A/N: carameltootsieroll: Hey guys! Sorry for the super slow updates. On my side, I had a load of comprehensive end-of-the-year tests. But that's gonna be over in two days…so yippee! It's gonna be summer vacation for me since I'm in the Philippines. Anyway, with out further ado, here's chapter 5!

PJOBookWorm: Okay, so we kind of failed with that last promise to update sooner. A thousand apologies! I'm so sorry for all the wait we've been evilly inflicting on you and I want to thank you for putting up with our aggravating updates! Hopefully, our updates *will* be coming sooner for the next few chapters. If not, you can leave rants for us, okay? ;) Anyway, hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer: Nope, we still don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The Quest for the Golden Fleece

Chapter Five

Bulls. Bulls were roaming the camp. And they had somehow gotten past Thalia's pine tree. Looking closely, I felt my heart clench as I realized the bulls were Colchis bulls, made of bronze and hard to damage, making them a hundred times worse than regular bulls. Hephaestus created the Colchis bulls, and if that didn't show you that they were deadly enough, they could even breathe fire.

I saw the campers, small in size compared to the bulls, trying to fight. But as experienced as the campers were, they were still having trouble since the bulls weren't easily hurt with weapons.

Styx. This was not good.

But Percy was more interested in finding out what the numbers mean. "All right," he said to the Gray Sisters. "Now tell me what those numbers mean."

And while you spend your time trying to figure out the meanings that they won't tell you, Percy, I'll start helping the camp. "No time!" I snapped, kicking open the door. "We have to get out, now."

Percy looked confused and was about to complain when he finally looked out through the window and at camp. His face paled and his eyes bugged out. Now he sensed the danger.

I shot out of the taxi, all but pulling Percy and Tyson out behind me. When the Gray Sisters noticed what was happening at camp, they stopped squabbling over who was getting the eye and pushed down on the accelerator, zooming out and leaving us behind in the dust (which was kind of good because I would not want to get them their extra drachmas).

My eyes scoured the hill and I analyzed the conditions of camp. "Oh, man," I muttered, my heart pounding as I stared fearfully at the battle.

Then I heard a shout. "Border patrol, to me!" It was Clarisse, daughter of Ares. Border patrol? This was bad. How many monsters had been getting into camp?

"It's Clarisse," I told Percy, who looked like he was trying to place the voice. "Come on, we have to help her."

Even though Clarisse was the daughter of Ares, she was still having trouble fighting the bulls. Her warriors didn't have half the guts she had and were screeching, scattering away from the bulls. Clarisse wouldn't give up fighting even though she had a broken spear shaft, but she wasn't doing so well alone.

Percy uncapped his pen and it grew into his sword. "Tyson," Percy said, "stay here. I don't want you taking any more chances."

"No!" I cried, knowing that Cyclopes were immune to fire. "We need him," I forced out. I didn't like to admit it, but it was true. He would be able to stand the fire and use his strength to defeat the bulls.

Percy stared at me in astonishment, and at first I thought it was because I admitted to needing a Cyclops. But then he said, "He's mortal. He got lucky with the dodge balls but he can't—"

Gods, did Percy still not know what Tyson was?

"Percy," I said, "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." Tyson, on the other hand, didn't need anything.

"Medea's what?" Percy asked.

I ignored him, suddenly realizing that I did, in fact, own a bottle of Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000 (and 5,000 too). If I had it, maybe we wouldn't need to be forced to get help from a Cyclops. My fingers couldn't seem to find the bottle in my bag. I felt my heart sink. It would be difficult—no, nearly impossible—to defeat those Colchis Bulls without the sunscreen. I cursed.

"I had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my nightstand at home!" I exclaimed. "Why didn't I bring it?" How dumb of me!

Percy looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to let Tyson get fried."

Tyson was a Cyclops! He wouldn't get fried! I opened my mouth to explain everything to Percy and get it straight. "Percy—"

"Tyson, stay back," Percy interrupted, raising his sword. "I'm going in."

Before I could shout at Percy that Tyson was a Cyclops, he ran off up the hill towards Clarisse. I had no choice but to sprint after him, towards the bulls, without any fire-immune objects to help fight.

