Act II - Heart Of The Ocean

Part II - Trials and tribulations, you know I've had my share. But I've climbed the mountain. I've crossed the river.

Andy led Tyson to the pavilion. "Who invited that?" someone from the Apollo table shouted.

"Well, if it isn't Andy Jackson," said Mr. D. "My millennium is complete." He glanced at the man beside him. "You need to keep an eye for Poseidon's spawn."

The man was horribly thin and wore a orange prisoner jumpsuit. "I'm Tantalus," he said coldly. "On special assignment here until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Andromeda Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."

"Trouble? Me?"

Anthony grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away. "Tantalus is the spirit from the Fields of Punishment," he whispered in her ear. "The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over him, but he can't eat or drink. He's done something horrible to be given this fate. Don't push your luck, Seaweed Brain."

"Yes, go sit down, Jackson," said Mr. D, very loudly. "I believe your table is that one over there—the one where no one else ever wants to sit." Some campers laughed.

"Come on, Tyson," she called ignoring the noise.

"Oh, no," Tantalus said. "The monster stays here. We will decide what to do with it."

"He is not a monster!" she raged. "His name is Tyson and he saved the camp."

"Leave us," Tantalus waved her away, "while we decide the creature's fate."

Tyson looked at Andy with fear in his one big eye. "It's alright," she lied to him. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. They'll find you a good place to sleep tonight."

Mr. D and Tantalus laughed, but Tyson whispered: "I believe you."

"Well," said Tantalus as everyone sat quietly. "And here on my first day of authority, I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of my time here, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat." Mr. D clapped. "And now, some changes. We are releasing you from most of your regular activities."

There was an explosion of excited conversation.

"But, sir!" Clarisse looked nervous, but she stood up to speak. "What about patrol duty? If we drop everything—"

"Ahh, the hero of the day!" Tantalus exclaimed. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls."

Clarisse blinked and blushed. "Um, I didn't—"

"And modest, too," Tantalus grinned. "Not to worry, my dear. We are here to enjoy ourselves and not to—"

"But the pine tree—"

"And now," he cut, "Andy Jackson and Anthony Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here," he pointed at Tyson. "Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks."

Andy felt her anger rising. "Now, wait a minute—"

"But who knows?" Tantalus continued. "Perhaps this Cyclopes is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it. I've thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes' cabin, possibly?" Silence at the Hermes table. "Come on. The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"

Suddenly everyone gasped. Swirling over Tyson's head was a glowing green trident. There was a moment of awed silence.

Tantalus roared with laughter and the others followed. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!" Everyone laughed, except Anthony who didn't look surprised at all.

Tyson didn't seem to notice people were laughing at him. He was too innocent to understand how cruel people were.

But Andy understood it alright.

She didn't mind Tyson moving in with her; they got along quite well. She could even deal with the fact that he was her half-brother. Dealing with other people's hatred was the hard part.

Andy sat beside Anthony on the sand, in her favorite spot, watching the sea, when some jokers from Aphrodite's cabin walked by and asked her if she needed to borrow some eyeliner for her eye.

"Yeah, good one," said Andy raising her thumb.

"Ignore them," Anthony suggested. "It's not your fault you have a monster for a brother."

Andy turned on him. "What is your problem? He is not a monster!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Don't be mad at me! And yes, he is."

"You gave him permission to enter the camp!"

"To save your life! I didn't expect Poseidon to claim him! Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous—"

"He is not! Stop bullying him! You're just as bad as everyone else."

Anthony's ear turned pink. He stood up and stormed off without another word.

Andy wasn't alone for long. Tyson came to keep her company. "Are you mad?" he asked softly, sitting beside her.

"Yes."

Tyson sadly looked at his own hands. "Am I a monster?"

"Don't say that." Andy lifted his chin so she could look him in the eye. "You are not a monster, Tyson. Not matter what they say."

The cyclops shook his head. "It's okay, Andy. I'll be a good monster. Then you won't have to be mad anymore."

