misplaced || l. valdez

5 || now we're flying- never mind no we aren't

° ~ •. ♆ chapter five ♆ .• ~ °
"now we're flying— never mind no we aren't

After a morning of storm spirits, goat men, talking horses, and flying friends, Mari was absolutely losing her mind. The flying chariot wasn't doing much to help.

She stood in the back of the chariot with Leo, Piper, and Jason, while the bald guy, Butch, handled the reins, and the blonde girl, Annabeth, adjusted a bronze navigation device. They rose over the Grand Canyon and headed east, icy wind ripping straight through her jacket. More storm clouds were gathering behind them.

The chariot lurched and bumped, and Mari felt even more sick than she did at the Grand Canyon. She got the feeling that she shouldn't be here, that she would fall out of the chariot or get struck out of the sky. Maybe they were good at hiding it, but everyone else looked fine, especially Jason. For someone with no memory, he seemed to be very calm despite the fact that they were riding in a literal chariot with flying horses, who Mari could still hear.

Meanwhile, Leo was being Leo. "This is so cool!" He spit a pegasus feather out of his mouth. "Where are we going?"

"A safe place," Annabeth said. "The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood."

"Half-Blood?" Piper was immediately on guard. "Is that some kind of bad joke?"

"She means we're demigods," Jason said. "Half god, half mortal."

Annabeth looked back. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Butch here is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess."

Leo choked. "Your mom is a rainbow goddess?"

"Got a problem with that?" Butch said.

"No, no," Leo said. "Rainbows. Very macho."

"Butch is our best equestrian," Annabeth said. "He gets along great with pegasi."

"Rainbows, ponies." Leo turned to Mari and made a face.

"I'm gonna toss you off the chariot."

"This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Leo whispered to Mari.

"Hey, wait a minute," Leo said. "Didn't you fall into that river? How are you already dry?"

Mari's eyes widened. She saw Annabeth stiffen at Leo's comment but she didn't say anything to either of them. Mari cleared her throat and tried to come up with a good excuse.

"Well, that was a while ago. All this wind probably—"

Lightning flashed and the chariot shuddered. Jason looked over and yelled "Left wheel's on fire!"

Mari stepped back. Sure enough, the wheel was burning, white flames lapping up the side of the chariot. The wind roared. Mari glanced behind them and saw dark shapes forming in the clouds, more storm spirits spiraling toward the chariot— except these looked more like horses than angels. And their language was... questionable, to say the least.

"Why are they—"

"Anemoi come in different shapes." Annabeth said. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. Hold on. This is going to get rough."