I dropped my bags on my bed, a bit uncomfortable with having others in my cabin.
I'd gotten used to be alone in here last year, but now I had two more cabin members.
I turned to see Leilani and Tyson standing by the entrance.
"So, uh, you can take either of the other two beds."
Leilani nodded, looking around nervously. She had her bag clutched in her hand.
"Can I sleep there?" Tyson asked, pointing to the bed next to me.
"Yeah, no problem. I guess that means Leilani gets the other one?"
She nodded, "Right, thank you."
Tyson and she moved to their beds. Tyson didn't have any bags, he'd need to buy new clothes later, but Leilani dropped her bag on the bed.
"Ta, the curtain closest to you leads to the bathroom, Leilani. The other one, next to the one we entered through, leads to a sitting room. The dressers are kinda obvious, walls opposite the beds, and there a lot of cubby holes around the room otherwise… uh, the big tank against the wall next to you is new…"
"Okay. Where's your altar?"
I blinked, "Altar?"
"Your cabin one…" she trailed off. "Do you not have one?"
I bit my lip, "I uh, I didn't know that was a thing in the cabins…"
"Oh… um, we can make one then? Someplace… uh…"
"I guess in the morning?" I offered. "After you're both settled in."
"Sure, that works… thank you."
"It's fine, no problem. I like the idea of having an altar here too! I have one in my room back home but didn't think of having one here too-"
"Not-" she tugged some clothes out of her bag. "Not for the altar but… thank you for letting me stay in your cabin… and asking Lord Poseidon to let me… I uh, I appreciate it."
"Percy is nice," Tyson said, standing awkwardly by his bed.
"Oh uh," I fingered the zipper of Carl and Hippolyta's bag. "You're welcome. It really wasn't a problem. I didn't think- well, you know, that it was fair. The Hermes cabin is so crowded, and I have space, and this is the Poseidon cabin, He's King of the Sea, and you're of the sea, so I just- it seemed only right…"
I busied myself with pulling out Carl's and Hippolyta's bowls. I felt so awkward, I'd asked her to be allowed because she was of the sea, but I hadn't really thought about what it meant, living with someone I'd barely interacted with.
"Is that- is that an octopus?"
I blinked, holding Hippolyta's bowl. "Yeah, this is Hippolyta. The goldfish is Carl, you might remember him from last year."
"Yeah… where did you get an octopus?"
"Triton gave her to me, for my birthday. She's a sweetheart."
Hippolyta waved one tentacle from her bowl and Tyson gasped softly, waving back.
Leilani stared wide eyed. "Wow."
"So yeah, I'm gonna, put her and Carl in the tank there. Carl-" I turned a stern look to him "-don't bother Hippolyta. And Hippolyta-" I turned to look at her "-remember, Carl isn't food."
She flipped a tentacle dismissively.
"Hey! What could I do to her?" Carl asked with a pout.
I rolled my eyes and moved past Tyson and Leilani to put the two in the tank. Hippolyta immediately got to exploring while Carl moved to a nook and relaxed.
Leilani hesitantly stood next me. "They're pretty."
"Yeah, Hippolyta is a darling and Carl is snarky…" I paused at a thought. "Can you understand them?"
She shook her head, "No? Can you?"
I nodded.
"Wow," she smiled a bit. "I'm jealous."
"What is this?" Tyson called, making us turn.
The curtain to the sitting area was pulled aside and Tyson was peering through it.
"It's the sitting room," I said. "Where we can sit to relax or spend time with friends."
"But what is on the table?"
I frowned, "What?"
Leilani and I moved over, peeking around Tyson. There were two boxes on the table, and there was a small fountain in the back-right corner that wasn't there last year.
I squeezed past Tyson and picked up the first box.
"It's got your name on it," I told Leilani. "Both of them do actually."
"For me?" She moved over in confusion. "But why?"
I shrugged.
