𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄
𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔
❛ failures do not mean you
are one, it only asks
for improvement ❜
𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐒, 𝖂hen they arrived in Long Island, Aurora was still plagued by the questions in her head. She'd trusted name for some time now, keeping him company when he was left to his lonesome. He'd always felt . . . safe to the girl. Reminding her of her own father.
Speaking of her own father, with the summer coming to an end she couldn't wait to see him again. As she'd been on her quest, she hadn't had time to reach out to him—probably giving him a heart attack when he found Clarisse with the card he gave his daughter. Probably annoyed him a little too.
Pepper was likely on the other side of that long rant Aurora knew her father was likely giving. She knew her father too well, and he knew her too well too.
When they got to camp, the centaurs were anxious to meet Dionysus. They'd heard he threw some really wild parties, but they were disappointed. The wine god was in no mood to celebrate as the whole camp gathered at the top of Half-Blood Hill.
"Bummer, dude." One said to Auroras right. "It was partyyy time."
The minute Aurora took in the sight before her, her stomach dropped. So much so, she took a shaky step forward and almost fell to her knees in exhaustion.
Betta II, her creation for camp while she was away, had holographic cracks in its system. The sky around them surrounded in pieces of what once was the sphere around her home.
It didn't work, not like it was supposed to.
"No," she shook her head, completely in disbelief. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"
"Aurora," a voice called from behind her—Charles Beckendorf. "The system went down weeks ago, looks like . . . Something went wrong with the mainframe programming."
"Impossible," she cried. "I've created systems far more complex than this one since the age of four. I never go wrong with my programming!
"Look like you'll have to continue living in your daddy's shadow." She heard someone say behind her.
Her face burned hot with embarrassment. She knew she had time, she'd created dozens if not hundreds of intricate systems like it. There was no way it could've been wrongly programmed.
"Where is Beta II getting its energy source from?" The son of Hephaestus questioned.
"From my hub back in my . . . room."
"Aurora," Annabeth placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure this out later." She gestured towards Thalia tree and although Aurora wanted to bite back a snip, she knew better than to do it now. Now was time to heal Thalia's tree after everything they've been through to save it and camp.
Even if her own creation didn't work.
Aurora only nodded before turning her attention towards Clarisse who held the fleece in her arms. The moment she draped the Golden Fleece over the lowest bough, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from gray to liquid silver. A cool breeze rustled in the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way into the valley.
Everything came into sharper focus-the glow of the fireflies down in the woods, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach. Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.
Everybody cheered.
It was happening slowly, but there could be no doubt-the Fleece's magic was seeping into the tree, filling it with new power and expelling the poison.
Chiron ordered a twenty-four/seven guard duty on the hilltop, at least until he could find an appropriate monster to protect the Fleece. He said he'd place an ad in Olympus Weekly right away. In the meantime, Clarisse was carried on her cabin mates' shoulders down to the amphitheater, where she was honored with a laurel wreath and a lot of celebrating around the campfire.
Nobody gave Aurora, Annabeth, and Percy a second look—no one except Silena, Natalie, Kaiya, and Beckendorf.
When Aurora's eyes landed on her older siblings and embraced them, happy that they were alright.
"Hey," Silena asked as she pulled away. "What's wrong?"
Aurora frowned, "I—I just don't get it. I created it."
Kaiya smiled kindly trying to reassure their sibling, "Don't worry, kid. You're still the smartest person I know. Besides, things malfunction all the time. You can't blame yourself for all of this."
They gestured towards their surroundings where people were still running around with weapons. Likely keeping them close, just in case.
"You Starks," Natalie shook her head a small smile of amusement tugging at her lips. "Always hard on yourselves, and yet still everyone's favorite."
Aurora furrowed her eyebrows at that and went to open her mouth to question it but Silena was faster. She wrapped an arm around Auroras shoulder, "Let's go get you cleaned up. You smell horrible." She crinkled her nose in fake disgust. Aurora shook her head and playfully pushed her away.
Later that night, as they were roasting s'mores and listening to the Stoll brothers tell them a ghost story about an evil king who was eaten alive by demonic breakfast pastries, Clarisse shoved Percy from behind and whispered in his ear, "Just because you were cool one time, Jackson, don't think you're off the hook with Ares. I'm still waiting for the right opportunity to pulverize you."
Percy gave her a grudging smile. Aurora was sat beside him so she was watching the whole altercation with risen eyebrows.
"What?" she demanded.
"Nothing," Percy looked at Aurora with a smile "Just good to be home."
