AN: Dear gods, is it another chapter? It is! It is another chapter! Thank you to everyone who has left such lovely comments and sent me messages asking if this story is going to be continued. I have absolutely no plans to abandon it, I have just had a particularly bad time of it recently.

My mental health has taken a real battering over the last year or so - nothing is particularly triggering it, but it drains a lot of my motivation. When I have been able to write, it's been in other fandoms, and I've grasped the inspiration where I can get it.

I have had some people ask why I don't include all of the book text - it's because of copyright. Also, it takes long enough copying out the bits I do, let alone copying out the rest of the book as well.

Handing the book over to Annabeth, Will jumped to his feet. "She fine," he said, before anyone could worry. "I just want to check up on her."

"Does someone else want to read?" Annabeth asked. "Or have we gone round in a circle?"

"I haven't read," her younger self offered. "I'll take a turn."

Will ducked into the side room, comforted to see that Thalia hadn't really moved since he'd placed her there.

He checked that her pulse was still at a reassuring level - it was - and that she was breathing properly - she was - and that she wasn't in any risk of choking before he could get to her if she did seize again - she wasn't - and then returned to the group in the main room.

Annabeth had taken the book, but was looking uncharacteristically nervous.

Thalia probably would have said something, and certainly Luke looked like he wanted to, but wasn't sure if he could.

Will was fairly sure he knew what the problem was though, so he felt relatively safe in speaking up. "It's okay," he said. "I'm not sure how, but our dyslexia doesn't seem to be affecting us in here. Not with the books at least."

"I wasn't worried," Annabeth said immediately, although she certainly looked more comfortable. "I was more concerned about the next chapter title."

"What is it?" Sally asked immediately.

Annabeth cleared her throat.

Chapter Six

Demon Pigeons Attack

"Demon pigeons?" Malcolm repeated. "What are they?"

"Well, given previous descriptions, I'm going to guess something we know about, just not named correctly," Annabeth said. "Stymphalian birds maybe?"

The next few days were torture, just like Tantalus wanted.

"At least it's not actual torture," Hermes said, "which it could well have been with him."

First there was Tyson .. saying 'Percy is my brother?' like he'd just won the lottery.

"Oh, bless him," Silena said softly. "If you find him this time around," she added to Percy, "we need to just help him. He's such a sweetheart."

'Aw, Tyson,' I'd say. 'It's not that simple.'

"It will be to him," Amphitrite said with a sad smile. "Very black and white, Cyclopes."

But there was no explaining it to him … as much as I liked the big guy, I couldn't help feeling embarrassed. Ashamed. There, I said it.

"It's alright," Amphitrite said gently. "You're a teenager. They do tend to take on everyone else's opinions as well as their own."

"What I don't understand," Annabeth said, a little hesitantly, logic warring with her wish to take Percy's side, "is that you had all that trouble at school being friends with him, and you stuck to your guns. How come Camp was any different?"

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "I think Camp was always more … permanent than school. I mean, I wasn't planning on getting kicked out again, but I was so used to never being at the same school for more than a year, that I think I always figured that come summer break I'd never see any of them again anyway. Camp I would."

… I mean, I'd read the myths about Cyclopes … But I'd never really processed that this made them my … family.

"In fairness," Silena said, "I think we've all got relatives like that."

… And then there were the comments from the other campers.

"Not a lot of us," Will said. "Most people didn't say a word. But we were also too scared of Tantalus to say anything."

"That is true," Percy conceded. "On the bright side, Tyson is not the brightest bulb in the bunch …" he paused.

"Definitely your brother then," Nico quipped. "Oh, come on!" He said, when Percy turned slightly betrayed eyes on him. "You knew that was coming - that's why you waited. Thalia's still out; someone's got to do it!"

"I figured since she was still out I was safe," Percy grumbled. "As I was saying, because Tyson is not that bright, he doesn't realise when people are being mean to him."

'He's not my real brother!' I protested whenever Tyson wasn't around … Nobody bought it.

