章 900: 8
"Jade, those were Hyperborean giants."
"Hypo-what?"
"Hyperborean."
"Not Laestrygonians?"
"Yes, if the giant was blue and cold, then it was definitely a Hyperborean," Annabeth clarified.
But Asbolus had said that they were juvenile Laestrygonians..
I raised a brow. "But aren't those things supposed to be nice and kind of dumb? Some of the ones I fought were blue, cold, and kind of hostile."
"They were aggressive?"
"Well, the first one I killed was definitely a Laestrygonian, but the other two were different, they were like ice giants, I beheaded the first one before it got a chance to react, but the second one I killed was pretty mean." I yawned. I could feel my body shutting down, giving in to the prospect of sleep. Annabeth snapped her fingers in front of my eyes in order to keep me awake for a few more minutes.
"Jade, stay awake, we're on guard duty," she said sharply. "Why was the second one aggressive and not the first?"
I blinked blearily and frowned, trying to pull up the memory.
"Uhh, I think it was because the first giant was the brother of the second, and the second giant saw that I had killed its brother," I mumbled. Annabeth's eyes twitched and she gripped the belt that held her knife tightly.
"That would be the reason the second Hyperborean was hostile, Jade, you killed its brother," she sighed, shifting her weight from one foot to the other to keep blood pumping in her stiff legs. We had been standing on guard duty in front of Zeus' Fist for the past hour, exchanging stories of our summer and catching up on each others' lives. After the fiasco with the two metal bulls that had rampaged into camp property, everyone was a lot more tense. With Thalia's tree poisoned and weakening camp borders, guard duties doubled now we had to protect the border and the entrance to the Labyrinth. I had entered camp after the whole metal bull mess so I was still catching up on little camp details. What I knew so far was that the new camp director sucked and didn't care about protecting Zeus' Fist or camp borders. Most of the senior campers were signing up for guard rotations on their spare time without the director's permission.
"Oh, and the giants were cannibalistic, is that normal for Hyperboreans?" I asked. Annabeth shook her head.
"No, but Laestrygonians are, you fought some weird giants," she remarked.
"Tell me about it," I murmured and pulled on my hood farther down my face.
"But I think you're in first place for most encountered monsters this year," Annabeth added. "You've got a count of twenty-one monsters and I'm behind you with fifteen."
"Yeah, yeah," I yawned again. I shook my head. I only needed to stay awake for the remaining thirty minutes of my shift before someone else takes my place so I should last until then instead of snoozing on Annabeth. Soon enough, time flew by and Michael Yew trotted over.
"You're good to go, Jade," the sprightly boy said and I nodded sleepily, but squinted my eyes at him when he came up next to me.
I sized him up. "Did you grow at all during the past year?"
Michael scowled, "2 centimeters."
I took his short response as a cue to drop the topic. I smiled apologetically at him and waved at Annabeth.
"See you guys later at the race," I said. Both of them nodded and when I turned my back, I heard them arguing about who was going to win. Annabeth wasn't working with Percy on the chariot race anymore as I had found out earlier during our guard duty due to an argument, which I thought was a little disappointing. When I had asked about their fight, Annabeth only clammed up and muttered something about giants and one-eyed freaks.
As I walked out of the forest and into campgrounds, I noticed a huge number of birds perched in the trees near the race track. At first they looked like normal grey pigeons off of the streets of NYC, but I detected a thick haze of Mist covering the thousands of screeching birds. Upon a closer inspection, their beaks and talons gleamed like metal and their eyes glinted with malicious intent. Like predators, but in a flock, they were waiting. I saw how they eyed the campers that had begun to gather at the racing stadium. I tilted my head at them, trying to figure out what monster they were.
"Stymphalian birds," I decided. These bird monsters traveled in huge flocks the size of locust swarms during a drought and were famous for only leaving behind carcasses and bones after targeting prey. They were like winged piranhas or flesh-eating locusts. Normally, monsters of this number wouldn't be able to enter camp, but their presence proved how weak Thalia's poisoned tree had become.
After a moment of thinking, I walked into the Demeter's cabin and asked for their weed whacker.
