***
The way Tantalus saw it, the Stymphalian birds had simply been minding their own business in the woods and would not have attacked if Annabeth, Tyson, and Percy hadn't disturbed them with their bad chariot driving.
This was so completely unfair, I told Tantalus to go chase a doughnut, which didn't help his mood. He sentenced my three friends and I to kitchen patrol: scrubbing pots and platters all afternoon in the underground kitchen with the cleaning harpies. The harpies washed with lava instead of water, to get that extra-clean sparkle and kill ninety-nine point nine percent of all germs, so Annabeth and Percy had to wear asbestos gloves and aprons. Tyson didn't mind.
He plunged his bare hands right in and started scrubbing, but Annabeth and Percy had to suffer through hours of hot, dangerous work, especially since there were tons of extra plates. Tantalus had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse's chariot victory- a full-course meal featuring country-fried Stymphalian death-bird.
The only good thing about our punishment was that it gave Annabeth and Percy a common enemy and lots of time to talk. After listening to his dream about Grover again, she looked like she might be starting to believe him. I knew what it was like to have hard-to-believe dreams about friends and family, so I never had many doubts. A few, but not many.
"If he's really found it," she murmured, "and if we could retrieve it-"
"Hold on," I said. "You act like this...whatever-it-is Grover found is the only thing in the world that could save the camp. What is it?"
"I'll give you both a hint. What do you get when you skin a ram?"
"Messy?" Percy retorted.
She sighed. "A fleece. The coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool-"
I almost dropped the plate I had been scrubbing in surprise. Percy's jaw dropped. "The Golden Fleece. Are you serious?" He asked her.
Annabeth scraped a plateful of death-bird bones into the lava. "Percy, remember the Gray Sisters? They said they knew the location of the thing you seek. And they mentioned Jason. Three thousand years ago, they told him how to find the Golden Fleece. You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts?"
"The Hecate did I miss when I shadow-traveled here?"
Percy ignored me. "Yeah. That old movie with the clay skeletons."
Annabeth and I roll our eyes. "Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless." Annabeth told him.
"What?" He demanded.
Annabeth put up her hands, telling him to wait. "Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important."
"It was probably important to her."
"The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution-"
"It could cure Thalia's tree." Percy realized.
Annabeth nodded. "And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood. But Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."
"But Grover found it," my friend said. "He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Annabeth. We can rescue him and save the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"
Annabeth hesitated. "A little too perfect, don't you think? What if it's a trap?"
I remembered last summer and how Kronos had manipulated my friend's quest. He'd almost fooled them into helping him start a war that would've destroyed Western Civilization.
"What choice do we have?" Percy asked. "Are you going to help me rescue Grover or not?"
"If I'm invited, totally." I tell him, knowing just how important this is to him.
Annabeth glanced at Tyson, who'd lost interest in our conversation and was happily making toy boats out of cups and spoons in the lava.
"Percy," she said under her breath, "we'll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes. And there's only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters."
"Where's that?"
She stared at Percy like she thought he was playing dumb. "The Sea of Monsters. The same sea Odysseus sailed through, and Jason, and Aeneas, and all the others."
"You mean the Mediterranean?"
"No. Well, yes...but no."
"Another straight answer. Thanks."
"Like Mount Olympus being above the Empire State Building. And Hades being under Los Angeles."
"Right."
"But a whole sea full of monsters- how could you hide something like that? Wouldn't the mortals notice weird things happening...like, ships getting eaten and stuff ?"
"Of course they notice. They don't understand, but they know something is strange about that part of the ocean. The Sea of Monsters is off the east coast of the U.S. now, just northeast of Florida. The mortals even have a name for it."
"The Bermuda Triangle? Really?" I ask, surprised. I really shouldn't be, but I am. After all, I grew up less than an hour away from the Underworld. And even less to Olympus when I was in New York.
"Exactly."
"Okay...so at least we know where to look." Percy said.
"It's still a huge area, Percy. Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters-"
"Hey, I'm the son of the sea god. This is my home turf. How hard can it be?"
Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "We'll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He'll say no."
"Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. The whole camp will hear. They'll pressure him. He won't be able to refuse." I tell them, the idea forming in my head.
"Maybe." A little bit of hope crept into Annabeth's voice. "We'd better get these dishes done. Hand me the lava spray gun, will you?"
***
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 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," Percy said from beside me.
Tantalus's eye twitched. "Our kitchen boy has something to say?"
Some of the Ares campers snickered. He stood and looked at Annabeth and I. I followed his example. Thank the gods, Annabeth did the same.
Percy said, "We have an idea to save the camp."
Dead silence, but I could tell he'd gotten everybody's interest, because the campfire flared bright yellow.
"Indeed," Tantalus said blandly. "Well, if it has anything to do with chariots-"
"The Golden Fleece. We know where it is."
The flames burned orange. Before Tantalus could stop Percy, he blurted out his dream about Grover and Polyphemus's island. Annabeth stepped in and reminded everybody what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from her.
"The Fleece can save the camp," she concluded. "I'm certain of it."
"Nonsense," said Tantalus. "We don't need saving."
Everybody stared at him until Tantalus started looking uncomfortable.
"Besides," he added quickly, "the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."
"Yes, I would," Percy said.
Annabeth leaned toward him and whispered, "You would?"
"30, 31, 75, 12," he said.
"Ooo-kay," Tantalus said. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."
"They're sailing coordinates. Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."
Even Annabeth looked impressed. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"
"Wait just a minute," Tantalus said.
But the campers took up the chant. "We need a quest! We need a quest!"
The flames rose higher.
"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.
"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"
"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"
"YES!" The campers shouted in unison.
"Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying. I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."
Tantalus looked at the three of us as if he wanted to flay us alive. "The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest...Clarisse!"
The fire flickered a thousand different colors. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"
Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride. "I accept the quest!"
"Wait!" Percy shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."
"Sit down!" yelled one of the Ares campers. "You had your chance last summer!"
"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" another said.
Clarisse glared at Percy. "I accept the quest!" she repeated. "I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"
The Ares campers cheered even louder. Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers joined in. Everybody else started taking sides- shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows. I thought it was going to turn into a full-fledged s'more war until Tantalus shouted, "Silence, you brats!"
His tone stunned even me.
"Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."
I didn't know what he was up to, but we all moved reluctantly back to our seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was almost as strong as Pitch's.
"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and I got the feeling he was talking about himself.
"This king," he said, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe- just one little doggie bag, mind you- the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children-just-like-you!"
He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, including me and Percy.
"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"
No one dared answer. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting evilly on Tantalus's crooked face.
"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so...are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"
Silence.
Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."
She shifted uncomfortably, like even she didn't want glory at the price of being Tantalus's pet. "Sir-"
"Go!" he snarled.
She bowed awkwardly and hurried off toward the Big House.
"What about you, Percy Jackson?" Tantalus asked. "No comments from our dishwasher?"
Percy remained silent.
"Good," Tantalus said. "And let me remind everyone- no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries...well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well."
With a wave of Tantalus's hand, the fire was extinguished, and the campers trailed off toward their cabins in the dark.
***
A/N: As much as I love the camp chapters, I am so excited to get to the quest. Thankfully, Hermes is in the next chapter, so if you know what that means...
Anyways, thank you all for reading! This story has (according to what is published on Quotev) 336 pages! So the fact that so many of you have stuck through it means so much to me.