A/N: carameltootsieroll: Hey guys! Sorry for keeping you guys waiting. But here it is! Chapter 7. Don't forget to click the review button!
Disclaimer: We don't not not not not own the PJO series/characters.
The Quest for the Golden Fleece
Chapter 7
As we walked to the dining pavilion, I sniffed and wiped away my tears, trying to compose myself. It was dinnertime, after all, and I couldn't lead my cabin while bawling. The sun started to set and the campers started filing towards the dining pavilion in lines.
Wiping away one more stray tear, I turned to Percy and said, "I-I'll talk to you later, okay?" He nodded and I walked towards my siblings.
"Annabeth!" Shirley exclaimed as I approached. "You're back!"
I forced a smile and nodded. Looking at my siblings, I realized how grim they were, too, even if they were wearing fake smiles.
"What happened while I was gone?" I asked.
The smiles melted off of my siblings' faces and they looked at each other.
"A lot," Malcolm sighed. "Camp's really different now, as you can probably tell. It started when Thalia's pine tree was poisoned."
"And now that Chiron's gone, Tantalus is replacing him," Shirley said, then whispered, "Oh, gods, Tantalus is horrible."
I knew he couldn't be good. "What did he do?" I asked.
"Do you not remember who Tantalus is? What he did?" Malcolm asked.
I paused, thinking, searching around my mind for that name. Tantalus... Gods, it was him. The king of Sipylos. He was supposed to be in the Underworld, condemned to stand in a pool of water filled up to his chin but not be able to drink, and stand under a tree filled with fruits but not be able to eat.
What did he do to deserve that punishment? He used to be favored by the gods, actually, and they invited him over to dine. There, he stole nectar and ambrosia and snuck it back to the mortal world. When the gods found out, they banished him from Olympus.
Tantalus was furious and, in a plot of revenge, offered that the gods come to his place for a feast. As for the food? He cut his son Pelops up, boiled him, then offered him to the gods to eat. The gods knew that something was wrong with the food and didn't eat it, except for Demeter, who ate a small part of Pelops' shoulder because she was still moping over the loss of Persephone. The gods eventually brought Pelops back to life and sentenced Tantalus to the Underworld for cannibalism and infanticide.
Tantalus was no way fit for a job as a camp counselor. What were the gods thinking?
"Him? Why?" I cried, horrified.
"He needed more punishment, I guess," Shirley said.
This made me miss Chiron even more, even though he had only left not more than five minutes ago. Why would they bring Tantalus to camp, knowing what he did, but send away Chiron just because of his father, when obviously Chiron was innocent? Thinking about Tantalus, I cringed, but led my cabin towards the dining pavilion and our table.
After our cabin came, the Ares cabin arrived, with Clarisse up front. Her arm was in a cast and her cheek had a gash, but she held her head high, still strong, even with a YOU MOO, GIRL! sign taped to her back. It seemed that no one decided to tell her about it, not even her siblings. That's what you got when your siblings feared or disliked you. I mean, if someone taped a sign to my back, my siblings would tell me... Right?
Then came the Hephaestus cabin, led by Charles Beckendorf. Beckendorf—no one ever called him by his first name—was an African American teenager of fifteen years. From the outside, he looked a bit intimidating, but he was really a nice and brave person. He could make almost anything, being a true son of Hephaestus.
After the Hephaestus cabin came the Demeter cabin with Katie Gardner in the front. Katie Gardner was a brown-haired girl with green eyes who could grow basically any plant. She could lecture anyone and almost always stuck to the rules. She was a really nice girl, but if someone got on her bad side, then... They should watch out.
Then the Aphrodite cabin filed in, led by Silena Beauregard, the nicest of the Aphrodite girls, but that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't obsessed with makeup or love. Silena was another hopeless romantic and always tried to convince me to let her give me a makeover, which I obviously never agreed to. But unlike the other Aphrodite girls, Silena didn't just toil over her makeup all day. She could fight and was a great Pegasus rider.
And then the Apollo cabin and Dionysus cabin came into the pavilion, followed by the nature creatures: dryads, naiads, and satyrs. Seeing the satyrs reminded me of Grover, and I played through the conversation in which Percy told me about his dream. A monster had chased Grover. Grover was in trouble. We had to help. Fiddling with my camp necklace nervously, my thoughts became muddled as disasters piled on top of each other, presenting problems that had to be fixed. I had to remember to ask Percy more about his dreams.
After the satyrs came the biggest cabin, the Hermes cabin, led by Connor and Travis Stoll in replace of Luke, who had left camp as a traitor. Connor and Travis looked extremely alike with their messy brown hair and same mischievous smiles. They caused trouble everywhere, always either stealing things or playing pranks. But they were surreptitious and probably only got punished for one out of every ten things they did.