"No, don't you guys have one with Celestial bronze blades?" I asked when they held out normal gardening weed clippers. Katie handed over the one I requested.
"What do you need this for?" She sounded mildly suspicious.
I gave her a prompt reply. "Need to clear up some stuff."
I went back to the edge of the glade and after standing in front of the trees for a while, I attracted a large number of the birds' attention. I winced when their screeching pierced my eardrums.
"So loud," I muttered. "I won't be able to get my afternoon nap with you things around."
Casting an eye over my shoulder and around me, I made sure that I was alone. It wouldn't do if someone eavesdropping was to fall victim to my godly ability.
I called out to the birds. "Hey, want to hear a song? I do pretty good lullabies."
I was only a verse into a slow song when the birds began dropping like stone from the branches, cooing like pigeons in their sleep. When about three-fourths of the entire drove had fallen, I started up the weed whacker.
"Weed whacking time," I told myself grimly.
About an hour later, I returned the gardening device to the Demeter cabin. Katie examined my disheveled appearance and the monster dust clinging to my skin and clothes, but asked no questions.
"I'm not even going to ask," she said, shaking her head as she took the weed whacker from me. I sneezed from the dust instead of answering and just bobbed my head in thanks for letting me borrow the tool.
"Hey, um, Jade?" It sounded like Percy, but I didn't move from my fetal sleeping position. I was a little determined to ignore him.
I had been having a relatively nice day. I had been able to sleep in, drop by the Big House for a bite to eat, and finish both of my guard duties. I had even killed a whole flock of Stymphalian birds in between my guard shifts without trouble. The chariot race had been relatively entertaining, although the Ares cabin won. A gloating Clarisse was one of the worst things to endure.
Now I was just waiting for dinner by snoozing under my favorite tree by the lake as my late afternoon nap. I wasn't going to let some son of Big Three trouble magnet ruin the rest of my day.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. It was dark and stars were twinkling above me.
Er, night, I mean.
"Oh crap, I slept through dinner," I fumed in displeasure and rubbed my eyes in irritation. I was tempted to stay annoyed with myself, but chose to drop it. I've overslept too many times in the past fourteen years that I've lived, so I've given up trying to stay angry.
"Hey, what time is it?"
"Uh, around midnight now," Percy answered. "You should get to your cabin or else the harpies might find you."
I eyed him and then pointedly looked at the six-pack soft drinks and beach blanket he was carrying. He was obviously going for a midnight picnic.
"You might want to keep that advice for yourself."
Percy grimaced, "I just wanted to see the ocean, I feel better at the beach."
"Ah, the son of the sea god feels better near the ocean, what a discovery," I drawled and Percy flushed pink at the sarcasm. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my sweater.
"So, in addition to an explanation of why you're so restless that you need to 'feel better at the beach', what are you going to bribe me with so I keep my mouth shut about you sneaking off?"
After a moment of contemplation, Percy blurted out tentatively, "I have Coke?"
"I prefer Sprite," I said, but nonetheless took the canned drink. Popping the top, I made a hand gesture for Percy to start talking since my mouth was busy drinking.
"Instead of explaining here, do you want to go to the beach with me? We might get caught by the harpies if we stay here too long," Percy whispered.
I wagged a finger at him. "Tch, are you trying to get me in trouble too?"
"You were already outside after curfew!" Percy hissed. "Are you coming or what?"
"Coming, coming," I sighed and trailed after him, already halfway finished with the can of Coke. I could nearly feel the sugar and caffeine working their way into my brain. Sitting down on Percy's blanket, I crumpled my first can and reached for another one without permission.
"Thanks," I said.
"You're welcome," he muttered. "You're going to get cavities."
"And you better start talking," I reminded him as my fingers fumbled with the can opener.
"You missed the bonfire today, but basically we pressured Tantalus into giving us a quest to get the Golden Fleece," Percy began.
I choked on the drink. "The new camp director is Tantalus?"
Percy frowned. "Yeah, you didn't know?"
"No, I only came back yesterday evening."
