Act II Chapter XXIII: "I owe you two."
"I'm Silena. Silena Beauregard, and this is-"
"Do we really need to invite these brats here?"
"He is spying on us for those monsters!"
"I remember you, Beckendorf."
"What is Tyson doing here?"
"Do you really think he is a monster."
"-more like us. We came out here first."
"-WILL NOT HAVE A MONSTE-."
"We were attacked! How are we-"
"Get you seated."
"Dear, come here."
There were too many conversations going on for Percy to keep track. All of the noise assaulted his ears, and the pain in his arm made it hard to focus. He closed his eyes tightly. Someone gently guided him to a seated position as they made it to even ground.
"Percy, can you hear me?" Chiron asked.
"Too many noises," Percy complained.
"I know," Chiron said in a soft voice. He cleared his throat and raised his voice. "Everyone! Please. We just had a lot of excitement. Why don't we all calm down for a moment? Reyna, come here and take a seat. I will get you some nectar."
A glance at Reyna showed she was staring off into space. She seemed to snap out of it as Luke gently nudged her. Reyna looked at them and made her way over. She carefully sat down and placed a hand to her shoulder.
"Silena and Beckendorf, it is great to see you again," Chiron greeted. Percy looked at the two demigods. They were definitely older than him. The girl, Silena, made Percy's jaw drop as he looked at her. She was the most beautiful person that Percy had ever seen in his life.
Her black hair curled around her shoulders, and it didn't look like a strand was out of place. Blue eyes held a kindness to them. Next to her stood a tall, buff man with dark skin. There was a scowl on his face, but his words were happy as he spoke, "Hello, Chiron. It's great to see you again."
"There are a few more demigods like us waiting," Silena began. "We all met at the terminal, and we weren't sure if this was a trap or not. No offense. Charlie and I agreed to come here and make sure everything was safe."
"We were using a rental, but the bull ran right into it," Beckendorf explained.
"I can go with them and bring the rest of the demigods back," Luke offered.
"And are we going to talk about the monster on the hill?!" Clarisse demanded. "He's a spy for the monsters!"
"If he was a spy, why would he help us fight the bulls?" Annabeth questioned.
"To gain our trust!" Clarisse almost yelled. "So we can let our guard down."
"Wouldn't our guard be up more because we have more demigods in the camp?" Luke countered. "Especially if there is a monster in the camp. No offense, um..."
"Tyson."
"Tyson," Luke finished.
"Percy is my friend," Tyson said. He looked at Percy, and his eye widened. Maybe, Percy should have been so shocked that his friend was a monster by the technical definition. He felt protective of Tyson, though. And, he was in a lot of pain because of his arm. That shock was still in his system.
"You're hurt!" Tyson realized. He stepped forward only to immediately stumble back. Terminus flickered into existence.
"No monsters in my camp!" Terminus snarled. Tyson stumbled back.
"Not all Cyclopes are monsters," Dionysus chimed in. The god leaned on air as he swigged his drink around and took a sip. "I mean, most are. But not all. This one might be different."
"Tyson would have already hurt me if he was bad," Percy argued. "We're friends!"
"I don't trust him for a damn second," Clarisse seethed. "He probably was trying to get close."
"And do what, Clarisse? Find where we were? It wasn't like Percy would bring Tyson with him when he had the dream."
"Tyson could have followed him!"
"Not that it matters because we were always on the move."
"Will you both just shut up?!" Reyna demanded. Percy jumped in surprise at the outburst. "If Tyson was going to hurt us, he wouldn't have saved Clarisse."
"He helped us with the bulls," Beckendorf added. "Told us to run and that he would try to hold them off. We convinced him to follow us."
Clarisse stormed away from them and down into the camp. With a nod from Chiron, Luke led Silena and Beckendorf away, asking them where the demigods had been left. Will gently felt along Percy's arm, and a wince left Percy.
"That really hurts," Percy began. He looked at his arm and saw there was already an ugly, purple bruise forming there. Moving it also hurts.
"Sorry," Will apologized.
"Let him in, Terminus. Could be fun," Dionysus commented. Terminus didn't look happy, but he poofed away. Tyson slowly raised his hand and reached forward. His hand met no resistance, and he slowly stepped forward. Then, he rushed to Percy's side.
"Percy!" Tyson said as he pulled Percy into a hug. Percy winced but hugged his friend back the best he could.
"Hey," Percy began. "I didn't know you were a... but did you know that I was a..."
"I could smell you," Tyson said with a toothy grin. "I tried to keep the other monsters away."
"Thanks," Percy returned. Tyson let go of him and helped him sit back down. A wince left Percy as Will touched his arm.
"Sorry," Will said quickly. He turned his head. "Reyna, I'll help you in just a second, okay?"
"No problem," Reyna muttered. She gritted her teeth.
"Is that the same shoulder?" Percy questioned. He received a nod. "Thank you. Without you, I don't know what I would have done."
"Been murdered by a bull," Reyna muttered. "You can't let yourself get distracted like that."
Percy remained silent as he saw the blood that was on Reyna's hands. Along with Will's. It was Percy's blood, and that made him swallow painfully. His gaze moved to his shirt. That was a lot of blood.
"I know," Percy finally said. "But thank you again. I owe you one."
"Two," Reyna corrected. Percy smiled at her, and even though it looked like Reyna was trying to fight herself, she smiled back.
"I owe you two. I'll make it up," Percy promised. A shadow fell over them, and he moved his gaze to look at Lupa. The wolf goddess studied Reyna, and the Roman nodded. Lupa turned away and walked toward Tyson.
Percy looked back down the hill and stared at the two bodies of the bulls. He had gotten distracted, and it almost got him killed. He couldn't do that again. Percy had to focus on his training and get better.
Especially if he was going to save the world.