The Path Of Glory (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

27. Run Away At Night

Even Annabeth looked impressed.

"30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west," Y/N finished.

"He's right!" Annabeth said. "The Gray Sisters gave us the coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"

"Wait just a minute," Tantalus said.

But the campers took up the chant. "We need a quest! We need a quest!"

The flames rose higher.

"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.

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

"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"

"YES!"

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

Y/N's heart filled with excitement.

"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."

Tantalus looked at Y/N, Annabeth and Percy as if he wanted to flay them alive. "The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest . . . Clarisse!"

"I'm gonna kill him," Y/N growled.

"Hold yourself," Annabeth muttered, grabbing his arm.

The fire flickered a thousand different colors. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"

Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride. "I accept the quest!"

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

"Sit down!" one of the Ares campers yelled. "You had your chance last summer!"

"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" another said.

"Enough!" Y/N shouted. "Shut up! Is there anyone of you who has any brain? Show some common sense!"

The Ares campers paid no attention to him and cheered Clarisse even louder. Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers joined in. Everybody else started taking sides—shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows. It was going to turn into a full-fledged s'more war until Tantalus shouted, " Silence, you brats!"

Even Y/N was stunned.

"Sit down!" Tantalus ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."

Reluctantly the campers returned to their seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was as strong as any monster Y/N had ever faced.

"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and Y/N got the feeling he was talking about himself.

"This king," he said, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe—just one little doggie bag, mind you—the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children—just—like—you!"

He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, including Y/N.

"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"