I scratched my head. Well that explained the dream a while ago. I should be better about putting two and two together; it wasn't like I didn't know anything about this world, but simply that it was hard to believe that everything would actually follow a plot that a guy wrote in another dimension.
"Oh, well he's back from the Underworld as the new camp director since Chiron got fired, but he still can't eat or drink," Percy laughed. "Anyway, Annabeth and I had the plan figured out, the Fleece could cure the tree and we knew it was in the Sea of Monsters, and I had gotten sailing coordinates from the Grey Sisters when I was holding their eye hostage."
"Long story," he added when I gave him a weird look.
"I feel there's a 'but' to this story," I noted.
"Tantalus gave the quest to Clarisse," Percy grumbled. "Because she won the stupid chariot race and he hates me."
"And you have a problem with that because...," I trailed off.
"I can't help but feel that I'm the one who's supposed to go, you know?" Percy looked at me with pleading eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him. Quest-hopping was not cool.
"No, I don't know. How are you even going to get started on jumping on Clarisse's quest? You don't have permission for monetary support from the camp store, you have no means of transport, and you probably don't even know what the Oracle said for this quest."
Percy winced at my blunt observations.
"About that…," Percy started and rubbed the back of his head as though he had absolutely no idea how he was going to address the holes in his plan.
And then somebody said, "I might be able to help with that."
I wasn't the only one who choked on my drink this time.
Carbonated liquid sprayed out in front of us. Percy and I scrambled to our feet while wiping our mouths clean at the sudden appearance of a stranger. Out of nowhere, a guy in a marathon getup was standing right next to Percy. He carried a bag full of items that buzzed with Greek magic. The jogger invited himself onto the blanket and politely asked for a can of Coca-Cola. At the lack of response from our shocked bodies, the stranger helped himself unabashedly and answered a phone call.
"You have snakes on your phone," Percy said faintly.
The jogger paused during his phone conversation. "What? Oh, they don't bite. Say hello, George and Martha."
Hello, George and Martha, a raspy male voice hissed inside my head.
I cracked a grin at that, I liked George.
Don't be sarcastic, said a female voice.
"It's alright," I placated Martha. Before either snake could say another word, the jogger slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"Peace and quiet. Now, where were we?"
"I'm gonna go keep watch," I announced and dusted the sand off my pants. Percy cast me a frightened expression as I stepped away. I didn't feel the least bit remorseful abandoning him in the presence of a god.
"Oh, here." The jogger handed me his phone.
"So you don't have be alone," he explained with a wink. I blinked at the wriggling snakes on the antenna.
"Thank you," I managed to say before walking off to where the sand met the edge of camp grounds.
Hey kid, you wanna talk to Demeter? She's waiting on line two, George rasped.
George! That is very unprofessional of you, Martha chastised.
"Yeah, I don't think that's wise," I agreed, but I grinned at the question. "So what's it like to work for a god?"
Lord Hermes is very thoughtful, he is a rather lenient boss, Martha praised.
He doesn't give us enough rats, George complained. And I'm hungry, do you have any rats, kid?
"Sorry, got none." I pulled my jacket pockets inside out to prove my point. I whirled around when something behind me tapped my shoulder.
"Thanks for keeping Martha and George company, though Percy had a harder time guessing who I was without it," the jogger said brightly as he plucked the phone from my hand.
"Uh, yeah, you're welcome," I maintained a neutral voice.
He clicked through his phone's contents. "Tsk, Demeter is going to wilt all the flowers in delivery again, remember Jade, always be sure to stay in good relations with your contacts."
I didn't question how he knew my name, but the random piece of advice set off alarms in my head. "Okay?"
Hermes looked pointedly at my right jean pocket. The silver necklace and bracelet sitting inside suddenly seemed to grow hot and heavy. I clenched my jaw in nervousness.
"I'll do that, thank you," I said. It sounded too much like a promise. Hermes nodded solemnly before jogging away. He disappeared in less than thirty seconds into a shimmer and I found myself staring at Percy's dark figure at the beach. A big cruise ship with white and gold lights appeared from the horizon. Luke.
Maybe I could..
I shook my head. It wasn't my place to interfere, yet. I trudged through the sand back to where Percy stood holding a bottle and thermos and surrounded by three yellow duffel bags. I picked one up, feeling the texture.