-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

From my many years at camp, I knew that Clarisse was a brave girl, one of the bravest I'd ever met, even if she had a...not-so-good personality. Her physique made her look as if she was born to be on the battlefield, fighting monsters to death and winning every battle. She was a daughter of Ares, after all. But with those Colchis bulls running around, I couldn't see if even Clarisse could make it out of this fight alive.

"Phalanx formation!" Clarisse ordered her warriors. It was a good battle strategy to try to hold off the bulls, but only a few of her warriors listened and lined up. The rest of them ran around, screaming their heads off as the fires on their shields and battle armor grew bigger. I had a feeling that Clarisse was going to talk to them about battle composition afterwards.

There were only two bulls running around like the deranged animals they were, but I knew they were deadly. As Percy raced to one side, I raced to another.

I jumped in front of one of the bulls and caught its attention. "Hey! You! Does your face naturally look like that, or did your mom throw it in a blender?"

It wasn't the best taunt, but it worked. The bull roared and chased after me. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, occasionally shouting out more taunts and insults like, "Is that how fast you can run? A turtle could outrun you!" The bull grew angrier and I could feel the ground shaking as he chased me around the hill. At the last moment, I pulled on my invisibility cap, disappearing and completely confusing the monster. It stopped mid-chase, wondering where I went.

"What's the matter? Your eye get messed up in the blender when your face was thrown in?" I teased.

The bull growled and clomped in my direction, but I had already run the other way and was safely out of the area when the bull breathed fire angrily. I could feel the heat even though I was yards away from the bull.

Giving a quick glance around me, I found Percy making his way towards Clarisse and the second bull, though he was still at too far of a location to give any proper help.

When I turned back towards the bull, I saw that it was looking around and starting to walk towards Percy, perhaps losing interest in finding me. I quickly called out, "You're not that bright for a bull, are you?", and the bull turned around, nostrils flaring.

It ambled in my direction, opening its mouth to blow fire at me, but I jumped to the side. Calculations ran through my head as I tried to think of when would be the best time to attack the bull.

"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered down the hill as her warriors shivered and faltered at the sight of the second bull coming closer to them.

Then everything went downhill...both figuratively and literally. The bull chasing me grew frustrated when it couldn't find me and decided it had better things to do. It turned, barreling straight down towards Clarisse's unprotected side. I tried to shout after it to distract it, but the bull thought it would be more interesting to chase down a daughter of Ares.

Clarisse didn't see the bull coming at her, but Percy did.

"Behind you!" Percy yelled at Clarisse. "Look out!"

As usual, Seaweed Brain should have kept his mouth shut. All his warning did was startle Clarisse. As Clarisse let her guard down, startled from Percy's loud and sudden shout, the bull crashed into her shield, sending Clarisse flying backwards into a patch of smoldering grass. With that, the phalanx broke apart, the warriors quivering with fear.

But the bull wasn't satisfied with that just yet. It charged past Clarisse, but not before it forgot to shoot a huge heat wave that melted the weapons of the warriors coming to Clarisse's aid right then and there. The campers ran off screaming just as the second bull closed in on Clarisse, ready to give her a deathblow.

I was running towards the bulls and Clarisse as quickly as I could when, out of nowhere, Percy lunged forward and grabbed Clarisse by the straps of her armor, dragging her out of the second bull's path. Percy slashed at the bull with his sword, cutting into its flank. Unfortunately, it didn't do much, and the monster just groaned before it kept advancing.

Clarisse wasn't too pleased with Percy's playing hero, and she punched Percy's hand while shouting, "Let me go! Percy, curse you!"

Percy followed her orders and dropped her on the ground near the border.

I found myself glued to the ground, just watching the scene instead of moving. Regaining my composure, I shouted orders to the remaining warriors on the hill. "Spread out, guys! Keep them distracted!"

They rolled out, following my instructions and trying to keep the bulls from getting too far in to camp.

I turned my attention to the first bull, trying to gain back its attention. I ran after it and tried shouting more insults, but bulls must not have liked fighting me, since the bull ignored me and instead made its way towards Percy.

I felt my stomach flip as the bull kept on running past the boundary line, only slowing down a bit as it crossed into camp. Seeing monsters cross over the boundary line in person worried me even more. There was something just so wrong about that image.

