{1} 𝐁𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐒𝐄𝐘𝐄 | p.jackson

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰

| chapter two |
in which a claiming takes place

WHEN THEY STEPPED INSIDE CAMP HALF-BLOOD, there was an obvious and glaring air of danger. Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods.

As Nia and her friends made their way to the Big House, nobody stopped to talk or chat. Some did double-takes when they saw Tyson, but otherwise just walked grimly past and carried on with their assigned duties — running messages, toting swords to sharpen on the grinding wheels. The entire camp felt like a military school.

Nia hated it. Her home — her favorite place in the world — reduced to this.

None of that mattered to the baby Cyclops, Tyson, though. He was absolutely fascinated by everything he saw. "Whasthat!" he gasped.

"The stables for pegasi," Percy told him. "The winged horses."

"Whatsthat!"

"Um. . . those are the toilets."

"Whatsthat!"

"The cabins for the campers. If they don't know who your Olympian parent is, they put you in the Hermes cabin — that brown one over there — until you're determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom's group.

Tyson looked at Percy in awe. "You. . . have a cabin?"

"Number three," Percy pointed to a low gray building made of sea stone — Poseidon's cabin.

"You live with friends in the cabin?" Tyson probed further.

"Only one person," explained Percy. "Naomi, my little sister."

"No one else?"

"No. Just the two of us," Percy said shortly, signaling that he didn't want to talk about how he and Naomi weren't supposed to exist and it was a crime in itself for them to.

When the group finally got to the Big House, they found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favorite 1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags.

As soon as Nia, Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson saw Chiron, Tyson froze. "Pony!" he cried in total rapture.

Chiron turned, looking offended. "I beg your pardon?"

Annabeth ran up to Chiron and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not. . . leaving?" Her voice was shaky.

Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kindly smile. "Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness. You've grown over the year!"