The Fates Want Change

by FMPtrumpets

The Fates are tired of watching it. There is a storm coming, and if they want to survive... so they force them to read what they're actions are doing to themselves and their children. And they pull Percy and a few others along for the ride.

33. I Get a New Cabin Mate

Younger kids with an older self. kids with no younger self. The Seven.

Normal talking, telepathy

Sadly, I do not and probably never will own Percy Jackson and associates. I really, really wish I did, though.

---

"That's the end." Rachel said softly, closing the book over her finger, keeping it there so the next reader could find the spot easily.

Everybody was silent, shocked that somebody would even think of doing such a thing. None of the futures could look at Luke, all he could do was sit there with his head in his hands, silently whispering how sorry he was.

Hestia finally spoke up. "One more chapter, and then lunch." She announced quietly. Rachel held up the book, silently asking who wanted it, and handed it off to Nico when the son of Hades raised his hand and stood up to retrieve it.

Chapter Five: I Get a New Cabin Mate

"You claimed him that quickly?" Amphitrite asked, somewhat surprised, knowing how her husband preferred to handle his children coming into camp.

"I don't think I had much choice." Poseidon shrugged. "It's clear he's a Cyclops, and most of them are mine." Where else was Tyson going to go, really?

(Ever come home... messed up?)

"Yes." Every single demigod answered at once. Especially those in the future crowd that went home for the school years. Why was it that their mothers (or step-mothers) felt the need to clean once they were gone for the summer?

Sally just looked amused.

(Like some helpful person (hi, Mom))

Now Sally snorted. "If you would clean your room when I asked you to, before you left, I wouldn't have to go in and clean it for you." She raised an eyebrow.

"I did clean it!" Percy cried, surprised and a little offended.

She rolled her eyes. "If that's what you call clean, then what do you consider messy?" She asked, still amused. Percy pouted at her, making Annabeth roll her eyes while Nico shook his head and kept reading.

(has tried to 'clean'... find anything?)

"I hate that." Katie groaned. Her step-mom was really bad about that, she would even rearrange her bookshelf, even though she had them all arranged by series or author. She would come home to find the whole thing arranged alphabetically. Considering most of her books were in Greek (bought or traded at camp for the English books), and her step-mother only recognized that much of the Greek language? It was usually a mess.

"It's the worst." The others agreed with her, while the year-rounders were slightly jealous. They only had to deal with it when the cleaning Harpies went through camp at the end of the summer, but they usually left their beds alone. Everything else in the cabin was fair game, though.

(And even if... Half-Blood again. )

"You weren't the only one. And I was there to see it happen." Clarisse grumbled, not at all happy with how things started out that summer.

(On the surface... different Olympian god.)

"Then what is wrong?" Reyna asked herself, eyes narrowed. She knew he wasn't crazy for thinking it felt wrong, anybody who'd had the training they had could just... tell when something was off about an area, especially if they were as familiar with it as Percy was with camp.

"Physically, it was fine, mostly. But..." Percy shrugged, not sure how to really describe the feeling of wrongness he got as he walked through camp. He was sure it would explain in the book, hopefully it would do it justice.

The other Greeks grinned proudly at the mention of their home, but the younger crowd was waiting to hear the rest of what was wrong with their home.

(But there was an air of danger now.)

"Before that, there was laughter. Jokes, friendly greetings." Percy said, shaking his head and refusing to look at Luke, who had been the one to do this to their home. "Now..." He sighed.

Chiron shook his head at how it had already been described. Yes, he ran a training camp for warriors, but- like he'd already assured Sally and Paul- he did make sure the children still got time to be children.

(You could tell... of the woods.)

"I have not seen camp like that since..." Chiron cut himself off and glanced at the Romans significantly, making the futures understand what he was talking about. Well, except Percy since he wasn't there for that explanation after Leo showed them Bunker Nine.

"Since the Civil War." Jason said grimly. "Since the Greeks and Romans were forcibly separated for our own continued existence." Chiron nodded while the Council looked at each other in concern.

(The forest looked... pale yellow,)

"It's not just the tree that's dying." Demeter said in horror while Persephone gasped at the description of everything.

"Whatever poison that's been used, it's affecting the entire valley." Persephone breathed in agreement with her mother.

"The forest." Artemis muttered. All those nature spirits, the druids and dryads... The regular animals that lived there as well, possibly if all the grass died. Grover looked sick, he hadn't known the damage was this bad, he'd thought it was just the tree that the Fleece healed. They'd arrived at night, he hadn't gotten a chance to see the rest of the damage.

"The Camp itself is dying." Hestia intoned grimly, worried. "I fear there is only one thing that can save it now." She said, making the gods look at each other.

To retrieve the Fleece, meant... Poseidon bit his lip.

Suddenly the Sisters giving Percy those coordinates made much more sense.

(and the fire... like ugly scars.)

"Those are still there, by the way." Clarisse informed the courtyard. The others nodded in agreement.

"The grass may have grown back, but some very impressive gouges were created with the heat." Percy shrugged.

"Yeah, heat will do that." Leo muttered, focused on his current project. Beckendorf was helping Tyson make a shield, one that would retract into a watch. And still tell time. Apparently this would be the third shield the Cyclops made for Percy. He didn't mind, though, he just said that the first two were lost or broken as they did their job, which was protecting Percy. He was going to make this one stronger and less likely to be lost or broken, though. The biggest part he needed help with was enchanting it to always return to Percy's wrist, like Riptide did.

(Somebody had... a happy camper.)

"None of us were." Travis muttered. Not even he and Connor had been in the mood for pranks during that summer.

"Don't blame you." Connor eyed his and his brothers' older selves.

(As we made... out of a couple.)

Sally sighed at that reminder. "Both of them were court ordered." She deadpanned. Which was a good thing because she never would have been able to afford it otherwise.

"For an elementary school kid?" Clarisse asked, surprised. She knew that a lot of demigods were labeled as troublemakers, but that was something else.

"He pranked the police precinct one too many times." She rolled her eyes.

"What?" He asked when he saw the looks he was getting. "They needed the laughs." He shrugged. Now more then ever he knew that if you didn't find something to laugh about once in a while, you were going to break at some point, it was only a matter of time.

(None of that... everything he saw.)

"Just like a little kid." Sally said fondly. She hadn't been happy to be told that Tyson had been made a General in Poseidon's armies, he seemed much too young and innocent for that, but who was she to question the King of Olympus on such matters? (Now, matters regarding his constant threatening to kill her son, that was another matter altogether.) Besides, she still didn't fully understand the culture surrounding the Greeks, which included the Cyclops.

"Ok, even though I was being rude and was trying to find every reason to keep hating him for what he is, even I found that adorable." Annabeth admitted. Not even her bad experiences and consequent hatred for Cyclops could stand up to Tyson's innocence.

("Whasthat!" he gasped.)

"Oh, dear." Sally giggled lightly, remembering when Percy went through that same phase.

Percy gave her a strange look, but decided not to ask.

("The stables for pegasi,"... are the toilets.")

There were some snickers at that, but nobody interrupted the reading.

("Whasthat!"

"The cabins... or mom's group.")

"Simple version." Thalia nodded once.

Percy glanced at her, confused. "Is there any other version of that?" He asked. Seriously, you get claimed, you go to live in your parents cabin with (maybe) your siblings. Thalia shrugged.

(He looked at me... in the cabin?")

"Ah... no. It's just me and Tyson, when he visits anyway." Percy shrugged. He was usually busy in the forges, after all, and with training since he'd been promoted to General.

He may have been promoted, but that necessarily mean he had the training or experience to actually lead the army, so he was being taught how, and his combat training was being improved upon, although he was a very good fighter already.

("No. No, just... supposed to be alive.)

Sally made a wounded sound while Poseidon grunted his disagreement with that statement.

"Mom, you know it's true." Percy muttered to her, grimacing. With the pact they made, Poseidon should never have gotten with his mother.

(The 'Big Three'... War II, for instance.)

"That fight was two on one, and it was bad enough." Athena muttered. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it would have been like had Ares' plan succeeded in throwing them into a three war.

"I will never get enough of how you understate things." Thalia shook her head in wonder.

Calling WWII a problem was like calling the Titan War a minor inconvenience. It was so understated that it wasn't even close to funny.

"Are you going to comment on that habit every time it comes up?" Annabeth asked her older sister-figure. Thalia shrugged with a grin.

(The 'Big Three'... Zeus sired Thalia,)

Jason coughed, and waved innocently as if to remind people that he was there.

"Does that even count? Did your Roman forms create the same pact?" Thalia asked, tilting her head while studying her (half?) brother.

"No... we didn't." Neptune said slowly, and winced at the sudden headache spike as he switched back to Poseidon. The Romans never actually got involved in WWII beyond a few legionnaires joining the American military to help out, and they mostly fought in Japan, they didn't go to Europe. Pluto, Jupiter, and Neptune didn't fight nearly as often as they did in their Greek forms, they were more disciplined then that. So, technically Thalia was the only breach of the Oath.

"So... it was just the twice, then." Thalia and Percy nodded. Good to know they were the only two out of the five of them.

Hera's glare never left Zeus during this entire conversation.

(once when Poseidon... been born.)

Hades grumbled at the reminder that he was the only one to keep his word, when he was the one who hadn't wanted to make that stupid pact in the first place.

"No you should not have." Hera sniffed, glaring at Zeus and Poseidon.

