FIC: The Problem With Boys Automatons

[shiiki]

Title: The Problem With Boys Automatons
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Charles Beckendorf/Silena Beauregard
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Word Count: 6,272

Summary: A capture the flag game meant to repair relations between Ares and Apollo turns into a massive fiasco for Annabeth, Percy, Silena, and Beckendorf-but with some unexpected benefits, too. An alternate PoV piece of The Bronze Dragon.

Notes: This story is one that got cut multiple times from the DoW series-it first existed in my draft plan for The Impossible Maze, but I realised the timeline didn't make sense, so it got moved to The Final Sacrifice, where it fit chronologically but not thematically. The problem with The Bronze Dragon is that it's a light-hearted adventure piece spiced with teenage dating angst, and the mood of BotL and TLO in those summers is increasingly dismal, making it hard to continue ratcheting up tension in the main series with this specific excursion that doesn't actually supplement the plot. So I made the tough decision to cut it, 6,000 words and all. But it seemed a shame to waste that much writing. So here it is, as an outtake from TFS. (As such, it also refers heavily to events that took place in the story, and certain references may not make sense if you haven't read that.)

Link to fic at FF.net | Ao3



Here's the problem with automatons. You rely on them for help, but they don't do anything predictably, and wreck crater-sized havoc in the process.

(Actually, that sounds exactly like Percy Jackson as well.)

And I guess, also like Percy, things can work out with automatons sometimes ...

But maybe I should back this up a bit. It was shortly after Beckendorf and I had solved the panacea poisoning at camp. I was getting over my intense dose of poison, and things were approaching normalcy again.

For instance, Mr D was in a towering temper-though this time it was from being knocked out by 'the incompetence of you brats.' He stormed around camp, turning kids and satyrs alike into shrubs if they were unlucky enough to draw his ire for things like 'picking strawberries the wrong way' or 'breathing too loud.'

Percy was back from Manhattan, bearing a mountain of Sally's trademark baked goods. Although the other campers made short work of the bulk of them, he'd saved me a whole basket. 'Mom's orders,' he said nonchalantly, although the tips of his ears were strangely pink. 'We-I mean, she was really worried about you.'

In the aftermath of my sickness, he'd also seemed to completely forget the argument we'd parted on.

Someone who hadn't dropped her grudges, though, was Clarisse. She was nearly as trigger-happy as Mr D, though of course without shrub-transforming powers. Her electric spear was bad enough. Even Chris found himself at the business end of it by the end of the week.

'I don't get girls,' Beckendorf said. 'I thought Clarisse liked Chris.'

I was in the forge, watching him tinker with his newest project: a suit of armour that blended in with the surroundings. He'd gotten the idea from my encounter with Delphyne, the Mütter museum serpent.

'That's why she's mad at him,' I explained. 'See, she was giving him a huge signal, talking about stuff she'd like to blow up on fireworks night. You'd think he'd take the hint and ask her to the fireworks, but he just started talking about stealing explosives instead. It'd drive any girl insane.'

Beckendorf looked even more confused. 'But how's he meant to get that from blowing up fireworks?'

I gave him an exasperated look. Were all boys this dense? 'Because she brought up the fireworks. It's like when Silena asked if you wanted help with the fireworks layouts and then you said Nyssa had it covered.'

Beckendorf tried on the helmet he was crafting. It made his head blend right into the forge wall, giving the eerie sensation of a pair of eyes watching from the wood. 'Is that why you got mad at Percy when you said you'd been working out logistics for the beach and he asked if you wanted some hippocampi for the show?'

'No,' I said automatically. 'I mean, maybe. I mean-that's different.'

Beckendorf raised his eyebrows.

'Take off the helmet,' I complained. 'It's creepy.'

He obliged. 'So when you girls act like you want to kill us, that's a good thing?'

I gave him a withering look. Beckendorf grinned and went back to hammering his chameleon armour.

'You know, it'd be easier if you just told us when you liked us.'

'Why don't you just ask Silena to Fireworks Night?' I countered.

Beckendorf was silent. For a while, the forge was filled with just the sound of his hammering. Finally, he said, 'It's not that easy.'

'Sure it is.'

