When Artemis disappeared from everyone's sight, Apollo, who had been looking in her direction, turned around and smiled, spinning the car keys on his finger.
"So…" he said mischievously, "Who wants to drive?"
The Hunters piled into the van, cramming into the back to stay as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of the highly infectious evils.
Bianca sat next to Ikki, with Annabeth and Thalia closer, while Percy and Grover were on the other side.
"This is so cool!" Nico said, bouncing up and down in the driver's seat.
"Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the gods of the sun and moon. How can it sometimes be them and sometimes you and Artemis?" Percy asked Apollo, confused.
"Cost reduction," Apollo explained. "The Romans started it. They couldn't keep up with all those temples and sacrifices, so they fired Helios and Selene and reassigned their roles to our job description. My sister got the moon, and I got the sun. It was 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 ball of flaming gas!"
Apollo chuckled and patted Nico's hair.
"That rumor probably started because Artemis used to call me a big ball of flaming gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking about astronomy or philosophy. Want to talk astronomy? Bah, where's the fun in that? Want to discuss how humans think about the sun? Now that's more interesting. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, moves engines, makes everything seem, well, sunnier…"
"This car was built from human imagination and their 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 those frail mortal lives. The car is a manifestation of the sun's power, and how mortals perceive it is the sun usually up in the sky. Makes sense?"
Nico shook his head. "No."
"Well, then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car," Apollo said, laughing lightly.
"Can I drive?" Nico asked eagerly.
"No. Too young."
"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.
"Mm, no," Apollo said playfully. "Too hairy."
He looked at Ikki, who was standing calmly, and said, "Want to do the honors, Ikki? I'm sure you can handle it…"
"Not interested," Ikki said, resigned to the expectation gleaming in the sun god's eyes.
Apollo seemed almost disappointed, but he brightened up again when he looked at Thalia. "Daughter of Zeus! Lord of the skies. Just like Ikki, you're perfect…"
"Oh, no," Thalia shook her head, going pale. "No, thank you."
"Come on." Apollo didn't want to be rejected again, so he insisted. "How old are you?"
"I don't know," Thalia hesitated.
It was sad but true. She had been turned into a tree when she was twelve, but that was seven years ago. So she would be nineteen if you counted by years. But she still felt twelve, and if you looked at her, she seemed somewhere in between. The best Chiron could deduce was that she had continued to age while a tree, but much more slowly.
Apollo tapped his lips before declaring, "You're fifteen, almost sixteen."
"How do you know that?" she asked, surprised.
"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know things. You're turning sixteen in about a week," Apollo replied with a mysterious smile.
"It's my birthday! December twenty-second," Thalia nodded.
"Which means you're now old enough to drive with a learner's permit!" Apollo concluded.
Thalia shifted nervously.
"Um—"
"I know what you're going to say," Apollo said with a touch of narcissism. "You don't deserve the honor of driving the solar car."
"That's not what I was going to say," Thalia said nervously.
"Don't worry! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't fret about what happened to the last kid I trained. You're a daughter of Zeus. He won't toss you out of the sky." Apollo laughed naturally. The rest didn't join him.
Thalia tried to protest, but Apollo absolutely wouldn't take "no" for an answer.
He pressed a button on the car's dashboard, and a sign appeared across the top of the windshield that read: "Caution, Student Driver."
"Take this off," Apollo told Thalia. "It'll come naturally to you!"
Percy felt a bit jealous. He could hardly wait to start driving. A few times that fall, his mom had taken him to Montauk when the beach road was empty and let him try her Mazda. I mean, yeah, it was a Japanese compact, and this is a solar car, but how different could it be?
It wasn't just him—Grover and Annabeth were also a bit envious of her opportunity.
Thalia approached the driver's seat under everyone's gaze, while Nico moved back to stand near Bianca, next to Ikki.
"Speed equals heat," Apollo warned. "So start slow, and make sure you gain good altitude before you really accelerate."
Thalia gripped the wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. She looked like she was about to be sick.
"What's wrong?" Percy asked her.
"Nothing," she said shakily. "Nothing's wrong."
She pulled the wheel. It tilted, and the van leaped forward so fast that Percy fell back, hitting something soft.
"Ow," Grover said as Percy fell against his furry body.
Ikki held Annabeth on one side and Bianca on the other with his arms, while Nico collided with his torso, cushioning the impact. He remained fixed in place as if glued.
"Sorry," Percy told his friend before starting to get up again.
"Slower!" Apollo said, not too bothered.
"Sorry!" Thalia said. "I've got it under control!"
Ikki glanced briefly out the window, seeing a ring of trees smoldering in the clearing they'd taken off from.
Percy, who had stood up and also looked out the window, swallowed hard and said, "Thalia, ease up on the accelerator."
"I know, Percy," she said through gritted teeth. But she kept it pressed.
"Stay calm," Annabeth told her, though her words hinted at concern. She seemed quite relaxed, being held by Zeus's son. If anyone looked closely, her cheeks had a slight pink hue.
Ikki didn't seem to mind holding a girl on each side. He was merely observing everything around him, though he didn't seem particularly focused on it.
"I am calm!" Thalia said. She was so stiff she seemed to be made of plywood.
"We need to veer south toward Long Island," Apollo said, looking out the front glass. "Tilt to the left."
Thalia jerked the wheel, once again throwing Percy onto Grover, who yelped.
"The other left," Apollo suggested.
By now, the group realized they were at airplane altitude — so high that the sky was starting to look dark.
"Ah…" Apollo was trying to remain calm as he said, "A bit lower, dear. Cape Cod is freezing."
Thalia tilted the steering. Her face was pale as chalk, and sweat was dripping from her neck.
Something was definitely wrong.
The van nosedived, and someone screamed. They were now heading toward the Atlantic Ocean at a thousand kilometers per hour, with the New England coastline to their right. And it was getting hot in the van.
Apollo had been thrown somewhere to the back of the van, but he started climbing back up the rows of seats.
"Grab the wheel!" Grover begged him.
"Don't worry," Apollo said. He looked very worried. "She just needs to learn to — WHOA!"
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes fixed outside. Below them was a small, snow-covered New England town. At least, it had been snow-covered. The snow melted from the trees, rooftops, and lawns. The white church steeple turned brown and started smoldering without flames. Small plumes of smoke, like birthday candles, were popping up all over the town.
Trees and rooftops were catching fire.
"Stop!" Percy shouted.
There was a wild light in Thalia's eyes. She pulled the steering wheel back, and everyone braced themselves this time. Looking out the rear window, they could see the town's fires being swept away by a sudden gust of cold air.
"There!" Apollo pointed, having successfully made it back to the front. He said with a hint of sarcasm, "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is just a figure of speech."
Thalia was barreling toward the coast of northern New England. There was Camp Half-Blood: the valley, the forests, the beach. Percy could see the dining pavilion, the cabins, and the amphitheater.
"I'm in control," Thalia muttered. "I'm in control."
They were only a few hundred meters away now.
"Brake…" Apollo said, his eyebrows knitting in a spark of worry.
"I can do this."
"BRAKE!"
Thalia slammed her foot on the brake, and the solar van pitched forward at a 45° angle, crashing into the canoeing lake at Camp Half-Blood with a giant FLOOOOOOSH! Steam erupted, causing several startled naiads to jump out of the water with half-woven wicker baskets.