WINGED ₁

11

ON THE SURFACE, things at Camp Half-Blood didn't look all that different. 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―an assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian god.

But there was an air of danger now. Something was clearly 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.

Camp Half-Blood had been the first place Madeleine had been able to call home in a long time, and seeing it like this was close to devastating.

As they made their way to the Big House, Madeleine recognized a lot of kids from last summer. Nobody stopped to talk or welcome them 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.

None of this mattered to Tyson, though. 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, Madeleine's cabin―until you're determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad's or mom's group."

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

"Number three." Percy pointed to the low gray building made of stone, the Poseidon Cabin.

"You live with friends in the cabin?"

"No. No, just me." It was clear from Percy's tone that he didn't feel like explaining the case of his forbidden birth.

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 Tyson saw him, he froze. "Pony!" he cried in total rapture.

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

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

Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kindly smile. "Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness. You've grown over a year! Madeleine, my dear, good to see you, too. I hope the Jacksons treated you well."

Percy swallowed. "Clarisse said you were... you were..."

"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.

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

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

"What circumstances?" Percy asked.