Chapter 4: Thalia Torches New England
Everyone turned to look at Thalia who had gone very red and was groaning.
"This just had to be in here."
"Of course it did." Percy smirked. "This was hilarious."
"No it was not." Grover muttered.
"It kinda was." Nico agreed with Percy.
"Why is Thalia torching New England?" Annabeth asked. She hadn't heard this story. Given by Thalia's reaction it was embarrassing so nobody had dared to mention it.
"I assume it has something to do with my sun chariot." Apollo said in amusement. His car was certainly hot enough to do such a thing though he couldn't imagine letting a demigod drive it, even if she was technically his half-sister.
Artemis assured us that dawn was coming, but you could've 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 were missing yet.
"Probably not." Connor shrugged. "The party probably went on for ages."
"The Hunters used the mist to sort things out anyway." Thalia told him.
I didn't want to be around when they did. With my luck, the only name Mrs. Gottschalk would remember was "Percy Jackson," and then I'd be the subject of a nationwide manhunt… again.
A few people chuckled.
"That is the way your luck seems to go." Poseidon sighed.
"It would have been pretty funny." Thalia smirked.
"No it wouldn't." Grover stated firmly. It stressed him out when Percy was the subject of a manhunt.
The Hunters broke camp as quickly as they'd set it up. I stood shivering in the snow (unlike the Hunters, who didn't seem to feel at all uncomfortable),
"Magical clothing." Thalia told him smugly.
"Maybe, if we work with the Athena cabin, we can come up with something like that for demigods." Beckendorf mused.
"It's definitely something to look into." Annabeth agreed.
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 couldn't help thinking how selfish it was of her, abandoning her brother like that.
Quite a few people nodded in agreement. Nico felt slightly warm at their defense of him. He wasn't even sure if some of the people nodding even liked him, like Clarisse. Then a small part of him felt bad for thinking so badly of his sister, especially as she was gone but he shut that part down. He had every right to feel abandoned and a little bitter. Just as she had the right to make that choice, no matter how much it hurt 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."
"Understatement." Travis muttered. Chiron sighed. He very much hoped that now Thalia was the Lieutenant of Artemis this rivalry between the two groups would die down.
"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 Zoe's fault. That stuck-up, no good—"
Thalia suddenly looked guilty. "I didn't mean that. Zoe might be kinda stuck up but she's a good person." Nico frowned in disagreement but said nothing out loud. He knew Zoe was the one who had wanted his sister to go on the quest, despite the fact that she had had no training whatsoever.
"Who can blame her?" Grover said. "Eternity with Artemis?" He heaved a big sigh.
Grover went red as a few people chuckled.
Thalia rolled her eyes. "You satyrs. You're all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?"
"They are not in love with her." Aphrodite scoffed. "They are merely attracted to her because, with Pan missing, she's the Goddess most closely associated with protecting nature. It's obsession, not love."
Artemis rolled her eyes.
"But she's so… into nature," Grover swooned. "You're nuts," said Thalia.
Grover was now hiding his face in his hands as the laughter increased.
"Nuts and berries," Grover said dreamily. "Yeah." Finally, the sky began to lighten. Artemis muttered, "About time. He's so-o-o lazy during the winter."
"You're just as lazy in the summer sis." Apollo said with a smirk. Artemis rolled her eyes but didn't deign to reply.
"You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" I asked. "For my brother. Yes." I didn't want to be rude. I mean, I knew the legends about Apollo—or sometimes Helios—driving a big sun chariot across the sky. But I also knew that the sun was really a star about a zillion miles away. I'd gotten used to some of the Greek myths being true, but still… I didn't see how Apollo could drive the sun.
"Don't mix science and Godly stuff. It'll give you a headache." Beckendorf advised. "Plus, a lot of the science stuff is wrong anyway."
"It's still weird." Percy shrugged.