She opened the first box and pulled out a jar shaped like a shell. It was a pretty clear glass the seemed to glitter with the multi-colored sand inside.
"That is pretty," Tyson said.
"There's also a note," Leilani murmured. "Do I-"
She looked rather lost and I was suddenly reminded that she was the same age as I was last year.
"You can open it privately if you want, it's for you after all."
She nodded, holding it tightly as she opened the next box. This one was smaller than the first.
She frowned as she looked inside.
"Why did I get a sand dollar?"
My eyes widened, "Really? Those are valuable."
She blinked, "Huh?"
"In the sea sand dollars are really valuable, 'cause they purify things. You should hold onto that."
She nodded, carefully picking it up, along with a second letter.
"I'll um, put these up."
"Yeah, let's-" I yawned "-finish putting things up, then get some sleep."
"I do not have anything to put up," Tyson informed me.
I pat his arm, "That's okay, we'll get you some extra clothes tomorrow."
"Thank you, Percy. You are a good friend."
I smiled brightly, "So are you!"
Grover's voice whispered in my dreams.
"So that was the cause of the presence-"
OO
I was standing in the dark. Metani was there, gold eyes gleaming. He stood with His brothers, except Okeanus.
"What is going on with Mother?" one asked angrily. "She's being-"
"She's scared," Said the silver one, all pinpricks on my fingertips. "She's desperate."
"She's not the only one afraid," muttered the one wearing a horned helmet.
"After everything Father has done…" Metani pursed his lips. "She's trying to save us, but She's desperate and trying to move quickly. She's not thinking straight."
"She threatened us," hissed glowing light, Hyperion I thought. "She- She almost sent Okeanus to-"
"But She didn't," Kronos said. "I won't allow you to be harmed, not by Her or Father."
"Are you actually going to go through with it?" silver pinpricks asked.
Metani straightened, "Yes. She may be acting rashly but She's right, Father has gone too far. He's been going too far all my life. We can't let this continue on, we can't let Him throw children into the pit nor continue to torment us…"
"Mother is being rash," agreed the first one to speak. "I suppose you're right though. She has been kind other than in the recent times. Perhaps if we handle Father, who has been hurting all of us, then…"
"Then it will get better," finished Hyperion.
"We can only hope," Kronos murmured. "I do not wish to lose Mother, She has always been on our side."
"Then let us deal with Father. He has done too much to all of us, He's driven Mother to this point."
"So, you will help?" Metani asked.
The siblings shared looks.
I woke up.
"So then you can use this sink and me and Tyson can share this one," I said.
Leilani put her toiletries at the sink.
"I can't believe we have a bath."
"And a waterfall," Tyson said solemnly.
Leilani nodded, shooting him a slightly nervous look.
"I guess we'll need to decide who gets the bath when," Leilani mused.
I blinked, "Why?"
"… you're a guy and I'm a girl."
"Yeeeess…"
We stared at each other.
"That matters… why?"
"Girls and guys aren't supposed to bathe together."
I stared blankly.
"But we- wait- avero… sorry," I flushed. "I forgot that… on land… gender stuff is more important."
She blinked, "That's not a thing in the sea?"
"They don't wear clothes in the sea," I informed her.
"What… but what about the girls chests? Don't they get in the way?"
I paused, trying to think of if I'd seen anyone with chests like women on land.
"They don't have them."
"Don't have what?"
"Boobs."
"What!?"
I shrugged, "I'm not sure what they're for, but they don't have them in the sea."
And they didn't, I couldn't recall seeing those on anyone in the sea.
"But why- what??"
"I can check one of my medical books if you want? It might explain it."
"Yes, I need to know this now."
Leilani and I went back to the sleeping area and I dug one of my medical books out. I'd only brought one with me to camp, so hopefully it had the answer.
"Do you know what they're used for in humans?" I asked.
She shrugged, "I'm not sure."
I shrugged and started going through the index looking for anything that seemed like it would talk about boobs.
