Daughter Of Light- Book 1: PJO

Chapter 10: An Old Hippie Gives me a Kiss

I followed behind Percy, taking two steps to Tyson's one.

"So, Tyson, you here for the summer or just visiting?"

"You're not scared?" He asked me. His big eye went wide in surprise.

"Me? Scared of who, you? Why would I be scared?" I asked, confused pulling my mouth into a frown and my eyebrows together.

"'cause I'm a cyclops." He said, lowering his head.

"Why would I be scared of Percy's brother? I think you're quite sweet. I've heard stories about how you saved his butt! Also if I need things to go boom, I'm coming to you, big guy! Now head up, my BFG."

He picked his head up and frowned. "BFG?" He asked, "what's that?"

"A book I had to read. It stands for Big friendly Giant. These kids befriended a giant who was kind and nice. But in our case let's change it to BFC." I smiled.

"Yes! I like it! Percy's sister makes things go boom, and peanut butter sandwiches and isn't scared of me! I like Percy's little sister!"

"She's older, man." Percy added.

"Older?"

"By a few months." He grumbled.

"Oh!" Tyson nodded thoughtfully.

"So, here for the summer?"

"For a bit. Daddy let me come visit Percy!"

"Ooh! Tell me about working on the forges!"

The rest of the walk Tyson talked, I listened and nodded, smiled when his calf brown eye lit up when he described the Cyclopes' forges and the palace of Poseidon, but he also told me how tense things were. The old gods of the sea, who'd ruled during Titan times, were starting to make war on their father. When Tyson had left, battles had been raging all over the Atlantic. Hearing that made me feel anxious, old Titans waking and starting to wage war was never a good thing, but Tyson assured me that their Dad wanted them both at camp and not to worry.

Percy, Tyson and myself marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. I saw other cabins walking up the hill, laughing and shouting, calling out to friends. A very crowded table was the loudest most rambunctious of them all. Things were being tossed around, some kids were yelling insults and laughing, racking my brain i couldn't think who they were until Percy leaned over and told me it was Hermes cabin. The Ares table was yelling insults and arm wrestling. I saw Clarisse and her friends with bandages around their hands and arms. And a weird green past on a few places. I smirked when I saw her narrow her eyes. Raph gave me a smug cheeky grin from his spot in the middle.

Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods- and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.

In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple.

"Whoa. What happened there?" I whispered to Percy. We had stopped on the outskirts of the pavilion, letting me have a chance to look around. Also waiting for Chiron to make some announcement about my arrival- though most campers knew by this point I was here. An exploding bathroom isn't exactly conspicuous.

Most of the campers ignored the sealed fissure in the marble floor at the entrance- a ten-foot-long jagged scar that looked still fresh.

"Big crack," Tyson said, leaning on a pillar beside me. "Earthquake, maybe?" He looked at Percy, and I followed his actions.