Golden Green

Ch. 8

Percy Jackson and the Olympians belong to Rick Riordan. All credit to him.

Every camper after Chiron yelled for us to return to our bunks in groups that night was buzzing about Percy.

Percy was moved out of eleven and into three and had his schedule changed so he was no longer in the activities I first had him in.

Percy got to eat at his own table now too but he looked miserable now that he was separated from everyone now and the talk of the camp all over again like when he arrived.

All the campers steered clear of him and some even rescheduled their activities so now the Demeter cabin had sword class with Aphrodite kids and all our other stuff with different people or since no one wanted to have them with Percy, oddly enough. Cabin four had strawberry field duty with Percy and acted like he had a plague so I was the only one to hangout with him during that time.

One day Percy was fuming after someone left a roll of parchment about news in his cabin reading a news report about him and how he appeared to go missing with his mother. The part that had him angry however was a part from his father by marriage saying he was a troubled child and agreeing that he should be arrested when found.

One day during strawberry picking and Fidi chewing on a tree branch to my distaste in the early morning when a particularly large storm was brewing, Grover and Percy waved to me to join them while they were walking to the Big House. I joined up and Grover informed me that Mr.D wanted to see Percy and talk about the subject of him being from the Big Three.

Everyone was tense about the massive cloud brewing over the camp. Clouds normally passed around the edge of the valley and it never rained or even became overcast in the camp. Mr.D was sitting with a silver hissing can on the Porch and Chiron was sitting in his wheelchair while they played against two other hands of floating cards.

"Well, well," Mr.D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity. Come closer and don't expect me to bow down to you mortal just because the old barnacle beard is your father." Lightning flashed across the sky and more wind shook the house. "Blah, blah, blah." Dionysus waved off the storm's warning. Grover was cowering at the storm and Chiron lost focus in his game. "If it were up to me I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and we would be done with a lot of trouble." Percy shifted his feet and looked uneasy. "But Chiron thinks that would be against my mission at this camp of keeping your brats safe from harm."

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm Mr. D," Chiron put in.

"Nonsense," Mr. D said, "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead and returning you to your father."

"Mr.D," Chiron warned.

"Oh, alright," Mr.D relented. "There is one more option but it's deadly foolishness." Mr.D rose and made the floating cards drop. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back I'll turn him into an Atlantic Bottlenose, do you understand? And Perceus Jackson, you'll see that is a much more sensible choice than what Chiron wants you to do."

Mr. D picked up a playing card and folded it into a different shape and color card and folded the air and light around him and disappeared in a smell of bitter wine that made Percy and Grover fan their noses. Chiron smiled tiredly at us.

"Come sit Percy, Grover, you too, Dan," Chiron said. We did. Chiron laid his cards down and spoke to Percy, "Tell me, Percy. What did you make of the hellhound?"

Percy shuddered. "It scared me. If you hadn't shot it and Fidi hadn't wrestled it away from us, I'd be dead," Percy said, remembering the night and petting Fidi who was between us two.