Children of The Big Three Book 2: The Sea of Monsters

Chapter 1: Defense of Camp

Percy had been there for it all. He was asleep for the initial poisoning; a mistake he'll regret for the rest of his life. Thalia had cried for hours; Nico and Percy doing their best to cheer her up. With little success should be said. Then after the sadness came anger; and Thalia said some... Less than decent things about Luke. They watched as Chiron was kicked out; and suffered when Tantalus took over. Percy shouldn't have been thinking about this at the moment however; he had a defense to encourage. "These bulls are nothing!" He insinuated, "We are sons and daughters of the Gods themselves! We won't be bested by some metal cow!" He said; pounding his chest armor.  He had never intended to become the de facto team leader; but him and Thalia were the kids of two of the mightiest Gods, it was only natural they looked to them for leadership. Plus; Percy was one of the best swordsman of this century: or so they told him. Except maybe Luke... They always compared him to Luke. Thalia raised her spear. "For the Gods!" She yelled; and the others followed suit. "Archers!" Percy shouted, and the Apollo kids put a arrow to their bow. "Fire!" Thalia commanded and Percy added: "Aim for The joints!" The target area was small and even the sons of Apollo had trouble hitting such a small moving target. "Phalanx;" Percy yelled to the group they were in front of, "Advance! Apollo cabin; watch the friendly fire." He said a little annoyed.

The battle was not going well. The once so orderly phalanx had scattered; they were still kids. Percy was facing down a mechanical bull; which could apparently breath fire. "Yay. This is just what I needed. Anything else wanna go wrong today!?! Please; form a line. I'll get to ya eventually!" He said; before noticing the weakened dome that is the barrier become visible; which means something passed through it. He heard a Demeter girl yell out: "Cyclops!" Before running back out of the forest the way she came. "I was kidding!" He yelled, looking to the sky. He angrily looked back at the bull. "Come on; charge at me. I'm either gonna cut you apart or you're gonna kill me. Either way; I am not dealing with this today." He said. He had long ago accepted Demi-Gods don't live long lives. The bull did in fact charge and Percy ran to meet it. He slid at the last second; going under the bad cow. His momentum opposing the bulls plus the fact riptide was aimed at its calf meant... a whole lot of falling bull. It tried to get up uselessly; missing a leg. The Apollo archers finished it off quickly. Thalia had taken care of the other cow. Her spearhead lodged in its back leg joint; spinning like a marry go round. "Whew! Another day another victory baby!" Nico yelled; he had been part of the phalanx who bailed earlier. "Yeah thanks Nico." Percy said flatly. "Hey; it's not alive; my sword won't do jack." He said defensively. "Yeah fair enough... But how does it work on Cyclopes?" He asked. "Umm excuse me? I saved your sorry butt from one so it works fine." Percy nodded. "Good. Time for some hunting."