The next few days were torture, just like Tantalus wanted.
Tyson getting claimed as the son of Poseidon was bad enough, I didn't need any more stress or sad flashbacks in my life. But the Aphrodite cabin loved the show Percy and I put up in the dining pavilion the night Tyson got claimed, and they wouldn't stop teasing me about it.
"I don't have a crush on him!" I would reply, every time they teased me.
"Yeah right, and our mom didn't curse you," they'd spat back.
I think it's time I talk about that.
My mother, Artemis, and Aphrodite have been at it for years. Aphrodite hates Artemis for being a virgin and encouraging girls to be so too, and my mum hates Aphrodite for basically everything. Thing is, when Artemis fell in love with my mother, Aphrodite was beaming. She talked to Artemis for hours about how she always knew Artemis had a sweet spot for someone and all that lovey-dovey bullshit. Artemis did her best to ignore Aphrodite.
When my mother became pregnant with me, Aphrodite became confused about why Artemis wouldn't be pregnant. Artemis explained that just because she fell in love, it didn't mean she had to lose her virginity, and that my mother and she agreed it was for the best. Aphrodite became furious and as soon as I was born, she cursed me.
The curse was that I would be a stunning girl of which boys and girls would fall in love with me. It doesn't sound so bad now, does it? The other part of the curse said I would fall in love with a boy who would leave me and break my heart.
Artemis was enraged. Her sweet, baby girl, fall in love with a boy? She couldn't take it. Artemis wouldn't let me join the hunters, as much as I begged and pleaded. She would visit me on my birthdays, and let the hunters and I know each other, of course, but she wouldn't let me join the hunt.
Birthday wish after birthday wish I hoped to finally be able to join the hunt, but the wish never came true. I guess I owe it all to Aphrodite for not being able to live with my mom.
I'm getting teary-eyed, let's continue.
Percy was angry at his dad. He thought he was a joke.
I tried to make him feel better. I suggested we team up for the chariot race to take our minds off our problems. Don't get me wrong—we both hated Tantalus and we were worried sick about camp—but we didn't know what to do about it. Until we could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia's tree, we figured we might as well go along with the races.
One morning Percy and I were sitting by the canoe lake sketching chariot designs when some jokers from Aphrodite's cabin walked by and asked me if Percy needed to borrow some eyeliner for his eye..."Oh sorry, eyes."
As they walked away laughing, I grumbled, "Just ignore them, Percy. It isn't your fault you have a monster for a brother."
"He's not my brother!" Percy snapped. "And he's not a monster, either!"
I raised my eyebrows. "Hey, don't get mad at me! And technically, he is a monster."
"Well, you liked him before."
"Because he saved your life! I mean...I'm sorry, Percy, I didn't expectPoseidon to claim him. Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous—"
"He is not! What have you got against Cyclopes, anyway?"
Tears blurred my vision. I inhaled and got them away.
"Just forget it," I said. "Now, the axle for this chariot—"
"You're treating him like he's this horrible thing," he said. "He saved my life."
I threw down my pencil and stood.
"Then maybe you should design a chariot with him."
"Maybe I should."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
I stormed away, feeling the tears sting my eyes.
~
The next couple of days, I tried to keep my mind off my problems. I worked out in the arena with Grayson. He practised sword fighting while I practised my archery.
"Y'know," he said one day. "The most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you're still bone-dead stupid."
I lowered my bow. "What?"
"You like him, Y/n," Grayson said. "You like Percy Jackson. And the fact that you don't admit it, makes me want to rip my hair out."
"Maybe you should," I chuckled.
"Shut up."
"I like Percy..." I said.
"Yes! See I knew it!" he celebrated.
"...As a friend."
Grayson's smile dropped. I laughed so much I started rolling on the floor.
"You should've seen your face!" I chuckled. "You were like - " I made an exaggerated imitation of his face.
Grayson pushed me.
"Oy!" I complained.
He smirked. "You deserved that."
In the evenings, I did border patrol. Even though Tantalus had insisted we forget trying to protect the camp, some of the campers had quietly kept it up, working out a schedule during our free times.