"There is a star in the location mortals think the sun is in but it's just a physical representation. A regular star. The actual 'sun' is my chariot which brings the daylight and heat." Apollo explained.
"That's no less confusing." Leo said.
"It makes perfect sense." Will told him.
"It would to you. He's your dad."
"It's not exactly as you think," Artemis said, like she was reading my mind. "Oh, okay." I started to relax. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a—"
"Pulling a what?" Apollo asked in amusement. Percy had a pretty wild imagination and he was curious what he thought would happen.
"Nothing." Percy went a little red.
"Aww, come on. I wanna know."
"Nope. Can't remember anyway."
"You're a horrible liar." Apollo told him but let the matter drop for now.
There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon. A blast of warmth. "Don't look," Artemis advised. "Not until he parks." Parks?
Apollo smirked.
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 of me. Then suddenly the light died. I looked. And I couldn't believe it. It was my car. Well, the car I wanted, anyway. A red convertible Maserati Spyder.
His smirk grew wider. Maybe he would reconsider his stance on demigods driving his chariot. A nice morning chariot ride with Percy sounded pretty cool.
It was so awesome it glowed.
Apollo burst out laughing. As did a few other people.
"That does explain why I glow." Apollo nodded smugly.
"I soon realised that's not why it was glowing." Percy told him flatly. Apollo pouted.
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 driver got out, smiling. He looked about seventeen or eighteen, and for a second, I had the uneasy feeling it was Luke, my old enemy.
Apollo's cheerful mood evaporated. Well that was not the good first impression he had hoped to make. He hoped it got better from there. At least Percy didn't seem uneasy around him now.
Hermes winced at the casual reference to his son as the enemy.
A few demigods looked at Apollo thoughtfully.
"Yeah. He kinda does." Annabeth said thoughtfully, having never noticed before.
"Nope." Will said firmly. He did not appreciate his dad being compared to him in any way, even something as harmless as looks.
This guy had the same sandy hair and outdoorsy good looks.
Apollo felt his good mood be restored slightly when Percy thought that he was good looking. Of course, he already knew he was good looking, but he was pleased Percy thought so too.
But it wasn't Luke. This guy was taller, with no scar on his face like Luke's. His smile was brighter and more playful. (Luke didn't do much more than scowl and sneer these days.)
Hermes sighed. Even when his son wasn't around in the book, he had to keep getting reminders that he had turned evil.
The Maserati driver wore jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt. "Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."
Apollo raised an eyebrow at his half-sister who had gone very red and was glaring at Percy. Percy and Grover were both laughing.
"You said it, not me." Percy told her, once he controlled himself enough so he could talk. Though, the first thought in his mind when that had been read out was 'she's not wrong'. Then he wondered where the Hades that thought had come from. Percy sneaked a glance up at the God sitting next to him. He certainly was handsome, not that Percy would ever tell him that. His ego was big enough already.
Annabeth and Jason were both wondering if it had something to do with the fact that he looked like Luke. Both of them suspected that Thalia had had a crush on Luke. Annabeth was certain that his fall to evil was why her friend had joined the Hunters, not just because of the prophecy. She had considered the same thing herself, especially with Percy so oblivious. In the end she hadn't because she had hoped Percy would feel the same way she did, and acknowledge that fact someday.
"He's the sun god," I said.
Several people face palmed. Apollo sighed. Well, Percy being oblivious may work in his favour. He was well aware of Percy's many suitors, even if the young man himself was not.
"I don't think that's what she meant." Silena laughed.
"No but it does explain a lot." Rachel muttered.
"That's not what I meant." "Little sister!" Apollo called. If his teeth were any whiter, he could've blinded us without the sun car. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"
Artemis rolled her eyes.
"You worry too much." She told her brother. He sighed. Was it so wrong to want to protect his sister? She certainly seemed to think so. Yet he had done so all his life, pretty much from when he was born and had killed Python.
