Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson

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"…an idiot, sometimes!" Annabeth hissed as I came into earshot of their altercation. "Why did you agree to train with Victoria?"

"I can make my own decisions. Thanks, mom." Percy shot back. Annabeth growled and hit Percy on the side of the head. "What was that for!"

"For acting like such a Seaweed Brain, Seaweed Brain! You can't trust Victoria! You are lucky she has those guards, because I guarantee you that if she didn't, you'd be hurt… or worse."

"And why can't I trust her?"

"You heard what Tantalus said! She helped Luke last summer. She knew of his plans and didn't tell anyone."

"Well, she apologized." Percy pointed out. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Annabeth hit him again. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Will you stop that! Why do you care so much anyway?" Sure he was a year older now and was good at sword fighting, but he was still just as dense about girls.

Annabeth turned pink; then she saw me and turned pinker.

I smiled, lifted an arm and gave her a small wave before crossing my arm again.

Looking at me with suspicious eyes, she quickly leaned towards Percy and murmured something that I couldn't hear. Then she swiftly pulled away and started toward the set of stairs I was standing on. (I guess because it was the closest to where she had been standing and wanted a quick getaway.) As she neared me her eyes dropped and she walked faster.

"How much of that did you hear?" Percy asked as soon as Annabeth was out of sight.

"Enough." I told him walking slowly down the steps.

"Listen, I'm really s—"

"You don't have to train with me if you don't want to. I know you don't trust me fully." I said walking up to him.

"I didn't say that. Annabeth did. She's just… overprotective sometimes." He tried to explain. "Hey, where are your guards?"

I shrugged. "Beats me." Percy's eyes became cautious. "You're free to leave." I gestured with a flourished wave of my hand.

"It's not that I don't trust you. It's just—" Percy tried to explain.

"There you are!" Brooke's familiar voice exclaimed interrupting what Percy was about to say. I looked and saw her coming down on the opposite side of the amphitheater.

"We've been looking everywhere for you." Dan added coming down the steps that I'd come down. "You aren't supposed to leave our side, Victoria."

"No, Daniel," I spat turning to face him. "You aren't supposed to let me out of your sight. It's not my job to watch where I go and make sure you're there to follow me."

"Tantalus wants to talk with you. I suggest you come with us." he said in a warning tone, reaching forward. I stepped back.

"No! I'm tired of you pushing and pulling me around, like I'm some kind of object." I was at my breaking point now. "I've dealt with all this stuff that you give me and I'm done. I'm not going to stand for it anymore."

"Tori," Dan said carefully taking another step forward.

"I said no." I told him as I pulled out my sword and held it leveled right at the base of his throat. Dan's jaw was working and he swallowed hard. I saw him quickly reach for his sword but I pressed my sword to his neck and his hand froze on the hilt. "Move another inch and you're going to regret it." I advised him slowly.

"Put the sword down, Tori." Brooke's voice came from the other end of the amphitheater. I turned my head slightly, keeping one eye on Dan. Through the corner I could see she had her bow-and-arrow poised and ready to shoot if needed. I turned my head back.

"Give me one good reason." I asked her looking directly at Dan.

"I never miss." she said.

"Not good enough." I replied.

"It's all right, Brooke, I'm not in any trouble. Tori doesn't have the gall to hurt me." Dan assured.

I pushed the sword a little deeper into his neck. "Oh, yeah?" I asked. "Try me."

He didn't seem fazed by this news. "Put the sword down, Tori. You know you'll get into deep trouble for doing this." he said, trying to psych me out.

I laughed without amusement and pushed the blade even deeper, forcing Dan to walk back. "Do you think I care about that anymore?" I asked him. "I can think of a hundred things worse than being punished."

"Is this even about us, Tori?" Dan asked.

"What are you talking about?" Like always he managed to confuse me by going off on a random topic.

"Is this even about the guards, or is it about us?" he asked rewording to make it actually make sense.

"Oh, so now it's sibling rivalry?" I laughed again. "You think that you can get me to lose my focus. To hurt me by telling me that Apollo doesn't care about me? That my mother didn't care about me? That they're both ashamed to be my parents?" Dan stared at me stone-faced. "About a dozen different people have beaten you to the punch."

"They're only saying that, because it's true." he replied icily.

I gritted my teeth and almost stabbed him right through the throat. I'll admit it; I'm not embarrassed to say that. For a fleeting second, I thought about stabbing him.

Brooke seemed to know this too, and let her arrow go. I felt its feathered tail brush my cheek as it flew by and lodged itself into the wall, a millimeter away from Dan's pretty-boy face.

