𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 | P. Jackson, A. Chase¹

11. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯

Nobody gave Annabeth or Percy a second look. It was as if they'd never left camp at all, and in some roundabout way, it was the best option. If anybody acknowledged that they snuck off for the quest, they'd have to be expelled. And honestly, Percy felt good just being a random camper for a little while.

Later that night, as they were roasting s'mores and listening to the Stoll brothers tell a ghost story about an evil king getting eaten alive by demonic breakfast pastries, Clarisse shoved Percy and whispered to him, "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."

He replied to her threat with a grudging smile.

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Percy responded. "Just good to be home."

🌣⸻➳⸻🌣

June 22, 2019

THE MORNING AFTER THAT, CHIRON ANNOUNCED THE CHARIOT RACES WERE TO CONTINUE, MUCH TO OLIVIA'S DISMAY.

The amount of people in the infirmary was going to go up for sure, death pigeons or not. Percy said that completing the races felt like the right thing to do, but Olivia felt like he was talking a whole lot for someone who was healed by Nestle water.

Tyson shared her sentiment on the chariot races, but was somehow convinced to be the pit crew for Percy and Annabeth, who were teaming up again. He fixed up Athena's chariot and added a new arsenal of features. Percy and Annabeth trained for two days while Alice and Olivia watched them. The deal was that if they won, the prize of no chores for the rest of the month would be split between the two cabins. Alice complained about how bored she was the entire time.

"You sound like your old man," Justin complained, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll strangle you," the daughter of Dionysus warned.

"Will you two losers shut up?" Olivia demanded.

"Whatever," they said in unison.

Now that the chariot race was here, everyone was talking about it relentlessly. They kept glancing nervously toward the sky like they expected to see Stymphalian birds gathering. Luckily, no birds interrupted the day this time. It was just 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, looking beautiful. he white columns gleamed on the Greek buildings and dryads played happily in the woods.

The Athena carriage gleamed with bronze reinforcements. The wheels were realigned with magical suspension, and the rigging for the horses was so perfectly balanced that the team turned at the slightest tug of the reins. Olivia had no choice but to admire Tyson's handiwork on it.

Olivia blew a kiss and waved to Percy and Annabeth when they looked up at her, while Alice chose to give Percy a middle finger.

"You act like you two are siblings, do you know that?" Aurora asked, sitting next to them.

"Don't let the twins hear you say that," Alice said, gesturing to her older brothers. "They'll get offended, and then they'll cry about it for the next week."

"She's not wrong," Olivia defended. "Why are you always out to get him?"

"Hey, you guys chose to befriend him," Alice shrugged. "I think he's a dingus. And maybe he's getting a little too cocky."