A/N: Yay, the next chapter is up. Kings of Olympus is going to be updated very soon, as I am almost finished with the next chapter. Just a little update. Anyway, hope you all enjoy, and please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, or the Ed Sullivan Show. What a combination.

Rumor Has It

Upon seeing the bull automatons, Thalia was reminded of the Minotaur who had bested her nearly a year before. She had to admit, if only to herself, that these creatures were much more intimidating. There were two of them, and they stood as high as rhinos. Fire spiraled from their split bronze lips, and the daughter of Zeus was grateful for Tyson being present.

Percy raised his sword as if to charge, but then he remained in place, his messy dark hair washing away from his forehead. His tie-dye gym shirt was nearly in shreds, no thanks to Thalia generously revealing his nipple earlier on. On the bright side, she thought he had nice nipples—

Stop being gross!

The daughter of Zeus fought off a blush, and instead directed her attention to her old friend, Annabeth. The blonde carried nothing but her backpack and her knife, which she had recently drawn. Thalia dug Thunderbird from her jacket and pressed down on its notch. She twirled the bronze sword before setting herself into an offensive position.

"Oh, man," the daughter of Athena said, observing the battle taking place on Half-Blood Hill.

"Looks like you were right about your pine, Muse," the son of Poseidon commented, frowning. She followed his gaze, only to discover that the bulls were having absolutely no trouble at all maneuvering around the hill—namely, within camp boundaries.

Rather than snap at him for calling her a Muse (try as she might, she wasn't a comedian), Thalia tightened her grip on her sword's hilt, narrowing her eyes into vicious azure slits. Her dream had not only been horrifying, it had surely been prophetic as well. Luke Castellan—the very boy she had previously coined a hero and fateful friend—had, in fact, poisoned her tree.

It was enough to make her flush crimson in anger. She wasn't sure he had noticed her existence the day he fled from camp. If he hadn't, then he had knowingly poisoned her. On the opposite hand, even if he had seen her, the damaging of the tree was affecting her.

One of the campers—clad in modernized bronze armor—shouted to the rest of the heroes, "Border patrol, to me!"

It was obviously a girl's voice, but the rough tone suggested that she definitely wasn't average. Thalia realized that she recognized the voice. Clarisse La Rue lodged the blade of her electric spear into the shoulder of one of the large automatons.

"Clarisse," Percy stated, somehow managing to keep his voice neutral.

During her summer stay at camp, the daughter of Zeus had quickly caught onto a few things. For one, Clarisse and a few of her siblings walked around as if they simply owned the camp and everyone in it. When a son of the Big Three arrived—Percy, that is—that had slightly changed.

At Camp Half-Blood, demigods were arranged by their parentage. Unsurprisingly, rank was influenced greatly by a subject's godly background. Children of the more powerful gods often got far more privileges, whether Chiron wanted to admit it or not. The centaur would surely deny such claims, but this had always been the way of the Greeks.

There were no cabins for minor gods, for instance. Any god that didn't reside within the council didn't have a place in camp. Cabins of the strongest gods—Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Athena, and so on—were built grander than those of Demeter, Dionysus, or Aphrodite.

Thalia felt like that wasn't very fair.

Clarisse and her friends had been intimidated when Percy had been claimed. Even though he didn't quite realize it, he had more strength in the camp than La Rue and her goons. He had reliable friends, impressive sword-wielding ability, and he was one of the top counselors. Also, he had fought her father at Santa Monica Beach…and won. Thalia understood why Clarisse wouldn't like his presence very much.

The daughter of Ares didn't seem very upset by Thalia, though, which was excessively confusing. The punk didn't mean to toot her own horn, but it was no secret that she was one of the strongest demigods. Why wasn't Clarisse bullying her? The girl acted as if she was unaffected by Thalia, and had ignored her in the past. Was she not worth envying? She had fought Ares, too!

For Olympus sake, she was the daughter of freaking Zeus. According to the ways of old, that should have given her a little leverage. Thalia wanted Clarisse and the rest of the fearless "leaders" of the camp to treat her like they should—as a threat. The dark-haired demigoddess wanted to be feared. She wished to intimidate her peers. Thalia couldn't help it; she strived to be better.

