2061 words

Don't forget to vote and comment!

An arrow whizzed past my head and hit the remaining bear twin in the mouth. He looked surprised for a moment before crumpling into golden dust.

"Brother! Nooooo!" wailed Agrius before being hit in the stomach by Raiden's axe.

There was a chorus of war cries and thunderous hooffalls. A second later, twelve wild centaurs burst from a stairwell. All of them had a palmino, chestnut, or bay coat. Some of them wore bright t-shirts that said PARTY PONIES: SOUTH FLORIDA CHAPTER. All of them were armed with baseball bats, paintball guns, or bows. One centaur was shirtless and wearing boxing gloves and a taco hat. Another carried a Styrofoam hand that said #1 Pony and a metal bat, which had smiley faces painted on it.

The centaurs erupted onto the deck with such spirit and color that even Luke was startled for a second. He raised his sword but didn't act in time before he was hit in the chest by the boxing-gloved centaur and sent crashing back into Aidan.

"Get some!" yelled the smiley-faced centaur, swinging his bat and knocking three empousa into Miami Bay.

Luke's troops were too surprised to act. Or they just might've been too scared. I mean facing a wild stallion was frightening enough, but when you were doing it with a centaur who was wearing googly eyes, it was completely petrifying.

The centaurs unleashed their paintball guns. Blue, red, yellow, and orange flew everywhere, blinding several monsters. Those who did try to attack the centaurs slipped on the paint and smashed into the deck. Chiron galloped over the where Annabeth and Grover lay on the deck, grabbed them, and placed them onto his back.

"Attack, you idiots! Attack!" screamed Luke. He attempted to stand but was sent crashing into a deck chair by a flying baseball.

His troops were regaining their strength and drawing spears and swords. An alarm bell sounded from somewhere within the ship. I knew that we were going to be badly outnumbered within seconds.

"Withdraw, brethren!" shouted Chiron.

"You won't get away with this!" bellowed Luke.

A centaur wearing googling eyes and a cowboy hat galloped over to where I was firing a barrage of arrows into the horde of monsters.

"Get on, dude!" he shouted, bending down so I could mount.

I whistled and Agro came dashing over, still holding an empousa leg in her mouth. Zade followed suit, clutching a helmet in his talons, which he dropped on Aidan's foot as he passed. I jumped up onto the centaur's back, held my arms out, and Agro jumped into them, while Zade settled on my shoulder.

"Let's go!" Chiron shouted, and the centaurs galloped to the edge of the deck and jumped off the guardrail.

"What are you doing?" Percy yelled. "We're gonna smash into the pavement!"

Miraculously, we didn't; the centaurs dropped 100 feet toward the docks and landed on the asphalt without batting an eye. We galloped off, with the centaurs hollering taunts at the Princess Andromeda and whooping as we dashed down the streets of downtown Miami. Buildings and streets blurred as we passed them and the centaurs picked up speed. It felt as though space were compacting. After about an hour of travel, we reached a horse trailer park at the edge of a lake.

While we had been riding, I had willed myself to heal. My bruised ribs and ankle wound had mended, but the giant gash from the lightning strike was still hurt to high Hades. I had concentrated all my remaining power on the lightning strike wound, willing it to heal, but it had refused to; if anything, my attempt to mend the wound had made it worse.

I immediately dismounted and walked over to Chiron, clutching my wound.

"Chiron," I hissed through gritted teeth.

Chiron turned to look at me. His face fell when he saw how burnt the skin over my heart was.

"Ambrosia," he said sharply. "Give it to her, quickly!"

Raiden tore open her backpack, grabbed the Ambrosia, rushed to me, and forced the super-healing food down my throat. I swallowed it and waited. Nothing happened. Chiron darted over to me and placed his hand over my heart.

"No use, Chiron," I said. "I already tried to heal myself. It's not going to work."

"What do we do then?" said Raiden anxiously. "If Ambrosia and your healing power don't work..."

"You need godly healing," said Annabeth. "That's the only thing that's going to work."

"Where is she going to get that?" said Percy. "Apollo is up there." He pointed at the sky. "Or on Olympus, which is too far."

I thought for a moment, and then it came to me, even though it felt like I was going to explode from the pain.

"I need to go to Palm Beach," I said. "There's someone who can help me there."

Annabeth, Percy, and Raiden looked completely bewildered, but Chiron understood.

"Go," he said, "before it is too late."

I nodded and transformed into a giant eagle with Agro in my claws.

"Wait!" Raiden said. "I'm coming with you."

I quickly turned back into a human. "Raiden, I appreciate your-"

"I. Am. Coming. With. You." Raiden crossed her arms defiantly. "Someone's gotta make sure you don't kill yourself."

My face split into a grin. "Well okay, then. Let me just say goodbye, first."

I turned to Annabeth and hugged her. "Annabeth, it was good to see you again."

"Grover, try not to die anymore," I said, hugging him as well. Grover smiled at me.

"Tyson." I held out a hand to shake his, but he rushed forward instead and hugged me so tightly I felt as though my ribs were going to break again.

"Okay," I gasped, patting him awkwardly on the back. "Good to see you, too."

Lastly, I turned to Percy after Tyson had released me and said, "You're not bad for a boy, Percy Jackson."