'What if she says no?'

I put my hands on my hips. 'She's not going to say no. Trust me.'

Beckendorf put down his hammer. 'Are you going to ask Percy?'

'It's not the same thing.' It was so obvious that Silena liked Beckendorf. Everyone at camp knew it. I bet that deep down, Beckendorf himself had to know it, even if he was scared to actually ask. But Percy ... surely I'd made it obvious enough how I felt about him. For Zeus's sake, I'd kissed him last year. How much clearer could I get? And he hadn't followed up on it at all. What was I supposed to conclude from that?

Beckendorf pointed his hammer at me. 'I'll make you a deal. I'll ask Silena, but you have to ask Percy.'

I clinked two beads on my camp necklace together. 'That's not fair.'

Beckendorf shrugged.

'Fine,' I snapped. 'But you go first.'

Two days later, my explanation of Clarisse's behaviour proved spot on. We'd just finished capture the flag, where Beckendorf had carried off the flag with virtually no opposition because of the Apollo and Ares infighting on the red team.

Chris made the mistake of pointing this out to Clarisse. When she rounded on him with a murderous look, he blurted out, in front of everyone, 'Will you go to the Fireworks with me?'

Clarisse's demeanour changed completely. It was the first time I could recall seeing her utterly speechless with shock. Her face cycled through the whole rainbow before she regained her composure, punched Chris in the shoulder, and said, 'Took you long enough.'

Chris's look of absolute terror faded into relief, and then a dazed grin when Clarisse kissed him right on the lips.

'Awww.' Silena and half the Aphrodite cabin sighed in appreciation. Her eyes darted hopefully to Beckendorf, who had dropped the blue team's flag in amazement. There was a moment where I thought he might rise to the occasion, but then he just gave me a panicked glance and fled in the direction of the forge.

I picked up the flag with a sigh. It had turned Hephaestus-bronze, with the symbol of a flaming hammer.

Silena jogged over. 'I'm so glad she took my advice.'

'What advice?'

'You need to keep boys on their toes. Otherwise they'll never get bothered enough to ask you out.'

'Are you serious?'

She nodded towards Clarisse and Chris, who were now walking out of the woods hand-in-hand. 'He finally asked her out properly, didn't he?'

'How's that working out for you?' I snarked.

Silena blushed and traced the inside of her wrist with her left hand. 'Charlie'll come round.'

'If you're so sure, why don't you just ask him out?'

Silena shook her head. 'I made that mistake before. You have to chuck the ball in their court. Boys are so clueless. Unless they make the move, they won't get it into their heads that they really do like you.'

'Well, if they don't like you in the first place ...'

Silena cocked her head to one side. 'I guess that's always a possibility. But I'm pretty sure Percy-'

'Who said anything about Percy?'

She shook her head at me. 'Trust me. If he gets agitated enough, he'll have to say something.'

I turned this over in my head. Was Silena right? Had I scared Percy off by being too direct?

Or should I listen to Beckendorf's advice?

I guess maybe the daughter of a love goddess knew more about this stuff than a Hephaestus kid.

Clarisse came to me after breakfast the next day, in the best mood she'd been since the poison incident. She wanted to discuss a truce for the evening's game.

'I'm gonna beat the stuffing out of Apollo tonight,' she declared. 'So I need your help.'

She must really have been in a good mood to admit this. Usually Clarisse maintained that she didn't need anyone's help. Or else she was just really out to get back at Michael and Apollo cabin.

'Athena doesn't fight under Ares,' I reminder her. 'My cabin will never go for it.'

'You can hold the flag, then,' Clarisse grumbled. 'As long as you're in.'

It'd be a first, us working together, but it might make for some interesting strategies.

'Fine,' I said. 'But you guys will handle KP if we lose.' I didn't intend to be on the losing team, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to hedge my bets.

'You're on,' said Clarisse. She continued her recruitment down the breakfast tables.

In the end, she managed to gather Silena, Katie, and Pollux under the red flag. Which meant that for the first time in a long while, I'd be on opposite sides from Percy. And the blue team would have both him and Beckendorf. I thought of the chameleon armour in the forge and groaned. That would make our lives a lot harder.

