The poisoning III
The next two days were Chiron packing and me staying up night after night. The new activities director, is a…I don't know how to say this without insulting the guy. He's nuts, annoying, and just like Dionysus. But this guy can't eat, probably did something bad…I almost forgot, he was brought back from the dead.
His name is Tantalus, don't know what else to say about him…Except that I don't like him. Anyway, the days go by, and I'm here in my cabin…I was forced to stay in here and sleep. I don't need to sleep I'm not even tired yet. Like goddamn. Lee asked Clarisse and the rest of my siblings to keep me in here.
Never thought Clarisse would team up with anyone before…Or Lee teaming up with Clarisse. I had no choice but to listen. So now I'm in my bed thinking about what the hell to do…So bored!
I decided to finally go to sleep. Even if it is in the afternoon. I guess I must've really wanted to sleep, because I fell asleep in seconds. In the dream I was in camp…Since that is where the most danger happens now. Anyway, at the top of half-blood hill was Clarisse and about nine other campers.
At the bottom of the hill was two bronze bulls. That can't be good. The fighting broke out. All I could do was watch. Clarisse was shouting orders to the campers, she isn't doing a good job, she has strength but that's all she has, just like our dad…
About ten minutes later, a taxi…Arrived? Annabeth was the first Percy the second and the third…A cyclops…Of all things for them to bring back. I woke up just from seeing that thing…Thalia died from one of those, didn't she? Why is Annabeth hanging around one?
I grabbed my dagger and went out through the window, I know they're still waiting by my door. I ran around the cabins and went to half-blood hill. When I got there, Percy was rushing into battle. Everyone was wearing armor but Percy, Annabeth and that…Cyclops.
Clarisse was holding a line at the top of the hill, while a damn bull charged at them. And to make matters worse, the other bull was flanking them. "Behind you!" Percy shouted, "Look out!"
Clarisse usually doesn't do anything stupid…Kind of, but she got startled from Percy's sudden outburst and wasn't paying attention to the bull, please make it in time. I ran up the hill at full speed.
I pushed her out of the way, leaving me in the path of the raging bull. Dying by a freaking bull...Well there are worst ways to die.
But I don't plan on dying, I noticed I was really athletic and I can do a lot of stuff other half-bloods can't do. I grabbed my dagger and waited a second before it hit me, I sidestepped and then stabbed the bull right in the side and used all my force to push it in as the bull ran by, a huge gash going from its neck to its butt. It was just for a second…But the heat coming from the bull was more than I thought. My right arm turned red.
The first bull I hit kept running and creaking. Oil dripped from its side, as it turned more oil leaked out. Its red beady eyes locked onto me. But it was moving slower and slower after about a minute the bull stopped completely. Who would've guessed a bull runs on oil, I looked around for the other bull.
Percy was laying on the ground holding his left ankle. "Tyson! Help him!" Annabeth shouted.
Somewhere near, toward the crest of the hill, someone wailed, "Can't—get—through!"
Does she really trust him? "I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!" Well I guess I got my answer…I hate it when I actually get an answer right away.
Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly the one named Tyson was there, he was barreling toward Percy, yelling: "Percy needs help!" Before the second bull could reach Percy, Tyson jumped between them. The bull unleashed a nuclear firestorm.
"Tyson!" Percy yelled.
The blast swirled around him like a red tornado. But when the fire died, Tyson was still standing there, completely unharmed. Not even his grungy clothes were scorched. The bull was surprised to see him still standing, before it could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull's face. "BAD COW!"
His fists made a crater where the bronze bull's snout used to be. Two small columns of flame shot out of its ears. Tyson hit it again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminum foil.
The bull's face now looked like a sock puppet pulled inside out.
"Down!" Tyson yelled.
The bull staggered and fell on its back. Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of its ruined head in odd places.
Annabeth ran over to check on Percy.
Annabeth gave Percy some Olympian nectar to drink from her canteen.
"The other bull?" Percy asked.
Annabeth smiled, "Katrina took care of it."
Clarisse looked unhappy that I saved her. She should be glad she wasn't badly injured. She turned to Percy, "You—ruin—everything!" she yelled at Percy. "I had it under control!"
I cleared my throat, "Your definition of 'having it under control' is very different from mine. Last I checked, that means not letting any of your soldiers get hurt! And actually making sure nothing goes wrong!" I may or may not have lost my cool…
That sobered her up. Even Clarisse cared about the soldiers under her command. "I'll be back," she growled, then trudged off to assess the damage.
Percy stared at Tyson. "You didn't die."
Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed. "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."
"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."
"Let him cross the boundary line?'" Percy asked. "But—"
"Percy," Annabeth said, "have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean…In the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him."
