𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩

Chapter X

10
∆

Illegal Boarding

Cyrus was staring at the waves when Annabeth and Benny raced in, Tyson and Percy stumbling in right behind.

  "What’s going on?" Annabeth asked, patting (y/n) to check for injuries. "I heard you calling for help!"

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

  "I didn’t call you lot," (y/n) said, shrugging. "I’m fine."

  "But then who ..." Annabeth noticed the five yellow duffel bags, then the thermos and the bottle of vitamins the boy was holding. "What—"

  "Just listen," Cyrus said. "We don’t have much time."

  He told them about their conversation with Hermes. By the time he was finished, he could hear screeching in the distance—patrol harpies picking up their scent.

  "(y/n)," Annabeth said, "we have to do the quest."

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

  "I can attest for that," Percy hummed.

  "So? If we fail, there won’t be any camp to come back to," Annabeth reminded them.

  "Yeah, but you promised Chiron—"

  "I promised I’d keep you all from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them—"

  "I want to go," Tyson said.

  "No!" Annabeth’s voice sounded close to panic. "I mean ... (y/n), come on. You know that’s impossible."

  Cyrus wondered again why she had such a grudge against Cyclopes. There was something she wasn’t telling them.

  The group all looked at (y/n), waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting farther and farther away.

  The thing was, part of Cyrus didn’t want Tyson along. He'd spent the last three days in close quarters with the guy, getting razzed by the other campers and embarrassed a million times a day, constantly reminded that he was related to him. He needed some space.

  Plus, they didn’t know how much help he’d be, or how they'd keep him safe. Sure, he was strong, but Tyson was a little kid in Cyclops terms, maybe seven or eight years old, mentally. Cyrus could see him freaking out and starting to cry while they were trying to sneak past a monster or something. He’d get them all killed.

  On the other hand, the sound of the harpies was getting closer...

  "We can’t leave him," (y/n) decided. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."

  "Blossom," 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 stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. We could’ve been there all night while she tried to spell whatever it was she wanted to spell. "You know what I mean!"

  "Tyson can go," (y/n) sighed, "if he wants to, that is. It's inhumane to leave behind someone, especially with lives on the line."

  Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!"

  Annabeth gave the boy the evil eye, but Cyrus guessed she could tell (y/n) wasn’t going to change his mind. Or maybe she just knew they didn’t have time to argue.

  "All right," she said. "How do we get to that ship?"

  "Hermes said my ... father... would help," Cyrus hummed.