"I'm not mad because of you." Andy didn't know how to make him understand. "Tyson... You don't go around hurting people for fun like they're doing to you. They're the monsters. They're the ones who should be ashamed. Don't you ever believe what they're saying about you. It isn't true."

That night Grover spoke to her in her dreams. "You have to help me, Andy," he begged. "I'm stuck in a cave. On an island in the sea. I don't know where exactly! I went to Florida and turned left."

A monstrous voice called for him. Grover flinched.

"Just a moment, dearest," he shouted back to whoever it was. "It's a trap, Andy. It's the reason no satyr has ever returned from this quest. He's a shepherd. And he has it! Its nature magic is so powerful it smells just like he great god Pan. The satyrs come here thinking they've found Pan, and they get trapped and eaten by Polyphemus!" Grover took a deep breath. "I need you, Andy. Come help me! I'm in the Sea of Monsters."

Then Grover seemed to remember something else. "Oh and... by the way... just so you know... I'm really sorry about this. This empathy link... well, I had no choice. Now our emotions are connected. If I die... Let's just say, you should hurry. Don't let us die!"

Andy ran inside the Athena cabin. The kids there looked at her as if she had a seriously contagious disease, but showed her where Anthony was hiding. He was in this tiny living room, sitting on an armchair, reading an architecture book. "I'm busy," he said when she walked in, without even looking at her.

"We need to talk."

"Oh, now you want to talk?"

Andy sighed. "Please, Anthony."

Something strange happened to his face. It was like he was having this inner battle. He looked like he really didn't want to talk to her, but something was stopping him from saying so. "What?" he said finally.

Andy told him about her dream and Grover's message.

He sneered. "Oh, please. Like Grover would just happen to stumble across the one thing that could save the camp."

"What do you mean?" Andy asked. He rolled his eyes. "I'm not making this up," she insisted. "He's in trouble."

Anthony hesitated. "If he really found it..." he murmured, "And if we could retrieve it..."

"Can you tell me what you're talking about here?"

He closed his book. "You know the Golden Fleece?"

Andy blinked. "Have you met me? Of course not."

Anthony scratched his head. "Okay. Have you heard about Jason and the Argonauts at least? Three thousand years ago, Jason went to find the Golden Fleece."

"Well, I do know the movie with that clay skeletons."

Anthony finally smiled. "Gods, you're hopeless. There were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually, it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that doesn't matter."

"I bet it mattered to her."

"The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution—"

"It could even cure Thalia's tree."

Anthony nodded. "But it's been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."

"But Grover found it," Andy argued. "He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece. We can rescue him and save the camp."

"What if it's a trap?"

"Do we have a choice? It's Grover." Anthony still seemed unsure. "Will you help me or not?"

"Andy." He said her name in this weird, fragile way that shocked her. "Polyphemus is the worst of the Cyclopes. And the Sea of Monsters... Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters—"

"That's why you have me, Wonder Boy. Daughter of Poseidon and all that jazz."

He knit his eyebrows. "We'll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He'll say no."

"Not if we make an spectacle out of it. Let the whole camp hear it. They'll pressure him. He won't have a choice."

That night, after dinner, Andy waited until Mr. D left the pavilion to speak. She called out for Tantalus in front of all the others. His eye twitched. "Something to say, Jackson?"

"We have an idea to save the camp," Andy said, standing up. Thankfully, Anthony stood with her. "The Golden Fleece. We know where it is." And she told them all about it.

"Nonsense," Tantalus said when she was done. "We don't need saving." Everybody stared at him. "Besides, the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."

"Actually, I already do." Andy ignored Anthony's glare. "The Fates gave me sailing coordinates. 30, 31, 75, 12. Latitude and longitude."

"She's right," Anthony frowned. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. We need a quest!"

The campers took up the chant. "WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"

"Fine!," Tantalus shouted. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."

Andy's heart filled with excitement.

"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle and choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious. Someone who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest—Clarisse!"

The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering.

"Wait!" Andy shouted. "She can't go. Grover is my satyr. The dream came to me! This is my quest."

