LUNACY; percy jackson

chapter 4

[act two; chapter four     -     five minutes] 

    Tantalus had claimed, of course, that the Stymphalian birds had been minding their own business. That they had been harmlessly flying through the woods. That it was the lack of skills from Annabeth, Tyson, and Percy who had caused the horrid attack.

    The three had been sentenced to chores in the kitchens, Annabeth groaning in retaliation from the very moment it became an order. But when Tantalus turned towards Andromeda, just as she had turned to walk away, he had pointed a finger at her and said, "Ms. Storm, you will be joining them."

    As expected, she had raised her voice and gone on to attempt to fight it. The man raised his voice at her, smiling in something akin to joy when she flinched away.

    Tyson didn't mind the kitchens, really. He plunged his bare hands right in and started scrubbing, while the other three seemed to feel quite the opposite. Tantalus had, of course, ordered a special luncheon banquet to celebrate Clarisse's chariot victory—a full-course meal featuring country-fried Stymphalian death-bird.

    The only good thing about their punishment, really, was that it gave the three a common enemy and lots of time to talk. Percy had recounted his dream once more, though it was the first for Annabeth, the blonde listening intently as he spoke and explained every detail.

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

    "Hold on," Percy interrupted, putting his hands up. "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?"

    She sighed. Placed a palm to her forehead. "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 off a plateful of bird bones. "Percy, remember the Gray 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?"

    "Oh!" Andromeda laughed haphazardly. "I met a Jason once when I was in California. He was really nice."

    "Yeah," Percy said, as if he, too, had been there. As if he knew this boy she spoke of. He offered her a small smile, one that she caught, only briefly, with a sidelong glance. He turned his gaze, then, back to Annabeth. "That old movie with the clay skeletons."