Artemis sighed. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister." "Hey, I was born first." "We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue—"
"I helped mother with birthing you. Obviously I am older." Artemis rolled her eyes once more. Apollo smirked at her. It was easy to wind her up.
"So what's up?" he interrupted. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"
"No they do not." Artemis said through gritted teeth.
"Ah, some extra tips never hurt." Apollo grinned widely.
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."
"I still don't think this is a good idea." Apollo told her.
"I agree with Apollo." Athena spoke up.
"Well, there is not a lot I can do about it now." Artemis reminded them both.
"Sure, sis!" Then he raised his hands in a stop everything gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on." The Hunters all groaned.
"What's wrong with my poetry?" Apollo pouted.
"Err, nothing Apollo." Percy told him soothingly before he could start spouting poetry to prove how 'wonderful' it was. "They obviously just don't appreciate you." Apollo nodded.
"That is true." He turned back to the reading and all the Greek campers nodded at Percy in thanks. Will especially did not want to have to tell his dad how awful his poems were.
Apparently they'd 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.
"The last line was only four syllables." Will told his father, unable to help himself.
"That's your biggest concern with that poem?" Chris leaned over to whisper to Will. Will bit back a chuckle.
"You get used to it." He replied.
"Oh yes." Apollo frowned to himself, having missed the whispered conversation.
"You corrected yourself." Nico said quickly before Apollo could come up with something else.
"That last line was only four syllables," Artemis said. Apollo frowned. "Was it?" "Yes. What about I am so big-headed?"
A few people chuckled.
"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." He started muttering to himself. Zoe 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'd had to hear one more poem that started with, There once was a goddess from Sparta—"
"I like Sparta." Ares put in randomly.
"Yeah. Better Haikus than Limericks." Will nodded.
"You don't like my Limericks?" Apollo asked his son.
"They weren't your best work." Will admitted slowly. Apollo frowned. He would have to think up some more good ones.
"I've got it!" Apollo announced. "I am so awesome. That's five syllables!" He bowed, looking very pleased with himself.
"But big-headed is far more accurate." Percy laughed.
"Hey!" The God protested.
"It's true. You keep constantly going on about how awesome you are."
"But I am." Apollo pouted.
"Sure." Percy said sarcastically.
"See, you admitted it!"
"I was being sarcastic!"
"You were just using sarcasm to make me think you don't mean it when you really do." Apollo told him triumphantly. Percy rolled his eyes.
"Totally. That's what I was doing." He said with even more sarcasm.
"Glad you agree."
"I didn't…"
"Will you both be quiet." Poseidon interrupted. Percy and Apollo both stopped talking. "Better." The sea God sighed gratefully. Annabeth, Rachel and Nico were all staring at the pair with matching frowns.
"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's see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."
"I suspect all of us would have." Artemis stated. "It's not often one of father's children basically comes back to life."
"Or any demigod really." Hermes pointed out.
Thalia blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Thalia who glared back.
"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half-sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time—"
"Yes. I do hate that." Apollo said darkly. His heart may have recovered enough to make jokes but he would always miss Daphne. And Hyacinthus. He had sworn never to fall in love with another mortal after that. Not truly anyway. He had brief flings, which resulted in his demigod kids, but he had never been drawn to anyone the way he had those two. Until now. He definitely was not in love with Percy but there was something about him and Apollo knew that falling in love with him would be dangerously easy.
"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."
"Good catch." Annabeth told him with a laugh.
"I'm impressed you bothered at all." Thalia said. Triton frowned. His half-brother was disrespectful to the Gods? How was his still alive?
"I do try to be respectful." Percy protested. "When I know they are a God and their Aura isn't affecting me." He glanced at Dionysus and Ares. "I was perfectly polite to Uncle Hades."
Persephone blinked in surprise. Not only had the boy been polite to her husband, he also openly called him 'Uncle'. Hades caught her surprised expression and nodded.
"He is certainly unusual." He murmured to her.
