The Titans Curse: Apollo's Daughter

The Sun Chariot

Skyler's POV

"Cool car," Nico said.

"Thanks, kid," Apollo said.

"But how will we all fit?"

"Oh." Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. "Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose..."He took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button.

For a moment, the car glowed brightly again. When the glare died, the Maserati had been replaced by one of those Turtle Top shuttle buses like we used for school basketball games.

"Right," he said. "Everybody in."

Zoe ordered the Hunters to start loading. She picked up her camping pack, and Apollo said, "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that."Zoe recoiled. Her eyes flashed murderously.

I rolled my eyes and mentally groaned at my father.

"Brother," Artemis chided. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart."

Apollo spread his hands. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"

"Hunting," Artemis said flatly. "It's none of your business."

"I'll find out. I see all. Know all."

Artemis snorted. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around."

"No, no! I never mess around." 

"I will see you by the winter solstice. Zoe, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."

Zoe straightened. "Yes, my lady." Artemis sprinted toward the woods and melted into the snow and shadows.

Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?"

.....

"Can I drive?" Nico asked, nearly bouncing out of his seat.

"No. Too young."

Grover raised his hand."Mm, no," Apollo said. "Too furry."

He looked past me and Percy and focused on Thalia.

"Daughter of Zeus!" he said. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."

My heart kinda sunk at the fact my own father would pick Thalia over myself his own daughter.

"Oh, no." Thalia shook her head. "No, thanks."

"C'mon," Apollo urged.

Thalia shifted her feet nervously. "Uh...what about Skye?" Thalia tried to protest, but Apollo was absolutely not going to take "no" for an answer.

He hit a button on the dashboard, and a sign popped up along the top of the windshield that said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER.

"No really. I can't...." Thalia said quickly pushing me towards the front of the bus "Let Skye do it. She's your kid..."

Apollo let out an over exaggerated sigh and looked down at me. "Well, kiddo. Let's get going!"

I sat down in the driver's seat, gripping the wheel carefully. "Speed equals heat," Apollo advised. "So start slowly, and make sure you've got a good altitude before you really open her up." 

"What's wrong?" Percy asked me.

"Nothing," I said shakily. 

I pulled back on the wheel. It tilted, and the bus lurched upward so fast Percy fell back and crashed against Grover.

"Ow," Grover mumbled.

"Sorry."

"Slower!" Apollo said, placing his hand on my shoulder. 

Percy's POV

"Lighten up on the accelerator."

"I've got it, Percy," she said, gritting her teeth. But she kept it floored. 

"Just loosen up a bit," I told her.

"I'm am!" Skyler said. She was so stiff she looked like she was made out of plywood.

"We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo said. "Hang a left."

She jerked the wheel and again threw me into Grover, who yelped."The other left," Apollo suggested.

I made the mistake of looking out the window again. We were at airplane height now—so high the sky was starting to look black.

"Ah..." Apollo said, and I got the feeling he was forcing himself to sound calm. "A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over."Skyler tilted the wheel. Her face was chalk white, her forehead beaded with sweat. Something was definitely wrong. I'd never seen her like this.

The bus pitched down and somebody screamed. Maybe it was me. Now we were heading straight toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand miles an hour, the New England coastline of to our right. And it was getting hot in the bus. Apollo had been thrown somewhere in the back of the bus, but he started climbing up the rows of seats.

"Take the wheel!" Grover begged him.

"No worries," Apollo said. He looked plenty worried. "She just has to learn to—WHOA!"I saw what he was seeing. Down below us was a little snow-covered New England town. At least, it used to be snow-covered. As I watched, the snow melted off the trees and the roofs and the lawns. The white steeple on a church turned brown and started to smolder. Little plumes of smoke, like birthday candles, were popping up all over the town. Trees and rooftops were catching fire.

"Pull up!" Thalia yelled looking just as pale as Skyler.

Skye yanked back on the wheel, and I held on this time. As we zoomed up, I could see through the back window that the fires in the town were being snuffed out by the sudden blast of cold.

"There!" Apollo pointed. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression." 

There was Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the woods, the beach. I could see the dining pavilion and cabins and the amphitheater.

"She's going to kill us..." Thalia muttered. 

"I've got this under control," Skye said, her knuckles turning white around the wheel.

 We were only a few hundred yards away now."Brake," Apollo said.

"I've got this dad.."

"BRAKE!" 

Skyler slammed her foot on the brake, and the sun bus pitched forward at a forty-five-degree angle, slamming into the canoe lake with a hugeFLOOOOOOSH! 

Steam billowed up, sending several frightened naiads scrambling out of the water with half-woven wicker baskets. The bus bobbed to the surface, along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes.

"Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, sweetheart. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"