'Percy and Beckendorf will be the main players,' I said, spreading out a map of the woods for my teammates to see. 'I'd bet anything they'll be the strike team.'

'So if we take them out, the game's over,' Katie said. She raised her eyebrows at me. 'Any ideas?'

I traced a line up the side of the map. 'We'll plant the flag on the right side of the woods. And before the game, I'll hint to Percy that he should go right.'

The others stared at me.

'Er, you mean left, right?' Pollux said, scratching his head. 'I mean, you meant to say left, not right, right? I mean-argh.'

'Why would you tell him where our flag is?' Clarisse demanded.

'Because Percy's smarter than he acts. If I tell him to go right, he'll guess I'm trying to hide something on the left, but I'll be one step ahead if I actually put it on the right.'

This was met with blank stares all around. No one else seemed to follow the thread of my logic. Which was probably a good thing.

'It'll work, I promise. Just leave the distractions to me and Silena. Clarisse and Pollux can go on the offence, and Katie-you guys will be our stealth team. Everyone always underestimates you.'

Katie beamed. I could tell she liked being prized as a key player for once.

'And the woods really are our strength, you know,' she said. 'All that vegetation.'

The plan worked like a charm. I put my cabin on guard duty, and sure enough, the blue team sent their main force-the Hermes distraction squad, no doubt-up the right flank, which meant Percy and Beckendorf were surely sneaking around on the other side.

'Come on,' I told Silena. Clarisse would make short work of Hermes. Meanwhile, we crept along the empty left flank. The boys were exactly where I'd told them not to go. And even though they were camouflaged by Beckendorf's chameleon armour, the sound of their voices gave them away. Typical of invisibility novices. They never remembered that out of sight did not mean out of hearing.

'Holy Hephaestus,' I heard Beckendorf whisper. I could just about make out the rippling among the bushes, like smoke moving across the branches. That must be where he and Percy were hiding. Their voices carried in low mutters. I couldn't make out exactly what they were talking about, but it didn't matter. I put on my invisibility hat and drew my dagger.

I got to the bush just as Beckendorf cried out, 'It's a sign from Hephaestus! Come on!'

The bush rustled violently. A second later, I saw a large, wavering form darting along the trees. I took a chance and flung my arms around Percy. Once I caught him, his armour turned dull grey, rendering him visible again.

I grinned and pressed the flat of my blade to his neck. 'Surprise.'

Percy groaned. Silena emerged from her hiding place. 'Nice work!'

I took off my cap and claimed Percy's sword. I'd have to stick close to him so the magic on Riptide wouldn't sense that it had left his person, but our job was, for all intents and purposes, done. We'd captured the strongest player on the blue team.

Percy looked at me in disbelief, like he couldn't understand how we'd managed to track him down in his special armour.

'Boys are easy to follow,' I said, rolling my eyes. 'They make more noise than a lovesick Minotaur. Anyway, you're our prisoner. Let's get Beckendorf-'

'Beckendorf!' Percy yelped. He turned and made a break for it. 'Come on!'

I grabbed his armour straps before he could escape. 'Where do you think you're going, prisoner?'

Percy made a frustrated noise at the back of his throat. 'Look!'

Silena gasped. I turned to look at the clearing properly for the first time. Up ahead was an enormous mound the size of a three-storey mansion. I'd been in the area of the woods once before, on a scouting expedition last year. Beckendorf and I had been looking for a legendary camp guardian: a bronze dragon he'd sworn had used to run border patrol in the days before Thalia's pine.

It looked like Beckendorf had found the dragon-or part of it, at least. He was charging towards a decapitated metal head with glowing red eyes and bronze scales. Wires stuck haphazardly out of its neck.

Unfortunately, Beckendorf wasn't the only one who'd seen the dragon head. The inhabitants of the three-storey mound had spotted it, too. They came swarming out of their lair: an entire colony of giant ants with tough, red shells and wicked pincers.

'Oh Zeus,' I groaned.

Beckendorf swung his sword at the nearest Myrmeke, but the Celestial bronze just bounced off the ant's armoured shell. The ant twisted round and sank its pincers into Beckendorf's leg. Another let loose a spray of acid. Beckendorf's chameleon helmet melted right off his head. He tore at his eyes, screaming in pain.