The next morning, after the party ponies headed back to Florida, Chiron made a surprise announcement: the chariot races would go ahead as scheduled. They'd all figured they were history now that Tantalus was gone, but completing them did feel like the right thing to do, especially now that Chiron was back and the camp was safe.
Tyson wasn't too keen on the idea of getting back in a chariot after their first experience, but he was exctatic that Aurora was teaming up with them. Percy was actually the one to ask Aurora about teaming up with Annabeth.
Oh now their win was definitely guaranteed. Aurora felt like with her last invention being a fail, she'd put everything into the chariot,
The Hephaestus cabin was actually pretty upset that Aurora decided to team up with Poseidon and Athena, but they understood. Especially, after seeing Percy ask Aurora to be on his team they ultimately decided to halt their attempts.
Percy would drive, Annabeth would defend, and Aurora would act as their pit crew. While Percy worked with the horses, Aurora fixed up Athena's chariot and added a whole bunch of special modifications.
"Annabeth, Percy. look!"
Annabeth turned and rose her eyebrows at her approaching best friend. Aurora looked frantic and a mess. Her high ponytail had pieces of hair falling loose and stuck to her forehead and the tank top and gray sweatpants she wore were covered in stains. Probably from Dr. Pepper, Percy guessed. Scratch that, he knew it was Dr.Pepper.
Aurora had a tight grip on big blue papers in front of her as she ran towards them.
Percy placed his sword down, "What's wrong?"
Aurora waved him off, "I have plans for the chariot. It'll guarantee the win."
Percy rose an eyebrow, "How are you so sure?"
Aurora gave him a look full of disbelief, "Because I'm making the modifications."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Of course," he sarcastically nodded. "Duh."
Annabeth shook her head, "What do you have?"
Aurora smirked, "You remember the project I brought to you and Malcom?"
"Yeah, what does that have to do with this?"
"If we applied what I currently have noted on my journal to the chariot, we will win."
Annabeth sighed. "We hardly have anything on the journal, Aurora."
Aurora furrowed her eyebrows looking utterfly offended, "What do you think I've been doing for the past couple of days?" she then glanced down at her outfit. "Speaking of the past couple of days, I really need to shower."
"What do you have Aurora?"
Aurora smirked. "Everything we need, but since you'll be defending us, I need to make sure we test out the headset before the race."
Percy furrowed his eyebrows. "Headset? What headset?"
"Aurora came to the Athena cabin about a future project for camp, to have an upgraded shed with nanotechnology."
"What's that supposed to do with the chariot?"
"I came up with a way to not only upgrade the shed but the weapons inside so that if hypothetically speaking, camp is ever attacked Stark approved weapons would defend us. Also, the headset is used to scan, process, and connect with the Cerebrum. It's the part of your brain that thinks. I figured out a way to connect that to the nanoparticles that were used to make my weapon on a more atomic level. Of course, It'll take years for me to even think about converting such a complex system to something other than the human body, but I'll get there. I'll be sure to leave this camp better than I found it for future generations." Aurora showed them the blueprints. "With the nanoparticles that I do have, we can use it to protect you guys."
Percy looked at her with realization dawning on his face. "Your bracelet!"
Aurora grinned. "Exactly. I tested it out as much as I could, and it works. The downside is you'll only be able to create small objects with the limited amount of nanoparticles we have," she then pointed at the back of the chariot. "I also added thrusters faster and more versatile than the Hephestus cabin could begin to comprehend."
Percy smiled. He had no clue what all that meant, but he nodded. "Perfect!"
They spent the next two days training like crazy. Aurora, Annabeth, and Percy agreed that if they won, the prize of no chores for the rest of the month would be split between all three cabins.
Since Athena had more campers, they would get most of the time off, which was fine by Percy and Aurora. Percy and Aurora didn't care about the prize. They just wanted to win, and with the modifications, Aurora had placed on their chariot they were guaranteed the win.
The next morning, everybody was buzzing about the chariot race, though they kept glancing nervously toward the sky like they expected to see Stymphalian birds gathering. Thankfully, none did. Aurora did not want to deal with it again, seeing as the last time she did—her nail tore in half.
It was a beautiful summer day with a blue sky and plenty of sunshine. The camp had started to look the way it should look: the meadows were green and lush; the white columns gleamed on the Greek buildings; dryads played happily in the woods.
