That afternoon was one of the happiest Percy and Y/N had ever spent at camp. Which was strange, considering there was about to be one hell of a revelation. Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with them before resuming his quest for Pan. His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much. He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, trying to strangle everybody's ankles.
As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. Percy said he would've been happy to have him as his cabin mate forever, but that evening, as they were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took Percy by surprise.
"Dream came from Daddy last night," he said. "He wants me to visit."
Percy's eyes widened. "Poseidon sent you a dream message?"
Tyson nodded. "Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclopes' forges. He called it an inter... an intern..."
"An internship?"
"Yes."
Percy didn't say anything for a while. "When do you leave?" He asked.
"Now." Tyson's face was sad.
"Now. Like... now now?"
"Now."
Percy stared out at the waves in the Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset. "I'm happy for you, big guy," he managed. "Seriously."
"Hard to leave my new brother," he said with a tremble in his voice. "But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them."
"You'll make the best weapons ever," Percy told Tyson. He held up his watch proudly. "I bet they'll tell good time, too."
Tyson sniffled. "Brothers help each other."
"You're my brother," Percy said. "No doubt about it."
He patted Percy on the back so hard he almost knocked him down the sand dune. Then Tyson wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. "Use the shield well."
"I will, big guy." Percy tried to keep his voice from cracking.
"Save your life some day." Tyson said matter-of-factly, as if he had already seen it happen. He headed down to the beach and whistled. Rainbow, the hippocampus, burst out of the waves. Percy watched the two of them ride off together into the realm of Poseidon.
Once they were gone, Percy looked down at his new wristwatch. He pressed the button and the shield spiralled out to full size. Hammered into the bronze were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was Annabeth slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, Percy fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis, Y/N stabbing Polyphemus in the belly. Percy ran his hand across a picture of Tyson, battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts.
"Hey, Percy."
He turned. Annabeth, Y/N, and Grover were all standing at the top of the sand dune. Percy was blinking a lot, trying to hold back tears.
"Tyson..." he said. "He had to..."
"We know," Annabeth said softly. "Chiron told us."
"Cyclopes forges." Grover shuddered. "I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all."
Y/N held out his hand. "Come on, Kelp head. Time for dinner."
We walked back toward the dining pavilion together, just the three of them.
A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did. Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in the valley. Percy and Y/N sat on the Porch of the Hestia cabin. It was the crack of dawn, but he was wide awake.
"I really gotta fix my sleep schedule." Y/N muttered. He fiddled with the manticore tooth strung around his neck. He had almost completely forgotten about it. It felt like yesterday when he had stumbled across the property line into camp half-blood. And now he was into his second year.
A faint voice reached his ears. Y/N looked up. It was still early in the morning, but there were still some campers milling around. Y/N watched as the campers began to alert others, chattering and pointing to... Thalia's tree? There was a lot of campers now, some still half asleep. But all of them were rushing towards the fleece.
Y/N sat back with a sigh of relief. Maybe something else cool happened. The tree might have gotten bigger? Maybe...
Another figure bolted away from the crowd. He sprinted directly towards the Poseidon cabin, a wild look on his face. Y/N narrowed his eyes. The figure ran back out of the cabin, before bolting towards him. Y/N rose from his deck chair as Grover dashed towards him. Something was wrong.
"Y/N!" he stammered. "Annabeth... on the hill... she..."
Y/N's eyes widened. Annabeth had been guarding the tree last night. If something had happened...
Y/N dashed towards the tree, with Grover right behind him.
"She's lying there ... just lying there ..." he panted, trying to keep up with the son of Hestia.
Y/N ran faster than he had ever run in his life. More campers had woken up now, word was spreading. There was the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind them, looking grim. "Is it true?" he asked Grover. He simply nodded, still out of breath.
"Curse the titan lord," Chiron gritted his teeth. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."
"What do you mean?" Y/N urged.
"The Fleece," he said. "The Fleece did its work too well." Chiron grabbed Y/N by the arm and effortlessly lifted him onto his back. Together, they thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.
They galloped forward, everyone moving out of Chiron's way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armour was kneeling next to her.
"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."
Then Y/N realized Annabeth wasn't the one lying on the ground. She was the one in armour, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw him, she ran to Chiron.
"It.. she... just suddenly there..." Her eyes were streaming with tears. Y/N jumped off Chiron's back. He put his hands on her shoulders.
"Annabeth! What's wrong?" Y/N said. Annabeth didn't say anything, instead just pointing to the girl.
Percy finally reached the hill, rushing to the girl's aid. Chiron called out, "Percy, wait!" Percy knelt by her side. Nobody else came close to the girl. He put his hand on her forehead.
"She needs nectar and ambrosia," Percy said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. He took her by the shoulders and lifted her into sitting position, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Come on!" Percy yelled to the others. "What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House. Y/N! What are you..." Percy glanced at Y/N, who stared at the girl with a shocked look on his face.
"I... I've seen her... holy..." He whispered.
No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned. Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes. Her irises were startlingly blue—electric blue. The girl stared at Percy in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed.
"Who—"
"I'm Percy," Percy said. "You're safe now."
"Strangest dream..." The girl coughed again.
"It's okay."
"Dying..."
"No," He assured her. "You're okay. What's your name?"
"I am Thalia," the girl said. "Daughter of Zeus."