The Nature of a Demigod

Breaking the Rules

"Oh they've noticed." I shrugged. "There's entire documentaries, conspiracy theories and whatnot about the place. I think it's just off the U.S. coast of Florida. Little known place called-"

"The bermuda triangle... " Percy said.

"Exactly." Annabeth said.

He took this a little better than I imagined. Granted, this place made a lot of things seem more sensible.

"Okay... so at least we know where to look." he muttered.

"You know how big of an area to search that is?" I muttered. "It's... It's" I couldn't come up with an exact number. "It's a lot, Perce. Too much for the three of us to search. Way too much."

Annabeth brushed some of her hair out of her face. "One tiny island in monster infested waters? That's impossible." she said.

"Hey, I'm the son of the sea god. This is my home turf. How hard can it be?" Percy said. I smacked myself on the forehead and knit my eyebrows as Annabeth followed that statement. "We'll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He'll say no."

"Of course he's going to say no. He'd set us all on fire just for the fun of it." I told them.

"Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody."

"See, Percy. He'll just push us into the fire if we're not careful." I jabbed.

"The whole camp will hear. They'll pressure him. He won't be able to refuse."

"Maybe." A hint of hope was present in Annabeth's voice. "We'd better get these dishes done. Y/N, hand me the lava spray gun, will you?" she asked me.

I handed it to her, and ducked down as lava sprayed all over the place.

[Percy's POV]

That night at the campfire, Apollo's cabin led the sing-along. They tried to get everybody's spirits up, but it wasn't easy after that afternoon's bird attack. We all sat around a semicircle of stone steps, singing halfheartedly and watching the bonfire blaze while the Apollo guys strummed their guitars and picked their lyres.

We did all the standard camp numbers: Down by the Aegean, I Am My Own Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandpa, This Land is Minos's Land. The bonfire was enchanted, so the louder you sang, the higher it rose, changing color and heat with the mood of the crowd. On a good night, I'd seen it twenty feet high, bright purple, and so hot the whole front row's marshmallows burst into the flames.

Tonight, the fire was only five feet high, barely warm, and the flames were the color of lint. Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron and Y/N had been more exciting than this. Then he gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back toward the Big House.

When the last song was over, Tantalus said, "Well, that was lovely!"

He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, real casual like. But before he could touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving into the flames.

Tantalus turned back toward us, smiling coldly. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."

"Sir," I said.

Tantalus's eye twitched. "One of our kitchen boys has something to say?"

Some of the Ares campers snickered, but I wasn't going to let anybody embarrass me into silence. I stood and looked at Annabeth and Y/N. Thank the gods, they stood up with me. I said, "We have an idea to save the camp."