None of them stood out to me.
"Is this for humans?"
"No," I said distractedly. "It's a book on mer biology. I'm supposed to know all this for my healing lessons."
"Oh? Well, other than not having… chests like human girls… what else is different?"
I perked up, "Oh lots of stuff! For one they have gills and the ability to breathe air, which is rare in sea creatures. And their bones are made of stuff other than calcium- hang on let me show you."
I pulled up the chart of bones. This part was interesting, the names of stuff not so much but what they're made of?
"I can't read this," Leilani said.
"Oh right, sorry it's in Halmaheran. I'll try to teach you it, it's the language of the sea. But yeah so this—" I pointed at a line "—is talking about the bone makeup."
"So what's it say?"
"Right, so you know how human bones are calcium and stuff?"
"Yeah."
"So they can't work like that."
"Why not?" Tyson asked.
"Because the pressure changes and stuff would break them. So instead of calcium they're made of strontium, will, with the other stuff, uh, collagen, which is in human bones I think."
"Wow," Leilani mumbled. "That's cool."
"Yeah! There's also little bits of silica aerogel, which helps with insulation and makes the bones uh—" I paused to reread that line "—makes the bones more flexible."
"The bones are more flexible?"
"Yeah, a bit more, lets them take more strain without breaking."
"Woah."
"That is cool."
I reread the line, "Oh, and that's something that merfolk share with Kyklopes, so that's how your bones are, Tyson."
His eyes widened, "Oooh."
"The teeth are a bit different though, they're made from something called uh," I frowned and dug through my bag for the Halmaheran to English dictionary, medical edition. "It's the- um, hang on. Iv… Ivpo… Ivpoma- there it is."
"What are you looking for?"
"Uh, sorry, I didn't know the English word for ivpoma. It's Stronalsite."
"I have no idea what that is," she said.
Tyson stared blankly.
"Well it's, a uh, it's a ivpoi- uh strontium based material. It's pretty strong too… uh… more durable than calcium based teeth with the enamel."
"Wait- so merfolk don't have to brush their teeth? That's so unfair."
"No, you still gotta clean them! Just like, they're more able to bite through things human teeth can't… I'm not sure what that is though. I mean human teeth can bite through a lot."
She squinted at me "So, are you a merfolk?"
"No, I'm a demigod, except when I'm a merfolk, well I'm a demigod then too-"
"But you're a child of Poseidon. So, is your biology like- like this?"
"No- well," I considered. "Maybe?"
She leaned forward, "What else is different? We need to see."
"Right um," I flipped the page to another page, then flipped through the dictionary. "So the blood has- copper, yeah, a copper base… I don't think humans do cause our skin isn't green."
"Oooh, so is your skin green instead of brown as a mer?"
"It's kinda green tinted?"
"That's super cool."
Tyson poked his arm, "Is that my blood too?"
"Uh…" I read through the passage. "Kyklopes also have copper based blood but there are other components that change its appearance so it doesn't appear like mer blood and works a bit differently."
"Oh. Okay."
I flipped to the next page, which had a chart of a single tail mer's bone structure.
"What- what is that."
"Oh, mer bone structure."
"That is so weird- but cool- but weird."
I grinned, "That's just a one-tailed mer though, I'm a two tailed so—" I flipped a few pages "—this is what my bone structure as a mer is."
"Ooh."
Leilani and Tyson studied it.
"Why isn't the skull connected?"
"Oh, I remember learning this. It's 'cause pressure would cause the skull to be crushed if it were connected like humans, so it's not."
"Oh, scary… so when you become a mer it changes your bone structure? Wait, it changes it to uh, strotim too so… wow… does that hurt?"
I blinked, "Well, no… it's kinda bubbly?"
"Huh… cool."
"So then here's the muscle structure-"
"Ooh, that's cool. Wait, where are the organs?"
"Oh well that's a different char—" I flipped through to the organ chart "—here you go."
