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chapter thirty-five. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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WE ARRIVED IN LONG ISLAND just behind Clarisse, since the centaurs could clear a mile in the blink of an eye. The centaur whose back Percy and I rode on spent the entire ride gushing about how excited he was to meet the god of parties and wine—the vivacious and boisterous Dionysus. Percy and I shared one look and burst into a fit of laughter.
Turns out, our centaur wasn't the only one anxious to meet Dionysus. When we got to camp, the entire herd rushed up to the Big House to meet the guy, 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.
All of my siblings looked weary and worn out when I joined them. From the rundown Will gave me, our cabin had been working day and night with no rests trying to help heal all the injuries that had happened. I was overcome with guilt and immediately wanted to apologize to them all, but they told me it was alright. Will said they were just happy I came back alive. I decided I could agree with that.
The moment we had all been waiting for came. Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece over a low-hanging branch on the tree. As soon as she dropped it, the branch lifted itself up and carried the Fleece to a higher position, where it waved in the wind. A cool breeze rustled through the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way to the strawberry fields.
Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.
Everybody cheered. I felt somebody shuffle into place next to me, and turned to find Connor Stoll gazing up at the tree with a wondrous smile on his lips.
"Pretty cool, huh?" he said, sparing me a sideways glance.
"Pretty cool," I agreed, smiling. I nudged his arm. "I should thank you."
He turned to me, puzzled. "Why?"
"For getting blown up by that trick arrow a few months ago."
Connor flashed me a crooked smile. "Blowing things up is what I do best."
I laughed, and Connor and I followed Ares's cabin down the hill. I was in such a good mood, I even cheered a little bit for Clarisse. I could've sworn she gave me a grin at one point.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
THE NEXT MORNING, after the party ponies headed back to Florida, Chiron made a surprise announcement: we'd be reinstating a chariot race for the end of the summer. I had never been involved in a chariot race, but I was apart of the spectating crowd for the last one—it was my first year at camp, and that was the summer Chiron outlawed chariot races due to the many injuries and maimed campers.
