I Get Propositioned by a Tree

"What are you talking about?! If you're trying to cover your ass, you can't just accuse the most convenient person in camp!"

Given recent events, I wanted to deny his words at any cost. Drew and I may not have been on the greatest terms, but she still showed a better side of herself recently. Albeit for shifty reasons, but still… Progress, right?

"I'm serious! She was all pissed off. Told me and Sherman about putting a group together. A bit of charmspeak and… well… you know."

I shook my head. "Her charmspeak isn't that powerful. Besides, she can't currently use her powers." I marched up to him and pressed my heel to his knee. "How about you start telling the truth; or I'll show you how many directions your legs can bend without kneecaps."

The camper working on him stood with a grumble. "I'll just… give you two some time."

With his medic gone, Mark went pale, which was impressive considering the blood on his face.

"Alright alright! She promised us first dibs if we went after the nymphs!"

"First dibs on what?" I pressed a bit harder on his knee.

"Gah! The nymphs of course! A couple of us have been itching to get our own harems, and you just brought us a bunch of trained slaves on a silver platter."

A wave of cold trickled down my spine. One which was quickly replaced by a burning fury.

I raised my foot and stomped it down.

"Let's go," I said, turning to Ashe and Thŷella, ignoring the pained shouts of the vicious coward behind me. "Let's get you two somewhere safe."

Chiron didn't even try to stop me. The most he offered me was a grimace and a shake of his head. As I left the arena, he pulled out a bag of ambrosia and cantered towards the groaning son of Ares.

Ashe and Thŷella clung to me during the entire walk. While Ashe latched a wild eye onto anyone who came within view, Thŷella tucked herself away under my arm and fell into my stride.

Mrs. O'Leary followed us, her presence deterring anyone from approaching us.

Anyone except Annabeth.

"What happened?" she asked, frowning at the fidgety nymphs at my sides.

"In a bit. Do you know where Zoë is?"

"Yeah." She gestured to the forest. "She's still helping the nymphs settle in. I was actually about to see how your chat with Chiron went."

"They have his blessing to anchor in. Not anyone in the harem though. It's… I'll explain later. But for right now, I need to see Zoë."

"Sure. Check around the south end of Zephyros Creek. I'll spread the word for everyone to settle in."

She gave me a quick kiss before jogging back into the woods, though in the opposite direction of where she told me to go.

The trip to Zephyros Creek was shorter than I remembered. Maybe I needed to spend more time wandering around the woods to get a good estimate of how big it was. Nonetheless, I reached the creek with no issues. A couple nymphs were running around and chatting. One was in the middle of sowing her piece of obsidian in the ground to start the anchoring ritual.

"Thou wisheth to speak with me?" a voice called.

Zoë was perched on a tree branch, honing her knife on a whetstone.

"Yeah," I replied with a raised eyebrow. "How did—?"

"Word travels quickly in the woods. Dryads are terrible gossips."

She leapt down from her branch, landing without even crunching a single leaf underfoot. What little humor was in her eyes vanished the moment she saw Ashe and Thŷella.

"What happened?"

"Could we… discuss this somewhere a little more private?"

She slipped her knife into a concealed sheath. "Follow me."

In all honesty, I would have followed her even if she hadn't told me to. The setting sun offered virtually no light anymore, making our return trip much darker than our entry.

Within minutes, I found myself standing at the entrance of cabin eight. Its silvery walls shimmered in the light of the rising moon.

"Wait here, girl."

I patted Mrs. O'Leary's nose and followed Zoë inside.

"Woah."

Before me stood a dozen bunk beds, six to each side. Matching silver blankets and pillows neatly covered each one. Synthetic grass crunched under my feet with each step. The ceiling glowed and sparkled with a condensed version of the night sky. In the back was a seating area composed of various furs and hides coating the ground. Three leather couches faced one another in a triangular shape.

"Gawking can come later," Zoë said, relaxing on a bunk closest to the entrance. "Speak what thou must."

Over the next couple minutes, I gave her a quick summary of what Chiron told me along with the events that followed.

As I explained, a deer with golden antlers seemed to appear out of nowhere, sniffed the grass, snorted, and bolted away, apparently melting into the forest-like wallpaper.

My words grew harder and harder to say as time went on. Ashe and Thŷella left my side to sit in a nearby corner.

When I was finished speaking, Zoë had gone completely still and silent. Her already dark eyes narrowed as she stared at the floor. I didn't even notice when her knives came out.

"Zoë, wait."

But she was already moving. If not for me standing at the entrance, there's no way I would have stopped her. As it was, I could barely contain her. If she were trying to kill me, I'd be dead ten times over.

"Unhand me!" she screeched. "I will destroy them! I will flay them alive and shove their castrated cocks down their—

"Listen to me!"

I squeezed her against my chest as tightly as I could. Not an easy feat. With equal parts strength and grace, she nearly slipped out from my grip three times before I could finally get her to stay relatively still.

"They must pay!" she screamed, angry tears streaming down her face. "I will not fail again!"

I recoiled. "What are you talking about? Look, one of them was electrocuted and bit his own tongue off. I bashed a shield into another one's face before busting his kneecap. Let Chiron deal with them from this point. But I need you to do something for me."

"Send me to track down the others," she urged, squirming in my embrace. "I'll have everyone involved taken care of before dawn."

"No. I need you to stay here."

"But that won't—"

"There's no telling if something like this will happen again. You care about the nymphs. You've already been watching over them. I need you to keep doing this."

That seemed to do the trick. She stopped struggling and stared me right in the eyes.

"I… I… I have to—"

"Listen to me. I'm trusting you with their lives." I let her go. "Prove to me that you really care about them. Let me deal with everyone else. I want you to focus on keeping them safe."

"But… But I—"

"Will you do it? Will you keep them safe?"

She hesitated, evidently mulling over some kind of internal conflict. "I will try. Though I wish thou wouldst place your trust in someone more capable, I will do what I can to ensure their safety."

"Good." My shoulders relaxed. "Then from this point on, I'm putting you in charge of their security. Doubly so now that we don't have a place to call home yet. You're not in charge of them, but I give you full permission to do whatever you consider necessary to keep them safe."

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away before they could leak out. With a simple nod, she turned to Ashe and Thŷella, who were still huddled together.

"Shall I retrieve the others?" she asked, sheathing her knives.

"No," I said. "I'll go get them. Keep an eye on everyone here. Though… you wouldn't happen to know where the others are, would you?"

She sniffled and stifled a laugh. "Palírroia went to speak with the naiads at the lake. Rose and Nimba accompanied me briefly, but left to see her sister in the infirmary."

I backed out of the cabin with a spring in my step. "Thank you. I'll try to find a way to pay you back."

Mrs. O'Leary stood up and stretched, inadvertently knocking over a satyr passing by.

"You stay here, girl. I need you to watch over them."

She whined in protest, but made no further move to follow me.

With that, I turned and ran for the closest of the nymphs. Or in other words, the infirmary.

The last thing I expected to do in the infirmary was smile. Still, there was something morbidly satisfying about seeing certain campers laid out on the cots. Especially a certain individual who was in the process of having his tongue reattached.

I passed by Calypso, who, aside from a nectar filled IV in her arm, was perfectly content in her sleep.

At this point, I'm more than familiar with people crying in the infirmary. Burns, broken bones, severed limbs; I've seen it all.

Or so I thought.

"Girls? What happened?"

Sierra was still in her cot, softly groaning in her sleep. By her side sat Nimba and Rose. And Juniper.

Rose sat between the other two, weeping softly as the others ran some sort of cream through her hair. Upon closer inspection and taking a deep whiff, I realized it was peanut butter.

Nimba forced a smile. "We… weren't as welcomed as we hoped to be."

Juniper huffed. "It's these stupid hazing rituals. But even this is unheard of! Normally, we'd just cover a new plant in berries or tie them to a tree with ivy vines! But no! This time, they wanted to 'send a message!'"

"What… What are you talking about? What happened?"

"We were fine at first," Nimba said. "We helped the others get comfortable. But I wanted to see Sierra, so we left. Along the way, we met some more dryads."

"Elms," Juniper spat. "Always the troublemakers."

"We talked for a little bit, but then they started mocking us. Poked and prodded us while saying we were 'stuck.' After that, they threw a bunch of sap in Rose's hair."

Juniper growled. "It's an unfair double standard!"

"Hold on." I leaned forward and grabbed Rose's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She sniffled, but grabbed my hand and rubbed it affectionately on her cheek. "It… it's just hair master. It just hurts having it tugged so much."

"Sorry," Nimba mumbled. "There's just so much we need to clean."

"We wouldn't have to deal with this if those narrow minded pine nuts weren't so mean!"

"Okay, what are you talking about?"

Juniper crossed her arms. "Alright. Dryads and… well… all nature spirits really, pride themselves on freedom. Slavery is one of the worst things that could happen to us. That's why we were more than happy to welcome all of these new nymphs. They suffered so much, and we want them to feel safe again."

"Okay… I'm not seeing what that has to do with this."

She curled her lip. "When those elms found out that Nimba and Rose were both still slaves, they were shocked. But when Rose told them they were happy to stay with you, they lost their minds! In their minds, it's like saying you want to be a prisoner forever!"

"But… it's not—"

"It's dumb! Who are they to judge?! If we are happy with one person, then what right does that give them to berate us for it?!"

She panted, glaring at me, but not quite seeing me. Her mind was obviously somewhere else.

"Um… Are you okay…?"

Those wild eyes stayed in place for a few seconds more before dropping to her feet.

"Sorry… It's just… Can I talk to you about something? In private?"

"Sure, but—" I turned to the other two "—first, I'm taking you two to cabin eight. Some of the other campers attacked Ashe and Thŷella, so I put Zoë in charge of keeping you all safe."

"What?!" Rose straightened up. "Are they okay?!"

"Physically, yes. Mentally, they might need some time to recover. Zoë is watching over them right now. So is that really big dog you saw earlier. Nobody will go near you as long as they are around."

"But…" Nimba turned to her sister. "I can't leave her here. Not if she's in danger."

"The infirmary is kept under constant watch by some of the most responsible members of the camp. Also, Chiron makes a point to check on the injured fairly often."

"Then… could we stay?"

Nimba pouted, batting her big bright eyes.

I grumbled, and shot a glance towards Sherman. His medic was stepping away from him and clapping their hands in satisfaction. He, along with most of the others were already sedated, and likely wouldn't be waking up for at least another twelve hours.

"Okay. For a couple more hours. I'll come pick you up later. But you need to stay here, okay?"

"Yes!" Nimba threw herself at me with open arms. I tried to ignore the peanut butter she was rubbing into my shirt while she hugged me. "Thank you, Master!"

"No offense, Percy," a voice behind me called, "but could you step back a bit. You're blocking me from my patient."

Nimba and I jumped back from each other to see our new arrival.

"Will! Long time no see. You're the one taking care of Sierra?"

He grinned. "That would be correct. Working on nymphs is typically the work of Demeter campers, but nebulae are a bit of a forgotten art. Fortunately for you, I consider any sky based creatures like extended family. Son of the sun god and all."

"In that case, don't let me stop you from your work." I pondered for a couple seconds while he stepped over to Sierra with a prepared IV bag. "Could you keep an eye on them for me?"

He glanced up while I gestured to the nymphs around us.

"Well… two of them are already my patients, so I don't see why not. Are they sick or something?"

"No, it's just that—" I pointed to the injured campers at the far end of the infirmary.

"Ah. Yeah, I heard about that. Consider me your security guard then. I'll make sure no one puts a finger on them."

"Thank you." I turned to Juniper. "I know you wanted to talk in private, but I need to see one more person. Care to join me?"

She fidgeted with the folds of her dress. "Sure… I guess."

"Great. If you haven't met Palírroia yet, then I'll consider this a double win. She could use a friend like you."

"Oh! Wow, of course." She grinned, her green eyes brightening. "Lead the way!"

We spent a little while catching up during our walk. And by catching up, I mean Juniper hounded me with questions about the past two weeks. Everything from where we've been to what daily life is like. In all honesty, I should have taken it as a sign of what was to come.

"So how's Grover been? Is he still out in California?"

Juniper paused, eyes darting to the ground. "Yeah… That… that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"I'm not sure I like where this is going." I stopped near the western wing of the cabins. "Did you two break up?"

"Well… yes. No. Sort of? It's… complicated. We haven't actually spoken since he left."

"Oh… Has he gone missing again?!"

My heart started thumping just a tad bit faster. I lurched forward and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"What do you know? Has anyone started—"

"He's not missing! He's fine." She glanced away, but made no efforts to pull out of my grip. "If anything… he's probably doing better than ever."

I quirked an eyebrow. "What are you hinting at?"

She deflated in my hands like an empty air dancer. "Over the past week, I've been getting Iris messages. Just not from him. From other nymphs. With him."

All blood drained out of my face. "What? Grover?! Of all people, you expect me to believe—"

"I know what it sounds like," she said. "And I know it's hard to understand. I'm not even sure if he realizes it's happening. The only one that had a clear view of him was while he was asleep. Maybe they're doing this without him knowing, but I don't think that's the case. Maybe they're just waiting until he's asleep to show it to me."

"Why though? Why send it to you? And how did they send it anyways? I didn't think nymphs had drachmas on them."

"As far as I know, we don't use them very often. Maybe they took them from him. Maybe they found another way of paying for it. All I know is what I saw."

"Okay. Fine. Let's go with that. Let's say what you're saying is true. Why would they show him off to you like that? Isn't the point of an affair to keep it hidden?"

She crossed her arms and frowned. "You clearly don't know much about nature spirits. It's like I said earlier, being with one person is frowned upon. And while most may leave us alone about it, not everyone is willing to."

"So this has happened before?"

"Well… no. Not like this. I mean… There was that one time Grover was crushing on a blueberry bush, but I don't think he acted on it. But we've definitely had some try and take him away from me. Just like there are other satyrs who tried to take me from him."

"I don't know, Juniper," I said, scratching the back of my head. "This is my best friend you're talking about."

"I'm not saying I blame him. He's still a satyr after all. Most of them spend their entire lives chasing after all of the nymphs they can. Grover… well, he was always more timid. I thought it was cute and endearing. I wanted to help him with his confidence.

"I even hoped we could do things like mortals do. Get married. Become… intimate. Have a family.

"But now, the tides have turned. Now, he has nymphs throwing themselves at him by the dozen. You can't deny that, for someone who lacks self-confidence, staying faithful may become an impossible task."

With my arms crossed, I stared at the ground, contemplating what to say next.

"But that's where you come in," she said.

"How? Do you want me to talk with him? Hades, if this is true, I'll talk to him about it anyways."

"No. Not that. It's just…" She fidgeted with her hair, fumbling over her next words. "I was talking with Nimba and Rose, and… I was wondering if… maybe I could… you know… join you?"

With every word, she hunched her shoulders and brought her head lower and lower to the ground. By the time she was done, she was staring up at me through her eyelashes with the deepest green blush I'd ever seen.

Honestly, I took way longer to process her words than should have been necessary.

"Huh?!"

"Can I join your harem?" she said again, this time with more confidence.

"Juniper… This is way too big of a request to make just because of a break up. And I don't even know if I can just pull you into the harem." I pulled myself out of the consideration. "Even then, why do you want to join it? At least half of the girls in it would leave if they were given the chance."

"I know. I know it sounds bad, but… Your other nymphs seem to love you. And well… I still think it would be nice to… to belong to someone."

"Then you can still be with Grover," I insisted. "Talk things out with him. Or if you want to find another guy to be with, you can. There's plenty of other satyrs to pick from."

"But they'll inevitably get bored and move on to someone else, which means I'll end up getting passed around like almost every other nymph. Someone like Grover is rare. He made me feel like he was the only one for me and I for him. I'm not naive enough to think I'll find someone else who will treat me like that, but after talking with your nymphs, I know I can still be someone special to you."

"But you're still special to Grover. Assuming this is all true, do you really think he doesn't care about you anymore?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Even if he does, he still did this behind my back. And either he sent those Iris messages or the others did without him knowing. I don't know which is worse, him showing off his new collection or him keeping this a secret from me.

"Either way, I don't know if I can trust him the same way anymore. At least with you, I know what I'm getting into. I know what goes on. Besides, you just admitted you don't know if you can even add more. That means you aren't looking for more. There's no telling how many Grover will be with over the years. I'll just be one of possibly dozens or even hundreds. With you, I know I'll still be someone special, even if it's not the same as I originally wanted."

I wiped my palm over my face, trying to piece together something to say.

"A lot of this is still hypothetical. You can still talk to him. He'll inevitably come back to camp when he's finished his business over there."

"And I want to be as far away from here when he does," she pressed. "Even if you don't let me join, could you at least let me come with you? After what I saw, seeing him again… All it will do is make it hurt more. But you're not staying here anyways, so who better to leave with?"

"How do you know we're not staying? Who's to say we don't make our home right here?"

She paled for a moment, but her blush returned as she hugged herself. "I… might have been nearby when you were talking to Chiron."

I groaned out, pressing my fingers to the bridge of my nose. "I still think you need to think this over. Sleep on it, then see what you think tomorrow. That's probably when we're going to leave anyway."

"So you'll let me come with you?" She practically bounced with joy, her eyes finally brightening after the dim conversation.

"I'll… consider it. Either way, I don't even know if you can actually join the harem. But if you need some fresh air to take your mind off things, I might be able to help you with that."

"Oh, thank you!" She tackled me in a hug, squeezing me with surprising strength for her petite frame.

"Easy there." I offered a slight hug back. "No decisions until tomorrow. And I still want to talk with Grover before we decide on anything."

She grumbled in my chest. "Can I at least meet the other nymph? Mallory, I think her name was?"

"Palírroia," I chuckled. "Yeah. You can still meet her. Let's go while we still have a little bit of light left."

In the dimming twilight, Juniper followed along, humming a chipper tune to herself. Her upbeat energy was mildly infectious, giving me a second wind I never realized I needed.

Waves crashed gently along the shore. Despite plenty of footprints in the sand, nobody was present. A quick glance to the distance revealed that most campers were participating in a singalong at the campfire. Of course, that's with the exception of the Aphrodite campers, who were being corralled into their cabin by Argus.

Still, despite the day's events, the surroundings were rather peaceful. For all of the drama camp can bring, it's still rather a beautiful sight to take in. The moon and stars shone down on us, their reflection broken up by the choppy waters. A flock of ducks flow overhead, honking at one another while—

"Master!"

I went tunnel visioned, locking on to the one who cried out for me. What I'd hoped to hear from her was elation or affection. Instead, she screamed out with sheer unadulterated terror.

Palírroia reached out to me, trapped in a weighted fishing net. Nearby, a bunch of naiads laughed and jeered at her misfortune.

Riptide was in my hand before I even realized it. I rushed to her side while she sobbed and hyperventilated, with Juniper right on my heels.

"Master," Palírroia whimpered through choppy breaths. "Help."

"Hold on," I said. "I'll have you out of here in no time."

Unfortunately, she took my words a bit too literally. Her free arm lunged out at mine, pulling me down with her as she clung to me for dear life.

"Easy there," I groaned. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. Juniper, a little help please."

She didn't need to be told twice. With only a bit of difficulty, she traded places with me, taking Palírroia's hand in her own and offering soft words of encouragement.

While she addressed Palírroia's panic attack, I set to work cutting the net off of her. It was delicate work. Our light wasn't the greatest and her legs were wildly tangled in the small holes of the net. Furthermore, the naiads continued their onslaught of cackling and harassment, which didn't help my concentration.

"A caught fish is a dead fish!" one called out.

"She wouldn't know any better," another giggled. "She was bred in captivity!"

I growled a few quiet curses to myself. Cutting Palírroia free was no easy task. Right when I thought I had her out, another layer of netting revealed itself. One thing was clear, she was struggling in this net for a while.

"Just hold on for a little bit longer. A little cut here. Untangle this, and… got it!"

There wasn't even a chance to react. A blue blur knocked the wind out of me and sent me sprawling across the sand.

Palírroia didn't say anything. She simply held me. Shivering. Gasping for air. Her heart pounded against her chest. All the while, she softly whimpered while nuzzling my neck.

"It's okay," I whispered, running my hands through her hair. "I'm here now. You're safe."

For a few minutes longer, we said nothing. I simply cradled her in my arms while she slowly collected herself. All things considered, I thought we were making good progress.

Then Juniper rubbed her back.

Palírroia yelped and jumped away from me. She whipped around to face Juniper, who lurched backwards with wide eyes.

"Um… hi." Juniper offered a little wave.

Palírroia shied away. "Please refrain from touching my back."

"Do they still hurt?" I stood and stepped closer to her.

"Most of the time, no. But it's still sensitive."

"What's still sensitive?" Juniper asked. "What are you talking abou…?"

Palírroia turned around, brushed her hair over her shoulder, and pulled down the straps of her chiton. With her garments bunched at her waist, Juniper was given a clear view of her scars.

"Oh my…" Juniper cupped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know—

"There is nothing to forgive. Just… please…"

"Of course! Do you need any salves? I'm not exactly a healer, but I know—"

"No thank you. But—" she turned to me with a shy smile "— today has taxed me of my strength, and I would like to retire for the night."

"You and me both," I replied with a sigh. "But first, I think you two should finally introduce yourselves."

"Right. Sorry. Uh, hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Juniper." She held out her hand.

Rather than shake it, Palírroia returned the gesture with a light curtsy. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Palírroia."

Juniper paled before pulling back her hand. "Wow… You are a lot more formal than the others."

"She spent her whole life with the slavers," I explained. "Nimba told me she wasn't there very long."

"Anyway," Juniper continued. "If we could forget that little… incident, I'd like to get to know you better. Maybe we could be… friends?"

Palírroia blanched before turning to me with an unsure expression. "I… would like that as well. Have you met Thŷella? I believe she would enjoy your company as well."

"Thŷella's in the Artemis cabin. You weren't the only one to get attacked. In fact, we should probably get you there as well."

"Oh. As you say, Master."

We all started our way to the cabins, but not before a bunch of whistling and catcalling trapped my attention.

"Oh, Percy!" one of the naiads called in a singsong voice. "If you ever want to try some real nymphs, you know where to find us!"

Several of them giggled and waved. One went so far as to blow me a kiss. Before I could consider crashing a large wave over them, they all vanished beneath the water's surface.

"Sluts," Juniper spat. "That's the kind of life I don't want to become a part of."

"You don't have to. It's a simple choice."

She turned to me with a coy smile. "It will be a simpler choice if you let me join you."

"Um. Master?" Palírroia called with an edge to her voice.

We turned to find that the campfire was finished. Campers were clearing out with most going to their cabins. However, quite a few of them were marching straight for us, and they didn't look friendly.

I took Palírroia's hand in my own and pulled her forward with me, moving towards the cabins once more. We never had the chance to make it.

"Look who we have here," one of them sneered. "The great Percy Jackson, strutting around with his pretty little pieces of tail."

He stepped forward with a sickening grin. "How about you hand them over? Give us a turn to play with them."

All I could do was blink in confusion. "Who are you?"

The crowd surrounding us chattered nervously among themselves. In their disarray, I motioned to step around them, but the guy at the lead refocused their attention.

"Damien White," he snapped, pounding a fist against his chest. "Son of Nemesis."

At his revelation, the only reaction I could give was a shrug. "Sorry dude, haven't heard of you. I've been away for a while."

"And that's the problem!" he spat. "We're here every day, toiling away, fighting a war with monsters and Romans, then you just come along and everyone treats you like some hero! Even the gods act like you're hot shit, giving you a harem. Well I say fuck that! What's yours is ours! So hand over those nymphs. We could all use a little stress relief."

A familiar chill trickled down my spine. My fingers started to twitch, but I tightened my grip on Palírroia's hand to still them.

"Today is not the day to mess with me," I said, my voice on edge. "Walk away. Go to bed. I'd prefer to not put anymore people in the infirmary."

"Not until you hand over those nymphs!"

The crowd voiced their agreement.

"I'm going to keep that little dryad on her hands and knees all night long," Damien continued. "Then tomorrow, I'm going to start my own little harem. Those sex slaves you brought back will be a fun place to start."

"You touch them," I growled, "and you'll answer to me. I didn't kill a god and fight a small army just for those nymphs to wind up back in captivity."

A couple members in the crowd took a step back, but Damien didn't budge.

"What are you going to do?" he scoffed. "Splash me with a little water?"

The crowd chuckled. I moved to step forward, but Palírroia pulled my wrist to stop me.

"Master, no."

"What's wrong, Master?" he jeered. "You take orders from your slaves now? Now we all know you should hand her over. I'll make sure this bitch is broken in real nice. Then we'll see who gives orders to who. I'll show you what it means to have a harem!"

I growled once more, but there was a moment of clarity. Like the eye of a hurricane, that moment of peace that kept me from pulverizing him.

"You think you have what it takes to have a harem? Really?"

He frowned, evidently confused by the direction I was taking this.

"Do you even have what it takes to satisfy one person? Do you really have what it takes to keep them all in line?"

"Pfft, just need to take them down a peg." He jabbed a thumb into his chest. "Show them who the boss is."

I snorted. "If that's your approach, they'll eat you alive." My attention turned to the crowd, who'd gone quiet. "And what about you? Are any of you in his so-called harem? Is that how you'd let him let you live?"

None of them answered. A couple looked at each other nervously, others in disbelief.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Damien. If you want to keep a harem in order, you need to know what makes each of them tick." I gave Palírroia a little tug forward, hugging her back to my chest. "You need to know how to keep them all really satisfied."

Palírroia's breath hitched as I ran my fingers over her hips.

"Tap my leg three times if you want me to stop," I whispered in her ear.

She clearly didn't want me to stop.

"Master," she gasped out as my fingers trailed lower, ghosting over her thighs.

Damien and his crowd went silent, each of them staring at me with a mix of shock and horror, with a touch of mild curiosity from certain individuals.

"It's not easy to figure out," I said, raising my voice for them all to hear. "People are complicated. They all have different wants and needs."

As one hand brushed over her still covered inner thighs, the other roamed her belly. Soft breaths grew heavier with every stroke.

"Hey!" one of the crowd members called out. "You can't just—"

"Teach you all a lesson?" I asked.

My hand snapped from Palírroia's belly to her breast. She let out an only slightly exaggerated gasp and pushed out her chest in response to my touch.

"None of you know a damn thing about what it takes to keep people in line. The thought of any of you forming a harem makes me sick to my stomach."

I trailed my fingers up her inner thigh before cupping her mons.

"If you want to start up harems of your own, you might try getting a boyfriend or girlfriend first. See how well that works out."

My fingers dipped, brushing her moist lips through her chiton. A soft whimper is all she could get out before I nibbled her neck, turning her small noise into an unrelenting moan of pleasure.

"But let me make one thing clear." I gently squeezed her breast, eliciting further moans. "If you so much as touch a single nymph I brought back, I will feed you to my hellhound. They are all under my protection."

A single finger slipped through her folds, dipping into her wetness despite her chiton.

"I don't care if you all fuck each others' brains out, but those nymphs are off limits."

"Che due coglioni! What are you all still doing out here?!"

A new arrival approached from the cabins. Despite the darkness of the night concealing most of her features, her dark pixie cut helped me identify her as one of our oldest campers.

"Chiara," I greeted. "Been a while. It seems I needed to teach these new campers a little life lesson"

My finger pulled out of Palírroia, giving her clit a little brush as it did. Her breath hitched as she threw her head back and nuzzled my throat.

"What are you talking about? And che cosa stai facendo?! The last thing this camp needs is a botched sex education lesson!"

"I'm making a point," I growled. "It seems everyone here thinks it's okay to just take my nymphs and… How did you say it, Damien? 'Show them who the boss is?'"

Her eyes went wide as she turned on the group. More specifically, the one leading them.

"Damien?! What are you doing out here?!"

He stepped back with his hands raised. "Now hold on, babe."

"Babe?" I cut in with a snicker, turning to Chiara. "So you're part of his harem?"

"Harem?! Idiota! I'm his girlfriend!"

"Really? Then why is he so eager to force himself on the nymphs?" To emphasize my point, I pulled Palírroia more tightly against me. "I never imagined someone like you would let him get away with something like that."

Even in the pale moonlight, her face turned red as she wheeled on Damien.

"Now hold on a second. We were just… uh…"

"Zitto!" She marched up to him with a murderous glare. "You think just because I don't spread my legs for you, that gives you permission to fuck other girls?!"

Damien continued back up until he reached the edge of the crowd, who all watched it play out like some sort of soap opera.

"Vaffanculo!"

Quicker than anyone could react, she kicked right between his legs.

A communal groan was let out by every guy. Even I couldn't help but flinch.

She spat on him while he collapsed to the ground, whimpering and writhing in pain.

"Stronzo, we're through!"

While she marched away, muttering to herself, the crowd dispersed around her, whispering among themselves before slowly drifting away. Watching their 'leader' get racked by his now ex-girlfriend clearly didn't leave them with a desire to continue their crusade against me.

Damien continued groaning into the ground, curled into a ball as he let out a string of his own curses.

"I knew another son of Nemesis once," I said softly. "You're a disgrace to his memory."

My lips pressed to Palírroia's cheek and pulled her in for a proper hug. As I let out a breath, Damien's groaning pulled in yet more attention.

"What happened here?" a gruff voice called.

I turned to face the latest visitor. Who better to make my day more difficult than a small satyr with a big attitude.

"Gleeson," I said through gritted teeth. "A little late, don't you think?"

"That's Coach Hedge to you, cupcake! Now what happened here?!" He pointed his baseball bat towards Damien.

"What happened is I just stopped him and his little friends from assaulting these nymphs! With a little help from Chiara. Haven't you been paying any attention? There have been attacks all day!"

"Don't you take that tone with me! I had business to attend to! But what I have been hearing is you flaunting your slaves around like bacon in front of wolves. Maybe you ought to stop antagonizing them!"

"'Antagonizing them?!'" I growled. "How about you get your facts straight before accusing me? Oh, and here's an idea. How about you put that bat of yours to some real good use and actually protect the nymphs from getting attacked!"

Palírroia whimpered and pressed herself against me. Her nails dug into my back.

He huffed in response before shouldering his baseball bat and walking over to Damien.

"Let's get a move on, cupcake," he said, tapping him with his hoof. "We'll get you some ice for that."

Not another word was said. He grabbed Damien by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him up. Damien spent the rest of their walk moaning in pain, which may have brought a morbid smile to my face.

Palírroia let out a soft whine, her gaze locked on my face. As I turned my attention to her, she grabbed my hand and brought it to her mouth. One by one, she suckled each of my fingers.

Satisfied with her brief work, she pulled them away from her face and directed my hand once more between her legs. This time, she pulled up the flowing skirt of her chiton, intent on having some more direct contact between us.

"Not yet," I said, pulling my hand away. "Maybe somewhere more private."

"Don't stop on my behalf," a voice called.

I paled and turned around, mentally kicking myself for momentarily forgetting Juniper was standing behind us the whole time. Despite the moonlight, her deep green blush was clear as day.

"You know," she said, brushing her hair over her ear, "if that's what I can look forward to, there really isn't a reason not to join."

I let out a soft groan. "Tomorrow. We'll talk about it tomorrow. In the meantime, I need to get her to Zoë."

Nothing further needed to be said. With Palírroia in tow, I made my way to cabin eight.

A/N: Looks like Percy is in damage control mode. And now he's getting an offer out of the blue by his best friend's girlfriend? How could this be?!

Looks like the has been quite the success so far. But I still find it obligatory to ask those with some extra money to donate it to a wonderful cause. What is that cause? Why, you've been reading it for years! As always, this is purely voluntary. No paywalls. But even if you choose not to donate, feel free to stop by the Discord server. More people are always welcome!

Normally, I would type more, but my arms are killing me right now. So I will keep this short and sweet, and simply wish you all the very best! Drop a review. Stop by the server. Munch on some mangos or bagels. This is Ronin signing off.