'Charlie!' Silena cried.

Percy nearly dived in after Beckendorf. If I hadn't been holding his armour straps, he'd have run headlong into the ants.

'No, don't! It's already too late!'

'What are you talking about? We have to-' Percy's jaw dropped. The ants swarmed Beckendorf like he was a juicy insect, and carted him off into their mound.

Silena shoved me so hard, I fell away from Percy. 'You let them take Charlie!'

I ground my teeth. I'd faced Myrmekes before. We couldn't face them head-on-at least, not without some extra firepower.

Which Beckendorf had found.

'There's no time to argue,' I told the others. 'Come on!'

It was time to see what the dragon could do.

'What are you doing?' Percy said, as if it wasn't obvious when I started pulling the dragon's head away from the mound by its wires.

'Help me! Quick, before they get back.' I jerked my head at the Ant Hill.

Silena raised her hands to the sky. 'Oh my gods! You're more worried about this hunk of metal than Charlie?'

It was my turn to shake her. 'Listen, Silena! Those are Myrmekes.' I explained everything I knew about the ants-including their deadly acid and poisonous bites. They had hive minds, like automatons with two settings only: food and fight. As long as one of them was focused on gathering supper, they would all be. The only way to get Beckendorf out of their hands-pincers-was to switch their focus from food to fight.

'We're going to need help-a lot of help-to get him back. Now, grab some wires and pull!'

Percy, thank the gods, didn't argue. He started tugging the dragon head along with me. After a few seconds, Silena joined in. Together, we dragged the enormous head away from the Ant Hill, until we were far enough to be obscured from the ants' immediate view.

Silena collapsed in tears as soon as we stopped. 'He's probably dead already.'

'No!' I knew from experience that Myrmeke paralysis took about an hour to wear off-an hour in which the ants typically softened up their prey for consumption. That gave us maybe thirty minutes to put together a strike team to rescue Beckendorf.

I told them the plan.

It didn't take long to find the rest of the dragon. The ants had practically tracked it down for us. Their tracks led into a gigantic crater not far away. It looked like someone had blasted a hole into the forest with a massive meteorite. Smack in the middle was a large heap of dirt with a long, bronze neck tucked into it.

'Hephaestus-the god must've unearthed this,' Silena said. 'Hephaestus wanted us to find the dragon. He wanted Charlie to ...'

This seemed like a bit of a stretch. But who knew with the gods? As long as it wasn't some devious Titan trap ... I thought uneasily of Kronos, plotting to attack us. Out here in the wilder regions of the woods, it wasn't clear where our camp borders extended. But there was no time to worry about that now. Beckendorf's clock was ticking. And if the stories were true, this dragon had been protecting camp long before any of us had been born.

Percy squared his shoulders. 'Come on. Let's resurrect this bad boy.'

We rolled the dragon's head into the crater. That was the easy part. Even though I'd studied automaton designs in Daedalus's laptop, actually dealing with one hands-on was a whole different matter. Mechanical engineering always looked so easy when Beckendorf did it, but I was completely at sea with the wires and attachments. Every time I worked out which two should connect, the wires slipped out of my sweaty hands and I had to start over again.

'We need Beckendorf,' I groaned. 'He could do this in seconds.'

'Isn't you mom the goddess of inventors?' Percy's words were like a slap to my face.

'Yes, but this is different,' I said, trying not to let the flood of inadequacy overwhelm me. 'I'm good with ideas. Not mechanics.'

Percy patted a panel on the dragon. 'If I was going to pick one person in the world to reattach my head, I'd pick you.' He didn't sound like he was being sarcastic.

'Aww, Percy that is so sweet!' Silena clapped her hands together and gave us a watery but knowing smile.

'Shut up, Silena.' But Percy's encouragement gave me a boost of confidence. I wiped my sweaty brow and pushed the stray hairs out of my face. Maybe I was going at this the wrong way. I'd been trying to work with the loose wiring, but perhaps I needed to start from the other end.

'Hand me your dagger,' I told Silena. She had a parazonium, a triangular blade with a thinner, flatter point than mine. It fit neatly into the screws on the dragon's neck panel.