"You missed." I stated dryly.

She said, "I know."

All the fire that was in me a second ago had left. I don't know what happened, but I felt tired. My arm felt tired. I just wanted to sleep. I felt my eyes droop.

"Just go. Go… get Tantalus. Go do… whatever. But I don't want to see you." I told Dan sheathing my sword. I thought for sure he'd unsheath his. Instead he looked over my shoulder at Brooke and nodded. Together they headed up the stairs and out of the arena, and past all the campers that had gathered to see what was going on. I was too preoccupied to notice. Then again, I didn't really care.

I turned and was surprised to find Percy standing there. He looked a little stupefied, but other that, he looked… normal, I guess.

"What?" he asked blushing. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"No screaming? Running? 'Get away from me your crazy person.' Nothing?" I asked.

Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "Do you want me to? 'Cause I-I can."

I rolled my eyes. "No, it's just… I almost nearly killed him right then. And you're not… scared of me? You don't hate me?"

He shrugged. "We all get mad sometimes." He said this like it was a normal everyday thing to pull a sword on someone because you were mad at them.

I nodded. "Okay, then."

"Where is he?" a voice called from the crowd. I recognized it immediately as Annabeth's. "Move! Let me through!" she yelled just as she broke through the mob of people at the entrance of the amphitheater. She spotted Percy and came storming down. Except she turned to me with a scathing look. "You! What did you do?" she asked.

"I didn't do anything." I said, crossing my arms.

She spun around and went up to Percy. "Are you all right?" she asked. He opened his mouth to answer but she continued. "I told you, didn't I? She could've killed you! You can't trust her!"

I said, "Annabeth, calm down. You're overreacting. I didn't do anything to Percy." She spun around on me again.

"Calm down! I can't believe that Tantalus actually let you have your weapons back! I've said it before and I'll say it again: you can't be trusted! You proved it right then! I saw you, you almost stabbed Dan, didn't you?" she yelled. "Knowing you, you probably would've killed him!"

"Don't go talking about me like you know me!" I snarled through my teeth, my energy shooting back up. "You don't know me."

"You helped Luke. You kept his secret. And that's enough for me." she retorted.

"You don't know anything about my life. So don't go acting like you know everything, because you don't."

"Oh!" she exclaimed. I caught her wrist a moment later before her hand could make contact with my face. She ripped her wrist out of my grasp and took a couple steps back. Abruptly I felt my arm being grabbed and me jerked around to come face to face with Dan again.

"Let go of me." I ordered in a very dangerous tone.

"Tantalus wants to talk to you. You are in huge trouble." he informed me.

"Let go of me, right now." My voice was shaking out of pure hatred. How many fights was I going to get in to today?

Then, suddenly, I was looking to my right, at the stands. I didn't register what happened until my cheek started stinging with pain. Dan had just backhanded me! I turned my head back to face him.

"I suggest, Daniel"—I dislodged my arm from his hand—"that you watch your back and sleep with one eye open tonight, because you just crossed the line."

"Empty threats." he growled.

I smiled cruelly. "That's what you think." I could see the fear in his eyes, but he wasn't going to show our audience this. "We should get going. Can't have the activities director waiting all day, can we?" I asked like nothing had just happened. I turned and started up the stairs. The campers parted for me, leaving a good two feet between me and them on either side. Dan and Brooke swiftly followed and together, the three of us headed up to the Big House.

Tantalus tried to take away my privileges to watch the chariot races today, but when Dan and Brooke protested he dropped that punishment and thought of a new one. Instead he decided that I wouldn't be able to train anymore and tried to take my weapons away. I didn't take that well. I agreed to the not training anymore (because I was planning on sneaking out tonight and going to look for Luke; I don't know why I hadn't thought of it sooner), but I was not going to let him take my weapons. I needed them for the mission I was going to take.

So he gave me laundry duty for all the cabins for the rest of the summer. Again, I agreed (but this time it was a little harder) because I wasn't going to be here anyway. That was pretty much my punishment. It wasn't as bad as I was making it, though. Except, I'm positive he'd come up with something more painstaking, so hopefully I'd be gone before he came to his senses.

Like stated before, the chariot races were today and I figured I could at least try to enjoy myself. (Also, Dan and Brooke wanted to watch, so I didn't really have a choice either way.) They sat with their friends and siblings a few steps away from me, because no one would dare sit next to me. Remember, I was a toxin.

The teams were from the Hephaestus, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, and Poseidon cabins. So I guess almost all of the cabins that were occupied.

