CHAPTER FOUR: THALIA'S FEAR OF HEIGHTS SHINES THROUGH (AND SO DOES NARI'S)

     Nari waited patiently for Apollo. She knew he was a lot to deal with, so she was mentally going over a list of what not to say. Artemis may have freaked her out a little bit when she mentioned that the two would have to talk.

The Hunters broke camp as quickly as they'd set it up. Nari expected it, but she was still impressed. Artemis stared into the east as she waited for her annoying twin brother to arrive. Bianca sat off to one side, talking with Nico. Nari frowned at the gloomy look on his face, and knew that he was being told that Bianca had chosen to be a Hunter.

Nari saw Thalia and Grover crowd around Percy, and given that she was already aware how the conversation went (or would go, anyway), she didn't bother listening in.

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

Nari chuckled softly under her breath.

Percy frowned, "you're, um, waiting for sunrise?"

Artemis nodded. "For my brother. Yes."

Nari knew that Percy's thoughts would be spiralling right about now, trying to figure out how Apollo could be driving a sun chariot if the sun was all the way in space. Artemis seemed to know what he was thinking too, and said, "it's not exactly as you think,"

"Oh, okay." He started to relax. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a—"

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

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

Nari turned her gaze away, much like the others did, and waited until the light faded away, taking the newfound warmth with it.

Nari turned back and just like she expected, there was a fancy car parked in the middle of the grass—because the snow around it had melted away already. Nari wasn't very into cars, and she couldn't remember what Percy had called it in the books, but she gave him a sideways glance and smiled at the awestruck look on his face.

The car door opened, and out stepped Apollo, his smile as bright as the sun. He looked just like Nari thought he would, with his sandy blond hair and his jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt.

"Wow," Thalia muttered. "Apollo is hot."

"He's the sun god," Percy said.

Nari raised a brow, "I can't tell if you're being serious or not."

Percy looked offended, "well—"

"That's not what I meant." Thalia cut him off with a huff.

"Little sister!" Apollo called. Nari was nearly blinded by his teeth, which gleamed brighter as he smiled wider. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"

Artemis sighed, rolling her eyes. Nari always loved the scenes they had together. She found the two amusing. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister."

"Hey, I was born first."

"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue—"

"So what's up?" He interrupted. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"

Artemis grit her teeth. "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

"Sure, sis!" Then he raised his hands in a stop everything gesture. "I feel a haiku coming on."

The Hunters all groaned while Nari rolled her eyes.

The god cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically.

"Green grass breaks through snow.
Artemis pleads for my help.
I am so cool."

He grinned, waiting for applause. He was met with silence.

Artemis hummed, "that last line was only four syllables,"

Apollo frowned. "Was it?"

"Yes. What about I am so big-headed?"

"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." He started muttering to himself. Nari snickered into her sleeve, poorly hiding it. Nico, who was closest to her right, either didn't notice or didn't care—he was too busy gazing at Apollo.

Zoë Nightshade turned to the others. "Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. 'Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, There once was a goddess from Sparta—"

"I've got it!" Apollo announced, clearly excited. "I am so awesome. That's five syllables!" He bowed, looking very pleased with himself. Nari was tempted to say he could do better, just to see how he would react, but this was real. He was a god, and it was best not to offend a god. She kept her mouth shut.

"And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."

"These demigods will also need a ride," Artemis pointed to the others. "Some of Chiron's campers."

"No problem!" Apollo checked the group out. "Let's see... Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."

Thalia blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."

"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time—"

"Brother," Artemis said. "You should get going."

"Oh, right." Then he looked at Percy, and his eyes narrowed. "Percy Jackson?"

"Yeah. I mean... yes, sir."

Apollo studied him, but he didn't say anything. Then, his eyes landed on Nari, and they filled with recognition. "Ah!" He said, "it's my kid."

Nari could only stare for a moment, but she couldn't help the singular would that slipped through her lips. "What?"

Apollo must be losing his mind.

He waved her confusion off, and Nari saw a glint in his eyes. "I know my kid when I see her." He nodded, and Nari glanced at Artemis during her state of confusion. The goddess rolled her eyes at her brother's antics, before looking to the girl. Before Artemis could set things straight, Apollo spoke again. "You have the gift of prophecy too, taking after me."

Nari nodded slowly. She was becoming more aware of the looks he was discreetly sending her, and she figured that this was what Artemis meant by they needed to talk... because Apollo was terrible at sending signals. She needed words to understand his hidden messages. "Sure, yeah." She muttered, her eyes narrowed.

Percy frowned, "wait, the gift of prophecy-"

"Well!" Apollo interupted, "we'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way—west. And if you miss it, you miss it."

Nico was staring at the sun chariot/car in awe, "cool car."

"Thanks, kid," Apollo said.

"But how will we all fit?"

"Oh." Apollo seemed to notice the problem for the first time. Typical. "Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose..."

He took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button. Chirp, chirp.

For a moment, the car glowed brightly again. When the glare died, the car had been replaced by a large bus. Apollo turned to face the large group of Hunters and demigods alike (and satyrs), "right," he said. "Everybody in."