"Nice, it's waterproof," I commented and set it back down. "So, what happened?"
Percy stared at me, his mind whirling at the sudden turn of events. "I-I, Hermes gave me a quest, I only have five minutes to decide whether to go or not."
"Look, Annabeth and Tyson, they can help you." I pointed at two incoming people and we saw a blonde girl and a huge boy running our way.
"Annabeth would want to go, I do too, but Tyson...I'd rather have you instead of Tyson," he finished in a small voice.
"Tyson is your brother. I don't even want to go on this quest. And again, I'm not claimed so I'm not even qualified to go," I reasoned while lifting three fingers for each point.
"I keep forgetting that you're not claimed," he admitted sheepishly. I lifted and lowered a shoulder.
"It's fine," I told him. I'd been here for so long people overlooked that detail all the time. Annabeth and Tyson were within earshot now.
"Jade? What are you doing here?" She asked, confusion written all over her face.
"I wanted to steal Percy's drinks," I cut in before Percy could respond. I swiped another can from the ground and shook it vigorously.
"You guys should hurry and go, I can hear the harpies coming," I advised. The bird creatures were appearing in the distance, flapping wings that barely lifted their flabby bodies off the ground. We heard them before seeing them. They've never really had a chance to eat a camper because most demigods outrun them, but once you were caught by a flock, you were in trouble. Percy hurriedly explained his encounter with Hermes to Annabeth and Tyson, but the patrol harpies were getting closer. These guys weren't going to get caught by the harpies, but Annabeth and Percy were now arguing instead figuring out how to leave.
"Uh, could you guys leave now?"
"No," Annabeth shot back hotly. "Tyson is a Cyclops and so is Polyphemus! They're both S-i-k… C-y-k…"
"C-y-c-l-o-p-s," I corrected. Annabeth stamped her foot in frustration. She didn't appreciate my help.
I sighed. "Take Tyson, besides, it's unlucky to travel in a number that's not three, and I'm not going with you."
"Fine," Annabeth grounded out unhappily and set her eyes on the ship far away at sea. Annabeth and Percy exchanged worried looks.
"How are we going to get on that boat?"
"I'll hold off the harpies while you guys figure it out," I muttered and turned around, a Coke can still in hand and sand crunching under my feet.
Percy did a double-take at me as he faced the ocean.
"Is Jade going to be okay?" I heard him whisper loudly to Annabeth.
"She'll be fine," Annabeth snapped. "Just focus on talking to your dad."
I was now out of the sound dunes and about 50 meters away from the harpies. I could see their talons and wrinkled faces at this distance.
"Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!" one harpy jeered.
"Yeah, yeah, do you guys like Coke?" I taunted. Shaking the can one last time for good measure, I popped the tab and aimed the opening at the closest harpy. Foam shot out and doused the bird creature.
"My eyes!" She screeched and scraped at her eyes. I flicked the carbonated liquid at three more harpies before I ran out of soda. I took a quick glance behind me and saw three glistening horses with riders speeding off towards the cruise ship. Assured that I had nothing to defend, I ran off back to the cabins, enraged harpies chasing me by scent now that their eyes were blinded.
Scrabbling for the door of Cabin Eleven, I furiously shook the old doorknob until it came loose and forced myself in, slamming the door shut in front of the herd of harpies. Talons scraped against the worn door and I heard more shrieks of fury and batting of withered wings before they finally backed off in defeat. I let out a rattled breath of relief, leaning against the door. I was going to have to fix the doorknob later. I was about to step to my bunk when I realized that the racket had woken up several campers.
"Jade? What are you doing?" Connor yawned.
"What's going on?" Another murmured, rubbing her eyes. More voices spoke up, each waking up to their bunking companion's voices.
But before the entire cabin could stir awake, I commanded, "Sleep."
Heads hit pillows immediately and some even snored. Quietly stepping over some campers in sleeping bags, I changed out of my jeans and pulled on baggy sweats before tunneling myself in blankets. Emptying my jean pocket, I hissed when I felt the silver necklace burn against my skin. I quickly stuffed the bracelet and necklace back into the pants and tossed the pair of jeans into the corner of my bunk.