Neat Celestial bronze wiring criss-crossed the inside of the neck. 'Here goes nothing,' I muttered, and went to work with all the focus I could muster.

I threaded the loose wires into the open panel, pretending it was a string on a loom. This probably wasn't the way Beckendorf would have gone about it, but I could only tackle the problem the way I knew best. I knew I was on the right track when the dragon's head raised itself off the ground and coughed up a spurt of grease. A glob of it landed on my forehead. I wiped it off with the back of my hand and kept going.

At last, I got the head sitting firmly on the neck, with the loose wires spliced into the control panel. I shut the panel and rocked back on my heels. 'All right. It's done, I think.'

Percy and Silena crowded around the dragon. I wiped my hands on my pants, not that it did much good. I had a feeling those grease stains wouldn't come out for days.

Silena eyed the dragon dubiously. 'You think?'

Percy's foot tapped impatiently. 'It has to be done. We're out of time!' He looked the dragon up and down. 'How do you, uh, start it? Is there an ignition switch or something?'

I studied the head. It had spit on me when I'd connected the wiring for its eyeballs. 'Those turn clockwise,' I said, indicating the rubies in its eye sockets. 'I'm guessing we rotate them.'

Percy made a sarcastic twist with his mouth. 'If somebody twisted my eyeballs, I'd wake up. What if it goes crazy on us?'

That was Percy, always looking on the bright side.

'Then we're dead.'

'Great. I'm psyched.'

Crazy or not, we were out of options. Beckendorf didn't have much longer. Percy and I each took a ruby eye and twisted.

The rubies glowed like laser beams. I stumbled back into Percy and we fell in a heap.

'Oof!' he said.

'Sorry.' I scrambled off him and helped him up.

The dragon jerked its head back and forth. Its mouth creaked at the hinges. Steam shot from its nose and ears with a whistle like a boiling kettle. It strained, stretching its neck, and then-BOOM.

The mound of dirt erupted over us. When we brushed the soil out of our faces, a massive figure was towering over us. It was nearly as tall as the Ant Hill, plated with bronze and gold that shimmered in the sunlight. It was more like a dinosaur than what mortals think of as 'dragons'-the movies were always getting things wrong: Hollywood dragons were more like drakons-but it was impressive all the same. I stared, overwhelmed at my own success, as the dragon raised its head and sent a jet of fire into the sky.

'Well, it still works,' Percy said.

The dragon's head turned. It lowered and stretched right up to Percy's face, ruby eyes gleaming with curiosity. It looked like it was wondering whether Percy would taste better char-broiled or deep-fried.

'Dragon, stop!' Silena commanded. There must have been a touch of charmspeak in her voice, because the dragon's head swivelled obediently to her.

'We-we've woken you to defend the camp.' Silena's voice faltered slightly before she rallied. 'Do you remember? That is your job.'

The dragon's head creaked like, Oh yeah, I think I used to do that.

I nodded encouragingly to Silena. Her voice grew more confident with each word. 'Charles Beckendorf, a son of Hephaestus, is in trouble. The Myrmekes have taken him. He needs your help.'

The dragon perked up. It shook itself like a dog, only instead of water, a shower of dirt flew from its scales and landed in our hair and faces. It jerked its head around like, Where's the monster?

'We have to show it,' I decided. 'Come on, dragon! This way to the son of Hephaestus! Follow us!'

It's a beautiful thing when plans come together. All we had to do was lead the dragon back to the Ant Hill and-boom. The Myrmekes didn't even know what hit them. The dragon slammed into the side of the mound, drawing a line of ants to the surface to see what was going on. After the first couple got torched, the Ant Hill turned into a hive of activity, with Myrmekes swarming up from every tunnel.

'They're in fight mode!' Exactly as I'd hoped. Every ant in the nest was now concentrated on the immediate threat. 'Inside, now! While they're focused on the dragon!'

We passed unimpeded into the Myrmekes' tunnels. None of the ants scurrying out to battle paid us an iota of attention.

