CHAPTER NINETEEN
( breaking the rules )

     THE WAY TANTALUS saw it, the Stymphalian birds had simply been minding their own business in the woods and would not have attacked if Percy, Annabeth, Tyson hadn't disturbed them with their bad chariot driving. I had been an accomplice, in his own words, and deserved to join them in their punishment as I did in their 'ridiculous stunt'.

     It was completely unfair, but it was obvious that there was no changing Tantalus's mind. He sentenced us to kitchen patrol, which consisted of scrubbing the dirty pots and plates in the underground kitchen with the cleaning harpies. The harpies, instead of using any old dishwashing soap with cute ducks on the bottle, washed with lava to get that extra-clean sparkle. Because of this, Percy, Annabeth and I had to wear asbestos gloves and aprons.

     Tyson had it easy. He plunged his large, bare hands into the lava and started scrubbing, but the three of us had to endure long hours of boiling hot and dangerous work that wasn't at all legal. Not to mention, there were a lot more plates to clean than usual. Tantalus had ordered a special banquet to celebrate Clarisse's chariot victory – a full-course meal featuring country-fried Stymphalian death-bird. That just couldn't taste good.

     After having to play the mediator between Percy and Annabeth ( and now understanding how Grover felt last summer on our first quest ) I convinced both of them to hear each other out. Percy told his dream again, this time for Annabeth to hear, and she looked conflicted on whether to believe him or not. She turned to me, silently asking me what I thought with just one look, to which I responded with a nod.

     "If he's really found it," she murmured, "and if we could retrieve it – "

     "Yeah, but we need to consider where it is – "

     "Hold on," Percy interrupted us. "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. What do you get when you skin a ram?"

     "Messy?"

     Annabeth gave me an exasperated look. I raised my hands in surrender, and she sighed before answering Percy. "A fleece. The coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool – "

     "The Golden Fleece. Are you serious?"

     Annabeth scraped a plateful of bird bones into the lava. "Percy, remember the Grey Sisters? They said they knew the location of the thing you seek. And they mentioned Jason. Three thousand years ago, they told him how to find the Golden Fleece. You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts?"

     "Yeah," he nodded. "That old movie with the clay skeletons."

     I would've told him that I had seen that movie too if Annabeth hadn't rolled her eyes and exclaimed, "Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless."

     "What?"

     "Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important."

     "It was probably important to her."

     "The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution –"

     "It could cure Thalia's tree."

     Annabeth nodded. "And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood. But Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."

     "But Grover found it," he said. "He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Annabeth. We can rescue him and save the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"

     "Too perfect," I pointed out. "We risk it being a trap."

     Last summer, Lord Kronos had manipulated our quest all along. I was afraid he might be doing the same thing again, and drag us into our own demise like last time.

     "What choice do we have?" Percy asked. "Are you going to help me rescue Grover or not?"

     Annabeth and I exchanged a glance, both thinking the same thing. Tyson hadn't paid attention to our conversation and busied himself playing with the lava and the plates, completely clueless to the three different looks he was receiving.

     "Percy," she said under her breath, "we'll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes. And there's only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters."

     "Where's that?"

     He received two stares after that question. Mine and Annabeth's. "The Sea of Monsters. The same sea Odysseus sailed through, and Jason, and Aeneas and all the others."

     "You mean the Mediterranean?"

     "No. Well, yes. . . but no."

     "Another straight answer. Thanks."

     "Look, Percy, the Sea of Monsters is the sea all heroes sail through on their adventures. It used to be in the Mediterranean, yes. But like everything else, it shifts locations as the West's center of power shifts."

     "Like Mount Olympus being above the Empire State Building," he followed. "And Hades being under Los Angeles."

     "Right."

     "But a whole sea full of monsters – how could you hide something like that? Wouldn't the mortals notice weird things happening. . . like, ships getting eaten and stuff?"

     "Of course they notice. They don't understand, but they know something is strange about that part of the ocean. The Sea of Monsters is off the east coast of the U.S. now, just north-east of Florida. The mortals even have a name for it."

     "The Bermuda Triangle?"

     "Exactly."

     "Okay. . . so at least we know where to look."