She didn't want praise, necessarily. There were several occasions where she would find herself bombarded by young campers, begging her to hang out with them or teach them how to wield their weaponry. Newsflash: the only things she knew how to operate best were swords, spears, and shields. Anything beyond those weren't really her forte.

To summarize, Thalia didn't favor the way some of the demigods practically stalked her. Almost every other camper followed her around like some kind of savior. She knew it had to be because of her parentage. She had never performed any heroic tasks around any of them. They just assumed she must be some kind of legend.

She wasn't.

"We have to help her," the son of Poseidon decided, causing both of his closest friends to glance at him incredulously. "What? She's barely staying alive up there."

"It was just surprising," Annabeth remarked, sighing. "You don't like her very much. But, let's not dwell on it. Come on, guys!"

The three of them charged up the hill, Tyson hurrying behind them. The warriors ahead of them were scattered around, each of them attempting to flee from the battle. Fire raced across the grassy hill, spiraling around the base of the great pine. The heroes, along with their armor, were in horrible shape. Their breastplates were charred, and one camper ran around with the plume of his helmet on fire.

Clarisse wasn't fending much better. Her now broken spear shaft was all she had left to defend herself with, as the blade end had not slid out of the bull's shoulder.

"Tyson," Percy said, stopping in place. The girls reluctantly halted their sprinting to glance back. "Stay here. I don't want you taking any more chances."

Thalia rolled her eyes. Did he seriously not realize Tyson was a freaking Cyclops?

"No!" the daughter of Athena exclaimed. "We need him."

Percy stared at her blankly. "He's mortal," he insisted. "He got lucky with the dodge balls—"

"Percy, do you know what those are up there? The Colchis bulls, made by Hephaestus himself. We can't fight them without Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000. We'll get burned to a crisp."

The Colchis bulls? The daughter of Zeus looked back to the hill. Well, that would certainly make sense. Why hadn't she realized it? Maybe it was because she had never heard of them. Sometimes, she wished this whole "being-a-sacrificing-yet-clueless-hero" thing came with a manual.

"Medea's what?"

The daughter of Athena dug through her bag, and then cursed loudly. "I had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my nightstand—"

"Look," the son of Poseidon interrupted, sounding rather irritated. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not about to let Tyson get fried."

"Percy," Annabeth warned, her voice nearly scaring Thalia out of the boy's underwear she was wearing. What? She thought they were freaking comfortable.

"Tyson, stay back," Percy said, racing up the hill again.

Without questioning anything else, the daughter of Zeus followed closely behind him. It wasn't long before she had sped past him, her blade at-the-ready. They headed for Clarisse, who was trying in vain to arrange what little capable campers left into a phalanx formation.

Thalia could tell already that it wasn't going to work. Her mind scanned the different Ancient Greek formations she knew of. She may have never read up on her myths, but she had always been interested in warfare and historical events.

Annabeth raced to the front, fooled one of the bulls into chasing her, and then tossed her invisibility cap on. The automaton was instantly confused. The other bull, unfortunately, headed for Clarisse's line of six.

The daughter of Zeus reached the top of the hill before Percy. Although she was an exceptionally fast runner (typically, anyway), she couldn't match the bull in speed. It was to the line in the blink of an eye, and unhinged its bronze mouth. A column of searing white flame funneled out of the creature, aiming for the armor-clad heroes.

"Hold the line!" the daughter of Ares ordered.

Clarisse, the brave warrior she was, stood her ground and held strong against the blast. Rather depressingly, the other bull had quickly lost interest in chasing the invisible girl, and headed for the line. It charged out of Clarisse's line of sight, and the daughter of Zeus pushed herself to run even faster.

"La Rue!" Thalia screamed, willing her warning to reach the other girl's attention.

Unfortunately, the girl wasn't very quick to catch on. Her call seemed to shake Clarisse, and the daughter of Ares was taken off guard by the bull in front of her and flung onto her back. The formation, without its main component, broke.

After the bull smoldered the shields of the others, the demigods fled like cowards, leaving Clarisse on her own. The second automaton made for the kill, but Percy managed to pull the girl away by the charred straps of her armor. He dragged her away, as the daughter of Zeus flung herself into the bull's sight.

Thalia ducked and rolled to the bull's left, managing to slash at its flank with Thunderbird. To her disappointment, it didn't cease in its conquest and turned to pursue her. While lunging beneath the bull, the daughter of Zeus caught sight of Annabeth instructing the other half-bloods to reform.

