"𝐘𝐄𝐒, 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋, 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐋. 𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐎 𝐈'𝐌 𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐃," Tantalus announced at dinnertime.

As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinnerplate, as if maybe the food wouldn't notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches. 

"And here on my first day of authority," he continued as if that hadn't just happened, "I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat." 

Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some halfhearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back. 

"And now some changes!" Tantalus gave the campers a crooked smile. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!" 

Murmuring broke out at all the tables — excitement, fear, disbelief. 

"He's insane," Raya muttered. "They were discontinued for a reason."

"He's lost it," Lee agreed.

"Now I know," Tantalus continued, raising his voice, "that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems." 

"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," Will announced. 

"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said. "But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?" 

An explosion of excited conversation — no KP for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious? 

But the Border?

"Sir," Raya stood, still sporting an assortment of small cuts and bruises on her face and arms from the attack with the bulls. "With all due respect, we still have patrol duty."

"You will be excused to ready your chariots," Tantalus said.

Clarisse stood as well, "If we drop everything to ready our chariots—"

"Ah, both heroes of the day," Tantalus exclaimed. "Brave Clarisse, Fearless Raya, who bested the bulls all on their own."

Clarisse blushed, but Raya was immune to false praise by now.

"We had eight other campers on duty, and three people not on duty help out," Raya said factually. "We still barely made it out. All the more reason not to drop border patrol."

"Raya's right," Clarisse said. "We didn't—"

"And you two are modest too," Tantalus grinned. "Not to worry, my dears! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?" 

Raya tilted her head, "But the tree—" 

"And now," Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse's cabin mates pulled her back into her seat. Raya looked around at the other campers, but no one wanted to stand with her. Even then, she remained standing, arms crossed, as Tantalus continued, "before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." 

Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson. Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks at Percy. 

"Now, of course," he said, "Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I've thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes's cabin, possibly?"

Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth. Raya couldn't blame them. The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting. There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.

Raya remained standing, her sword strapped across her back. The second Tantalus dismissed them, she was going to head out for border patrol even if she was alone.

Chiron was trusting her, she couldn't let him down.

"Come now," Tantalus chided. "The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?" 

Suddenly everybody gasped. Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. 

Raya watched as a dazzling holographic image that had appeared above Tyson's head. He was the child of a god and a nature spirit — the god had been confirmed.

Swirling over Tyson was a glowing green trident — the same symbol that had appeared above Percy the day Poseidon had claimed him as his son. There was a moment of awed silence. Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When Percy'd been claimed by Poseidon last summer, everyone had reverently knelt. 

But now, they followed Tantalus's lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. 

"Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"

Raya glared at those from her table who began to laugh. She was sick and fed up with all this discrimination and bullying. Bullying a baby cyclopes — who frankly didn't even realize — was beyond stupid.

Tyson was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him, how cruel people were. 

But Raya understood — and she hated it.

Raya spent practically every waking minute doing border patrol.

Some of her siblings were making a chariot, but she didn't care about it. Tantalus' praise was fake, and he knew it was having no effect on Raya, so he'd switched full-force to Clarisse.

She was thriving.

Raya hadn't realized it until then, but she felt like she'd grown up a lot in the last few weeks. Gaining the courage to tell Sirius off, commanding border patrol, standing up against Tantalus, she wouldn't have done all this mere months ago.

"Patrol the west side," Raya commanded two of the campers.

They listened to her, moving to patrol that side of the hill in case of any monsters. Raya watched a lone figure climb the hill, surprised to see her there.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked. "You're not helping Lee with his chariot?"

"We still need a border patrol," Raya reminded him. "The tree's not getting any healthier, and just because Tantalus is trying to distract the campers from all of this, doesn't mean he can keep us all distracted. There's going to be more monster attacks, and we can only try to stay ready for them."

"Where should I sign up?" Percy asked. "For border patrol?"

"There's a form in the pavilion," Raya answered. "Just put your name in a free slot. If Tantalus takes it down again, call me. I'll yell at him again."

The two of them sat in silence for a while, watching the dryads sing to the dying pine tree. Satyrs brought their reed pipes and played nature magic songs, and for a while the pine needles seemed to get fuller. The flowers on the hill smelled a little sweeter and the grass looked greener. But as soon as the music stopped, the sickness crept back into the air.