"Protesting is the worst thing you can do," Lee said with a sigh. "If you just ignore it, sooner or later they get bored for the most part."

Percy shook his head. "No, Will's right - in this case, how I reacted didn't do a damn thing because as soon as it stopped, Tantalus would stir it right back up again."

… Annabeth tried to make me feel better. She suggested we team up for the chariot race to take our minds off our problems.

"I still think the chariot races are a bad idea," Lee said, scowling.

"So did I," Annabeth agreed. "But what else were we supposed to do?"

Don't get me wrong - we both hated Tantalus and we were worried sick … Until we could come up with some brilliant plan to save Thalia's tree, we figured we might as well go along with the races.

"Well, if you work together, you've got a pretty good chance," Apollo said brightly. "At least you would be if the races were fair. And they won't be."

… One morning … some jokers from Aphrodite's cabin walked by and asked me if I needed to borrow some eyeliner for my eye … 'Oh, sorry, eyes.'

"I'm not sure whether to apologise for them being horrible," Silena said, frowning, "or to apologise for the fact that they couldn't come up with something better than that. Unless you were going through a phase at the time, you're not wearing it now, so it doesn't even make sense."

"I can't remember who it was," Percy admitted.

"I can," Annabeth said, "and at the risk of being bitchy, it was actually very smart for them."

Silena sighed, shaking her head. "And they wonder why we get a reputation."

… Annabeth grumbled, 'Just ignore them, Percy. It isn't your fault you have a monster for a brother.'

'He's not my brother!' I snapped. 'And he's not a monster, either!'

"You might want to figure out which side you're on," Nico said.

"I probably should have taken you as devil's advocate," Percy said to Annabeth, "rather than take it personally."

"You should have," Annabeth said, "even though I wasn't actually playing devil's advocate; I was playing 'I have a reasonable issue with Cyclopes that I am unreasonably projecting on to Tyson'."

Percy sighed. "It wasn't unreasonable, Annabeth. It's just you never told me what was going on, which made it sound unreasonable."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. 'Hey, don't get mad at me! And technically, he is a monster.'

"Well, she's not wrong," Travis said. "If we're going to get technical."

'Well, you gave him permission to enter the camp.'

"Also not wrong," Connor said.

'Because it was the only way to save your life!

"Which contradicted everything else I was saying," Annabeth said with a sigh. "I hate it when I do that."

"And yet when I point it out to you," Percy said, "you get upset with me."

"Because I don't like being wrong," Annabeth said. "How do you not know this by now?"

… Cyclopes are the most deceitful, treacherous-'

'He is not! What have you got against Cyclopes, anyway?'

"I think we all have an instinctive prejudice," Lee said, "but that does seem a bit more personal."

Annabeth's ears turned pink. I got the feeling there was something she wasn't telling me - something bad.

'Just forget it,' she said.

"You probably should have told him," Luke said.

"I know," Annabeth said. "But it wasn't my proudest moment. In case you're wondering," she added, for the benefit of everyone else, "Luke, Thalia and I had an encounter with a Cyclops while we were on the streets. I know I tell Percy about it at some point, and I'd rather only relive it once."

… 'You're treating him like he's this horrible thing,' I said. 'He saved my life.'

"That won't go down well," Malcolm said, scribbling something on his notepad - whether he was making notes or doodling, no one was really sure.

… 'Then maybe you should design a chariot with him.'

Travis raised a hand. "Don't do that. Annabeth's almost certainly your better bet."

… She stormed off and left me feeling even worse than before.

"Sorry," Annabeth murmured, squeezing his hand.

… Silena Beauregard …

Silena started and the Stolls whooped.

… one of the nicer girls from Aphrodite's cabin …

Silena relaxed a little. "Thanks."

… gave me my first riding lesson on a pegasus.

"Something tells me you'll be alright with that," Amphitrite said with a smile.

She explained that there was only one immortal winged horse named Pegasus …

"Is this a good time to point out that's also one of your brothers?" Silena asked.