In the time it took her to leap back onto her feet, the bull had already spun back around and swiped at her. Bronze collided with her shoulder, sending her flying a good distance away. Thalia landed in a heap next to Percy and Clarisse.

"Wake up, Sparky," the daughter of Ares commanded. Thalia felt the other girl mockingly slap her cheek.

Thalia peered up from the ground to see the girl laying back against the trunk of the pine, gripping one of her numerous wounds. If she squinted enough, she could make out the blood leaking through Clarisse's clasped fingers.

Jumping to her feet, she followed Percy's lead back into the center of the hill. Both of the bulls charged towards the brunette demigods.

"Will Aegis help?" he shouted to her.

"Doubt it," she replied briskly.

Glancing around at the groaning, injured half-bloods, she found herself at a loss. If enough of them were capable she would be able to reorganize them but, despite Annabeth's encouragements, they weren't looking too good.

Suddenly, it hit her like a freight train.

"Clarisse! Annabeth!" she yelled, rolling away from white-hot flames. Her body tingled, and her ears rang from the heat around them. "Are you able to fight?"

The daughter of Ares struggled to her feet, but eagerly stumbled over to the children of the Big Three. Annabeth slid off her cap and tucked it into the back of her jeans, aligning herself up next to Percy.

"What next?" the son of Poseidon questioned, as they all just barely managed to escape another breath of fire.

The bulls distanced themselves, probably due to the fact that they wanted to gain more momentum on their next attack.

"Rhombus formation," the daughter of Zeus announced. "I'll be ilarches. Percy will be ouragos, and you girls take the left and right angles."

Annabeth's gray eyes widened to the size of spaceships. "Rhombus! Are you out of your mind? We don't have anyone else to fill the formation! We'll need at least seven people."

Clarisse nodded, lining herself to the right angle. Percy set himself in the back, and Thalia rushed to the foreground. Grumbling, the daughter of Athena made her way into her position.

"I hope you know what you're doing," the blonde muttered, tightening her grip on her celestial bronze dagger. "I don't know how the hell we're supposed to alternate stations, but whatever."

At a great distance away, the bulls turned and rapidly charged in their direction once again. They got to the demigods sooner than expected.

Thalia raised her sword to the air and shouted, summoning lightning from the scarcely clouded sky. It ran the length of her blade before she slashed at the first bull, sending electrical currents across its bronze body. Annabeth attacked with her knife, coming from the automaton's left.

The bull blew fire in the blonde's direction, but her position allowed her to flip back quickly enough. Clarisse and Percy took on the other bull, and they seemed to be having a good amount of success. That is, until the son of Poseidon was forced to dive under a column of fire.

He cried out soon after, gripping his obviously injured ankle. Thalia looked towards him in panic, but found herself roughly tackled to the ground. Annabeth straddled her waist, tucking her blonde head of hair beneath Thalia's chin. Flames shot out just above them, and the daughter of Zeus realized that Annabeth had saved her.

Annabeth had surely saved her hide before, but Thalia could still remember a time when she had been the one the younger girl relied on. Part of her wondered if the daughter of Athena still relied on her. She would certainly hope so. Despite the few trifles they had gotten into together, she cared for the blonde.

Thalia switched their positions, flipping the daughter of Athena onto her back. Annabeth cried out in surprise, but the brunette pulled off of her and slashed the automaton with her sword. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Annabeth was scrambling back to her feet and getting to her position.

Swiftly spinning into towards the bull's blindside, Clarisse rammed the end of her spear into the back of its bronze leg. It seemed to malfunction, lightning continuing to coarse through its form. The bull raced aimlessly about the hill, falling apart bit-by-bit.

"Percy needs help!" Tyson screamed, catching the attention of the standing demigods.

The son of Poseidon gripped his ankle in pain, his face contorting as the second bull made to charge at him.

Annabeth grimaced. "I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"

"What are you doing?" Clarisse bellowed in slight outrage.

Thunder shook the hillside, and Thalia fixed a panicked gaze on Percy. It was too late. No of them would be fast enough to intercept the automaton. If the son of Poseidon didn't manage to get out of the way on his own, he'd be run through.

