Tidalwave - A PJO fanfic (COMPLETE)

Seven

The Lost Hero 

15 yrs.  

Another day, another disappointment.

The fun part was I got to ride on Blackjack. He was depressed since Percy was gone, so I got to ride him. Every day. It was both fun and torture, never riding a horse before—excuse me, Pegasus.

He could be very touchy about the title.

Oh, and he loved donuts. The pegasus was absolutely obsessed. And he called me Princess. No. Uh–uh. I did not want to be reminded any more of my relationship with my father. But no matter how many times I told the stubborn pegasus not to call me that, he neighed, said sure thing, Princess! And kept at it.

I wanted to strangle him sometimes.

"Charge!" I called.

And other times, I liked pretending I was a warrior riding into battle on my trusty (not so trusty, he dropped me in a waterfall) steed. But I had to act normal and professional and smart—all the things I wasn't—around the campers.

We landed in the middle of Camp Half-Blood, startling some campers. Will Solace came up and told me I couldn't keep making "emergency landings" because it could injure the campers. As usual, I brushed off the warning. It was only the twenty-seventh time he'd warned me that he'd take away Blackjack.

As much as the horse annoyed me, no way was I giving him up. . . he was my last connection to Percy. Besides a bunch of the stuff left in the Poseidon Cabin. But Blackjack was my last connection to Percy that I could keep by me at all times.

And Will knew that deep down, that's why he hadn't taken the annoying pegasus away after the third warning. But he said there would be a serious punishment at the thirtieth warning.

"Annabeth back yet?" I asked.

"Nope," he said. "She's still out finding the one-shoed man Hera told her about. She better not let anything happen to the flying chariot. . ."

I sighed. I should have gone with Annabeth and Butch, but she'd insisted I still needed to keep looking, in case Percy wasn't where Hera said he'd be. Which he probably wouldn't be, considering everything I'd heard about Hera's past.

In the distance I spotted the flying chariot. Will was about to get mad. It didn't look in good shape. Campers started to head to the beach where it landed/crashed, and Blackjack, eager to see if Percy was along, leaped into the air and soared at top speed to the shore.

"Stupid horse," I muttered as we crashed into the sand, spraying sand at everyone. "That's why you do something called slow down."

Pegasus! He insisted in my brain. Not horse! Hey, princess, you got any donuts? I'm hungry.

I rolled my eyes at how quickly he changed and watched how Will started complaining that Annabeth ruined the Apollo Cabin's flying chariot, but she seemed too distracted. There were three demigods with her.

A girl with choppy hair and kaleidoscopic eyes that seemed to shift colors. The boy next to her had brown eyes and curly chocolate hair. He was fidgeting with small pieces that looked like mechanical things.

And the third. Why. What was happening?! He was supposed to be in Camp Jupiter! But he was missing. And now, here he was, in enemy territory. Was Camp Jupiter preparing for war on Camp Half-Blood? And Jason was a spy?

He looked confused when he saw my exasperated, jaw-dropped, shocked face. Everyone seemed to notice my shock before I could process what my face must have looked like. Annabeth turned to where everyone was looking and raised an eyebrow as she walked over to me.