Legends, Percy Jackson

vi. say hello to the sun (and be severely disappointed).

"So you're waiting for your brother, right? Apollo?"

She nodded. "Yes." The moon goddess rolled her eyes. "He's ever so lazy during wintertime. Always rushing around."

"Um, okay," said Nina. "Anyways. He's the sun god, right? So he's going to drive his sun chariot over to meet us?"

"Correct," Artemis agreed. "He'll take you to camp in it. The chariots have a very nice view," she remarked mildly.

     "I bet. Apollo drives his sun chariot over the sky and stuff. But you're the moon goddess, so shouldn't you have been driving your moon chariot across the night sky all this time?"

     Artemis turned to face her fully. "Well, I have been, actually." Nina frowned, because . . . what? "We gods can split our essence into fragments. We can literally be in two places at once, doing multiple things at once." She gestured over to the moon sinking into the newly golden horizon, and Nina was shocked to see a flash of silver gleam from the full moon's distant surface. Perhaps a fragment of Artemis was waving at her. Artemis━the one who stood beside her━watched as Nina's eyes lit up in amazement. The goddess smiled. "You're a very curious girl, Nina."

     Nina looked back at her, blinking as if she was vaguely realizing that there were, in fact, two Artemis's at once. She cocked her head to the side at the comment, considering it.

     "This is a very curious world, I'd like to know as much as I can," she decided.

     The sky brightened further, and Nina could now see the sun glittering in her line of sight. Soon enough, her fellow half-bloods (because she was a . . . half-blood. Right), the ones that weren't Hunters━though some of the Hunt had gathered around Artemis protectively as Percy, Grover, and Nico joined━had joined them watching the sun greet the clouds.

     "About time," Artemis grumbled irritably.

     "You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" Percy asked her.

     "For my brother," Artemis agreed. "Yes." She did that thing again where she read people's minds. "It's not exactly as you think," she told Percy. Nina made a mental note to ask about that later.

     "Oh, okay," said Percy. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a━"

     The sunlight in the distance burst into flames and sped towards them at the speed of . . . well, light. The group was shrouded in a blast of warmth.

     "Don't look," Artemis suggested. "Not until he parks."

     Nina gratefully took this advice. She wanted to ask why, but she figured she could save that question for Apollo himself. The heat intensified so fiercely that Nina's dress and jacket (because she still hadn't changed) were melting off her body. Her mary janes felt glued to the ground. The light was blinding, even through her eyelids, turning the skin she saw a bright red.

     When the light died very abruptly, Nina hesitated for only a moment before looking. In front of her was parked a red convertible Maserati Spyder, which was so cool, first of all, and secondly, it was literally glowing, that was how hot it was. The snow around the car (or . . . chariot?) had melted in a perfect circle, so Nina was now standing on vibrant green grass (how was it so healthy, when the snow had been covering it all that time?) with sopping wet heels.