The place stank worse than the poisoned panacea, but at least the air wasn't actually poisonous. I hoped not, anyway. The tunnels twisted and turned, with offshoots into huge caves filled with glittering treasure: gold, jewels, weapons, all hoarded away for Olympus knew how long. They surrounded large, bulging sacs of ant larvae, like expensive nursery decorations. The sight of it made me pause. If we'd only been able to get our hands on this gold a few weeks ago ...

And there had to be tons of caves like this, ant nurseries gleaming with undiscovered treasure. But that was neither here nor there now.

We kept going, following the smell until we found Beckendorf lying in a heap of rotten food, bones, and other things I didn't want to think about. His arms flailed desperately around the garbage. That was a good sign-he was still moving.

'Charlie!' Silena didn't even complain about the disgusting smell. She ran right to him.

Beckendorf looked up in relief. 'Thanks the gods! My-my legs are paralysed.'

'It'll wear off,' I assured him. 'But we have to get you out of here.'

Beckendorf was a big guy, but between the three of us, we managed to help him along. His paralysis wore off as we stumbled off. I guess that meant the hour was up. It was a good thing we'd arrived when we did.

When we reached the exit, the sound of hundreds of ants sizzling into roasted shells drifted into the tunnel.

'What's going on out there?' Beckendorf gripped my arm. 'The dragon-you didn't ... reactivate it?'

I thought he'd be impressed, but he seemed to think we'd messed up big time.

'Afraid so,' Percy said. 'Seemed like the only way.'

'But-' Beckendorf spluttered. 'You can't just turn on an automaton! You have to calibrate the motor, run a diagnostic ...'

I scowled. Was he grateful for the rescue or not?

He wrung his hands. 'There's no telling what it'll do! We've got to get out there!'

That was when the tunnel caved in.

Fortunately, we were already near the exit. We dug ourselves out into a full-on, dragon-sized melee. Despite its strength and size, the dragon was getting run down by the sheer number of Myrmekes. They crawled all over it, slathering its scales in smoking acid. Steam hissed off its skin in columns.

A few ants turned to us, drawn maybe by the stench of goo on Beckendorf's armour. They wavered, caught between the hive's fight and the escape of their dinner.

'Don't let them focus on Beckendorf,' I said, drawing my blade.

Percy and I fell wordlessly into our familiar fighting pattern, warding off the Myrmekes that had turned to us. Together, we kept the ants off Silena as she helped Beckendorf labour across the clearing. The dragon tried to follow, but it fell, steaming like a sauna.

Silena turned, tears in her eyes. 'We can't let it die.'

Beckendorf looked torn. 'It's too dangerous. Its wiring-'

'Charlie, it saved your life!' Silena protested. 'Please, for me.'

Beckendorf grimaced. He took a shaky step back to the edge of the clearing. 'Get ready to run,' he warned us.

He let loose a rapid command sequence. I didn't know if he was guessing about the words, or if all Hephaestus just learned automaton command language or something. Either way, it worked. The dragon lit up like a glow-worm. The air smelt like the sky before a thunderstorm-or like Thalia when she got pissed off. The next second, electricity crackled off the dragon's skin in spiky blue waves. Every Myrmeke in contact with it crackled and popped. They fell to the ground, shells charred, thin legs jerking feebly. The remaining ants scurried back into the hill as fast as their spindly legs would carry them. Within seconds, the clearing was empty.

I would have cheered, except the dragon now turned its attention to us. And its glowing red eyes were definitely not saying, Thanks, amigos.

'Now we run,' Beckendorf said grimly.

It was a good thing his paralysis had worn off. Otherwise, he'd have been dragon chow.

'How do we stop it?' I yelled as we sprinted through the woods, pursued by the crazy, flame-spewing, electricity-hurling dragon. If there was an activation sequence, surely there must be an end sequence, too?

'You shouldn't have turned it on!' Beckendorf gasped. 'It's unstable! After a few years, automatons go wild!'

Percy ducked a well-aimed jet of flame. 'Good to know, but how do you turn it off?'

Beckendorf pointed to the base of a slanting column of rock. Its tip jutted out high above our heads. 'There!' He directed us to the other side with the alarming instruction to distract the dragon.

'But what are you going to do?' Silena cried.

'You'll see. Go!' Beckendorf gave her a little push.