Poseidon grimaced at the way that was worded, but didn't say anything, especially with the glare being shot at him by his wife.

(Thalia had gotten... patch of kelp.)

The courtyard burst out into laughter.

"I can see it now!" Thalia grinned, ruffling Percy's hair roughly, ignoring his protests and attempts to dislodge her hand.

"I think I can be a little more imaginative then that." Poseidon assured his son with a snort.

"Oh? Like what?" Percy asked, smirking slightly. Not that he actually wanted to be turned into something, but it was nice to know that he wouldn't be turned into something so boring, at least.

"Hmm... maybe a whale, or a shark..." Something living, not a piece of plant life that never did anything.

"A shark sounds awesome." Percy said after a moment.

"There will be no turning my son into marine animals!" Sally broke in, rolling her eyes. "Or plant life!" She raised a finger when she saw they were about to say something. She was correct when they both clicked their mouths shut. They grinned at each other instead.

(When we got to... Chiron is a centaur.)

"Why is it going through this again?"

"Who knows, the Fates probably wrote these, remember? Maybe it's for any new readers?" Percy guessed.

"But the only new readers we've had already know who Chiron is." Annabeth pointed out, looking at the three in question.

"I don't know. Why do the Fates do anything?" Percy asked, throwing up his hands and barely refraining from grumbling about them, remembering what happened last time.

He did not want to disappear beneath a large pile of books again. That hurt, especially since he hadn't really been hurt in a little over a year.

(From the waist... full centaur form.)

"It's much more comfortable that way." Chiron shrugged. As handy as his wheelchair was, it was uncomfortable after a while.

(As soon as... in total rapture.)

The Council started laughing while Chiron looked offended.

"Excuse me?" He demanded of the Cyclops in question.

Tyson didn't even look sheepish. "Sorry." He said, anyway. He'd already been informed by the older Cyclops that there were some things you did not do, and calling a Centaur 'pony' was one of them. Along with calling Satyr's 'donkey' in any way. Chiron looked a little mollified, but he still glared at the campers who looked a little too amused (in his opinion, anyway).

(Chiron turned... beg your pardon?")

"'Pony' indeed." Chiron sniffed.

Annabeth had to hide her smile in Percy's shoulder while a few other snickers broke out among the Greeks.

(Annabeth ran up... father to her.)

Annabeth nodded shakily, biting her lip. Luke frowned uncertainly, but reached over to pull her into a comforting hug, going slow so she could pull away if she wanted to without touching him. To his surprise, she accepted it.

As much as he hated Olympus and everything right now, he couldn't deny that while Chiron had just been a mentor to him, Percy's assessment was correct. Chiron practically raised Annabeth since they got to camp. He'd been too grief-stricken for the first few weeks to really be there for her, and she hadn't been claimed yet despite everybody knowing who her mother was, plus the counselor for Cabin 11 at the time was too busy dealing with taking care of the largest cabin to really pay her too much attention.

Athena snarled and had to resist the urge to blast him away from her daughter when she caught sight of one of the Messengers, staring at her while fingering his weapon. And to think she thought that traitor would ever be good enough for her daughter!

(Chiron ruffled her... over the year!")

Percy grumbled while Sally smiled sadly. "It's not just me, it seems." She teased lightly.

He grumbled a bit but didn't complain too much.

(I swallowed. "Clarisse... take the blame.)

"Anyone but you!" Katie burst out, repeating almost the same thing she'd said when the campers were informed of this. Chiron had gathered the campers together in the commons area outside the cabins to explain what was happening, and to remind them to behave themselves for his replacement.

The other Greeks burst out in agreement while Hestia raised her eyebrow at Zeus, narrowing her eyes at his indifferent expression. She wondered when he'd forgotten that they needed to demigods acknowledgement to survive, or they would fade. If the demigods all rose up against them, that would be a disaster. She suspected that it was already a disaster.

Chiron sighed. "Calm. I'm sure the situation will be resolved soon." He soothed his students, smiling softly at the support. He was pleased that they cared. He did his best to be there for them, just as some saw him as their parent-figure, they were his children.

(Lord Zeus was... to punish someone.")

"No... Zeus wanted somebody punished, and Chiron happened to be the one to get it." Dionysus corrected. Zeus probably demanded it of him for some reason. Especially since he wouldn't really mind if camp fell. It would mean he got to come sooner.

"That sounds more like it." Apollo agreed.

Zeus glared, especially when the others agreed with the two of them.

("Besides himself... Mr. D, made me angry.)

"He does that to a lot of people." Luke muttered quietly.

The other Greeks surrounding him had to stifle their amusement, but Dionysus suspected one of them said something and glared.

("But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried.)

"Agreed." All the demigods said at once, anger in every line of their faces.

The thought of Chiron leaving... well to say none of them were happy with that was an understatement.

Zeus tried not to shift uncomfortably when

("Chiron, you couldn't... Thalia's tree!")

Apollo snorted. "You think dad cares about that?" He sneered. "All he wants is somebody to blame, without having to admit that he may have been wrong about something." He said bitterly.

"Excuse me?" Zeus asked dangerously.

"You're excused." Dionysus said dryly, rolling his eyes. He and Apollo were usually the ones being punished, after all.

("Nevertheless," Chiron... the circumstances.")

"Circumstances?"

"You're not talking about the tree, are you?" Sally asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Chiron's tail flicked in agitation. "I do not know what my book-self is talking about exactly, but I can guess." He said. Just the summer before, Kronos made an attempt at escaping, Zeus refused to listen to them. Now Thalia's tree was poisoned. He could guess what was really going on here. "And I find it extremely hypocritical, considering you yourself are also his son." He informed his younger half-brother mildly, in a tone that all demigods cringed away from.

And that was something Percy didn't understand. Zeus refused to admit that Kronos was coming back, and yet he blamed Chiron for this because Kronos was his father.

("What circumstances?" I asked.)

"Besides the tree, of course." Percy amended his statement.

"There was a lot going on that summer." Annabeth sighed.

(Chiron's face... closer. "Pony?")

Chiron sighed, shaking his head. "What is it with Cyclops?" He muttered. They were always calling him 'pony'! He ignored the renewed laughter from his students. Let's see how long they kept laughing after he scheduled their training for the week, see who was laughing then...

In the meantime, he glared at Poseidon. They were his sons, after all.

(Chiron sniffed... I am a centaur.")

"There is a very big difference." Chiron sniffed.

("Chiron," I said... the Underworld, Percy.)

"Not my part of the Underworld." Hades defended himself immediately. He wouldn't do this, either. Even if he did want to get rid of Camp Half-Blood, which he didn't.

No matter how annoying he may find heroes sometimes, he couldn't deny they were useful, and some were downright amusing to watch.

No, if that poison came from anywhere, it would be the darkest corners where not even he dared trod for fear of awakening something that he couldn't hope to combat, or from the Pit itself.

"If the poison is from somewhere in the Underworld, why not ask Lord Hades for assistance?" Gwen asked, confused. He would know what it was, wouldn't he?

"They're not going to ask Hades for help. Not if they can help it." Percy informed her, making Hestia sigh sadly. "The ones who could, or maybe should, ask him for help don't trust him." Everybody glanced at Zeus, having already seen that Poseidon and Hades were actually rather close.

(Some venom even... responsible. Kro-")

"There you go again." Clarisse mumbled. Everyone else groaned.

"I don't have time to be figuring out what to call all these monsters or immortals so that other people know who and what I'm talking about." Percy deadpanned. "Takes too much effort."

"Of course you would say that." Chris muttered with a laugh. Percy shrugged.

("Do not invoke... here, not now.")

"I suspect that Zeus is already annoyed enough with you, without you discussing something he'd declared closed." Annabeth said, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"He's always annoyed with me for something!" Percy said cheerfully.

"That's not something to be proud of." Grover informed him dryly.

"It almost gives a heart attack every time." Annabeth glared at her boyfriend.

"Oh, come on! Like you haven't made your own enemies on the Council!" Percy defended himself, tilting his head subtly towards Hermes and Hera. Now, in the few months since the Battle of Manhattan and him being kidnapped, Hermes had actually warmed up towards her again, so maybe he was exaggerating it there a bit. But he highly doubted that she and Hera would ever get along. Especially after Hera went and kidnapped him. Annabeth raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"I still say he was a bad influence on her." Thalia muttered to Nico, who snorted in agreement.

("But last summer... it, that traitor.")

"I didn't want to." Luke mumbled. But when Kronos told you to do something, you did it.

"What poison was it?" Chiron asked, curious despite himself.

"I don't know exactly." Luke shook his head. "I was given it in a dream and told to use it on the tree. When I woke up, it was in my hand."

"Then it is something from the depths of Tartarus." Chiron murmured in thought. He was going to have to refresh his memory on those poisons, it seemed.

("Perhaps." Chiron said... life left unless...")

"The Fleece." Chiron muttered, guessing what his book-self was thinking.

"That's been lost for centuries." Hermes pointed out. "But then again..." He looked at Thalia.

"If anybody can find it, it's a stubborn son of Poseidon." Artemis rolled her eyes.

("Unless what?"... "A foolish thought.)

"Or maybe not so foolish." Chiron muttered, still looking at Thalia thoughtfully.

(The whole valley... itself is dying.)

"If something like that did happen, would you all evacuate?" Reyna asked.

"For a time until the borders were reestablished. If they can't be, we may have to relocate all together." Chiron said heavily. That valley had been home to Camp Half-Blood since the West moved to the Americas from England, since the British were repelled and the colonies became the States. That was his home. That was their home.