Everything was going wrong today. The second bull turned to face Percy, its eyes glowering as if he were mad at Percy for making the nasty gash on his side. Percy already looked weary and I knew he couldn't make it out of this fight alive if both bulls attacked him.

The bull blew flames at him, forcing Percy on roll to his side towards a tree. As much as I wanted to run in and help him, I knew I couldn't do much. I would barely be able to hold back the bull, either. Running in would be a suicidal mission. But I couldn't let him fend for his own.

Percy tried to sit up, but his foot caught on something. His ankle twisted into an unnatural angle and his face contorted in pain, but he still managed to slash part of the monster's nose with his sword. It backed up, a wild look in its glowing red eyes.

Percy pushed himself up, but almost immediately, his left leg buckled underneath him and he fell back down, wincing. He must have sprained his ankle. I cursed. There was no way Percy was in good enough condition to fight the bull. My eyes darted to the camp boundary, where someone was standing…

Then the first bull charged straight at him. Percy looked hopeless.

I felt helpless watching this scene as Percy fought the bulls. I couldn't just stand there. Percy needed help. My eyes darted back towards the boundary line. As I looked at the giant figure stuck there, I weighed my options. I winced again. Finally, I shouted, "Tyson, help him!"

Tyson was hammering his head against the invisible shield of the camp boundaries. So they were working after all? "Can't—get—through!" he groaned.

My heart hammered against my chest. What I was about to do was wrong, I knew. It would defy everything Luke had told me that day after Thalia was turned into a pine tree. It was like summoning a monster into camp. But it was the only way to save Percy... I had to.

I took a deep breath. "I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!" I tried not to let my voice falter.

Big thunder roared, shaking the ground. Tyson broke through the boundaries and ran towards Percy, yelling, "Percy needs help!"

I hoped I wasn't making a big mistake.

The Cyclops dove between Percy and the first bull just as the bull unleashed a powerful heat blast.

"Tyson!" Percy yelled.

From my place, only Tyson's silhouette could be seen. It was a horrible scene, even if I hated Cyclopes. I winced as the fire circled Tyson, thinking about how hot the heat from the fire must be. Even if he was a Cyclops.

Then the fire and smoke cleared, and Tyson stood there, no part of him scorched or burned, only annoyed. The bull stumbled back in surprise, which quickly morphed into annoyance. It got ready to release a second blast, but before it could, Tyson balled his fist and punched the bull in the face. "BAD COW!"

The punch left a huge dent on the bull's face, smashing in its snout. The bull was already fazed, and when Tyson hit it a second time, the bull staggered. "Down!" Tyson yelled. The bull fell on its back, legs outstretched and dangling in the air as steam erupted from its head.

The bull was finally down, and I ran over to Percy, worried. Smelling of smoke, Percy was clutching his ankle and his face was twisted in pain. I hurriedly pulled out my canteen of nectar. "Here, drink it," I commanded.

He took a sip, and instantly, he looked better and sat up.

"The other bull?" he asked.

I pointed down the hill towards Clarisse, who had managed to stab the monster with her spear. Now, it was tottering around in circles, dazed, like it had been on one of those teacup rides at the amusement park and had spun around way over the maxium speed. If the scene weren't so scary, I might have even laughed.

Then Clarisse yanked her helmet off of her head and turned toward us, glaring, a strand of her hair also glaring at us with a flame. She stomped toward us and yelled at Percy, "You—ruin—everything! I had it under control!"

Of course she had it all under control. Her warriors showed just how much "under control" she had it.

Percy seemed too shocked to answer. I couldn't blame him. He had just run in to help his fellow campers, twisted his ankle, and almost gotten himself scorched by the Colchis Bulls.

Clarisse knew how to give the nicest greetings. "Good to see you too, Clarisse," I muttered.

"Argh!" Clarisse screamed. "Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"

I tried to change the topic. "Clarisse, you've got wounded campers."

Clarisse's face softened. Even if she was the daughter of the war god, she did care about her soldiers like any good leader should.

"I'll be back," she grumbled, then marched off to her warriors.

Meanwhile, Percy was staring at Tyson in shock. "You didn't die," he noted, a bit of awe creeping into his voice.

Tyson avoided his glance like he was embarrassed. "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."

"My fault," I admitted. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."

"Let him cross the boundary line?" Percy asked, confused. "But—"

"Percy," I said as calmly as I could. He couldn't just keep on not knowing the truth about Tyson. "Have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean... in the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him."

Percy studied Tyson for a while. His eyes traveled to the Cyclops's bumpy nose, then reluctantly, higher, until he reached Tyson's eye. Percy's eyes widened and he blinked.

"Tyson," Percy stuttered. "You're a..."

"Cyclops," I bit out. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."

"One of the what?" Percy asked.

"They're in almost all the big cities," I said, trying to hold back my distaste. Why big cities? Why not isolated areas that I'd never go to? "They're...mistakes, Percy. Children of nature spirits and gods... Well, one god in particular, usually..." I stopped myself from saying the name of the god. I didn't want to hurt Percy's feelings after all, and I didn't know how Percy would react if he found out. "And they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."

"But the fire," Percy stuttered. "How—"

"He's a Cyclops." I paused involuntarily and found a scene creeping back into my mind. I remembered the tall monster standing before me, threatening the lives of my friends. I was just seven years old when that happened...and I wasn't sure I wanted to remember it. I quickly shook my head to clear the image from my mind and continued explaining. "They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you."

Percy looked shocked, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. I couldn't blame him. I guess I would feel the same way if I found out that my friend was a monstrous beast, let alone a Cyclops.

Just then, Clarisse came trudging back to us. "Jackson," she said grudgingly, "if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."

I'd been at camp the longest, but never had anyone of that name come to camp. What was he doing here? The gears turned in my head. Tantalus? Something came up in the back of my mind, prodding my brain as if I should know who that was. But standing on top of the hill and looking at the two bulls that had crossed through the boundary, I couldn't concentrate enough to figure out who Tantalus was.

"Tantalus?" Percy asked.

"The activities director," Clarisse snapped.

What? I opened my mouth to shout at Clarisse to stop trying to trick us, but Percy beat me to it.

"Chiron is the activities director," Percy said. "And where's Argus? He's the head of security. He should be here."

Clarisse made a face. "Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing."

No... Did that mean Chiron and Argus were both fired, along with camp's being in trouble? It couldn't be...this couldn't be happening. In the state that camp was in, we needed them the most.

"But Chiron... He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years," Percy said. "He can't just be gone. What happened?"

"That happened." Clarisse pointed over Half-blood Hill... Thalia's tree.

The tree that was a symbol of Thalia. The tree that showed Thalia's bravery, her heart. The tree that protected camp from the monsters. The tree that everyone knew.

The tree…whose needles were a sickly shade of yellow. The tree whose dead leaves littered around its base. The tree that, in the middle of the trunk, had a punctured hole, looking as if someone had shot the tree. The tree that oozed green sap from the hole. The tree that showed Thalia's symbol…fading.

My legs felt like lead as I stared, eyes widened in horror, at the dying symbol of my best friend who had been willing to give up her life if it meant saving ours. I stepped back, my mouth hung open in horror and shock. Thalia was so brave, so strong. Who would dare do this?

I felt myself slowly walk towards the tree as if in a trance, dragging my feet on the ground. Needles pricked at my eyes, stinging them and blurring my vision. Nonetheless, my eyes stayed glued to the tree.

That's why. That's why. Monsters were overrunning Camp. All because the tree was dying. Thalia...

I reached out and gently touched the rough bark of the pine tree. My hand slowly drifted down towards the hole and I suddenly felt dizzy.

No one had shot Thalia's tree. The truth was even worse: someone had poisoned it.

A/N: PJOBookWorm: And that's chapter five! Did you like it, hate it, find things for us to do better, etc.? Leave your thoughts in a review! :D And a side note here: Who's excited for The Hunger Games movie? Team Peeta, Team Gale (whoooo), or couldn't care less? ;) (Though, of course, there's much more The Hunger Games than just that love triangle!)

Carameltootsieroll: Hope you guys liked it! Stay tuned for Chapter 6, and this time we promise to update faster! :)