Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian

Of flying horses, dented cars and explosions- Part 1

I do not own any of the characters or plot. All rights go to Rick Riordan.

Rachel-

My day was going perfectly until the pegasus crashed into the roof of the car.

Percy had been driving me down to the beach in his stepdad's car. It was a warm day, just right for swimming, and we had the whole day planned out: swimming, sunbathing, hanging out- and I maybe I could finally convince the big dolt to kiss me. Boys! Honestly.

'Oh, pull up right there!' I told him as we reached a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. Looking down at the water, I sighed with contentment. The water was beautiful- smooth, the same green as Percy's eyes and just right for swimming. Now, if only I could convince him...

'So, about that invitation,' I said, smiling at him.

'Oh... right,' he said unenthusiastically. My heart sank. What was I going to do on vacation without him? It would be bad enough even if he did come, with Mom and Dad pretending to enjoy themselves, Dad getting a million calls an hour and Mom frowning at her perfectly manicured nails.

'Percy, I know the timing is bad,' I said. 'But it's always bad for you, right?'

He nodded slowly. 'I want to go. It's just-'

'The war,' I finished for him, sighing mentally. I couldn't blame him for being worried, but couldn't he take just a little time off? I put my hand on his arm. 'Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad...' My voice trailed off.

'Is he giving you a hard time?' Percy asked, sounding concerned. I laughed weakly, shaking my head in disgust.

'He's trying to be nice to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies' Academy in the autumn. Can you see me in finishing school?' I certainly couldn't.

'He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in.'

'Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?'

'Yes... but, Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favour. It would be so much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk-' I cringed, slapping myself mentally. I hadn't meant to bring it up. It was such a beautiful day, and I didn't want the dark dreams I'd been having lately to ruin it.'

'Something you want to talk about?' he questioned. 'You mean... so serious we'd have to go to St Thomas to talk about it?'

I pursed my lips. I shouldn't have brought that up- at least, not today. Moving on to lighter topics, I said 'Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and it's nice to be together.'

He thought about it. 'Okay. Just a normal afternoon and two normal people.'

I nodded in satisfaction. 'And so... hypothetically speaking, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl?'

He blushed a cute shade of red. 'Oh....... Um....' Before he could come with a decent answer, a huge black shape swooped down from the sky, landing on the front of the Prius with a deafening WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!

'Sup, Percy' said tall, African American guy riding on the pegasus. Uh oh. If this guy had come to fetch Percy... Well, things were not looking good for our day together at the beach. To add to this, Percy's friend was dressed for war, with a large bronze coloured breast plate, sword and helmet.

'Time?' asked Percy shakily. Things were getting worse and worse.

'Hi,' I said to Percy's friend.

'Oh, hey,' he replied. 'You must be Rachel. Percy's told me... uh, I mean he mentioned you.' So Percy had been telling his friends about me had he? That was a good sign. 'Really? Good.'

I glanced over at the big black pegasus. 'So I guess you guys have to save the world now.'

'Pretty much,' agreed Beckendorf.

Percy looked at me helplessly. 'Would you tell my mom-'

'I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood.'

Percy nodded gratefully.

'Good luck,' I told him, kissing him before he could move. Dizzily, I added, 'Now get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me.'

With that, he flew off with Beckendorf on the black winged horse, leaving me with the severely dented Prius. Sighing, I got out my cell phone and started dialling Percy's mom Sally's number.

***