     "It's still a huge area, Percy. Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters –"

     "Hey, I'm the son of the sea god. This is my home turf. How hard can it be?"

     "Hard as convincing Tantalus to give us approval," I added. "He'll say no in an instant."

     "Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody," Percy suggested. "The whole camp will hear. They'll pressure him. He won't be able to refuse."

     That did sound like a good idea. Hopefully it was easy to execute too.

     "Maybe." Annabeth's voice was laced with hope. "We'd better get these dishes done. Hand me the lava spray gun, will you?"

THAT NIGHT AT the campfire, my cabin led the sing-along like any other night. As much as we tried to lift everyone's spirits, it wasn't possible, especially after this day's attack. If we already had attacks this bad, I couldn't imagine what was in store for us once the tree died. I couldn't let that happen.

     We sat around a semicircle of stone steps, some campers singing along with us, watching the bonfire blaze while Milo and Michael strummed the guitars and Will did his best to follow my lead on playing the lyre. We played the usual campfire songs, but none of them were cheerful enough to lift anyone's spirits. The bonfire, which was enchanted so it could change color and heat depending on the mood of the crowd, barely glowed today.

     Mr. D left early. He had the decency enough to stay for two songs, but then he muttered something about how pinochle with Chiron was a lot more entertaining. He gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back towards the Big House.

     When the last song was over, Tantalus said, "Well, that was lovely!"

     He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, pretending to act casual. Before he could touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab for it, but the marshmallow dived into the flames.

     Tantalus turned back towards the crowd, smiling coldly. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."

     "Sir," Percy raised his voice loud enough for him to hear.

     Tantalus's eye twitched impatiently "Our kitchen boy has something to say?"

     Some of the Ares campers snickered, and I took the hint to stand up from my seat to show my support. When my eyes searched for Annabeth in the crowd, I saw her already doing the same.

     Percy decided to speak up, "We have an idea to save the camp."

     Silence followed his words. It got everybody's attention though, since the bonfire flared in a bright yellow color.

     "Indeed," Tantalus said blandly. "Well, if it has anything to do with chariots – "

     "The Golden Fleece," Percy said. "We know where it is."

     The flames burned orange, flickering in response to the revelation. Before Tantalus could stop him, Percy blurted out the dream about Grover and Polyphemus's island. Annabeth stepped in to remind everybody what the Fleece could do.

     "The Fleece can save the camp," she concluded. "I'm certain of it."

     "It's our only choice," I jumped in to add to Annabeth's statement, crossing my arms over my chest. "We must send someone, quickly, to secure it and safeguard the camp."

     "Nonsense," said Tantalus. "We don't need saving."

     All eyes fell on him, and he started looking uncomfortable at the unwanted attention. "Besides," he added quickly, "the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."

     "Yes, I would," Percy blurted out.

     That made me pause – I didn't know that. Annabeth's eyes found mine and she wore a face of confusion that resembled mine. I leaned towards him since I was the closest and lowered my voice so no one could hear, "You do?"

     He nodded, completely sure of his answer. There was a flash of recognition in his eyes, like he just remembered something before speaking again, "Thirty, thirty-one, seventy-five, twelve."

     "Okay," Tantalus dragged the 'o' out, frowning. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

     "They're sailing coordinates," Percy answered. "Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."

     I wasn't going to lie – I was impressed. Even Annabeth seemed to be, too. "Thirty degrees, thirty-one minutes north, seventy-five degrees, twelve minutes west. He's right! The Grey Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"

     "Wait just a minute – "

     The campers interrupted Tantalus's weak attempts in shutting the idea down.

     "We need a quest! We need a quest!"

     The flames rose higher.

     "It isn't necessary!"

     "WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"

     "Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"

     "YES!"

     "Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."

     I knew his intention was to scare us into not going, but after what we encountered last summer, nothing seemed capable enough to terrify either one of us. If there was an opportunity to save my home, Thalia, and Grover all at once, I wanted a part of it.

     "I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champions is obvious."

     Tantalus looked at Percy, Annabeth and I as if he wanted to skin us alive. "The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest. . .Clarisse!"

     The fire flickered into a thousand different colors. The Ares cabin wasted no time in stomping their feet and cheering out, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"

     Clarisse stood up, completely stunned. She swallowed, but she visibly glowed with pride. "I accept the quest!"

