Audaces Fortuna Iuvat • J.Grace

VI.

         𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚 was plummeting down from the sky and for the second time that day, she cursed Venti. The chariot was shaking and the pegasi were whinnying, trying to pull everyone back to safety. A cold, gray ocean fanned out to the left with no end in sight, and to the right were fields blanketed in snow, winding roads leading to who knows where, and a large expanse of trees making up a forest. Placed directly below them, like an island, was a valley colored the brightest of greens like it was meant to encapsulate spring. It was rimmed with snowy hills on three of its sides and, to the north, where a cluster of temples that almost looked greek, a big blue mansion, ball courts, a lake, and a climbing wall that almost looked to be on fire. She couldn't really think about it as she watched the ground get closer.

Annabeth and Butch were attempting to gain and maintain control, but it was all for nye. Bearing the chariot and the weight of six people was proving to be too much for the horses.

"The lake!" Annabeth yelled frantically. "Aim for the lake!" Alecia briefly remembered someone explaining to her the dangers of water, how it would grip onto her and not let her go until the waves had taken hostage over her lungs. The god of the sea would show no mercy to her and gods forbid if she fell from a great height, the waves turning to concrete for anyone. But, just as she had before, she felt something in her insides and she knew she would be okay. She would not die. Not like this, right here, right now.

The biggest shock was the cold. They had hit the surface and fell underwater without much warning besides a loud boom. It felt like there was cotton in her ears and her brain was disoriented. She wasn't sure which way was up and which way was down. Then faces morphed from the icy depths of the green murk. Girls with long black hair that flowed with the current and yellow eyes that glowed. They smiled at her while grabbing her shoulders and hauling her what she assumed was up.

Unlike their gentle smiles, they tossed her onto the shore. The air made it so she knew just how cold the water was, the feeling seeping into her bones and left her gasping and shivering. Her copper hair clung to her cheeks, now free from its braid. She stripped off Jason's windbreaker in order to relieve some weight, draping it over one arm. Nearby, Butch stood in the lake, cutting the wrecked harnesses off of the pegasi who seemed to be okay, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everwhere. Jason, Leo, and Annabeth were already on shore, surrounded by kids handing them blankets and pilling them with questions. Piper seemed to have come up around the same time as her, her hands gripping onto her arms. A detail of kids ran up with a giant, bronze machine that resembled a leaf-blower and blasted us all with hot air. It felt nice and, within a few seconds, she was dry, from her hair right to her clothes.

There were about twenty kids milling around, each adorning the bright orange shirts just as Annabeth was. The youngest looked about nine and the oldest to be around nineteen. A loud crunch was heard and Alecia turned to see that the wreckage of the chariot had landed nearby.

"Annabeth!" Someone - a blonde with a bow and quiver slung over his back - yelled, pushing through the crowd. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

"Will, I'm sorry," Annabeth sighed. "I'll get it fixed, I promise."

Will scowled at his now broken chariot before turning his attention to Alecia, Leo, Piper, and Jason, sizing them each up. "These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Claimed?" Leo asked, tilting his head.

"Any sign of Percy?" Will asked before Annabeth could explain.

"No," Annabeth admitted. The answer sent a mutter amongst the crowd. Alecia had not a clue who Percy was, but she could tell that him disappearing was a big deal.