"Right," said Clarisse. "How silly, we'd forgotten how everything's about you, Jackson. Thank you for reminding us."

"That's not what I'm saying."

"You had your chance last year. Now beat it." Clarisse stood up. "I accept the quest. I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"

The Ares campers cheered even louder. Anthony protested and the other Athena campers joined in. Everyone was shouting and arguing, until Tantalus said, "Silence, you brats," in a voice that chilled Andy to the bones.

"Sit down," he ordered. "I really do hate children, you know? Once upon a time, there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods! He was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe, the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever. His own people mocked him. His children scolded him. He had horrible children. Just like you. Do you know what he did to the ungrateful little bastards? Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruelty? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his place, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dears, can you guess what was in the stew?"

No one dared answer. "The gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked. "They did indeed. But his children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority, did they? Now, then. Are there any more complains before I send Clarisse off on her quest?"

Silence.

"The Oracle," he told her. "Move along now."

Andy sat on the beach on that spot where she was beginning to grow roots. Tyson was a little further away building a sand castle. It was almost dark, the stars were appearing. Andy didn't know what to do. Although she didn't think Clarisse was a failure, she felt she should be the one out there. She needed to help Grover. After all, she'd be the one doing the dying part if something happened to him.

Suddenly he was sitting next to her. He was slim and fit, with salt and pepper hair and a sly smile. Handsome, but in a goofy sort of way. "I haven't sat down in ages," he said. "This is kind of wonderful. Peace and quiet... Such a long time since I've gotten to relax. Do you have a favorite constellation, Andy?" he asked glancing at the sky.

Andy was staring; he looked so damn familiar. "I don't know... I guess, uh, Hercules."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "He had rotten luck. Even worse than mine. Makes me feel better."

The man chuckled. "Not because he was handsome and brave and famous and all?"

"I don't like people because they're handsome," she said, trying to keep Luke away from her thoughts.

The guy seemed to read her mind. "Really? Interesting." He gave her such a familiar smile that made her throat tighten and she understood who he was.

"You're his father," she accused.

Hermes pursed his lips. "Not how I'm usually introduced. God of thieves, yes. God of messenger and travelers, if they wish to be kind. Now, Andy, what do you intend to do about the Fleece?"

She didn't trouble herself with how he knew that. "I don't have permission to leave the camp."

"Did that ever stop you before?" he gave her a mischievous look. "There was a baby boy once," he said. "One night, when his mother wasn't watching, he sneaked out and stole some cattle that belonged to Apollo."

"Did he die?"

"No! What kind of story would that be?" Hermes shook his head. "No. To make up for his theft, he gave Apollo an instrument he'd invented—a lyre. Apollo was so enchanted he forgot to be angry."

"That's nice and all but I don't think I see your point."

"I don't think I have a point," he seemed confused for a moment. "Ah! How about young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, they might escape punishment. How's that?"

"You're saying I should go," Andy guessed, "without permission."

Hermes handed her a stainless steel canister—an old-fashioned thermos. It was freezing cold on one side and burning hot on the other. When Andy turned it, the cold side remained facing the ocean. "A compass?"

Hermes was surprised again. "Is it? Well, I'll be damned. All I know is that if you uncap it, you will release the winds from the four corners of the earth to speed you on your way. But don't let them all escape at once, that could be bad." Next, Hermes handed her a plastic bottle filled with chewable vitamins. "Don't take one, unless you really, really need it."

Andy eyed him suspiciously. "Why are you helping me?"

He gave her a melancholy smile. "I've hope that you may save many people on this quest. Not just the satyr."

"Luke?" she offered. Hermes didn't answer. "I'm sorry, but… He can't... I mean, h-he hates you. He has so much anger. Why would I try to save someone like that?"

Hermes gazed up at the stars once more. "If there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. Isn't that what you told your friend once upon a time? People can change. But they need help." He made two backpacks appear before Andy. "I must go now. If you ask nicely, your father might help you reach the ship."

"What ship?"

Hermes pointed. There was a big cruise ship cutting across Long Island Sound. As Andy watched it, the god disappeared.