It seemed weird calling me a teenager 'sir,' but I'd learned to be careful with immortals. They tended to get offended easily. Then they blew stuff up.
"Ah, I wouldn't blow you up for not calling me 'sir'." Apollo told him with a smile.
"Well, I wasn't sure back then." Percy shrugged.
"Better safe than sorry." Hermes nodded.
Apollo studied me, but he didn't say anything, which I found a little creepy.
Apollo frowned. He wondered why he didn't even say hi to Percy. Maybe he had a vague notion the prophecy was about Percy, regardless of Thalia being back. That would explain his behaviour. He hoped he liked Percy in the future, though he couldn't imagine not liking him.
"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.
"Useful." Will grinned.
"I give rides to Arty's Hunters sometimes so I need to be able to fit quite a few in." Apollo explained.
"Don't call me Arty!"
"Right," he said. "Everybody in." Zoe ordered the Hunters to start loading. She picked up her camping pack, and Apollo said, "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that."
"Don't flirt with my Hunters!" Artemis growled in exasperation.
"Sorry." Apollo smirked, clearly not sorry in the slightest.
Zoe 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."
"Some things will never change." Demeter sighed.
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!"
"I should know better. He can't help messing around." Artemis sighed.
"You've gotta have some fun in life." Hermes shrugged.
"Exactly." Connor agreed. "Life's not fun if you don't mess around."
"There are appropriate times to mess around and times where it is inappropriate." Katie said firmly.
"So you admit there are times for messing around?" Travis grinned gleefully. Katie winced and didn't reply.
"No, no! I never mess around."
A few of the Gods snorted.
Artemis rolled her eyes, then looked at us. "I will see you by winter solstice. Zoe, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do." Zoe 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 scowled at the floor. He wished his sister would have trusted him and let him go with her.
Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?"
"You're letting one of them drive?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You never let anyone drive your chariot."
"I know." Apollo frowned. "I don't know why I would."
The Hunters piled into the van. They all crammed into the back so they'd be as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of us highly infectious males,
A few people laughed while Silena and Aphrodite rolled their eyes.
Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang in the front with us, which seemed cold to me,
Nico was glad it wasn't only him who thought that.
"Seriously?" Will scowled. "She's just joined some girls only group and will be soon going off without Nico and she can't even be bothered to sit with him for one car ride?"
"She probably just wanted to get to know the group she will be spending her future with." Reyna offered. She agreed with Percy. It was cold of Bianca to do that but it was the only thing she could think of.
but Nico didn't seem to mind.
Nico sighed. At least he hid it well. He had minded. Quite a lot. But he knew there was no point bringing it up.
"This is so cool!" Nico said, jumping up and down in the driver's seat.
Percy grinned as Nico went bright red once again. Nico's blush wasn't helped by Will cooing about how adorable he was.
"I hate these books." Nico grumbled.
"Join the club." Percy told him dryly.
"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 couldn't 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."
The Romans all winced a little. They hadn't really thought about that.
"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.
"Really? That's where that came from?" Will asked curiously.
"Probably." Apollo shrugged. "She certainly said it enough."
Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're 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's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun… err, 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's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?"
"Yep." Will nodded.
"No." Said most of the rest of the room. A lot of the demigods struggled to mix their Godly half and their mortal half, especially when it came to things like that. They usually just tried not to think about it.
Nico shook his head. "No."
"I'll explain it later." Will told him.
"That's quite alright." Nico said. He did not want to sit through a lecture on that again. The one in the book was enough.
"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."
"Too furry to drive?" Beckendorf asked.
"Don't want goat fur all over my seat." Apollo shrugged.
"Or you had someone specific in mind." Hermes muttered.
He looked past me and focused on Thalia. "Daughter of Zeus!" he said. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."
"Or not." Grover mumbled.
"Definitely not." Percy agreed.
"Never again." Nico stated, although he had thought it great fun at the time.
