Poseidon Is My Daddy (Book #1 of the Daughters of Olympus Series)

I Learn The Art Of Bull Riding

    My walk with Nico was going great, so I knew something was going to go wrong soon. My instincts were spot on, I knew because when Nico and I got about halfway down the beach, a huge bronze bull bounded out of the ocean. Nico and I fell on our butts from surprise. I wanted to run, but then I realized that this was my chance to prove myself. Nico and I were breathing heavily, on the edge of hyperventilation and I got up. 'Julie! Stay down!' Nico whisper- shouted. 'I got this!' I whisper- shouted back. I pulled my lipstick from my thigh and turned it into my axe. 'Let's do this.' I said glaring at the bull. It charged and that's when I realized how fearless I was. I threw my axe and it buried itself in the bull's head. It didn't stop though and for a horrible nanosecond, I doubted my plan would work. But then I recovered my wits and charged the bull head-on. 

   It came towards me at full speed and at the last second, when we would have collided, I sidestepped to my right, grabbed its left horn and vaulted like a gymnast onto its back. Its plating was uncomfortably warm, but I was so fueled by adrenaline that I didn't care. I locked my legs around the bull's torso somehow and squeezed with all my might. I could hear the bronze crushing under the pressure. The bull was getting closer to Nico so I yelled, 'NICO! MOVE!' He crawled away as quickly as he could and the bull barely missed him. I had to end this. I squeezed the bull's torso tighter and retrieved my axe from its head. Then I lifted the axe and brought it down on the bull's neck. The huge bronze bull head toppled onto the sand and I was still sitting on the body which toppled over spilling me onto the sand. 

    I just laid there for a few minutes trying to breathe. I was sprawled spread eagle on the sand. I was looking up at the sky which was turning pink from the sunset. 'Julie!' Nico yelled, running towards me, 'Are you okay?' He sat on his haunches above my head and planted his hands on either side of my neck. 'Yeah,' I wheezed, 'Totally fine.' Nico breathed a sigh of relief. 'Okay, but just in case.' He pulled a plastic baggie full of yellow cubes no bigger than my thumbnail out of his jacket. 'What is that?' I murmured. 'Ambrosia.' answered Nico. He put my head on his lap. 'You'll feel better.' He broke a piece off and put it in my mouth. It tasted like steak. He must've read my expression, because he asked, 'What does it taste like?' 'Steak,' I muttered. I gazed into his beautiful brown eyes and he gazed into my brand new sea green eyes. 'I need your honest opinion,' I said, 'Do my eyes scare you?' 'Not at all,' he said, 'I think they're beautiful. But I'm curious, what were they like before?' 'They were just like yours.' I answered, thinking back to when I seemed normal. Then I heard a conch shell blow in the distance. 'That's dinner,' said Nico . He put me up on his back and actually carried me to dinner. 

   When we got to the pavilion, Nico put me down next to the Poseidon table. 'Thanks,' I said smiling. 'No problem,' he said, smiling back at me. I sat down with Percy and I was just like, 'Hey.' He stared at me like I'd grown a third eye. 'What?' I asked. 'You just got a piggyback ride from the most difficult kid in camp.' he blurted out. 'Really?' I asked, surprised, 'He seems really easy around me.' 'Because he likes you!' Percy teased. I looked down at an empty plate and drinking goblet in front of me and suddenly they had steak, baked potatoes and sour cream and the drinking goblet was full of fruit punch. 'Whoa!' I marveled. I was about to start eating when Percy reached over and pulled my plate away. 'Hey.' I complained. 'Not until we sacrifice to the gods.' Everyone was walking up to a brazier in the middle of the room. Percy scraped a slice of pizza inside the brazier and said 'Poseidon.' I was next and I did the same thing Percy did, reluctantly giving up a piece of my steak. I sat back down and this time, I ate the rest of my dinner as slowly as possible.

    When everyone was done eating, Chiron stomped his hoof on the ground to get everyone's attention. 'We have a new camper today.' I could feel Percy, Annabeth and Nico's eyes on me. I made a small effort to shrink. 'Julie,' Chiron beckoned me forward. I stood up slowly and mad my way to his side. 'Have you found out who your Olympian parent is child?' Chiron asked. 'Yeah, it's Poseidon.' 'How do you know?' he asked. I lifted my shirt revealing the miniature trident above my navel. Everyone stared at me then started talking at once. When Chiron couldn't get everyone to quiet down I just yelled, 'SHUT UP!' Everyone got quiet after that; Nico, Leo and Percy were trying not to bust out laughing. I looked pat Chiron like Can I sit back down now? he simply nodded. I walked back to the Poseidon table and plopped back down. 'The teams for capture the flag tonight will be Poseidon, Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hades, Iris, Hypnos and Athena against Demeter, Hypnos, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Nike, Hebe, Tyche and Hecate.' I met Nico's eyes excited that we were on the same team. Percy and Annabeth were looking at each other too. 'I will act as battlefield medic and referee,' continued Chiron, 'No killing, avoid maiming and the creek is the border.' With that, everyone was rushing to the woods. Somehow Nico found me, 'Hey,' he shouted. 'Wassup?!' I yelled. 'You ready?' 'Yeah!'