"Right!" Tantalus announced, looking a little distracted with a pastry. It was kind of fun to watch because it looked like his hand and the pastry were doing a dance. "You all knows the rules." he paused to try and grab the pastry, it jumped away. He looked up momentarily. "A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot." He listed off quickly so he could get back to his breakfast. "Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" He smiled getting that cold glare in his eyes again. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week!" Some punishment. "Now, ready your chariots!" The teams started heading toward the starting line.

That's when I noticed the pigeons, as well as all the other people in the stands. They were being extremely loud, all of them sitting in the trees—so heavy you could just barely hear the groan of their branches over the screeches. They didn't look like normal pigeons; their beaks glinted in the sun and their eyes all black and beady. That wasn't a good sign. (It was only a matter of time before another monster crossed our deteriorating border.)

I was getting more nervous as the seconds ticked by. I even took out my switchblade and unsheathed it, just in case these pigeons decided to attack.

"Charioteers!" Tantalus yelled over the sound of the pigeons. "Attend your mark!" He didn't seem as concerned as he should've been about these birds. Then again the best you expect from him was probably… you know I can't even think of anything he could give us that would really benefit us.

The race started but I wasn't paying much attention to it, I was keeping my eyes on the pigeons.

A loud crack brought my attention back to the race though. The Apollo chariot had already been turned over, the horses breaking free from their bonds and, startled, running forward into the Hermes chariot which crumbled on impact.

The screeching became deafening and I looked up again to see them swarming toward the stands. So much of them at once, it looked like a giant, dark cloud coming toward us at 65 miles an hour.

I stood up slightly as the pigeons dove down toward the campers like falling rain. Fast and random. I tried to stab them, or slash them with my blade but it wasn't a very effective strategy. My blade was just too short, and my arms felt like they were being shredded by their beaks. It was like New Years all over again, except this time it was my arms that were being torn to pieces.

I put away my blade and pulled out my sword, slashing them in half. But more kept coming, it wasn't looking too good.

I ran off, trying to dodge other campers that were getting attacked and other pigeons that were looking for their next victim. It was absolute chaos—well that's what I was assuming because I could barely see anything through all these pigeons. But based on the screams and cries coming from the campers in almost every direction, it had to be chaos.

Suddenly, it all just stopped. The pigeons flew away. I looked up at the sky where pigeons were flying in confused circles, and crashing into each other. The majority of the group, though, was flying up into their dark cloud once again, giving the archers a chance to shoot them down. That was when I realized that really loud classical music was playing. No wonder the birds were confused.

Soon enough the ground was littered with dead, Stymphalian birds.

I was littered with scratches and pecks. My arms looked like Swiss cheese.

"Bravo!" Tantalus shouted. I looked over at him to see him walk over to a stunned-looking Clarisse. "We have our first winner!" he announced handing over the golden laurels to her. He was such a nutjob. Then he spun around and smirked, I followed his gaze to Percy and Annabeth who were standing in front of a music box. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."

They went into the Big House to discuss things, and when they came out Tantalus announced we'd be having a big luncheon feast to celebrate Clarisse's victory. The menu? Country-fried Stymphalian death-bird. It was a very interesting meal, certainly not something that you had every day. And, surprisingly enough, it was pretty good. The taste would be really hard to explain, all I really can say is that you'd have to try it for yourself. (And no, it didn't taste like chicken, if that's what you were wondering.)

Afterward, things continued on. That is after pretty much everyone from camp went to have their wounds tended to.

That evening at the campfire, wasn't too great for me or the other campers. Everyone sung half-heartedly to the usual songs we sung (except for me, I didn't even sing, I just didn't feel like it), and the enchanted campfire that responded to our mood was about five feet high and a very dull, depressing, gray color. Dionysus didn't stay long, I would've left too if it weren't for these pesky guards watching me like a hawk since my outburst earlier today in the amphitheater.

"Well," Tantalus announced after the last song ended, coming forward with a crisp-looking marshmallow on a stick. "That was lovely!" He reached for the marshmallow really casual, like it wouldn't try and get away from him, but just like all the other times, the marshmallow flew off his stick. Tantalus made a wild grab for it, but it dived into the flames with a small poof! He growled something unintelligible before turning toward us with a frosty smile. I felt like telling him to give it up, but that probably wouldn't help his mood.

"Now then!" he started throwing the stick into the fire. "Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."

"Sir," Percy interjected.

Tantalus's eye twitched before he turned his cruel stare on Percy. "Our kitchen boy has something to say?"

Percy took a deep breath, looked at Annabeth and together they stood.