I would worry about the necklace later.
"Jane."
"Yes, sir," I piped and stifled a yawn. It was breakfast time and I had planned to sleep in, but Travis had dragged me out, saying that Tantalus had called for me.
"The harpies told me you were out at night, and an accomplice of three campers' disappearances," the temporary camp director remarked. Tantalus reached for an apple in the fruit basket in front of him, but all the bananas, pears, and apples rolled of his reach.
"I think 'accomplice' stretches it too much," I interrupted. I stopped talking when the wine god sent me a glare.
"Then why were you out at night?"
"I was taking a nap outside and overslept," I replied easily.
"Where did Percy Jackson, Annabeth, and the Cyclops go?" He interrogated.
I raised a brow and smiled. "They went on a boat."
Tantalus leaned forward, teeth bared. "Excuse me?"
"You're excused," I said. "They went on a cruise ship, I don't know anymore than that."
Tantalus shook a bare metal plate in my face. "Tell me where they went or you'll be punished."
"I'm guessing they went on a quest to get the Golden Fleece."
He scoffed, "Who gave them the right to-"
I chimed, "Actually, a go-"
"Janice, you're excused." Dionysus stood up, wiping his hands clean with napkins. Wind spirits swept his plate and cup off the table swiftly.
"That's enough questioning, Tantalus," he said briskly and left the conversation. Tantalus narrowed his cynical eyes at me, annoyed at the god's intervention. I guessed that Dionysus knew what Hermes was up to and knew better than to meddle in other gods' affairs.
"You are lucky to be let off without a punishment," he sniffed. I didn't reply, but just looked at the old man's face with hooded eyes.
Tantalus shifted uncomfortably when I held my gaze a tad too long. "What is it, girl?"
I shrugged. "Nothing, I just had a dream about you, it wasn't very pleasant."
He sneered, "Oh? And what exactly did it show you about me?"
"Well, it started off with Zeus taking his son down to the Underworld, Hades even came in and gave judgement himself," I began. Dark red colored Tantalus' face and his fingers started to tremble.
"And then the Kindly Ones swooped in and-"
"Out of my sight, now," he barked. I walked away in good spirits even though I felt a nasty glare trailing me and the Ares cabin openly called me out when I passed their table.
"Where'd Percy go?" Clarisse growled.
"Didn't you hear what I told Tantalus? They went for the quest," I said, not stopping.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Clarisse shouted. I ignored her, but a hand roughly spun me around. This time, her siblings were next to her and ganging up around me.
She fisted the collar of my shirt. "How's he getting to the island?"
At this point, I was getting crabby and irritated at all of the confrontation. I wanted to sleep. In response, I yanked her own shirt down so that her face was level to mine.
"You look like you could use some sleep, Clarisse, you seem like you didn't much sleep last night," I drawled quietly. "Did your dad send you a dream?"
Clarisse's scowl faltered and her eyes shifted nervously when my eyes bore into hers. Her grip on my shirt loosened and I let go of hers.
"Good luck on your quest, Clarisse, I think you'll do fine," I said dryly. I went straight back to Cabin Eleven , flopping onto my bunk. Everyone was out by now, getting started on camp activities. I didn't have a guard shift until later in the afternoon today, so I had time to sleep. I pulled out the necklace from my pocket and ran my thumb over the scythe charm. It was cool now, unlike last night. I still hadn't figured out how it worked. I had wondered if it needed skin contact in order to receive messages, but I was wary about draping it around my neck. After a second of contemplation, I decided to put it on. Travis walked into the cabin right when I clicked the clasp shut.
"Hey, I thought you liked gold," he inquired while he rummaged through his bunk, flipping over blankets and pillows.
"I do," I answered. "Your elbow guards are under your bunk."
"Thanks!" He pulled them on, adjusting the straps. "Then why are you wearing that?"
"No big reason." I yawned and wrapped myself with a blanket. "I'm sleeping in, wake me for guard duty."
I fell asleep before I even heard Travis' reply.
x
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