Percy Jackson x Male Reader The Sea of Monsters

Rick Astley Saves Our Lives

Y/n's POV

The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam. Millions of birds were roosting in the trees-fat grey-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded me of a submarine radar.

The racetrack had been built in a grassy field between the archery range and the woods. Hephaestus's cabin had used the bronze bulls, which were completely tame since they'd had their heads smashed in, to plow an oval track in a matter of minutes.

There were rows of stone steps for the spectators-Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock.

"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate croissant across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at us like we were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!"

Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. They had an impressive chariot made of bronze and iron-even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. And I knew for certain there were gadgets and mechanical traps all over that thing.

The Ares chariot was blood red, and pulled by two grisly horse skeletons. Clarisse climbed aboard with a batch of javelins, spiked balls, caltrops, and a bunch of other nasty toys.

Apollo's chariot was trim, graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beutiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrow at the opposing drivers.

Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, and I shivered thinking about all the dirty tricks and pranks they'd schemed up. I could still feel the splash of water balloons across my face.

That left three chariots: one driven by Annabeth, one by Percy, and one by me.

"You're sure you're up for this?"

I turned to look at my teammate standing beside me. A wood nymph named Juniper, who over the summer had become one of my closest friends. She was a full head shorter than me yet still somehow managed to appear as if she was looking down at me. Complete with green tinted skin as all dryads had, red auburn hair, and soft river blue eyes.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine." I said, though I knew I wasn't fine. My headaches had only gotten worse, and I was only getting more tired every day. Last night Annabeth told me I should drop the race. But I wasn't going to do that, I was competing on behalf of all the satyrs and nymphs at camp. I wasn't about to quit on them.

Juniper sighed, "Just keep the chariot straight. And I'll handle the rest Plant Boy."

I groaned, "Percy has got to stop calling me that before anyone else hears it."

She snickered "Well I think the name suits you." she then took a step forward as she offered me her hand. "Ready?"

I took her hand as I nodded. "I was born ready."

She smirked. "Remember just like we practiced."

As she finished her sentence we both turned our attention towards the ground. Closing our eyes as we cleared our minds. Focusing on the plants, the grass, and the earth, all the life around us. After my two failed attempts at healing Thalia's tree, Juniper had been helping me with my powers. And surprisingly they were a lot more similar to her nature magic than I thought.