"We have an idea to save the camp." he said.

Everyone stayed silent seemingly uninterested, but the reaction the fire got said otherwise.

"Indeed," our activities director drawled mildly. "Well, if it has anything to do with the chariots—"

"The Golden Fleece," Percy interrupted. "We know where it is."

The fire burned brighter and hotter. Percy quickly told everyone about his dream of Grover, and the island that he was stuck on, and Annabeth chimed in here and there to give us some facts about the fleece.

"The fleece can save the camp," she finished making it sound like it was already obvious. "I'm certain of it."

Tantalus rolled his eyes. "Nonsense! We don't need saving." All eyes turned on him until his relaxed stance turned a little tense. "Besides," he added trying not to look pressured. "The Sea of Monsters?" his tone turned a little mocking. "That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."

Percy didn't seemed disturbed by this. "Yes, I would."

Annabeth leaned over to Percy and whispered something in his ear. He nodded in response. "30, 31, 75, 12." he listed off.

Tantalus looked unimpressed. "Ooo-kay, thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

Percy still seemed very confident about what he was doing. "They're sailing coordinates." he stated. "Latitude and longitude. I… uh, learned about it in social studies."

Annabeth nodded looking slightly impressed. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"

"Wait just a minute," Tantalus tried to start, but the campers were eager to hear about anything that would save the camp.

They started chanting, "We need a quest! We need a quest!" The flames of the fire rose higher as this continued on.

"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus objected, but you could see it in his eyes, he was getting frustrated.

"We need a quest! We need a quest!"

"Fine!" Tantalus shrieked his eyes lighting up like the fire only with anger and not eagerness. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"

No one seemed scared of him now.

"Yes!"

The campers quieted down and waited for him to speak.

"Very well," he finally agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp." He paused. "Or die trying." He paused again. "I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle! And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious." He reguarded Percy and Annabeth with a belittling look. "The champion should be the one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp." he explained. I was bored already and wanted to leave so I could start packing for my own little "quest."

Tantalus continued on. "You shall lead this quest… Clarisse!"

All different emotional reactions, all different flame colors and heights. The Ares cabin were stomping their feet and cheering for Clarisse.

Clarisse stood up hesitantly, looking like she wasn't expecting that and wasn't quite comprehending what Tantalus had just said. But she got over the shock quickly. Her chest swelled with pride and she held her head higher. "I accept the quest!"

"Wait!" Percy protested looking almost desperate. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."

"Sit down!" one of the Ares campers shouted. "You had your chance last summer!"

"Yeah," another agreed. "He just wants to be in the spotlight again!"

Clarisse glowered at Percy. "I accept the quest." she reiterated. "I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"

The Ares cabin cheered again. Annabeth started arguing and so did her siblings. Then suddenly everyone was taking sides. Someone threw a marshmallow and more followed after that. I let my head drop for a second and groaned. Couldn't they just suck it up and let us all go back to our cabins!

"Silence, you brats!" Tantalus shrieked his tone nothing I'd ever heard before. All the fighting stopped and everyone stared at him in surprise. "Sit down!" he barked. "And I will tell you a ghost story." His voice became quiet, and loathsome. The campers who had stood up, which was just about everyone except for me, warily took their seats again. The aura that Tantalus was emanating sent chills down my spine. "Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the gods!" He reached up to put a hand on his chest. It was all too clear he was talking about himself. "This king was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe—just one little doggie bag, mind you—the gods punished him.

"They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children, just… like… you." He pointed his filthy, crooked finger at some campers in the audience, including me. "Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" he asked softly, his eyes sparking with a villainous gleam. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there was no hard feelings.

"No one noticed his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?" It was dead silent. The firelight glowed a dark blue, throwing shadows across Tantalus's face, making him seem scarier than I'd ever seen him before. "Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," he continued when no one spoke. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority.

"And do you know what? Rumor has it the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so… are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"

No one spoke. I was seeing Tantalus in a whole new light now. Of course, I had a feeling he was bluffing about killing and cooking us into stew if we misbehaved because the gods wouldn't allow it, but I still saw him in a very different light, that's for sure.

Tantalus nodded looking over at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."

Clarisse looked uncomfortable; she was even biting her lip. It was an odd sight to see. "Sir—"

"Go!" he thundered.

She bowed awkwardly and swiftly scurried off toward the Big House.

Tantalus turned on Percy again. "What about you, Percy Jackson?" he asked. "No comments from our dishwasher?" Percy stayed quiet even though it looked like he wanted to speak. Tantalus smiled with satisfaction. "Good…. And let me remind everyone—no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries…" he chuckled darkly. "Well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well." He waved his hand and the fire extinguished. The campers stood and headed back to their cabins in silence and darkness.

