The Moon's Shine (PJO)

Chapter 41

A/N—FYI: pegasi=horse in this chapter. I don't know why, even though I'm the one who wrote it:) Have a great day!

Edit: fixed some quotation marks. If you see anything else, just comment it!

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When Percy introduced Caroline to the girls, it went . . .

Well.

Even he didn't know what happened.

Percy'd carried Caroline to their usual spot, the training arena, but it had been occupied by a group of demigods. They'd told him that the recruits had gone to train in the pegasi stables, but Percy suspected that they had led him astray, even as he pushed through the stable's entrance gate; just who in the world would voluntarily train there—where the stench of horse dung and hay was so strong that only a son of Poseidon could stand it?

Inside, a bright white pegasi's ears twitched with the sound of Percy and Caroline entering. Oh, here we go again, the horse neighed in annoyance. Here comes another batch of those stupid kids.

The other pegasi neighed their agreement. They're in our turf! one replied, followed by a bunch of cursing.

"Those kids didn't lie to us," Percy immediately announced to Caroline as he stepped through the threshold. "We're in the right place."

"Can you understand those horses?" Caroline inquired, her nose scrunching together in disgust as the smell of horse dung permeated the air.

"One of the abilities of a certified son of Poseidon, the god of horses."

"What did it say?" she asked as the closest horse, a brow-dappled chester mare named Cherise, responded angrily. 

"First of all, it's a 'her,' and secondly, you don't want to know. Trust me." Percy shook his head. Pegasi swore worse than a sailing crew at sea—and it kind of made him wonder if other animals did the same thing.

Despite his discouragement, however, Caroline's eyes couldn't help but glide along the pegasi's long wings, currently folded around her body. They pointed to a strong, muscular neck that looked like it could withstand a blow from a Celestial Bronze rapier, and furious, intelligent eyes. "It's so cute!" she squealed, temporarily forgetting about her pain as she reached forward to pet Cherise. 

"She has a gender," Percy reminded Caroline as Cherise rebuked, I'm a female, ya twig!

She said something much worse than "twig." Something that Percy'd never heard before—but given that the comment came from a pegasi with no filter, it couldn't be considered a compliment.

"She said that she's flattered," Percy translated as Cherise yanked her head out of Caroline's reach. "C'mon. Let's find my friends before we get trampled by the pegasi."

Unfortunately, as Percy passed Cherise, his foot caught on a raised plank and he stumbled forward. His eyes widened in alarm—I can't drop Caroline!

He changed directions, butting into the wall like a bull before he had the chance to fall. Percy stood there for a second, heart thumping and head throbbing. Then he looked down at Caroline. "Are you okay?"

"This is all because of me," Caroline said bitterly as he felt the top of his head, where a lump had formed. "There's no place that bad luck can't affect you."

"What do you mean? I think I've already told you—I'm already maxed out in terms of luck." Percy tried a smile. "If anything, you're my good luck charm. Without you, I'd probably have fallen facefirst into a pile of dung." He shivered at the thought.