❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝒱. 𝒞𝒽𝒾𝓇𝑜𝓃 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓈

𝒞𝒶𝓂𝓅 Half-Blood felt different. It didn't look different, but it felt off and Zoe didn't like it. The Big House was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wraparound porch. The strawberry fields still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley—the amphitheater, the combat arena, the dining pavilion overlooking Long Island Sound. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins—a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian god.

But there was an air of danger now. You could tell something was wrong. 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. The forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars.

As they made their way to the Big House, they passed a handful of campers. Nobody stopped to talk. Nobody said, "Welcome back." Some did double takes when they saw Tyson, but most just walked grimly past and carried on with their duties—running messages, toting swords to sharpen on the grinding wheels. The camp felt like a military school. Or what Zoe assumed one would be like.

None of that mattered to Tyson. He was absolutely fascinated by everything he saw.

"Whasthat!" he gasped.

"The stables for pegasi," Percy said. "The winged horses."

"Whasthat!"

"Um...those are the toilets."

"Whasthat!"

"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."

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

"Number three." He pointed to a low gray building made of sea stone.

"You live with friends in the cabin?"

"No. No, just me."

They continued walking and, when they 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 they saw him, Tyson froze. "Pony!" he cried in total rapture.

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

Annabeth ran up and hugged him, Zoe a step behind her. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not...leaving?" Annabeth questioned, her voice shaky.

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

"Clarisse said you were...you were..." Percy trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

"Fired." Chiron's eyes glinted with dark humor. "Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone."

"Besides himself, you mean," Percy growled, his eyes darkening.

"But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried. "Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!"

"We know that! Mr. D knows that! Why are they punishing you for something you didn't do?" Zoe had let go of the centaur and had her arms crossed in anger.

"Nevertheless," Chiron sighed, "some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Percy asked.