I was on border patrol with the Ares cabin. They liked me well enough, even if their father didn't. I was talking to Mark and Sherman as we sat underneath Thalia's Pine. I looked at the tree as some brown pine needles fell onto my head. I rubbed the trunk. This tree was my cousin. Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, had been transformed into a tree when she was an inch away from death. Last summer, when I couldn't sleep at night, I would come talk to Thalia. It almost felt like she was listening. Thalia had been poisoned and was dying. That was very bad. Not only would I miss my cousin, who I had never technically met, the tree strengthened the barriers around camp that kept monsters from getting through. As it s the barriers are weak from the poison. The really strong monsters can pass through.
Mark and Sherman jumped up with the rest of their siblings. Oh no, it's the Colchis Bulls. They were bronze bulls made by Lord Hephaestus. They were the size of elephants and could breath fire. I pulled Mov from it's sheath and summoned a water whip to my left hand. Thank the gods I'm ambidextrous. Even with eleven warriors, we were losing badly. I saw a grey taxi pull up just as I managed to dent one bull. My brothers and Annabeth jumped out.
Percy and Annabeth ran up followed closely by Tyson. We resumed the fight. Percy managed to cut off one horn. Percy started to yell at Tyson to get back, but Annabeth told him not too. Tyson ran forward and I let him through the barrier. He wasn't powerful enough to make it through by himself, yet. Tyson ran forward and straight to my brother's side. The fire whipped around him and he didn't even notice. Oh yeah, cyclopes are immune to fire. Mia fratellino punched the bull and it became very dazed. After a little while more of fighting, we managed to kill the bull. I gave Tyson the head of the one he bashed and told him to melt it down and make something at the forge. He seemed thrilled to do so.
Chiron told us how he was being forced to leave because of Thalia's tree being poisoned. Lavender started saying things that would make even the toughest sailor blush. Vati slapped her upside the head and she looked up, blushing. Chiron smiled gently at her. We all started laughing. "It isn't fair," Percy said. "Why is Mr. D. punishing you, Chiron? Everyone knows you think of the campers as though they were your children. Even the ones you never got to know. That's like Mr. D. accusing you of poisoning you own flesh and blood."
"Percy, Mr. D. had to punish someone," Chiron started.
"Besides of himself," I grumbled.
Chiron sent me a look and I raised an eyebrow at him. "It is more like he is punishing me for not preventing it." I stood up and hugged the centaur I considered a second father. He was as close as I could get to one with my real dad being an Olympian and all. Don't get me wrong, I love my dad and everything, I just need someone to talk to sometimes. Chiron is that someone. Everyone else joined our hug. Chiron smiled sadly at us before leaving.
I lead Tyson to the pavilion where everyone was sitting. I held Tyson's hand as everyone stood up. I wiped the tears from my eyes. Beckendorf and Silena flashed me smiles as I stood with Tyson and Percy. Vati and Lav had run off to the Aphrodite table and Annabeth to the Athena table. "Who invited that?" someone at the Apollo cabin murmured. I sent them a death glare. He whimpered and looked down.
"Well, well if it isn't Peter and Carina Johnson. My millenium is complete."
"Percy," my brother said.
"And Cristina," I continued.
"Jackson," we said together. Tantalus glared at me from where Chiron usually sat. He was replacing my favorite centaur. I hated him from the moment I met him last week when Lav, Vati, and I arrived. Professor Snape had apparated us here. He was a grandson of Hades. That explains how the troll heart got here.
"That boy," Dionysus told Tantalus, "you need to watch him even more than you have to watch his twin."
"Ah," Tantalus said. "That one."
'Oh, go chase a muffin," I snapped at the man who belonged in the Fields of Punishment.
He glared at me before turning to my brother. "I am Tantalus. On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Percy Jackson, just like I told your sister, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."
My brother was about to retort when I stepped on his foot, something I had done to get him to shut up since we were 6. Tantalus tried to eat some food, but he epically failed. The food just skidded away from him. My brother realized who he was. I beckoned Tyson over to our table. "Oh no, the monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it.
"Mia fratello non è un si. Tyson è un lui. Se si sta solo andando a insultarlo, chiudi il becco!"
