Stark's Deadly Daughter (S.P.N.D. Book 4)

Chapter 4: Before The Races

***||***

The next few days were torture, just like Tantalus wanted. Tyson thought he had won the lottery when he found out that he was Percy's brother. Annabeth and I had tried to make him feel better. She suggested we team up for the chariot race to take their minds off their problems, and Percy and I decided to go with it. Don't get me wrong- we all 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. After all, Annabeth's mom, Athena, had invented the chariot, and Posidion had created horses. With them together they would own that track. My job was to help with chariot construction.

Annabeth and Percy had taken the spot by the lake to begin planning, and I was using the Mist to create the image before putting the final sketch on paper. Not for the first time, some jokers from Aphrodite's cabin walked by and asked Percy if he needed to borrow some eyeliner for his eye..."Oh sorry, eyes."

As they walked away laughing, Annabeth 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!"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Hey, don't get mad at me! And technically, he is a monster."

"Well you gave him permission to enter the camp."

"Because it was the only way to save your life! I mean...I'm sorry, Percy, I didn't expect Poseidon to claim him. Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous-"

"He is not! What have you got against Cyclopes, anyway?"

Annabeth's ears turned pink. I got the feeling there was something she wasn't telling us- something bad.

"Just forget it," she said, focusing back on the image in the center of our group. "Now, the axle for this chariot-"

"You're treating him like he's this horrible thing," Percy said. "He saved my life."

Annabeth threw down her pencil and stood. "Then maybe you should design a chariot with him."

"Maybe I should."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

She stormed off and left me alone with Percy.

***

The next couple of days, Percy tried to keep his mind off his problems.

Silena Beauregard, one of the nicer girls from Aphrodite's cabin, gave us our first riding lesson on a pegasus. She explained that there was only one immortal winged horse named Pegasus, who still wandered free somewhere in the skies, but over the eons he'd sired a lot of children, none quite so fast or heroic, but all named after the first and greatest.

It was strange to ride a pegasus when you have wings yourself. I tried my best to keep them tucked in under my jacket, but when we were in the sky I could barely resist not opening them and flying myself. Also, I found out that Percy could understand their thoughts, which was a little uncomfortable.

The problem was that Tyson wanted to ride the "chicken ponies," too, but the pegasi got skittish whenever he approached. Percy told them telepathically that Tyson wouldn't hurt them, but they didn't seem to believe him. That made Tyson cry.

The only person at camp who had no problem with Tyson was Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin. The blacksmith god had always worked with Cyclopes in his forges, so Beckendorf took Tyson down to the armory to teach him metalworking. He said he'd have Tyson crafting magic items like a master in no time.

After lunch, Percy worked out in the Arena with Apollo's cabin, while I was with my cabin at the climbing wall. Though, after I mostly flew to the top the others decided that using my wings that much may be cheating.

When I could, I still helped Percy with the chariot, though now with Tyson instead of Annabeth. I told them I wouldn't be able to help too much, mostly because I needed to train and other things, but it wasn't the full truth.

To be honest, I wanted to get away from Percy. Don't get me wrong, he is a great friend, but with Tyson around... he was not quite himself. Agitated is the closest word I can think of.

Percy was working with Tyson, and Beckendorf was teaching Tyson his way around metalworking. We still had our shifts on border patrol together in the evenings, which got tense at times. Others went well, thankfully. 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.

My friend and 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 sly smile, the dragon-claw scar across his face. He'd pretended to be my friend, and the whole time he'd been Kronos's number-one servant. When I thought about Luke, I felt the faint pain of where the scorpion bit me on my shoulder, a harsh reminder of what he did. The scar Luke had given me last summer was fading, but I could still see it- a white asterisk-shaped wound.

I thought about what Luke had told me right before he'd tried to kill me: Good-bye, Percy and Lillian. There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it.

***

The night before the race, Tyson, Percy, and I finished the chariot. It looked perfect. Tyson made the metal parts in the armory's forges, while Percy and I sanded the wood and put the chariot together. It was blue and white, with wave designs on the sides and a trident painted on the front.

We painted it together, me doing the smaller touches in the waves while Percy did the trident. Tyson was helping us eagerly, going back and forth and helping where he could.

Percy told Tyson he wanted him in the chariot with him. After all that work, it seemed only fair that Tyson would ride shotgun, though Percy knew the horses wouldn't like it, and Tyson's extra weight would slow them down.

When we were done, I snuck into my cabin and grabbed the last three chocolate bars from my bag that I snuck into camp, one for each of us, and met the brothers near the tree line. It was a small celebration, but it felt good, closer to normal than it has been in a while. I haven't told Percy about Ahmya, but this wasn't the right time.

"These are the last ones I have, so make sure to savor them." I joke, leaning back on my hands and looking up at the stars.

"Looks like I won't be asking you for more." Percy replies, opening his.

"You can, there just won't be any."

"Too bad, these are good."

"Well at the end of the summer I'll treat you to a candy bar."

"Your dad's rich. I hope I get more than a single piece of chocolate."

"Fair."

From there we all keep up conversation late into the night. It wasn't for what felt like hours we went to our separate cabins.

***

A/N: I stayed up late studying for a test last night because I was supposed to take it today, didn't take the test, slept for three hours once I got home, and am now listening to "Show Stopping Number" from The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals because it's been stuck in my head all day while waiting for the NyQuil to kick in. Send Help.

Anyways. The next chapter should be more exciting. Have a good time, and sorry this was a short chapter. I didn't want to make it 12 pages with this and the races. See ya.