"Huh, that's really cool. What chart has the gills?"
"Oh that's closer to the front—" I flipped through to show it "—here you go."
"Wait, is that a girl or boy?"
"Uh…" I checked the label. "It's a Vomhi, which is like… kinda the equivalent of a girl?"
"They really don't have anything on their chests…"
"I told you!"
"They don't even have nipples though."
"Oh yeah," I squinted at the picture. "I guess not."
"Are those the gills there?" she pointed at the sides.
"Yeah, and there are also some on the neck—" I pointed to them "—which are good if the side ones get covered with armor."
"Wow, okay so what about-"
There was a knock on our door.
"I'll get it," I said standing. I let Leilani take the book and headed to the door.
"Percy!" Drew cried when I opened the door. She wrapped me in a hug. "My favorite nephew, it's so good to see you."
I snorted, "Hey, Drew. How are you?"
"I'm good—"
"Hello, Percy," Giovanni said behind her. "We thought we'd check on you."
"Yeah," Drew pulled back. "Because you missed breakfast."
Oh… I hadn't realized we'd been so distracted with the medical book. "Oops?"
"Oops? You need to get three square meals a day! And-"
"Ah, Jackson, there you are."
We all turned to see Tantalus striding forward.
"You missed breakfast, which isn't allowed."
"Well," Giovanni interrupted smoothly. "The cabin just gained two new members, it's understandable that they need some time to move everyone in."
Tantalus shot him a sneer, "I wasn't speaking to you."
Drew bristled, and when she spoke her voice had a strange, but familiar, quality to it.
"We can check on him, unless there's something you needed then you should go back to your other duties."
Tantalus blinked, his gaze turning somewhat dazed.
"He needs to change his schedule; some cabins have refused to be at that time with him."
"We'll help him do it," Drew said. "So, go away."
Tantalus turned and walked away.
"Wow," I said. "That was really good. Do you have Siren's Song?"
Drew blinked, "Huh? That was Charmspeak?"
"Charmspeak?"
"Yeah, it's an Aphrodite power."
I considered for a moment, "So can you use it to get people to do things?"
"Yep!"
"That's Siren's Song."
"No, it's Charmspeak."
"Perhaps," Giovanni interrupted. "It's both. Our mother was born of the sea as well, so it's possible the Aphrodite child gift of Charmspeak comes from that."
Drew made a face, "Maybe. Anyways, I guess you need to redo your schedule some."
I frowned, "Yeah… I guess so. I should include Leilani and Tyson in that though. And we need to get food."
"I'll go get something," Giovanni said. "Set up your schedule."
I waved as he walked away then turned to Drew, "So uh, schedules… right- come in."
I stepped aside to lead her to the sitting area."
"I can't believe he has it here, Momo," Grover's voice whispered in my dream. "Such a powerful symbol just sitting in his fields."
I woke up.
Leilani and I were working in the fields and chatting. Normally we'd be with the Demeter cabin, but they were using that time to work on their chariot for the race, so it was just us and Tyson (who was handling watering the plants).
"And then Masina did this cool flip and the board went in this spin and she slid right out of the current without any trouble! It was really cool. I'd try to show you, but I can't do that yet haha."
She grinned, "That sounds so cool! I wish I could go there and try it."
"Maybe you can. I'll ask Triton about it."
Her eyes widened, "Really? You'd- wow. Thank you."
I quickly pulled a few more berries, "Yeah of course. I'm happy to help. And it's your heritage too, you know? I mean, you're of the sea too."
"Yeah," she gave me a brilliant smile. "But still, thank you."
"Having fun?" sneered someone.
We jolted around to see Connor and Travis there.
"Having fun with your new cabin member?" Travis (I thought) asked.
"Yes," Leilani said slowly. "I'm enjoying being in this cabin."
"Be careful he doesn't accuse you of trying to poison him," Connor muttered.
I stiffened, and Leilani scowled.