After the last of the Hermes cabin walked into the dining pavilion, Percy led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion. Heads turned at the sight of Tyson and forks clattered to the plates. The pavilion became eerily quiet as all eyes focused on the Cyclops.
"Who invited that?" an Apollo kid asked.
Percy glared at the Apollo table and I cringed. Mr. D, the camp director and the god Dionysus, eyed Percy with a smirk, his blotchy tomato face brightening evilly. A trembling satyr handed Mr. D a grape, and Mr. D popped it into his mouth, then rubbed his Hawaiian shirt covering his bulging stomach. Next to him sat an extremely skinny, haggard-looking man wearing an orange prison uniform and looking like he had been living in the wild with no food for all his life. Tantalus. He looked livid. I didn't know if it was because he was stuck at camp, he couldn't eat, he saw Percy, or he saw Tyson.
"Well, well, if it isn't Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete," Mr. D smirked.
Percy narrowed his eyes and looked like he was trying not to hit Mr. D on the head right then and there. "Percy Jackson...sir," he forced himself to add in a tone that showed he didn't think the word "sir" fit Mr. D at all.
Mr. D rolled his eyes, giving an I-couldn't-care-less look. He drank his Diet Coke, then said, "Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever." He turned to Tantalus and said, "This boy, you need to watch. Poseidon's child, you know."
"Ah! That one," Tantalus cackled in a knowing tone. He smirked malevolently at Percy and sneered, "I am Tantalus. 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 asked, outraged.
Smirking, Mr. D snapped his fingers and a newspaper appeared on the table. I sat up straighter and raised my head, straining my eyes to look at the newspaper. It was the New York Post, and on the front page, I could make out a picture of Percy. I inferred the article was about the, uh, minor mess we made in Meriwether. So that had already gotten out? That wasn't good. Percy just had a natural talent for getting on the news.
"Yes, trouble," Tantalus cackled, nodding. "You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand."
Percy glared at Tantalus, his face red with anger. It seemed like he wanted to retort, but was too busy fuming. He caused trouble? He was the one who fixed the trouble!
A satyr nervously advanced towards Tantalus, clutching a plate of barbecue. He placed it in front of Tantalus and scurried away, as if afraid of not only Tantalus, but the food, too. Tantalus glanced at the food with delight, licking his lips. He looked at his cup, said, "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967", and the glass filled itself with the drink.
But... Tantalus couldn't eat or drink anything. It didn't matter if he was in the Underworld or not. He couldn't eat the barbecue or drink the root beer, could he?
Tantalus hesitantly reached out for the glass, his hand wavering, signaling that he still couldn't consume anything. Why did he even bother trying?
"Go on, then, old fellow. Perhaps now it will work." Mr. D said, as if he were eager to see the food and drink do a jig.
Tantalus nodded and quickly shot out his hand to snatch the cup, but it slid away from him so quickly that some of the root beer spilled. Tantalus tried to touch the drops of root beer, but they tumbled away. Growling, he turned to his plate of barbecue and picked up his fork, aiming it at the brisket with a murderous glint in his eyes. He brought his fork down to spear the brisket, but the whole plate ran away from Tantalus and sped into the bronze brazier. Tantalus made a sour face and threw down his fork angrily.
"Blast!" he muttered.
Mr. D tried to hide a snicker and said sarcastically, "Ah, well. 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."
Did Mr. D just bring Tantalus to camp for his own amusement? Did he need Tantalus for dinner entertainment? I had to admit, it was a bit entertaining watching food come to life.
"Eventually," Tantalus grumbled as he stared longingly at Mr. D's Diet Coke. "Do you have any idea how dry one's throat gets after three thousand years?" Was that a prompt to try to get Mr. D to pour the Diet Coke down Tantalus' throat?
A look of realization crossed Percy's face. "You're that spirit from the Fields of Punishment," he exclaimed. "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 as if he couldn't be any slower. "A real scholar, aren't you, boy?"
"You must've done something really horrible when you were alive. What was it?"
Oh, Percy, when will you learn to keep your mouth shut? And was that an impressed tone in Percy's voice? I had to talk to him about what was a good accomplishment and what was not.
"I'll be watching you, Percy Jackson," Tantalus said with a pointed glare. "I don't want any problems at my camp."
His camp? His camp? I doubted he had been at camp for more than a week. Since when was it his camp?
"Your camp has problems already...sir," Percy said, as if adding the word "sir" would make Tantalus less angry.
Dionysus yawned and drawled lazily, "Oh, go sit down, Johnson. I believe that table over there is yours—the one where no one else ever wants to sit."
That wasn't necessarily true... And it wasn't like I could if I wanted to. The half-bloods had to sit at their own cabins' tables.
Percy grew red in the face and he clenched his fists, glaring at Mr. D. "Come on, Tyson."
