the Big House, her long blonde hair flowing as she ran. "Ok Blackjack, this better be good to have interrupted my date. How much trouble is Tyson in, on a scale from 1 to Tartarus?" Percy heard a strange noise coming from his mental connection with the horse - a high pitched neigh neigh neigh. He realized it must have been some sort of weird pegasi laughter.

"Yea well, you would know, wouldn't you boss? With that little trip you took." Percy could hear more of the laughter in the back of his mind. "Ha ha, you're real funny, ace," Percy responded sourly. "Just fill me in already." Blackjack paused for a moment. "What did you just call me, boss? Ace? I like that. I like that a lot." Percy's patience was shortening. "Blackjack-"

"Alright, alright, I'm gettin' there! So I was flyin' on home from seein' this real pretty lady horse, ya know? She lives in Boston, her names Nelly ya see, she lives in Boston. She's great, other than that whole Red Sox thing. So anyways-"

"Hold on, hold on," Percy interrupted. He could get over the fact that Blackjack was dating a horse named Nelly, a name so painfully obvious it was almost physically hurt to think about. But a Red Sox fan? No. This wasn't allowed. He didn't care that it made no sense for a horse to follow baseball. He'd seen plenty of strange things in his life, this wouldn't even crack the top twenty. But a Long Island pegasus seeing a Sox fan? No. It was quite simply unnatural. This isn't how the world was supposed to work.

"You mean to tell me you're dating a female horse named Nelly who cheers for the Red Sox?" Blackjack seemed nervous about where this was going. "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it dating exactly, but-"

"Blackjack, you're not getting any donuts from me for the rest of the summer. And I'm going to do my best to make sure no one else at Camp Half-Blood gives you any either." Blackjack gave a lough neighhhhhhh aloud in protest. "But boss!" Percy's anger was ebbing, and he knew he'd have to give up this talk (at least for a little while) so that he could find out about Tyson. But he had to add one more thing.

"I wouldn't have cared if you told me you went to Boston for just about anyone else. Another guy pegasus, heck even donkeys are ok in my book. You do you. I don't judge. But you never….I mean….a RED SOX fan, Blackjack? What was going through your head?" Alright, he had to reel himself in before he really lost it. He didn't want to cause a hurricane and flood all of Long Island. "Just tell me what happened with Tyson so we can help him and go home!" Blackjack's head was hung in shame by now.

"Well….after I visited Nelly, I was on my way home. Flew over Gardiner's Bay, just like I always do when I come back from seeing her. Typically I try to come back at sunset. It's a real nice view as-"

"Try to stay on topic, Blackjack," Percy reminded him. They didn't have time to spare. "Right, right, sorry boss. Anyhow, as I'm flying over Gardiner's Bay I see this massive snake-lookin' thing sliding just below the surface, toward this mortal ship. But then I realized it wasn't no mortal ship. It was this big white yacht, which is why it caught my attention. I noticed the name. The Princess Andromeda."

"No, it can't be. I….I destroyed that ship. Beckendorf, he…" Percy had to stop. The memory made him angry and emotional every time he thought about it. "Don't worry boss, it wasn't the same one," Blackjack said. "It had a bunch of girls on board, except for two guys. One of them was your big friend Tyson. The other was that scary dude - what's his name? Angles, or something?

"Wait….you mean Nico?" Percy was really worried now. He owed that kid a lot. If he was in trouble with Tyson... and who were these girls Blackjack mentioned? The Amazons, maybe? Percy thought it might be the Hunters, but it wasn't possible. They were off scouting for recruits in Canada. He would have to figure it out later. He realized Gardiner's Bay was right below them - gods, his horse was fast. "Alright Blackjack...take me down."