"Oh shut up." Thalia stuck her tongue out at all of them in turn. Apollo raised an eyebrow. Was Thalia not a good driver? Maybe he should just keep to his rule about nobody but him driving.
"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'd 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 at her, she seemed somewhere in between. The best Chiron could figure, she had kept aging while in tree form, but much more slowly.
"That's weird." Leo said.
"Tell me about it." Thalia complained.
Apollo tapped his finger to his lips. "You're fifteen, almost sixteen." "How do you know that?" "Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff. You'll turn sixteen in about a week."
The Gods all exchanged looks. They wondered if Kronos had somehow known how old Thalia was when he planned to bring her back.
Zeus also realised that his daughter must become a Hunter at some point in this story as it happened less than a week later. He wondered what drove her to that decision. Why would she not want to be the one who saved Olympus?
"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 going to say," Apollo said. "You don't deserve an honor like driving the sun chariot."
"I doubt that's what she was going to say." Dionysus rolled his eyes.
"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 I trained. You're Zeus's daughter. He's not going to blast you out of the sky."
"You really said that with Percy standing right there? A son of Poseidon." Artemis rolled her eyes at her brother.
"Oh. I didn't even think of that." Apollo winced. He hoped nothing had gone wrong because he had forgotten Percy wasn't supposed to fly.
"He would be protected because he is in your domain." Athena told Apollo. He nodded.
"But still, hearing about someone being blasted out of the sky in your chariot was not comforting." Percy added.
"Sorry." Apollo said.
Apollo laughed good-naturedly. The rest of us didn't join him. Thalia tried to protest, but Apollo was absolutely 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 isn't that different than reading forward). I was pretty sure it said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER.
"Well that warning was definitely necessary." Grover muttered.
"Take it away!" Apollo told Thalia. "You're gonna be a natural!"
"Seriously? Not only are you letting a mortal drive your chariot, it's a mortal who has never driven anything before?" Poseidon glared at his nephew. His son was in that car and if anything had gone wrong, he could have been hurt. Badly, knowing Percy's luck.
I'll admit I was jealous. I couldn't 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'd 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?
"Just a little." Will laughed. He was also feeling a little jealous. He would love to drive his dad's chariot.
"Driving is driving. Besides, I'm better than Thalia." Percy said.
"That's not hard." Nico muttered. Thalia glared at him and Percy. Everyone was now feeling a little apprehensive about how this ride would go. Obviously they all made it to Camp alive but still...
"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.
Zeus frowned at his daughter. He wondered why she was so against this.
"What's wrong?" I asked her. "Nothing," she said shakily. "N-nothing is wrong."
"Convincing." Annabeth said sarcastically.
"Shut up!"
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."
"At least you had a soft landing." Nico grumbled.
"I didn't." Grover complained.
"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'd taken off.
"Yep. Totally under control." Beckendorf remarked sarcastically.
"It didn't get any better." Percy told him.
"Thalia," I said, "lighten up on the accelerator." "I've got it, Percy," she said, gritting her teeth. But she kept it floored.
"For once, listen to Percy." Annabeth said.
"Maybe I shouldn't have let her drive." Apollo said sheepishly.
"Maybe?" Hermes raised an eyebrow.
"I wonder why she is so bad?" Athena frowned. Thalia grimaced. She did not want everyone finding out she was scared of heights. It was like the ultimate joke. Plus, she did not want to see her dad's reaction. Then she remembered Percy had realised her fear and she admitted it to him. Oh she was going to kill that boy!
"Loosen up," I told her. "I'm loose!" Thalia said. She was so stiff she looked like she was made out of plywood.
"So, very loose then." Leo joked.
"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.
A few people laughed.
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.
"Too high." Apollo winced.
"This was a terrible idea." Artemis scolded her brother.
"Yes. I see that now." He acknowledged.
"Ah…" Apollo said, and I got the feeling he was forcing himself to sound calm. "A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over."