Zoë ordered the Hunters to start loading. She picked up her camping pack, and Apollo said, "here, sweetheart. Let me get that."

Zoë recoiled. Her eyes flashed murderously.

"Brother," Artemis chided. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart."

Apollo spread his hands. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"

"Hunting," Artemis said. "It's none of your business."

"I'll find out. I see all. Know all."

Artemis snorted, pointing to Nari. "Perhaps not more than her." She joked. Nari was sure Apollo knew more, but for the sake of messing with the god of prophecy, the joke seemed to work. Apollo narrowed his eyes, causing Artemis to laugh again. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!"

"No, no! I never mess around."

Lies.

Artemis rolled her eyes, then looked at the large group. "I will see you by winter solstice. Zoë, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."

Zoë straightened. "Yes, my lady."

Nari debated telling Artemis to stay, that it wasn't safe, but the goddess only turned to her and shook her head. Nari frowned, but she didn't disobey her. Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looked troubled. "So much danger. The beast must be found."

Nari knew it was best not to say anything, anyway. The Titan's Curse wouldn't exist if not for the quest the campers had yet to go on to save the goddess. And if they didn't go, who would save Annabeth. Nari needed to start thinking about what she did—she could ruin everything.

Artemis then sprinted toward the woods and melted into the snow and shadows.

Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?"

The Hunters piled into the van. They all crammed into the back so they'd be as far away from Apollo and the other boys as possible. Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang in the front with the campers and Nari, but Nico didn't seem to mind. The boy was beaming.

"This is so cool!" Nico exclaimed, jumping up and down in the driver's seat. "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?"

"Downsizing," Apollo replied. "The Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."

"But how does it work?" Nico asked. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!"

Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico's hair. "That rumor probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun... er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?"

Nico shook his head. "No."

"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car."

"Can I drive?"

"No. Too young."

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.

"Mm, no," Apollo said. "Too furry."

"What about Nari?" Percy suggested. "She's your daughter, right?"

Nari's eyes widened, which Apollo caught in an instant. "Maybe next time." He waved it off. Nari was thankful for it too, but then... he looked past Percy and focused on Thalia.

"Daughter of Zeus!" He said. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."

Nari lifted her hand up, "maybe that's not the best idea."

Apollo, being Apollo, completely brushed off the fact that she knew the future. "It'll be great." He said.

"Oh, no." Thalia shook her head. "No, thanks."

"C'mon," Apollo said. "How old are you?"

Thalia hesitated. "I don't know."

Unfortunately for Thalia, she'd been turned into a tree when she was twelve, but that had been seven years ago. So she should be nineteen, if you went by years. But she still felt like she was twelve, and if you looked at her, she seemed somewhere in between.

"You're fifteen." Nari said absentmindedly. "Almost sixteen." Apollo nodded with a dazzling smile at her response.

"Exactly what I was gonna say!" He grinned.

Nari smiled smugly, "I know."

"How do you know that?" Thalia asked, turning to Nari. It was a question she didn't expect, despite it being Thalia's next line. She could understand what she meant, though. How can you tell the future.

"Uh," Nari frowned, "I'll explain later."

"Right, because now," Apollo turned to Thalia, "you're driving. You're old enough now to drive with a learner's permit!"

Thalia shifted her feet nervously. "Uh—"

"I know what you're going to say," Apollo said. "You don't deserve an honor like driving the sun chariot."

That's not what she was going to say.

"That's not what I was going to say."

"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're Zeus's daughter. He's not going to blast you out of the sky."

Apollo laughed good-naturedly. He was the only one laughing.

Thalia tried to protest, but Apollo was absolutely not going to take "no" for an answer. He hit a button on the dashboard, and a sign popped up along the top of the windshield. It was hard to read backwards, but she knew it said WARNING: STUDENT DRIVER.

"Take it away!" Apollo beamed, looking at Thalia. "You're gonna be a natural!"

Nari slowly shook her head, "no..."

She saw Percy sending her a frown in the corner of her eye, but he didn't say anything.

"Speed equals heat," Apollo explained. "So start slowly, and make sure you've got good altitude before you really open her up."

Thalia gripped the wheel so tight her knuckles turned white. She looked like she was going to be sick.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked her.

Nari tried to speak, "she's actually—"

"Nothing," Thalia interrupted shakily. "N-nothing is wrong."

Nari frowned, her eyes falling to Apollo. Of course, he was sure that there was nothing wrong.

     Thalia pulled back on the wheel. It tilted, and the bus lurched upward so fast Nari feel into the nearest seat, which happened to be Nico's.

     Percy was more unlucky, and squished Grover between himself and a seat. "Ow." Grover muttered.

     "Sorry."

     "Slower!" Apollo called.

     "Sorry!" Thalia cried. "I've got it under control!"

     Nari looked out the window and suddenly felt nauseous. Looking out the window, she saw a smoking ring of trees from the clearing where they'd taken off, and they were still getting higher up.

     "Thalia," Percy said, "lighten up on the accelerator."

     "I've got it, Percy," she said, gritting her teeth. She in fact, did not have it.

     "Loosen up," Percy told her.

     "I'm loose!" Thalia said. Nope.

     "We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo said. "Hang a left."

     Thalia jerked the wheel and again and Nico was suddenly squished between the window and Nari. The two of them groaned, Nari apologizing over and over. Nico continued to assure her that it was okay, but she still felt awful despite it being completely out of her control.

     "The other left," Apollo suggested.

     Nari could see past Nico, her stomach doing flips (in a bad way) when she saw how high up they had gotten. Turns out, it was super high. Her breath caught in her throat, and she went as far away from the window as possible.

     "Ah..." Apollo's slightly panicked voice met her ears, "a little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over."

     Thalia tilted the wheel. Her face was chalk white, her forehead beaded with sweat.

     Nico made eye contact with Nari through the chaos, and his eyes widened. "Oh, Nari!" He cried. He scooted closer to her, and to her shock, held her hand. "I forgot you didn't like heights. Are you okay?"

     Nari was more concerned for Thalia, who feared heights far more than Nari did, but Nico was focused on her. "'M fine." She muttered hastily.

     The bus pitched down, now they were heading straight toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand miles an hour, the New England coastline off to their right. And it was getting hot in the bus. Nari held back a scream.

     Apollo was thrown down the aisle, landing between Nico and Nari's seat, and Grover and Percy's. His eyes found Nari and he huffed as he got to his feet. "You couldn't have told me about this?" His voice was a sharp whisper, his eyes wide.

     "I'm sorry, I—"

     "Take the wheel!" Grover suddenly begged him.

     Apollo tried to send him a false smile, but he looked plenty worried, "no worries," he said. "She just has to learn to—WHOA!"

     Down below them was a little snow-covered New England town. At least, it used to be snow-covered. The snow slowly melted off the trees and the roofs and the lawns. The white steeple on a church turned brown and started to smolder. Little plumes of smoke were popping up all over the town. Trees and rooftops were catching fire.

     "Pull up!" Percy yelled.

     Thalia yanked back on the wheel, and Nari held on tightly as to not get thrown around. She heard Nico muttering things to her left to make her feel better, but she couldn't understand it all over her racing heart.

     "There!" Apollo pointed, relieved to have made it. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."

     If Nari wasn't so scared that Thalia's chaotic driving might actually get them killed, she would've laughed.

     Thalia was thundering toward the coastline of northern Long Island. There was Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the woods, the beach—everything that Nari had been dreaming of visiting. She could see the dining pavilion and cabins and the amphitheater, but she couldn't focus on it for long. Not right then.

     "I'm under control," Thalia muttered. "I'm under control."

     They were only a few hundred yards away now.

     "Brake," Apollo said.

     "I can do this."

     "BRAKE!"

     Thalia slammed her foot on the brake, and the sun bus pitched forward at a forty-five-degree angle, slamming into the Camp Half-Blood canoe lake with a huge FLOOOOOOSH! Steam billowed up, sending several frightened naiads scrambling out of the water with half-woven wicker baskets.

     The bus bobbed to the surface, along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes.

     "Well," said Apollo with a brave smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"

     Nari got up on shaky legs, ready to get off the bus as fast as possible, when suddenly her name was called. "And, Nari." She turned to face Apollo. "Let's talk now."

     "Sure." Nari muttered.

     "Now we don't have long." Apollo gestured to the sun chariot, which was currently a crashed bus in a canoe lake at a demigod summer camp. "But I'll give you a quick rundown. You," he pointed a finger to her, "are not my real daughter. Of course, being from another universe, that wouldn't make any sense—"

     "Of course."

     "But here, to those who you don't tell about your little secret, you're my daughter." He shrugged, seeming proud of himself. "Everybody needs a disguise every once in a while."

     Nari couldn't help the laugh that left her, "coming from you, that's rich."

     Apollo frowned, "what?"

     "Nothing."

     The god squinted his eyes at her before nodding, "sure, okay. Future stuff. Less important, of course. Or I would've known about it. At any rate, I came to tell you to be careful about who you trust with this. At this point, it's just the gods and you who know. And of course, the Fates." He shivered.

     Nari let out a breath of relief. She wasn't pleased that some monsters had found out she didn't belong, like Thorn. She realized that he must've found out in Westover Hall when she showed up out of the blue, and he never actually said she was from another universe. He must've thought that a demigod popping out of nowhere was strange, which, admittedly it was. But anything was better than the monsters finding out who she was.

Apollo looked out the bus windows to see the sky, "well, I should be off." He ushered her out of the vehicle. Nari complied without complaint and ignored Apollo as he explained how she should tell the others about 'being claimed' and whatever the sun god found more important than his crashed sun chariot, which wasn't much.

When Nari stepped out of the vehicle, her shoes becoming soaked from the ankle high water, she couldn't help the smile that grew on her face when her eyes scanned Camp Half-Blood. For once, she had no doubts that this wasn't a dream.

—————
lizzie speaks...

seeeee dw, i'm not making her apollo's actual daughter. that's just twisted and confusing and an absolute mess. this makes more sense, i think

just out of curiosity, who's your godly parent? mine's apollo