Just as a volley of flames erupted from the bull's mouth, Tyson stopped in front of Percy.

"Tyson, no!" the dark-haired demigod yelled in protest.

Fire danced around the Cyclops, but his form could easily be deciphered through the cloud. The flames died back quicker than they should've, and Tyson stood there angrily. His tattered clothes were still as intact as they had been previously, and he looked completely unharmed. The only different thing about the Cyclops was the fact that he was now infuriated.

He balled his meaty fists and slammed them into the bull's face. "Bad cow!"

Brown chicken brown cow, Thalia sang immaturely in her head.

The automaton's face gave out beneath the powerful blow, and an impressive crater of a dent was the result. Instead of shooting out of its mouth, fire billowed from the creature's ears. With another punch, the bronze face was reduced to crumpled paper.

"Down!" the young Cyclops said.

Staggering, the automaton fell onto its back.

The demigods surrounded the son of Poseidon, Thalia in the very front. She offered him a hand, and he gladly accepted. When he winced in pain, the daughter of Zeus strung his arm around her shoulders and leaned further down.

Annabeth frowned. "Sure you aren't too tall to be helping him walk?"

Thalia panted in exhaustion. The fight had proved rather tiring, and she was extremely upset that the Rhombus formation had lasted for a few minutes before it failed. She didn't like to fail.

"Nectar," she ordered, ignoring the blonde's earlier statement.

The fair-haired demigoddess dug a canteen from her backpack and pressed it up to Percy's lips. "I can drink," he admitted, smiling almost shyly. Annabeth blushed, and handed him the container. "Thank you," he said, after he had finished.

Smoke filled Thalia's nostrils and she sniffed suspiciously, glancing around. Was one of the bulls on fire? She hadn't seen any smoke at all.

The son of Poseidon scowled. "That's me you smell."

Oh.

Clarisse pulled off her helmet. Her brown hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail, and her bangs were matted to her forehead. She appeared as if she were about to scold them all, but then her expression slowly morphed into one of apathy.

"If you losers will excuse me, I have wounded campers to attend to," she growled, pushing past the four of them. She flashed Tyson a look of disgust as she passed by.

Thalia raised a dark eyebrow. That had been the first time that the daughter of Ares had bothered to insult her. It was strange, but she felt almost honored.

"The least she could've done was thanked us," the son of Poseidon huffed, leaning more of his body weight onto her. Gods, what had he been eating lately? He was growing like crazy. Percy looked at Tyson wearily. "You didn't die."

Tyson flushed, turning his gaze to the ground. "I am sorry. Broke your rules. Disobeyed you."

The daughter of Athena sighed. "My fault," she claimed, setting her hands firmly on her hips. "I permitted him to enter camp. You needed help."

Thalia felt a familiar bitterness rise in her chest. This was the same type of creature that had been her downfall. Grover had led them into a trap—unintentionally, of course. A Cyclops had fooled them all. It had even taken the voice of her precious baby brother in order to lure her into its cave.

Scoffing, she allowed her lips to drift into a haughty smirk. "I hardly think one of his kind—"

Annabeth brutally nudged her, causing her to bump roughly into Percy.

"Fuck, Annie," Thalia snapped. "What's your problem lately?"

The blonde turned the other way, refusing the face the daughter of Zeus. Thalia wanted to scream and force the other girl to look at her, but she just barely managed to contain herself.

"Wait," the son of Poseidon cut in. "What do you mean by his kind? You had to permit him in?"

Annabeth grumbled to herself. "Just look at him, Percy. Look past the Mist."

Percy slowly turned to look up at his Cyclops friend, beginning to trail his gaze up Tyson's form. His green eyes widened in surprise, and his jaw would've hit the floor if it weren't connected to the rest of his body.

"Tyson…" he trailed off, as if in awe. "You're a…"

"Cyclops," the daughter of Athena filled in. "A young one, it seems. He had trouble getting over the border on his own, and he's one of the homeless ones."

Percy looked to Thalia for a clearer explanation.

"They're usually in a lot of big cities," the dark-haired demigoddess translated. "Detroit, Los Angeles…Brooklyn. To word it crudely, they aren't exactly wanted. They're mistakes, and their parents leave them without aid."