"I heard about that." Rachel snickered. "It was on the news as freak weather."
"Yeah. I remember hearing something about Cape Cod weather being weird." Piper nodded.
"No freak weathers. Just a terrible driver." Percy laughed.
Thalia tilted the wheel. Her face was chalk white, her forehead beaded with sweat. Something was definitely wrong. I'd never seen her like this.
Zeus was concerned. It sounded like his daughter was frightened of something but he could not work out what it was.
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!"
"You're still letting her drive!?" Hephaestus asked in astonishment. "Not even Ares is this bad."
"I'm sure everything worked out." Apollo said, though his voice was a little concerned. Artemis would kill him if anything happened to any of her Hunters.
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 a 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.
"Apollo!" Now even Zeus was yelling at his son.
"Yep. Lesson learnt. Never let anyone else drive the chariot." Apollo nodded. Artemis scoffed and he grinned. Alright, he would at least check the next person could drive before he let them try.
"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 window that the fires in the town were being snuffed out by the sudden blast of cold.
"So it was just randomly either so hot stuff caught fire or freezing over." Jason looked at his sister in amusement. He recalled that she didn't like heights but he hadn't realised it was quite this bad.
"Yep. No middle ground with Thalia driving." Percy snickered.
"There!" Apollo pointed. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."
There was more laughter at this.
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."
"Clearly." Clarisse said sarcastically.
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 poor Naiads." Silena frowned.
"Poor us." Grover muttered.
"It was pretty funny when you guys crashed." Connor admitted with a grin.
"I was just glad to stop moving." Percy told him.
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's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"
"Love how casual you are about that." Will laughed at his dad.
"Chapter is over." Reyna announced.
"I think that makes it my turn." Piper said. Reyna gave her the book.
"I think we should take a break." Chiron stated before Piper could begin. Everyone nodded in agreement.
Poseidon wondered who to talk to first. He needed to have a conversation with Apollo, the one he had postponed when they had the evening off. But he also wanted a word with Chiron about why he really hadn't taught Percy about the mist. His choice was made for him when Chiron came over and asked for a quick work with Percy. The two left the room and Poseidon turned to his nephew.
"We need to speak." Apollo gulped but nodded. He followed the sea God out of the room and to his personal quarters. Apollo definitely did not want to have this conversation right now. Or at all really. Once they were inside, Poseidon shut the door and gestured for Apollo to sit down, which he did. However the sea God remained standing which made him a little nervous.
"So…" Apollo began, wanting to break the silence even if he didn't know what to say.
"What exactly are your intentions with my son?" Poseidon asked briskly, a stern expression on his face that made Apollo want to sink through the floor. He was an ancient God and here he was getting 'the talk' from a concerned father! About a guy he wasn't even dating!
"Err...intentions? Well, I mean...we're friends. I hope. Percy's a good kid. Plenty of fun. Quite funny too." Apollo said, rambling just a little. He shut up when Poseidon raised an eyebrow and gave him a look that quite clearly said 'do you think I'm stupid?'. He bit back a groan. "Oh, alright I like the guy." He admitted. Poseidon frowned.
"You have romantic interest in him? You are not just flirting for fun?" Apollo swallowed. He wasn't sure which answer would upset his uncle more.
"Umm, yes. I have some potential romantic interest in him." He made sure to stress the 'potential' part. No need to confess to more than he had to. Poseidon seemed unhappy enough as it was.
"Percy is fifteen." Poseidon stated grimly.
"Almost sixteen." Apollo put in without thinking. He regretted that. His uncle glared at him and he swallowed nervously, making a mental note to keep his mouth shut.
"Fifteen." He reiterated.
"I know how old he is." Apollo said grumpily. Well keeping his mouth shut didn't last long. Poseidon's glare intensified. But Apollo sighed. It was hard to forget Percy's age. The fact had been on his mind quite a lot in the past couple of days. "I said I liked him. Not that I was going to do anything about it."
