The Forbidden Daughter | PJO Book One

seventeen

CHARIOT RACES 2.0

They arrived in Long Island just after Clarisse, thanks to the centaurs' travel powers. Ariana rode on Chiron's back, but they didn't talk much, Ariana was far too exhausted and every time she spoke Chiron demanded that she slept.

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 camp gathered at the top of Half-Blood Hill.

The camp had been through a hard two weeks. The arts and crafts cabin had 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 we crowded around Thalia's tree.

The moment Clarisse draped the Golden
Fleece over the lowest bough, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from grey 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 tree, filling it with 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, Clarisse was carried on her cabin mates' shoulders down to the amphitheatre, where she was honoured with a laurel wreath and a lot of celebrating around the campfire.

Nobody gave Annabeth, Percy or Ariana a second look. It was as. if we'd never left. Ariana thought it felt good to be just one of the campers for once, it was how it used to be.

It wasn't long before the daughter of Hades was dragged to the infirmary by Lee Fletcher and Annabeth Chase. Furthermore, she was forced into a bed and was immediately fussed over.

"I'll be back later." Annabeth said. "I'm going to check on my cabin mates."

Ariana gave her a small nod, she knew how much Annabeth loved her cabin mates. After all, they were her family.

Ariana turned her head to face Lee, who stood with his hands on his hips unimpressed.

"Are you crazy!" He shouted. "You know your powers drain you. Using them on a quest was stupid, you could've died!"

Her eyes dropped more as she gave him an innocent smile. "Sorry?"

The medic sighed. "Get some sleep. Your staying on best rest until I say so, I'll tell Chiron."

"But-"

"Nope! Stay." He ordered, acting as if Ariana was a puppy that needed to be house trained.

She sighed but nonetheless made no move to get out of the bed when he left, she knew he'd only make her stay much longer then was necessary.

The next morning, after the party ponies headed back to Florida, Chiron made a surprise announcement: the chariot races would go ahead as scheduled.

Ariana figured they were history now that Tantalus was gone, but completing them did feel like the right thing to do, especially now that Chiron was back and the camp was safe.