"That's not going to happen." Hermes assured the old Centaur.

(Only one source... centuries ago.")

"Whatever is lost, can eventually be found." Hestia murmured wisely.

"The Grey Sisters gave him those coordinates, and now they need to find the Fleece?" Amphitrite whispered to Poseidon, giving him a Look.

"Yeah... That makes sense." He nodded.

("What is it?" I... not act rashly.)

"Ha!" Most of the Greeks let out.

"Good luck with that." Clarisse grinned at Percy, who stuck his tongue out at her.

"I don't always jump in, you know." He pointed out.

"Yeah, you kind of do." Annabeth corrected. He just looked at her, betrayal written all over his face.

(I told your mother... do not leave.")

"You're going to leave, aren't you?" Rachel asked rhetorically, sighing.

"Do you really have to ask?" Annabeth asked, raising an eyebrow. Surely Rachel knew Percy better then that?

"True." She sighed while Sally shook her head and glanced at Paul.

"Technically, we had permission." Percy supplied, shrugging.

("Why?" I asked... camp will be-")

"We'd be overrun." Clarisse muttered darkly.

"Especially if the borders as a whole fail." Connor agreed.

"That wouldn't be good." Travis muttered.

Theseus and Perseus glanced at each other, disturbed by the thought of this safe haven being overrun by monsters. They wished they'd had something like this camp when they were growing up, unfortunately it hadn't been possible. They'd had to travel far to seek Chiron's wisdom and get some training from him, but they'd both had their own people to protect, kingdoms' to oversee. Of course their kingdoms hadn't come about until afterwards, but still.

(Theseus found it amusing that the daughter of Athena thought that his city was named Athens because Athena's gift (the olive tree) was 'better'. He chose to name it after her because his father asked him to, and because he owed her, as she'd been the one to guide him towards Chiron in the first place. Granted he did really like olives, but... there was a lot he could have done with a salt-water spring. He was a son of Poseidon, after all.)

They liked the idea of a safe haven, somewhere where demigods could train in safety, without worry about monsters or mortals.

("Overrun by monsters,"... of the titan lord.)

"Just not in ways we could have imagined." Percy muttered, eyes narrowed as he thought through those few weeks.

It was a trap, just not quite like they'd thought it might be, especially when Luke showed them that casket.

(Remember last... to help so badly.)

Sally sighed. "Patience, Percy." She cautioned. "Sometimes the best thing you can do is wait. And watch." She reminded him.

He made a face. "Yeah, I know." He muttered.

"Very wise." Hestia smiled at the mother, who grinned back, face red at the compliment.

(I also wanted... by the gods.)

"Percy, you know they never learn." Annabeth said dryly.

"Yeah, they just keep doing the same things over and over again." Thalia muttered darkly. The only things that ever changed were the supporting characters in the long history they held.

It was always the same arguments, the same fights, the same quests and monsters to fight. The same antics.

Luke had a small grin on his face at how petulant book-Percy sounded at this moment, and how he was describing Kronos more or less as a petulant toddler that never learned his lesson the first few times his parents told him 'no'.

(You'd think getting... wanted him around.)

Nearly everybody snorted. "You would think, wouldn't you?" Annabeth asked with a laugh.

"Maybe they were too subtle about it?" Travis wondered, a huge grin on his face.

"You think they could have done something bigger? More obvious?" Connor asked thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure how we could have been anymore obvious." Poseidon muttered, rolling his eyes.

(But no. Because... in Tartarus-)

"Unfortunately." Percy and Annabeth muttered, shuddering. Luckily it didn't seem like he was getting out again any time soon.

There were a lot of former enemies of theirs down there. Kelli had certainly been delighted to see the two of them down there with her.

(suffering in... on Olympus.)

"I feel like that's a long list, actually." Piper pointed out.

"It is." Percy and Annabeth confirmed. "It's a disturbingly long list." Percy continued. The gods seemed to have delighted in making enemies during their younger years, and their children were the ones ultimately reaping the consequences now. Like Athena's children, with spiders. Or Medusa.

Or all the minor gods who sided the Titans during the war because of how Zeus (well, the council as a whole, really) treated them. They got no recognition. Their children were shoved aside at camp, with nowhere to go except for an overcrowded cabin. Percy didn't blame them for turning their backs on Olympus anymore then he blamed the demigods that Luke gathered to Kronos army.

He had a feeling that the only reason they weren't still making new enemies, was because mortals had for the most part forgotten about them outside of myth and legend.

(He couldn't act... his dirty work.)

"He's not returning." Zeus said firmly, glaring around.

"He's going to keep denying it until he actually rises again, is he?" Percy muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Looks like." Annabeth sighed.

Ares winced and drummed his fingers at the reminder of how easily he'd been had.

(The poisoning had... save her friends?)

"His life, at that." Thalia muttered, glaring at Luke for it.

Luke cringed, but didn't say anything in his defense. It was true, after all.

"They would have to be the lowest of the low." Nico muttered, glaring at nothing.

(Annabeth was trying hard not to cry.)

Annabeth hid her face in Percy's shoulder, but refused to feel too embarrassed. Like Percy'd said, Chiron was a father-figure, and he was being kicked out of his home.

"It's alright to cry in a situation like this." Sally said quietly, not wanting her to feel embarrassed by this, she'd spoken with enough demigods to know that they sometimes saw showing emotion as a weakness, and were easily embarrassed by it. Especially when certain gods or goddesses children were involved. It was a good thing neither Clarisse nor her younger self were looking like they might mock Annabeth for it.

"You weren't the only one trying not to cry." Percy muttered to Annabeth, who chuckled softly.

"I noticed." She whispered with a slight smile. She didn't say anything else about it, though.

(Chiron brushed a...

Nobody answered.)

"What else is new?" Percy asked, rolling his eyes.

Annabeth sighed. "Percy, you know if I could have told you, I would have." She told him quietly. She'd sworn on the Styx. She took a big enough risk telling him what little she did.

He sighed, too. "Yeah, I know." He wrapped and arm around her shoulders and held her.

"So, wait... Annabeth knew what it said, but you wouldn't even tell Percy?" Leo asked, confused.

"She wasn't supposed to know either." Chiron informed the room, giving both Annabeth's a Look.

"I was curious!" Annabeth defended herself while Luke broke down snickering in her shoulder. He still remembered the day Chiron dragged her to him, berating her the entire way, and informed him that Annabeth, straight-laced daughter of Athena who never broke a single rule put in front of her, had been found going through the prophecy records in the attic. After she'd been expressly told to stay out of there. Of course, Mr. D coming by later on to extract the Oath from her to never speak of what she read hadn't been as amusing, but still.

(And if neither of them ever told the god of wine that she'd already told Luke what she read...?)

("Right," I muttered... you from camp-")

"I will be fine. I was not so old when I gained my immortality that I cannot survive being mortal for a few years." Chiron assured her, hoping his book-self said something along those lines. "I'm sure this will not take long to resolve." Truthfully, though, he didn't think that anything would happen to him regardless of his position at camp. Wording was everything, especially where the Fates were concerned. He'd told her that as long as he was needed to train heroes. He would always be needed as long as their were monsters to train them to fight against.

Regardless of where he was as he trained them.

("Swear you will... the River Styx.")

"Don't make her swear on that!" Rachel burst out, exasperated.

"Percy's never going to be out of danger, that's a death sentence!" Clarisse snapped, although this did explain a bit, now.

"I asked her to swear to 'do her best'." Chiron said calmly, ignoring the seething glare from Athena while everyone else muttered among themselves. This was no small thing for her to be swearing to. "As long as she does the best she can, which I know she will do anyway, she will be fine even if something happens to the boy."

Annabeth bit her lip, but nodded in agreement. There had been a lot of danger over the years, but she was perfectly fine, especially since she'd been at Percy's side the entire time.

("I- I swear it... relax just a little.)

"He trusts you and your abilities." Percy whispered to Annabeth, who smiled slightly at the show of faith. She hadn't even noticed how tense Chiron was until she'd sworn.

("Perhaps my name... the Everglades.)

"Ugh, why?" Chiron complained, losing his composure with a scowl. Most of the Council had to fight to hide their own amusement, most of them well aware of Chiron's opinion of his kin.

Hermes and Apollo snickered. "What's wrong with them?" Hermes asked innocently. He loved the Party Ponies, they were the best.

Chiron glared. "They are wild hooligans who have no self-control." He snapped. "I can't believe I was that desperate for somewhere to go." He muttered. He wondered if his book-self didn't know something. First Percy dreamed of Florida, those coordinates the Grey Sisters gave him were off the coast of Florida somewhere, and now he was going to Florida?

"The Party Ponies are awesome!" The Stoll brothers called while Luke grimaced and rubbed his face where that one Centaur had gotten him.

(It'd possible they... I have forgotten.)

Chiron made a disgusted sound, but knew that it was true. For all their ways, they were knowledgeable. He just hated dealing with them.

(In any event... shoulder awkwardly.)

"You've been teaching children for thousands of years, and you don't know how to deal with tears?" Hestia asked, teasing.

Chiron turned red. "I can usually hand them off to their older siblings to take care of... and who can handle crying female's, anyway?" He demanded, to the men's agreement and the females amusement.

("There, now, child... quickly as I fear.")