I sat at the top of Half-Blood Hill and watched the dryads come and go, singing to the dying pine tree. Satyrs brought their reed pipes and played nature magic songs, and for a while, the pine needles seemed to get fuller. The flowers on the hill smelled a little sweeter and the grass looked greener. But as soon as the music stopped, the sickness crept back into the air. The whole hill seemed to be infected, dying from the poison that had sunk into the tree's roots. The longer I sat there, the angrier I got.
Luke had done this. I remembered his smile, the dragon-claw scar across his face. I remembered all the fun sing-along nights we had and how we first got to camp. He was my friend, and the whole time he'd been Kronos's number-one servant.
On the day of the race, I finished my chariot. I stayed up until one A.M. giving it its finishing touches. It was a silver chariot, Santa Claus style, with two white horses and two silver horses pulling it. It was decorated with paintings of mountains, snowy forests, deer, bears, silver arrows, a wild boar and the constellation of Orion. I checked all the metal parts, so they were well oiled and fed the four horses.
"Enas, Dýo, Tría and Téssera," I told the horses. "You're going to be awesome. Just do as I tell you to do and you will be fine."
The horses neighed in approval. I let out an exhausted yawn and went to bed.
~
The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam. Millions of birds were roosting in the trees—fat grey-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded me of submarine radar.
The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. Hephaestus's cabin had used the bronze bulls, which were completely tame since they'd had their heads smashed in, to plough an oval track in a matter of minutes.
There were rows of stone steps for the spectators—Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock.
"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate éclair across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at us like we were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!"
Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. They had a sweet ride made of bronze and iron—even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. I did not doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Maserati.
The Ares chariot was bloodred and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.
Apollo's chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Lee was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regularly pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.
Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and I shuddered to think what dirty tricks they'd schemed up.
Percy and Tyson led their chariot into the track. It was blue and white, with wave designs on the sides and a trident painted on the front. Percy smiled at me. I fed my horses and gave them water.
"Y/n!" he whispered-shouted. "I need to tell you something!"
"Can't it wait until after the race?" I asked him, my eyes never leaving the horses.
"No!" he whispered shouted. "Grover visited me in a dream. We have an empathy link."
That perked my attention.
"He said 'it' was in the Sea of Monsters, and that he had stumbled across a Cyclops called Polyphemus," Percy finished.
I looked at him.
What are you trying to do, Jackson?
Oh, my gods I just realized. Grover found the Golden Fleece!
Yeah right.
"You're trying to distract me," I decided.
"What? No, I'm not!"
"Oh, right! Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp."
"What do you mean?"
I rolled my eyes. "Go back to your chariot, Percy."
"I'm not making this up. He's in trouble, Y/n."
I hesitated.
Should we trust him?
Nah.
But what if he's telling the truth? I mean we've been through so much together.
...
I just don't want anything bad to happen to Grover.
"Percy, an empathy link is so hard to do," I said at last. "I mean, it's more likely you were dreaming."
"The Oracle," he said. "We could consult the Oracle."
I frowned.
Oh, mierda Grover is in trouble. Percy wouldn't want to consult the Oracle if it wasn't serious.
Before I could answer, the conch horn sounded.
"Charioteers!" Tantalus called. "To your mark!"
"We'll talk later," I told him, "after I win."
Percy walked back to his chariot and I stood on mine. As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. Tantalus didn't look concerned, but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise.
"Charioteers!" he shouted. "Attend your mark!"
He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life. Hooves thundered against the dirt. The crowd cheered.
Almost immediately there was a loud nasty crack! I looked back in time to see the Apollochariot flip over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it—maybe by mistake, maybe not. The riders were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track. The Hermes team, Travis and Connor Stoll, were laughing at their good luck, but not for long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaving a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust.
Two chariots down in the first twenty feet. I loved this sport.
I turned my attention back to the front. I was making good time, pulling ahead of Ares and Poseidon. I was already making my turn around the first post.
"See ya!" I shouted to Percy.
The pigeons had risen from the trees. They were spiralling like a huge tornado, heading toward the track.
