Dishes wasn't the worst punishment Tantalus could have come up with. Of course, Grian didn't say that out loud.

Why was he a part of this, you might ask?
Well, that was because Grian was salvaging the unused explosives from the Hermes chariot. Tantalus took that as a bad thing.

It wasn't a bad thing before but, it was a bad thing now. Grian was going to explode him right back to Punishment now.

The dishes gave Percy and Annabeth plenty of time to talk out their problems while Grian and Tyson had a bunch of staring contests with the lava. Tyson lost interest in their conversation after minutes.

Grian did not.

Apparently they had forgotten he was there, or maybe they trusted him enough to talk about Grover being captured with him around. Either way, it was probably a mistake.

"So your dream about Grover... you're telling the truth?" Annabeth asked.

Grian scrubbed a plate and pretended to not be listening.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm telling the truth. Why would I lie about this?"

"But an empathy link... that's a hard thing to do," Annabeth stressed. "If he's really in danger, and he actually made an empathy link-"

"I could die. I know," Percy grumbled.

"I've just been thinking about what the Grey Sisters told you," Annabeth said. "They sent Jason to the Golden Fleece back in ancient times. Do you remember that story?"

"Yeah, the old movie with the clay skeletons."

Now it was Annabeth's turn to roll her eyes. "No, idiot. The actual quest. They wanted the Golden Fleece because of its nature magic."

"So this Cyclops guy is using the Fleece to lure satyrs in by making them think it's Pan."

Grian had no idea what they were talking about, other than the whole thing with Grover and Pan. He knew the satyr was searching for the wild god.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "It also has some crazy healing magic. Magic that could..."

She suddenly gasped.

"That could what?" Grian and Percy said in unison, and then the two other demigods finally remembered he was there.

"Save Thalia's tree," Annabeth said.

"HA! I TOLD YOU GROVER FOUND SOMETHING!" Percy cheered.

"But it's been lost for centuries," Annabeth said. "It'd be impossible to find."

"Except Grover found it!" Percy said.

"What about those coordinates?" Grian suggested.

They fell silent.

"You know, the pointless numbers that Zedaph thought were coords?" Grian said.

Annabeth dropped the lava-proof sponge. "Oh, you're right," she said. "Of course a Cyclops lives in the Sea of Monsters!"

"I actually said something smart," Grian muttered happily to himself. If Mumbo had been here, he would have been proud.

"We need a quest," Annabeth decided.

------

At the end of the campfire that night (the fire was the color of cyan terracotta)  Clarisse stood up and reminded some of the campers that they had watch duty that night.

Since the barriers on the camp were down, the campers had organized a watch to kept the monsters out. It was a good solution, but everyone knew it wouldn't last long. One of these days, someone was going to die and they would have to find another method.

It was Bdubs' turn, which he didn't seem all that excited about. Grian made a silent decision to kill the son of Hypnos himself if he fell asleep on the job, if Clarisse didn't get to him first.

"There's no need to do these elaborate defense methods," Tantalus protested. "We're perfectly safe."

"Maybe you're perfectly safe," someone said. Grian thought it was Ren (who was still wearing his laurels, by the way). "You're dead."

Tantalus somehow managed to keep his fake smile on.

"We won't need to do this much longer," Percy said.

Everyone looked at him. The fire glared brighter.

"Does our dishwasher have something to say?" Tantalus taunted.

Percy flushed but didn't back down. "There's a way we can save the camp."

"The camp doesn't need saving!" Tantalus growled.

"The Golden Fleece," Annabeth jumped in, and reminded everyone what it could do.

"Yeah, but it's lost," someone replied.

"No, it's not," Percy said. "30, 31, 75, 12."

"Thank you for sharing... a bunch of meaningless numbers," Tantalus said, visibly confused.

"They're sailing coordinates," Percy said. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. We need a quest!"

There was a long silence.

Then Annabeth joined in. "We need a quest!"

Grian joined the chant as well, which might have been a bad idea. "We need a quest!"

And then suddenly, the entire camp was in. "We need a quest! We need a quest!"

"It's not necessary!" Tantalus protested.