"It's never a good time," Percy said, "but I cannot tell you how grateful I was that you didn't bring it up at the time."

… Being the son of the sea god, I never liked going into the air.

"You should be fine on a pegasus," Amphitrite said. "The horse cancels out the flying, I believe."

… But riding a winged horse felt different … I could understand their thoughts.

"That must be wonderful," Silena said. "I love working with the horses and I've always wanted to know what they're thinking."

"They love you," Percy said. "They get really happy when you arrive because they know they're going to get 'lots of cuddles', whatever that means."

… The problem was that Tyson wanted to ride the 'chicken ponies' too, but the Pegasi got skittish whenever he approached.

"They would do - they have an in-built monster radar," Lee said. "Ironic, really, considering who Pegasus's mother was."

… The only person at camp who had no problem with Tyson was Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin.

The Stolls gave another whoop, but Beckendorf frowned. "What about my brothers?"

Percy thought back. "I don't think they had a problem, but they were too scared of Tantalus to admit it. I think he'd already realised that he couldn't bully you."

Beckendorf grinned. "One advantage of bulkiness."

… Beckendorf took Tyson down to the armoury to teach him metal-working.

"That's an excellent idea," Amphitrite said with a warm smile.

.. After lunch, I worked out in the arena with Apollo's cabin.

Lee pulled a face. "Not sure we'll be that much of a challenge. I don't think we've got anyone that's particularly good with a sword; our strengths lie in archery."

"Yeah, mine definitely don't," Percy said cheerfully.

… People said I was better at it than any camper in the last hundred years, except maybe Luke. People always compared me to Luke.

"It's a sticking point that, isn't it?" Jason said cheerfully.

"Out of interest," Michael said, "who's better out of you two?"

Jason pulled a face. "It depends."

"On what?" Annabeth asked, interested.

"Where we are, how strong the wind is, whether we're near water, how much we've slept," Jason said.

"Whether we allow powers or not," Piper continued. "In fact, I can answer that question for you." She dug around in her bag and pulled out a notebook.

"Have you kept a tally?" Annabeth asked with a laugh.

"You're lucky I've got it," Piper said, counting up. "Sometimes you've got it instead. And actually, all the times Jason and Percy have sparred … it is .. a perfect even split."

"You're kidding," Jason said. "Are you sure?"

"See for yourself," Piper said, handing him the notebook.

"Why have you kept count?" Sally asked. "You all look like you've been through hell, if you'll pardon the expression."

"Because of situations like this," Piper said cheerfully. "Jason and Percy generally get along really well, but every now and then they try to 'out-alpha-male' each other. If we have something solid, it helps."

Jason finished counting and pulled a face. "I could have sworn I'd won more."

"Yesterday morning," Piper reminded him. "You two sparred in the arena because you were both bouncing off the walls. He won, which made you even again."

"That was barely a win," Jason protested.

Piper rolled her eyes, patting his hand. "If you say so, honey."

Annabeth cleared her throat.

I thrashed the Apollo guys easily.

"Thought so," Lee said cheerfully, not looking offended in the least. "Should have put you on the archery field."

"No!" Annabeth, Will, Rachel and Luke all said together.

"When have you seen a problem?" Annabeth asked Rachel. "Have you even seen him fire a bow?"

"No," Rachel admitted. "But we are at the same mortal school, and I have seen him throw a dodgeball. If that's any indication of his aim, I'm not sure I'd want to see him fire a bow."

Percy just pouted. "You're all so mean to me."

I should've been testing myself against the Ares and Athena cabins … but I didn't get along with Clarisse and her siblings …

"Is that still true?" Clarisse asked curiously. "You said that you and I have an understanding."

"In general," Percy said, "once someone has an understanding with you, they have an understanding with the rest."

… and after my argument with Annabeth, I just didn't want to see her.

Annabeth rested her head on his shoulder. "We could have handled that better."

"We could," Percy agreed. "But when has anyone ever accused thirteen-year-olds of being rational? Even if they are demigods."