Percy reacted first. 'Hey!' He waved his arms to draw the dragon's attention, and immediately followed up with a string of insults.

The dragon did not appreciate being told its breath stank. Or maybe it just thought Percy looked like excellent fuel. Either way, Percy got its full attention right away.

'Come on!' I pulled him after Silena, who was already running full-tilt for the other side of the rock. As the dragon charged after us, I spotted Beckendorf. His chameleon armour had been messed up so badly by the ant goo, it now blinked in and out of focus as he crept up the slope of the rock.

We reached the opposite side of the rock cliff, where the tip formed a steep overhang. Beckendorf was still clambering up the rock face on the other side. I realised what he was planning, but he wouldn't get to the top quick enough if the dragon went past too quickly.

'We have to hold it here!'

Silena and Percy both looked at me like, You're kidding, right? But they drew their swords.

The dragon caught up to us and eyed us almost quizzically. I felt a bit dumb, standing before it with our swords drawn. It was like going against an armoured tank with toothpicks. Maybe the dragon realised this, too. Its first breath of fire was almost a snort of laughter.

We dove aside. I was trying to think of a new plan when Percy charged in with a yell. He brought Riptide down across the dragon's foot and lopped off a boulder-sized talon.

That got the dragon's attention, all right. Its neck swerved, bringing its head right up to Percy's face.

'Percy!'

To my amazement and terror, he just stared straight into that mouthful of gleaming teeth like, Go on, take a bite if you dare.

I had no doubt the dragon dared. It looked surprised, like it had expected Percy to cut and run.

Percy's gaze flickered to the rock cliff above us. 'Just another second ...'

Where was Beckendorf? He'd better do something before ...

'Hai-yah!' Like a rodeo cowboy, Beckendorf vaulted off the rock cliff and landed squarely on the dragon's head. I darted forward to pull Percy out of the way as Beckendorf yanked the dragon's head back, riding it like a bucking bull. It spewed fire in an arc across the tree line-fortunately above the canopies. We watched with our hearts in our mouths, hoping Beckendorf wouldn't get electrocuted.

And then Beckendorf leaned over and yanked open the panel I'd fixed earlier. He gave the wires inside a sharp tug. The dragon shuddered to a stop. The flames sprouting from its nostrils curled into smoke.

Beckendorf slid down the back of the dragon and off its tail. We stumbled out from under the overhang.

'Charlie, you did it!' Silena planted a kiss on his cheek. Beckendorf's fingers crept up to the spot she'd kissed. He seemed to be more stunned by it than by the activation of the dragon.

Percy stared at the immobilised dragon, blinking slowly. He looked like he was about to faint, which was funny considering he'd just stood up to the thing seconds ago without even trembling.

'Hey Seaweed Brain, you okay?'

'Fine, I guess,' he said. It seemed to hit him only now that he could have been dragon chow. Typical Percy, acting before thinking. But he'd bought Beckendorf enough time to make the jump.

'You were great.'

This jolted him out of his stupor. He tried a tentative smile. 'You too. So ... what do we do with the automaton?'

Beckendorf considered the frozen dragon. Even in its incapacitated state, it made an impressive figure in the clearing. 'I don't know. Maybe we can fix it, get it to guard the camp.' He sounded wistful, like he wished we'd found it earlier. 'But that could take months.'

We didn't have months. There was no knowing when Kronos would launch his next attack.

Percy cocked his head to one side. 'Worth trying.'

Beckendorf met my eyes. 'Did you see all the treasure in the Ant Hill? The magic weapons? The armour?'

I nodded. He'd probably reached the same conclusions as I had.

'That stuff could really help us,' he sighed.

'And the bracelets. And the necklaces,' Silena added, running her fingers around her wrist. Personally, I'd had enough of magical necklaces, but I guess you can't take the love of accessorising out of a daughter of Aphrodite.

'I think that's an adventure for later,' Percy said firmly. 'It would take an army of demigods even to get close to that treasure.'

'Maybe ...' Beckendorf looked thoughtful. 'But what a treasure ...'

Silena patted his arm. 'Charlie, that was the bravest thing I ever saw.' She looked at the deactivated dragon. 'You jumping on that dragon.'

