Changing the Future

Chapter 25

I was silent the whole ride back to camp even though I was sitting with Percy on Chiron's back. It was a weird feeling knowing that you were sitting on the back of your centaur half-brother, but thankfully Percy didn't ask anything else about us being children of Kronos. 

But he did say, "Huh, siblings," more to himself than to us, like that had just now dawned on him. Honestly, while Chiron may have been my brother, I viewed him more as a mentor than a sibling. Something about the three thousand some age gap made it very hard to view each other as siblings.

When we finally got back to camp, we got to witness the magic of the Golden Fleece. Clarisse had arrived five minutes before we did because of the centaurs' magic travel powers, meaning we'd get to see the Fleece in action.

Apparently it had been a rough two weeks here with the more frequent monster attacks. For example, we were now in need of a new arts and crafts cabin after having burnt down because of a Draco Aionius. There were so many injured that there wasn't enough space in the Apollo cabin's infirmary, forcing kids transform rooms in the Big House into makeshift infirmary rooms.

Simply put, the fifty some demigods that had been here the past two weeks were just as battered and exhausted as we were. The second Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece on the lowest bough of the pine tree, the moonlight seemed to brighten, turning from gray to liquid silver. A cool breeze rustled in the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way into the valley. Everything came into sharper focus – the glow of fireflies down in the woods, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach.

We all began cheering as the pine needles slowly changed from brown to green, the Fleece working its magic and ridding the tree of the elder python venom. Chiron ordered a twenty-four/seven guard for the tree until he could find an appropriate monster to protect the Fleece.

I volunteered to take the first shift, placing a hand against the bark of the pine tree. This time when I touched the tree, I felt absolutely no pain, something that filled me with relief. I had no idea how Luke and Thalia were holding up inside their temporary home as the poison spread, so the fact that they were getting healed now made me very happy.

I skipped Clarisse receiving her laurels and the campfire that night, perfectly content to guard my friends' tree. I was so overprotective of them that Chiron had to force Annabeth to take the nightshift after he'd found out I hadn't left my post in three days.

"You wake me the moment something happens," I told Grover, who had tagged along with Annabeth to make sure I would get some sleep.

During the three days I'd been on guard duty, I missed the chariot race rematches and Tyson leaving to work in Poseidon's forges. I knew I'd also missed Hermes' second visit to Percy, the one that ended in him giving Percy an envelope from Poseidon.

When I walked into cabin three, I found Percy tossing and turning in his bunk, muttering under his breath while his face was pale. I'd gently rested my hand against his forehead, checking for a fever, before finally deciding that he was merely dreaming of my father. I would've waken him up, but Percy's dreams were essential to him and to the camp, so I let him sleep fitfully.

I crawled into my own bunk, my eyes closing for what felt like a few seconds before I heard Grover burst into the cabin, his pupils slit like a goat's in fear. Thunder rolled overhead, and lightning created false daylight across the camp.

Percy sat up in his bed, too, swearing when his forehead slammed into the upper part of his bunk. I scrambled out of bed, throwing on my raincoat while asking Grover what the heck was going on.

"Annabeth...on the hill...she..." Grover stammered.

Percy and I ran out of the cabin, seeing as others throughout camp made their way to the pine tree. Chiron caught up to us and hoisted us onto his back, galloping towards the borders. A small crowd had started to gather around the tree, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in an assortment of pajamas and armor.