As Annabeth and Percy drove onto the track, Percy couldn't help admiring the work Aurora had done on the Athena chariot. The carriage gleamed with gold reinforcements. The wheels were realigned with magical suspension so they glided along with hardly a bump. The rigging for the horses was so perfectly balanced that the team turned at the slightest tug of the reins. The gold thrusters she was gushing about were neatly placed on the back of the chariot. The headset Aurora had designed rested on Annabeth's head, neatly. When Annabeth thought about any weapon the nanotech hurried and formed the weapon Annabeth had thought about. Basically, it was way more improved than Aurora's previous bracelets because not only did it provide more endurance, it provided way more options. Annabeth might be limited on the weapons she could create, yet it still gave them so much to work with at their disposal.
Aurora ran up to them looking much better than they had last seen her. The waves in her hair fell like waterfalls around her face and as she took a step towards them the sunlight hit her eyes and made the gold specks in them look ethereal against her already bronzed skin. Her camp half-blood shirt and high-waisted skinny jeans were of course paired with her white converse. Every time he looked at her, she always seemed to take his breath away.
"Alright!" Aurora grinned. "Time to go over the buttons!"
They walked closer to the chariot. The first button was on the front of the chariot, It was a big red button that almost screamed for someone to press it. Aurora pointed at it. "The thrusters provide a good speed advantage already, but if you need a little extra juice press that button."
Percy looked at the horses and turned back to Aurora. "How are the horses supposed to match the speed of the thrusters?"
Aurora's grin widened. "On the sides of the chariot you'll find openings. These openings contain Aurora Stark approved metal alloy. The second you press this button," she pointed at the blue one. "The metal used is malleable so it'll bend into place to act as a platform. The minute both platforms combine from each side of the chariot they'll slide under the horse's hooves, ensuring they are not harmed while you're gaining momentum." Aurora rose her index finger. "Also, it's a one-time use so use it wisely."
She pointed to the button behind them. "This will form a shield. It senses any incoming hostile projectiles like a MWS," Aurora took notice of Percy's confused face and elaborated. "Missile Warning System, when my dad worked with the military we'd upgrade their MWS each visit," she suddenly waved it off. "Anyways, much like an MWS it'll act as a defense system from arrows, swords, knives, etc. When you press the button it will still three inches thick of the mass around the incoming weapons, turn them around, and send them back the direction they came." Aurora shrugged. "Basically releasing a small burst of radioactive energy to take control of the sub atomic particles and using physics to guide the object back to its sender."
Aurora grinned when she saw the headset her best friend wore. "And obviously the headset. Make sure you keep it safe. One hit on that headset and it'll destroy the connection between the nanoparticles and your cerebrum. It's your blind spot, take care of it."
She turned to the starting line and watched with wide eyes as Chiron stood ready to blow the conch. She turned to her best friends, "Good luck guys! Make me proud!"
She embraced Annabeth and patted her back. She turned to Percy and threw her arms around his neck and felt his hands slither around her waist. She squeezed him and pulled away, "Good luck, Ocean eyes!" She then placed a gentle kiss on his cheek ignoring the crimson color that arose on his face and ran back to the stands.
Annabeth crossed her arms and a sly smile stretched across her face as she saw Percy graze his fingers across the place Aurora's lips touched a smile on his face. When he noticed Annabeth looking, his blush worsened.
"What?" he asked.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Nothing. Let's go, Seaweed Brain."
Aurora watched as Percy and Annabeth climbed on board the chariot and got into position just as Chiron blew the starting signal. The horses knew what to do. They shot down the track so fast they would've fallen out, it didn't help that the thrusters were only on low. He could only imagine how fast high was.
Annabeth held on tight to the rail. The wheels glided beautifully. They took the first turn a full chariot-length ahead of Clarisse, who was busy trying to fight off a javelin attack from the Stoll brothers in the Hermes chariot.
"We've got 'em!" Percy yelled, but he spoke too soon.
"Incoming!" Annabeth yelled. She formed the nanotech into a sword and made it cut through a lead-weighted net that would have entangled them both. Aurora grinned at the outcome.
Apollo's chariot had come upon their flank. Before Annabeth could think to herself, the Apollo warrior threw a javelin into their right wheel. The javelin shattered, but not before almost knocking off their right thruster.
"Not the thruster!" Aurora pouted.
Their chariot lurched and wobbled. Aurora was sure the wheel would collapse altogether, but they somehow kept going. Percy urged the horses to keep up the speed, not wanting to use the button in front of him yet, It was too early.
They were now neck and neck with Apollo. Hephaestus was coming up close behind. Ares and Hermes were falling behind, riding side by side as Clarisse went sword-on-javelin with Connor Stoll. If they took one more hit to their wheel, Aurora knew they would capsize.