"You know as well as I do that Percy would not make a false accusation and even if he did the Gods would know it was false so-"
"Luke would never attack a member of the camp—" Connor started.
"Sorry," I snipped. "I guess this scar on my hand from the scorpion is fake."
"Look here—" Travis snapped.
"And here I thought you were supposed to be picking strawberries," interrupted a cool voice.
We all stopped, turning to see Minos sneering at all of us.
"Go do some chores, Hermes campers. Leave the Poseidon cabin to… garden."
The two shuffled and moved off, shooting us one last glare.
Leilani and I turned back to the strawberries quickly.
"Do keep from starting fights," Minos told us. "It's an annoyance to deal with."
"Yes, King Minos."
He nodded and swept off.
"Jerk," Leilani mumbled.
I snorted.
"Can you hear me?" There was a long beat of silence. "Not yet I guess. I need you to hear me, he- he really likes fresh meat."
I woke up.
I nibbled on the tuna Lady Hestia gave me as I sat with her. It was nice, relaxing. She was more than happy to let me ramble to her about my last few days.
It'd mostly been good. The Aphrodite cabin was a bit tense with Tyson, so was the Demeter, but they weren't being rude like other cabins. And Leilani had started to get comfortable with him too.
Annabeth and I had talked briefly a few times, but not about much more than activities and a brief fight about Tyson when she'd asked if I wanted to do the chariot race with her.
She didn't want Tyson along, I refused to leave him (or Leilani, but Annabeth didn't mind her) off of it.
Hestia was very nice, she offered me advice and assured me that Annabeth would adjust. A lot of demigods had trauma related to monsters, and Annabeth has a bit more than many. I would just have to give her time.
I didn't want to wait, I wanted them to get along now, but I did my best to be patient with her.
I was glad Hestia was still welcoming to me, I was feeling a bit ostracized by the camp. The Hermes cabin especially was not taking the news that Luke is a traitor well, and the Apollo cabin was generally siding with them. The Demeter and Aphrodite cabins were on my side, Athena and Hephaestus was torn, and Ares just wasn't taking a side.
So, I was glad for the bubble of peace that came with Hestia. Even though I didn't need her to help soothe the many sensations of the camp this year thanks to my necklace, she still helped soothe my emotions.
"He likes sheep, guess that explains why he keeps it."
I woke up.
Tyson spread out a blueprint for us to see.
"This is going to look amazing," Leilani mumbled.
"Ooh, that part looks like a beach," I said.
"Yes," Tyson said proudly. "I made it beach and waves, for you two. And there is weapon spot."
"Nice," I mumbled. "So, now we just need to build it."
"We've checked out everything we need right?"
"Everything that was on Tyson's list."
"Is there anything else, Tyson?"
"No," he said. "I can build it. Do not worry. I know how to build chariot, I was taught in the forge!"
I grinned, "Awesome. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help."
"Yeah, I can do a lot with sand."
"I will tell you if you are needed," Tyson assured us as he started studying different pieces of wood.
"I hope this works at some point, I really need help."
I woke up.
"Okay," I said with Hippolyta curled around my wrist. "So we know you can't understand sea creatures, but you do have an easier time learning Halmaheran."
"Tata," she agreed.
I snickered, "We should just speak in Halmaheran around others."
Her eyes lit up, "That would be fun! A secret language… that most of the sea knows… but not people on land. And it would help me get better."
"Yes, okay but other than languages… we know you can control sand, can you do anything with water? Or maybe animals that are commonly on the beach? Or shells? Or anything like that?"
She shrugged.
"We should test that."
"Are those common abilities in the sea?" she asked curiously.
I hummed, "Kinda? But also, no? Some don't have any skill with magical stuff, others are really good at it. I'm learning how to make storms right now, and theoretically healing. I've been training my waterbending- er, Thermomancy-"
"What's the word for that in Halmaheran?"
"Tevemoa."
She made a note.
