¹𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 ━ 𝗽. 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻

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⋆ ˚｡⋆ʚ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 ɞ⋆ ˚｡⋆
─── ❛ there's no safe place any more ❜ ───

AS SOON AS THEY EXITED the taxi, the gray sisters peeled out, heading back to new york, where life was safer, or so. they didn't even wait for their extra three-drachma payment. they just left them on the side of the road, isabella with her backpack, annabeth with nothing but her backpack and knife, tyson and percy still in their burned-up tie-dyed gym clothes.

"oh, man." said annabeth, looking at the battle raging on the hill.

what worried isabella the most weren't the bulls themselves. or the ten heroes in full battle armor who were getting their bronze-plated booties whooped. what worried her was that the bulls were ranging all over the hill, even around the back side of the pine tree. that shouldn't have been possible. she feared her 'visions' were true, and that they already happened.

one of the heroes shouted. "border patrol, to me!" a girl's voice, gruff and familiar.

border patrol?

"it's clarisse." annabeth said. "come on, we have to help her."

normally, rushing to clarisse's aid would not have been high on isabella's "to do" list. but after her mission she had asked the first person that came up to her mind when she thought about training, ever since then, isabella had been talking with clarisse for a couple of months.

now, she was in trouble. her fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. the grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. one hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, the horsehair plume on his helmet blazing like a fiery mohawk. clarisse's own armor was charred. she was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull's shoulder.

isabella took her ring off, revealing her beloved sword. she got to action with annabeth beside her.

"tyson, stay here. i don't want you taking any more chances." isabella heard percy say.

"no!" annabeth said. "we need him."

he stared at the blonde. "he's mortal. he got lucky with the dodgeballs, but he can't—"

"percy, do you know what those are up there? the colchis bulls, made by hephaestus himself. we can't fight them without medea's sunscreen spf 50,000. we'll get burned to a crisp."

"medea's what?"

isabella rummaged through her backpack and cursed. "i had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my night-stand at home. why didn't i bring it."

"look, i don't know what you're talking about, but i'm not going to let tyson get fried."

"percy—"

"tyson, stay back." the boy raised his sword. "i'm going in."

tyson tried to protest, but percy was already running up the hill toward clarisse, who was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into phalanx formation. it was a good idea. the few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide–and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills.

unfortunately, clarisse could only muster six campers. the other four were still running around with their helmets on fire. isabella and annabeth ran toward them, trying to help. they taunted one of the bulls into chasing them, then annabeth turned invisible and isabella created an illusion, completely confusing the monster. the other bull charged clarisse's line.