     "Wait!" Percy shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."

     "Sit down!" yelled one of the Ares campers. "You had your chance last summer!"

     "Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!"

     Clarisse glared daggers at Percy. I didn't blame her, just like the rest of us in camp, she wanted a quest to prove herself to her dad. "I accept the quest!" she repeated, this time with more security. "I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"

     The Ares campers cheered even louder. Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers backed her up. In a matter of seconds, every other table started taking sides – my table screaming at the top of their lungs against the Ares kids. Everyone was either arguing or throwing marshmallows at each other, and it was about to turn into a full s'more war until Tantalus shouted, "Silence, you brats!"

     The loudness in his tone made me flinch.

     "Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."

     We all had no choice but to reluctantly move back to our seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was as strong as any monster I'd ever come across.

     "Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and there was no denying he was talking about himself.

     "This king," he continued, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe – just one little doggy bag, mind you – the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children – just – like – you!"

     He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, like the bitter old man from across the street that would take your toys if they fell on his lawn.

     "Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"

     No one dared to answer. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting on Tantalus's crooked face to add another level of creepiness to his story.

     "Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so. . .are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"

     Silence.

     Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."

     She shifted uncomfortably, like she didn't want to accept the quest just because she was Tantalus's pet. "Sir – "

     "Go!" he snarled.

     She bowed awkwardly and hurried off towards the Big House.

     "What about you, Percy Jackson?" Tantalus asked. "No comments from our dishwasher?"

     He didn't respond, preferring to stay silent rather than receive another punishment.

     "Good," Tantalus seemed pleased. "And let me remind everyone – no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries. . . well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well."

     The fire extinguished with a wave of Tantalus's hand, and there was nothing to do but head to our respective cabins in the dark.

     THE FULL MOON shone through my window. The only source of light in the cabin besides the moon were the dim lit sun-shaped nightlights in each of the bunks, providing a warmer atmosphere to everyone. The thought of sleeping was tempting to me, but as much as I wanted to close my eyes and drift off, I couldn't. The sickness of Thalia's tree was spreading into the valley and it made me physically ill thinking of having nothing to help it. I didn't have the best relationship in the world with Clarisse, but I knew she was smart. Was she capable of bringing the Fleece back in time to save Camp Half-Blood?

     I got tired of kicking and turning in my bed thinking on 'what ifs' that I stood up and headed straight for the closet. I grabbed the first pair of clothes I could find and searched through my entire belongings until I found my charm bracelet on my nightstand. I didn't plan to go anywhere without it.

     I slipped my shoes on and basically tiptoed my way to the door, careful not to make a single noise. But luck wasn't on my side. The lights turned on, making me freeze.

     There, wearing his pajamas and with a half-dozed look on his face, stood Michael at the foot of his bunk. He crossed his arms over his chest after pulling his hand away from the light switch that caught me red handed. "You're not thinking of sneaking out, right?"

     "No," I scoffed with an awkward laugh. I internally winced – that didn't sound convincing at all. Where did all my training in perfectly lying to someone go?

     "Good. Because that would be stupid. Even for you." Michael stated, he spared a glance to the others, sleeping peacefully in their beds and unbothered by the sudden light in the room. "You're the cabin counselor right now, you need to set an example."

     "Yeah, which means you have to go to sleep too, mister," I deflected, trying to make my tone sound stern. "It's getting late. Good night, Michael."

     I did my attempt in heading toward the door, but Michael was faster than me. He stepped in front of me and gripped my shoulders, trying to keep me in place. I, frustrated by the fact that he was not letting me leave, glared up at him.

     "Maia."

     "Michael."

     He sighed, exasperated. I was surprised by this – it was the most reasonable I've seen him act since he got here – mostly it was all fun and games with him.

     "I can't convince you to not go," he murmured, quiet enough to not wake anyone up. "I know how stubborn you are."

     He playfully shoved my shoulder with his last sentence. I brushed his hand away with annoyance and affection. Seriously, what was it with people shoving my shoulders recently?

     "Be careful," his gaze locked with mine, revealing a vulnerability that caught me off guard.

     "I will." I promised, gulping down my nerves at the visible concern in his eyes.