"Oh, no. The monster stays here," Tantalus sneered. "We must decide what to do with it."
"Him," Percy corrected angrily. "His name is Tyson."
Tantalus arched an eyebrow.
"Tyson saved the camp," Percy said. "He pounded those bronze bulls. Otherwise they would've burned down this whole place."
It was true...
"Yes, and what a pity that would've been," Tantalus said, sighing dramatically. Mr. D snickered next to him. I narrowed my eyes at them. Less than one week at camp and Tantalus was already acting like he owned the place.
"Leave us while we decide this creature's fate," Tantalus demanded, glaring at Tyson.
Tyson looked panicked, his large eye welling with tears.
"I'll be right over here, big guy," Percy said. "Don't worry. We'll find you a good place to sleep tonight." But Percy sounded like he had when he told us things would be okay—unconvincing, but still trying to put on a semblance of optimism. How would Tantalus and Mr. D allow a Cyclops to stay at camp? Camp was named Camp Half-Blood for a reason, and it didn't help that Tyson was a monster.
Tyson didn't seem to hear the small doubt in Percy's voice and said, "I believe you. You are my friend."
Percy nodded, trying to put on a brave face, but I could see guilt in his eyes, though apparently Tyson couldn't. Percy walked towards his table with his head down, and as the nymphs brought food to the tables, chatter slowly resumed.
My siblings and I walked over to the brazier, and I tossed in some food as an offering to the gods. "Athena, accept my offering." I need to help camp. As the food landed in the brazier, I caught the smell of olives.
We walked back to the table and sat down, digging into our pizzas, which had pepperoni and olives as toppings. (Hopefully, the olives would catch Athena's attention...)
Malcolm poked at his slice of pizza. "Pepperoni?" he asked, scrunching up his nose.
"How can you not like pepperoni?" Andy asked. He reached out and snatched the pizza out of Malcolm's hands. "I'll eat it, thank you."
"Hey!" Malcolm protested, reaching out for his pizza.
Shirley sighed. "You're not a very powerful second-in-command, Malcolm. You should work on that."
"All right, Andy," I commanded, "you can just take off the pepperoni on the pizza, I guess, but give the rest back to Malcolm."
I hoped it wasn't just my half-siblings who were weird.
"Camp is in trouble," Olivia said, "and you're sitting, arguing over pizza?"
"Thank you, Olivia," I said.
Malcolm and Andy immediately stopped squabbling.
"You're right," Malcolm sighed. "We have to think of a plan to help. Athena always has a plan."
"How long will border patrol last?" Andy asked. "People keep getting injured. The monsters really are vicious."
"At this rate," I murmured, "camp won't be able to last much longer. We need to figure out a way to get Thalia's pine tree healed. Or better protection. But Chiron said that..." I trailed off, running through the conversation with Chiron in my head. Chiron had said that it was long lost...but if we could just find it...
Then, the conch blew, and I looked at the head table to see a satyr nervously fingering the conch shell. It seemed Tantalus thought it was below himself to blow air into a shell.
The talking seized and Tantalus clasped his hands, saying, "Yes, well, another fine meal! Or so I am told." He kept his eyes on the campers as he tried to furtively creep his hand forward towards his still full plate, hoping the food wouldn't notice. But once his hand got within six inches of the plate, the plate zoomed off down the table.
Tantalus made a sour face while Mr. D tried to snort subtly (the operative word being "tried").
"And here on my first day of authority," Tantalus continued, as if nothing had happened and the food hadn't run away from him again, "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."
Um... I supposed centuries of not eating made people absolutely desperate for anything.
Mr. D looked gleeful that he had finally found someone who could understand his torture and entertain him at the same time, and he clapped. He turned around and glared at the satyrs, and they raised their hands and started clapping quietly, shifting around and looking anywhere but at Tantalus and Mr. D.
"And," Tantalus said with a wicked smile as he reached out and pulled back towards the table an uncomfortable-looking Tyson trying to creep away, "now some changes! We are reinstituting the chariot races!"
What?! The chariot races? Was I hearing him right? Murmurs broke out around the pavilion. I exchanged wide-eyed looks with my siblings. The last time a chariot race happened at camp was three years ago. I looked down at my camp necklace and found that my hand had subconsciously drifted up to clutch the fourth bead: a simple chariot. The symbol was small, yet it held many memories that wouldn't be forgotten. Judging by the panic and disbelief traveling around the pavilion, the other campers who were here at that time hadn't forgotten, either.
"Now, I know that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems," Tantalus said.
Technical problems? More like—
"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," an Apollo kid shouted. Exactly.
"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said excitedly, restraining himself from clapping his hands. Did he want to see all the campers die so he wouldn't have to be stuck at camp anymore? "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?"
