𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Back To Camp & Chariot Race

The night before the race, Grayson and I went for a walk. He told me about all the crazy things that happened in my absence and we laughed at the funny parts.

"Oh," he said, suddenly. "That reminds me. I got claimed."

My eyes widened. "Really? By whom?"

"You'll never believe it," he spoke dramatically, waving his hands around.

"Just tell me," I urged.

"Persephone."

I stopped dead in my tracks (Hehe dead. Get it?).

"Persephone?" I asked him. "The goddess of springtime and vegetation? Queen of the Underworld and wife of Hades?"

"Yes."

"How? She doesn't have demigod children."

Grayson shrugged. "Dunno. It does kind of explain why my eyes are one brown one blue."

I tilted my head. "Yeah."

There was a comfortable silence.

"Let's play Twenty Questions," suggested Grayson.

"Ooh," I said. "Yes, let's."

"Alright, I'll start. What's your favourite colour?"

I tilted my head, deep in thought. "Y/f/c. My turn. Do you like Pineapple on Pizza?"

"I'd rather shove my tongue on a car door than eat a Pizza with Pineapples on it. My turn. What's the most ridiculous fact you know?"

I thought for a moment. I let out a hum of realization before saying, "It's impossible to hum while holding your nose."

"Really?" asked Grayson. He pinched his nose while trying to hum, but it only came out as a welp. He looked at me, incredulously.

"My turn," I said eagerly. "If your five-year-old self suddenly found themselves inhabiting your current body, what would your five-year-old self do first?"

"I'd either see if I can run faster or I'd look at a mirror."

"Maybe you are a child of Aphrodite."

"I saw the Pomegranate hologram above my head."

"Maybe it was a heart and you looked at it the wrong way."

"We both know when a child of Aphrodite gets claimed they get a makeover and a dove appears above their heads."

"Worth a shot. Oh and by the way, I'll beat your ass tomorrow."

Grayson scoffed. "Cute, you think you have a chance."

"Wanna bet?"

"Loser buys winner five sour patch kids pack and a Skittles pack?"

"Deal."

I extended my hand out for him to shake. With a smirk, Grayson shook my hand.

"You're going down, Hunter."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Martin."

~

The next morning, everybody was buzzing about the chariot race, though they kept glancing nervously toward the sky like they expected to see Stymphalian birds gathering. None did. It was a beautiful summer day with a blue sky and plenty of sunshine. The camp had started to look the way it should look: the meadows were green and lush; the white columns gleamed on the Greek buildings; dryads played happily in the woods. 

As Percy and I drove onto the track, I couldn't help admiring the work Tyson had done on the Artemis chariot. The carriage gleamed with bronze reinforcements. The wheels were realigned with magical suspension so we glided along with hardly a bump. The rigging for the horses was so perfectly balanced that the team turned at the slightest tug of the reins.