"So yeah, I've been training that and my purification skills for years, so I'm pretty good at that."
She nodded, "So I've just gotta practice and I might be good at that stuff? What does my sand control fall under?"
I considered, "Geomancy? That's Onaipep in Halmaheran."
She nodded, "Do you think I can do more than just sand?"
"Maybe, but you'll need to practice. It took me months to be able to make even the tiny little storm I can hold in my hand."
"Oh wow, yeah… I guess I'll just focus on my sand for now. I mean, I can't really control it you know? Just… it's easy to get it to do what I want?"
I nodded, "Yeah. Maybe with practice you can actually control it."
"That would be… really cool."
I grinned, "You know what that means?"
"Practice."
"What? Well yeah, but I was gonna say beach day."
I caught a glimpse of a dark cave, a figure in a white wedding dress bent over a loom.
I woke up
I sighed as Minos went down the list of patrol times for the campers. I had the three-AM patrol… which was a horrible time to patrol.
"That sucks," Clarisse drawled. "Be careful then, we get the most monsters in the early morning. You might get eaten."
"Thank you for the concern," I said flatly. "I'll be extra careful."
She sneered at me, "Don't trip on your trident."
"I won't. I take good care of my weapons, wouldn't want them to break."
She scowled at my sweet smile.
"I wonder if I'm strong enough to make the connection. I mean, I'm not exactly the best at this sort of thing, but he has a strong presence so maybe…"
I woke up
Valentina sighed beside me. "I hate three-AM patrol. It's so dark, I can't see anything."
I blinked, "I can see fine? I mean it's a bit dark but not that dark."
She turned to me and shrieked.
I jumped, spinning around, but there was nothing there.
"What?"
"Your eyes- they were doing that- the thing cats do in the dark."
I blinked up at her.
"Stop that, you look like a cat."
"I'm not a cat!"
"You sound like Marinette. Doing the same innocent blink and same defense haha."
"Oh yeah, where is Marinette?"
We started moving again, watching the hill.
"She… we're not sure. She hasn't been in contact for about a month. We're hoping she just ran out of drachmas…"
"But can't you message her via Iris Message yourself?"
She winced, "It won't go through. But she's in France, and sometimes Iris Messages act wonky in Europe so maybe it's just that."
"Maybe," I murmured.
That was concerning. Marinette was sweet. She made me that scarf for my birthday and was really nice to talk to. I hoped she was okay.
"So, can you actually see?"
I nodded, "Yeah. I mean it's kinda dark, but the stars give enough light."
"They do not."
"Yeah they do!"
"You just have really good night vision and cat eyes."
I pouted at her, not that she could see. "I do not."
"You're a cat."
"I'm not!"
"Mkay… cat."
"I hate you."
"Aww, it's okay, I have some catnip-"
"I'll bite you."
"Kitties got fangs."
"Shut up."
She laughed.
Despite the tension of the patrol, it was nice spending time with Valentina.
"I wonder how many he's eaten… it's gotta be a lot. What do you think, Momo?"
I woke up.
"So uh," I hesitated as Leilani looked at me. "I was… do you know why there are less campers in the cabins this year?"
Leilani winced.
"I mean, it's not a hugely less number but I noticed like, Alabaster isn't here, and the Ares kid seems to be missing at least two people… the scary one with the sword?"
"I think her name was Eboni, and she never returned. Another one was found dead I heard…" she poked at the bed. "They did a shroud burning for him before the summer session started I heard."
"Oh…"
She nodded, "Yeah, and there was also an Athena kid… Daniel maybe?"
"Dylan?" I asked. "I know a Dylan talked to me some last year."
"Yeah him. He got in a big fight with… Matthew?"
"I dunno, I don't think there's a Matthew?"
"It starts with an M… well he got in a big fight there and said he wasn't coming back to camp. He didn't return so… yeah. And the Apollo cabin has like five missing campers. But three of them are from Europe, two British and one German, so they might just be dealing with interference that happens sometimes… hopefully."