Annabeth nodded. "Children of nature spirits…and one god, in particular. They usually don't come out right. They grow up wild, with no supplies or place to dwell. I don't know how this Cyclops managed to find you, but he seems to favor you. We should see Chiron immediately."

"But, the fire—"

"Does not hurt," Tyson answered before Annabeth could answer yet again.

"They are immune to it," the daughter of Athena snidely elaborated. "They work in forges."

Before anything more could be said, a limping camper approached the group. Connor Stoll removed his helmet, wiping soot from his cheek.

"Hey, Thalia," he remarked, grinning although he looked rather pained.

Percy stiffened next to the daughter of Zeus, but she brushed it off and sent Connor a small smile. "Hey, Con Man."

The nickname just slipped out before she could stop herself. It was what she often called her cousin Connie. Her mind flashed back to her family. Boy, they were going to be absolutely livid when she returned…if she did return. She felt iffy about this trip to camp, although she couldn't begin to fathom why.

The son of Hermes smiled even wider. "Clarisse said we need to try and carry the wounded to the Big House. Tantalus needs to know what happened."

Tantalus. Surely, it wasn't the one she was thinking of.

"Tantalus?" Percy asked.

Connor nodded slowly. He shifted more of his weight onto his uninjured leg. "He's the new activities director."

"What?" Thalia asked numbly, her fingers beginning to fiddle with Aegis. If there was a new director that meant…

"Chiron is…out of the question," the son of Hermes answered, worry evident in his tone. "Argus was fired. A lot of things have changed. You three have a lot of catching up to do."

"Chiron can't be gone!" Percy snapped. "What happened?"

Connor sighed, flashing Thalia a look of pity before turning to glance at her pine tree. "That happened."

The pine looked even worse than it had in her dream. Its needles had faded to a dreary yellow, and it was shedding them rapidly. In the dead center of the tree trunk, the achingly sinister mark ate away at the weakened bark. Green sap leaked from the hole, and Thalia saw flashes of her nightmare. Luke. Luke had done this. She didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't rightfully lie to herself about something so undeniable.

"Someone poisoned it," Percy said in recognition, nodding. "We already knew that. But, what does that have to do with Chiron and Argus?"

The son of Hermes met Thalia's eyes, and she got the message. There was a lurking suspicion that Chiron or Argus had something to do with the poisoning. How she knew this from just one look, she didn't honestly know. But, what else could it have been about?

Thalia frowned, allowing depression to break through the typically rough surface of her face. "It's my fault."

Annabeth reached out for her free hand, weaving their fingers together. She gave it a firm squeeze, her eyes lowering. "You didn't poison the tree, Thalia. I'm not sure what this has to do with Chiron, but it can't be your fault."

Connor sighed tiredly. "Come on, guys," he said. "We need to get to camp."

When they all reached the other side of the hill, Thalia took in her surroundings. Counselors and satyrs were transporting weaponry back in forth, tree spirits and dryads were actually armed and talking hurriedly on the edge of the woods, and the grassy land around them was slowly withering. It seemed that the poison had affected the plant-life within the boundaries as well.

For once, camp didn't feel like home.

Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and Tyson made their way to the Big House. Connor had already hurried off to check up on his twin brother Travis.

The daughter of Zeus didn't let the concern show on her face as she watched the bustling campers. The camp sort of reminded her of a military academy she had been forced to attend when she was around eight years old. She believed it was named after one of the presidents. Thalia never really paid attention. But, the school had been strict. Contrary to its intention, it made her act out even more and she eventually got booted for misconduct.

Tyson, unlike the others, looked around in amazement. "What's that?" he would question about everything he saw.

"The stables for the pegasai," Percy answered dutifully, although he was exhausted. He was finally able to walk on his own, as the nectar had performed its job. But, he still had a slight limp.

"What's that?"

Thalia laughed, and the daughter of Athena simply smirked. Honestly, if she knew that Cyclops could be this enjoyable—

No, she reprimanded herself. He is a Cyclops, and he is a monster.

"Um, those are toilets."

Tyson gasped, but Percy already answered before the Cyclops could ask a question. "Those are the cabins for the campers," the son of Poseidon responded, almost sounding irritated. "If someone isn't claimed, they are placed in the Hermes cabin."

The Cyclops looked at them all in shock. "You…have cabins?"