Beckendorf gulped. He seemed to be drawing on his courage for a bigger challenge than leaping from a cliff onto a berserk dragon. 'Um, yeah. So ...' His words came out in a jumble. 'Will you go to the fireworks with me?'

A broad grin spread across Silena's face. She glanced sideways at me before turning back to Beckendorf and squeezing his arm. 'Of course, you big dummy! I thought you'd never ask!'

Beckendorf looked he'd just started breathing again. The grin on his face matched Silena's. 'Well, let's get back, then! I bet capture the flag is over.'

Silena linked her arm through his. Just before they started back through the trees, he looked over his shoulder, still grinning, and caught my eye. Your turn.

Percy and I followed Beckendorf and Silena, who seemed to have been instantly transported into some private lovers' dreamland. My heart hammered faster than it had when we'd run from the dragon while I tried to figure out how to keep up my end of the pact. It didn't help that Percy was leaning against me as we walked. Having lost his shoe to the Myrmeke acid, his foot was bare, red, and swollen. I could empathise-I knew first-hand how nasty that stuff was.

I took a deep breath. How had Silena led into the conversation again?

Right. Bravery.

'You know, it wasn't the bravest thing I've every seen.'

Percy nearly tripped. 'What do you mean?'

I caught his wrist and steadied him. 'You stood up to the dragon so Beckendorf would have his chance to jump,' I reminded him. 'Now, that was brave.'

He didn't jump on the compliment like Beckendorf had. 'Or pretty stupid,' he countered.

I ground my teeth. Did he have to make it so difficult? 'Percy, you're a brave guy. Just take the compliment. I swear, is it so hard?'

He blinked and stared at me, close enough that my heart started a trampoline routine against my rib cage.

'So ... I guess Silena and Beckendorf are going to the fireworks together.'

My heart sprang off its trampoline into a back flip. 'I guess so.'

'Yeah, um, about that-'

The bushes rustled, cutting off whatever Percy was about to say. Malcom, Arthur, and Celia burst out of the foliage, swords at the ready. When they saw us, their faces split into wide grins.

'Annabeth! Good job!' Arthur pointed his sword at Percy while Malcolm waved Silena over. 'Let's get these two to jail.'

Percy's jaw dropped. 'The game's not over?'

I cursed inwardly. Seriously, did I have to do everything? And could their timing have been worse?

Beckendorf tried to explain about the dragon and the Myrmekes, but Malcolm poked him in the back with his sword.

'Uh-huh. Annabeth, great job distracting them. Worked out perfectly. You want us to take them from here?'

Percy gave me a look of utter disbelief. Whatever he had intended to say, the moment was lost now.

'Nah. Silena and I can get this,' I told Malcolm. I pulled my dagger to hold Percy captive. 'Come on, prisoners. Move it.'

'You planned this?' Percy demanded. 'You planned this whole thing just to keep us out of the game?'

I rolled my eyes. 'Percy, seriously, how could I have planned it? The dragon, the ants-you think I could've figured all that out ahead of time?'

It was kind of flattering, though, that he thought so highly of my strategic planning. In a way, it was even more pleasing than if he had blurted out an invitation to fireworks night. Maybe he had been working up to it.

Silena met my eyes and winked. My mouth twitched. Maybe we hadn't planned this adventure, but letting Percy believe it ... well, it'd probably drive him nuts just wondering. What was it Silena had said-'keep them on their toes'?

I returned her wink.

Percy spluttered. 'You-you little ...'

We marched the boys all the way to the makeshift jail, where Pollux and two more of my siblings were already guarding a pair of Apollo girls.

'Come on,' Percy complained. 'We just fought a dragon together. Doesn't that get us, like, a get out of jail free card?'

I shook my head at him and handed him over to my siblings. But before I headed off with Silena, I turned back to look at him.

'See you at the fireworks?' The words flew out of my mouth of their own accord. My eye twitched. Percy's mouth fell open.

Gods. I'd done it. I didn't dare wait around for him to say no. I sprinted off after a giggling Silena.

I guess we both could be unpredictable and wreck a bit of havoc in the process, too.

I just hoped this particular gamble would work out right.