"Oh yes. You're not going to do anything about it. That's why you've been almost constantly flirting with him." Poseidon said sarcastically.
"Hey, you know that's just my nature. I can't help it." Apollo complained. Poseidon sighed. He knew Apollo would not have admitted anything if he was not already deadly serious, no matter how casual he tried to act. He also knew that when his nephew loved, he loved deeply but he was still concerned for both Apollo and Percy.
He worried that Apollo was already far beyond merely liking Percy and if Poseidon allowed this to continue, and his son did not return the God's feelings, then his nephew would end up heartbroken. And that never ended well for anybody. A heartbroken Apollo was a very dangerous Apollo. Also, he could already sense Percy's feelings towards the Gods in general were not particularly positive and, while he did seem very friendly with Apollo, Poseidon doubted he would return the God's feelings. There was also the matter of Percy's age although he would not stay fifteen forever. Plus, Poseidon didn't really want to think about his son dating. Like ever.
On the other hand, if he did allow Apollo to continue his attempts to eventually date Percy then it was likely that one day his son would become immortal. And he selfishly wanted to keep his son forever. Not to mention, if Percy were immortal, Poseidon could stop worrying about him as much. It seemed like once Percy was born in this time, he wouldn't have time for anything other than worrying about Percy, the boy was so prone to finding the worst kinds of trouble. There was also the bonus that, if they were dating, Percy would have another God protecting him, besides Poseidon himself. Apollo would allow no harm to come to those he loved and Percy could use all the protection he could get. Provided his son did actually like Apollo in the same fashion. Judging by the books, his son had quite the crush on Athena's daughter. There were so many variables and ways it could go wrong. Still, Poseidon figured that Percy should at least be allowed the choice.
"I will not forbid you from attempting to court Percy." Poseidon said slowly and Apollo's face lit up. Yes. His nephew was far beyond merely liking Percy. "However, obviously this is Percy's choice anyway but should he choose, at any point, to enter a relationship with you there will be rules." He glared at Apollo to make sure he understood. "And very serious consequences for breaking them."
"Understood. Thank you, Uncle." Apollo smiled, gratitude plain on his face.
And, I will be watching you." He added, resisting the urge to smirk at the nervous look that flashed across his nephew's face. Apollo nodded. That was better, far better than he had expected. The sea God nodded to him and he knew he was dismissed. Making his way out of the room, Apollo began thinking. He had some planning to do.
Chiron and Percy started walking around the gardens. Percy wondered why Chiron wanted to speak with him. He couldn't think of anything he had done wrong recently.
"Percy, I owe you an apology." The Centaur let out a regretful sigh.
"What?" Percy frowned in confusion.
"It seems I owe you a few actually. However, I had not realised it bothered you this much that I had not taught you how to manipulate the mist." Percy groaned inwardly. He hated these stupid books.
"It's fine. I don't mind anymore." He protested. Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Ok, so I was wondering why but…" He trailed off. What could he say. He hadn't thought about it in a while but these books were bringing up a lot of his old insecurities.
"There are a few reasons." Chiron told him. "Firstly, I have been a teacher for a long time, Percy. I have watched many great heroes die too young. Sometimes the only way to stay sane is the way the Gods take, to keep some distance. To not get attached. This is harder for me because to train you, I have to be around. I cannot be absent like they are. So, when I realised you were likely to be the child of the prophecy, I thought there was a fairly good chance you would not live past sixteen."
"So does the prophecy say something about me dying?" Percy asked. Chiron grimaced.
"I suspect the full prophecy will come up in these books but yes, there is a line about a death. Who's is not definite." The Centaur admitted. Percy frowned. Despite what Chiron said about it not being definite, it sounded like he thought it did mean Percy. Plus, that would fit with him seeing the Fates back when he was twelve. Great. Once they got back to their time, he had about two weeks left to live. "Add in the fact that the last child of the Big Three did not even make it to Camp, I suspected you would have a short life as much as I wished otherwise. So I kept my distance. I allowed my fear to get in the way of my teaching and for that I apologise as well."