Did he say no chores? No chores at all? For a month? That incentive seemed to cause people who were wary of the races to throw away their previous concerns.
"Awesome!" Andy exclaimed. "We have to win this!"
But it seemed a bit suspicious, not just because of the potential danger. Since when was Tantalus generous?
"I don't know," Malcolm said. "I mean, no chores would be great, but don't you think there's something off about this? And remember how dangerous the last race was."
Andy shook his head. "I wasn't at camp yet, remember? How bad was it?"
Malcolm shook his head. "I think that was the second year I was at camp. I was just a kid—heck, Annabeth was even smaller. We didn't compete in it, but what happened was nothing kids our age should've had to see. It was horrible. All those campers—our siblings, our friends—were injured so badly that—"
Just then, Clarisse stood up, wringing her hands, looking nervous. Was she protesting? I thought Clarisse would love the chance to pulverize campers without needing an excuse. "But sir! What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots—"
That's what was wrong. I couldn't believe Clarisse had seen that while I hadn't. How could we protect camp from the monsters if no one had time to patrol?
But Tantalus cut off her argument. "Ah, the hero of the day! Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!"
Wha—excuse me? Clarisse was a good fighter, but that was hardly single-handedly. Besides her ten warriors, she had help from Percy, me, and... Tyson.
Clarisse looked shocked that she was receiving praise and actually tried to correct Tantalus. "Um, I didn't—"
"And modest, too." Tantalus beamed, as if Clarisse were his daughter and he couldn't be more proud. "Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?"
"But the tree—" Clarisse protested. Thalia's pine tree couldn't protect camp from monsters anymore.
Tantalus ignored Clarisse. As if he cared about camp. Clarisse's siblings shoved her down into her seat, apparently desperate for a month of no chores. At least Clarisse had her priorities straight.
"And now, 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 said, sticking his stick of a finger out at Tyson.
Hey! In my defense, we needed him to defeat the bulls. I cringed, not exactly eager for my name to be associated with a Cyclops.
My siblings looked at Tyson, then back at me, knowing my aversion to Cyclops. I mean, whenever I saw a picture of one, I couldn't exactly hide my feelings well.
"Um, Annabeth, don't you—" Shirley started saying.
"We needed him to fight off the bulls!" I defended.
Tantalus gained back the campers' attentions. "Now, of course, 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' cabin, possibly?"
All attention shifted towards the Hermes table, which was already packed as it was. Travis and Connor started studying their fingers and exclaiming over the patterns on the plain, single-colored tablecloth. The Hermes cabin was jammed full of demigods, including the ones who hadn't been claimed, and I doubted they wanted an extremely large monster thrown in with them. I was silently hoping Tantalus wouldn't ask the Athena cabin.
Tantalus smirked at the silence. "Come now. The monster may be able to do some menial chores," he sneered. "Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"
Tantalus' smirk grew wider as no one piped up, but suddenly, all attention shifted away from him and to Tyson. Gasps spread throughout the pavilion.
There, above Tyson's head, was a glowing symbol. A spinning green trident. The symbol of Poseidon. Meaning... Poseidon had claimed Tyson as his son. My suspicions were right. Poseidon had fostered another Cyclops with a nymph. But Tyson got claimed that quickly? I didn't even expect Poseidon to claim him! I thought Tyson would've just gotten thrown out.
Tantalus nearly fell of his chair in shock, and Percy stared, stunned, as he gaped at his father's symbol glowing over Tyson's head.
"Well! I think we know where to put the beast now," Tantalus cackled, getting over his shock. "By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"
He howled with laughter and the campers did the same. I glared at my reluctant, nervously chuckling siblings, and they stopped their fake laughter. That was hardly fair. Percy definitely did not look like a monster. First of all, he had two green eyes, not one brown eye.
Tyson didn't notice the laughter and instead tried to catch the trident in his hands, but obviously failed. No matter how obtuse he was, though, that wouldn't stop him from leaving Camp Half-Blood now that he'd been claimed.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, suddenly overcome with a headache. So now a Cyclops was staying at a camp for demigods. Great. For the first time in all my years at camp, I didn't feel much like singing at the campfire.
A/N: PJOBookWorm: And that's chapter seven! Hope you liked it! Has anyone been watching the Olympics? The Closing Ceremony is tomorrow! Is anyone excited for The Demigod Diaries coming out on the 14th? There's Percabeth in there, after so long! Anyway, please leave a review, tell us what you liked, what you didn't like, and hopefully we'll update soon!
carameltootsieroll: Hey guys! I hope you all liked this chapter! Please don't forget to review Chapter 7 and tell us what you think of it! On the other hand, it's been raining cats and dogs here in Manila for the past how many days. We're really praying that the weather improves. How are you guys? :)