Wildflowers, Percy Jackson ₁

032, we are so back.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

Sylvie finally understood why Camp Half-Blood felt obligated to finish the chariot races last summer.

Back then, while Tantalus had started them back up with a craving for chaos, they still retried the races. Maybe it was in spite of him, or maybe it was to prove something even if his punished ass wasn't there anymore. Either way, Sylvie understood the chariot racers now.

For some reason, for the Demeter cabin, it felt right to finally participate in chariot racing. Eurydice was the one who stopped them from competing, and it wasn't quite the same as Tantalus forcing them to try and be killed, but it felt like the same concept.

So now, Cabin 4 was having a chariot race with the Athena kids.

Maybe it was in spite of Eurydice, or maybe it was to prove something even if her traitor ass wasn't there anymore. Either way, Sylvie was taking part in this chariot race with a newfound fire inside of her.

She and Katie were the two competitors—Sylvie fighting and Katie driving. Although they were going against the Athena cabin, Annabeth was unfortunately not there. Fortunately, however, she was missing because she was picking up Percy to bring him back to camp. So Sylvie would take her wins, especially since Annabeth's absence might actually give her a chance to win.

Instead of Annabeth, Sylvie and Katie were going around the track against Malcolm Pace and another Athena camper Sylvie didn't really know the name of. Miranda, Cedar, and the rest of Cabin 6 were spectating in the stands. Florian wasn't present because he was a traitor who'd rather spend his time with Castor and Pollux.

(Sylvie is realizing now that it was probably too soon to refer to another Demeter kid as a traitor. She takes it back now and is very apologetic. Florian, if you're reading this, she's sorry.)

((She also wasn't actually judging her brother too harshly. All of her half-siblings were coping with the news of Eurydice in their, own different ways and she did respect that.))

Katie urged their horses to sprint as fast as they could. Even without Annabeth there, Malcom and Unknown-Athena-Kid were still serious competition. They had tricks up their sleeve just like every other cabin—only these tricks were perfectly strategized due to their mother's obsession with war plans. Sylvie had just knocked away a javelin shooting for her chariot's tire using Cereal (again, much scarier of an object than it sounds).

"Faster!" shouted Katie, though Sylvie hoped she knew that she couldn't communicate with horses. Not like Percy could.

Sylvie groaned internally. Did she really have to think about Percy with every passing thought? It was getting tiring. Three years, and she still hadn't gotten a grip.

"Yes!" Katie cheered. Somehow the horses had understood her. Their chariot had just passed up Athena's.

"That's right, Katie!" called Cedar's voice.

But Malcom's chariot was still right behind.

Sylvie suddenly had an idea—albeit a little insane. She turned her attention away from the Athena kids by facing forward, surprising basically everyone watching.

"What the hell are you doing, Sylvie?!" Miranda shouted.

Yeah, she was little ray of sunshine this summer.

Contrary to Miranda's belief, Sylvie did have a plan. She tuned out the shouts of her bewildered spectators. She closed her eyes to block out the world around her. She forced herself to hear no one's voice in her ears except for one.