The Winds Of Heaven (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

3. Three New Campers

After a morning of disturbing dreams, storm spirits, and flying demigods, Y/N wished he could go back to sleep. But a half-blood never rests.

Solve my problems? he thought. Bloody dreams.

He stood in the front of the chariot with Annabeth, who adjusted the bronze navigation device, and Ethan, who handled the reins, while Jason, Piper and Leo stood in the back. They rose over the Grand Canyon and headed east, icy wind ripping straight through Y/N's coat. He flicked his hand, and the wind changed to a light breeze. Behind them, more storm clouds were gathering.

The chariot lurched and bumped. It had no seat belts and the back was wide open, so Y/N wondered if the new guys would fall. Worse case, Jason would catch his girlfriend again—Y/N thought Piper was his girlfriend; no way he would've jumped in the void without any hesitation if she wasn't—and Leo. That had been the most disturbing part of the morning—that Jason could fly, and that he indubitably was the one Hera had told Y/N to find.

Though he was a bit annoying, Leo seemed to have fun. "This is so cool!" He spat 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 seemed offended. She looked half Cherokee, half white; she'd probably been called a half-blood before—and it hadn't been a compliment. "Is that some kind of bad joke?"

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

Y/N looked at him. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. Yes, demigods. Annabeth's mom is Athena, the goddess of wisdom. I'm the son of Hera, the goddess of marriage."

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

"I think she'd rather you say the marriage goddess," he said. "But yeah, she is. Got a problem with that?"

"No, no," Leo said. "You plan on becoming a priest and marrying couples?"

Ethan barked a laugh.

"I plan on tossing you off this chariot," Y/N warned. "Any other question?"

"How could Hera give you birth?" Jason asked. "She would've had to cheat on her husband."

"Same way she didn't need Zeus to get Hephaestus," Y/N explained, "she didn't need any mortal to get me."

A spark lighted in Jason's eyes. "But then—"

"It's complicated," Y/N said.

"Demigods," Piper said. "You mean you think you're . . . you think we're—"

Lightning flashed. The chariot shuddered, and Jason yelled, "Left wheel's on fire!"

Y/N turned. Sure enough, the wheel was burning, white flames lapping up the side of the chariot.

The wind roared. Y/N 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.

Piper started to say, "Why are they—"

"Anemoi come in different shapes," Annabeth said. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are."

"Hold on," Y/N said. "This is going to get rough."

Ethan flicked the reins. The pegasi put on a burst of speed, and the chariot blurred. Y/N's stomach crawled in his throat. His vision went black, and when it came back to normal, they were in a totally different place.

A cold gray ocean stretched out to the left. Snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. Directly below them was a green valley, like an island of springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north—Camp Half-Blood. Y/N saw the cluster of cabins, the Big House, the ball courts, the lake, and the lava climbing wall. But before he could sigh in relief at the sight of camp, the wheels came off the chariot and it dropped out of the sky.