The Mist makes humans see only what their brains can process, Percy looked Tyson in the face. First he looked to focus at his big lumpy nose, then a little higher at his eyes.
One eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.
"Tyson," Percy stammered. "You're a…"
"Cyclops," Annabeth offered. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."
"One of the what?" Percy asked.
"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth said distastefully. "They're…Mistakes, Percy. Children of nature spirits and gods…Well, one god in particular, usually…and they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."
"But the fire. How—" Percy tried to say.
"He's a Cyclops." Annabeth paused, I know she's thinking about how Thalia died…I can't remember what happened, but I was told that I said I was the one who basically killed her. No one really knows the full story, I guess it's lost in my memories. "They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you…" I guess I should go now.
Before I got to my cabin Lee stopped me, "So, you went to help Clarisse?" He asked in a tone that made me mad a little bit. "She needed the help, plus if it wasn't for me, there might have been a dead camper today, so don't even try it."
He held up his hands. "I knew you were going to go out there, so I waited and then followed you. But I knew you wouldn't do anything reckless." He said.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "What was the point of telling me to rest if you knew I was going to get out anyway?"
He shrugged, "I guess I just wanted to see what you would do. But I didn't think you would stay in your room for so long." Lee chuckled. I think I kind of knew he would pull something like this, mainly because he worries too much about me. "You watched Clarisse get her ass kicked just to watch over me?" I smirked.
Lee frowned, "No. I was just...You're putting words in my mouth."
I laughed at Lee and walked up to him, "Thanks, but you don't need to watch over me so much."
He sighed, "Alright...But it's basically my fault you ended up so...Hurt." Ugh, not this again. "Lee this was never your fault, it was Luke's fault-
I trailed off, I never mentioned Luke before, well not like I knew him I mean, okay let me say it differently, before I said his name I always said it like I never met him but now I'm saying his name like I knew him for a long time now. A memory can be repaired or replaced, but I'd rather not get rid of my memories, because every single one is precious to me.
Luke was actually a nice person, well until Thalia was killed that is. Lee was looking at me with a worried expression. "What's wrong?" He asked. I shook my head, "Nothing really. Just remembered I wasn't always a scaredy cat."
Can I actually beat this disease? If I don't doubt myself...Maybe I can? If I just train, but also pace myself, and eat right I might be able to. A memory came to me. I was with Luke at the time, it was a couple of days after I met him, I had a broken ankle I think but Luke and I were talking. I think it was something about how the gods are so useless, which they are. We had fun talking about them, I actually think I had a crush on him back then.
But now I just want to kill him, which I can obviously do. But...The old me respected him in some way, she cared for him, but now I don't...But back when I had the chance to kill him, my body didn't move, he got away with a cheap arrow in his shoulder, because I hesitated. He would be dead right now, but I let him live, he's evil...So I shouldn't care about him, I mean I already have Lee, I don't need anyone else.
"You're doing it again Kat." Lee said worriedly, I smiled, "I know. I'm sorry, but I think I just figured something out." I told him. He raised his eye brow, "And what would that be?"
"I've made up my mind, no more chasing the old me. Because as long as you're with me, I'll be okay. I don't need my old memories to be okay, I just need you." I said softly to Lee. He smiled but said nothing. It's almost like that's all he wanted from me. The next few hours were people whispering about that cyclops, saying he's disgusting and should be killed. I can't disagree with them about that...But I also can't agree with them about killing him. Right now he's harmless, and he seems to really like Percy.
I haven't talked to Percy much, mainly because I still feel a little bit scared of everyone. But I'm going to have to face that fear soon. Today at dinner we have to speak up, we need a quest.
We all made our way to the dinning pavilion in an orderly fashion. I was with the Ares cabin…I decided it was time to sit with them again. Somewhere off to our right was Percy and Tyson, no one noticed them. In front of us was the Athena cabin, led by Annabeth. And then next was Clarisse who leads this cabin.
The next one was the Hephaestus cabin that contains six boys, but one leads them, and that is a guy named Charles Beckendorf. The other cabins filed in: Demeter, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Dionysus. Naiads came up from the canoe lake. Dryads melted out of the trees. From the meadow came a dozen satyrs.
After the satyrs filed in to dinner, the Hermes cabin brought up the rear. After the last campers filled in, Percy came forward with Tyson. Conversations faltered, heads turned.
This is going to end badly.
As much as I dislike Cyclopes, he doesn't deserve to be treated like this. "Who invited that?" Somebody at the Apollo table murmured. Percy glared in their direction. From the head table Mr. D drawled, "Well, well, if it isn't Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete."
Percy gritted his teeth. "Percy Jackson…Sir."
Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. "Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever."
He was wearing his usual leopard-pattern Hawaiian shirt, walking shorts, and tennis shoes with black socks. With his pudgy belly and his blotchy red face, he looked like a Las Vegas tourist who'd stayed up too late in the casinos. Behind him, a nervous-looking satyr was peeling the skins off grapes and handing them to Mr. D one at a time
Next to him, where Chiron usually sat (or stood, in centaur form), was someone Tantalus, he was a pale, horribly thin man in a threadbare orange prisoner's jumpsuit. The number over his pocket read 0001. He had blue shadows under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and badly cut gray hair, like his last haircut had been done with a weed whacker. He stared at Percy; He looked…fractured, angry and frustrated and hungry all at the same time.
"This boy," Dionysus told Tantalus, "You need to watch. Poseidon's child, you know."
"Ah!" Tantalus said. "That one." I really don't like this guy.
His tone made it obvious that he and Dionysus had already discussed Percy Jackson at length.
"I am Tantalus," He said coldly, "On special assignment here until, well my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Perseus Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."
"Trouble?" Percy demanded.
Dionysus snapped his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table—the front page of today's New York Post, "Yes, trouble," Tantalus said with satisfaction. "You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand."
I hate to do this, but I have to. "W-What happened…Last summer was because of…Luke! Don't believe everything you hear!" I stammered. Dionysus looked bored. Like I ruined his fun or whatever. Slowly I'm coming out of this…Shell.
Tantalus stared blankly at me, "You mean the one you've let go?"
I gritted my teeth angrily, "I would have died if I fought him. And he didn't get away without getting hurt, I actually hurt him before he left." Was I always this short tempered? Tantalus looked a tad angry with me. Dionysus leaned in and told him something, then he smiled coldly and ignored me.
What did he tell him? I sat back down and gave Tantalus a nasty glare, a second later a satyr inched forward nervously and set a plate of barbecue in front of Tantalus. The new activities director licked his lips. He looked at his empty goblet and said, "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967." The glass filled itself with foamy soda. Tantalus stretched out his hand hesitantly, as if he were afraid the goblet was hot.
"Go on, then, old fellow," Dionysus said, a strange sparkle in his eyes. "Perhaps now it will work."
Tantalus grabbed for the glass, but it scooted away before he could touch it. A few drops of root beer spilled, and Tantalus tried to dab them up with his fingers, but the drops rolled away like quicksilver before he could touch them. He growled and turned toward the plate of barbecue. He picked up a fork and tried to stab a piece of brisket, but the plate skittered down the table and flew off the end, straight into the coals of the brazier.
"Blast!" Tantalus muttered. I smirked at his sad attempt to eat. Not even the food likes him, I looked around and saw some of the other campers trying to hide their smiles.
"Ah, well," Dionysus said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "Perhaps a few more days. Believe me, old chap, working at this camp will be torture enough. I'm sure your old curse will fade eventually."
"Eventually," Muttered Tantalus, staring at Dionysus's Diet Coke. "Do you have any idea how dry one's throat gets after three thousand years?"
"You're that spirit from the Fields of Punishment," Percy said. "The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can't eat or drink."
Tantalus sneered at him. "A real scholar, aren't you, boy?"
"You must've done something really horrible when you were alive," Percy said, mildly impressed. "What was it?" Percy smirked, and then Tantalus snarled, his eyes narrowed. And behind Tantalus, the satyrs were shaking their heads vigorously, trying to warn Percy.
"I'll be watching you, Percy Jackson," Tantalus said. "I don't want any problems at my camp."
"Your camp has problems already…Sir." Percy said.
"Oh, go sit down, Johnson," Dionysus sighed. "I believe that table over there is yours—the one where no one else ever wants to sit."
That makes me a little mad. I mean I wouldn't mind sitting there. "No. We just can't sit there, I wouldn't mind sitting there." I blurted out. Did I really just…Say that? I gulped and looked up, Dionysus was smiling, "Well then. Since you think it's such a lovely place to sit, why don't you join him?" He asked. I was about to tell him no thanks. But again my body acted on its own.
I got up and walked in the middle of the pavilion, right next to Percy and Tyson. Everyone was staring at me. I probably would be too, I mean disobeying a god? That's crazy! What's gotten into me lately? Percy whispered, "Thanks…" And then he waved Tyson over, "Come on Tyson."
"Oh, no," Tantalus said. "The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it."
"Him," Percy snapped. "His name is Tyson."
The new activities director raised an eyebrow.
"Tyson saved the camp," Percy insisted. "He pounded those bronze bulls. Otherwise they would've burned down this whole place."
"Yes," Tantalus sighed, "And what a pity that would've been."
Dionysus snickered.
