(Percy's POV)
“Yes, well,” Tantalus said, once the talking died down. “A fine meal! Or so I'm told.”
As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn’t notice what he was doing, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches.
“And here on my first day of authority,” he continued, “I’d like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each & every one of you children. You all look
good enough to eat.”
Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some halfhearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back.
“And now some changes!” Tantalus gave us a crooked smile. “We are reinstituting the chariot races!”
Murmuring broke out at all the tables-excitement, fear, disbelief.
“Now I know,” Tantalus continued, raising his voice, “these races were discontinued few years ago due to, ah, technical problems.”
“Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations,” someone at the Apollo table called.
“Yes, yes!” Tantalus said. “But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots & choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team’s cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?”
An explosion of excited conversation- no KP for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious?
Then the last person I expected to object did.
“But, sir!” Clarisse said. She looked nervous, but stood up to speak from the Ares table. Some of the campers snickered when they saw the YOU MOO, GIRL! sign on her back.
“What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots-“
“Ah, the hero of the day,” Tantalus exclaimed. “Brave Clarisse, who single-
handedly bested the bronze bulls!”
Clarisse blinked, then blushed. “Um, I didn’t-“
“And modest, too.” Tantalus grinned. “Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to enjoy ourselves, yes?”
“But the tree-“
“And now,” Tantalus said, as several of Clarisse’s cabin mates pulled her back to her seat, “before we proceed to the campfire & sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson, Eleanor Grace & Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here.”
Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson. Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers. A lot of sideways looks at me. I wanted to kill Tantalus.
“Now, of course,” he said, “Cyclopes have a reputation for being blood thirsty monsters with a small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I'd release it in the woods & have you hunt it down with torches & pointed sticks. Who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops isn't as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I thought about the stables, but that'll make the horses nervous. Hermes cabin, possibly?”
Silence at the Hermes table. Travis & Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth. I couldn’t blame them. The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting. There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops.
“Come now,” Tantalus chided. “The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?”
Suddenly everybody gasped.
Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. All I could do was stare in disbelief at the brilliant green light that was about to change my life-a dazzling holographic image that had appeared above Tyson’s head.
With a sickening twist in my stomach, I remembered what Annabeth had said about Cyclopes, They’re the children of nature spirits & gods...Well, one god in particular...
Swirling over Tyson was a glowing green trident-the same symbol that had appeared above me the day Poseidon had claimed me as his son. There was a moment of awed silence. Being claimed was a rare event.
Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When I’d been claimed by Poseidon last summer, everyone had knelt. But now, they followed Tantalus’s lead, & Tantalus roared with laughter.
“Well! I think we know where to put the beast. By gods, I can see the family resemblance!”
Everybody laughed except Nora, Annabeth & a few of my other friends.
Tyson didn’t seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how they were making fun of him, how cruel people were.
But I got it.
I had a new cabin mate. I had a monster for a half-brother.
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Take care my lovely readers.❤
Alice signing off.
XOXO.
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Daughter Of Lightning - Book 2 (A Percy Jackson x OC fanfic)
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