Welcome to the Sea of Monsters
Chapter 5
The Man to Prank!
It is called procrastination! Still I finally got this out…so yay me! God I watch too much Disney channel.
Naruto as they walked through the camp to the Big House. The forest looked a little sickly and everyone was on edge, thinking they could be attacked at a moment's notice, but they were all ready. To him, it was way to quiet. He saw that Percy seemed to be bothered by this as well.
When they got to the Big House, they found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favorite
1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags. He was a centaur after all. From the waist up he looks like a reg-ular middle-aged guy with curly brown hair and a scraggly beard. From the waist down, he's a white stallion. He can pass for human by compacting his lower half into a magic wheelchair. Naruto and Percy knew that form easily since he was their teacher in the last school they were in.
As soon as they saw that man, Tyson froze, "PONY!" he screamed with stars in his….eye.
Chiron turned, looking offended. "I beg your pardon?"
Annabeth ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not ... leaving?" Her voice was shaky. Chiron was like a second father to her.
Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kindly smile. "Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness.
You've grown over the year!" He turned to Naruto and smiled. "Glad you accomplish what you set out to do."
"Thanks, but you can't really be fired can you?" Naruto said in all seriousness.
Chiron's eyes glinted with dark humor. "Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone."
"What a load horse crap!" Naruto said, pun intended.
"But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried. "Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!"
"Nevertheless," Chiron sighed, "some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances."
"Come on! If anyone should be banished from this place it should have been me. I couldn't protect her and this is what happens!" Naruto growled.
"Noble of you to say, but what's been done cannot be changed." Chiron said sadly.
"I don't like it." Percy said with an angry scowl. He really did not like Mr. D at the moment.
Chiron's face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the
Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boom box.
Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron's flank but was afraid to come closer. "Pony?"
Chiron sniffed. "My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur."
"Chiron," Percy said. "What about the tree? What happened?"
He shook his head sadly. "The poison used on Thalia's pine is something from the Underworld, Percy. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus."
"Then we know who's responsible. Kro—"
"Do not invoke the titan lord's name, Percy. Especially not here, not now."
"But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He'd get Luke to do it, that traitor."
"Perhaps," Chiron said. "But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless ..."
"But…" Percy said then looked at Naruto, who looked away in sadness when he heard of Thalia's Fate. "Naruto, surely you or your dad can do something, right?"
"I have already tried that."Naruto said sadly. "He said it is an older poison from whatever is in Tartarus. I offer to go there, but he told me no and I just don't know what to do. If I don't help her, that would be another promise that I would fail….and I can't have that!"
Percy and Annabeth looked at their blond friend in sadness. He was losing someone dear to him and that was never something anyone wanted to know the feeling of. Annabeth then remember what Chiron said. "Unless what?"
"No," Chiron said. "A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago."
What is it?" Percy asked. "We'll go find it!"
"Right, I'll do anything!" Naruto offered.
Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop but-ton on his boom box. He then turned rested his hands on the two boys' shoulders, looking them both in the eyes. "Naruto, Percy, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told your mother, Percy, that I did not want you coming here….even though Naruto brought you here anyway. It has gotten too dangerous. But now that you are here, stay here. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave."
"Why?" Percy asked. "I want to do something! I can't just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be—"
"Overrun by monsters," Chiron said. "Yes, I fear so. But you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the titan lord. Remember last summer! He almost took your life."
As Percy reflected on what happened last year, Naruto growled. "I am not going to sit here and let her die! We could do something about and when that time comes I am going to take it. I will NOT let her die. Hell, don't even know how to bring her back if she did!"
"Naruto….you do realize that if you tried that, you or someone else would have to take her place." Chiron said in all seriousness.
"I know….but if there is ONE technique out there that does not have that effect, I will use it if she does die, but like I said, I will NOT let here die!: Naruto all but shouted. Chiron sighed and he patted the boy on the shoulder.
"I know it is not easy, but please until there is a way, stay here."
"Fine." Naruto while Annabeth was trying hard not to cry.
Chiron brushed a tear from her cheek. "You and Naruto stay with Percy," he told her. "Keep him safe. The prophecy—remember it!"
"I—I will." She said.
"Like I am going to let him die." Naruto grumbled out.
"Um ..." Percy said. "Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?"
Nobody answered.
"Right," I muttered. "Just checking."
"Chiron ..." Annabeth said. "You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp—"
"Swear you two will do your best to keep Percy from danger," he insisted. "Swear upon the River Styx."
"I swear it upon the River Styx," the two stated.
Thunder rumbled outside.
"Very well," Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a little. "Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I go to visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It's possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree that I have forgotten. In any event, I will stay in exile until this matter is resolved ... one way or another."
Naruto crossed his arms. "For everyone's sake, it better be."
Annabeth stifled a sob. Chiron patted her shoulder awkwardly. "There, now, children. I must entrust your safety to Mr. D and the new activities director. We must hope ... well, perhaps they won't destroy the camp quite as quickly as I fear."
"Who is this Tantalus guy, anyway?" Percy demanded. "Where does he get off taking your job?"
"I have been wondering about that too." Naruto commented.
A conch horn blew across the valley. It was already that late? It was time for the campers to assemble for dinner.
"Go," Chiron said. "You will meet him at the pavilion. I will contact your mother, Percy, and let her know you're safe. No doubt she'll be worried by now. Just remember my warning! You are in grave danger. Do not think for a moment that the titan lord has forgotten you!"
With that, he clopped out of the apartment and down the hall, Tyson calling after him, "Pony!
Don't go!"
Percy realized he'd forgotten to tell Chiron about the dream he and Naruto had of Grover. Now it was too late. The best teacher he'd ever had was gone, maybe for good.
Tyson started bawling almost as bad as Annabeth. Naruto looked at Percy and nodded his head at the crying blonde. Percy understood and tried to tell her it was ok while Naruto decided to comfort the young Cyclopes, but none of them thought it was going to be ok for a while. Things where defiantly going south.
XXX
The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins. The little group stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in. Annabeth was still pretty shaken up, but she promised she'd talk to the boys later. Then she went off to join her siblings from the Athena cabin—a dozen boys and girls with blond hair and gray eyes like hers. Annabeth wasn't the oldest, but she'd been at camp more summers than just about anybody. You could tell that by looking at her camp necklace—one bead for every summer, and Annabeth had six. No one questioned her right to lead the line.
Then Naruto left to go with the Aphrodite kids, who seemed to smile at him brightly as he made his way over to them. They were not that strong in battle and they knew it. So they were glad to have him in their cabin. Percy knew that feeling well. Anyone felt safe with the blond shinobi, despite who his dad was. So he was basically their leader….apart from Selina.
Next came Clarisse, leading the Ares cabin. She had one arm in a sling and a nasty-looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn't seem to have fazed her. Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said, YOU MOO, GIRL! But nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it.
After the Ares kids came the Hephaestus cabin—six guys led by Charles Beckendorf, a big fifteen-year-old African American kid. He had hands the size of catchers' mitts and a face that was hard and squinty from looking into a blacksmiths forge all day. He was nice enough once you got to know him, but no one ever called him Charlie or Chuck or Charles. Most just called him Beckendorf. Rumor was he could make anything. Give him a chunk of metal and he could create a razor-sharp sword or a robotic warrior or a singing birdbath for your grandmother's garden. Whatever you wanted.
The other cabins filed in: Demeter, Apollo, Aphrodite, Dionysus. Naiads came up from the canoe lake. Dryads melted out of the trees. From the meadow came a dozen satyrs.
After the satyrs filed in to dinner, the Hermes cabin brought up the rear. They were always the biggest cabin. Last summer, it had been led by Luke, the guy who'd fought with Thalia and Annabeth on top of Half-Blood Hill.
Now the Hermes cabin was led by Travis and Connor Stoll. They weren't twins, but they looked so much alike it didn't matter. Neither Naruto or Percy could remember who was older, but it didn't really matter. Now the Hermes cabin was led by Travis and Connor Stoll. They weren't twins, but they looked so much alike it didn't matter. I could never remember which one was older. They were both tall and skinny, with mops of brown hair that hung in their eyes. They wore orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts untucked over baggy shorts, and they had those elfish features all Hermes's kids had: upturned eyebrows, sarcastic smiles, a gleam in their eyes whenever they looked at you—like they were about to drop a firecracker down your shirt.
Percy grinned nervously in their direction because before he left last year. He was caught in one of their pranks….one that included Naruto. The trio was the Prank Trio from Hell….especially after what happened.
As soon as the last campers had filed in, Percy led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion. Conversations faltered. Heads turned. "Who invited that?" somebody at the Apollo table murmured.
From the head table a familiar voice drawled, "Well, well, if it isn't Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete."
Percy gritted his teeth. "Percy Jackson ... sir."
Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. "Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever. Besides, we got the ninja back, so…yay." Even though some didn't trust Naruto for what happened to the tree, they were in agreement with Mr. D. Naruto was their best fighter and they too were glad he was back.
Mr. D was wearing his usual leopard-pattern Hawaiian shirt, walking shorts, and tennis shoes with black socks. With his pudgy belly and his blotchy red face, he looked like a Las Vegas tourist who'd stayed up too late in the casinos. Behind him, a nervous-looking satyr was peeling the skins off grapes and handing them to Mr. D one at a time.
Mr. D's real name is Dionysus. The god of wine. Zeus appointed him director of Camp Half-Blood to dry out for a hundred years—a punishment for chasing some off-limits wood nymph.
Next to him, where Chiron usually sat (or stood, in centaur form), was someone Naruto and Percy had never seen before—a pale, horribly thin man in a threadbare orange prisoner's jump-suit. The number over his pocket read 0001. He had blue shadows under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and badly cut gray hair, like his last haircut had been done with a weed whacker. He stared at me; his eyes made me nervous. He looked ... fractured. Angry and frustrated and hungry all at the same time.
"This boy," Dionysus told him, "you need to watch. Poseidon's child, you know."
"Ah!" the prisoner said. "That one." His tone made it obvious that he and Dionysus had already discussed Percy at length. "So….the son of death is surprisingly not the bad one?"
"No." Mr. D said. He rather like the boy, not that he would ever say it our loud. Damn kid had all the luck in card games.
"I am Tantalus," the prisoner said, smiling coldly. "On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Perseus Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."
"Trouble?" Percy demanded while Naruto's eye twitched when he heard that.
Dionysus snapped his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table—the front page of today's
New York Post, There was Percy's yearbook picture from Meriwether Prep. It was hard for the water boy to make out the headline, but he had a pretty good guess what it said. Something like: Thirteen- Year-Old Lunatic Torches Gymnasium.
Naruto appeared next to Percy and said while looking at the headline. "Looks like you're in the ringer again."
"Great…just what I needed." Percy groaned while he blond friend black flashed back over to the Aphrodite table, shocking Tantalus.
"Yes, trouble," Tantalus said with satisfaction, after he recover from his shock at Naruto. "You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand." Percy was too mad to speak. This guy was pissing him off!
A satyr inched forward nervously and set a plate of bar-becue in front of Tantalus. The new activities director licked his lips. He looked at his empty goblet and said, "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967."
The glass filled itself with foamy soda. Tantalus stretched out his hand hesitantly, as if he were afraid the goblet was hot.
"Go on, then, old fellow," Dionysus said, a strange sparkle in his eyes. "Perhaps now it will work."
Tantalus grabbed for the glass, but it scooted away before he could touch it. A few drops of root beer spilled, and Tantalus tried to dab them up with his fingers, but the drops rolled away like quicksilver before he could touch them. He growled and turned toward the plate of barbecue. He picked up a fork and tried to stab a piece of brisket, but the plate skittered down the table and flew off the end, straight into the coals of the brazier.
"Blast!" Tantalus muttered.
"Ah, well," Dionysus said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "Perhaps a few more days. Believe me, old chap, working at this camp will be torture enough. I'm sure your old curse will fade eventually."
"Eventually," muttered Tantalus, staring at Dionysus's Diet Coke. "Do you have any idea how dry one's throat gets after three thousand years?"
"You're that spirit from the Fields of Punishment," Percy said with wide eyes. "The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can't eat or drink."
Tantalus sneered at Percy. "A real scholar, aren't you, boy?"
"You must've done something really horrible when you were alive," I said, mildly impressed. "What was it?"
Tantalus's eyes narrowed. Behind him, the satyrs were shaking their heads vigorously, trying to warn the poor fool.
"I'll be watching you, Percy Jackson," Tantalus said. "I don't want any problems at my camp."
"Your camp has problems already ... sir."
"Oh, go sit down, Johnson," Dionysus sighed. "I believe that table over there is yours—the one where no one else ever wants to sit."
Percy glared at Mr. D with a red face, but he could do nothing. However, that was interrupted when they heard a snickering coming from the Aphrodite table. Mr. D looked right at the blond ninja who was making the noise. "My I ask what it is so funny, Nathan?"
"It's Naruto!" Naruto corrected with a good natured smile. "And I was just thinking that I am going to have some….fun this year. Especially with our new camp councilor." He said with a wide fox smile that made the whole camp shiver. They all knew that smile and some looked the Hermes cabin and saw that the Stroll brothers had the same smile. A prank was going to happen in the next few days. Sad thing was thought no one will ever be able to pin it on the blond….because no one ever got enough evidence. Percy kind of felt sorry for Tantalus….kind of.
Percy was glad Naruto was there to cheer him up somewhat. He turned to Tyson and said, "Come on."
"Oh, no," Tantalus said. "The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it."
"Him," Percy snapped. "His name is Tyson."
The new activities director raised an eyebrow.
"Tyson saved the camp," Percy insisted. "He pounded those bronze bulls. Otherwise they would've burned down this whole place."
"Yes," Tantalus sighed, "and what a pity that would've been."
Dionysus snickered.
"Leave us," Tantalus ordered, "while we decide this creature's fate."
Percy grit his teeth at the order, but he knew he could not disobey it.
"I'll be right over here, big guy," Percy promised. "Don't worry. We'll find you a good place to sleep tonight."
Tyson nodded. "I believe you. You are my friend."
With that Percy trudged over his table where he was the only one to sit there. He hoped thing would be ok for his Cyclops friend. When a Wood Nymph brought over some food, he took it, but he was not hungry. He was too busy thinking on what had happened so far. But before he let it go to waste. He scraped some of it into the flames to off some to his dad. "Posiedon, accept my offering."
As he went back to his table, he looked over to Naruto, who was digging into….Ramen? That figured, that was all he had back in school. However, he really hoped that the blond made good on his 'fun' with the new camp councilor. Just as he sat down again, one of the satyr's blew the horn again, tell them all that Tantalus had more to say.
"Yes, well," Tantalus said, once the talking had died down. "Another fine meal! Or so I am told." As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn't notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches. This just made Naruto grin like a mad man as a good prank came to mind. Oh yes…this would be very fun!
"And here on my first day of authority," he continued, "I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat."
Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some halfhearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back.
"And now some changes!" Tantalus gave the campers a crooked smile. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!"
Murmuring broke out at all the tables—excitement, fear, disbelief.
"Now I know," Tantalus continued, raising his voice, "that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems."
"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," someone at the Apollo table called.
"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said. "But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"
An explosion of excited conversation—no KP for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious?
"But, sir!" Clarisse said. She looked nervous, but she stood up to speak from the Ares table. Some of the campers snickered when they saw the YOU MOO, GIRL! sign on her back. Thankfully, Naruto snapped his fingers when he saw it and it went up in black flames that never touched her. She sent a thankful smile in his direction. "What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop every-thing to ready our chariots—"
"Ah, the hero of the day," Tantalus exclaimed. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!"
Clarisse blinked, then blushed. "Um, I didn't—"
"You mean that you are congratulating her on her leadership in rallying what forces she could to defend the camp until more help arrived." Naruto interjected, making the girl blush even more at his kind words.
"Yes that and I suppose I should congratulate you as well for your quick thinking in battle to take one down with….whatever weird ass ninja technique you used to help her." Tantalus said with extreme boredom. "Anyway, not to worry. This is a summer camp! We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?"
"But the tree-" Clarisse tried to say but was cut off by the man again.
"And now," Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse's cabin mates pulled her back into her seat, "before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson.
Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks at Percy. The boy wanted to kill Tantalus.
"Now, of course," he said, "Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I've thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes's cabin, possibly?"
Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth. Percy couldn't blame them. The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting. There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.
"Come now," Tantalus chided. "The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"
Suddenly everybody gasped….well, Naruto smiled like a mad man.
Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. There above Tyson's head was the same symbol that was above Percy's head last year. The Symbol of Posiedon. Naruto smirked. At least his friend would not be lonely in his cabin and table anymore. This also meant that Tyson was probably going to be in the gang from now on.
There was a moment of awed silence.
Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When
Naruto and Percy had been claimed by their Godly parents last summer, everyone had reverently knelt. But now, they followed Tantalus's lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"
Everyone laughed except for Percy, Annabeth, Naruto and a few of their friends. Naruto glared at Tantalus while thinking of horrible ways to prank the man. He already had a few.
Tyson didn't seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him, how cruel people were.
One person, who was not laughing, said the one thing that was on his mind. "This is madness!"
"Madness?" Naruto said aloud softly, but everyone heard him and raised an eyebrow before Naruto looked up with a crazy smirk. "THIS IS SPARTA!"
"YEAH!" Cheered the Ares cabin before one of them looked at Naruto in confusion. "Wait what?"
Naruto shrugged. "Sorry, I saw that movie last year and have waiting for a set up for that. Seriously." He said to the deadly quiet camp before everyone burst out laughing.
Annabeth smiled at her fellow blond. He really knew how to make a situation a bit better….even it is was for a few minutes.
XXX
Well there you all go. I figured with last week's job, you all have waited long enough. I wanted to have this done by yesterday….but I am lazy. I have one prank in mind for Tantalus and it will be awesome, but can some of you give me some ideas?
REVIEW!