Chapter 2: Bulls are not Immune to Spears

The giant burst into a cloud of green flame.

Standing in the smoke was Annabeth.

"Well," I said "You certainly took a long nap. How were the waffles?"

"Excellent." She said sharply "And now-"

"THERE!" a woman screamed.

She put on her cap and disappeared.

"They'll probably check on me in the infirmary, I'll escape through the window" I muttered to her.

"Don't forget to bring your friend here" she said.

The physics teacher, grabbed me and questioned why I didn't escape with everyone else before taking me to the infirmary when I said I felt light headed due to the smoke and that Tyson tried to help me.

One pushing Tyson through a tiny window after putting the nurses into sleep through genjutsu later:

Annabeth was waiting for us in an alley down Church Street.

"Where'd you find him?" she demanded, gesturing wildly at Tyson.

"He goes to school with me."

"Is he homeless?"

"He's right here you know? Just ask him."

"He can talk?"

"I talk" Tyson said "You are pretty."

"Ah! Gross!" she stepped away from him.

"Hey this man did not just catch mini comets for you to call him gross!" I said, I couldn't believe she could be so rude.

"I'm surprised the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around"

"Laistry-wha?"

"The monsters in the gym. Theyre cannibals who live far in the north."

There was the sound of sirens nearby, and I realized that there actually was a fire now.

'Huh. Convenient.'

"We should go. Tell me about the dreams you were talking about on the way."

"Alright" she said "We'll take the taxi."

"I am not paying for a taxi all the way to camp."

"Not the regular kind" she said as she fished her backpack "Found one."

"Stêthi," she shouted in Ancient Greek. "Ô hárma diabolês!"

Naturally, my built in translator caught it.

She said Stop, Chariot of Damnation!

She threw a drachma into the street, but instead of clattering on the road it sang through and disappeared.

Where the coin had fallen, the asphalt darkened. It melted into a rectangular pool. Then a car erupted.

'Note to self: learn how to turn coins into taxis'

Unlike normal taxis, it was smokey gray, as in MADE of smoke.

The window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out.

"Passage? Passage?"

"Three to Camp Half-Blood" Annabeth said. She opened the back door and waved me and Tyson to get in.

"We don't take his kind" The old woman screeched while pointing at Tyson.

"Extra pay, Three more drachma on arrival."

"DONE!"

I made sure Tyson got in carefully, then sat in the middle myself. Annabeth got whatever space was left, which wasn't a lot.

Apparently my eyes were malfunctioning, because there were 3 of the same old hag as before.

The one driving said "Long Island! Out-of-metro fare bonus! Ha!"

One stomach churning eye rolling liver..livering? random numbers receiving car ride later:

"Ahh I can taste my eyeballs" I wailed once the 3 dustateers were gone.

"Deal with that later" Annabeth said as she drew her knife "Clarisse needs our help"

She was right. Near Thalia's tree was Clarisse with a group of campers, all in armor fighting against…Mechanical bulls?

And they also have fire, if the scorch marks on Clarisse's armor means anything.

Because of course they do.

The actually disturbing fact? They were on the other side of Thalia's tree.

I snapped out of it when I heard her shout "Border patrol, to me!"

"Tyson, stay here" I said as I brought out riptide.

"No, we need him" Annabeth said.

"Even if he's a demigod or demi-giant or demi-whatever, he does not have the experience to not be fried."

"Percy-"

"He stays. Now come on, Clarisse just almost lost an arm."

Tyson tried to say something, but I was already running up the hill.

Clarisse was yelling at her patrol to get into phalanx formation. It would have been a good idea, but not only were 3 of the shields already deformed, her electric spear was broken (again). Worst of all, only six of them actually got into formation, the remaining four were running around with their helmets on fire.

I grabbed one of the bulls and shoved riptide into its hide.

It shook, but was basically unaffected.

I backflipped to behind where the barrier should have begun.

It shuddered a bit, but got through easily.

'What happened to the barrier?'

The bull charged at me again and I swiveled on the balls of my feet, bull-fighter style.

It was bulky so it wasn't that fast, and couldn't turn fast enough to avoid a whip made of water attached to riptide.

I grabbed its front left leg using the whip and pulled the leg off from the main body.

I was about to charge it again when a spear impaled its head.

I turned left to see Clarisse holding its handle, and the other bull on the ground with its head off.

I retrieved riptide and capped it and walked towards where Clarisse, Annabeth and the rest were regrouping.

"YOU RUIN EVERYTHING" Clarisse yelled at me and Annabeth " Don't ever, EVER try saving me again"

"Good to see you too Clarisse" I sighed while Annabeth pointed out that there were wounded campers there.

Angry person that she was, Clarisse cared about the soldiers under her command.

"I'll be back" she growled before trudging off to assess the damage.

Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."

"What?"

"My fault" Annabeth interrupted " Tyson protected us when the bull tried to fry us with its fire"

"How the heck did he help with…" I trailed off when I remembered that he was unscathed after the impromptu fire volleyball game we played with the giants at school.

"How is he fireproof" I asked Annabeth, my half encyclopedia half human friend.

"Percy" she said "have you looked at Tyson closely? Like, in the face, use your weird eye thing if you don't see it at first'

I looked at him with Sharingan active, which clearly freaked him out a bit judging from the widening of his eye.

His singular eye.

"Ah. He's a cyclops."

"A baby by the looks of him. One of the homeless orphans"

"He's a who what now?"

"They're in almost all the big cities" she said distastefully "They're children of nature spirits and gods, usually one god in particular and don't always come out right. No one wants them so they get tossed aside and grow up wild on the streets."

"Wait so Cyclopes are immune to fire?"

"They work the forges of the gods so they have to be immune. I tried to tell you but as usual it was fight before think for you."

"Sorry" I muttered

Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."

"Tantalus?" I asked.

"The activities director," Clarisse said impatiently.

"What happened to Chiron? And Argus? Shouldn't he be here since he's head of security?"

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

"Wait but Chiron's been training demigods for like 3 thousand years, he can't just be gone. What happened?"

"That happened" she said as she pointed to Thalia's tree.