"True," Annabeth conceded with a sigh.

I went to archery class …

"Olympus help us," Will muttered.

"You're just as bad, you know," Percy pointed out.

Will grinned at him. "Yeah, but that stopped bothering me a while ago. You still get irritated every time it comes up."

… even though I was terrible at it, and it wasn't the same without Chiron teaching.

The mood sobered instantly.

In arts and crafts, I started a marble bust of Poseidon …

"That's quite impressive," Amphitrite said, trying to lift the mood a little.

… but it started looking like Sylvester Stallone, so I ditched it.

"Well, it's a specific talent," Amphitrite said, hiding a laugh.

… And in the evenings, I did border patrol.

"Tantalus wasn't a complete idiot then?" Apollo asked.

"No, he was," Percy answered.

… some of the campers had quietly kept it up, working out a schedule during our free times.

"Good," Hermes said. "At least someone's taking this seriously. Who thought that up?"

Percy thought back. "I think there were several of us talking about it, at least when we could, but I'm fairly sure it was Clarisse that actually made the schedule."

"I think you're right," Annabeth agreed.

Clarisse pinked slightly under the approving gaze of several of the gods - but still not her father.

I sat at the top of Half-Blood Hill … The whole hill seemed to be infected, dying from the poison that had sunk into the tree's roots.

"She's okay," Will said. "Just keep reading."

Annabeth nodded, but her gaze was fixed on the next lines. "I …"

Malcolm glanced over her shoulder and pulled a face, gently tugging the book out of his sister's hands.

Luke had done this.

Luke flinched, unable to look away from the door through which Thalia still lay unconscious.

Malcolm just kept reading, his voice monotonous, not stopping to allow anyone a chance to talk.

… There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it.

Luke shuddered.

Malcolm handed the book back to Annabeth, who thanked him quietly.

At night, I had more dreams of Grover.

Sally reached across and grasped Grover's hand.

… Once, I heard him say, It's here.

"Oh dear," Grover whimpered.

Another time, He likes sheep.

"You're really not giving us much to go on," Silena said with a frown.

I thought about telling Annabeth … She would've thought I was crazy.

"I wouldn't," Annabeth said. "But I also wouldn't have been much help if that was all I had to go on."

The night before the race, Tyson and I finished our chariot … After all that work, it seemed only fair that Tyson would ride shotgun with me …

"They won't like that," Silena said. "But also, that sounds a very cool chariot."

"It does," Beckendorf agreed.

… though I knew the horses wouldn't like it, and Tyson's extra weight would slow us down.

"That's really sweet of you," Sally said.

… When he pulled up his cover, his feet stuck out the bottom. 'I am a monster.'

"Oh, poor thing," Silena cooed.

… 'It is okay. I will be a good monster. Then you will not have to be mad.'

"How on earth are you even keeping a straight face when you speak to him?" Silena asked.

I didn't know what to say. I stared at the ceiling and felt like I was dying slowly, right along with Thalia's tree.

"Ouch." Percy grimaced, rubbing his chest.

'It's just … I never had a half-brother before … And I'm worried about the camp … I keep feeling like I should be doing something to help, but I don't know what.'

"It doesn't fall on your shoulders, sweetheart," Sally murmured.

"I know," Percy said. "If Chiron was there, I would have gone and spoken to him, but … what was my other option?"

"There isn't one," Lee said grimly.

… 'I'm sorry,' I told him. 'It's not your fault … I don't understand why.'

"And this is why you should be able to talk to your children," Amphitrite murmured.

… I sighed. 'Goodnight, big guy.'

And I closed my eyes, too.

Annabeth blinked, staring at the next line, not sure if maybe her dyslexia was messing with her again. "Does that …?"

Malcolm peered over her shoulder at where she was pointing. "Yes. Yes it does."

"Okay then." Annabeth cleared her throat.

In my dream, Grover was wearing a wedding dress.

"Why?!" Grover groaned.

It didn't fit him very well.

"I'm not surprised," Silena said, hiding a smile.

