The day of mine and Clarisse's Chariot Race win, Tantalus ordered a massive banquet to celebrate our victory, the main course being southern-styled Stymphalian Death Bird. The Stymphalian being the creatures that dive-bombed us during said Chariot Race. I didn't have a chance to talk to Percy and Annabeth the rest of the afternoon about the dream the Son of Posideon had, because they were shoved into cleaning duty with Tyson. That night at the campfire, the Apollo Children tried to lead us in a sing-along, hoping to get our spirits up. The Ares and Hermes Cabins were seated beside each other, the Unclaimed wanting me in the spotlight next to Clarisse herself. I will admit, I did like the attention, but Percy and Annabeth deserved the praise for figuring out how to subdue the birds. I stared into the bonfire, twirling my half-cooked marshmallow on a stick. The flames were about a meter high, and an ashy grey. I remember coming home the Quest last year, the flames roared high and were bright purple. "You ok?" Ethan asked me.

"Yeah, I'm good, bro." I said, turning to him. "You?"

"I'm…" Ethan thought for a moment. "I don't know." I saw him glare a little in Tyson's direction. I sighed. There was no way I would get him to be nice to Tyson, not after what happened to Thalia. Mr D left the campfire early. After he tolerated a handful of songs, he muttered something about how even playing Pinochle with Chiron was far more exciting than what was happening, gave Tantalus a sour look and headed back to the Big House. When the final song was over, Tantalus stood.

"Well, that was lovely." Tantalus said with a smile He had his own toasted marshmallow on a stick, but it scooted away from his hand before Tantalus could touch it, committing suicide and flinging itself into the dying hearth. "Now then, some announcements about tomorrow's schedule-"

"Sir." Percy interrupted. Tantalus sneered.

"Our kitchen boy has something to say?" Percy then stood. I watched him closely, noticing that Annabeth stood as well.

"We have an idea to save the Camp." I sat up, my attention solely on him now. The hearth flashed yellow.

"Indeed." Tantalus muttered. "Well, if it has anything to do with chariots-"

"The Golden Fleece." Percy blurted out before Tantalus could continue. "We know where it is." My eyes widened, the fire burning orange. Percy then recounted his dream about Grover, Polyphemus' island and the Sea of Monsters, where the Fleece itself was most likely located. and Annabeth chimed in and reminded us about the Golden Fleece's magical properties.

"The Fleece can save the Camp." Annabeth finished. "I'm certain of it."

"Nonsense." Tantalus dismissed. "We don't need saving." I turned to him, my eyes set in a firm glare. "B-besides, the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."

"Yes I would." Percy said determinedly. Annabeth lent towards him and muttered something in his ear. "Thirty, thirty-one, seventy-five, twelve."

"O-ok, thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

"There sailing coordinates." Percy said. "Latitude and Longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."

"Thirty degrees, thirty-one minutes north." Annabeth repeated I could see the cogs turning in her head behind those calculating grey eyes of hers. "Seventy-five degrees, twelve minutes west. He's right! The Grey Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a Quest!"

"Wait a minute-" Tantalus tried.

"We need a Quest!" The Campers roared. "We need a Quest!" As the chant continued, the flames in the earth grew higher and brighter.

"It isn't necessary-"

"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"

"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, cutting us off. "You brats want me to assign a Quest!?"

"YES!"

"Very well. I shall authorise a pair of champions to undertake this perilous journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to Camp…or die trying. I will allow our champions to consult the Oracle! And chose one other companion for the journey. And I think the choice of champions is obvious." Tantalus turned to Percy and Annabeth, his eyes as cold as ice. "The champions should be those who have earned the Camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defence of the Camp. You shall lead this quest…Clarisse and Mako." My head snapped up to Tantalus. The Ares cabin started stomping, roaring with pride.

"CLARISSE! CLARISSE!" Their shouts drowned out the cheering from the people around me in the Hermes Cabin. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ethan's fist clench in anger. Said girl stood, her face one of shock. I watched Clarisse as her chest swelled with pride.

"I accept the Quest!" She declared.

"Wait!" Percy protested. "Grover is my friend, the dream came to me!"

"Sit down!" Someone shouted. "You had your chance last summer!"

"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!"

"I accept the Quest!" Clarisse repeated. "I, Clarisse, Daughter of Ares, will save the Camp!" The Ares campers went wild, cheering in celebration, and it was soon obvious that sides were taken, shouting, throwing marshmallows, and making their arguments about who should lead the Quest.

"Silence, you brats!" Tantalus roared. "Sit down! And I will tell you a ghost story." Everyone who was standing plopped into their seats. "Once upon a time, there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods! This king was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe, just one little doggie bag, mind you, the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children…just…like…you. Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children? Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?" I refused to answer, my hand over my mouth. I knew exactly what this story was, and I hated every bit of it. The firelight was a dark blue, glowing at the bottom of Tantalus' face which cast an eerie glow across it. "Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife. They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumour has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so…are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse and Mako off on their Quest?" There was more silence from everyone. Tantalus then turned to Clarisse and I. "The Oracle my dears, go on."

I sighed pushing my hands into my knees to stand. Clarisse hastily bowed and scurried to the Big House, me trailing behind with my hands in my pockets. We headed down the path and I stopped at the fork in the road, one way led to the Cabins, and the other to the Bg House. Clarisse paused and turned, realising that I wasn't following her. "You're not coming?" She asked me.

"I've had enough near-death experiences for a lifetime." I told her. "I might sit this one out."

"But we were assigned this Quest together."

"Like Tantalus even wanted to give the Quest." I said with a small eye-roll. "Look, I've been on a Quest, I've gotten the glory, it's your turn. Besides, someone has to stay back to make sure the camp doesn't go to shit."

"Are you sure?" Clarisse wondered. "Having you there would be a really big help."

"Maybe, but you won't learn anything." I gave Clarise a small salute. "See you in the morning." I headed toward the Cabins, hopefully, I could sleep enough before border patrol in the morning.