Annabeth Chase and the Sea of Monsters

Chapter 9 - Percy gets a monster for a brother

Dinner was horrible. Usually I enjoy it, seeing as you can order whatever you want, but not tonight. I was still shaken up by Thalia's tree dying, Chiron leaving and the Cyclops I'd let into camp. Some of my cabin mates tried to talk to me, seeing as they hadn't seen me in months, but I was too distracted to answer them.

I saw that Clarisse had recovered from the bull attack, her arm in a sling and plaster on her cheek. Some one has stuck a sign on her back, (probably the Stolls) that read YOU MOO, GIRL, but no one was telling her. She was glaring up at the head table, and it didn't take a child of Athena to work out why.

The new activity director was sitting up there, all chummy with Mr D. He was a tall, stick-thin man with grey hair that was cut like a toddler had gone on a rampage with some safety scissors. He had dirty fingernails and his gaze flickered around constantly, twitching worse than an ADHD kid. He wore a faded orange prisoner jumpsuit that had 0001 on it.

I instantly didn't like him. It wasn't just because how he looked, or even how he looked cruelly at all us campers. It wasn't because of the stories I'd heard of him; how'd he'd taken revenge on the gods by slicing up his son and feeding him to the gods in a stew. He was punished for that by being condemned to the Fields of Eternal Punishment. He had to stand in a lake with a flowering fruit tree above him. Yet, if he bent down to have a drink, the water fell lower so he couldn't reach it. If he reached up to get some fruit to eat, the tree grew out of his reach. It was cruel, but that's what mortals got when they believed they were better than the gods.

It wasn't even because he'd taken Chiron's job, although I hated him for that too. I didn't like him just because of him. My whole body was filled with dislike for him. Children of Athena didn't have any powers so we had to follow our instincts. And right now, all my instincts told me that he was not someone that should be trusted.

I saw Percy walk in, Tyson beside him. Percy didn't look comfortable beside the Cyclops, but he looked defensive of him at the same time. He glared at everyone that looked his way, as if challenging anyone to try him.

I heard Mr D call his name, forcing Percy and Tyson to walk up to him and Tantalus, the new activities director. I couldn't hear what they were saying over the murmur of all the campers, but it was obviously nothing good. The longer they talked, the angrier Percy seemed to get, his fingers curling into fists and his ears burning red. I half-expected him to whip out Riptide and slash Tantalus to pieces. I would have helped him too.

Tantalus seemed to dismiss Percy after some time, but wouldn't let Tyson go. Percy seemed to argue it, but was forced to return to his table alone, his face red with anger and his green eyes burning with fury. Tyson looked scared standing all by himself beside Mr D and Tantalus, but I couldn't feel any pity for him. He was a Cyclops. Nothing could change that.

A conch horn sounded and we all looked up to see that Tantalus was standing, waiting for our attention. I glared at him, seeing his smug face as we all turned to look at him. He'd never got so much attention since he'd been alive and a king, several millennia ago. I hoped his second life was even shorter than his first.

"Yes, well," he said, looking at us all maliciously. "Another fine meal! Or so I am told." I felt a surge of savage pleasure as his hand snuck towards the food stacked on his plate, as if hoping it wouldn't notice. When his hand got close enough to grab it, the food zipped away, skidding down the table and out of reach.

"And here on my first day of authority," he continued, as if hoping we wouldn't notice his inability to eat. "I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat."