Sunburn- phoebus apollo

- ix. rhea and percy are accused of being the lightning thief

   THE NEXT MORNING, Rhea and Percy moved into Cabin Three. They didn't have to share it with anybody, obviously, since they technically weren't supposed to exist in the first place.

  The only good thing that came out of this was getting plenty of room. They got to sit on their own dinner table, pick their own activities, call "lights out" whenever they felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.

  Rhea could tell that Percy was absolutely miserable. In a way, it made sense. Her brother had always been more of a "people person", while she was used to being on her own and liked things done by herself.

Nobody mentioned the hellhound- at least, not when Rhea was around. Perhaps they were scared that she would shoot them with the arrow. Instead of training with the Hermes cabin, Luke had taken upon himself to give one-on-one lessons with her and her brother, pushing them harder then ever.

Annabeth continued to give Rhea and Percy lessons in Greek, but she seemed distracted. After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest.... Poseidon? Dirty rotten... Got to make a plan..."

*********************

Mr. D's summons to the big house didn't surprise Rhea or Percy in the slightest. Nor did his threats to turn them both into a dolphin. Rhea had to physically restrain Percy from yapping his smart mouth, which mind you, wasn't an easy feat.

After the god disappeared into thin air, leaving behind only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind, Chiron smiled at Rhea and Percy. "Sit, Rhea, Percy, please. And Grover."

They all did as told. Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use. "Tell me, Percy." he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

Just hearing the name made Percy shudder. Chiron probably wanted him to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast. But Percy didn't feel like lying.

"It scared me," he answered. "If Rhea hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

"You'll meet worse, Percy, Rhea. Far worse, before you both are done."

Well, that sounds reassuring.

"Done.... with what?" Rhea asked meekly, running a hand through her hair nervously.

"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"

"Do we have a choice?" she asked, although she already knew the answer, judging by the look on Chiron's face, he agreed with her.

Percy glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.

"Um... sir," Percy shifted in his seat. "you haven't told us what is it yet."

Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."

Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as Rhea could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.

"Poseidon and Zeus," Rhea spoke up. "They're fighting over something valuable.... something that was stolen, aren't they?"

Chiron and Grover exchanged looks, and Rhea knew she had hit the jackpot.

Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"

Rhea's face felt hot, wishing she hadn't opened her mouth. "The weather since Christmas had been weird, like the sea and the sky were fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And... Percy has been seeing these dreams."

"I knew it," Grover said.

"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.

"But it's their quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"