Camp Declares War on Nature

My eyes adjusted to the light of the early evening. With it came something impossible to notice. It wasn't the rustling of the trees in the summer breeze. It wasn't the smell of strawberries baking in the sun. No. It was the stampede. I barely registered everyone I was touching as our merry little army was swarmed by excited campers.

In the confusion, I may have heard my name occasionally. No… I definitely heard my name. Somewhere in the "oohs" and "ahhs," a jumble of questions and demands barely started to make sense from the dozens of campers around us.

"Enough!"

CLOP! CLOP! CLOP!

Evidently, Chiron pounding his hooves was better riot control than anything previously known to mankind. The crowd backed away, which in turn let me take in our surroundings. We were in the green of camp, dead center of the cabins. In fact, our rings wrapped perfectly around Hestia's hearth.

"Back to your duties!" Chiron called. "Dinner is not for another hour!"

Many campers trudged away, grumbling to themselves. Those few who stayed were reuniting with friends and family. And some reunions were more… noticeable than others.

"Silena!"

The demigoddess in question barely had enough time to move away from her nymphs before a hulking mass brought her to the ground. Khione jumped back in alarm, watching on as her new friend was taken down with a tackle capable of making even the most grizzled rugby player flinch.

As for herself, Silena could barely breathe, much less get a word out as Clarisse squeezed the life out of her.

"You stupid stupid amazing beautiful girl!"

Clarisse pounded her fist against the ground while Silena sucked in enough breath to laugh with her former bodyguard and returned the hug.

While none of the other reunions were quite as aggressive, they were certainly heartwarming in their own ways.

Chiron did his best to try and get everyone back to whatever they were doing, but even he couldn't control this moment in its entirety.

"Back to arts and crafts, Miranda! Miss la Rue, please let Miss Beauregard off the ground!"

After another minute or so of trying to calm everyone down, he sighed in defeat and trotted up to our resident Olympian.

"My lady Hestia," he said with a bow. "Always a pleasure."

"The pleasure is all mine, Chiron. I consider every moment here a breath of fresh air. Anything to stay out of the politics from up above."

"Of course. Though I must lament we are currently in trying times. May I inquire as to the reason behind your visit? And to your present company?"

He scanned over our group, evidently overwhelmed by the recent surge in the nymph population. His eyes locked with mine for a moment, but I could swear I almost saw him smile. Or cry. Either option seemed reasonable at the moment.

"As you said," Hestia replied, "trying times. Though I shudder to think what could befall this place if my recent discoveries are anything to go by."

"If you would permit me, what discoveries?"

She turned to me. "I believe Percy is better suited to answer your questions. This is undoubtedly overwhelming for you, but I'm afraid my time here is numbered. I must speak with Artemis, and she's not making communication easy at the moment."

"Of course, my lady. Another time, perhaps."

She turned to me with a smirk. "Perhaps."

Without another word, she vanished in a column of flame. As she did, Chiron turned to me with a grim expression.

"Before we talk," I said, "several people here need medical attention." I raised my arms, presenting Calypso to him.

"Without question," he said, not skipping a beat. "Are there any who require assistance getting to the infirmary?"

Soon enough, Sierra and an injured dryad found themselves tossed over his back. While he rushed to the infirmary, a few of us began to follow him carrying those too wounded or exhausted to make it on their own.

Of course, it was then that the earth began to shake. Not in the way I'd grown familiar with these past couple weeks, but in a more literal sense.

"What's that… uh oh!"

WOOF!

With Calypso in my arms, I wasn't nearly quick enough to dive out of the way as a furry tank plowed into me and knocked me to the ground. It took a matter of seconds before Calypso and I were completely covered in doggy saliva. Thankfully, she was still asleep. There's no telling how she would react to the two ton playful behemoth.

While I reacquainted myself with Mrs. O'Leary's tongue and scratched her muzzle, those who were previously unfamiliar with her watched on in horror. Phoebe in particular looked ready to attack. A couple nymphs fainted at the sight.

"Ha ha! They weren't kidding! You really are back!"

Nico slid off Mrs. O'Leary's back with a wide grin.

"Alright, girl. Come on, lemme up!"

With another earth rattling bark, she backed away and sat down, though her tail continued sending tremors through the entire camp.

"Don't worry," Annabeth said to the girls on edge. "You won't really ever get used to her."

Reyna was the first to step forward. "Hello again," she said, scratching her droopy ear.

Kinzie gaped. "Is… is that…?"

"Yep," Rachel said. "While some people will get a cat or a bird for a pet, Percy wound up owning a giant hellhound with the stopping power of a runaway freight train. Don't worry though, she's a sweetheart."

To further sell her point, Rachel stepped up and scratched her chest, which resulted in Mrs. O'Leary flopping onto her back so she could climb up and scratch her belly.

"Yeah," Nico finally said, rubbing her ears. "She's harmless. Just don't hit Percy in front of her. That's a good way to cut down your life expectancy really quickly."

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her." I attempted to give him a quick hug, but carrying Calypso didn't make that very easy, so I settled for whipping some doggy drool out of my hair and onto his aviator jacket.

He shrugged. "The hardest part is making sure she doesn't destroy the cabins." His attention turned to the rest of the group. "Hazel? Bianca? Where are you hiding?"

The group went quiet, many looking around awkwardly.

"Nico…"

A small tremor shook the earth, and not from the nearby megadog. Decrepit bones poked out of the soil and knit themselves together in the form of a small snake, which slithered away.

"Again?!" He turned on me. "What was it this time, an elder cyclops?!"

"What? No, dude, they're not dead!"

"Because if you— Wait, what?"

"Alright. Clearly, we need to have a long talk. But we also have some pressing concerns at the moment." I nodded down to Calypso. "I'll explain on the way to the infirmary."

"Fine," he grumbled.

I turned to the others. "For those not going to the infirmary, could you help the nymphs settle in? Don't anchor yourselves here yet. Not until I talk to Chiron about it. But try to get comfortable at least."

Annabeth stepped up. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Everyone, the first stop is the forest! Follow me!"

The trip to the infirmary took longer than expected. Not only was everyone slowed down from helping their nymphs move along, but my attention was focused on how to deliver the news to Nico. It was a nonstop dance on eggshells, every word steering clear of the hellhound in the room.

He wasn't having any of it.

"Have you slept with my sisters yet?"

My shoulders sagged, and not from Calypso's weight. "No. And I won't be anytime soon. That's the reason they aren't here. Your dad traded them out a bit earlier today with some other people in the Underworld."

"Why didn't he just do that before?!" He threw his hands up in frustration. "There's bound to be plenty of dead girls who want to sleep with you!"

I paused and turned to him with an inquisitive raise of my eyebrow.

"You know what I mean."

"Right… I'm going to pretend like I didn't just hear that. Regardless, Bianca is back with the Hunt. Hazel's going back to New Rome."

"But she couldn't even stop by to say hello?"

"For once, I can actually say it's not their fault. Well… more Bianca than Hazel. Artemis is… in a difficult situation, so I don't think Bianca could push for anything without risking her health. As for Hazel… Well… We didn't exactly get to say much of a farewell to her."

"Hazel isn't who I'm concerned about. I can stop by New Rome whenever I want to say hi. But I can't track down the Hunt."

"They're bound to stop by eventually. Maybe sooner than later. Especially if Artemis needs some time to get used to the changes."

"Will you just tell me what these changes are?"

"Another time, maybe. I don't trust the way gossip spreads through camp, and I know that people are listening to get dirt from me at pretty much all times." I glanced up to a couple campers who were seemingly talking with each other, but spluttered the moment I indirectly called them out.

"Right…"

Almost the second we arrived at the infirmary, Nico decided to take his leave. He had gone quiet and never quite met my eyes. I figured he just needed some time alone to mull over his thoughts about his sisters.

We delivered the rest of our injured and fatigued. The medics worked overtime, with a sudden rush of Apollo and Demeter campers flowing in, along with other aspiring doctors.

Chiron approached me as I laid Calypso in a cot.

"So it's true," he said. "And here I thought she would be lost forever."

I squeezed Calypso's hand, which resulted in a soft groan.

"She's been through a lot. I wish the gods had freed her the first time around though."

He clapped me on the shoulder. "Best not to regret the past. We only have the future to concern ourselves with."

"Speaking of which, we need to discuss some things."

In that very moment, his thousands of years seem to catch up with him all at once. His expression was grim, but he tried his best to put up a mask of optimism.

"Come. Let's discuss things in my office."

Despite the changes and chaos around camp, it was an oddly refreshing breath of fresh air to see the Big House hadn't changed. The sky blue building was freshly painted, likely to cover up damages from the latest battle. Beyond that, it was just as rustic and homey as ever.

Mrs. O'Leary trotted alongside us, running into the shadows occasionally to chase ghosts… or her tail. Honestly, I couldn't tell you for certain. Either way, she waited outside while we walked into the blue building.

Chiron led me to his office before turning around and backing into his wheelchair.

"If you would be so kind," he said, lowering himself into the paradoxically small seat, "please catch me up on recent events. And… try to keep the explicit details to a minimum."

If explaining things to Nico was difficult, doing the same with Chiron was a trip through Tartarus. It's not that he was interrupting or judgmental. If anything, he listened too intently. He leaned forward, only nodding occasionally. Certain details made his eye twitch, such as Hera's bewitching of Annabeth's mind or the revelation of Phorcys' slave guild, but there weren't any other tells that gave away his thoughts. Despite that, I'm sure his tail was flailing back and forth in his wheelchair.

When I finally finished, he leaned back in his chair, his expression haggard. "I see. Though I want to feign surprise at much of this, I can't do so without lying to myself. Especially in Hera's case. It was only a matter of time before she snapped again."

"Fair. But that brings us to the current issue."

"You seek a haven here," he said. "A place to call home, even if only temporarily."

"Exactly. And… hopefully a place for all of the nymphs we freed to stay."

He leaned forward, cupping his jaw and staring into the distance. "The nymphs you freed can most assuredly stay here if they wish. They will be protected just the same as the rest."

I sighed in relief. "That's great to hear. I'll let them know to settle in."

"As for yourself and your harem…" He let out a sigh and pressed his fingers against his eyes. "I want to say yes. I truly do. You and your friends are always welcome here, but… You need to understand something."

I kept silent to let him continue.

He rolled himself by a window, looking out to the center of camp. "The situation here has grown difficult. While rebuilding, there were no issues. Everyone had the same goals in mind. It was… oddly peaceful, all things considered."

"The issues started after repairs were finished. Dissent started to rise among many campers. As you can imagine, having hundreds of demigods witness one of their own be gifted a harem by the gods didn't sit well with some."

"Gifted? Are you serious?! Do you realize how—"

He silenced me with a raised hand and turned to me. "I understand. Truly, I do. I was alive when these kinds of 'gifts' were more commonplace. But it's not me you need to convince. Look at it from their perspective. You are a hero to some, but simply a comrade in arms to others. For you to receive something so grandiose while others make do with simple blessings or monetary rewards seemed like an insult to them."

"But that's not—"

"Your fault, I know. None of this is on you, but I'm afraid you've become the scapegoat in this situation. Well… you and the others. Nonetheless, there have been… other matters."

My shoulders tensed. "Such as?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "This isn't easy to say, but… certain campers have tried to… replicate your gift."

Silence.

I rattled the fogginess from my head. "What?"

He sighed. "Though few in number, certain campers have tried to create harems of their own. Some more forcefully than others. I've had Argus put the Aphrodite cabin under strict curfew while we investigate the matter. The number of… aggressions have been minute, but even one is too many for me to accept."

I blinked back my shock. "Wait… There are people—"

"Yes. Though it pains me to say it, we currently have a daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Apollo in recovery. Their physical wounds are minor, but mentally…"

"We can help," I urged. "If anyone can get to the bottom of this, Annabeth could. Or the hunters. You tell them about this, and they'll track down—"

"No," he said, wheeling himself back to his desk. "Were this a single incident or a single person, I would agree with you. But there are too many people at risk, and I would prefer this not be ended with a pile of mutilated corpses at the bottom of the lake."

"But we can't just sit around and do nothing while this happens!"

"No. We cannot." He took a deep breath before locking his eyes on me with a miserable expression. "This camp is a powder keg ready to blow, and I worry your arrival just lit the fuse."

I leaned back in my chair, all but ready to slide out of it. "So we can't stay."

"For the night, yes, each of your respective cabins is free to use. Maybe tomorrow as well. But after that… I'm sorry, Percy. Truly. But this world is not ready for a man in your situation."

"Great." I stood up and approached the window. "Well, then we're back to square one. But we can still help. You know Annabeth could have this solved in maybe two days at most. Besides, it's not like the campers will attack me or…"

My eyes drifted to some activity outside. A crowd was gathered by the cabins, around twenty or so, and were cheering. Or jeering. Honestly, I couldn't tell from behind the window. But what I could see made my blood boil.

Ashe and Thŷella were in the middle of the crowd. Ashe was clearly trying to fight against them, but both were getting pushed around. Before my eyes, the two nymphs were being dragged and corralled to the arena.

Chiron wheeled up to me and looked out to see what I was watching. With a languished sigh, he put a hand on my shoulder.

"I was afraid this would happen, just not so quickly. Do what you must… But please try not to kill anyone."

My hands were shaking, and all I saw was red. "No promises."

I stormed out of the office and whistled for Mrs. O'Leary to follow me. If that crowd was about to do what I thought they were doing, whether by my hand or Mrs. O'Leary's jaws, blood was about to spill.

There's something oddly peaceful about having a one track mind. A sense of clarity. Nothing could distract me. Not the bounding of Mrs. O'Leary's massive paws nor the rapid beating of my heart. When all you see is red, the world becomes much simpler. If only for a moment.

Riptide in hand, I barged past the arena doors. Or attempted to, anyway. Somebody barred them from the inside. Still, my pounding on the great wooden doors did nothing to deter the jeering crowd within.

"Mrs. O'Leary," I said, backing away, "get the Greek!"

Fortunately, the utterance of her favorite game riled her up. And it just so happened that her chewing dummies were on the other side of the doors.

WOOF!

She crashed through the doors like a stampede of Spanish bulls. While the wood splintered in all directions, I rushed into the arena. With my massive hellhound at my side, I took in the horrific sight that lay before me.

The group of demigods were gathered around Ashe and Thŷella, goading them on like some perverse dog fight. I recognized a few of them. A son of Hermes. A daughter of Tyche. But most of them were faces I'd never seen before.

At their lead were the two most boisterous brothers of the Ares cabin, Sherman Yang and his half brother Mark.

The latter of the two was in the middle of stripping Thŷella's dress from her body. She was petrified, frozen in fear as the crowd cheered on her attacker.

Sherman took a more direct approach. He had forced Ashe down to her knees, and pulled her head to his exposed groin. She fought against him, pushing herself away from him, turning her head wildly as he twisted his fingers in her hair. In her thrashing, her eyes landed on me.

"Please!" she cried. "Help us!"

Forget seeing red. My whole mind went blank.

I pointed to Sherman. "Sic 'em, girl!"

With a thunderous howl, Mrs. O'Leary charged through the mass of demigods, scattering them in every direction as she pounced on Ashe's attacker.

The crowd scattered. Most fled to the busted doors. Some rushed to the stands. Others dropped to the floor, looking around in a daze from being tackled by a furry tank.

In the confusion, Mark dropped Thŷella and backed away. He and another two campers turned to me and foolishly charged. No armor. Half naked. Sporting nothing but some blunt training weapons and his lower "sword". Still, they continued their attack on me.

The first to reach me was some guy I'd never seen before. Beefy. A bit husky. He could have been from any cabin, save for maybe Hypnos or Aphrodite. He wasn't nearly pretty enough for Aphrodite.

Our swords met once. That's all it took for me to twist his blade out of his hand and drop him to the floor with a headbutt to the nose.

The second was much prettier unfortunately. I recognized her from the Demeter cabin, but couldn't put a name to her face. She managed to trade blows with me for about five seconds before I put a knee in her gut and a sword through her foot. After that, she dropped like a sack of wheat.

When Mark came at me, he had the foresight to grab a wooden training shield. He lunged out at me, sword aimed at my stomach. I merely parried away the attack and returned with a feint. He took the bait and raised his shield to block it, but I swept his leg out from under him and sent him falling to the ground.

On his back, he didn't stand much of a chance. Once more, he raised his shield and attempted to throw a wild slash at me, but I simply kicked his sword out of his hand and pinned it to the ground with my own.

"Di immortales! You'll pay for that, fish breath!"

"Stop talking," I snarled.

I grabbed the edges of his shield and yanked it off of him. While he cried out in agony as my sword pulled at his hand, I stepped over him and slammed the rim of his shield right into his stomach.

He wheezed and gasped, but the wind was knocked clear out of him. There was a half-hearted attempt to stop me as he reached for the shield, but I simply kicked his arm away before raising the shield again…

And smashed the shield to splinters over his face.

All he could do was groan and gurgle as blood bubbled out of his nose. As he doubled over and bled onto the arena, I turned my attention to the other leader of this little incident.

Sherman cried out and squirmed under Mrs. O'Leary's massive paw. She had long since disarmed him, and that may have been a bit more literal than initially expected. While he swatted at her and pounded away at her claws, one of his arms lay limp at his side. A massive hole in his shoulder gave me all the information I needed regarding how she took care of his sword.

"Get your damn mutt off me, Jackson!"

No sooner had he said that did Chiron arrive. As he strode into the arena, an entourage of campers followed him, a few of them grumbling about having their dinner interrupted. At their lead stood Clarisse, her spear held firmly in hand.

"What in Hades happened here?!" she demanded.

"Peace, Clarisse!" Chiron snapped. "We must tend to the wounded."

He cantered to each of the downed campers and checked their injuries. All the while, Clarisse stormed up to me with murder in her eyes.

"You better have a damn good reason for this, Jackson. You're not even here for an hour before attacking several campers."

I glared at Sherman, who kept squirming under my dog's paw. "Why don't you tell her what happened? And be sure not to leave anything out."

He paled. "It… it wasn't…"

I pressed my foot on his injured shoulder.

"Gah! You don't understand!"

"'Don't understand?!' You just tried to gangrape my handmaidens!"

Never before have I seen the color drain out of Clarisse's face so fast. She turned to the nymphs. Thŷella was curled up in a ball, shivering while Ashe wrapped her arms around her. She kept her panicked eyes locked on me.

Hands shaking, Clarisse turned back to Sherman. "Is this true?"

"Wait, it's not what it looked—"

"Is it true?!"

"Yes, but— hrrrnnnngh!"

Clarisse didn't wait for anything more to be said before slamming her spear tip into his shoulder. His body went rigid, spasming as the electricity from her spear arced throughout his body. Mrs. O'Leary backed off of him with a yelp.

For about ten seconds, Clarisse held her spear in his shoulder. She only pulled it out when blood started bubbling out of his mouth.

He doubled over and heaved, painting the nearby sand red. With it, we made a new discovery.

"Oh Styx," Clarisse chuckled. "He bit off his tongue."

So he had. I turned my attention away from the gruesome scene and moved to the nymphs. Chiron took my place at Sherman's side, saying nothing about Clarisse stabbing him.

"Are you two okay?"

As I reached for them, Ashe tackled me in a hug.

"We couldn't do anything! There were too many! I tried fighting back, but—"

"It's okay. You're safe now. I'm right here."

I stroked her hair and caressed her back while she trembled. Thŷella was no better, blindly reaching out for me as she whimpered softly. No doubt, the new surroundings and noise were disorienting for her.

"Come here."

I knelt down, bringing Ashe with me. My hand reached for Thŷella, who brushed my fingers briefly before lunging at me as well.

"I'm sorry, Master," she whimpered. "I'm not very useful at—"

"Don't apologize. This wasn't your fault."

For a few moments, I simply held them. Tempting as it was to shift positions, especially with Thŷella's slightly electric skin, I instead pulled them tightly against me. Ashe nuzzled my neck and silently wept. Thŷella pressed delicate kisses against my skin, uttering a soft "Thank you" between each one.

After a couple minutes, Ashe groaned and shifted in my grip.

"Could we get up? The sand is starting to hurt my skin."

So we did. I pulled both of them up and laced my fingers with Thŷella's.

"Let's get you both to Zoë. She'll look after you."

I whistled for Mrs. O'Leary, who bounded after us with an excited bark. While she shook the earth under-paw, the surrounding campers groaned out. Among the most vocal was Sherman, who was being carried on a stretcher by two others.

The moment he saw me, he practically threw himself off the stretcher.

"Ih wuh rue!" he shouted, his mouth filled with gauze. "Ih wuh rue!"

"You want another round?!" I pulled out Riptide and prepared to uncap it.

"He's trying to tell you something, you idiot!" Mark groaned out while lying on the ground, another camper tending to the wounds on his face.

"What could I possibly need to hear from him?"

"Ih wuh rue!"

"Why don't you grow your tongue back? Maybe then I'll understand you."

"Dammit!" Mark snapped. "He's trying to tell you who set this up!"

I recoiled. "What are you talking about? You two were obviously in charge."

"Gods dammit! Just listen for a second!" He groaned as his medic began padding around his eye. "We pulled the trigger, but we didn't pull everyone into the crowd."

"Who then?"

"Like Sherman has been unsuccessfully trying to say, it was Drew!"

A/N: And so you have it! Our dysfunctional little family has finally arrived to camp. Took them long enough! But with the camp ready to blow, what can Percy do to ensure the safety of his harem? Speaking of which, will Percy be able to protect his harem from itself? All shall be revealed in due time, but until then, feel free to ponder what shall befall our cast as they take in their old home.

This time, I have a bit of an announcement to make. Something far more different than my norm. My Discord members already know about this, but that's because they helped me make the decision to go through with it. I would like to announce that I have recently launched a page! With your gracious support, I can keep writing and worry less about whether or not my stomach will be empty by the end of the day. Let me be clear in stating that absolutely no written content will be put behind a paywall! At least not until I start writing my own original works, but we have a long time until then. All patrons who subscribe for five dollars or more will be granted early access to all chapters. That's right, this chapter has already been out for a week! And with a couple more already written, you can rest easy knowing the month long waits for chapters are (hopefully) over.

If you wish to locate it, just look for my name. Yup. Just search for Last Ronin on the website, and I'll be there to say hello.

I do sincerely hope you stop by. Whether its to pledge your support or to simply say hi to the Discord, I look forward to continuing this bright future with each and every one of you! This is Ronin signing off.