daughter of the mist

ch1: what did I miss?

This is the afternoon of June 5th, after Percy blew up his school and fought the bulls.

"Bye, Dad." Isabella closed the car door. She waved as her dad drove away. She stared up Half Blood Hill, looking at Thalia's Pine Tree.

Then her stomach dropped. Thalia's Pine Tree was now a sickly dark green. Even from far away, Isabella could see that many of the needles had fallen off.

Isabella ran up the hill to the pine tree. She stared at it, every thing she noticed making her stomach drop lower.

The needles were yellow. Dead ones were in a pile, circling the trunk. Beneath the pile, she could see that the ground was burnt. The branches were drooping down.

And in the middle of the trunk, there was a hole in the thick bark. The hole was barely noticeable, the size of a finger. Sap oozed out, green sap dripping onto yellow needles.

Someone poisoned it.

Anger rose up in Isabella. Who would do such a thing? thought Isabella. As far as she knew, everyone respected and honored Thalia's sacrifice. No one would dare poison it. So who did?

She stormed down the hill towards the valley of Camp Half Blood. She was so angry that she didn't even notice the large fist-shaped crater in the ground. She had to find answers. Where's Chiron? thought Isabella.

She spun towards the Big House. She ran towards the five-story sky-blue house, hoping to find someone that could tell her what was happening.

She reached the Big House, panting and heaving after running half a mile. She was about to walk inside when she saw Dionysus, her least favorite god, coming out of the Big House.

Isabella didn't want to talk to him, but he worked here, so he might know. Besides, she wasn't running half a mile again.

She walked up to him and gave him her best accusatory glare. "What happened?" she demanded.

Dionysus sighed, bored. "Annabelle—"

"It's Isabella," she interrupted. "I've been here for four years. Is your memory that bad?"

Flames flickered in his eyes. Isabella silently reminded herself not to anger a god.

"Well, Annabelle, Chiron has been fired for poisoning Thalia's tree. He has been replaced by Tantalus," Dionysus answered.

Isabella felt as if her entire world had been flipped upside down. "What?" she said, more shocked than angry.

"Yes, yes. Now run along. Go back to whatever cabin you belong to," he said, shooing her away.

Isabella didn't move. Chiron poisoned the tree? No, she simply refused to believe that.

She remembered there was a myth about Tantalus, but she forgot what it was.

She turned towards the cabins and started walking.

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She arrived at the Hermes cabin, her gray duffel bag slung over her shoulder. The Hermes cabin was as full as ever.

She went to her usual spot and pulled her sleeping bag out of her bag. She unrolled it and smoothed it out before putting it on the floor.

She left her duffel bag there, but with a lock. Sure, regular locks couldn't stop the children of Hermes, but she had used her demigod powers to prevent anyone except her from opening it.

She left the Hermes cabin and spotted a new camper. He looked about a year older than her. He was walking with Annabeth, one of her favorite people, and a...Cyclops.