… He was standing in a dank cave … And he was staring right at me … 'Thank the gods!' He yelped. 'Can you hear me?'

Hermes straightened up. "That's not a regular demigod dream."

… 'Please, I don't have the strength to project any better. You have to hear me!'

"How are you doing that?" Michael asked.

"It might be an empathy bond," Grover said, frowning. "But I hope not. That could be a problem for Percy if something happens to me."

"It sounds like you're in trouble," Percy said. "If it helps you, I'll take that risk."

'I hear you,' I said. 'Grover, what's going on?'

From behind the boulder, a monstrous voice yelled, 'Honeypie! Are you done yet?'

"That sounds concerning," Sally said, wrapping an arm around Grover as well as her son.

…. Grover turned back to me. 'You have to help me! No time! I'm stuck in this cave. On an island in the sea.'

"Well, that's specific," Travis grumbled.

'Where?'

'I don't know exactly! I went to Florida and turned left … It's a trap! … It's the reason no satyr has ever returned from this quest.

Grover let out a concerned bleat. "What?"

He's a shepherd, Percy! And he has it.

"Has what?" Sally asked blankly, but everyone else looked just as lost as she did.

It's nature magic is so powerful … The satyrs come here thinking they've found Pan, and they get trapped and eaten by Polyphemus!'

"I know that name," Sally said over several cries of concern. "That was Odysseus and 'Nobody', right?"

"The Golden Fleece," Luke blurted out suddenly. "That's what he's got!"

"Where the heck did that come from?" Lee asked. "Odysseus never went near the Golden Fleece, did he?"

"No," Hermes answered. "That was Jason."

"Thalia said something about the Golden Fleece a few days ago," Luke said. "That's my … reparations, if you will - and she said that we would read about it. I'm willing to bet that's it."
"It could well be," Apollo confirmed. "It would give off very strong nature magic. Although how he ended up with it, I don't know."

'… Look, this bridal dress is the only thing keeping me alive … His eye is still half-blind from the last time somebody poked it out … he's getting impatient!'

Grover was trembling with fear and Sally tugged him closer, tightening her arm around him.

'Wait a minute. This Cyclops thinks you're -'

'Yes!' Grover wailed. 'He thinks I'm a lady Cyclops and he wants to marry me!'

It was a mark of how much the campers cared about Grover and were worried about him that not even the Stolls made a remark on that one.

… 'I'll come rescue you,' I promised. 'Where are you?'

'The Sea of Monsters, of course!'

"Of course he is," Luke muttered. "Malcolm, do you …?"

Malcolm tore out a couple of pages from his notepad and handed them over with a pen.

'The sea of what?'

"You really need to start reading the old myths," Annabeth said.

"I do," Percy said. "I can't be expected to remember everything. Especially not in my dreams."

'I told you! I don't know exactly where! And … I'm really sorry about this … Our emotions are connected now. If I die …'

"Sorry," Grover said.

"Well, if you hadn't done it, you were definitely going to die," Percy said reasonably. "At least this way you've got a chance. Although how I'm going to find you, I don't know."

'Don't tell me, I'll die, too.'

'Oh, well, perhaps not. You might live for years in a vegetative state.

"Because that's much better," Travis muttered under his breath.

But, uh, it would be a lot better if you got me out of here.'

"Obviously," Clarisse said, a little waspishly.

… 'Wait! You said "it" was here. What?'

"Yeah, that bit sounds important," Connor agreed. "We want to know if Luke's right."

But Grover's voice was already growing fainter. 'Sweet dreams. Don't let me die!'

"Stating the obvious there, aren't you?" Silena asked, her voice trembling a little.

The dream faded and and I woke with a start … Tyson was staring down at me, his one big brown eye full of concern.

'Are you okay?' He asked.

"I would have thought that a dream like that was through a deeper sleep, so not so obvious to an onlooker," Sally said.

"It's possible Tyson sensed the bond," Amphitrite said. "You never can tell with them."

