Thalia and Alexander worked on their chariot at every moment that they weren't in activities. Thalia worked during the day and Alexander during the night. With his C- crafting rank, he was able to tinker at some… surprises. By the time that the race came on, his crafting skill had risen to C+ rank due to his constant tinkering. Thalia and Alexander stood on their chariot, two white mares bound to the metal creation. Thalia was tapping her fingers on the frame nervously, biting her upper lip. With a small sigh, he placed a hand on her shoulder, channeling his calming magic into her, "thanks", she breathed out, gripping the reins and focusing on the track.
The other campers had mainly recycled their old chariots with some minor improvements.
Chiron looked over the chariots and smiled, "ready? Set… start!"
The chariots were on their way. The Ares chariot rammed into the Hermes chariot. Neither was out of the race though. After the last chariot race, all of them had reinforced their vehicles. The hephaestus cabin was at the front and threw jars of what could only be Greek fire behind them.
"Oh no, you don't", Alexander raised his hands and commanded the wind to shift the trajectory of the jars so that they didn't hit the Zeus chariot. Instead, the ares and Apollo chariots caught green fire. The Apollo kids jumped off their chariot to escape but the Ares kids held on a bit longer. A feat which only brought them about 15 more seconds before their chariot broke down.
Alexander, satisfied with his work, clicked one of the buttons on the chariot, which threw out a little something he had bought from the store. The bottles looked much like greek fire, only pink instead of green. When they hit the hermes chariot, they exploded into a pink mist and -when visibility was up again- the campers could see the hermes kids frozen in a solid block of pink ice. These ice grenades were surprisingly cheap but he had only just discovered them as he delved deeper into the shop. There were so many items in the shop, millions of pages and only a very rudimentary search bar. These ice grenades were apparently Cailleach mist, produced by the gaelic god of winter, because apparently those were real too. He half expected a priest to show up to camp any day, spouting prophecies that the rapture was nigh… though the christian nutjobs have been saying that for a long time now. Anyways, back to the race…
The poseidon cabin's chariot was gaining ground on them. Ever since Percy allowed the kids of sea gods to stay there, the cabin had slowly grown. Whereas once, it had just been percy, now seven campers lived in the Poseidon cabin, including Percy, though he wasn't at camp right then.
The Poseidon cabin had access to the best horses, since Poseidon was the father of horses, so, despite their slow start, they were racing to the front. No problem though… he had plenty of other tricks up his sleeve, thanks to the shop. He waited for the chariot to come close. They were now neck on neck with the Hephaestus and Zeus cabin and he pulled a leaver, releasing two gas canisters. They hissed and the Stallions around them started going crazy, no longer pulling in the right directions.
"The fuck was that?", Thalia asked, her sight still on the track.
"Concentrated mare in heat pheromones", Alexander smirked. That had been why they took mares for their chariot instead of stallions.
"Where did you get those from?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets, now go! We are so close and-"
A harpoon hooked the end of the chariot. The hephaestus campers, no longer thinking they could win, wanted to take them down with them. The poseidon chariot overtook them as Alexander was busy slicing through the chains with snowstorm but when they were free, it was too late, the poseidon cabin members were already so close to the finish line… or that is what he would say if he didn't have another bottle of Cailleach mist in his inventory. He threw it, controlling the wind to carry it true and mere inches from the finish line, the chariot froze over. The zeus cabin chariot pushed through the finish line and the two of them cheered, raising their arms into the air victorious. In her excitement, Thalia pecked him on the cheek and there it was again, that subtle warmth spreading through his body.
"Those tricks of yours were brilliant!", Thalia shouted.
"I didn't even get to use all of them", he smirked, pointing at the two buttons left on the chariot.
"The Zeus cabin is the victor and I am proud to announce that no one was killed", Chiron chuckled, "Now, young Alexander, would you be so kind as to unfreeze your fellow campers?"
"No can do", he shrugged, "It'll wear down in half an hour, nothing I can do about it. The ice won't melt and to break it, you'd have to be a big three kid. So, maybe Thalia can chip at it away?"
Chiron turned to Thalia expectantly.
"Sure, I'll get them out", she nodded.
They spent the next 15 minutes breaking the campers out of the pink ice. They were shivering something fierce.
That evening, the dining Pavillion was decorated in lightning imagery, to honor the winning team. During the sing along, the flames rose high and burned fiercely. The good mood was infectious. Everyone had a great time.
The next day, Alexander took Thalia to the forest, making good on his promise. He activated his skill and a new dungeon appeared.
[Dungeon: Fiery inferno
Difficulty: Medium
Do you wish to enter?
Y/N]
The moment of truth. Let us see whether he could bring someone with him. He hesitated but glancing back at Thalia, who was staring with fierce determination, he knew she could handle whatever was inside
With a bated breath, he clicked yes and -in a flash- the two of them were gone.