Answers to reviews:

Guest: I haven't. But have you seen the problems with this site lately?

Kamencolin: No.

Guest: Sorry for the wait.

Nikolias Dragneel : Here you go.

Waldemar von Ungern-Sternberg: Tyr may appear, though i doubt Athrna will have a crush on him.

Mr Shades42: They'll be in the story, I promise you that.

Guest: Here you go.

Nicholas: it's either that or 9Anime.

Guest: I didn't.

Guest: I think all pantheons have a general dislike for each other or neutral opinion, but considering what Zeus is like... I wouldn't be surprised if he and the Olympians were hated by the other pantheons because Zeus boasts about them being superior than the other pantheons. Seems like something he'd do.

boogbryant98 phs2016: Thank you.

blueassassin996: I'm still working on that. Though the full on Norse stuff like Asgard, the other Realms, Odin, Thor, probably won't happen until either after Titan's Curse or Battle of the Labyrinth. I'm still working on how to introduce the Norse pantheon into the story.

Arch-Angel-Writer: he'll probably be killed in a style straight from the God of War games if he tries pissing Jakob off.

BlackWatcher1234: The hell would the World Serpent be doing in the Sea of Monsters though? I mean, yeah it'd be a good place to hide due to the advancements and evolution of the world as well as time passing, but he's a very big snake that's wrapped around the world.

jedblack1997: Still working on introducing Thor, and what makes you think it'll be a reunion?

Bromega2477: Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own God of War or Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I only own the OC Jakob Thorsson.

Without wasting another second, Jakob rushed forward towards the battle like a man on a mission. Andromeda, Annabeth and Tyson watched him go. As soon as they got out of the cab, the three Gray Sisters high-tailed it out of there. Neither one of them was sad to see them go.

Annabeth brought her knife while Andromeda brought out her pen and uncapped Riptide, turning it into a sword. They were about to charge into battle when Andromeda stopped, suddenly remembering something. "What is it?" Annabeth prompted urgently.

The Daughter of Poseidon turned to her. "What about Tyson? He can't fight."

Annabeth paused, breathed in deeply and breathed out through her nose, as if she was annoyed. Andromeda was confused on what she was so angry about, and waited for her to explain herself. She always did that when she knew something she didn't, and had to explain to her. "Andie," she said slowly, as if talking to a slow child. "We have bigger issues to deal with. Besides, Tyson can handle himself."

"But how would you know?" Andromeda insisted, confused on the supposed inside joke that she and Jakob shared. Just what the hell was going on?

"Because I do. He'll be fine. Now let's go," Annabeth said.

Andromeda was about to argue again when Tyson clapped his hands loudly, drawing the duo's attention. They turned to see he was clapping in joy, as he looked at the scene taking place. "Look! Son of Thor punched bad bull in the face!"

Andromeda and Annabeth turned to the scene Tyson was pointing at to see what he said was true. Jakob did punch one of the bronze bulls in the face.

While Andromed and Annabeth had been talking, Jakob was running towards the campers in need of aid when he heard a familiar voice cry out. "Border patrol, to me!"

Jakob immediately recognised the voice of Clarisse, daughter of Ares. The two had a friendship based off mutual respect for a fellow warrior, for their skills and strength. Plus the fact that Clarisse was Silena's best friend helped, though their respect was really solidified for each other last summer during one of their many spoars that both greatly enjoyed and often had more spars afterwards since they liked to test themselves against a formidable and skilled warrior. Even though Jakob battled Clarisse' dad last summer, it did not do anything to destroy the respect they had for each other.

Clarisse's fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. One hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, the horse-hair plume on his helmet blazing. Clarisse's own armour was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull's shoulder.

As Jakob ran at the bull that they were fighting, he channelled a large amount of lightning into his right arm, making it spark and some of it shoot out, striking trees and the ground. Not wanting the others to get into the way, Jakob yelled out, "INCOMING!"

The campers heard his shout, and looked to who it was, but Jakob was running too quickly and too closely for them to see. Clarisse managed to save them, however. "Are you guys deaf?! MOVE!"

Thank the gods for demigods' ADHD. It did wonders for their reaction time. The campers managed to jump out of the way just as Jakob leaped into the air with a burst of lightning through his legs, the sky darkening and thundering at his will, before he roared as he came down while driving his fist into the side of the bronze bull. The force of the attack dented the hull of the side and sent it careening down the hill, tumbling and turning.

Jakob twisted and rolled his hand, not even hurt from punching the metal bull. He turned and saw Clarisse on the ground, having most likely dived upon his entrance and attack. He shot his hand out while saying. "Off your back."

Clrisse grinned and took his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet and she gave him a rough slap on the shoulder. "About bloody time you showed up, Thorsson. I had it handled though."

"Don't let your arrogance and pride cloud your judgement, Clarisse. It's often the downfall of a warrior." Jakob advised, narrowing his eyes a little. "The Spartans of old didn't let their pride cloud their judgement."

Clarisse nodded, accepting his words. She looked past him and saw the bull he had punched. It wasn't dead, but he did do a lot of damage to it with that punch. There was a massive dent on its side, along with most of its insides falling out of a small opening on its front, but it wasn't dead. Also, its mouth looked a little dislodged, making it look comical.

Jakob followed her gaze and narrowed his eyes. "What are we dealing with?"

"Colchis Bulls." Clarisse replied as she held up her broken spear, grimacing at the sight of it. "Inventions of Hephaestus-"

"That he gave to King Aeëtes as a gift in Ancient Greece, and also part of the story with Jason and the Argonauts to get the Golden Fleece." Jakob finished, knowing the story. With a grandfather like Odin, a craving for knowledge was bound to happen. Jakob knew just about every Greek story of Ancient Greece due to Odin's knowledge and information on the Greek Pantheon. "How many are we dealing with?"

"Two." Clarisse said before her eyes sharpened when hearing another loud 'moo', signifying that they had another bull to deal with. Clarisse turned to shout to her patrol. "Get into phalanx formation! We still have another one to deal with!"

And with that order, the campers sprung into action. The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide-and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills.

Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster six able campers. The other four were still running around with their helmets on fire. Jakob could see Annabeth running towards them, trying to help. She taunted one of the bulls into chasing her, then turned invisible, completely confusing the monster. However, it did little good. The bull eventually ignored Annabeth's taunting and charged Clarisse's line.

Quickly, Jakob looked at Clarisse. "Have the archers fire at it, I'll take most of it's attention. Attack it from good range. Any dent in it's armour is good enough to find a weak point."

"Got it!" Clarisse nodded and turned to shout orders to her group while Jakob faced the charging bull, narrowed his eyes then he charged directly at the bull head-on with a roar. The bull snorted and sped up it's charge as it drew closer and closer to the Son of Thor. At the last minute, Jakob jumped into the air, causing the bull to rear up with the intent on skewering him on it's horns, but Jakob drew the Leviathan Axe and smacked the horns aside and delivered a punch to the neck area of the bull, denting the metal under the force behind his punch.

Jakob backed up into a roll as archers fired at the bull, but they bounced off it's hide, though Jakob noticed some small dents from the impact of the arrows striking it. However, the bull was completely focused on Jakob as it charged and rammed into him, the Son of Thor gripping it's horns as he began to wrestle the creature to the ground but it was putting up one heck of a fight.

"Careful there, brother!" Mimir called from Jakob's hip.

"I know!" Jakob growled, driving his knee into the bull's face repeatedly in the hopes of smashing it's metal face to scrap metal. With a roar, he bent the horns backwards, causing the bull to roar, before the horns completely snapped off and Jakob drove both sharp ends into the beast's eyes, burying them deep until the bull fell over, soon disintegrating into golden dust afterwards.

"Well, that was quite a fight." Mimir commented as Jakob exhaled and recalled the Leviathan Axe to him, hooking it to his back. "Colchis Bulls though... this close to a protected demigod camp?"

"I know." Jakob sighed, walking over to where Andromeda, Annabeth and Tyson were, having seen them deal with the second bull while he was wrestling with the first one. Clarisse did not seem too happy to see Andromeda, most likely because of how they met last summer and Andromeda beating Ares.

"The bulls have been dealt with." He said as he approached, taking a look around then looked at Clarisse. "Get the wounded back to camp and to the medical wing as quickly as you can."

"Right." Clarisse nodded, serious, before marching off to check on the status of her fellow demigods, to see who was injured.

Andromeda then looked at Tyson in astonishment. "That bull shot fire at you... but you're still alive! You look fine!"

Jakob sighed while Annabeth looked frustrated.

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

"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."

Andromeda blinked in confusion. "Wait, what do you mean, 'let' him cross the barrier?"

Jakob sighed, but knew that Andromeda needed further training, especially when it comes to the Mist. "Andie, look at Tyson. Really look, forget the Mist."

Andromeda sighed before she looked at her tall friend, I mean really looked this time and saw the Mist disappear around his face area and that made Andromeda's eyes widen.

"Tyson," Andromeda stammered. "You're a..."

"Cyclops," Annabeth offered. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."

"One of the what?" Andromeda frowned at her, confused.

"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth said distastefully.

Jakob sighed. "You finally found out." Then he turned to the Daughter of Poseidon. "Andie, these guys like your friend here are mistakes. Children of nature spirits and gods. They don't come out right and no one wants them. So they get tossed out onto the streets and they grow up wild. Not sure how Tyson found you but I guess it is a good thing."

Annabeth glared at Tyson, not that he noticed and said, "We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."

Jakob turned to her. "He's not going anywhere."

"But - " Annabeth started, but Jakob cut her off with a glare.

"No, Annabeth. He's staying."

Both of them were locked into a battle of glares, electric blue versus storm grey. In the end, Annabeth relented, sighing resentfully. "Fine," she said, making Jakob nod.

"Wait, but the fire. How-" Andromeda started

"He's a cyclops." Annabeth paused, as if she were remembering something unpleasant. "They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you." Andromeda just let her jaw drop at that, trying to figure out how she had never noticed that little fact about her tall friend.

Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead, looking to Jakob. "We need to get the wounded back, then let Tantalus know what's happened."

"Tantalus? What's he doing here?" Mimir asked from his position on the back of Jakob's hip, the son of Thor's eyes narrowing at the mention of the cannibal.

"Who's Tantalus?" Andromeda asked with a confused frown.

Clarisse sighed. "You guys have been away for a while. Things have changed around here... because of that." She pointed to Thalia's tree.

The pine tree's needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.

The three demigods and one cyclops surveyed the camp as they walked to the Big House. The forest looked a little sickly and everyone was on edge, thinking they could be attacked at a moment's notice, but they were all ready. To Jakob, it was way to quiet. He saw that Andromeda seemed to be bothered by this as well.

When they got to the Big House, they found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favorite 1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags. He was a centaur after all. From the waist up he looks like a regular middle-aged guy with curly brown hair and a scraggly beard. From the waist down, he's a white stallion. He can pass for human by compacting his lower half into a magic wheelchair. Andromeda knew that form easily since he was her teacher in the last school they were in.

As soon as they saw that man, Tyson froze. "PONY!" he screamed with stars in his… eye.

Chiron turned, looking offended. "I beg your pardon?"

Annabeth ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not... leaving?" Her voice was shaky. Chiron was like a second father to her.

Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kindly smile. "Hello, child. Andromeda, Jakob, my goodness. You've grown over the past year."

"Thanks," Jakob said."But you can't really be fired, can you?"

Chiron's eyes glinted with dark humor. "Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone."

"And he couldn't take the blame himself, so it had to be someone else." Mimir finished with a disgusted sigh. "Gods, always blaming others."

"It's a common thing." Jakob shakes his head.

"But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried. "Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!"

"Nevertheless," Chiron sighed, "some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Andromeda asked.

Chiron's face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boom box.

Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron's flank but was afraid to come closer. "Pony?"

Chiron sniffed. "My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur."

"Chiron," Andromeda said. "What about the tree? What happened?"

He shook his head sadly. "The poison used on Thalia's pine is something from the Underworld, Percy. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus."

"Then we know who's responsible. Kro-"

"Do not invoke the Titan Lord's name, Andie. Especially not here, not now."

"But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He'd get Luke to do it, that traitor."

"Perhaps," Chiron said. "But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless..."

"Unless what?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Chiron said. "A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago."

"What is it?" Andromeda asked, ready to go find it if it means saving the camp and keeping Chiron around. "We'll go find it!"

Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop button on his boom box. He then rested his hand on Andromeda's shoulder, looking her in the eye. "Andromeda, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told your mother that I did not want you coming here…. even though Jakob brought you here anyway. It has gotten too dangerous. But now that you are here, stay here. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave."

"Why?" Andromeda asked, shaking her head. "I want to do something! I can't just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be—"

"Overrun by monsters," Chiron said. "Yes, I fear so. But you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the Titan Lord. Remember last summer! He almost took your life."

Annabeth was trying hard not to cry. Chiron brushed a tear from her cheek. "Stay with Andromeda and Jakob, child," he told her. "Keep her safe. The prophecy—remember it!"

"I—I will." Annabeth nodded, sniffling.

Jakob narrowed his eyes as he heard the mention of this prophecy, then glanced at Andromeda. Whatever prophecy it was... it concerned Andromeda. Prophecies are always slippery by nature.

"Um ..." Andromeda said. "Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the Gods have forbidden you to tell me about?"

Nobody answered.

"Right," Andromeda muttered. "Just checking."

"Chiron ..." Annabeth said. "You told me the Gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp - "

"Swear you will do your best to keep Andromeda and Jakob from danger." he insisted. "Swear upon the River Styx."

"I swear it upon the River Styx," the she stated.

Thunder rumbled outside.

"Very well," Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a little. "Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I go to visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It's possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree that I have forgotten. In any event, I will stay in exile until this matter is resolved... one way or another."

Jakob crossed his arms. "For everyone's sake, it better be."

Annabeth stifled a sob. Chiron patted her shoulder awkwardly. "There, now, children. I must entrust your safety to Mr. D and the new activities director. We must hope... well, perhaps they won't destroy the camp quite as quickly as I fear."

"Who is this Tantalus guy, anyway?" Andromeda demanded. "Where does he get off taking your job?"

"Trust me, lass... you don't want to hear that story." Mimir sighed.

A conch horn blew across the valley. Was it already that late? It was time for the campers to assemble for dinner.

"Go," Chiron said. "You will meet him at the pavilion. I will contact your mother, Andromeda, and let her know you're safe. No doubt she'll be worried by now. Just remember my warning! You both are in grave danger. Do not think for a moment that the Titan Lord has forgotten you two!"

With that, he clopped out of the apartment and down the hall, Tyson calling after him, "Pony! Don't go!"

Andromeda realized she'd forgotten to tell Chiron about the dream he had of Grover. Now it was too late. The best teacher she'd ever had (next to Jakob) was gone, maybe for good.

Tyson started bawling almost as bad as Annabeth. Jakob comforted the crying blonde by putting an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm, and she buried her face into his chest. Andromeda watched, a little bit jealous of Annabeth's position, before she decided to comfort the young Cyclopes, but none of them thought it was going to be OK for a while. Things where defiantly going south.

The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins. The little group stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in. Annabeth was still pretty shaken up, but she promised she'd talk to then later. Then she went off to join her siblings from the Athena cabin - a dozen boys and girls with blond hair and gray eyes like hers. Annabeth wasn't the oldest, but she'd been at camp more summers than just about anybody. You could tell that by looking at her camp necklace - one bead for every summer, and Annabeth had six. No one questioned her right to lead the line.

Jakob scanned the group of campers until he saw Silena sitting at the Aphrodite table with her brothers and sisters. She didn't seem to change that much from last year. When he was able to catch her eye, he smiled and waved at her. Her face lit up brightly and she waved back at him. Her siblings took note of her expression, and when they saw who she was waving at, the snickered and started teasing her. Jakob smiled, turning to look at the Demeter table and was able to see Katie there, chatting with her siblings. She smiled when she saw him, waving slightly. Jakob returned the gesture.

Next came Clarisse, leading the Ares cabin. She had one arm in a sling and a nasty-looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn't seem to have fazed her. Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said, YOU MOO, GIRL! But nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it. As Jakob walked past, he ripped the paper off the Daughter of Ares' back, getting a surprised look from her before she scowled at seeing the paper, promising to find who did it and beat them up for it. She gave Jakob a grateful nod.

After the Ares kids came the Hephaestus cabin - six guys led by Charles Beckendorf, a big fifteen-year-old African American kid. He had hands the size of catchers' mitts and a face that was hard and squinty from looking into a blacksmiths forge all day. He was nice enough once you got to know him, but no one ever called him Charlie or Chuck or Charles. Most just called him Beckendorf. Rumor was he could make anything. Give him a chunk of metal and he could create a razor-sharp sword or a robotic warrior or a singing birdbath for your grandmother's garden. Whatever you wanted.

The other cabins filed in: Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite, Dionysus. Naiads came up from the canoe lake. Dryads melted out of the trees. From the meadow came a dozen satyrs.

After the satyrs filed in to dinner, a couple of the Hermes cabin brought up the rear. They were always the biggest cabin. Last summer, it had been led by Luke, the guy who'd fought with Thalia and Annabeth on top of Half-Blood Hill.

Now the Hermes cabin was led by Travis and Connor Stoll. They weren't twins, but they looked so much alike it didn't matter. Neither Jakob or Andromeda could remember who was older, but it didn't really matter. Now the Hermes cabin was led by Travis and Connor Stoll. They weren't twins, but they looked so much alike it didn't matter. I could never remember which one was older. They were both tall and skinny, with mops of brown hair that hung in their eyes. They wore orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts untucked over baggy shorts, and they had those elfish features all Hermes's kids had: upturned eyebrows, sarcastic smiles, a gleam in their eyes whenever they looked at you - like they were about to drop a firecracker down your shirt.

s soon as the last campers had filed in, Andromeda and Jakob led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion. Conversations faltered. Heads turned. "Who invited that?" somebody at the Apollo table murmured.

From the head table a familiar voice drawled, "Well, well, if it isn't Amber Johnson and Jerry Thorton. My millennium is complete."

Jakob gritted his teeth and couldn't help but snip back. "Well, well, if it isn't one of my least favourite Olympians... Daphne." He retorted.

Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. "Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever."

Mr. D was wearing his usual leopard-pattern Hawaiian shirt, walking shorts, and tennis shoes with black socks. With his pudgy belly and his blotchy red face, he looked like a Las Vegas tourist who'd stayed up too late in the casinos. Behind him, a nervous-looking satyr was peeling the skins off grapes and handing them to Mr. D one at a time.

Of all the Gods Jakob has met in total of Aesir, Vanir and Olympian... Mr. D was one of the Gods Jakob despised.

Next to him, where Chiron usually sat (or stood, in centaur form), was someone Jakob and Andromeda had never seen before - a pale, horribly thin man in a threadbare orange prisoner's jump-suit. The number over his pocket read 0001. He had blue shadows under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and badly cut gray hair, like his last haircut had been done with a weed whacker. He stared at them; he didn't look sane. He looked... fractured. Angry and frustrated and hungry all at the same time.

"These two," Dionysus told him, "you need to watch. The girl? She's the Daughter of Poseidon. And the boy? That's the Son of Thor himself, the Aesir everybody's talking about."

'Glad to know I'm a hot topic amongst the Greek pantheon.' Jakob thought with a frown, though he was worried. If all of the Greek Pantheon knew of him... how long before it spread beyond the Olympians and word of him made it's way to the Aesir?

"Ah!" the prisoner said. "Those ones."

His tone made it obvious that he and Dionysus had already discussed the two demigods at length.

"I am Tantalus," the prisoner said, smiling coldly. "On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Jakob Thorsson and Andromeda Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."

Jakob's hands clenched into fists, resisting the urge to punch Tantalus.

Dionysus snapped his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table - the front page of today's New York Post, There was Andromeda's yearbook picture from Meriwether Prep. It was hard for her to make out the headline, but she had a pretty good guess at what it said. Something like: Thirteen- Year-Old Lunatic Torches Gymnasium.

'Guess Andie just can't stay out of the papers.' Jakob thought with some amusement.

Yes, trouble," Tantalus said with satisfaction. "You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand." Andromeda was too mad to speak.

A satyr inched forward nervously and set a plate of bar-becue in front of Tantalus. The new activities director licked his lips. He looked at his empty goblet and said, "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967."

The glass filled itself with foamy soda. Tantalus stretched out his hand hesitantly, as if he were afraid the goblet was hot.

"Go on, then, old fellow," Dionysus said, a strange sparkle in his eyes. "Perhaps now it will work."

Tantalus grabbed for the glass, but it scooted away before he could touch it. A few drops of root beer spilled, and Tantalus tried to dab them up with his fingers, but the drops rolled away like quicksilver before he could touch them. He growled and turned toward the plate of barbecue. He picked up a fork and tried to stab a piece of brisket, but the plate skittered down the table and flew off the end, straight into the coals of the brazier.

"Blast!" Tantalus muttered, making Jakob chuckle slightly.

"Ah, well," Dionysus said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "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."

"Eventually," muttered Tantalus, staring at Dionysus's Diet Coke. "Do you have any idea how dry one's throat gets after three thousand years?"

"You're that spirit from the Fields of Punishment," Andromeda said with wide eyes. "The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can't eat or drink."

Tantalus sneered at Andromeda. "A real scholar, aren't you, girl?"

"Like you're any better," Jakob scoffed, making Tantalus turn his sneer to him. Mr. D actually chuckled at that. Guess he didn't like the him too.

"You must've done something really horrible when you were alive," Andromeda said, mildly impressed. "What was it?"

"Trust me, little sister, you wouldn't want to know." Mimir said with seriousness and a hint of disgust in his words. Tantalus blinked as he looked for the voice, so Jakob, smirking, pulled the head off the back of his hip and held him up for Tantalus to see.

"Ah!" Tantalus jumped back, startled as he stared wide eyed at the head. "You really do parade a severed head on your hip!"

"Oh very observant of you." Mimir said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I feel sorry for these children having to deal with your face for the summer."

Jakob hooked Mimir back to his hip before turning and making his way towards a lone table, one that had not been there before today. He knew each table had a sign that gave way to who they belonged to aside from the kids sitting at it. Like an owl above the Athena table, the sun above the Apollo table, the moon above the Artemis table that was occupied by the Hunters whenever they come to Camp, a trident for the Poseidon table, and so on and so fourth.

Jakob's had one, which was of an axe as well as a lightning bolt behind it. He didn't know who was responsible for the table and symbol above it... but he wasn't complaining about it.

"You're welcome, Jakob Thorsson." A soft and warm female voice said in his head, one that he knew.

Hestia.

"You're the best." Jakob said quietly as he sat at his table, putting the Leviathan Axe down, followed by Mimir's head.

Just as he got comfortable, one of the satyr's blew the horn again, tell them all that Tantalus had more to say.

"Yes, well," Tantalus said, once the talking had died down. "Another fine meal! Or so I am told." As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn't notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches. This made some of the campers smile.

"And here on my first day of authority," he continued, "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."

Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some halfhearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back.

"And now some changes!" Tantalus gave the campers a crooked smile. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!"

Murmuring broke out at all the tables - excitement, fear, disbelief.

"Now I know," Tantalus continued, raising his voice, "that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems."

"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," someone at the Apollo table called.

"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said. "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?"

An explosion of excited conversation - no KP for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious?

"But, sir!" Clarisse said. She looked nervous, but she stood up to speak from the Ares table. "What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots-"

"Ah, the hero of the day," Tantalus exclaimed. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!"

"Bullshit," Jakob muttered under his breath. He knew Tantalus was purposefully not giving him and Tyson the credit for what they did.

Clarisse blinked, then blushed but tired to not take all the credit as she gestured Jakob and those who helped. "Um, it wasn't just -"

"Oh, so modest," Tantalus said with fake interest. "Anyway, not to worry. This is a summer camp! We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?"

"But the tree-" Clarisse tried to say but was cut off by the man again.

"And now," Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse's cabin mates pulled her back into her seat, "before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Andromeda Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson.

Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks at Andromeda. The girl wanted to kill Tantalus.

"Now, of course," he said, "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's cabin, possibly?"

Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth. Andromeda couldn't blame them. The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting. There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.

"Come now," Tantalus chided. "The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"

Suddenly everybody gasped.

Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. There above Tyson's head was the same symbol that was above Andromeda's head last year. The symbol of Posiedon.

There was a moment of awed silence.

Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When Andromeda had been claimed by her Godly parent last summer, everyone had reverently knelt. But now, they followed Tantalus's lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"

Everyone laughed except for Andromeda, Annabeth, Jakob and a few of their friends. For the Son of Thor, he was pissed.

Without another word, he stood up and slammed his fist into the table with enough force to shake it and the ground a little but it caught everyone's attention as they immediately went silent, especially when arcs of lightning began to dance off Jakob's body and his eyes glowed.

"Laugh." He said coldly, looking each and every single person in the eye. "And you'll experience first-hand what it's like to be zapped with lightning while being denied the comforts of death."

Nobody dared to challenge him, which just made him snort, before he sat back down and ate his food.

It was quiet for a moment. Tyson didn't seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how much they were previously making fun of him.

No one said anything for a while. And then Tantalus clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention. "Ah... yes. Well, off you go now!" he said it loudly, though everyone could catch the hint of fear in his voice.

Jakob scowled. He could tell that he wasn't going to enjoy this summer. At all.

And that's it for this chapter. Sorry it took such a while to get out, but between other projects, life, and then the website glitching out again with problems like chapter views and email notifications... I didn't want to post because nobody would be getting notifications about it, they'd only find out if they clicked onto my author page and saw it had been updated... or looked at their list of favourite stories and saw this had an update.

Harem: Silena Beauregard, Thalia Grace, Katie Gardner, Annabeth Chase, Andromeda Jackson (Female Percy), Bianca Di Angelo, Zoe Nightshade, Thrúd, Piper McLean, Hylla, Freya, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Hestia, Skadi.