conqueror • percy jackson

5.

Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched toward Percy and Annabeth. A strand of her brown hair was smoldering, but she didn't seem to notice.

"You—ruin—everything!" she yelled in his face. "I had it under control!"

Annabeth grumbled, "Good to see you too, Clarisse."

"Argh!" Clarisse screamed. "Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"

"Clarisse, you've got wounded campers."

The angry girl whipped around and surveyed the damage done by the bulls. Without a word, she ran towards a crumbled pile of armor. Dropping to her knees, Clarisse pulled of their helmet.

Annabeth realized before Percy that it was Rosalyn on the ground.

"Uh... Percy—"

The blonde was cut off by Rosalyn's siblings coming upon the aftermath of the battle.

"Rosalyn!" Grant shouted. Beside him, Silena was crying noisily. Their other brother, Felix, was staring in horrified disbelief.

The commotion caught Percy's attention, and his eyes went to the heap of charred armor. Now that the helmet was off, he saw the red hair sprawled across the dying grass.

"Rosie," Percy choked. He rushed toward her and fell to the grass opposite of Clarisse. Tyson and Annabeth followed behind him, standing over his shoulder.

There was a smattering of gasps and shouts of protest when Clarisse cranked her arm back and punched Rosalyn right in the face.

No one got the chance to scold her for it, because Rosalyn's eyes shot open.

"Ouch."

She blinked hard, her eyes struggling to focus. Rosalyn's forehead was decorated in blood, and her hair was damp from sweating in the heat of the bull's presence. She gave a pain-filled smile to Clarisse, and a wet cough escaped her chest.

"Did we win?"

"I'm going to kill you," Clarisse growled dangerously.

Looking away from her friend and the upset faces of her siblings, Rosalyn saw Percy sitting on her other side. There were two other bodies behind him.

"Perce," she wheezed. "Is that a—?"

"Yeah. It's a long story," Percy scratched the back of his head, flicking his gaze up to Tyson briefly.

Rosalyn coughed again, and this time, blood splattered down her chin.

Clarisse wiped the soot from her face and stood. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."

"Tantalus?" Percy asked.

"The activities director," Clarisse said impatiently.

"Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here."

Clarisse made a sour face. "Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing."

"But Chiron has trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can't just be gone. What happened?" Percy stressed, remembering how his mother told him there was trouble at camp.

"That happened," Clarisse snapped, pointing to Thalia's tree.

Every camper knew the story behind the tree. Six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, and two other demigods named Thalia and Luke had come to Camp Half-Blood chased by an army of monsters. When they got cornered on top of this hill, Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, had made her last stand here to give her friends time to reach safety. As she was dying, her father, Zeus, took pity on her and changed her into a pine tree.

Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.

But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.

The magical borders were failing, because Thalia's tree was dying.

Someone poisoned it.

-

As they arrived at the Big House, Chiron was packing the last of his things. Rosalyn was deposited on a cot while Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson spoke to the centaur.

Grunting in pain, Rosalyn tried to make herself comfortable as Clarisse broke off ambrosia to give her. Her siblings were planted in chairs around the cot, all silently observing her. Their faces were etched with concern.

"I'm fine," Rosalyn breathed.

"You could've been killed," Grant mumbled.

"We're demigods," Rosalyn laughed and then winced. "Our whole lives are made up of near death experiences."

Chiron came toward her and gave her a sad smile. She knew what it meant.

He was leaving, and he was asking the impossible from her.

"Stay with Percy, child," he told her, quietly. "Keep him safe. The prophecy— remember it."

"I—I will."

"Um... Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?" Percy interjected.

Nobody answered.

He sighed heavily and nodded, "Right. Just checking."

"Chiron..." Annabeth said. "You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp—"

Chiron ignored Annabeth, speaking to Rosalyn again. "Swear you will do your best to keep Percy from danger," he insisted.

Rosalyn's heart pounded dangerously in her chest.

"Swear upon the River Styx," Chiron demanded.

"I swear it upon the River Styx."

Thunder rumbled outside as Chiron took his leave with flimsy reassurances. Annabeth was sobbing into her hands, and Clarisse had an uneasy look on her face.

No one commented on the oath their former activities director made Rosalyn take, but they all had a bad feeling in their stomach.

Something bad was coming.

And they were on their own.