daylight | percy jackson

tyson meets fish ponies

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

BOOK TWO

CHAPTER FIVE.

❝ in what world would i want to see you? ❞

SO THE way Tantalus saw it, was that the Stymphalian birds had simply been minding their own business in the woods, and would not have attacked if Annabeth, Tyson, Percy, and Aria hadn't disturbed them with their awful chariot driving. 

It was so completely unfair that Percy told Tantalus to go chase a doughnut, which definitely didn't help his mood. 

Aria backed the boy up by taking a long, plentiful swig of water in front of the man, loudly exclaiming that it was the best water she had ever had.

"You should try!" she had said to Tantalus. "Oh wait... that's awkward."

This had made him even madder.

He sentenced the four to kitchen patrol--scrubbing pots and platters all afternoon in the underground kitchen with the cleaning harpies. The harpies washed with lava instead of water, to get that extra shine, so the demigods had to wear asbestos gloves and aprons.

Tyson didn't seem too bothered though, the boy happily plunging his fire resistant hands right in, scrubbing away. The remaining trio however, had to suffer through the long, hot, and dangerous hours, the group having to do double the amount of normal work. This was because their good old friend Tantalus, had ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse's chariot victory. The menu was country-fried Stymphalian death-bird. 

The only good thing about their punishment was that it gave them lots of time to talk. After listening to Aria and Percy explain the dream about Grover again, Annabeth looked like she was starting to believe the,

"If he's really found it," Annabeth murmured, "and if we could retrieve it..."

Aria nodded. "Camp could have a chance to be saved-"

"Hold on," Percy said. "You act like this...whatever-it-is Grover found, is the only thing in the world that could save the camp. What is it?"

"I'll give you a hint," Annabeth said.

"Annabeth be so for real, this man couldn't take a hint if it was written out in front of him," Aria remarked, still scrubbing at the dishes. 

"Hey! Just tell me," Percy whined. 

"What do you get when you skin a ram?" said the daughter of Athena.

Percy tilted his head. "Messy?"

"I told you," Aria said.

"A fleece," Annabeth replied. "The coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool-"

"The golden fleece," Percy realised. "Are you kidding me?"

The daughter of Apollo scraped a plateful of death-bird bones into the lava, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "The grey sisters...they knew something about a location you seek. They also mentioned Jason, they were the ones that told him how to find the golden fleece three thousand years ago. Remember the story of Jason and the argonauts?"