(A/N Hello again!
Sorry it's been so long! The holidays happened and I fell off my writing horse. But I'm back and hopefully will be continuing on the semi-regular basis I had been on before.
As always, I hope you enjoy and I love reading your comments!)
A smart person knows to mend bridges, instead Percy was burning them. It only took a few days before the tension of camp had come between him and Annabeth. They weren't fairweather friends, he knew that, but they were both angry at the shift in control at camp and worried over Thalia's tree. Percy was distressed with his newfound half-brother and Annabeth was doing her best to keep him upbeat but Tyson's presence alone was keeping her on edge. With a little more teasing from the Aphrodite cabin they both snapped and their chariot partnership was in ruins.
Silena and Beckendorf were currently his only real allies at camp aside from Tyson, at least until he fixed things with Annabeth, but he didn't even feel like seeing her yet.
Tantalus had no issues leaving the camp defenseless, but Percy counted himself lucky that he wasn't the only worried camper and they had worked out patrols among themselves during their free time.
His dreams of Grover continued until he finally saw a very clear image of the satyr that spoke directly to him.
"Thank the gods! Can you hear me?"
Percy slowly looked around, taking in the atmosphere as if he were suspended in molasses.
"Percy? Please, I don't have the strength to project any better. You have to hear me!"
"I hear you. Grover, what's going on?"
And Grover explained as best he could while being terrified and interrupted by someone thinking Grover was making a bridal train. Percy's previous dreams began to make some more sense, but there was something important about this information (besides Grover's wellbeing) that he couldn't put his finger on.
He needed to find the Sea of Monsters.
It was chilling when he awoke and Tyson's voice sounded exactly like the Cyclops who wanted to eat Grover.
.
Amos was pacing again. It had been a week since Percy's last day of school. He'd settled things with the school administrators, using his persuasion (and obvious reason) to turn the blame of the gym incident from his son to the school. He'd received a letter from Percy, but it didn't make him feel good about his wellbeing.
The camp's defenses were being actively attacked and Chiron was replaced by a cruel dead guy who belonged in the Fields of Punishment. He didn't need to look up anything about the Greek Underworld to know he was bad news.
The letter had been sent the day after Percy's arrival, so anything could have happened since then.
He could be on another quest.
He could have been injured in a training exercise.
He could get into trouble because of Tyson. It wouldn't be the first time, and knowing his friend was a monster would likely not do him any favors among the campers.
He took a cleansing breath and sat down.
He needed something to focus on. Percy would be fine. He had a good head on his shoulders, was skilled in a fight, and had Annabeth and Tyson as allies.
Percy is fine.
Glancing up he saw the photo of all the Kanes on the mantel.
Percy was okay, but were Carter and Sadie?
Carter had no idea that everything he learned about Egyptian mythology was real.
Sadie was kept entirely in the dark by the Fausts.
Amos couldn't act directly, at least not now, but he could prepare. They needed to be safe when the time came.
.
It didn't feel right to be racing against Percy. They were supposed to work on this together! Their brainstorming and sketches were amazing and with the combination of Posiedon and Athena they would have been unstoppable.
Instead he was riding alongside a monster.
They'd spoken of his childhood dreams (nightmares) about her, Luke and Thalia, so she knew he didn't remember most of it. He didn't remember the Cyclops that had almost killed them. It wasn't Tyson's fault that she could only see that monster when she looked at him.
She was glad he was coming over to wish her luck in the race. He'd been avoiding her and she'd made no effort to see him either, but they were friends. They fought all the time, yeah, but they'd been through a lot and she knew she could trust the Seaweed Brain.
The fact he was worried about Grover made her pay closer attention.
When he described the Golden Fleece she knew he was messing with her though…
But he wasn't, was he? He wouldn't suggest the Oracle unless he was serious.
At Tantalus's call she stalled the conversation.
"We'll talk later, after I win," she smiled at him smugly and he rolled his eyes and returned to Tyson.
.
He'd seen the birds and had a bad feeling about them, but did he listen to his gut? Nooo! Why would he do that? It's not like something was trying to kill him every five minutes or anything. He was lucky Tyson had seen them and warned him ahead of the swarm. Of course Annabeth knew exactly what they were."Heroes, to arms!" she yelled with absolutely no effect.
"How do we get rid of them?" he asked, because this was Annabeth and Annabeth knew everything.
"Hercules used noise! Brass bells! He scared them away with the most horrible sound he could- Percy… Chiron's collection!"
He understood instantly.
The two were in sync once more as they raced to the Big House to confiscate Chiron's boom box and CDs, while Clarisse called them cowards. The birds did not appreciate Dean Martin's greatest hits and retreated. With clear targets the Apollo children responded when Annabeth called for archers this time and the birds were quickly no more.
Tantalus acted as if the attack hadn't happened, only recognising Clarisse as the winner of the race and he, Annabeth and Tyson as troublemakers who disrupted the race.
Maybe Percy shouldn't have told him to go chase a donut, but they were going to be punished either way.
Kitchen duty was fine though, because it gave him and Annabeth a chance to talk about Grover, the Golden Fleece, the possibility of a trap, and the ever shifting terrain of the 'West.'
The Sea of Monsters was no longer the Mediterranean Sea, it was the Bermuda Triangle.
That's where Grover was.
That's where the Golden Fleece was.
That's where Percy and Annabeth needed to go to save the camp.
.
She didn't know why she let Percy take the lead talking to Tantalus. Probably because he was the one with an empathy bond that led to the location they needed. He didn't stutter or anything, and was actually getting a lot of interest from the crowd. She could see him becoming a leader one day. But not today.
There was a lot of vital information she needed to throw in, like what the Fleece could do, because some people, sadly, were just as clueless as Seaweed Brain.
"The Fleece can save the camp," she stated boldly after finishing her explanation.
Tantalus argued that the camp was fine and that they wouldn't even know where to look, but Percy surprised her by reminding her of the numbers the Gray Sisters had given them. The sailing coordinates.
Maybe he wasn't a Seaweed Brain all the time.
It was all going so well...until Tantalus gave the quest to Clarisse.