"They came close." Connor and Travis muttered. Especially with three of their strongest campers (and their three leaders) gone, leaving the rest of them to pick up their slack on patrol duty. Nobody was angry about it, though. They knew Clarisse was on a quest to find something that could save the camp, and Hermes had informed his children in a dream that Percy and Annabeth had left to do the same thing. With his permission, of course. It was kind of hard to argue against when they had permission from a god, even one of the more laid-back ones.

Chiron winced. "How bad was the damage?" He asked warily, not sure if he really wanted to know.

"Er... I'm sure the damage will be mentioned at the end of the book." Will finally said. It was just a good thing that he and his siblings had been deemed too important in the Infirmary, and were therefore not included in the patrol schedule, or... they were overworked enough treating the wounded without risking one of them collapsing from exhaustion trying to pull double duty, or one of them being added to the walking wounded lists, too.

What was even more surprising was that they'd only lost one building.

("Who is this... taking your job?")

"Probably in a lot of ways." Clarisse muttered darkly, shuddering. Having his attention on her still creeped her out.

Chiron's eyes focused on her, face grim. She caught his eyes and shook her head that no, nothing happened. It was just extremely uncomfortable.

(A conch horn... mother, Percy,)

"Oh, yeah. She won't have heard anything yet..." Chris remembered suddenly what happened to bring them to Camp like they did in the first place.

"I heard things. From the principle. And from the police when they visited me at work." Sally informed the crowd while Percy turned red.

"Ouch." Beckendorf muttered, wincing.

"I don't think even we have ever gotten a police visit." Connor looked at his brother in question, only for him to shake his head. Their mother would have shipped them off to camp to be their problem even sooner if that had been the case.

"It's not my fault monsters keep blowing up the school I'm in." He muttered. Paul coughed. He hoped he was going to get a more detailed explanation of just what happened to his school's band room now.

(and let her... worried by now.)

"Out of my mind." Sally confirmed. She'd figured that Percy must have made his way to camp somehow, either that or he was hiding out somewhere in the city. And he was smart enough to keep himself safe either way. That didn't mean she hadn't been worried.

Percy winced. "Sorry, mom." He muttered. She shook her head and smiled at him, not mad about it.

(Just remember... has forgotten you!")

"Oh, he didn't." Luke muttered. "He was still trying to figure out how to recruit him."

Everybody got quiet at the thought of Kronos succeeding in recruiting somebody as powerful as Percy. Not only was Percy powerful, but he was also a natural leader. Camp wouldn't have stood a chance with Percy against them, especially because if he went, most of camp would have gone with him.

(With that, he... "Pony! Don't go!")

Chiron didn't say anything else on the matter, though he did let his annoyance bleed through.

Beckendorf reached up and patted the young Cyclops on the shoulder, he didn't say anything, though.

Tyson just looked up before going back to the parts in his large hands.

(I realized I'd... maybe for good.)

"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Katie brushed off. "Like any of us would have put up with Tantalus."

The three of them had no idea how close the campers were to rebelling when they saw that IM from the deck of Luke's ship. If he hadn't been sent back to the Underworld right then, they would have forced him. One way or the other.

Dionysus looked at her suspiciously, but didn't say anything. He doubted that he would have done anything to curb bad behavior towards Tantalus. Well, unless he thought the children were pushing the man too far and were going to get hurt. He had a duty towards keeping them safe, after all.

No matter how much he hated it.

(Tyson started... as Annabeth.)

"I was not that bad." Annabeth muttered.

Poseidon winced a little. He'd almost forgotten how emotional a young Cyclops could be...

(I tried to tell... didn't believe it.)

"You aren't very convincing when you do that, by the way." Grover informed him.

Percy answered by kicking his leg, rolling his eyes. "I tried, thank you very much." He huffed.

(The sun was... just about anybody.)

Athena frowned at the reminder of how young she'd been. She hadn't been happy to look in on her daughter and find her in a street, but she hadn't even thought to find out what had happened, either.

"A seven year old shouldn't think of running away." Sally muttered. It was a good thing Thalia and Luke had found her.

(You could tell... the Ares cabin.)

Will grumbled and glared, but didn't say anything. She'd snuck out of the Infirmary when his back was turned, and went off to find her siblings.

"Were you supposed to be out of the Infirmary?" Apollo asked, raising an eyebrow. Will had already informed them of the girls burns, after all.

Clarisse blinked, then shrugged. Apollo's eyes narrowed, but a glance towards his glaring son was enough of an answer.

(She had one... to have fazed her.)

"Those are just the injuries you could see." Will informed the group with a glare.

"I was fine." Clarisse waved off. "I needed to be with my cabin."

(Someone had... YOU MOO, GIRL!)

"Oh, dear." Sally hid her amusement, while the demigods that snorted in amusement quickly looked away when they saw Clarisse's glare.

"Who's idea was that?" Leo asked, tilting his head. That was weak, though. He could do better. The Stoll's and Chris were in agreement, as was Percy.

"Mark." Clarisse glared at nothing.

(But nobody in... her about it.)

"A lesson which I made sure they learned." Clarisse promised with a glare. Especially Mark.

"Is that why half of the Ares cabin ended up in the Infirmary that night?" Will wondered out loud. Lee had taken one look and stopped him from asking, sighing and shaking his head the entire time. Chiron groaned, but didn't say anything, either.

Ares smirked proudly. That was his girl.

(After the Ares... cabin- six guys)

"Wait, all guys?" Leo asked, confused. He had three sisters, Nyssa had dragged him out of the bunker just the other day to get food and play Capture-the-Flag with the rest of them. Well, he said it was Nyssa, really it was Nyssa through liberal use of Harley. Nobody could resist that kid, he was cute and he knew it.

"Yes..." Beckendorf said slowly, looking at him curiously. Leo just looked at his father, confused.

"Daughter's are rare for me..." Hephaestus started. "I have three right now... but they haven't made their way to camp, yet." He looked at the rest of the future demigods, saw the looks on their faces, while Jason, Piper, and Leo looked at each other in confusion. "I will leave their information with Chiron." He promised them. He could handle bringing them to camp once they were done with this reading.

(led by Charles... forge all day.)

Beckendorf looked up, raised an eyebrow at his description, and shrugged before going back to his work.

Leo glanced at his brother, smiled slightly, and went back to his own work. He'd been enjoying working with the older son of Hephaestus over the last several days, and getting to know him.

(He was nice... to know him,)

"But don't ever interrupt him when he's in the forges." Travis said seriously.

Percy snorted. "Don't prank him while he's in the forge, you mean." He corrected the son of Hermes dryly.

"That, too." Connor waved off.

Beckendorf raised an eyebrow. "You do realize how dangerous that could be?" He asked quietly. There was open flame in the forge, scorching hot metal, and plenty of heavy hammers.

"Yeah... we got that." The two muttered. They'd been lectured enough on that when they did it.

(but no one ever... called him Beckendorf.)

Beckendorf shrugged. "I don't mind either way." He said. He didn't care what people called him, honestly. Well... maybe if they called him 'Chuck'.

(Rumor was he... grandmother's garden.)

"That was a dare." He chimed in, shrugging.

"Really?" Percy asked, surprised. He hadn't known he'd actually built that, he just thought it was rumors.

Beckendorf nodded. "I even sent it to my grandmother for her birthday." He said, explaining why Percy never saw it around camp. Really, he was only here because he'd decided to spend his winter break at camp so he could use the forge for something. When Chiron announced the trip, he'd agreed to come along for the evening, and now he was glad he did.

(Whatever you wanted... painfully of Grover.)

"Because he was in danger?" Perseus asked.

"Because I didn't know what was going on with him, but something clearly was." Percy said after a moment of thought.

"Thanks." Grover said quietly, happy that Percy was clearly worried.

(I'd always had... the camp's seekers.)

"Our protectors." More then one Greek demigod muttered. And they did, the Satyr's found them and made sure they made it safely to camp, often with monsters chasing after them if they were powerful enough. And even if they weren't powerful enough, most monsters knew a demigod being escorted by a Satyr when they saw one. Some even stayed near schools for just that purpose.

Both Grover's turned red at the phrase, but didn't say anything against it. They were pleased, though, that the effort was appreciated.

Reyna once again wondered if it would be worth it to try and implement something similar. The Fawns were always getting on everybodies nerves, always hanging around and begging. If they were put to work, though... she doubted that there were as many Roman demigods out there that hadn't been found as there were Greeks, purely because they had New Rome and most of their soldiers came from there, but... They did still get soldiers coming in from the outside world.

(They went... over the world,)

"Well... they mostly stick to America and Europe." Demeter interjected. "The Western countries were the most influenced by Greek and Roman culture, while the rest of the world, especially the Eastern countries have their own beliefs." She explained briefly, glancing around at the rest of the Council.

Zeus shook his head. They were not going to go any further with that discussion. It wasn't like they tried to hide the existence of the other Pantheon's, but they didn't really talk about it, either. It was just a... given that they existed considering all the different belief systems of the world. They all worked together, though, at the end of the day, even if Zeus hated working with his various counter-parts.

(looking for potential... biggest cabin.)

"And less then half those kids are even mine." Hermes deadpanned, glaring around the room. Luckily Aphrodite and Apollo were good about claiming them, but last he checked as of the end of last summer there was a daughter of Athena there (she joined her siblings during camp activities and training, only sleeping in the Hermes cabin. Everybody knew who her mother was), a few children of Hecate, one of Morpheus' kids, a son of Demeter, a couple of Ares' kids, and a few other assorted minor gods or goddesses. Only about nine of the kids in that cabin were his.

