Percy Jackson: Daughter of Shadows

13. The Chariot Race Ends. (Dam it, Percy!)

"LILLY!  WHY THE HADES DID YOU LEAVE?!", was the warm welcome I received from a majority of the campers. "Whoa, whoa, calm down! What's the problem?" Michael Yew and the Stoll twins from the Hermes and Apollo cabins made their way to the front of the group. "We were terrified! You leave with Percy and Annabeth, along with a Cyclops in the middle of the night and you expect us not to panic?! You are literally the only one here that scares Mr. D!" Travis Stoll yelled, but Michael covered his mouth. "Tantalus made camp a living hell, so naturally everyone panicked a bit when we couldn't find you. By the way, Dionysus is waiting for you at the Big House" Viktor came up behind me. "Why?" "You'll see. It's for Lilly, mostly." 

  We got up to the Big House, Chiron behind us. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Clarisse, Tyson, and Polyphemus were handling the crowd at Thalia's tree. Dionysus was standing on the porch, Diet Coke in hand. "Ah, Lilac Bloom-" "Lilly Black" "Whatever. For your bravery and slight stupidity, I have a little present for you" He opened the doors and dragged Tantalus out. "Why-" "I assumed you'd want to pummel him before he went back to the Underworld. Unless if you don't wish t-" I slapped Tantalus around the face. "Thanks. Now if you don't want to be on the receiving end of this, I suggest you run off and find me a very large coffee. I am tired, and I have shit to do" Mr. D gulped and ran off to the dining pavilion. "Now, which bone of yours shall I break first?" I asked Tantalus. He whimpered. "Have mercy on a poor old man? Zeus wouldn't app-" I held up a very nasty symbol to the sky, causing lightning to ripple across it. It fizzled and died. "I don't think Zeus cares very much about what happens to someone he asked to be killed two thousand years ago. So, let's start with the arms then, shall we? A little memento to Pelops, perhaps?" Tantalus's screams of pain would not be forgotten at Camp Half-Blood.

  I sat next to Clarisse and Percy that night at the campfire, sticking a marshmallow into the fire. Clarisse had placed the Fleece on the tree in the afternoon, and Polyphemus was guarding it at the moment. "Don't worry about me" he had told Chiron when he volunteered. "I've been doing this for the last thousand years, not going to be a problem now" "Hey" Percy said. "Hey" The marshmallow caught fire. "How are you doing?" Percy shook his head. "I don't know" I nudged him. "That's normal" He rested his head on my shoulder. "What was it like? You know, the first time?" "Which first time?" "When you first went on one of your paid quests?" I laughed. "That one is actually one of my favorites" Clarisse looked surprised. "Why?" "It was the first time I thought being a demigod was a good thing" I sat back, pulling the marshmallow off the stick. "My first quest was to get to Ancient Greece and get Apollo's horses back. They had been stolen by a couple of demons, not a very easy enemy for a nine-year-old. Viktor went with me, and we hopped on a boat to get there. They were hiding in a temple of Zeus, ironic, considering how this is about to go" What happened?" asked Connor Stoll, who had started to pay attention. All of the campers were staring at me. Even Chiron and Dionysus were mildly intrigued. I passed the coffee mug Dionysus had given me earlier. "Go refill this, Travis. And someone get us some hot chocolate or something" Travis took the mug and ran off. "Now, where was I? Ah, right. So, Viktor and I were in the temple, waiting for the demons to show..." 

  The next morning, I woke up on the swinging couch on my cabin's porch. "Hey" Viktor said, coming up the steps. "What happened last night?" "Well, after you finished that one story about Ganymede and the drinking contest against him, Dionysus challenged you to a spiced nectar contest, what with you being underage and all. Quite stupidly, in my opinion, you agreed. Long story short, Polyphemus and Clarisse had to drag you back here, you were wasted. If it helps" He set a tray of chocolate chip pancakes and next to me. "You won" "Psh, I knew that. Got anything to drink?" He smirked and headed inside. "Viktor..." He came back out, carrying something behind his back. "What did you do?" "Well, you can't be the only one who gets to break rules, so I may or may not have snuck out last night" He pulled a Chick-fill-a milkshake from behind him. "Viktor! You didn't!" "Hey, when we first came to camp, you literally slaughtered a hoard of hellhounds and sassed your way into getting your own cabin. I can sneak out to get you a milkshake" I took a sip. "Caramel?" "Yeah, I tried to get you the peach one, but-" I kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Vik. Gods" I slumped back. "I miss this" "I know. Oh, by the way" He sat down next to me. "The chariot race is going to go on as planned" "Really?" "Yeah" "Have you-" He laughed. "It's already done. Come check it out."