𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑺 • 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝐽𝐴𝐶𝐾𝑆𝑂𝑁 ²

TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
—dumb rhyming

🗡🗡🗡

  —WHOEVER DECIDED TO GROUP the two most narcissistic cabins ( minus Aphrodite's cabin, they didn't count in this instance ) together was an idiot. Judith had no doubt it was Chiron who paired the Ares and Apollo campers together on a combat mission. He was more than 3,000 years old, wise beyond belief, and he had just gone and created chaos within the camp's borders due to a fatal oversight.

  A raid in Philadelphia had been headed by Clarisse since Michael Yew was still considered a new head counselor. He hadn't put up a fight against the senior camper, knowing she had more authority. But he had challenged that same authority not even three hours later when claiming their spoils of war for his own.

The monsters and demigods of Kronos' army used a flying chariot to their advantage, and while the children of Ares fought on foot and took the brunt of the fight, the Apollo campers just shot down the chariot from a distance. Clarisse had deemed it rightfully her cabin's while Michael refused to give it up.

And that was when the conflict ensued.

Judith thought it was all blown out of proportion. She hadn't cared for chariots ever since Tantalus forced the camp to compete in the races, a.k.a. when the Stymphalian birds attacked. The girl could care less where the chariot ended up, but Michael Yew and his siblings made a direct attack on their cabin when they cursed them to speak in rhymes for two weeks at the minimum.

  It was annoying beyond belief and Judith made sure to bruise up each Apollo camper that came near her.

"Stop laughing, Barnacle Breath / or I'll kill you to death," Judith growled, walking into a makeshift tent where the main combat mission leaders gathered. It included herself, Beckendorf, Annabeth, the Stoll brothers, and now Percy. ( Clarisse and Michael were also leaders, but they were currently in a full blown battle outside. )

Percy stopped chuckling, but the smile didn't fall. "Kill me to death, huh?"

  Instead of speaking, she made a cutting motion across her neck slowly with a scowl. The boy held his hands up in defense, turning back to the table in the center. Judith sidled up next to Beckendorf, bumping him with her shoulder to create more room for herself. The tent was always a little crowded when Chiron joined them, but the Hephaestus boy was wearing his bronze armor, leaving almost no space. Percy opted to go without his armor, something Judith hated.

  If he was going to do completely reckless things like that, shouldn't he be more inclined to agree to her terms?

  "The Princess Andromeda has been spotted a little less than a hundred miles off the coast of New York," Chiron started the briefing. "At its current speed, it'll reach shore by tomorrow morning."

  "But it won't," Percy determined, looking between Beckendorf and the centaur. "We've been practicing this for weeks."

  The two boys had taken trips to the abandoned shipyard in New Jersey, doing dry runs on the broken yachts while Annabeth timed them. They had gotten the stealth mission down to a science. Theoretically, according to Annabeth, it should only take them 37 minutes, give or take five — for margin of error, the blonde had said. There better not be any errors, Judith clenched her teeth at the thought.

  The girl had wanted to be on this particular mission, but the stealth ones were only ever two campers to avoid any detection. In this case, they had the explosives man ( Beckendorf ) and the ship master ( Percy ). There was no place for Judith.