He looked as though he was going to say something back to me, but I had already turned into a giant eagle. Raiden vaulted onto my back, just behind the wing joints. Agro jumped lightly into her lap. I took off and the trailer park soon turned into a few white specks on a blanket of green and blue. Zade soared alongside me as I flew up the coast. After about two and a half hours of flying, I spotted where I wanted to go, still fighting the pain firm my wound.

I let out two sharp screeches, a code Raiden and I had invented, which told her that she needed to hold on tightly. I felt one of her hands tighten around my feathers. The other hand I assumed was clutching Agro.

I went into a sharp dive. The ground came up very quickly, and I hit the ground with a soft thud.

"Well," said Raiden, sliding off my back and onto the road, "that was certainly a break-neck dive." She looked around. "So, who's this person we're going to see?"

"Follow me," I said, and I led her and Agro up the road to a driveway made of red paving stones, with Zade on my shoulder.

We walked up the driveway to a wrought iron gate in front of which two black wolves stood guard, growling and their amber eyes flashing.

"Hey, Kyra," I said casually, as though facing down menacing wolves was part of my daily life, which it was. "Hey, Sena."

When they heard my voice, one of the wolves bounded toward me and bowed, with her tail wagging.

HIHIHIHIHIHI! barked Sena, nearly bowling me over as she launched herself at me. HI, MY LADY, HI!

"Easy, girl, down!" I said, chuckling. "It's good to see, too."

Kyra, on the other hand, did not lower her guard. She advanced toward Raiden, fangs still exposed.

My lady, who is this? she growled. This girl reeks of Kronos.

"Relax, Kyra," I said. "That's my best friend, Raiden. She may be the daughter of Kronos, but she's on our side."

"Former daughter of Kronos," Raiden corrected me. Her face had gone slightly white at the mention of the Titan lord. "I want nothing to do with him."

"Former daughter of Kronos," I agreed. I faced Kyra. "Can we come in then?"

I suppose, barked Kyra, but I'm keeping my eye on you, Time spawn.

"Don't call me that," Raiden growled, glaring at Kyra with her hand on her axe.

The air temperature plummeted about seventy degrees with her anger. Kyra backed away a few paces with Raiden's fierce glare upon her.

Anyway, Sena barked quickly, interrupting Raiden's fury, I'll grab the key.

She hurriedly went up to the gate and placed her paw on a brick just to the right of the gate. A secret compartment creaked open beneath the gate with a golden key in it. Sena grabbed it, placed the key into the keyhole, and the gate opened.

In you go, barked Kyra, with her eyes still fixed on Raiden.

I walked through the gate, with Agro at my side and Raiden behind me.

"Woah," Raiden gasped as we walked into the front area. The two-story house had a red-tiled roof, white walls, huge windows, and an oak front door. "This house is amazing."

"Yep." I grinned at her, walked up to the front steps, and knocked on the front door. "She has a great sense of style."

I heard footsteps, and the door creaked open. A woman with long, golden hair zigzagging down her back in a ladder weave, bronze skin, and skin glowing against her yellow sundress stood there with her hands on her hips, smiling down at me.

"Hello, my dear," she said. "What brings you down here?"

I grinned. "I need your help, Grandmother."

Raiden's mouth fell open. "Say what?"

Grandmother's eyes roved onto Raiden. "Raiden Kairos, daughter of Kronos. What business do you have with my granddaughter?"

"Well," Raiden said, "Lady-" She paused, not knowing my grandmother's name.

"Leto," said Grandmother.

"Well, Lady Leto," Raiden continued, "I'm best friends with Ainsley. That's my business with her."

"Hm," said Leto, still staring at Raiden. "So, what do you need help with then, my dear?"

I showed her the burn over my heart.

Leto's eyebrows creased in concern. "How did this happen?"

I explained about the Princess Andromeda, the lightning strike, my fight with Aidan; basically, just everything that had caused me problems in the last 9 hours.

"So, can you heal me then?" I asked anxiously, still fighting the urge to black out. "My healing power and Ambrosia didn't work. Annabeth said godly healing was the only thing that could work."

Without uttering a word, Leto placed her hand on my wound. Warmth surged through her fingertips onto my skin, and her hand glowed with bronze light. When she removed her hand, the pain was gone.

"Thank you, Grandmother." I bowed to her.

"You're welcome, my dear," said Leto. "Why don't you spend the night? You can return to the Hunt in the morning."

I looked at Raiden, who shrugged.

"Why not?" she said. "Sounds fun."

Leto stood aside so we could walk in. Her living room was nice, with high windows showing the ocean across the street, a white couch with green pillows, two recliners, and a small, wooden coffee table.

"Would you like some tea?" asked Leto, striding over to her kitchen cabinet.

"Yes, please," said Raiden, her stomach growling.

I glanced outside at the ocean. The sun was starting to sink behind the horizon.

"No thanks, Grandmother," I said, yawning. "I need to go to bed. I am exhausted."

"Very well." Leto led me out of the living room, up a staircase, and to a bedroom on the second floor.

"Here you are, my dear," Leto said, opening the door. "Have a good night sleep."

"Good night," I said, and she closed the door.

The bedroom was nice, with a wooden floor, a queen-size bed with a blue cover, and a window overlooking the backyard.

I took off my boots and climbed under the covers. Agro leapt up beside me, resting her head on my stomach, while Zade nestled into the other pillow. I barely had closed my eyes before I had drifted off to sleep.