The other ten or so belonged to others.

"Which does help anybody in that cabin." Luke muttered. Luke nodded in agreement. The unclaimed kids became bitter and angry as they watched others be claimed, while they themselves were left behind. The Hermes kids became angry on their behalf. There wasn't a single child of Hermes that looked on the Olympians too favorably. How they viewed a god was purely dependent on how many of their children were unclaimed.

The Olympians in question had the decency to look somewhat ashamed, but they didn't seem too guilty. Demeter was at least thinking back to when she last looked in on camp, trying to remember if she'd left any of hers in there.

(Last summer, it... of Half-Blood Hill.)

"And the guy who betrayed and tried to kill you, before now poisoning Thalia's tree." Percy muttered quietly, still smarting over that despite everything that happened since then and what was happening now.

Annabeth nudged him with a frown. He sighed and shook his head.

(For a while, before... tried to kill me.)

"Which was a new one even for me." Percy said thoughtfully.

"Thank goodness." Sally muttered, thankfully they'd taken a few days to rest and take a step back from the books. She would have been a mess if she hadn't had that one on one time with her son so soon after hearing about that.

(Now the Hermes... and Connor Stoll.)

"That doesn't sound like a good idea." Chiron muttered, eyeing them suspiciously. How many times did they have to rebuild the Hermes cabin in a week? He had faith in his students, he did. But there were just some students that he didn't think could handle it, no matter how much faith he had in them.

"They did a good job." Percy defended them. "Having the responsibility actually seemed to calm them down." He shrugged.

Travis and Connor snorted. "We didn't 'calm down'." Travis corrected.

"We just didn't have time for pranks anymore." Connor agreed.

"We were suddenly in charge of the largest group at camp." They said together. They had to make sure that everybody had a spot to sleep and all the new kids got clothes and toiletries, they had to make sure everybody got to training and didn't try to skip (not even they did that), they had to make sure everybody reported to the Infirmary when needed, and that everybody was present for meals.

"That, too." Percy shrugged.

(They weren't twins... one was older.)

"Still can't remember." Percy muttered.

Luke sighed. "Travis is older by a year." He informed the crowd, rolling his eyes at Travis and Connor's looks for him spoiling possible future pranks regarding which was which. Sadly they did look different enough that they couldn't pretend to be each other, but still.

They were touched, though, that even after everything that happened Luke still cared enough to remember that.

(They were both... down your shirt.)

"Which they've never actually done as far as I know." Percy said quickly, eyeing his mother who'd gasped and spun to face the two boys in question.

"They better not have! That is far too dangerous for any kind of prank or joke!" She snapped, still glaring at the two.

(I'd always thought... didn't get the joke.)

"No, we got it." Travis and Connor said dryly.

"We just hear it so often." Their younger selves agreed.

"It wasn't even funny the first time." The older two glared at Percy, who shrugged.

(As soon as the... table murmured.)

"Ah... that was Alex. Not me." Will said slowly when heads jerked in his direction.

Percy grimaced, but didn't say anything. Alex wasn't one of the most... open-minded at the best of times.

(I glared in their... millennium is complete.")

"I assure you the feelings are mutual." Percy said, imitating Mr. D's drawl perfectly.

Dionysus raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"Is he still going to say your name wrong?" Reyna deadpanned.

"Always." The Greeks said at the same time.

(I gritted my teeth. "Percy Jackson... sir.")

"I don't know why I bothered." Percy muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Neither do I, Pedro." Dionysus said airily, nose stuck in a magazine while sipping his wine.

(Mr. D sipped... days: Whatever.")

"Ugh, you should really stop trying to imitate today's teenagers." Apollo advised.

Dionysus shrugged, not caring.

"Personally, I thought his imitation was rather good." Hermes murmured to Apollo. "Perhaps a little too good..." Apollo shrugged. Dionysus glared.

(He was wearing... in the casinos.)

"Excuse me?" Dionysus asked, looking up from his magazine, mildly annoyed. Only mildly because that was actually rather accurate.

"Was that description wrong?" Percy asked innocently. Dionysus glared, but caught Poseidon's eye and didn't say anything.

(Behind him, a... one at a time.)

Hermes growled. "Dionysus. If I ever find out that you hurt them..." He said, not liking at all how often the first book had said the satyrs were nervous around him, and now in this book!

"When I got back to camp, we talked. It was actually Tantalus that had them so scared." Grover came to the camp director's defense, surprising several people.

"Did he do anything?" Hermes demanded, he was understandably protective of the satyrs, they were his sons' people, after all.

"From what I understand, it's not what he did, so much it is where he came from, everything else that was going on with the tree being poisoned, and his general attitude." Grover said after a few moments' thought. Hermes hummed, not happy, but he accepted that. For now.

(Mr. D's real name... wood nymph.)

"Off-limits to everybody but him, you mean." Dionysus muttered sourly.

Hera grunted in agreement, glaring at her husband, while Zeus rolled his eyes, unconcerned.

(Next to him... prisoner's jumpsuit.)

"A prisoner?" Reyna asked warily. "Where's he kept?"

"Field of Punishment, Field Three." Which was his 'life-sentence', high-profile offenders. Persephone pursed her lips and glared at nothing, but didn't speak.

"I can't believe he's out right now." Nico muttered. He'd seen Tantalus enough while he walked through the Fields to know that he was not the kind of man that you let anywhere near children.

"What's a prisoner doing taking Chiron's job?" Jason demanded, eyeing the gods as if he could find the answers that way.

"We never got an answer as to 'why him, of all people'." Will sighed. They'd all asked Mr. D at some point that summer, those that could get up the courage, at any rate. He refused to answer them.

(The number over... a weed whacker.)

"Probably Alecto's doing." Hades mused. "She does love visiting the prisoners in that field." He said as if they were commenting on the weather, and not one of his chief enforcer's torturing a prisoner.

"She loves him in particular." Nico agreed.

"Ok, you need to spend some more time outside the Underworld." Percy informed his cousin, who glared stubbornly. He refused to budge, though. He needed to spend more time among the living, especially if he was becoming so intimately familiar with how Alecto liked to torture, and who.

(He stared at... looked... fractured.)

"That's the most dangerous kind of person." Dionysus muttered, narrowing his eyes. Thankfully his sons knew how to handle somebody like that on the off-chance they actually had to interact with him.

They were his sons, after all.

The other parents narrowed their own eyes, wary of how this man might behave in a camp full of their children. Would he single some out and attempt to get revenge on their parents through the children? Would he take his rage out on the children? Would one of them push him too far?

(Angry and frustrated... child, you know.")

"And what does that mean?" Poseidon asked dangerously.

"I probably told him about the summer before." Dionysus waved off, still focused on his magazine as if he didn't care. Only the subtle shifting in his seat gave him away.

"If you draw that monster's attention to any of our children..." Demeter threatened. She didn't like he was already singling Percy out to the man.

Paul frowned, looking around at the gods and their expressions. "Remind me just who this guy is?" He asked Sally quietly.

"He used to be a king. He was favored, but something happened to make him fall out of favor. In an attempt to reconcile things, he invited them to his castle for a feast, only he killed his children and had them cooked as part of the meal." She explained what she remembered.

"He's been a prisoner in the Fields of Punishment ever since." Hades informed the English teacher, having caught part of their quiet conversation.

"Ah-huh. And this man is now in charge of the children at camp?" Paul asked incredulously, louder then he probably intended.

"It would seem so." Artemis glared between Dionysus and Zeus, truly not sure who to blame for this. Tantalus was one of the main creatures she pointed to as proof when people asked why she hated men so much, and she doubted that would ever change.

("Ah!" the prisoner said. "That one.")

Poseidon growled, not liking Tantalus showing his son any kind of attention.

The room tensed, looking between Poseidon and Dionysus.

(His tone made... decides otherwise.)

"So it was you that brought him there." Athena growled. If it was Zeus, then it would be on Zeus' whims that Tantalus stay employed, or go back to his little island in Punishment.

"I doubt it. The decision to fire him is probably only mine because I'm the director." Dionysus drawled, rolling his eyes. Like he'd said, he didn't want his sons anywhere near Tantalus anymore then the others wanted their children anywhere near him.

(And you, Perseus... I demanded.)

Percy growled wordlessly at the fact that he was being blamed for this.

"Oh, dear. This isn't going to end well." Annabeth muttered. She was starting to understand now why Tantalus had seemed to have it out for him. "He made you mad!" She groaned. When he got mad at somebody, what little brain-mouth filter he possessed seemed to disappear.

(Dionysus snapped... Torches Gymnasium.)

Sally actually chuckled. "Close." She said. That was almost what it said, just without the 'lunatic' bit and different wording then 'torches'.

"That wasn't even my fault." Percy grumbled. He was always getting blamed for what other people or monsters did. He found it rather annoying.

("Yes, trouble,"... I understand.")

"They're blaming you for all that? Still?" Clarisse demanded. She hadn't known about this.

"I don't think it was all of them... just him, and Mr. D was just being Mr. D." Percy shrugged. After all, Luke had revealed himself to be the thief, and Percy had returned the items.

"It's Tantalus, what did you expect?" Travis asked, rolling his eyes. She made a face, but didn't say anything else.

(I was too mad... special stock. 1967.")

"I thought he was in the Fields of Punishment."

"He is. He has a list of things he wants to try when his punishment is over." Hades said with a glint in his eye. If that list happened to be made up of things that the Furies had placed on his little island... well. Unsaid was the part where his punishment was never going to end.