"Number three," Percy said proudly.

Thalia yawned. "Numero uno."

Annabeth refused to answer. The daughter of Zeus couldn't blame her, really. She was surprised that she even bothered to say anything to the Cyclops. Honestly, it made her feel a bit uncomfortable. She wasn't used to talking with monsters in a friendly manner, and it didn't feel right.

"You have friends with you?" Tyson glanced between the two children of the Big Three.

"No," Percy admitted. "Thalia and I don't have any siblings."

Her heart constricted in her chest at the thought of Jason. She didn't have a sibling anymore. It hurt to think, but she hadn't quite processed the information before. In her mind, she always imagined him with her. Sometimes, it was if he had never vanished. He had never died. It was so easy to forget something she didn't particularly want to remember.

Thalia thought about the gods' reasoning for creating the Big Three Pact. They liked to tell demigods that it was because of the events of World War II. Children of the Big Three had caused it, after all. But, the reason ran deeper than that. As far as she knew, only a few people and the Olympians knew of the Great Prophecy.

She had never heard it before, but her father and mother had told her of it. All she knew was that a child of the Big Three would turn eighteen, and they would make a decision that would either destroy or save the gods. She would be lying if she claimed she was excited for it.

They entered the Big House and found Chiron in his apartment. He was hunched over his bed, throwing together full saddlebags. Familiar music played over his boom box, and Thalia recognized it as Frank Sinatra. While other demigods made fun of the centaur for his music, the daughter of Zeus had grown up with her mother playing it constantly. It didn't really bother her.

Tyson grinned, showing off his scraggly peanut butter teeth. "Pony!"

Chiron turned around, looking a little peeved. "I beg your pardon?"

Annabeth ran up and hugged the centaur. "Chiron, what's happening? We heard you were leaving."

Thalia, hearing the way her friend's voice crack, reached out and rubbed the other girl soothingly on the back.

The centaur smiled warmly, ruffling her hair. "Hello, my dear," he greeted. "Percy, I see you have grown over the winter. And, Thalia! Get any taller, and you'll tower over the young Cyclops."

Thalia didn't like hearing that very much, but she stayed silent.

"Conner told us," Percy announced. "Why…?"

Chiron's eyes darkened noticeably. "Someone had to take the blame, dear boy. Lord Zeus was quite livid, as you can imagine." He glanced to the god's daughter. "It is rumored that you have been experiencing effects of the poison as well. Mr. D had to punish someone in order to appease your father."

Percy glowered. "Besides himself, you mean."

"This is insane," Annabeth cried. "You couldn't have poisoned the tree. Thalia, he wouldn't have done this to you!"

"I know," the daughter of Zeus affirmed with a nod. She was about to reveal that it had been Luke, but held herself back. If Annabeth found out—especially this way—it would tear her to pieces.

"Some in Olympus do not trust me now, given the circumstances," Chiron said, sighing in defeat.

"What circumstances?" Either Percy or Annabeth asked.

Thalia wasn't paying very much attention anymore. She found herself staring at the small television, watching as Ed Sullivan smiled in the camera, introducing the Beatles. The band began to play, and the song echoed in the back of her mind. She had heard it somewhere before, but she wasn't sure where. Her mother had been born around that time, so it could have been played when Thalia was a child.

Shaking her mental train off of its track, she tuned back into the conversation taking place around her.

"The poison was from the Underworld, children," Chiron was saying. "Venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus."

"Then we know who is responsible. Kron—"

"Do not speak the Titan Lord's name, Percy. Not here, not now," the centaur warned.

Percy flushed red in anger. "He tried to start a civil war amongst the Olympians last summer. This has to be his idea. He must have gotten Luke to do it."

Thalia pointedly glanced away, but continued to listen to the conversation.

Chiron shook his head. "I have been blamed because I did not prevent it, and I cannot cure it. The tree itself has only a few weeks of life left. After that, only the gods know what will happen to our dear Thalia. The camp boundaries will be no more. Unless…"

"Unless?" Annabeth prompted.

The centaur shook his head again. "No," he said. "A foolish thought. The entire valley is feeling the shock of the poison. Soon, the magical boundaries will be no more. The camp is dying. Only one source of magic would be powerful enough to reverse the poison, but it was lost long ago."