     "Beat Clarisse to the Fleece, please." He added in an attempt to lighten the mood, but the humor behind his words felt flat.

     I forced down a laugh but there was humor behind it. That wasn't the intention in going on this quest. "No promises."

     He let go of my shoulders and moved to the side, gesturing for me to walk past him. I had to be a lot more careful on my way to the door, since I heard the faint sound of Will stirring in his own bunk a few feet away. I had forgotten he was one of the light sleepers.

     "Oh, wait! What am I gonna tell the others? Tantalus?" Michael''s voice caught me off guard again, with my hand hovering right over the doorknob. "Lee and Molly are probably arriving tomorrow."

     "You'll think of something," I told him, opening the door a few inches and wincing as it creaked. "Just, make it sound believable."

     "Okay, no pressure."

     I opened the door further enough to let me slip through, trying to make the least amount of noise as possible. I knew sneaking out after curfew was against the rules, but this time I didn't care. There were more important things to worry about than being eaten by the harpies.

     I quietly closed the door of my cabin behind me, making sure I didn't hear any sounds coming from the inside before turning around. I let out a relaxed sigh and turned around, only to have someone grab onto my wrist and scare me out of my skin.

     I almost screamed at the top of my lungs until I recognized Annabeth's figure, her finger hovering over her lips. "What are you – "

     "Shh!" She didn't remove the finger from her lips. Her entire posture was on alert and she turned her head to the side, as if she was waiting to hear something in particular.

     I didn't hear anything, or maybe I didn't know what I was waiting to hear. I grew impatient and grabbed Annabeth's attention again, not before she stomped her foot in frustration after not receiving the answer she hoped to have.

     "I was about to go to your cabin," I told her, flickering my eyes left and right to check if anyone had noticed we were outside. "How did you – "

     "I knew you were thinking about it," She cut me off. Classic Annabeth, always two steps ahead. "I can't just sit here too."

     I nodded, understanding where she was coming from. "We have to do the quest."

     "Yeah."

     "Okay, what's next? Knocking on Percy's cabin?"

     "That's what I had so far, why?"

     I pointed to the large figure approaching us. "Too late."

     "Ugh, great," I heard Annabeth mutter once she noticed who it was.

     It was difficult to see him clearly without any light around besides the moon, but Tyson's larger frame was easily recognizable. In any other circumstance, I wouldn't have gotten so close to him to the point where he was towering over me, but the panicked look in his eye got my attention. If you stared at his face long enough, you could see he was on the brink of crying.

     "Percy! Missing!" he squeaked out.

     I frowned and turned back toward Annabeth to see her reaction, only to see her in the same state she was when I first found her; this time with her eyes closed in concentration. Once again, I was about to ask what was wrong, but she expected this and raised a hand to silence me. That's when I heard it.

     If I hadn't been paying attention a few seconds before, I would've missed the cries for help coming from a specific direction. It sounded far away from where we stood, but there was no denying that the voice belonged to Percy.

     We finally found him staring at the waves of the Long Island Sound.

     "What's going on?" Annabeth asked once we reached him. "I heard you calling for help!"

     "Me, too!" Tyson said. "Heard you yell, 'Bad things are attacking!'"

     "I didn't call you guys," he frowned. "I'm fine."

     "But then who. . ." Annabeth trailed off, probably noticing the same things I did. Four duffel bags sat at Percy's feet, along with a flask and a vitamin bottle in his hands. "What –"

     "Just listen," he said. "We don't have much time."

     We didn't have much time due to the harpies picking up our scent, but he managed to tell us he encountered Hermes here on the beach. It was hard to wrap my head around the new information, especially since I had encountered the god of thieves myself a while back, and it wasn't as pretty as Percy's interaction with him. When he told us that Hermes mentioned something about Luke, I couldn't help but glance at Annabeth subconsciously, only to find her with an uncomfortable look on her face. Still, I managed to hear through the rest of Percy's story, where he pointed out that we needed to catch up with a large cruise ship that was sailing through the Long Island Sound a fair distance away.

     "Percy," Annabeth spoke after he was done, "we have to do the quest."

     "We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."

     "If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."

