{1} 𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐒𝐄𝐘𝐄 | p.jackson

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯

| chapter eighteen |

in which thalia drives ( and everyone almost dies )

THEY ALL PILED INTO THE VAN. The Hunters crammed into the back so they'd be as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of the people that they didn't like. Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang out in the front.

"This is so cool!" Nico exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Naomi grinned. "I know, right?"

"Is this really the sun?" Nico asked Apollo. "I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Nia's mom?"

Downsizing," said Apollo. "The Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."

"But how does it work?" asked Nico. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!"

Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico's hair. "That rumor probably started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting. 

"They've got a lot riding on the sun. . . er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives."

Nia furrowed her brows. "Puny little. . .?"

"That chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it," Apollo said. "Make sense?"

Nico shook his head. "No."

"Not really," Naomi said.

"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car."

"Can I drive?" Naomi and Nico both asked at the same time, then looked at each other, grinned, and high-fived.

"No," Apollo said. "You're both too young. Besides, my father would probably blast you out of the sky, Naomi."

The daughter of Poseidon kind of sagged at that.

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.

"Mm, no," said Apollo. "Too furry."