Max Whitfield and the Sea of Monsters

Chapter VI: I Fight Monsters in my Pajamas

I awoke to the sound of screaming. At first I dismissed it, assuming it was just some argument amongst my siblings. However I realized that wasn't the case when I noticed that not only were they screams of terror rather than annoyance or frustration, but also that they were coming from outside the cabin. In the blink of an eye, I jumped out of bed, grabbed Arsenal and dashed out the door, not even caring that I was still in pajamas.

Outside it was complete chaos. Some campers were running around screaming while others were scrambling to grab the closest weapons they could find. The satyrs and dryads weren't better off, most of them also running away and hurriedly pulling out various assortments of wooden weaponry.

In the middle of the chaos I eventually managed to find Penny and Clarisse. They were in pretty much the same state as me, looking simultaneously ready to start slaughtering monsters or go back to bed, Penny with a quiver hurriedly slung across her back and Clarisse with her armor a bit looser than how she would normally wear it in addition to being slightly crooked.

"Penny, Clarisse!" I called out.

They turned and rushed towards me, an expression of pure shock and confusion on their faces.

"Max, what in Hades is going on?" Penny asked me.

"I have no idea. I was hoping you would know."

"If we knew we wouldn't have asked, genius." Clarisse snapped.

I scowled at her and opened my mouth to reply.

"Don't you dare." Penny told me.
"We have other things to worry about. We need to figure out what's going on."

To be perfectly honest, I still wanted to give Clarisse an very snappy reply, but the rational part of my mind knew that Penny was right. So I stamped down my annoyance and observed my surroundings. Despite the fact there were campers running in nearly every conceivable direction, the majority of them seemed to be running away from Half-Blood Hill.

I immediately began pushing through the crowd in that direction, ignoring Penny's questioning of my actions. It was easier than you would think, but then again, most people knew better than to slam themselves against a guy with a bronze sword. Once I finally managed to get to the origin of the chaos, my blood turned to ice.

There were three Cyclopes right in the middle of Camp Half-Blood, using makeshift clubs that used to be tree branches to smash everything and everyone in sight.

"Di immortales..." Penny gasped once she and Clarisse reached me, both of them sharing my shock.

This should be impossible. Camp Half-Blood had magical borders created by Thalia's tree, which was what made it the safest place in the world for half-bloods like us. No monster or mortal could cross them without being summoned (basically invited) inside by a camper. And while people occasionally summoned some lesser and relatively harmless monsters for training or practical pranks, no one would be crazy enough to summon a cyclops, much less three.

Clarisse was the first one to snap out of her shock, which I suppose wasn't that surprising when you consider that this was precisely what she always trained so intensively for.

"I'll get my cabin and assemble a phalanx. Try to keep them distracted and lead them away from the buildings." she all but ordered us.

"We'll try our best." Penny assured.

"That's all I can ask for, blondie." Clarisse said before rushing off.

I frowned.

"Since when do we take orders from Clarisse?"

"Do you have a better plan you'd like to share?" Penny inquired.

I didn't. So naturally, I chose to keep my mouth shut. My gaze turned to the monsters in front of us, my fists clenching as anger overtook the shock. These creatures were destroying Camp Half-blood, my home. And I had had enough of it.