     "Yeah, but you promised Chiron – "

     "To keep you away from danger," I finished for him. "That can only happen if we go with you."

     "Yeah, you need us, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth backed me up. "Tyson can stay behind and tell them –"

     "I want to go," Tyson blurted out.

     "No!" Annabeth immediately panicked. "I mean. . .Percy, come on. You know that's impossible."

     She and Tyson looked at Percy, both waiting for an answer that would benefit one of them. He didn't say anything and locked his eyes with mine, as if he was waiting for me to help him out, but I broke eye contact and paid attention to the floor.

     To be honest, I was on Annabeth's side this time. Tyson, in Cyclops terms, was a little kid, and he would be behaving like one if he went with us on this quest. I didn't know to what extent his loyalty to Percy lied, but if we did encounter Polyphemus, who was to say Tyson wouldn't turn to his side? He could get us all killed.

     The sound of the harpies was closer than before, and if we didn't come up with a decision soon, we would become their midnight snack.

     "We can't leave him," Percy decided after a while. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."

     "Percy," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus's island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k. . . a C-y-k. . ." She stomped her foot in frustration because of her dyslexia. Neither one of us knew how to spell Cyclops, and it could've taken all night if we bothered to. "You know what I mean!"

     "Tyson can go," Percy didn't change his decision, "if he wants to."

     Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!"

     Oh, great, I thought to myself. I crossed my arms over my chest, obviously not agreeing with his final decision. Annabeth glared so intensely at Percy that it would've left him six feet under if looks could kill. This is going to be a long trip, I could already tell.

     "We don't have time to argue," I reminded both of them. "First things first, how do we get to that ship?"

     "Hermes said my father would help."

     "Well then, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth spoke up. "What are you waiting for?"

     Percy stepped into the waves, quite awkwardly, may I add.

     "Um, Dad?" he called. "How's it going?"

     "Percy!" Annabeth whispered. "We're in a hurry!"

     "We need your help," he raised his voice. "We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so. . ."

     Nothing happened at first. I could hear the harpies coming up behind us, right through the sand dunes. I paid attention to the calm rhythm that the waves moved with, and squinted my eyes to make sure I wasn't imagining things. There, about a hundred meters out to sea, four white lines broke through the surface. They swam in our direction, ripping through the ocean as if they had an urgency to reach us. The surf burst apart as they neared the beach, and the heads of four beautiful white stallions reared out of the sea.

     Tyson caught his breath. "Fish ponies!"

     The creatures pulled themselves onto the sand. They were normal horses from the front, but their back halves were covered with shimmering scales and their tails were rainbow-colored fins.

     "Hippocampi!" Annabeth exclaimed. "They're beautiful."

     The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled Annabeth.

     "We'll admire them later," Percy said. "Come on!"

     "There!" a voice screeched behind us. "Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!"

     Five harpies were fluttering over the top of the dunes, fluttering their strangely small wings to gain speed and catch up with us. They actually weren't fast, but if you ever had the bad luck to come across one of them, you'd know they were just as vicious.

     "Tyson!" Percy called out. "Grab a duffel bag!"

     He was still staring at the hippocampi with a dropped jaw.

     "Tyson!"

     "Uh?"

     "Come on!"

     He was able to get him moving with Annabeth's and I's help. We all grabbed our respective bags and mounted the hippocampi. Lord Poseidon must've known Tyson would come along, since one hippocampus was larger than the other three, perfect to carry the weight of a Cyclops.

     "Giddy-up!" Percy exclaimed. At the call, his hippocampus plunged into the waves and mine followed right behind without a second thought. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Annabeth's and Tyson's trailing after us.

     The harpies cursed at us, disappointed that we had gotten away, but the hippocampi raced over the water at incredible speed. The harpies didn't catch up with us, and before I knew it, we left Camp Half-Blood's shore behind. I hoped that when we came back, we returned with the one thing that would turn everything back to normal.

     The cruise ship was now looming in front of us – our ride towards Florida and after that, the Sea of Monsters.

author's note !
maia and michael one of our favorite sibling duos !! i love them so much your honor.

also, maia and her controversial thoughts about tyson are for a reason !! she's a kid and so is annabeth, they're allowed to be bitter even though they're not treating it in the right way.

- see you soon, bex <3