"Leave us." Tantalus ordered. "While we decide this creature's fate."
Tyson looked at Percy with fear in his one big eye, but Percy can't disobey a direct order from the camp directors. Not like I can at least…Which I think will bite me in the ass later on.
"I'll be right over here, big guy," Percy promised. "Don't worry. We'll find you a good place to sleep tonight."
Tyson nodded. "I believe you. You are my friend."
Percy and I went to the Poseidon table, which I found very weird…I should have just kept my mouth shut! A wood nymph brought me and Percy a plate of Olympian olive-and-pepperoni pizza, I'm not one for pizza, but I'll eat it anyway.
After we were done eating, Tantalus had one of the satyrs blow the conch horn to get our attention for announcements.
"Yes, well," Tantalus said, once the talking had died down. "Another fine meal! Or so I am told." As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn't notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches.
"And here on my first day of authority," he continued, "I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat." This guy is nuts.
Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some half-hearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back.
"And now some changes!" Tantalus gave the campers a crooked smile. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!"
Murmuring broke out at all the tables—excitement, fear, disbelief.
"Now I know," Tantalus continued, raising his voice, "That these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems."
I don't know much about these races but it sounds like it's not a good idea to be reinstituting them. "Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," someone at the Apollo table called.
"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said. "But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days' time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"
An explosion of excited conversation—no KP for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious? Then the last person I expected to object did so.
"But, sir!" Clarisse said. She looked nervous, but she stood up to speak from the Ares table.
"What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots—" Clarisse tried to say.
"Ah, the hero of the day," Tantalus exclaimed. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!"
Clarisse blinked, then blushed. "Um, I didn't—"
"And modest, too." Tantalus grinned. "Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?"
"But the tree—" She tried again.
"And now," Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse's cabin mates pulled her back into her seat, "Before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson.
Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks at Percy.
"Now, of course," he said, "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. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops 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's cabin, possibly?"
Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth. I can't blame them. The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting. There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.
"Come now," Tantalus chided. "The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"
Suddenly everybody gasped.
Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. All I could do was stare in disbelief at the brilliant green light above Tyson's head.
Swirling over Tyson was a glowing green trident. The symbol of Poseidon. There was a moment of awed silence.
Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. But now, they followed Tantalus's lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"
I got up from the Poseidon table angrily, I walked over to Tantalus and slammed my hands on his table. Making everyone go quiet. "It got me wondering what kind of person you would be…Turns out we got another pathetic lazy, greedy, waste of life, tiny little man! No one gets to choose whose their parents are! Some of us are born differently!" I stared at him right in the eyes.
He still looked unfazed. Everyone was watching me, "Katrina, was it?" He said coldly. "Yes." I growled.
"You see I was already dead. Do you honestly think I care about who his father is? Or how he was born? He's a monster!" He snapped at me. My mind is saying shut up already. But my mouth thinks otherwise. "A monster!? He hasn't hurt anyone, all he's done is help…Something you could never do! And you know what? He's better than you in every way. He thinks about others, while you only think about yourself." I spat at him.
I really dislike this guy. Something in me sparked, an instinct to kill. But I wasn't really saying all those things. I'm usually too scared to even speak. It was like someone else was talking. "I'm the new activities director. And since I am in charge, you get to wash the dishes tonight, and the next three months." He told me, there was an edge to his voice. Kind of like he was trying to hold back. His face was slightly lit up with red, I thought he was just really angry, but that wasn't it. The light was coming from me, "Fine, I don't care! Put me on dishes duty until the day I die! But I want you to apologize to Tyson, right now!"
There was nothing but silence, all around us, Tantalus's eye twitched and then Dionysus finally seemed interested. It's weird how he hasn't interrupted us yet. "I will never apologize to a monster." Tantalus hissed. Dionysus smirked, and I snarled "He's not a monster. You're the monster. Or…A failure of a monster I should say." I glared at Tantalus, I hate his guts, and I probably hate him more than Luke right now.
I turned and went to my cabin, ignoring all the eyes that followed me as I left. Tantalus got the last word, by saying I was on washing duty until the day I die. Which isn't that long.
The next few days I stayed in my cabin, Lee tried talking to me, Annabeth also tried and even Clarisse tried. I sat on my bed and thought about what I did. And why I did it. Why was I defending a cyclops? Sure he's a baby, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous…The point Tantalus was trying to make.
I looked outside my window, they're probably already almost finished their chariots. As I stared outside a head popped up, which startled me, "What the hell!?"
It was Percy Jackson. He waved at me to open the window, what does he want? And why do it like this?
Maybe I'll have a couple more up today, I'm not sure, but stay turned I guess lol.
Thanks for reading! I hope you all have an awesome day!
Rilurz~