"That's what someone mentioned for Marinette too… is that kind of thing common?"
She shrugged, "I'm not sure. I've only been at camp for a year longer than you."
I nodded with a frown.
"Then I know Hephaestus is missing one kid… there's been a lot of disappearances overall. I know one or two not coming back isn't unusual, and some age out like a few did this year… but it's a lot of campers this summer."
"Yeah, I think one of the Aphrodite campers did… they're not here this year either."
She shrugged, "Maybe. Then the Hermes cabin… well we- they have six people missing, not counting Luke."
"Six?" I asked in shock.
"Yep. There's Alabaster, as you said, and then Chris, Eliza, she was the leader for a bit I heard, Hari, though some think he's just not returned cause it's a big trip but he's not available on IM so… yeah. And then Alexander and Josefina as well."
"Oh wow."
I didn't know half
of those names but that was a lot...
"Mhm, and Alexander we know is missing because Sofia, uh Sofia Kuznetsova that is, they travel together to camp every year since they realized they lived within the same area of Russia. At least, that's what Jada said."
"Oh… That's not good."
She nodded. "So yeah, the camp is missing a few members… but I the Hermes cabin did get two new members! I don't remember their names but they're like thirteen and fifteen ish?"
"That's good! Are they claimed?"
"No," she said with a grimace. "Hopefully they'll be claimed soon though."
I nodded, "Yeah. Thanks for explaining. I hope everyone is okay."
"Same… I'm worried about them."
I stood in the dark cave again, the figure before the loom unwinding it rapidly.
"Come on," they whispered. "I don't have much time."
There was a loud grinding sound, like stone against stone.
"No," the figure whispered, raising their head.
Grover's eyes caught mine.
I woke up.
I opened the door to my cabin and blinked.
"Uh, hello, Annabeth."
She looked nervous, tense.
"Percy… okay, I know we've not been getting along with- with the Kyklopes thing-"
"Tyson," I corrected.
She swallowed, "Right, yeah… so I- but… okay. I'm… Khiron mentioned before he left having better healing skills than him and I was thinking- just like, it occurred to me- well that he doesn't have magic for healing. He just… has other talents with it. But not magic. And well, you do have magic healing. Like, you've, you know, talked about it."
I nodded slowly, "I have been learning healing yeah."
"Yeah, and so, I was thinking, and maybe healing along couldn't fix the tree, even magic, or Mr. D would've done it. But you, you've also got that purification thing, right? So maybe… you can do that, and the healing… and then… then you could fix- you could fix Thalia's tree."
She had a fragile sort of energy to her. Almost vibrating as she looked anywhere but at me.
There were bags under her eyes I realized. She looked exhausted and wrung out and I felt a surge of guilt.
Sure, to me the tree was Thalia, but it was only sorta. I didn't know Thalia, so it's really just a tree that was once Thalia to me.
But for Annabeth… that tree was her best friend, and it was dying. Of course she was struggling right now.
"I can try," I said. "But I'm not very good at healing."
"But you- you might be able to do something. Even slow it down… right?"
I swallowed, I didn't want to burst her bubble. "I'm not sure, maybe."
"Great, then uh, get what you need."
I nodded and slipped back inside, nodding to Tyson. Leilani was taking a bath, so I left her be.
I snagged the healing stone that I got for my birthday, from Lagi, and my medical kit, then followed Annabeth out. Tyson followed behind us but left some space between Annabeth and him.
He'd learned that she was uncomfortable with him around.
We reached the tree too quickly.
I wasn't sure what exactly to do. I knew how to purify things, and I had sand dollars, but… how did that translate to the tree?
I started by trying to feel out the water there. The tree was still absorbing water but… there wasn't as much as there should've been. Maybe that was an effect of the poison? I wasn't sure.
I tried to prob at it, reaching deep for the water like I'd done in Central Park ages ago. It slowly seemed to move, sluggish and… something else mixed in.
