Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

BONUS: LEAVING HOME

Luke's warriors were organizing themselves into a phalanx. But by the time they were ready to advance, the centaurs had galloped to the edge of the deck and fearlessly jumped the guardrail, as if it were a steeplechase and not ten stories above the ground. I was sure we were going to die.

We plummeted toward the docks, but the centaurs hit the asphalt with hardly a jolt and galloped off, whooping and yelling taunts at the Princess Andromeda as we raced into the streets of downtown Miami.

I have no idea what the Miamians thought as we galloped by.

Streets and buildings began to blur as the centaurs picked up speed. It felt as if space were compacting—as if each centaur step took us miles and miles. In no time, we'd left the city behind.

We raced through marshy fields of high grass and ponds and stunted trees.

Finally, we found ourselves in a trailer park at the edge of a lake. The trailers were all horse trailers, tricked out with televisions and mini-refrigerators and mosquito netting. We were in a centaur camp.

"Dude!" said a party pony as he unloaded his gear. "Did you see that bear guy? He was all like: 'Whoa, I have an arrow in my mouth!'"

The centaur with the googly-eye glasses laughed. "That was awesome! Head slam!"

The two centaurs charged at each other full-force and knocked heads, then went staggering off in different directions with crazy grins on their faces.

Chiron sighed. He set Annabeth and Grover down on a picnic blanket next to me and Percy. "I really wish my cousins wouldn't slam their heads together. They don't have the brain cells to spare."

"Chiron," Percy said, still stunned by the fact that he was here. "You saved us."

He gave me a dry smile. "Well now, I couldn't very well let you die, especially since you've cleared my name."

"But how did you know where we were?" Annabeth asked.

"Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami."

"Gee, thanks," Grover mumbled.

"No, no," Chiron said. "I didn't mean... Oh, never mind. I am glad to see you, my young satyr. The point is, I was able to eavesdrop on Percy's Iris-message and trace the signal. Iris and I have been friends for centuries. I asked her to alert me to any important communications in this area. It then took no effort to convince my cousins to ride to your aid. As you see, centaurs can travel quite fast when we wish to. Distance for us is not the same as distance for humans."

I looked over at the campfire, where three party ponies were teaching Tyson to operate a paintball gun. I hoped they knew what they were getting into.

"So what now?" Percy asked Chiron. "We just let Luke sail away? He's got Kronos aboard that ship. Or parts of him, anyway."

Chiron knelt, carefully folding his front legs underneath him. He opened the medicine pouch on his belt and started to treat Percy wounds. "I'm afraid, Percy, that today has been something of a draw. We didn't have the strength of numbers to take that ship. Luke was not organized enough to pursue us. Nobody won."

"But we got the Fleece!" Annabeth said. "Clarisse is on her way back to camp with it right now."

Chiron nodded, though he still looked uneasy. "You are all true heroes. And as soon as we get Percy fixed up, you must return to Half-Blood Hill. The centaurs shall carry you."

"You're coming, too?" I asked.

"Oh yes, Percy. I'll be relieved to get home. My brethren here simply do not appreciate Dean Martin's music. Besides, I must have some words with Mr. D. There's the rest of the summer to plan. So much training to do. And I want to see... I'm curious about the Fleece."

I didn't know exactly what he meant, but it made me worried about what Luke had said: I was going to let you take the Fleece... once I was done with it.

Over by the campfire, Tyson let loose with his paintball gun. A blue projectile splattered against one of the centaurs, hurling him backward into the lake. The centaur came up grinning, covered in swamp muck and blue paint, and gave Tyson two thumbs up.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "perhaps you and Grover would go supervise Tyson and my cousins before they, ah, teach each other too many bad habits?"

Annabeth met his eyes. Some kind of understanding passed between them.

"Sure, Chiron," Annabeth said. "Come on, goat boy."

"But I don't like paintball."

"Yes, you do." She hoisted Grover to his hooves and led him off toward the campfire.

Chiron sighed. "Welcome back, Ariana," he said. "I'm sorry it had to end this way."

I pursed my lips. "I don't know what to expect from those words," I said.

"I'm sure Annabeth has already told you the true order of events after you left," Chiron said.

"Yes," I sighed. "I'm not sure I'm happy with this story."

Chiron nodded his head. "I know," he said.

"Look," Percy said, "if you ever need anything-"

I sighed, "I need space, if you can give me that. I can't do it."

"Ariana-"

I stood up. "I- I need some time to think this over," I said. "Chiron, thank you so much for helping us."

"Anytime," Chiron replied.

"And- and will you please tell Lee that I miss him a lot?" I asked.

Chiron nodded. That was enough for me. I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around my teacher. "Thank you so much. So much."

Chiron was stiff for a moment, but he melted into the hug soon enough. "I try my best," he replied.

I pulled away, wiping a tear from my eye. I turned around and started to walk away.

"Hey!" a voice called behind me.

I turned around. It was the centaur that had carried me to the camp. "Hey," I replied.

"Going somewhere?" the centaur asked.

I didn't reply. But the centaur didn't want an answer. He handed me a backpack instead. "Thought you might want this."

I took the bag from him and looked inside. There was a giant roll of cash and enough food to last at least a week. I looked at him, surprised.

"I'm an augur," the centaur blushed, "I knew you'd be needing these soon."

I nodded. "Thank you...?"

"The name's Pholus."

I smiled weakly. "Thanks, Pholus."

"Anytime," the centaur said. "Take care, Ariana Adler." He trotted away from me, joining his cousins and brothers at the camp.

I turned around and walked towards the main road. Where to next? I asked myself.

Why is it always me? another part of my brain responded.

Is this what home was meant to be like? Constant war- broken hearts.... this wasn't something I signed up for.

I looked around. What would it have been like if I had never come here? What if I'd never met Luke?

The curiosity seemed to dig into my heart deeper than an arrow would.

A taxi stopped for me, and I got in. "Where to?" the driver asked.

"The airport," I said absentmindedly.

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