(The glass filled... goblet was hot.)

The Romans were confused. But then, they had no idea who this was, what he'd done, or what his curse was as a result.

They ignored Greek history, forgetting that it was technically their history, too.

Despite themselves, the gods leaned forward eagerly, wanting to see (or read about it, anyway) him fail once again.

("Go on, then... in his eyes.)

"If you put him near our kids just so you can enjoy this..." Hermes threatened Dionysus with narrow eyes.

"My kids are there, too, remember?" Dionysus shot back. He didn't know why Tantalus was there, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't his idea. Like he would want somebody like that around his sons?! He may be the god of madness, but he wasn't crazy.

"You put in a new table just for you and Tantalus to sit at, instead of sitting at your table with Casper and Pollux." Percy remembered. He hadn't even considered why there was an extra table there, because Dionysus usually sat with his sons to eat. But knowing what he knew now about Tantalus, he was glad that Dionysus at least cared about his own sons safety. (Not that he didn't already know that...)

("Perhaps now it will work.")

"Wait, what?" The Romans all asked, confused about what he was talking about.

"Oh, this was good." Travis muttered eagerly.

"I don't think it will be the same thing to read about it." Connor tilted his head while the others shrugged.

(Tantalus grabbed... could touch them.)

"That's different." Leo muttered, frowning.

"That is his punishment for his crimes." Zeus said simply.

"I still say he got off easy." Apollo muttered.

"That's easy?" A few of the campers muttered. Then again, they couldn't have imagined killing your own children to serve as food.

(He growled and... of the brazier.)

The futures snickered at the memory of that. Now that Tantalus wasn't right there in front of them, and threatening to eat them, they were free to express all their amusement at his expense.

They were going to enjoy hearing about him dealing with the food again.

"What is..."

"I'm sure it will be explained in the book."

("Blast!" Tantalus... with false sympathy.)

"You are, you're enjoying this." Apollo muttered.

"I'm not the only one." Dionysus defended himself, pointing at the kids with a raised eyebrow.

"True." Apollo conceded the point.

("Perhaps a few... be torture enough.)

"Yes, excellent role model you gave our children, there." Demeter informed her younger brother dryly.

"Why should I be enthusiastic when I don't want to be there?" Dionysus asked, shrugging.

(I'm sure your... fade eventually.")

"Curse?" Jason asked, wondering. "The thing with the food?"

"Hm-mm." Katie smirked, thinking about what happened in the end.

"That was the best." Connor announced, sharing smiles and laughs with the futures who had been there.

Chiron gave them a look, but knew it was unlikely that any of them would answer him, probably preferring to let the books tell him.

("Eventually," muttered... thousand years?")

"I would imagine very dry." Paul muttered, cringing.

"I couldn't imagine." Clarisse admitted. "But it serves him right for what he did."

"Going thirsty is not fun." Leo said simply, frowning at the memories.

("You're that... Punishment," I said.)

"Oh, no."

"Percy!"

"Why do you do this to us!"

"Zero filter, I swear."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up..." The future Greeks paled drastically and started chanting various things. Sally just face-palmed, having not really expected any less of her son.

Chiron frowned. "He didn't hurt anybody, did he?" He demanded, looking over his older students as though he could see the evidence right there, years later.

"No, nobody actually got hurt by him." Percy assured. "But that's just because nobody gave him the chance, or reason." They'd recognized early on that he was not somebody to antagonize. Even Percy had been wary of antagonizing him... for the most part.

("The one who... eat or drink.")

"What did he do to earn that?" Dakota asked, amazed and a little scared to know.

"He told us." Annabeth said abruptly when her mother went to answer the question. "Why don't we let the book answer that?" She suggested quietly. She didn't want to get into that topic anymore then needed.

(Tantalus sneered at... aren't you boy?")

"Percy, please. He is not the person you want to antagonize." Poseidon almost pleaded with his son, wishing that just this once, his son had not inherited his nature and attitude. And it wasn't that the gods were afraid of him, just what he might do to their kids while he was there at that camp. It would be the perfect revenge if was inclined, and Dionysus may or may not step in and stop him.

This was the man that killed and made them unknowingly eat his own children because they wouldn't tell him how Ambrosia was made after he tried to steal from them. Who knew what he might do to their children if they provoked him. His temper was hair-trigger.

"Percy, for once keep quiet!" Sally moaned. She knew her son, though, and knew that he wasn't going to be able to keep quiet.

("You must've done... "What was it?")

"Percy!"

"That's not something you ask crazy inmates!" And he was technically still an inmate if he was still under his curse and wearing his 'prison' uniform.

"Why can't you have a filter?"

Annabeth just groaned and sighed. She knew this was coming when he first started blaming Percy for all the trouble that happened the summer before.

(Tantalus's eyes... trying to warn me.)

"Listen to the satyrs!" Nearly all the Greeks yelled at once. Even the younger ones knew who this was, he was one of the first topics covered in history lessons with Chiron.

"Sorry." Percy muttered, not actually sorry.

("I'll be watching... at my camp.")

"Your camp?" Chiron repeated incredulously. Last he checked, he was the activities director, those were his students, and if he touched any of them while he was gone... The others muttered as well as how he was so quickly claiming this camp as his own.

"Last I checked, he was an interloper." Percy deadpanned.

("Your camp has problems already... sir.")

Leo barked a laugh. "Oh, yeah. Definitely went to military school." He muttered. That sounded just like an older student he knew once, after an instructor started going after him for something minor.

"A lot can be conveyed through the passive-aggressive use of the word 'sir'." Percy shrugged. It could convey contempt and disrespect just as easily as it could respect. It was all in the tone. Sally sighed and shook her head.

("Oh, go sit down... ever wants to sit.")

"Excuse me?" Half the futures asked indignantly.

"The only reason I wasn't sitting with him, was because it wasn't allowed." Annabeth glared at Dionysus. Well, that and she'd needed to be with her siblings, make sure they behaved themselves. They could get into quite... violent debates if they weren't watched.

"Agreed." A few of the others agreed, not happy with the director either.

(My face was... to talk back.)

"Who are you..."

"... And what have you..."

"... Done with Percy Jackson?" Thalia and Nico asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Seriously?" Percy deadpanned, shooting them an annoyed glare.

"That's him." Katie snorted at the look. Nobody had ever been able to imitate his expressions quite so well, no matter how many times the Stolls tried.

"You could tell that from the look he gave you?" Poseidon asked, amused.

"Of course." The futures said in unison. Percy sighed and rolled his eyes. Poseidon chuckled when he heard his son start praying for patience.

"Seriously, though. You not talking back?" Thalia asked Percy, concerned.

"I do know where the line is, and when to not cross it." Percy reminded her dryly.

"Maybe, but you don't usually follow through." Nico pointed out. Percy shrugged.

(Dionysus was an overgrown brat,)

"EXCUSE ME?" Dionysus burst out.

"He's not wrong." Chiron muttered quietly, to the surprise of everybody that overheard him. Most of them could be quite bratty, especially Zeus.

"You can be a brat." Poseidon said, not knowing or caring what Chiron just said.

(but he was... overgrown brat.)

"That is also true." Hades snorted.

"Hey!" Dionysus protested, glaring around.

(I said, "Come... stays here.)

"That's rude." A few people muttered.

"Monster?" Poseidon demanded, indignant.

"Well, technically..." Percy said reluctantly. Not that he liked the way Tantalus said it.

"That doesn't give him the right to say it like that!" Poseidon muttered.

(We must decide...

"Him," I snapped.)

"He just keeps pushing all the wrong buttons with you, doesn't he?" Annabeth frowned with a sigh.

"A lot of people tend to do that." Percy shrugged.

("His name is Tyson.")

"Thank you." Tyson said simply. He might not really have understood what was happening then, but he knew Percy was defending him.

"Not a problem." Percy smiled at his brother.

(The new activities... this whole place.")

"Percy, think about who you're talking to." Clarisse scoffed.

Percy sighed. "Yeah, I know." He said. He'd tried, even though he knew how futile it would have been.

("Yes," Tantalus... would've been.")

"It truly would be." Chiron said icily. He put up with Dionysus' attitude towards camp, because he knew that the wine god cared in his own way, and he had his own reasons for disliking demigods as he did, but at the end of the day he would help protect the children entrusted to his care.

He absolutely refused to cater to Tantalus' attitude like he did with Dionysus.

(Dionysus snickered... this creature's fate.")

Poseidon grumbled some more while Amphitrite sighed and patted him on the arm. She didn't say anything, though.

What was there for her to say?

(Tyson looked at... camp directors.)

"Ok, you're starting to scare me now." Thalia stated, eyeing Percy.

He rolled his eyes. "Relax, would you? I do know where the line is, remember?" He reminded her again.

Nico cleared his throat and read the next line with a smirk.

(Not openly, anyway.)

"Ok, that's more like it." Thalia relaxed.

"Seriously, you guys act like I never listen to adults!" Percy complained.

"It's rare." Annabeth informed him with a smile.

"Not that rare!" He protested.

"Yes, it is." He sighed and grumbled about traitors.

("I'll be right... to sleep tonight.")

"Where? Unless he gets claimed." Amphitrite wondered.

"Not in my cabin." Hermes said apologetically. "There's no room for any more regular-sized children, let alone a six foot something Cyclops."

"He could stay in Cabin 9 if he doesn't get claimed." Hephaestus offered up, glancing at Beckendorf, who nodded his agreement. They didn't mind Cyclops, not like some of the other demigods might. He worked with them often in the forges, after all. And there were only the six of them, versus the twenty or so in Hermes'.

(Tyson nodded. "I... whole lot guiltier.)

"Why?" Annabeth asked, confused. What did he have to feel guilty about when he was just comforting him.

"I felt like I was lying to him. I was telling him it would all be ok, but I was expecting an order to kill him at any moment, and I knew there wouldn't be much I could do if that happened." He admitted. He'd been expecting somebody to come up and kill Tyson at any moment as soon as he realized what Tyson was. Even as he said it, he glanced towards Tyson, happily tinkering away with tiny pieces of metal in his giant hands in his corner. He didn't think he'd ever stop worrying about his younger brother, especially not after everything that happened getting into the Sea of Monsters.

(I trudged over... I wasn't hungry.)

The futures looked really worried, then. They could always tell Percy's moods by how much he did or did not eat.

"You were really worried, huh?" Clarisse muttered.

Percy scoffed. "Weren't you?" He asked. Honestly, who wasn't worried? Aside from Tantalus and Mr. D, obviously.

(I'd been almost killed twice today.)

"Which was nowhere near being a record, but still." Percy grumbled.

Sally sighed and shook her head, not pleased with the way he was so used to being attacked and almost killed.

(I'd managed to... complete disaster.)

"Not your fault." Most of the futures grumbled. It was the monsters who attacked him, trying their luck with a Cyclops there, even if he was so young.

"Well, from what I understood when the Headmaster called, you wouldn't have been invited for the next year, anyway." Sally sighed. "He didn't think your attitude was right for their school." That wasn't quite what he'd said, but it was close enough.

(Camp Half-Blood... anything about it.)

"Not one to sit back and do nothing." Percy grumbled.

"We hear ya." The rest of the demigods said in agreement. They were fighters, heroes, warriors, take your pick which terms you wanted to use. They didn't do good with sitting by and doing nothing.

(I didn't feel very... silently. Please.)

"That wasn't quite what I was asking." Percy deadpanned while those who were there that night glanced between him and Tyson.

"It was probably just the timing of it all." Annabeth suggested, looking like she didn't really believe that herself. After all, Tantalus had been referring to Tyson with some very ugly terms, especially when used with Tyson in mind.

Percy shrugged.

(The smoke from... was really listening.)

"I'm always listening." Poseidon promised quietly.

Percy sighed. "It doesn't always feel like it." He gave his father a wry grin. Poseidon tilted his head in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything else.

"Sometimes there is nothing they can do. The Fates have their say in things, too, you know." Apollo informed the demigods. There were always ways around things, of course, which Poseidon was pretty good about finding, but sometimes not even he could get around it.

(I went back... get much worse.)

"Percy!" All the demigods moaned this time.

"You know better then to think that!" Annabeth berated.

"Something will always get worse!"

"Guys, I know. I was had a stupid moment." Percy sighed.

(But then Tantalus... within six inches.)

There were some more snickers from the readers.

"That never got old." Katie said wistfully. It was clear to everybody that the futures did not like Tantalus.

At all.

("And here on... enough to eat.")

"If he dares lay a hand on my children..." Ares surprised everyone by growling. Even he would step in for his children once in a while, especially if it was a fight they really couldn't fight.

In this case, especially since they didn't even know who was responsible for Tantalus being there, this was a fight they couldn't start.

"I won't let him touch any of the brats." Dionysus drawled. Especially not his own sons.

"That's not very reassuring considering your usual attitude towards them." Demeter snapped, glaring.

"Everybody. Let's keep reading. I am usually at the camp, as well, I will ensure nothing happens." Hestia cut in calmly. She wasn't any happier about the situation, but she was there, she would keep an eye out.

"Just what did this guy do?" Jason muttered, still confused about the reactions this guy was getting from the Greeks. It seemed all of them knew who he was except him, Piper, and Leo. Then again, they hadn't been able to attend as many lessons as Chiron would have liked because they'd been busy with preparations for the trip to the Ancient Lands.

"It will be covered in the book." Annabeth repeated, overhearing his question.

(Dionysus clapped politely,)

And got some dirty looks from his half-siblings, aunts, and uncles.

(leading to some... chariot races!")

"Excuse me?!" Chiron burst out after a moment. "I discontinued those for a reason!" He exclaimed.

"He's the activities director, now." Percy said simply, frowning. "As much as we didn't want him to be."

"Why were they discontinued?" Reyna asked, curious.

"Too many injuries in them. I finally had enough." Chiron shrugged. They'd been getting more and more competitive, more and more brutal. He was tired of sending his students to the Infirmary for something that wasn't even training related, it was for fun, like the Capture-the-Flag games were. At least in that, cabins had to ally together, it wasn't every cabin for themselves. It was also much more difficult to send somebody to the Infirmary by accident.

(Murmuring broke... technical problems.")

"Technical problems?" Everyone who supported Chiron's decision to discontinue the races echoed in disbelief.

"I think it was a little more serious then that." Chiron deadpanned, shaking his head.

("Three deaths... Apollo table called.)

"Um..." Sally started.

"That was a particularly brutal summer." Chiron winced.

"When were they discontinued?" Percy asked. He hadn't even known they had chariot races until this summer.

"Two summers before you came." Annabeth said. "Those deaths and mutilations were all that summer, in the third race?" She questioned, looking at Luke.

"Yeah. Only half of the injuries were racers. The rest were spectators when a team's horses went out of control and smashed through the stands." He agreed with a sigh.

"Which is why we discontinued the races." Chiron informed the mother.

("Yes, yes!" Tantalus... camp tradition.)

"Like we could really refuse." Katie muttered. Even if nobody registered, she was sure their new activities director would have found a way to convince them to compete.

"Especially with the prize." Will agreed. No chores for a month? Of course they were going to register a team and do everything they could to win! It also gave them something else to do that took their minds off everything that was happening with the tree and the borders failing.

(Golden laurels... which they win?")

"Whoa." The past demigods breathed, eyes wide.

"I'm winning that thing." The Stolls said at the same time.

Percy scoffed. "Dream on, pal." He smirked. He rarely lost a race when he participated. He got some glares.

"How is that going to work...?" Chiron muttered. If they took an entire cabin out of the rotation for an entire month, then he was going to have to seriously rearrange the schedule so those chores still got done.

(An explosion of... Was he serious?)

"Unfortunately." Percy muttered while Clarisse smirked. Since he was the only person in his cabin, he thankfully didn't have that many chores, not like the Hermes cabin did since they had so many campers.

It still created problems with those chores having to be redistributed.

(Then the last... sir!" Clarisse said.)

Clarisse snorted. "Why be so surprised? We had patrols to schedule, we didn't have time to hold chariot races." She grumbled. The others agreed.

But, again, they weren't about to go up against their new activities director when it was his idea.

Percy shrugged. "I figured you'd be all for it, you know, the chance to beat on people." This was before he'd really gotten to know her and they'd started getting along, of course. She shrugged, too.

(She looked nervous... sign on her back.)

The campers that were there (and most likely snickered) received glares despite their attempts at feigning innocence.

"You know I don't believe that." She deadpanned. Oh well, Mark had been suitably punished for it.

("What about patrol... Tantalus exclaimed.)

"He's singling you out." Ares muttered, the air around him becoming charged with anger at the thought of Tantalus being anywhere near his daughter.

"That's not good."

"He didn't touch you, didn't offer 'special training', none of that?" Chiron asked her, concerned. Normally he would like to say that Tantalus wouldn't harm any of them, but this was the king who killed and ate his own children. He was capable of anything.

"No. He just singled me out in front of the others. I refused to be alone with him, he was too creepy, even without knowing what he'd done." Clarisse assured them, happy that her father was showing so much concern. She knew he did care, but... well. He didn't exactly show it... and there were his extremely high standards.

"Good." Poseidon nodded his approval of that. At least the children knew something of who they were dealing with, and knew to avoid him.

("Brave Clarisse... the bronze bulls!")

"That's not even remotely what happened." Annabeth deadpanned.

"Sorry, I tried." Clarisse grimaced. She really had tried to protest that. She didn't want such high praise and credit. Not from someone like him.

"Luckily, the rest of us knew what really happened." Will assured her. Even thought they should have treated Tyson like the hero that he was for it.

"That's dangerous, giving credit where it's not all due. That can cause arrogance, which can cause recklessness and could get a person killed." Ares cautioned.

"We know." All the futures said. They'd received a few lectures from Chiron to that effect during the way. Ares nodded in satisfaction while Aphrodite eyed him speculatively. He was acting like a father should at the moment. She liked that.

(Clarisse blinked... ourselves, yes?")

"No... you are there to train and learn how to survive, learn how to be heroes." Chiron said slowly as if talking to a toddler. "The fun activities are purely because they are still children."

"I like this side of him." Luke muttered to Thalia, who snorted. Who knew Chiron could be so snarky?

("But the tree-"

"And now,"... bring this here.")

Poseidon and Percy growled while Tyson frowned. "He is not a this." Percy hissed, everyone shifted uncomfortably as the air cooled and the ground trembled a bit.

"Percy, calm down." Annabeth laid a hand on his arm while whispering in his ear. "You didn't get this worked up before." She frowned.

He bit his lip. "Tyson was just a friend, and after the Ironclad..." He tried to explain. She hummed in realization and dropped it.