I was grateful. I thought that campfire was never going to end. Definitely the craziest one I've seen since my six years coming here. I guess even heartless ghosts can fold under pressure too.

I went back to the Hermes cabin and sat in my little corner. I brought my knees up to my chest, wrapped my arms around my legs, crossed my ankles, and rested my chin on my knees. I waited and watched everyone file in and get ready for lights out. I sat perfectly still and waited for, what felt like, possibly, an hour or so before I finally moved. I took shallow breaths and focused on being as quiet as I possibly could as I packed my things.

I put my scabbard around my waist, my bow over my shoulder, and my switchblade up the right sleeve of my lightweight jacket. Then I tossed my backpack over my shoulder, carefully stepped over the sleeping people around me, and made my way outside.

The moon shone brightly throughout the valley, practically lighting my path. All I had to do was avoid the harpies and get past the border. I didn't exactly know what I was going to do after that, but I figured getting past the harpies was my biggest problem on my quest.

I peeked out just to make sure the harpies weren't there, and stepped out, closing the door softly. Then I started toward the armory for arrows. Half-way through the inverted U the cabins formed, though, someone whispered, "Tori?"

I froze. No one was supposed to be up!

My heart pounding, I slowly turned and saw… Percy! What was he doing?

"Percy!" I whispered back. We walked up to each other. "What are you doing up?" we both asked simultaneously.

"I could ask you the same thing." I said just as he did. "Stop that." Again, at the same time. I took note of the beach towel and Coke in his hands as he took note of the backpack and weapons on me.

"You first." I said gesturing to him with my chin.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm six years your senior." I told him.

"I couldn't sleep. The ocean helps calm me down." he explained hastily. "Okay, your turn."

"Target practice." I lied.

"With a backpack?" he asked.

I sighed. "I'm leaving." I said.

When it was apparent I wasn't going to say where, Percy persisted. "To…" he trailed off trying to get me to finish the sentence.

I thought about this. Should I tell him where? Would he get angry before I could explain and wake the whole camp up to tell them of my plan?

I sighed again. "To find Luke." I muttered. I saw his hand twitch toward his pocket. "Before you jump the gun and pull out your pen, hear me out." Percy looked at me with guarded eyes. I hurried on before he could make up his mind. "I'm going to get him to stop what he's doing." I explained.

"How do I know you're not lying?" he demanded. I opened my mouth to answer but noticed some harpies coming our way. Thinking fast I grabbed Percy's collar and pulled him over to the side of the nearest cabin. "Hey—!" he protested, as I shoved him against the cabin wall and covered his mouth.

"Quiet!" I hissed watching the harpies carefully. They had stopped and were now smelling where we had just been. My heart pounded against my ribcage, hoping beyond hope that they wouldn't follow our scent trails. Unfortunately they did and started toward our direction, and I quickly pulled him behind the cabin. As they came closer I could hear them chanting something, but the blood roaring in my ears blocked out the words.

I unknowingly pressed myself closer to Percy (I know, I know, it would've totally been awkward if I hadn't been so afraid of getting caught and eaten), trying to hide in the shadows praying that we wouldn't be seen. Their voices got louder as they came by us. I held my breath and waited to get caught.

"They're gone." Percy whispered after a few minutes. I relaxed and let out the breath I'd been holding in. I went back to the front of the cabins.

"How do you even know he'll listen to you?" Percy asked following me.

I spun on him. I really didn't have any more time for questions.

I would've said because I love him and he loves me, but that sounded extremely cliché, and everyone kept telling me Luke had lied about loving me. I really didn't need to hear that again.

"Because I'm the only one who can relate to him more than anyone here." I told him in a solemn tone. I turned around again and started for the armory, but Percy stopped me again.

"You didn't answer my other question though. How do I know you're not lying?" he asked his hand in his pocket ready to pull out his sword if necessary.

I met his eyes. "You saved my life, Percy. I don't hold something like that lightly." He opened his mouth again, but I was done answering his questions. "Listen, I really have to get going now." And before I knew what I was saying, I blurted, "Good luck." His eyebrows knitted together and I got a feeling I wasn't supposed to say that. Before he could question me about my wishing, I jogged off to get those arrows.

Hope you enjoyed! Also, if you'd like to know the story behind the story, please visit my Home Page/website. The link should be on my profile page at the very top.

.happiness.

~ See you at Camp Half-Blood!