Between Guilt and Fire (Part 1 of 2)
It was strange to listen to, especially after the disaster of the race, when Tantalus placed the blame for everything that had happened on Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson because of the attack. According to him, the birds had been nesting peacefully in the forest and were only provoked by their terrible handling. He even said it openly, with a tone full of false patience.
At the same time, he seemed determined to find some stupid excuse to punish Percy for spreading chaos with a strange power that was, supposedly, responsible for instilling fear among the campers. Since, without that power, all of them could have easily dealt with the small birds.
But because of his interference, the other campers never got the chance to make use of what they had learned at camp.
The worst part was that, admittedly, some campers seemed to agree. That without Percy, and without being frightened by that strange shout, they could have handled it on their own. Although, judging by their faces and arms, still pecked and bleeding in some cases, that was highly debatable at best.
Annabeth was more than annoyed listening to all of it, and the looks they kept throwing only made her angrier. But what bothered her the most was that Percy, who was usually so talkative, was not defending himself. He simply kept his mouth shut, listening to everything, only to be sent afterward to wash dishes in the basement alongside the cleaning harpies.
"Why are you so quiet?" Annabeth asked, glancing at Percy as she scrubbed a plate. She was wearing an apron and asbestos gloves as she rubbed lava over the surface. A material the harpies used to clean 99.9999999% of germs and bacteria.
That remaining 0.00000001%, if it somehow survived, deserved to kill even a god.
Percy, hearing Annabeth's question, made a slightly dumb expression and dropped the sponge, which was melting in his hand. Then he pointed at his throat and crossed his hands into an X, making Annabeth stare at him in confusion. So Tyson, sticking his hands into the lava without any kind of protection, spoke for him.
"When Percy uses the Tuhum, he loses his voice almost immediately and can't talk for a while. The master said it's because he's a weakling who doesn't have enough power to use it," Tyson said with a smile, as if he were happy to be helpful.
Hearing the last part, Percy shot him a mildly annoyed look, as if that detail had been unnecessary. But, obviously, Tyson did not understand that look.
"A skill that makes Percy unable to talk. I like it," Annabeth said with a mocking laugh.
Percy returned the look with clearly irritated gestures.
"Wait, so the last words he managed to say before losing his voice were just 'that's it'?" Annabeth asked.
Percy glanced upward before nodding proudly, as if he did not regret at all having spent his last words on that. It earned him a sharp look from Annabeth, who was already irritated enough at having to wash all those dishes. An absurd amount, considering Tantalus had ordered a feast to celebrate Clarisse's overwhelming victory, the only one who had crossed the finish line in the race.
Silence settled in again, broken only by plates clashing together and the bubbling lava. The suffocating heat clung to the skin, making every breath feel thick and heavy.
If Tantalus wanted to torture them, he was doing a perfect job.
Percy pulled his hands out of the lava and began making gestures, causing Annabeth to look at him in confusion, unable to understand him on her own.
"Percy says we need to find a way out of here to go look for Grover. We already know where he is. And… he wants to eat a sheep," Tyson said, though at the end he tilted his head, looking slightly confused.
Annabeth was just as confused by that last part, but Percy quickly shook his head and resumed gesturing.
"Sheep skin?" Tyson asked, while it looked like the two of them were communicating, even if Percy was only using clumsy gestures. Tyson tried to decipher them, something he was much better at than Annabeth. Maybe because they shared blood, or because they spent so much time together. They seemed to understand each other even without Percy speaking, exchanging gestures and looks with a natural ease Annabeth simply could not follow. Or well… more or less.
"Oh," Tyson said, as if he had all the information now. "Percy says they need to rescue Grover. And while they're at it, they could save the camp with the golden sheep skin. It would be like killing two birds with one stone," he said proudly.
"Golden sheep skin… you mean the Fleece," Annabeth said, finally understanding, her expression turning thoughtful. But before continuing, she seemed to remember something, and her face shifted completely into something more conflicted. She glanced sideways at Percy, who had gone back to washing dishes. Or at least that was how it looked, because in reality, together with Tyson, they were playing as if they were boats sailing across the lava. A sort of silent thank you for acting as his translator.
"No. Percy, I think it would be better to wait and see what Tantalus's opinion on this will be," she said suddenly.
That made Percy stop what he was doing and look at her in confusion, as if he could not understand what she was talking about. Before making another gesture to try to communicate, he lifted his gaze above Annabeth's head for a moment, frowning.
"Wha… why are you looking at my head?" she asked, noticing it. "You've been doing that for days," she added, as if trying to cover something invisible. "Did you figure out how that strange power works? The one that lets you see those weird threads?" she asked seriously.
Percy stared into her eyes for a second longer than normal, then looked away and continued scrubbing the plates, as if he had not heard her at all.
Annabeth really wanted to press him for answers, but before she could, a camper approached them.
"You two. Tantalus has some announcements to make. He called everyone to the campfire circle," the camper said, before hurrying away, since the heat down there was suffocating.
Annabeth gave Percy one last look. He calmly removed his gloves and apron, his expression turning serious before heading toward the exit.
Tyson shook his hands, splashing lava onto the floor, and followed right after him, while Annabeth remained behind with that lingering irritation and far too many questions that, clearly, Percy had no intention of sharing.
…
The campfire circle was an area marked by logs and stones where campers could sit down to talk, sing, and do all those things people did at a summer camp. Because, after all, even if everyone seemed to forget it, this was still a summer camp.
The campfire burned at the center of the camp, lighting up the surroundings. Apollo's children played guitars and other instruments, and the rest of the campers were supposed to follow the traditional songs. Though now, there was little enthusiasm, since many of them were still covered in bandages and small band-aids all over their bodies.
That was because Tantalus had claimed it was an exaggeration to use healing, nectar, or ambrosia to recover, calling it a waste of divine food. It seemed more likely that he said it simply because he could not eat them himself. So, naturally, he would not allow anyone else to use them so easily.
He stood near the campfire while the other campers roasted their marshmallows. He stared at them as they melted, swallowing hard without bothering to hide it, like some kind of eagle about to dive for its prey, even if it was already inside the fire and completely charred.
"Ah… ah… ah," Percy suddenly said, testing his voice now that it had finally returned.
That immediately drew everyone's attention, including Tantalus, who at one point even reached for the stick of one of the campers. However, the marshmallow, as if it preferred suicide, suddenly jumped straight into the flames, leaving the stick completely clean.
"What do you want, dish cleaner?" Tantalus said irritably. It was unclear whether he was angry about losing the marshmallow or about having to look at Percy at all. He genuinely seemed to hate him for some reason. And he was not the only one. Several of Ares's children laughed at the new title given to the son of the sea god, while others looked at him with mockery.
"I think there's a way to save the camp," Percy said.
For the first time that night, the murmur around the campfire fell completely silent, as Percy lightly cleared his throat after having gone almost half a day without speaking, instantly capturing everyone's attention.