𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Percy's New Roommate

Y/n Pov:

Camp Half-Blood had changed a lot, according to Michael.

On the surface, things didn't look all that different. The Big House was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wraparound porch. The strawberry fields were still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley—the amphitheatre, the combat arena, the dining pavilion overlooking Long Island Sound. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins—a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian god. 

But there was an air of danger now. You could tell something was wrong. Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counsellors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars. 

Somebody had messed with my favourite place in the world, and I was not...well, a happy camper. 

As we made our way to the Big House, nobody stopped to talk. Nobody said, 'Welcome back, Y/n! We missed you!'. The only people who even stopped to greet me were my cousins at the Apollo cabin. The camp felt like a military school. 

None of that mattered to Tyson. He was fascinated by everything he saw. 

"Whasthat!" he gasped. 

"The stables for pegasi," Percy said. "The winged horses." 

"Whasthat!" 

"Um...those are the toilets." 

"Whasthat!" 

"The cabins for the campers. If they don't know who your Olympian parent is, they put you in the Hermes cabin—that brown one over there—until you're determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom's group." 

He looked at Percy in awe. "You...have a cabin?" 

"Number three," Percy said, pointing at the said cabin.

"You live with friends in the cabin?" 

"No. No, just me."

When we got to the Big House, we found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favourite1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags.

As soon as we saw him, Tyson froze. "Pony!" he cried in total rapture. 

Chiron turned, looking offended. "I beg your pardon?" 

I ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not...leaving?" 

I tried my best not to cry. Chiron couldn't leave. He was like a father I never had. 

Chiron ruffled my hair and gave me a kindly smile. "Hello, child. Afternoon, Annabeth. And Percy, my goodness. You've grown over the year!" 

Percy swallowed. "Clarisse said you were...you were..." 

"Fired." Chiron's eyes glinted with dark humour. "Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr Dhad to punish someone." 

"Beside himself, you mean," Percy growled. 

"But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried. "Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!" 

"Nevertheless," Chiron sighed, "some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances." 

"What circumstances?" I asked. Chiron's face darkened.