I couldn't reach for it like I could other plants, even with focus.
I bit my lip.
"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked. "Have you started?"
"I'm uh, just getting a feel right now."
She nodded, bouncing in place.
Right, I had to do this, for Annabeth.
I pulled out the healing stone and set it next to the tree, hopefully to speed up healing. Then pulled out the medical kit.
I carefully picked out a healing potion and a unicorn draught from the hotel to use. Those could help.
I bit my lip and pulled on the knowledge from my single healing lesson and years of watching and re-watching avatar (and some of the new Legend of Korra).
I coated my hands in water from my oceanskin, then used on hand to dump the healing potion onto them.
Maybe this would work… I hoped so.
I reached out to the spot of the tree where the poison had been put in and focused. The water and potion went through the hole, absorbing some of the weeping sap and I grimaced, pulling it out and wringing out the sap.
I repeated the action several times, slowly removing more and more of the poison laced sap. Finally, I had the space to thread the water into the plant, trying to spread the healing potion through it.
I drew more water out of the oceanskin to continue and faltered when I noticed something off.
The water was being absorbed a bit, but it wasn't helping the plant?
It…
I pulled the water out quickly, but I'd already soaked the inside of the plant in it.
Uh oh.
I'd kind of forgotten… salt and plants don't mix well.
My waterskin pulled from the ocean. It was salt water.
"What's the matter?" Annabeth asked. "Why did you stop?"
I swallowed, already noting how the tree seemed to be doing worse through my senses.
"Uh… I think… I think I made it worse."
She recoiled. "What? What do you mean? What's the matter with Thalia- I mean her tree?"
"It… well…. Plants they- they don't do well with salt… and my waterskin draws water from the ocean so… I accidentally got some salt water in there."
I looked down, feeling frustrated. I hadn't helped. I'd- I'd screwed up. I didn't mean to but-
"What!? You-" Annabeth turned away, her eyes red.
"Percy tried to help," Tyson said, patting her arm. "He will do better next time."
"Just- just shut up. I don't want you near me, I don't want you talking to me, I certainly don't want you touching me!"
"Hey!" I cried. "I know I messed up but don't take that out on Tyson."
She spun around, "And you! You- you made her worse. She's- And you just don't get it! Kyklopes are monsters and you bring one around and show him off and act like he's anything but a monster. You just- You don't understand. You can't. Because you have a mom that loves you and a Godly parent that spends time with you. So you don't understand what it's like- what it's like to lose everyone who actually cares for you."
I flinched back, my stomach twisting. Tears were sliding down her face but she just angrily wiped them away.
"You-" I started, having no idea what to say. There was nothing to say, nothing that could be said in the face of her rage. But it hurt, my stomach twisted into a knot and tears stinging my eyes.
I just wanted to help, but…
"I don't want- I don't want to hear it from you, Jackson."
She spun around and stormed off.
Tyson and I watched her go, standing next to the tree I'd helped along to its death bed.
As she left, I couldn't help but remember what Triton told me about Athena and her children.
They'll always find a way to hurt you.
Triton POV
I smiled as the guards handed me Persi's backpack and finished giving their report.
It seemed they'd done an excellent job keeping Persi safe. Only having some trouble on the last day, and even that was handled with no injuries to Persi.
"You did wonderful, thank you for keeping Persi safe."
They motioned in respect.
"Will we be needed next year, Triton-re'aia?"
"I'm not certain as of yet. I'll need more info on his schooling, I shall let you know soon. For now, enjoy a well-deserved rest."
"Thank you, Triton-re'aia," Antonio said.
They made another motion of respect before swimming out.
I smiled. Persi was safe and at camp. And while I didn't like camp, I was sure that he'd be kept safe there this year. Surely, they would've learned not to be flippant with his care after last summer.
I could return his bag to him before the next school year. Maybe with another gift too… yes, I liked that idea.