Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the American Incoming

Chapter One - Messenger

This left three chariots, the "girls" chariot, the Hermes chariot, and the Hermes/Apollo chariot. The all Hermes chariot was manned by Connor and Travis Stoll. They had managed to put their ancient faded green chariot back together, and as usual wore expressions that meant they were up to no good. Percy had his doubts that even they could beat Leo's tricks though. The Stoll's horses were an unassuming gray.

Then, the super girls team, called that due of need not to offend anybody. Rachel Elizabeth Dare was in the back, looking ready to fling prophecies at anyone who came within fifty feet of their chariot. Piper was at the reins, her face set, but more in determination not to cry than to win. Poor Piper. Jason had bailed yet again, dismissing the chariot races as frivolous and unimportant. Percy didn't think Jason was trying to be mean, at least, he was pretty sure, but couldn't he see how much Piper needed him to be there for her? Or how much everyone else needed him to shut up? Fortunately, the girls had done an incredible job on their chariot, even Annabeth was impressed. A sleek, mottled blue, with celestial chrome, (yes, that's a thing,) edges and designs set in intricate spiraling waves. Percy even spotted sapphires and emeralds along its crest, most likely gifts from Hazel. He had hoped Jason would see what hard work his girlfriend had put into her chariot, but unfortunately, he seemed to think supervising the harpies was more important.

The Hermes/Apollo chariot was even cooler than the Hades/Apollo one. This chariot was also green, but closer to an emerald green, with pineapple yellow undertones. The sides themselves had a swirling pattern like marble, so the green varied from yellower to bluer. The celestial chrome edges went over the top on this chariot, not in an overly French fancy way, but in an epically cool way. The edges were spiked in a pattern mimicking waves, but bent so no one would cut themselves on it. The spikes were inlaid with glass gems, and Percy spotted emeralds set in the gold and chrome band at the bottom, along with a lighter green stone Percy didn't recognize. It almost looked more like a work of art than a war chariot, but Percy had no doubt it would run just as fast as anyone else's. It was run by Alli, daughter of Apollo, and James Laverson, son of Hermes. Alli had recruited the horses pulling their chariot, two cranky colts that tried to bite most anyone who touched them, one chestnut, one bay. Alli was almost as good with horses as Hazel was, though she was never fully comfortable around Arion. Another thing she was not comfortable with was crowds. She wore a baseball cap low over her eyes, and the hood of her short-sleeved sweat jacket hunched up around her shoulders. James, on the other hand, had no problems with lots of loud people, he was dancing up and down, apparently too eager to stand still, and every fifteen seconds or so he would wave at someone in the crowd. Either that, or he had to pee really bad and he was waving down Hermes' flying porta potty. Percy couldn't tell which. I mean, why not? Hermes was the patron god of travelers, and a person has got to use the bathroom sometime, right?

Chiron stepped forward from the bleachers.

"Charioteers," he cried, "to your mark!"

Everyone steadied in their chariots, Alli was crouched so low she looked like she was trying to disappear.

"Aaannd..." he waved his hand, and the starting signal dropped. The chariots exploded into life.

Right away, there was a loud crack and a vengeful yell. Percy turned to see the Ares chariot stampeding drunkenly away while Leo grinned in victory. Or Nike, whichever way you want to put it. Even Calypso cracked a smile.

Hardly ten seconds later, another crack sounded, followed by a yelp. The Stoll brothers had been sadly mistaken in the notion that their traps could equal Leo's. Another Victory for Valdez.

Now he'd have Nikai, or as Leo put it, Nikettes.

Two chariots down, four to go.

The girls chariot was coming up hard on their right, (the track went to the left, so on the outside,) and Percy shifted his attention to them. He was originally surprised that Piper was the driver rather than the fighter, but after dating Annabeth, he really should have learned not to underestimate girls by now. Rachel was a whirlwind, how had she gotten so good! Since when did she join in during camp training sessions in the arena? Somehow staying perfectly steady on her chariot, while it was taking half Percy's concentration just to stand on his, she disarmed him in less than twenty seconds. Riptide flew away from his hand and disappeared into the dust clouds following the chariots.