𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄! percy jackson¹

xx . Tantalus

But there was an air of danger now. You could tell that something was wrong. The volleyball court was unusually quiet, and instead of playing, counsellors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dyrads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest looked sick, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars.

Somebody had messed up my home, and I was angry.

"Claire! Hey, you're awake!"

When I heard Annabeth's voice, a wave of relief washed over me. At least there was something familiar around. My best friend rushed over and up the stairs from where she had been wandering around near the volleyball courts. She pulled me into a hug and I ignored the dull ache in my limbs.

"I'm so glad your all right," she said to my shoulder. "Percy and I tried to visit you, but Tantalus wouldn't allow us."

I pulled away, "How long have I been out?"

"Not long," she assured me. "It's nearly dinner time."

"Oh," we started to walk down the stairs and towards the pavilion. Questions filled my head, and I wasted no time in asking Annabeth all that I needed to catch up on. "What ... what about Chiron? Is what Clarisse said true? Has he ... is he really gone?"

Annabeth stared at the path in front of us. She swallowed hard, her jaw clenching as she did. "They blame him for the poisoning of Thalia's tree. So Zeus dismissed him."

"What?! No—Zeus can't possibly think—"

"It happened on Chiron's watch," she said sadly. "I think that was enough for him. So now Chiron and Argus are gone, and we're left with Tantalus and Mr D."

"Who's Tantalus?"

"He's ... uh ..." Annabeth's eyes fixed on the dining pavilion in front of us, "You'll—uh—you'll see."

The sun was setting behind the pavilion when the rest of the campers came up from their cabins. We stood in the shadow of a marble column and watched them file in. Annabeth still looked pretty shaken up, but she promised to talk to me later. Then she went off to join her siblings from the Athena cabin—a dozen kids with blonde hair and grey eyes like her. When I saw my siblings from the Apollo cabin, I made my way over to them.

Lee grinned when he saw me, as did Will, Jay, Michael, Kylie and Jenna. It was good to see them again after the school term. Once I reached them, they all flooded me with, "Are you okay?" and "We were so worried!" and "Don't overdo yourself again!" and "Oh, we're so glad you're all right!"

I tried to calm them down, "Guys—we can talk back in the cabin."

They didn't seem too happy about it, but they listened and allowed me to lead them over to the Apollo table. At the end of last summer, Lee handed over his counsellor badge to me after my first quest. Along with Annabeth, I've been at camp the longest. I may not be the eldest, but I've had the most experience out of all my siblings, and they decided to make me the leader. I wasn't sure whether I was up for the job yet, but this summer might give me the chance to give it a chance.