anti hero - percy jackson ²

vii. bacchus

"every piece of ice will eventually break."

Leo's definition of close needed a bit—and by a bit, she means a lot—of work.

After trudging about half a mile through hot fields, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and whacked in the face with scratchy sunflowers, they finally reached the road. An old billboard for Bubba's Gas 'n' Grub indicated that they were still forty miles from the first Topeka exit.

"Correct my math" Percy said, "but doesn't that mean we have eight miles to walk?"

Jason peered both ways down the deserted road. "No cars..." He said. "But I guess we wouldn't want to hitchhike."

"No" Piper agreed, gazing nervously down the highway. "We've already spent too much time going overland. The Earth is Gaea's territory."

"Hmm..." Jason snapped his fingers. "I can call a friend for a ride."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Oh, yeah? Me too. Let's see whose friend gets here first."

"Twenty bucks on Percy" Cassandra said, nudging Piper's arm with her elbow.

"I'm not encouraging this" Piper muttered, shaking her head.

"And no one asked you to" The blonde reminded her, shooting her a forced smile. "I was simply trying to include you, because apparently I'm too mean to you."

Piper scoffed, and rolled her eyes.

Jason whistled. Cassandra knew what he was trying to do, but he'd only succeeded in summoning Tempest—his storm spirit horse—three times since the Wolf House. And plus, the sky was so blue today that she didn't know how that was supposed to work.

Percy simply closed his eyes had concentrated, obviously summoning Blackjack.

She could see Piper gazing critically at him, but she chose to ignore it.

Thunder crackled in the clear sky.

Jason smiled. "Soon."

"Too late." Percy pointed east, where a black winged shape was spiraling toward them.

"A black pegasus?" Piper said. "Never seen one like that."

The winged stallion came in for a landing. He trotted over to Percy and nuzzled his face, nudged Cassandra's shoulder with his snout, then turned inquisitively toward Piper and Jason.

"Blackjack," Percy said, "this is Piper and Jason. They're friends."

The horse nickered.

"Uh, maybe later" Percy answered.

"What does Blackjack want?" Piper asked.

"Donuts" Percy said. Cassandra smiled, shaking her head slightly. "Always donuts. He can carry all four of us if—"

Suddenly the air turned cold and Cassandra's ears popped. About fifty yards away, a miniature cyclone three stories tall tore across the tops of the sunflowers almost like a scene from The Wizard of Oz. It touched down on the road next to Jason and took the form of a horse—a misty steed with lightning flickering through its body.

"Tempest" Jason said, grinning broadly. "Long time, my friend."

The storm spirit reared and whinnied. Blackjack backed up skittishly.

"Easy, boy" Percy said. "He's a friend too." He gave Jason a grudgingly impressed look. "Nice ride, Grace."

Jason shrugged. "I made friends with him during our fight at the Wolf House. He's a free spirit, literally, but once in a while he agrees to help me."