"Excuse me?" Tantalus asked. Oops, I switched to Italian again.
"What I meant was 'My brother is not an it. Tyson is a he. If you are just going to insult him, shut your face!" Everyone gasped. Tantalus shut his face. Percy and I walked to the Poseidon table but not before Percy gave Tyson a high five and I kissed his cheek.
"Now," said Tantalus. "The Jackson twins and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson. I was about to rise to the bait, but Percy pulled me back down. Tantalus began insulting Tyson without doing so outright. Very Slytherin of him.
I heard a voice in my head. Please look after your brothers, Christina. It was my father. The space above Tyson's head began to glow and form a trident. I grinned at my half-brother and beckoned him over. He smiled and walked towards me, sitting down. The camp laughed at my brother and I, but I just rolled my eyes at them and hugged Tyson. Tantalus laughed and said that Tyson would be staying with us.
A few days later at the camp fire, Percy told Tantalus of the coordinates in the Sea of Monsters he had received from the Grey Sisters. I groaned. Here we go again. The Golden Fleece was at this location, and it was the only thing that could save Thalia's Pine. Tantalus issued a quest to Clarisse who went up to the attic to get her prophecy.
You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,
You shall find what you seek and make it your own,
But despair for your life entombed within stone,
And fail without friends, to fly home alone.
When Tyson fell asleep, I looked over at my twin. He was still awake. I grabbed his hand and pulled him out to the beach. We sat curled up together with a six-pack of Coca-cola and our toes in the water. We filled each other in on what had happened since we last saw each other. He berated me for not being more careful and I reprimanded him for not always having Riptide on him.
Shortly thereafter, we were joined by a man in a jogging suit. He asked if he could join us and we said yes. After a little while, I realized this man was a god and quickly stood up, bowing. Percy followed my lead. The man laughed and waved us back down. He introduced himself as Hermes and then brought out his caduceus. There were two snakes on it named George and Martha. George asked me for a rat. I called SKittles through our mental bond and asked her to bring one. She was very confused but complied to my request.
"What is your favorite constellation?" Hermes asked us. My brother said Heracles, but I had to think about it. I thought back to the only two ancient demigods I admired, Theseus and Perseus.
"I like Perseus because he was one of the few demigods of ancient times that wasn't a pig and treated women fairly. He also didn't fight for honor or glory, he fought to keep his family safe. I also like Centaurus because it represents Chiron and I have come to think of Chiron as my surrogate father." Lord Hermes nodded his head in understanding and then gave us these vitamin pills and a canteen that held the four winds. Hey waved us goodbye after he told us to take the Princess Andromeda. Didn't Andromeda married Perseus in the myths? Argh! Stupid ADHD! Concentrate!
As Hermes disappeared, Annabeth and Tyson came running up. I whistled and four hippocampus appeared. One was extra large for Tyson. Thanks Daddy! So, with SKittles on my shoulder, I climbed onto the smallest. After all, I was the smallest of the bunch. The hippocampus told me her name was Princess and that a young mermaid had named her. I liked it. I was riding Principessa to the Principessa Andromeda with mia fratelli e Annabeth. The only bad part about this was Annabeth who still hadn't lost her arrogance just like Hermione hadn't. I hoped she would lose it soon.
Tyson and I were sad to say goodbye to our hippocampi when it was time to leave. We grabbed onto the rope ladder and climbed up. We cautiously snuck through the halls to an ajar door. We looked inside and saw that it was an empty suite. I took one bed with Annabeth and Percy and Tyson took the other. While Annabeth and Tyson were sleeping, Percy told me about the dream he had about Grover. Wherever that fleece was, Grover was with it and I wasn't going to let my friend die. Percy and I fell asleep together on the couch.
The next morning, Annabeth woke us all up. It was five in the morning! "What the Hades, Annabeth. I don't even get up this early at school!"
"Quiet," she hissed at me. "There's someone out there it sounds like-like Luke." I gasped and moved to the door, putting my ear against it.
"Sir," came a gruff, scratchy voice, "I smell something behind this door. It smells like demigod."