"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"

"Fine!" Tantalus shouted. "So you brats want a quest?"

There was a loud cacophony of cheering.

"Very well," he muttered. "I will organize an expedition to undertake this perilous journey and retrieve the Golden Fleece! Or die trying."

He seemed awfully excited about the "die trying" part.

The campers were dead silent, waiting.

"I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle," Tantalus said. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."

The entire camp seemed to hold its breath.

Tantalus glared at Percy and Annabeth. "It must be someone resourceful, brave, who has earned the camp's respect... You shall lead this quest... Clarisse!"

The Ares cabin immediately jumped to their feet, stomping and whooping. "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"

Grian was a little confused. He had nothing against Clarisse, but why her? As far as Grian knew, all she did was be too competitive and stick people's heads into toilets. Which Grian respected. But even he didn't know what was respectable about that to Tantalus.

Clarisse stood up. "I... I accept the quest. I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"

The Ares cabin roared even louder.

"Wait!" Percy protested. "The dream came to me! I should go!"

"You had your chance last year!" Someone yelled.

Grian, Connor, and Travis saw the opportunity to cause chaos and they took it. Travis swiped the bag of marshmallows, took one out, and threw it at Clarisse.

"YOU LITTLE-" she said, and then threw a marshmallow at Percy.

It might have turned into a full s'more war, but Tantalus stood up and yelled, "QUIET, YOU BRATS!"

The campers fell silent and sat down.

"Sit down," Tantalus ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."

The campers sat down. The fire kept crackling in magenta.

The exact color of magenta glazed terracotta.

Which Scar hated with a passion.

Somehow, the longer Grian was back at camp, the more he thought about what Scar would have loved and hated. He had only been there for about a week before he died, after all.

At Hermitcraft, there were bases to be built, people to be pranked, new 1.18 lands to explore. There was plenty to do to keep busy. Sure, Grian had the occasional thought that Scar was missing out, but here at camp where nights were quiet and mob-free, where they had plenty of free time... alone with their thoughts...

Well, let's just say Grian was a little bit homesick. And he missed his best friend.

Yes, Mumbo exists too. I didn't forget about him. But it is possible to have two best friends...

I guess one now-

PLEASE DONT KILL ME

"Long ago in Ancient Greece, there was a king," Tantalus said, mercifully snapping Grian put of his thoughts. "He was favored by the gods. They even invited him for a feast among them."

The campers shifted uncomfortably. They knew this story. They knew how it ended.

"But the king tried to bring some ambrosia back to the land of mortals - just a little doggie bag, mind you," Tantalus continued. "The gods were angry and banned him from their halls forever! So the spiteful king decided to hold a feast and invite the gods to it."

Mr. D fumed. Grian swore he looked up at the sky and muttered, "Can I vaporize him?"

"The people, even the king's own sons argued with him," Tantalus said, ignoring Mr. D. "So the king decided to make a special meal. And can you guess what was in it?"

One Aphrodite girl who couldn't have been older than ten turned green and covered her mouth.

"The sons never questioned the king's power again. The gods, however, were so enraged by the king's trick that they sent him to the Fields of Punishment, where he was forced to stand in a lake with a fruit tree hanging above his head, ever hungry, but food and drink were both just out of reach. Legend says that the king's spirit haunts this camp, waiting to take revenge on bratty children who don't do what they're told. Children just... like... you!"

He pointed a crooked finger at several campers, including Grian.

Honestly, Grian was a little bit flattered. He had been singled out for being annoying.

"Now, head to the Oracle," Tantalus said to Clarisse. "Everyone else, to bed with you! Sweet dreams!"

Everyone got up, muttering about how "sweet dreams" were not going to come after a story like that. Clarisse headed for the Big House, her face pale for the first time Grian had ever seen.

Grian wondered where the Oracle was. Then he remembered the mummy in the attic, that he had found with Travis and Connor.

Was it possible that the mummy was the Oracle? It had said something last summer... something about dolphins. And approaching and asking. That was what had made them leave.

Whether the mummy was the Oracle or not, Grian was sure that Clarisse was either about to get good news... or really bad news.