𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓! [pjo]

XIX; grandma's house

━━━grandma's house

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

Callahan felt like throwing up but in a good way. "Gods, that was amazing!" She laughed. Percy shook his head beside her. Frank shook his head behind them, groaning and leaning against a tree. Percy started to unhitch the chariot, Arion throwing his head and snorting. Hazel tried to calm him, feeling his heart thunder beneath her hands.

Arion whinnied.

"He needs to eat." Percy translated, "No wonder. He must have burned over six million calories."

Hazel studied the ground at her feet and frowned. "I'm not sensing any gold around

here....Don't worry, Arion. I'll find you some. In the meantime, why don't you go graze?

We'll meet you—"

The horse zipped off, leaving a trail of steam in his wake.

Hazel knit her eyebrows. "Do you think he'll come back?"

Percy shrugged, "I don't know...He seems kind of spirited?"

Cal smiled lightly behind him, turning to survey the land around them. "Where to now?"

"I have no idea." Hazel responded. They nodded to each other and turned to what was left of the chariot, and began going through what was there. A box of books made Ella shriek with delight.

Cal laughed at her joy. Percy approached her from behind, wrapping arms around her waist. He muttered "I like your laugh." into the side of her neck. She laughed even more at that, pushing him away.

Hazel watched them for a second, blushing and looking away when Cal glanced her way.

"I'm practically home," Frank said, squinting into the horizon. "My grandmother's house is right over there."

Hazel looked in the direction he was, "How far?"

"Just over the river and through the woods."

Percy looked up from where he was talking to Cal, "Seriously? To grandmother's house we go?"

Hazel clasped her hands in prayer. "Frank, please tell me she'll let us spend the night. I know we're on a deadline, but we've got to rest, right? And Arion saved us some time. Maybe we could get an actual cooked meal?"

"And a hot shower?" Percy pleaded. "And a bed with, like, sheets and a pillow?"

"It would be nice to take a break." Cal said. She stepped up toward Frank and rested a hand on his shoulder, "But if you don't want to, we don't have to."

The two of them looked back at Percy and Hazel, who nodded.

Frank looked lost for a second, like he was remembering something he didn't like. Then, his thoughts left him and he looked at them, "yeah. To Grandmother's house we go."

Cal snapped a hand out and yanked Frank back with the help of Percy. He had almost walked straight into the ogre camp, which wouldn't have been good.

The three of them squatted down with Hazel and Ella behind a fallen log.

"Bad" Ella muttered, "this is bad for harpies."

"This is bad for everyone." Cal responded, keeping her voice low.

It was fully dark now. Around a blazing campfire sat half a dozen shaggy-haired humanoids. Standing up, they probably would've been eight feet tall—tiny compared to the giant Polybotes or even the Cyclopes they'd seen in California, but that didn't make them any less scary. They wore only knee-length surfer shorts. Their skin was sunstroke red—covered with tattoos of dragons, hearts, and bikini-clad women. Hanging from a spit over the fire was a skinned animal, maybe a boar and the ogres were tearing off chunks of meat with their claw-like fingernails, laughing and talking as they ate, baring pointy teeth. Next to the ogres sat several mesh bags filled with bronze spheres like cannonballs. The spheres must have been hot, because they steamed in the cool evening air. Two hundred yards beyond the clearing, the lights of the Zhang mansion glowed through the trees.