𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐋¹ || 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈𝐈

✦ 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 ✦

EVER COME HOME AND FOUND YOUR ROOM MESSED UP? Like some helpful person (hi, Mom) has tried to 'clean' it, and suddenly you can't find anything? And even if nothing is missing, you get that creepy feeling like somebody's been looking through your private stuff and dusting everything with lemon furniture polish?

That's kind of the way Percy felt seeing Camp Half-Blood again.

On the surface, things didn't look all that different. The Big House was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wraparound porch. The strawberry fields are still baked in the sun.

The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley – the amphitheater, the combat arena, and 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.

Plus Aurora kept muttering under her breath, something about, "Tantalus... asshole... Thalia's tree... I hate him... stupid face... Camp is in danger,"

The silver-haired girl was begrudgingly walking next to Percy, glaring at everyone and everything which was concerning since Aurora would always smile at people she passed, she was a ball of sunshine; this was enough for Percy to hate this Tantalus guy.

Somebody had messed with Percy's favorite place in the world, and he was not... well, a happy camper.

As they made their way to the Big House, Percy recognized a lot of kids from last summer. 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. And believe him, Percy knows. He's been kicked out of a couple. 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."