I found myself looking at Sydney. She was wearing lime green armor (which made me want to cover my eyes and run in circles, screaming). Her shoulder-length, ash blond hair was hanging out of her repulsive helmet.

She opened her mouth and was about to scream for someone when I, sensing the obvious, grabbed her, covered her mouth, and pushed her into the thick part of the forest. I turned to her.

"Not a word about where I am, understand?" I said in a very business-like tone.

She nodded and flipped her hair.

I rolled my eyes and got ready to sprint for the flag. Annabeth had almost all the guards except one on her trail. I would have to beat the last guard, but that would be okay.

I bolted out into the less dense trees and straight for the flag. After I grabbed it from behind the last guard's back, he spun around. It was Vistra.

I flashed a smile. The next thing he knew, I was three feet away from the line. That's when Clarisse from the Ares cabin tripped me.

My ankle cracked under me. I sucked it up, grabbed the flag, and despite the growing pain in my ankle, long jumped across the stream. The Blue Team cheered and whistled. The Red Team moaned and turned on Vistra. I was on the ground, clutching my broken ankle. It hurt so much that a tear ran down my cheek.

Cody pushed his way through the people up to me.

"What happened?" he asked in a concerned sort of voice.

"Clarisse tripped me," I said with a frown.

"Here," he offered me his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. "Lean on my shoulder. I'll help take you to Chiron."

I tried to protest but eventually gave in. So, there I was, limping along, putting my arm on Cody's shoulder for support, walking in front of everyone. I heard some idiots wolf-whistling. I gave them my fiercest scowl.

We walked up to Chiron and he made me recount how I had hurt my ankle.

Afterwords, he gave me a piece of ambrosia and told me to eat it.

I tasted it and my mouth was met with the taste of fresh baked brownies, my favorite. My ankle instantly felt better.

I removed my arm from Cody and told Chiron, "Thanks. That really helped."

He smiled warmly.

Later that night, I remembered what Percy had asked me the day before. So, at lunch, I told Annabeth that Percy wanted her to go to the campfire with him.

She smiled and said, "Tell him that I say yes."

Directly after lunch, I told Percy that she said yes. His entire face lit up.

"Your welcome," I said.

"I want you to meet someone," he told me, leading me towards the pegasi stables.

Oh no, I told myself. He's going to make me meet a horse!

Despite what my mind was saying, I followed Percy to the stables. We stopped in front of a beautiful white pegasus.

"This," Percy told me, "is Selene. She's a pegasus."

Percy paused, looked at Selene, as if listening to her, and then laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked him.

"I can talk to horses," he smiled.

I cautiously went up to Selene. I've never really been around horses that much. And how different can riding a pegasus be?

Percy rudely interrupted my thoughts by saying, "She likes sugar cubes. You can also pet her, if you want."

For making me lose my train of thought, I glared at Percy. I reluctantly grabbed a handful of sugar cubes from a box on a table.

As I fed them to Selene, she seemed to smile at me. I had never known that pegasi could be human-like. I smiled back.

Percy said, again interrupting my thoughts, "She likes you. Wait until you ride her."

As if on cue, a bunch of Aphrodite campers walked in. I groaned. Sydney was in the lead.

Sydney told me, "Hi, Emma! These are, like, some of my, like, sisters! Wanna, like, meet them?"

No, I said in my mind. For some reason, "Yes," came out of my mouth.

Sydney squealed and clapped her hands.

One of the girls stepped forward. She seemed to be about seventeen or so. "I'm Silena," she told me nicely. I instantly liked her more than Sydney.

Another stepped forward. "Melissa," she said simply. She seemed to be around Annabeth's age.

A bold-looking one stepped forward next. "I'm Tiffany," she told me. She had to be younger than me.

The last stepped forward. She looked my age, and rather out-of-place. She wasn't as giggly or makeup-covered as the others. "I'm Michelle," she said with an awkward smile.

Sydney said, "We heard you, like, needed riding lessons."

I nodded.

Michelle told Sydney, "Syd, I'll help her. You guys go flirt with the Apollo cabin."

Everyone but Silena in the group clapped and squealed. Silena said, "I'll go on a walk in the woods with Beckendorf."

They cheered again and walked out. I found myself alone with Michelle.

"Sorry about them," Michelle told me.

I smiled and said, "It's okay. But who's Beckendorf?"

"Son of Hephaestus and Silena's boyfriend."

"Oh, okay."

"His real name's Charles."

I was surprised. "Then why doesn't anyone call him Charles or Charlie or something like that?" I asked.

Michelle shrugged. "No one knows. Anyway, I'll help you learn to ride a pegasus."

"Thanks."

She led Selene and a gray pegasus with black speckles out of the stable and into the forest. I followed close behind.

Michelle showed me how to mount Selene. Once I was on, Selene started rising in the air. I loosened my grip on her neck, not wanting to hurt the beautiful pegasus.

Michelle and the other were also rising. Michelle said to the pegasi, "Go."

The pegasi flapped their wings and started soaring in the sky. I felt better than I had in ages. I took my grip off of Selene and rode with no hands.

"This is great!" I told Michelle happily.

Michelle smiled too. I looked down from Selene and saw the rolling countryside. It was extremely beautiful. I was elated. I was truly flying in the sky on a flying horse!

Selene and the other pegasus coasted down to where we had started.

When we were leading the pegasi back, I told Michelle, "That felt great! I love flying!"

It was true. All my life, I had loved flying in airplanes. My dad used to travel a lot on business trips. He'd always take me with him, along with my step-mom. And to get there fastest, we'd use airplanes. Just the feeling that you're in midair always made me feel great.

I told Michelle, "Thanks for helping. I know nothing about horses. And even less about pegasi."

Michelle said, "No prob. You were great. I barely needed to tell you anything!"

I laughed. "I'm glad Sydney didn't take me. Between you and me, she's awfully annoying."

Michelle laughed along. "Most of my siblings are like that. I have no clue whatsoever why I'm not. I'm just not very interested in makeup, or clothes, or shopping. And I don't live to love. Do you think that's bad for a daughter of Aphrodite?"

"I don't know," I told her honestly.

Mr. D's voice rang out, saying, "Dinner time, useless demigods! Dinner time! Come sit down before I send the harpies!"

Not wanting to be food for something as awful as a harpy, Michelle and I rushed to dinner.