The whole hill seemed to be infected, dying from the poison that had sunk into the tree's roots.

It made Raya a little mad, seeing her home falling apart like this. She hated how she only seemed to be facing one difficulty after another. She hated how the one place she used to think of as her safe place was no longer safe.

"Can I tell you something?" Percy asked, looking at the scar on his palm from last summer.

"Shoot."

"I've — I've been having dreams," Percy admitted. "Of Grover, hiding, running from something. One time, he hid in a wedding boutique, another time, he was talking about sheep. I don't know much, but it's like he's trying to communicate something with me."

"Communicate... an empathy link, holy shit!" Raya grabbed Percy's arm. "Oh my Gods, did Grover successfully perform an empathy link on you two? I'm so proud of him, those are hard—"

"—Woah, woah, woah," Percy held his hands in a T shape. "Timeout. Try that again, but explain like I'm five and I don't know anything... because I don't."

"Sometimes satyrs can perform these things called empathy links between themselves and humans," Raya explained. "It's really complicated, but it links their emotions together and it allows them to communicate. I think Grover made an empathy link between you, but hasn't been able to project a clear message yet. Let me know when he's able to, okay?"

"You — you don't think I'm crazy?" Percy asked hesitantly.

"No," Raya shook her head. "Look, I've been through the most hectic few weeks of my life recently. Honestly, you could tell me it's raining dino nuggets and I'd believe you."

Percy laughed, leaning his head against Raya's shoulder.

"Thank you," he told her earnestly. "For believing me."

"I'll always believe you," she promised.

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 gray-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that was not unlike 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 second bronze bull, which was completely tame since it'd had its head 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 or on Border Patrol. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock. 

Raya had promised Percy she'd watch the race, so she switched border patrol shifts with Lee to be able to make  it.

"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 eclair 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 the campers like they were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!" 

"No s'mores, how dare you?" Will said sarcastically. "He should make them eat s'mores made from the blood and meat of the campers they killed instead."

Raya made a horrified sound as she looked down at her younger brother.

"Stop watching true crime documentaries," she swatted the back of his head. "That's psychotic."

Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. They had a sweet ride made of bronze and iron — even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. Raya had no doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Ferrari. 

The Ares chariot was bloodred, 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 and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. The fighter, Mason, was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows 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 Raya shuddered to think what dirty tricks they'd schemed up. They'd mentioned some to her in passing, and she was already terrified.

That left two chariots: one driven by Annabeth, and the other by Percy.

Percy looked nervous before the race, and kept trying to make his way to Raya, but was blocked by Tantalus who said charioteers and spectators can't mix until after the race. 

Raya got to her feet as the conch horn sounded. 

"Charioteers!" Tantalus called. "To your mark!" 

Percy took the reins and maneuvered the chariot to the starting line. Tyson had a ten-foot pole, defending the chariot.

As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the other campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds.

Tantalus didn't look concerned, but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise. 

"Charioteers!" he shouted. "Attend your mark!" 

He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life.

Hooves thundered against the dirt. The crowd cheered. Almost immediately there was a loud nasty crack! Raya immediately groaned as the Apollo chariot flipped over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it — maybe by mistake, maybe not. The riders were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track. The Hermes team, Travis and Connor, were laughing at their good luck, but not for long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaving a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust. Two chariots down in the first twenty feet. 

Both in Raya's top five to win the race.

She hated this sport.

The Athena chariot was in the lead, Poseidon close to taking over Ares, and Hephaestus not far behind. 

Beckendorf pressed a button, and a panel slid open on the side of his chariot. Three sets of balls and chains shot straight toward the Poseidon chariot wheels. They would've wrecked the chariot completely if Tyson hadn't whacked them aside with a quick swipe of his pole. He gave the Hephaestus chariot a good shove and sent them skittering sideways while he and Percy pulled ahead.

Raya glanced toward the sky with a shiver, eyes widening as she saw that the pigeon-like birds had risen from the trees. They were spiraling like a huge tornado, heading toward the track. 