No big deal. They're just pigeons.
I tried to concentrate on the race.
Percy was now behind me. Luckily, I have a very good relationship with my horses.
"Enas, Dýo, Tría,Téssera!" I told the horses. "Go ahead! I'll hold Percy and Tyson back."
The horses neighed in approval and I got my bow and arrow from the side. I was about to aim at the chariot when I heard the screaming.
The pigeons were swarming—thousands of them dive-bombing the spectators in the stands, attacking the other chariots. Beckendorf was mobbed. His fighter tried to bat the birds away but he couldn't see anything. The chariot veered off course and ploughed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming.
In the Ares chariot, Clarisse barked an order to her fighter, who quickly threw a screen of camouflage netting over their basket. The birds swarmed around it, pecking and clawing at the fighter's hands as he tried to hold up the net, but Clarisse just gritted her teeth and kept driving. Her skeletal horses seemed immune to the distraction. The pigeons pecked uselessly at their empty eye sockets and flew through their rib cages, but the stallions kept right on running.
The spectators weren't so lucky. The birds were slashing at any bit of exposed flesh, driving everyone into a panic. Now that the birds were closer, it was clear they weren't normal pigeons. Their eyes were beady and evil-looking. Their beaks were made of bronze, and judging from the yelps of the campers, they must've been razor-sharp.
"Stymphalian birds!" I yelled. I slowed down and pulled my chariot alongside Percy's. "They'll strip everyone to bones if we don't drive them away!"
"Tyson," Percy said, "we're turning around!"
"Going the wrong way?" Tyson asked.
Percy steered the chariot toward the stands.
I rode right next to him. I shouted, "Heroes, to arms!" But I doubted anyone could hear me over the screeching of the birds and the general chaos.
Percy slew some birds using Riptide, but I wasn't so lucky. I got out my hunting knife and I slew the birds, but many jumped on my chariot and started pecking my clothes. The closer we got to the stands, the thicker the cloud of birds became.
Some of the spectators were trying to fight back. The Athena campers were calling for shields. The archers from Apollo's cabin brought out their bows and arrows, ready to slay the menace, but with so many campers mixed in with the birds, it wasn't safe to shoot.
"Too many!" Percy yelled to me. "How do you get rid of them?"
I stabbed a pigeon with my knife. "Hercules used to noise! Brass bells! He scared them away with the most horrible sound he could—"
My eyes widened. "Percy...Chiron's collection!"
Percy understood instantly. "You think it'll work?"
I told the horses to find a nice place to stop and jumped from my chariot to Percy's. "To the Big House! It's our only chance!"
Clarisse has just pulled across the finish line, completely unopposed, and seemed to notice for the first time how serious the bird problem was.
When she saw us driving away, she yelled, "You're running? The fight is here, cowards!"She drew her sword and charged for the stands.
Percy urged his horses into a gallop. The chariot rumbled through the strawberry fields, across the volleyball pit, and lurched to a halt in front of the Big House. Percy and I ran inside, tearing down the hallway to Chiron's apartment.
His boom box was still on his nightstand. So were his favourite CDs. Percy grabbed the most repulsive one he could find, I snatched the boom box, and together we ran back outside.
Down at the track, the chariots were in flames. Wounded campers ran in every direction, with birds shredding their clothes and pulling out their hair, while Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, every once in a while yelling, "Everything's under control! Not to worry!"
We pulled up to the finish line. I got the boom box ready.
Percy pressed PLAY and started up Chiron's favourite—the All-Time Greatest Hits of Dean Martin. Suddenly the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian.
The demon pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their brains out. Then they abandoned the track altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave. I drew my bow and arrow.
"Now!" I shouted. "Archers!"
With clear targets, and with the children of the twin archers together, we had a flawless aim. Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon.
The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn't pretty. Most of the chariots had been destroyed. Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. The kids from Aphrodite's cabin were screaming because their hairdos had been ruined and their clothes pooped on.
"Bravo!" Tantalus said, but he wasn't looking at me or Percy. "We have our first winner!" He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned looking Clarisse.
Then he turned and smiled at Percy. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."