"You're mine!" the driver from Apollo yelled. He was a first-year camper.
"Yeah, right!" Annabeth yelled back. She made the nanoparticles form a javelin and willed it towards the Apollo driver. Her aim was perfect. The javelin grew a heavy spear point just as it caught the driver in the chest, knocking him against his teammate and sending them both toppling out of their chariot in a backward somersault. The horses felt the reins go slack and went crazy, riding straight for the crowd. Campers scrambled for cover ( Including Aurora who yelped and dove out of the way ) as the horses leaped the corner of the bleachers and the golden chariot flipped over. The horses galloped back toward their stable, dragging the upside-down chariot behind them.
Percy held their own chariot together through the second turn, despite the groaning of the right wheel. They passed the starting line and thundered into their final lap. The axle creaked and moaned. The wobbling wheel was making them lose speed, even though the horses were responding to Percy's every command, running like a well-oiled machine.
The Hephaestus team was still gaining. Beckendorf grinned as he pressed a button on his command console. Steel cables shot out of the front of his mechanical horses, wrapping around their back rail. Their chariot shuddered as Beckendorf's winch system started working-pulling them backward while Beckendorf pulled himself forward. Annabeth cursed and made the nanoparticles form into a deadly sword. She hacked at the cables but they were too thick.
"Can't cut them.'" she yelled.
The Hephaestus chariot was now dangerously close, their horses about to trample them underfoot.
Aurora stood up high and cupped her hands around her mouth. "The button, Brainiac! The back button!"
Annabeth's mind whirled. She clamped a hand over the button, and just like Aurora made it, the steel cables that were wrapped around their back rail began to float. They slowly turned and shot back towards the Hephaestus chariot making both Beckendorf and his teammate have no choice but to jump out. Where the driver was previously at was now replaced with a steel cable.
Aurora cheered and rose her arms. "Yes!" she noticed the weird looks the others were giving her and awkwardly coughed. "Sorry."
They turned and were now neck in neck with the Ares chariot. "You'll never win, losers!"
Percy glanced at the button in front of him. "Annabeth! Hang on to something!"
Then he slapped his hand on the button in front of him and just like Aurora explained, a platform slid out from either side of the chariot. Miniaturized thrusters that looked about the size of baseballs flew towards the horses and attached to their hooves with a mechanical whirl. When they attached and were locked in place, a green light appeared and when all of the lights were green and lifted the horses a couple of inches off of the ground, they took off.
Percy and Annabeth almost flew off of the chariot. He could practically feel his skin flap at how fast he was going. He didn't know how Aurora could make something so fast. As he saw the last turn coming he pulled, and it was as if the thrusters were now a substitute for the horses because they easily glided across the finish line.
Aurora screamed with delight and ran towards her best friends. She embraced them both, ignoring the way she lingered in Percy's arms the longest.
The crowd roared.
They started chanting their names, but Annabeth yelled over the noise, "Hold up! Listen! It wasn't just us!"
The crowd didn't want to be quiet, but Annabeth made herself heard: "We couldn't have done it without, Aurora Stark!" The crowd roared at the mention of their beloved Stark."We couldn't have won this race without her and we couldn't have gotten the Fleece or saved Grover or anything without Tyson, Percy's . . ."
"Brother!" Percy said, loud enough for everybody to hear. "Tyson, my baby brother."
Aurora grinned from her spot next to Percy, happy at the beautiful blossoming relationship
Tyson blushed. The crowd cheered. The roaring got a lot louder after that. When Aurora scanned the crowed her eyes landed on a very familiar figure, causing a big smile to outstretch on her face.
It was Nathaniel.
He was flickering every now and then but he wore a proud smile on his face as he clapped for the child he was destined to protect. He looked like a proud father, and it made Aurora's heart swell with happiness.
He sent her a thumbs up and mouthed Good work!
Before she could reply the entire Athena cabin lifted her, Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson onto their shoulders and carried them toward the winner's platform, where Chiron was waiting to bestow the laurel wreaths.
Her failure from before vanished momentarily from her mind.
— NAT TALKS!
Guys, I'm not smart please don't come at me if I made a mistake with anything :(
What did you guys think of a proud Nathaniel?
❛ allure me. ❜ ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚ ╱
❪ the prodigy, 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 book. ❫
༢ ͎۪۫ ༊ ❛ ©CELESTIALAPHRODITE 2023. ❜ ¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ｡𖤐
❪ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 ❫ ©CELESTIALAPHRODITE, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅.