𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐋¹ || 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐕

✦ 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐒 ✦

THE NEXT FEW DAYS WERE TORTURE, just like Tantalus wanted. First, there was Tyson moving into the Poseidon Cabin, giggling to himself every fifteen seconds and saying, "Percy is my brother?" like he'd just won the lottery.

"Aw, Tyson," Percy would say, "It's not that simple."

But there was no explaining it to him. He was in heaven. And Percy... as much as he liked the big guy, Percy couldn't help feeling embarrassed.

Ashamed.

His father, the all-powerful Poseidon, had got moony-eyed for some nature spirit, and Tyson had been the result. Percy had read the myths about cyclopes. He even remembered that they were often Poseidon's children. But he'd never really processed that this made them his... family. Until Percy had Tyson living with him in the next bunk.

And then there were the comments from the other campers. Suddenly, he wasn't Percy Jackson, the cool guy who'd retrieved Zeus' lightning bolt last summer. Now he was Percy Jackson, the poor schmuck with the ugly monster for a brother.

"He's not my real brother!" Percy protested whenever Tyson wasn't around. "He's more like a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family. Like... a half-brother twice removed, or something."

Nobody bought it.

Percy admits – he was angry at his dad. He felt like being his son was now a joke.

Aurora and Annabeth tried to make Percy feel better. They suggested they team up for the chariot race to take their minds off their problems.

Don't get him wrong – the three demigods hated Tantalus and they were worried sick about Camp – but they didn't know what to do about it. Until they could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia's tree, they figured they might as well go along with the races.

One morning Aurora, Annabeth, and Percy were sitting by the canoe lake sketching chariot designs when some jokers from Aphrodite's Cabin walked by and asked Percy if he needed to borrow some eyeliner for his eye...

"Oh, sorry, eyes."

Aurora's eyes blazed with fury as she glared at the girls from Aphrodite's Cabin. They had crossed a line, and she wasn't about to let them get away with it. But instead of lashing out with harsh words, she composed herself and put on a bright smile.

"Oh, how thoughtful!" Aurora exclaimed, her tone sugary sweet. "Percy wouldn't be needing some though... you might."

The girls looked at her, puzzled by her words and the mischievous glint in her eyes.

Before they could respond, Aurora swiftly scooped up water from the lake and splashed it at them.

The girls shrieked in surprise as their perfectly applied eyeliner began to run down their faces, leaving them in disarray as they hurriedly fled from the scene.