Another voice started to speak. "Open it. No one is up this early. We'll catch them by surprise." That was definitely Luke. I jumped back and pulled out Mov. The door burst open and Chris Rodriguez burst forward. He joined the titans? I looked sadly at him. He was really nice to me and I considered him another brother. I thought he had just been staying with his mother for a few weeks into the summer. I saw guilt flash across his eyes swiftly before he hardened his glare and turned away, unable to look at me without feeling immense guilt.
Chris was followed by what looked like human/bear hybrids. I gasped, recognizing from a myth. "You recognize them, Christina, don't you?" said Luke who had just walked in. I nodded my head. "Why don't you tell people who they are."
"They're Agrius and Oreius, sons of Polyphonte and a bear. They're supposed to be cannibalistic," I gulped as the larger on took a step toward me. Chris noticed this and said that he would take me. The large one growled but grabbed mia fratelli. The smaller one grabbed Annabeth. Chris took Mov from my hand and held it to my throat. "Don't touch me you traitor," I hissed at him.
"I'm sorry, Nina, but I couldn't live like that anymore. This was the right choice. I don't want you getting hurt, Nina. Join the titans."
"Never," I snapped back. "Kronos is cruel and abuses his power. I will never join them." I stepped backwards onto Chris' foot and grabbed Mov from his hand. I flipped around and hit his temple with the hilt. He fell to the floor unconscious. The larger bear/human dropped my brothers in surprise and accidently knocked Luke over the rail and onto the deck below us. Percy pulled out Riptide and stabbed the one holding Annabeth. It dropped her and the four of us ran to a lifeboat. As we were going down, I caught one last glimpse of Chris. He mouthed the words I'm sorry before dropping his head back down.
We floated for quite a while. As the sun was beginning to rise, we landed on the coast of Virginia. How did the Princess Andromeda travel 530 nautical miles in one night? Never mind, I don't want to know. Annabeth led us to a hide out she had made with Thalia and Luke when they had run away from their homes. I was scared Luke would find us easily here, but Annabeth waved it off saying Luke had probably forgotten about it. Annabeth and Percy waited inside and I sat outside on watch. Tyson left to go find some donuts in the middle of the woods. Really Percy? That is not how you use your brother's gullibility. You ask him to go find some pizza or some peanut butter fudge. Percy also asked for juice. I'm pretty sure that;s just because he wanted to find a way to annoy me and juice never failed to accomplish that task.
I was really bored where I was so I set up a ward where only Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and I would be able to hear anything going on in this area. I pulled my guitar from my bracelet. I still didn't enjoy playing like I did when I was friends with Apollo, but it never failed to calm me down after a stressful event. I counted what happened this morning as very stressful. When I finished tuning, I started strumming a song Apollo had taught me.
Just a small town girl
Livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train
Goin' anywhere
Just a city boy
Born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train
Goin' anywhere
A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching
In the night
Streetlights, people
Livin' just to find emotion
Hidin', somewhere in the night
Workin' hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice
Just one more time
Some will win
Some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching
In the night
Streetlights, people
Livin' just to find emotion
Hidin', somewhere in the night
Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlights, people
Don't stop believin'
Hold on
Streetlights, people
I heard clapping. I looked up to see Tyson holding a box of donuts. Where in Poseidon's name did he find those. He also had some grape juice. Yuck! "You are really good, Nina. Why don't you sing more?" my half brother asked as he passed me the juice. "Percy, said this was for you."
I grimaced and pushed the juice back towards Tyson. "Tyson, Percy was just messing with us. I don't drink juice. To answer your question, I used to play a lot more. That was when I was friends with Lord Apollo."
"You are not friends with him anymore?" Tyson asked.
I smiled and shook my head. "No, little brother. He did something that hurt me very bad and it's taking me a long time to forgive him because he was my closest friend and the person I entrusted practically everything too."
"Oh," Tyson said. He looked rather put out by that. "Were you happier when he was your friend?" Ah, children and their innocence.
"Yeah, I was. It's just not the same without him. I have my family and my other close friends, but it's like everything is just flying by me now. I can't stop to appreciate anything because the world was only beautiful when he was with me to enjoy it." I didn't notice I had started to cry a little until Tyson hugged me, asking me not to cry. I smiled and hugged him back. We were interrupted by a crash. Percy and Annabeth ran out.