Changing the Future

Chapter 20

I was brooding in the strawberry fields, away from the rest of the campers to prevent myself from strangling Tantalus to death again with my bare hands. 

The revived spirit wasn't all that intimidating – taut flesh over his thin frame, dark, sunken eyes, and a mop of oily gray hair on his head. His fingernails were dirty crescents, his smile a cruel sneer. To top it all off, he was stuck wearing an orange prison jumpsuit with the number 0001 stitched onto the front pocket and on his back. Combine that with the fact that food attempts suicide every time he tries to reach for it, all in all, the new activities director was more of a nuisance than anything else.

I'd gotten a chance to say goodbye to Chiron before he left, purposely ignoring the satchel that he had across his chest. He had dark half circles under his eyes, letting me know that he was stressed out about his leaving.

"Where will you go?" I'd asked him, the two of us ambling towards the border. "The Party Ponies?"

"I'm afraid so," Chiron had sighed, wiping a tired hand across his face. "However, if I am right, I will be stationed with my brethren in Miami for the time being."

"Be safe," I told him, giving him a hug as we reached the poisoned pine tree. "I'll clear your name, I promise."

"Don't you worry about that," Chiron said, waving a finger at me. "I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, Andy. Keep an eye on Annabeth and Percy, will you?"

"Of course, sir."

After Chiron took off, galloping at the supersonic speed that all centaurs could achieve, I sat myself down in the strawberry fields, hearing some campers screaming in fright at the sight of Tyson.

I felt bad for the big guy. From the little conversation and interaction I had with him, I pegged him as a big teddy bear, the kind of guy who wouldn't even hurt a fly unless seriously provoked. Plus, he was going to get picked on even more after Poseidon claimed him.

Behind me, satyrs played their reed pipes, sending ants running out of the strawberry fields like refugees from a fire. I smiled wistfully at one of them, reminding myself of Grover. Then my smiled dissipated as I remembered where Grover was at the moment, stuck on the island of Polyphemus in the middle of the Sea of Monsters.

What would Hermes say when he saw me here? I know he was going to ask Percy for help to save Kyle, but even that turned out sourly last time. Kyle was beyond any of our help, sad as it may seem. He was stuck under the pretenses of my father's promises and would stop at nothing to see Olympus burned to the ground brick by brick.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to find a smirking Cleo, her gold hair glowing like it was on fire in the summer sunlight.

"Ha, I finally got you!" she cheered as I got up, rolling my eyes at her.

"Won't happen again," I promised, dusting the dirt off my pants. We'd had a running joke about scaring each other for the past few months or whenever we saw each other.

"Five drachmas that it will."

"Since when did you bet?" I laughed, agreeing to the bet with a shake of our hands.

"Since you left me alone with the Stoll brothers." Cleo was pouting at the reminder that I'd left for the year, as she was a year rounder alongside the Stoll brothers, Clarisse, Will, Michael, and a handful of other demigods. I guess it made sense that she would hang out with them as they were all around the same age.

The two of walked back to camp, our arms slung around each other shoulders while we talked and laughed as we caught up. I'd visited camp three months ago during my spring break, so there hadn't been too much that I'd missed, other than the sudden arrival of Tantalus.