When the window on my chariot dissipated I finally was able to look around. The Apollo Cabin had shot down some of the Stymphalian Birds, most of the chariots with the exception of mines were destroyed, almost everybody was wounded or bleeding from the bird attacks.

Tantalus did a slow clap as rolled his eyes and gave a disappointed sigh. "Bravo, we have our first winner."

He walked toward the finish line where I was and rewarded me with golden laurels for winning the race. Tantalus then turned to Percy and Annabeth with a cruel smile. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."

So it turned out that Percy and Annabeth used Chiron's stereo in order to make the Stymphalian Birds go crazy. Apparently Tantalus saw it as the Stymphalian Birds were minding their own business and only attacked because Percy, Tyson, and Annabeth had distracted them because of their bad chariot driving. He sent the three of them to do kitchen patrol and help the harpies clean the dishes. But the Harpies clean the dishes with actual lava, so I can only hope that they're careful.

Tantalus barely even bothered to acknowledge that I was the winner of the chariot race, instead he praised Clarisse for almost winning the race. He spent dinner telling Clarisse how much he loved how she was driving and treated me as though I only got lucky. But afterward when we were heading to the campfire, Percy filled me in about his dream with Grover.

He spoke with Annabeth and told me that they were going to head to the Sea of Monsters to rescue Grover from Polyphemus and retrieve the Fleece and that they were going to tell Tantalus about it at the campfire.

"So are you coming with us?" Percy asked me.

"Percy," I said. "I've been hounding Dionysus and Tantalus about getting the Golden Fleece. They've said no every single time."

"But this'll be different," Percy said. "We're going to tell him about it in front of everyone. There's no way he can deny it."

"Fine. I guess so," I said. "I was planning to leave in order to get the Golden Fleece tonight after the campfire. But now that you might have a quest, then perhaps I won't have to sneak out."

"You weren't gonna go alone, right?" Percy asked. "You were going to ask Annabeth and I."

"Yeah…yeah, of course," I lied, and I think Percy could tell that I was lying. But if he knew I was lying then he didn't press forward.

Just like normal, the Apollo Cabin led the sing-along. We did the camp numbers such as: "Down by the Aegean", "I Am My Own Great Great Great Great Grandpa", and "This Land is Minos' Land".

The camp bonfire was enchanted so that the higher we sang the higher the bonfire got, it changed mood and color depending on how the crowd was feeling. Tonight, the fire was about five feet high, barely warm, and the fire was the color of lint. Dionysus left early, muttering about how playing pinochle with Chiron was more exciting than this. He threw a distasteful look at Tantalus before heading back to the Big House.

"Well, that was lovely!" Tantalus said when the last song was over. He came forward, holding a toasted marshmallow on a stick. When he made a grab for the marshmallow it shot off the stick and dove into the fire. He turned to the crowd, smiling coldly. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule!"

"Sir," Percy said.

Tantalus' eye twitched. "Our kitchen boy has something to say?"

Some Ares cabin members snickered.

Percy stood up, he looked at both Annabeth and I, then we stood up beside him. "We have an idea to save the camp."

There was Dead Silence. Tantalus spoke as he glared at me. "I think I might just have an idea on what you're about to say."

"The Golden Fleece, Tantalus," I said. "We know where it is."

The flames turned orange. Before Tantalus could stop us Percy started talking about his dream with Grover and Polyphemus' island. Annabeth and I spoke up too in order to add on some more context, telling everybody what the Fleece was capable of.

"The Golden Fleece can save Thalia's tree," I said. "It can save the Camp. I'm sure of it. Just give us the quest to retrieve it and no one in this camp will have to worry about having to fight off monsters inside the one place where we're supposed to be safe."

"Nonsense," Tantalus said. "We don't need saving."

Everyone stared at him like he was kidding.

"Besides, the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look," Tantalus said.

"Yes, I would," Percy said.

I leaned over to him and whispered. "You would?"

Percy nodded. "30, 31, 75, 12."

"Oooo-kay," Tantalus said. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

"They're sailing coordinates," Percy said. "Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."

Annabeth looked impressed, which was a rarity when it came to knowledge. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray 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 just a minute," Tantalus said. But it was too late, everybody took up the chant. I used lightning to spell out the chant in the sky, just something to really hammer it in. The flames of the bonfire rose higher. "It isn't necessary!"

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

"FINE!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazed in anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"

"YES!"

"Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp, or die trying."

I stood straight, I was sure that he would choose me. I mean, it just made sense. It's my sister's tree that's dying, I killed the Minotaur and the Nemean Lion, I won the Chariot Races, I have the experience of being on TWO quests, barely anybody in camp has been on one quest. It just seemed natural.

"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle! And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of the champion is obvious," Tantalus gave Percy, Annabeth, and I a dirty look. "The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest…Clarisse!"

At first, I genuinely didn't believe what I was hearing. I was convinced that I heard it wrong, because there was no way that Tantalus chose Clarisse to go on this quest. But unfortunately, the chanting, the cheering, and the stomping from the Ares kids reinforced that what I heard was true.

The fire flicked different colors as Clarisse stood, looking stunned before she swallowed and gave a look of determination. "I accept the quest!"

"Wait!" Percy shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."

"He's right!" I said. "Plus this is Thalia's tree we need to save. My sister's tree! And Clarisse hasn't even been on a single quest since she's been at camp! I've been on two quests! If we're trusting somebody with something as important as saving the camp and the future of all demigods then shouldn't we send somebody with more experience!?"

I heard murmurs of agreement in the audience until Jermaine spoke up. "Sit down! You both had your chance last summer!"

"Yeah, they just want to be in the spotlight again!" Another Ares kid shouted.

Clarisse glared at both Percy and I. "I accept the quest! I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"

The Ares kids cheered even louder. People started taking sides. Athena, Hephaestus, Apollo, and Hermes were on our side while Aphrodite, Demeter, and Dionysus were on Clarisse's side. There was shouting, arguing, people were throwing marshmallows at each other. Heck, I even saw some Ares and Athena kids drawing weapons to fight.

I felt like I had to do something, I went all the way down to where Tantalus stood and pushed him aside. I took a deep breath, I focused, and clapped my hands together as hard as I could.

CRACK!

Lightning struck right at my feet, and then there was silence. Everybody had their eyes on me. "Wow, didn't think that would actually work."

Just then I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Tantalus. He was staring down at me with a crooked smile as if he was about to break at any moment. "Sit down."

I pushed his hand off my shoulder. "Never touch me again, creep."

"Sit…down," Tantalus said, with an edge to his voice this time. I rolled my eyes and went back to take a seat next to Percy, and I noticed now that an evil aura radiated from Tantalus, just as strong as any monster. "I think it's time that I tell you brats a little ghost story. Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!"

He pressed his hand on his chest, like it was a very personal story. "The king was even allowed to feat 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!"

He pointed his crooked finger at us. "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 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 knew what was in the stew. I've heard this story before. The light of the fire glowed dark blue, it reflected ominously off his face. "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? Rumor 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 off on her quest?"

No one said a word. This guy is horrible, I can't believe that he of all people was chosen to be Chiron's replacement.

Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."

Clarisse looked uncomfortable, like she didn't like being treated this way by Tantalus. "Sir-"

"Go!" Tantalus snarled.

Clarisse bowed and ran off toward the Big House.

"What about you? Percy Jackson? Alaster Grace? Any complaints from our Dishwasher or our resident Golden Boy?" Tantalus asked.

I didn't say anything. Neither did Percy. It didn't matter if I wasn't chosen to go on the quest. Because tonight I would be sneaking out to go on the quest by myself.

"Good," He said. "And let me remind everyone-no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries…well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well."

Tantalus waved his hand and the fire was extinguished. Everyone trailed off toward their cabins.

Once I entered my cabin I knew that I had to start prepping for my leave. I'm not scared of the harpies. The harpies are flying creatures who thrive for being in the sky, my father's domain. So by extension I have superiority over them. They can't attack me even if they wanted to.

I spent a while preparing so that I could make sure everybody was actually in their cabins or even in the Big House so I wouldn't be caught. First, I had to prepare my weapons. Remember those two teeth that I got from killing the Nemean Lion? Well, let's just say I spent a little while making those teeth into daggers. I had some handles that belonged to daggers or other weapons that I used, so I spent a while putting those teeth blades on the handles. You know, just in case I run into the Nemean Lion again.

I also spent a while on making some canisters of greek fire. Greek fire is pretty much green fire that's used for bombs. It doesn't extinguish, it can even burn while it's underwater. It's a very rare thing that not everybody knows how to make, it's very dangerous when it's in the wrong hands. You might be wondering how I know how to make it? That's because a long time ago before I got to camp Thalia, Luke, and I got ourselves into a situation where we had to make Greek fire in order to escape from some monsters. That's a whole other story for a whole other day though.

I laid down all of my weapons on my bed. My spiked bracelet that turned into a bow that could shoot lightning bolts? Check. My mace canister that turned into a spear? Check. Bracelet that turns into Aegis? Check.

I turned from my bed to head over to my dresser to get some clothes out but I was stopped in my tracks. There was an ominous green glow that filled the cabin, and it was coming from my bed. I walked closer and closer slowly before I was standing over my bed, looking directly down at the glow. It faded slowly, and in its place was a green six sided dice.

Okay. Weird.

I grabbed the dice and I flipped it into the air, when it landed on my palm the side with one dot was sticking up. There was a brief green glow and then the next second there was a sword in my hand. The blade wasn't that much long, but it sure as heck wasn't short. Maybe about 3 feet. The sword was made of celestial bronze, the handle/hilt was Y-shaped (the upper half of the Y curved just a bit) and was wrapped in green leather, and the pommel of the sword was circular and faced downward. There was a bronze illustration of a lightning bolt that was inscribed into the blade near the hilt.

This was a bit weird. Who gave me this? And why did they give me it in a dice form? If it is in a dice form then does that mean it can turn into other weapons?

I laid the sword down on my bed and turned into the green dice again. Then I went to my dresser. I took out a bunch of clothes and put them on my bed as well. You're probably wondering how I'm planning to carry all of this stuff? Well I have a backpack. And how am I going to fit all of this stuff in one backpack?

Well before the summer ended last year I struck a deal with the Stoll Brothers, they'd give me a bottomless backpack where I can carry pretty much anything and it will never get full in exchange for me letting them use my lightning bow a few times. They got the backpack as a gift from their father, Hermes.

I put all the canisters of Greek Fire, the extra clothes, some snacks and beverages I had smuggled in by some satyrs, and more into the backpack. I put the spiked bracelet on my right wrist and the Aegis bracelet on my left wrist. I was wearing a brown fur denim jacket (that I had gotten from killing the Nemean Lion; as long as I wear it it'll protect me from attacks from others) over the orange camp half-blood shirt, beige cargo pants, the black chuck taylor shoes that were flying shoes that I used to fly, and on my waist there was a brown belt which had my mace canister and two Nemean Lion teeth daggers attached to it. The dice was In one of my pockets as well.

I put the backpack on my back and took a deep breath. It was time to go. I was going to go save the camp and Grover. I was going to the Sea of Monsters.