(Tantalus waved a... wanted to kill Tantalus.)

"The sentiment was shared." The rest of the futures assured him. Probably not right at that moment, but it hadn't taken much for it.

"Too late, I'm afraid." Hades said in false sympathy. "He's already dead." He shrugged. His lovely Furies liked to play with him from time to time. Now if he could just figure out why he would let the fool out, no matter who requested it and why...

("Now, of course,"... small brain capacity.)

Poseidon grimaced, but couldn't really say anything against that, because it was true. They were quite brilliant in their own ways (mainly with a piece of metal in their hands, looking at Tyson craft something small), but in general they weren't very intelligent. And they could be quite bloodthirsty, especially the ones who weren't his.

The Romans nodded their agreement with that statement, since Tyson was the first friendly Cyclops they'd ever met.

"Not all of them are like that!" Percy protested hotly. He'd met a few good ones, he'd become closer to a few of them in Atlantis.

"We know." Annabeth assured him, the rest of the futures agreeing.

(Under normal... pointed sticks.)

If Poseidon had ever thought he could not hate this man more, he had just been proven wrong.

Amphitrite cleared her throat and gripped his arm lightly when the ground started shaking. Hephaestus and his sons frowned, and the boys shifted closer to Tyson in a show of support. Tyson didn't react, though, too busy building the shield in his hands.

Besides, it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. He was a Cyclops who mostly lived among demigods, and sometimes the older ones didn't always catch on for a bit when a new person was treating him poorly.

(But who knows... horses nervous.)

"He's not an animal!" Poseidon grumbled darkly.

All the futures scowled right along with him.

(Hermes's cabin, possibly?")

"No room." Hermes repeated apologetically.

Percy and Poseidon waved it off with small smiles, knowing that it was very true.

"That's not your or your children's faults." Hestia said softly. "It's everybody else that ignores their children." And the minor gods children that came to camp and couldn't be claimed because their parents weren't allowed a cabin, and they wouldn't have anywhere to go even if they were claimed.

Although most minor gods were able to actually spend time with their children in ways the Council weren't because of the laws, and because Zeus kept a closer eye on the Council then he did them.

(Silence at the... foot-three Cyclops.)

"Cabin three is mostly empty." Annabeth pointed out.

"I was about to speak up. I didn't need to in the end." Percy shrugged. He wouldn't have minded Tyson staying with him for a while, in the end it was more the way he came to live with him that he had the problem with.

("Come now,"... menial chores.)

Percy snorted. "That didn't end well." He said, amused.

"What happened?" Poseidon asked, amused. Tyson at this age had the mentality of a human seven year old. Seven-year-olds and chores didn't always mix.

"When he was on KP duty, he was more interested in playing with the dishes in the- er... water. The pegasi weren't exactly thrilled to have him coming in their stalls, and he was more interested in them then in cleaning the stalls anyway. He was good with sweeping and general cleaning, but there aren't many areas in camp for the chore team to clean that isn't their own cabins." He admitted. "And he kept deflating the basketballs by accident every time he picked one up to put it away or check the air." Percy rattled off fondly. "I can go on." The only area Tyson really excelled in was helping out in the forges.

"I think we get the idea." Poseidon chuckled. Everyone else was amused, too.

(Any suggestions... be kenneled?")

"Brother, I don't suppose I could come for a visit after we leave here?" Poseidon asked mildly.

Hades raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that will be a problem." He shrugged after a moment.

(Suddenly everybody gasped.)

"What?"

"Did Percy go off?" The past Greeks and Romans all asked, not sure what the problem could be.

The futures shook their heads. "No, it's something good." Clarisse assured them, with a hint of shame on his face that confused the others.

None of them had reacted to this very well, not like they should have for a claiming.

(Tantalus scooted away... above Tyson's head.)

"Ah." Poseidon sat back, satisfied.

"Well, there is the housing situation resolved." Hermes said, satisfied.

"You can't claim him!" Zeus sputtered. "He's a Cyclops, not a demigod hero!" It was bad enough he'd claimed the Jackson boy in the first place! Now he was claiming a Cyclops?! A mistake?

Poseidon raised an eyebrow at him. "I believe that I can claim whichever of my children I want." He said mildly, with a hint of warning. "They are my children, after all."

(With a sickening... particular, usually...)

Amphitrite winced slightly. "He's not going to take this well, I don't think. Not without Chiron there to explain things." She muttered to Poseidon. He might even see this as a betrayal, especially if the other campers reacted poorly.

Poseidon sighed. "Probably." He almost pouted at the thought.

"Maybe if the timing was better." Triton suggested.

(Swirling over Tyson... me as his son.)

"Some of the unclaimed kids were not happy about that." Travis said quietly.

"It was one thing for Percy to be claimed so quickly the year before."

"But now a Cyclops was being claimed?"

"While they were still stuck not knowing?" The Stolls shook their heads. They'd almost had another riot on their hands, just like the year before. And they knew for a fact that the unclaimed campers had been among the worst about making their displeasure towards Tyson's presence known to Percy.

"I'm really glad we have those extra cabins. I think I would have hated to be there during all this." Leo muttered, and wondered (again) what happened to change camp so drastically in the next- he had to do a quick count in his head, three years. How did they go from only the Twelve Olympians being recognized at camp, and having the Hermes cabin overflowing with unclaimed kids, to them planning on adding on to a few of the cabins to the minor gods?

Beckendorf looked at him curiously. What extra cabins?

Hermes either didn't hear or ignored the by-play between the two siblings. "If they would claim their kids, then that wouldn't be a problem!" He exclaimed, glaring around again at those in this courtyard who had unclaimed children in his cabin.

(There was a... was a rare event.)

Jason, Piper, and Leo glanced at each other, still confused on why that was, but they had been assured that the reason for the change should certainly be in the books.

Kids were claimed almost every single day since they first came to camp. When they got a new camper, they were claimed almost immediately. So they really didn't understand why that wasn't always the case, and were confused on how so much could have changed in such a short amount of time.

(Some campers... reverently knelt.)

"As is proper." Chiron sniffed, but he was suspicious about where Percy was going with that comment.

Paul frowned. Why point out that specific detail? In the grand scheme of things it was relatively insignificant. His English teacher's mind was already analyzing it.

(But now, they... roared with laughter.)

The Olympians hissed their outrage at his mocking such an event. For them to claim their children was a big event, especially for the child (for those who cared about that part).

"How dare he!"

"Is he mocking me?" Poseidon growled quietly, glaring at the book. Nico gulped at seeing that expression aimed at him (he could see where Percy got it), and hurriedly kept reading.

("Well! I think... family resemblance!")

"Include me in your trip to the Underworld, dear." Amphitrite said calmly, but her eyes betrayed her.

"And me!" Triton piped in.

"Oh, I would love to show you my gardens!" Persephone clapped her hands together, already planning for a visit from the Atlantean royal family. Oh, she knew full well where part of the visit would be spent, but they could make a real trip out of it, a real visit... maybe for a few days...

"I hear they're quite beautiful." Amphitrite said with a small smile. They truly had sounded beautiful when Percy described them. Sadly not much information left the Underworld these days, so she'd only heard rumors before now. Persephone beamed while Hades resigned himself to having to deal with his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew visiting his home for a few days instead of just the time it would take Poseidon to make his displeasure to Tantalus known.

(Everybody laughed... other friends.)

"Of course we did. Those of who had been there for a few days already knew better then to not follow his lead on some things." Katie defended herself. She'd laughed for a moment, not truly finding it funny, before stopping quickly.

"With people like him in charge, you go along with it and wait for him to be gone." Will agreed. He hadn't really found it funny, either. All he'd been thinking was about what kind of injuries he might have to start healing if the Cyclops ever went off.

"I laughed. It was Prissy." Clarisse shrugged, ignoring the glares from the seafolk.

Percy snorted. That was Clarisse for you.

(Tyson didn't seem... people were.)

"Oh, I think he understands that at least." Poseidon muttered, then fell silent for a few moments. "He grew up homeless in New York City, after all, even if the Mist meant most of the people around him ignored his presence and his strength meant he could take care of himself.

"He didn't interact with many children outside Meriwether, though." Percy countered. And the other students at least limited it to when the teachers weren't around.

(But I got it... a half-brother.)

"That's the chapter." Nico said, putting the book down.

"I meant that in the nicest way possible." Percy made sure to say. "But I also knew that the others weren't going to be so nice about it."

"We weren't." Katie said. "We were jerks about it. Neither of you deserved that." She looked at Percy and Tyson apologetically.

"Like you told Tantalus, Tyson saved camp when he took out those bulls. We owed him for that, that should have been enough for us to at least give him the benefit of the doubt." Will agreed.

"You've been quiet." Piper looked at Chris curiously. He'd had things to say during Percy's time at camp in the first book. He hadn't said a word, though, about this summer so far.

"Oh... I wasn't at camp this summer." Chris confessed slowly, biting his lip. "It will probably be explained." He certainly wasn't going to get into it right now. Hermes and the older Greeks were the only ones not surprised by this. Sally just looked sad, remembering what Percy had told her about him.

"Alright, lunch." Hestia announced after a few minutes. The demigods raced out of the room, hungry, while the adults followed more sedately. After a quick (and surprisingly uneventful) lunch, Paul claimed the book, and settled in to read.

He raised an eyebrow at Percy at the chapter title, but read it out, anyway.

Chapter six: Demon Pigeons Attack