Percy thought about it. If he knew someone was going to die in a couple of years would he do the same thing? Would he not want to get close to them? But then, it was different for Chiron. He had been watching people die for millennia.
"That doesn't explain why you then taught Thalia but not me once she became a Hunter." Percy pointed out.
"No. But it is part of the reason. I allowed my fear to cloud my judgement. But, in addition to that, children of Poseidon have never had much success at using the mist. It requires a lot of focus and concentration of which they have even less than most demigods because of the ever-changing nature of the sea. You've already seen how your changeable nature can make you more or less susceptible to magic. Your emotions help you break spells put on you but in instances where you do not have strong emotions, you are weaker than others." Chiron explained.
"Yeah. I got that." Percy nodded. His dad had already explained some of this and the other stuff he had worked out from the reading.
"So, there is a distinct possibility you may never be able to manipulate the mist at all. I did not want you to get caught up in trying to learn one ability and neglect your other training."
"I wouldn't…" Percy began.
"It is already clear you do not like failing." Chiron said with an amused smile. "You would have insisted on continuing to try until you achieved your goal. An admirable quality but if it stopped you practising your sword play, or other vital skills…" He trailed off but Percy got the picture. And he knew Chiron was right. "However, I did not want to have to tell you that you might be unable to learn so I avoided the topic altogether. I see now that was not my best idea." Percy nodded.
He could sort of see where Chiron was coming from. If he mentioned it and told Percy he might never be able to learn, Percy would want to prove him wrong. If Chiron had started teaching him and he sucked at it, he would feel even worse about himself, and about Thalia being able to do it, plus he would then have tried even harder to learn. Which might well have led to him not doing other training. Or doing something else like skipping sleep. On the other hand, what if he was able to control the mist? It would have come in super useful in a lot of situations.
"I do understand." Percy said slowly. "But I'd like to try and learn. To see if I can do it." Chiron nodded.
"I will teach you what I can. Although I suggest having different lessons from the others. I suspect you do not wish the others to be watching, should you be unable to control the mist." He suspected the other campers would tease Percy and he had more than enough self-esteem issues going on. It still upset Chiron that he had not noticed before, even if he was keeping his distance.
"Yeah." Percy nodded. He did not want Thalia watching him fail completely. He'd never hear the end of it. Although, she had been weirdly nice and sensitive since they had arrived here. She didn't tease him anywhere nearly as much as there wasn't the slight edge there had always been.
"Right. I suspect you wish to go and find some food before we resume reading." Chiron said with a knowing smile. Percy nodded eagerly. Before he left, he turned around and hugged the Centaur. Despite a few issues, he knew Chiron would always have his best interests at heart and Percy could never express enough how much it meant to him. Chiron looked so taken aback that Percy almost laughed at his expression but after a few seconds he hugged him back. Then Percy let go and ran off towards the dining hall, leaving a slightly bemused Centaur standing in the gardens.
After another hour, everyone made their way back to the throne room and took up their previous seats. Percy noted that Apollo looked quite pleased about something and his dad was clearly lost in thought.
"You defeated a Fury and the Minotaur with no training?" Triton asked in astonishment. Those who had arrived late had started catching up on the books. It was going a lot quicker for them because there were far fewer interruptions. They had each been given a copy of the book so they could read separately which also sped up the process.
"Err, yeah." Percy nodded. Triton was studying him curiously, though there was less of the disdain than there had been.
"Impressive." He said grudgingly.
"Percy is the best." Tyson grinned toothily.
"Thanks, Ty." Percy grinned back.
"Ok, everyone settled?" Piper asked as she picked the book back up and turned to the proper page. Everyone nodded.
A/N: Decided to upload another chapter because I wanted to.