𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘! 𝙥. 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣 ¹

Bus? Buuuuuuus!

CHAPTER FOUR: LYDIA

Lydia tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Apollo to make his dramatic entrance. Artemis assured them that dawn was coming, but it was still cold, dark and snowy. Lydia felt exhausted.

The Hunters broke camp as quickly as they'd set it up. Lydia and Percy stood shivering in the snow (unlike the Hunters, who didn't seem to feel at all uncomfortable), and Artemis stared into the east like she was expecting something.

Bianca sat off to one side, talking with Nico. Lydia could tell from his gloomy face that she was explaining her decision to join the Hunt.

Lydia didn't know what to think about Bianca's decision, on one hand it was kind of selfish to leave Nico all on his own, but on the other hand, Lydia could imagine where she was coming from.

She was so young, and she had to carry such a huge responsibility. If Lydia were her, she'd also be desperate to get away.

She didn't stress too much about it, though—she was saving her stressing capabilities for Annabeth.

Despite all that's happened, the fact that Annabeth was gone still hadn't set in. Lydia expected her to come walking in from around the corner or something and this would all be a bad dream.

Thalia and Grover came up and huddled around Percy and Lydia, anxious to hear what had happened in with the goddess. When they told them, Grover turned pale.

"The last time the Hunters visited camp, it didn't go well."

"How'd they even show up here?" Percy wondered. "I mean, they just appeared out of nowhere."

"And Bianca joined them," Thalia said, disgusted. "It's all Zoe's fault. That stuck-up, no good—"

"What's with you and Zoe, anyway?" Lydia asked, but Thalia only gave her one of her signature glares, and Lydia shrunk. Suddenly, she didn't want to know anymore.

"Who can blame her?" Grover said. "Eternity with Artemis?" He heaved a big sigh.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "You satyrs. You're all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?"

"But she's so... into nature," Grover swooned.

"You're nuts," said Thalia.

"Nuts and berries," Grover said dreamily. "Yeah."

Lydia huffed out a halfhearted laugh. Then she wiped the smile off her face. There was nothing to smile about in her life.

Finally, the sky began to lighten. Artemis muttered, "About time. He's so-o-o lazy during the winter."

"You're, um, waiting for sunrise?" Percy asked.

"For my brother. Yes."

Lydia couldn't even be surprised anymore. After everything she'd been through so far, a god driving the sun didn't even make the list of the mild things she'd seen.

"It's not exactly as you think," Artemis said.

There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon. A blast of warmth.

"Don't look," Artemis advised. "Not until he parks."

Lydia averted her eyes. The light and warmth intensified until her winter coat felt like it was melting off of her. Then suddenly the light died. She looked and her jaw hit the ground. Apollo was pulling in a red convertible Maserati Spyder.

She had to admit, it was pretty cool. It glowed too. Then she realized it was glowing because the metal was hot. The snow had melted around the Maserati in a perfect circle, which explained why they were now standing on green grass and with wet shoes.