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𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 , 𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐍
—
episode seven ; the chariot races ends with a bang
—
THEY ARRIVED IN LONG island just after clarisse, thanks to the centaurs' travel powers. beatrice and tyson were covered in paint, but none of them seemed to care as they chatted with each other one a centaurs back.
when they got to camp, the centaurs were anxious to meet dionysus. they'd heard he threw some really wild parties, but they were disappointed. the wine god was in no mood to celebrate as the whole gathered at the top of half-blood hill.
the camp had been through a hard two weeks. the arts and crafts cabin had been burned to the ground from an attack by a draco aionius. the big house's rooms were overflowing with wounded. the kids in the apollo cabin, who were the best healers, had been working overtime performing first aid. everybody looked weary and battered as they crowed around thalia's tree.
the moment clarisse draped the golden fleece over the lowest bough, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from gray to liquid silver. a cool breeze rustled in the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way into the valley. everything came into sharper focus— the glow of the fireflies down in the woods, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach.
gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.
everybody cheered. it was happening slowly, but there could be no doubt— the fleece's magic was seeping into the three, filling it with the new power and expelling the poison.
chiron ordered a twenty four/seven guard duty on the hilltop, at least until he could find an appropriate monster to protect the fleece. he said he'd place an ad in olympus weekly right away.
in the meantime, classes was carried on her cabin mates' shoulders down to the amphitheater, where she was honored with a laurel wreath and a lot of celebrating around the campfire.
nobody gave annabeth, percy, or beatrice a second look. it was as if they'd never left. in a way, that was the best thank-you anyone could give them, because if they admitted they'd snuck out of camp to do the quest, they'd have to expel them.
later that night, as they were roasting s'mores and listening to the stoll brothers tell them a ghost story about an evil king who was eaten alive by demonic breakfast pastries, beatrice was gossiping to her siblings about the quest she had snuck out on. she knew none of them would tell on her. thankfully.