Raya cursed, getting out her bow and arrow. She didn't like using it much because she never found her passion for it. She was amazing like all Apollo kids, but the thrill of swordfighting was what she preferred.

She loaded an arrow, ready in case the birds went to attack anyone on the track — but instead, they began dive-bombing the spectators.

"Ahh!" Will screamed, swatting away a pigeon as it tried to nestle in his hair.

Raya stabbed an arrow through it, yanking it out of Will's hair.

Her younger brother crouched into a ball on the ground, wrapping himself around Raya's legs. She cast a wandless, non-verbal shield charm over him. Will didn't have a good history with Stymphalian birds, and Raya needed to protect him.

"Get down!" she yelled to all the younger campers, lifting her bow.

The birds flew at her from all directions, making it nearly impossible to even life her arms. Raya shot some arrows towards a few of the birds that were higher, but the ones all around her were scratching and clawing at her. Their beaks were razor-sharp, and made of bronze.

"Stymphalian birds," she cursed.

With a groan, she switched out her bow for one of her knives, slicing at the birds nearest to her. For every one that she killed, it was as if three more took its place. It was impossible to see anything around her, let alone the chariot track.

"Stab the nearest birds!" Raya called out, hoping at least someone could hear her over the noise of the birds. "Use knives, daggers, or any other short blade you have! Protect all exposed skin."

A bird cawed loudly, diving towards Raya's arm and ripping a chunk of skin off near her elbow. She stabbed it before it could fly away.

"Will, run away," she told her younger brother, who was trying to catch the birds near the ground and throw them in Tantalus' direction because he didn't have a weapon on him.

The birds would rip everyone to shreds unless they were stopped, but Raya couldn't remember anything about them while they made that annoying noise and bit off pieces of her skin. All she knew was that if they couldn't get rid of them soon, they'd strip everyone to bones.

"I'm not leaving," Will argued, still wrapped around her legs. "I'm not that little anymore."

Raya hated his answer.

She wasn't going to force him to leave, but she hated the truth in his response. For a demigod, eleven years old without serious injury was almost considered a feat.

"Fine, but you better not get hurt," she grumbled. She stabbed another bird, shouting to the campers around her, "Lock shields! Protect those who don't have weapons!"

A good number of the Hephaestus Cabin — who were wearing portable shields on their wrists — activated their shields, locking close together to follow Raya's order. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Press close!" she called out, the campers closing in while the Hephaestus Cabin and their shields bordered them. 

Her siblings had their bows out, but there just wasn't enough space to shoot freely. Raya wished she had one some Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. If something like that was fired towards the birds, it'd give the archers enough space to shoot.

Raya racked her brain as she stabbed more birds, trying to think of a plan. Turns out, she didn't need to.

Suddenly the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian. The demon pigeons went nuts. They started flying in circles, running into each other like they wanted to bash their own brains out. Then they abandoned the track and stands altogether and flew skyward in a huge dark wave.

"Archers, now!" Raya called, pulling her own bow out.

With clear targets, Apollo's archers had flawless aim. Most of Raya's siblings could nock five or six arrows at once. Within minutes, the ground was littered with dead bronze-beaked pigeons, and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon. 

The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn't pretty. Most of the chariots had been completely destroyed. Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. 

Raya examined her arms, wincing at the sight of the deep scratches. She couldn't feel the pain yet thanks to the adrenaline, but she knew it'd be a pain to deal with afterwards.

Percy and Annabeth were standing near the base of the stands, panting hard. They'd both ran down the Big House, stealing Chiron's boombox and his mixtape of 'Greatest Dean Martin Hits'.

Raya remembered then that Stymphalian birds were defeated by loud noise. Smart.

"Bravo!" Tantalus said, but he wasn't looking at Percy or Annabeth. "We have our first winner!" He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned-looking Clarisse. Then he turned and smiled sinisterly at Percy. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."

REY WRITES!

thanks for reading!!

it's canada day and there are fireworks
everywhere- also i expect overtime pay
from all you readers bcz i'm posting on a
statutary holiday (more votes and comments <3)

i miss kayse

first day of free agency has me whipping my
head back and forth- my teams are making too
many signings

thoughts?

comments?

headcanons?

theories?

questions?