His voice sent a chill down my back … he sounded almost exactly like the monster I'd heard in my dream.

"Because they're both cyclopes," Lee said grimly. "How are we going to get him out of that?"

No one answered, so Annabeth kept reading.

The morning of the race was hot and humid.

Percy and Annabeth both grimaced, the latter tugging at her collar uncomfortably.

… Millions of birds were roosting in the trees … They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded me of submarine radar.

"You saw them?!" Annabeth hissed.

"I thought everyone had," Percy said. "No one else was freaking out, so I figured it was fine."

Annabeth kept reading, and she wasn't interrupted for quite some time, aside from the odd giggle as Tantalus's food evaded him, Sally's gasp of outrage at the implied punishment for a killing, and the various camper's cheers as their chariots were described.

… Before the race began, I tried to approach Annabeth and tell her about my dream.

"Bad timing," Luke said. "She'll think it's a trick."

… 'You're trying to distract me,' she decided.

"Sorry," Annabeth said with a sigh.

Percy pressed a kiss to her head. "It's alright, Wise Girl. I should have waited until after the race."

… 'Percy, an empathy link is so hard to do. I mean, it's more likely you really were dreaming.'

'The Oracle,' I said. 'We could consult the Oracle.'

"You can't," Clarisse said immediately. "You have to get permission."

Rachel frowned. "Is that a general rule? Or is that because she's a mummy in an attic with a lot of possibly dangerous stuff."

"Mainly the latter," Chiron said. "But in the past, the Oracle has always issued an invitation."

"Must be the host," Rachel decided. "I'm quite happy for anyone to come and see me."

Annabeth frowned … 'We'll talk later … after I win.'

"If you win," Clarisse muttered.

As I was walking back … I noticed how many more pigeons were in the trees now …

"Has no one else noticed them?" Lee asked.

"I didn't," Annabeth admitted. "Honestly, that kind of thing, we'd rely on the satyrs and the draiads to alert us; I don't know why they didn't."

"I bet I do," Nico said grimly. "Tantalus had been released from the Fields of Punishment. He probably overrode the scent of anything else."

That gained Mr D a few more glares from Hermes and Apollo, but neither of them said anything.

… Tyson was having trouble getting our horses under control … Finally they agreed to let me harness them.

"You know, sugar cubes isn't good for them," Silena said cautiously.

"I know," Percy said. "I take what I can get."

She was not going to be happy when she found out about Blackjack and the donuts.

When no one else spoke, Annabeth continued.

… I gave Tyson a three-metre pole … 'No hitting ponies with the stick,' he insisted.

Silena smiled.

… We are so going to lose, I thought to myself, but I had to try.

"Good," Sally murmured, just loud enough for her son to hear her. "You should always try."

I wanted to show the others … well, I wasn't sure what, exactly. That Tyson wasn't such a bad guy?

Annabeth kept reading, her voice shaking a little as she described the chariot race. At first, the other campers cheered along like they were watching it.

Once the pigeons rose, however, things changed, especially when Annabeth confirmed what they had all feared.

'Stymphalian birds!' Annabeth yelled … 'They'll strip everyone to bones if we don't drive them away!'

Bianca gasped sharply, and Nico put an arm around her. "Don't worry. This isn't …" he paused, about to reassure her that this wasn't normal for Camp, but … It had been, the last few summers, at least the parts that he'd seen.

"This isn't what Camp's supposed to be," Annabeth said.

… She shouted, 'Heroes, to arms!' But I wasn't sure anyone could hear her …

One of them nailed me in the back end …

Percy yelped.

… and I almost jumped straight out of the chariot.

… The closer we got to the stands, the thicker the cloud of birds became.

"And this is the point that the Activities Director should have stepped in to help," Apollo said. "But they have a sadist in, who's probably enjoying it."

Some of the spectators were trying to fight back … The archers from Apollo's cabin brought out their bows and arrows … but with so many campers mixed in with the birds, it wasn't safe to shoot.