"What is it?" Thalia asked suddenly, causing everyone else in the room to glance over at her. "We'll find it," she said, determined.

Chiron closed his saddlebag, clicked off his boom box, and turned around the face the demigods. "Percy, Thalia, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told Ms. Jackson that I did not wish either of you to come to camp this summer. But, now that you are both here, you must stay. Train. You must prepare. But do not, under any conditions, leave."

"Chiron," Thalia stated firmly, clenching her jaw. "I can't just sit here. You know the poison has been affecting me. If the tree dies—if my tree dies—what will become of me? The boundaries will go down, and we'll have one less strong fighter. We need to press every advantage we have in order to protect this camp. I'm not about to sit back and watch."

"I want to do something," Percy decided, nodding in agreement. "We can't let the borders fall. We can't sit around and see what happens to Thalia. The whole camp—"

"Overrun by monsters?" Chiron guessed. "Yes, I fear so. But, you two shall not allow yourselves to be baited into irrational action! This could easily be some kind of ploy. Last summer, Percy, the Titan Lord nearly took your life. Or, have you forgotten?"

"Irrational action?" Thalia repeated. "It's necessary action."

"I beg to differ, dear girl," the centaur said. "The two of you act rashly. Perhaps a family trait?"

Thunder rumbled.

Annabeth's eyes watered, and she subtly clung to the side of Thalia's jean jacket. A tear slipped past her eyelid and ran down the length of her sun-kissed cheek. Without thinking about it, the daughter of Zeus quickly wiped it away.

Chiron eyed the blonde sadly. "Keep these two safe, child," he said to her. "Heed the prophecy."

"I—I will."

"Would this be the super dangerous prophecy that has everyone stressing about Thalia and me?" Percy said.

Silence.

"Right," he said, sighing. "Just checking."

"Chiron," the daughter of Athena began timidly. "You said the gods made you immortal for as long as you train heroes. If they dismiss you from the camp—"

"Swear you will do your very best to keep these children out of danger," he said, effectively cutting her off. "Swear upon the River Styx."

"I—I swear it upon the River Styx," the blonde muttered, her fingers tightening on Thalia's jacket.

Thunder rumbled for the third time that day, and the daughter of Zeus was beginning to think that it was actually her stomach. She hadn't eaten in forever.

"Very well," the centaur said, relieved. "Perhaps, if my name is cleared, I will return. Until that day, I shall live with my kinsmen in the Everglades. It is very possible that their knowledge of poison far surpasses that of mine. In any event, I shall remain in exile until this matter is resolved…one way or another."

Annabeth buried her face in Thalia's shirt, stifling a sob. She ran her hand up and down the blonde's back. The younger demigoddess looked as if she wished to reach out and envelop the centaur, but she appeared to be holding herself back.

"I entrust your safety to the new activity director Mr. D has hired," Chiron said.

"Who is this Tantalus guy, anyway?" Percy asked, scowling. "Where does he get off taking your job?"

The conch horn sounded through the camp, signaling the start of dinner.

"Go," the centaur commanded. "You will meet him during dinner. Percy, I will contact your mother and let her know you're safe. Just heed my warning, children. You are both in grave danger." His wise brown eyes met Thalia's. "I have no doubt in my mind that the Titan Lord knows of your existence. And, he has not forgotten you, Percy."

He trotted out of the apartment.

"Pony!" Tyson called after him. "Don't go!"

The Cyclops began to bawl, and Thalia distanced Annabeth and herself as the son of Poseidon attempted to comfort the monster.

The daughter of Athena pulled away from the taller girl's shirt, but peered up at her with reddened eyes. "Thalia, what are we going to do?"

Thalia glanced at Chiron's retreating form, watching as the centaur sadly galloped away. She hated to see their trainer go, and she had a feeling she was going to loathe his replacement with a fire red. Her unfocused blue eyes locked onto gray.

"I don't know," she answered honestly, wishing she could have said more. "First comes first, though. We need to get to dinner. I'm freaking starving."

Annabeth swatted her, but released a little laugh. "All you think about is food."

"And world peril," Thalia deadpanned.

The three demigods and the Cyclops walked out of the Big House, and headed towards the pavilion. Thalia couldn't wait to meet their new obnoxious activities director. If he was who she expected, he wasn't going to be too pleasant.