"How do you get rid of them?" Bianca asked. "I'm sure I remember reading about them once … I think …" she frowned. "Why don't I remember properly?"
"Because you're worried, I should think," Nico said vaguely. "Noise."

'Too many!' I yelled to Annabeth. 'How do you get rid of them?'

… 'Heracles used noise! … He scared them away with the most horrible sound he could -' Her eyes got wide. 'Percy … Chiron's collection!'

Despite the concern, the campers couldn't help giggling.

"My collection is not that bad," Chiron protested, but his eyes were twinkling nonetheless.

… Clarisse had just pulled across the finish line, completely unopposed … 'You're running? The fight is here, cowards!'

"Says the girl that didn't even notice there was a problem," Clarisse growled.

Silena frowned. "You know you're talking about yourself, right?"

… Down at the track, the chariots were in flames. Wounded campers ran in every direction, with birds shredding their clothes and pulling out their hair …

Will pulled a face, remembering the number of injuries they had to treat that day. He hadn't seen anything like it before, and it had only been surpassed by the major battles.

… while Tantalus chased breakfast pastries around the stands, every once in a while yelling, 'Everything's under control! Not to worry!'

"Not to …"

Before Apollo could get up a proper head of steam, Aphrodite let out a pulse of light, effectively calming everyone in the room.

"Apollo, I am as angry as you are," she said, clutching Silena's hand. "Yelling will not help."

… I pressed PLAY ad started up Chiron's favourite … The demon pigeons went nuts … Then they abandoned the track altogether and few skywards in a huge dark wave.

Sally breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."

'Now!' shouted Annabeth. 'Archers!'

With clear targets, Apollo's archers had flawless aim.

"Well, most of us do," Will grumbled.

Within minutes, the ground was littered … and the survivors were a distant trail of smoke on the horizon.

Apollo smiled proudly.

The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn't pretty.

"I'm not surprised," Hermes muttered.

… Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks.

Annabeth winced, rolling up her sleeve. "Ouch."

Luke stared in horror at the bloody wound that had appeared on her arm. "When did that happen?"

"While I was fighting them off, obviously," Annabeth said, poking it. "I guess Percy didn't notice."

"Don't poke it," Will said wearily. "Honestly, Annabeth, I shouldn't need to keep repeating good wound care. Here."

Annabeth took the square of ambrosia he offered and nibbled on it. "Thanks.

The kids from Aphrodite's cabin were screaming because their hairdos had been ruined and their clothes pooped on.

Silena frowned. "I'm not sure whether to be frustrated that it's just that, or hope it's not just that."

"It wasn't just that," Annabeth said. "It's just that Drew had spent most of it hidden under the stands and she was the loudest."

Silena rolled her eyes. "Of course she was."

'Bravo!' Tantalus said, but he wasn't looking at me or Annabeth. 'We have our first winner!'

"Is he completely oblivious?" Sally asked incredulously.

"No," Aphrodite said. "But he's clearly decided he's got a favourite."

He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels for the race to a stunned-looking Clarisse.

"I'm not sure I want to be his favourite," Clarisse said, but she couldn't help glowing a little when her father gave her proud nod.

"I don't want you to be his favourite either," Aphrodite agreed.

Then he turned and smiled at me. 'And now to …"

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Afraid not," Percy said, with a humourless smile.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

Annabeth gritted her teeth and read the last line of the chapter.

'And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race.'

The campers exploded into protest. A moment later, a whistle pierced the air and they fell silent.

Apollo tilted his head a little, observing Will. "You got the super-sonic, didn't you?"

Will grinned, even though it was twinged with a little sadness. "I did. You didn't know?"

"I think I know what gifts I give my children," Apollo said. "Sometimes one slips through without me knowing."

"But that's not fair!" Bianca protested, cheeks a little red. "The punishment, I mean. They saved the camp, why are they in trouble?"

"Because Tantalus is words I shouldn't say in front of kids," Percy said.

"I'm not exactly a kid," Bianca said.

"Alright," Percy conceded. "He's words I wouldn't say in front of my mother."