CHAPTER SIX
—stupid quests

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—JUDITH was conflicted about what occurred that morning. On the one hand, she should be happy about the 'win,' and on the other, she was aggravated that Tantalus failed to see ( or probably just failed to care ) that the whole camp was just stormed by flying machines that could peck your eyeballs out with little effort.

Now, don't get her wrong, Judith would not say that Percy or Annabeth deserved the golden laurels for their 'bravery,' because they didn't. But they definitely did not earn themselves kitchen duty either. If anyone did, it was probably the Stoll brothers; they had sucked during the races and weren't too much help during the fight either; they could be forced to clean out the stables for all she cared, so long as they were miserable about it.

Yet another reason Judith was upset, was because she had been forced to sit next to the camp director himself at a special luncheon he ordered for her and Clarisse's victory. His praise was only nice for the first five minutes, but it got rather old rather quickly. She could liken his flattery to that of someone out to get something in return. What it was he wanted, Judith didn't know nor did she care. She would not do anything for him.

There was absolutely nothing to make her mood better. Not even the Apollo cabin's sing-along at the camp fire was amusing to her — and Ellis did his best to cheer her up by tossing peanut projectiles into their open mouths. Instead, that night, Judith was shivering at the little heat being produced by the small enchanted fire. It was gray and looked about ready to flicker out and die, much like what Judith felt in that moment. She curled a knee up to her chest and hugged it, silently begging for the night to be over soon.

As the last song came to an agonizing end, Tantalus stood up and walked in front of the fire basin to address the campers. Mr. D had long since gone off to the big house after suffering through the songs, leaving them under the supervision of an under qualified babysitter.

"Well, that was lovely!" He reached for the marshmallow on his stick, but Judith — mildly delighted — saw the tasty treat fly off the stick to shrivel up in the tiny flame. Tantalus' eye twitched coldly before looking back at the camp ruefully. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."

"Sir," a voice said in the front. Judith leaned over Sherman's shoulder to see who had spoken. She was met with the back of Percy Jackson's head and rolled her eyes. ( Leave it to him to speak out of turn when it's the last thing he should be doing. Judith swore that he just liked to hear himself talk. )

"Our kitchen boy has something to say?" said Tantalus, very strained.

Percy stood up defiantly as some of the campers laughed. Judith couldn't find it in herself to even smile at anything the man joked about, he wasn't funny. Out of the corner of her eye, she could also see Annabeth standing within her cabin, willing to back up the son of Poseidon.

"We have an idea to save the camp," he said. Judith couldn't help but feel a minuscule amount of intrigue at his statement. It appeared the other campers felt the same as the flame flickered higher with interest.

"Indeed," Tantalus said, not caring — like usual. "Well, if it has anything to do with chariots —"

What does this guy have with chariots? Forget the chariots.

"The Golden Fleece," Percy said. "We know where it is. I've been having dreams about my friend Grover." He turned to the satyrs, hoping that'd gain their interest. "He's on Polyphemus's island."

Judith recalled the legend of Polyphemus, the savage man-eating giant. She briefly wondered how it felt to have someone send a giant stake through your only eye. Couldn't feel too great, she imagined.

"The Fleece has the capability to restore health and prosperity to any land where it's placed. It literally cures diseases and strengthens nature," Annabeth said, getting excited at the thought. "The Fleece can save the camp. I'm certain of it."

"Nonsense," cried Tantalus. "We don't need saving." Judith — plus everyone else — pierced their gaze into him until he shifted on the spot. "Besides, the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."

"Yes, I would," Percy said, confidence laced between his words. "30, 31, 75, 12."

His explanation was anticlimactic and Judith stuffed her head in her hand. She wondered if he even knew what he was talking about with those numbers. He'd probably gone crazy.

Tantalus looked frightened, like he was looking at a person who'd gone insane: Judith, for once, could relate. "Ooo-kay," he stuttered. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

"They're sailing coordinates," the boy corrected, realizing he should have said that before. "Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned it in social studies."

Annabeth was doing the math in her head. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That would be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"

"Wait just a minute," Tantalus tried to calm her down, but the campers just started chanting.

"We need a quest! We need a quest!" Judith, despite herself, joined in.

"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.

"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!" Judith was on her feet by now with the rest of her camp mates.

"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, the fire in his eyes nearly as bright as the camp's fire. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"

"YES!"

"Very well," he sniffed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying," he tightened his lips. "I will allow our champions to consult the Oracle! And choose a companion for the journey. And I think the choice of our champions is obvious.

"The champions should be the ones who have earned the camp's respect, who have proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest ... Clarisse and Judith!"

The Ares campers around Judith cheered their names. The girls grinned, overwhelmed, but happy nonetheless. "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"

Judith didn't let it bother her that her sister was the one being congratulated, it went without saying that Clarisse would be the main leader. Age, experience, and superiority all went hand-in-hand with that. The girl was just lucky to be included, yet another thing to shove in Mark's face.

Clarisse stood shakily to her feet, faintly smiling. "We accept the quest!"

Judith looked down to Percy, fully expecting him to object — which he did. "Wait! Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."

"Sit down!" Mark yelled, her brother glaring daggers at the kid. "You had your chance last summer!"

Judith had to agree, Percy and Annabeth shouldn't go on this quest. They had their glory, and they wouldn't take it away from her or her cabin this year. She may hate Tantalus and his weird forthcomings, but there was no way she would pass up his offer of going on a quest. It was every Demigod's dream.

"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" Maya called, her voice becoming unusually snarky.

Clarisse was also sending harsh looks down at Percy. "I accept the quest! I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!" She kicked Judith's shin and spurred her into action.

"Uh, I accept the quest, also."

Athena's cabin seemed to oppose the idea greatly — only because Annabeth was their leader. Judith could only look back and forth, feeling herself heat up ( and it wasn't from the newly enlightened fire ). She hated that Percy and Annabeth thought they deserved yet another quest when they had already gone on one. Besides, the blame for this whole mess could be pinned on Percy since he was there when the tree was poisoned. He didn't deserve it.

She didn't have time to think more on it before Tantalus was screeching again. "Silence, you brats!" Everyone was stunned into silence. "Sit down! And I will tell you a ghost story."

Judith had a feeling she wouldn't enjoy it.

"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!" Judith doubted it was going to be as scary as he was choking it up to be. "This king," he continued, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe — just one little doggie bag, mind you — the gods punished him. They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh, yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children — just —like — you!"

His crooked finger swiped the air.

"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children? Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment?" He asked. "He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"

Judith was about to gag, who let this guy be in charge?

"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked out. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumor has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so ... are there anymore complaints, before we send Clarisse and Judith off on their quest?"

No one dared speak a word, not even as a little Aphrodite girl fled the stands to cry.

Tantalus nodded softly at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on." He then eyed Judith. It was obvious who was the true leader of this quest. "Judith, just — just stay here, I guess."

Clarisse looked like she was regretting accepting the quest in the first place now, what with the story. "Sir —"

"Go!" He barked. Clarisse quickly dashed off to the big house. "How about you, Percy Jackson? No comments from our dishwasher?" Percy stayed silent, surprisingly. "Good," Tantalus grinned. "And let me remind everyone — no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries ... well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well." He waved his hand and the fire went out, leaving everyone in only the starlight.

Judith, despite being freezing, stayed behind as the Ares clan went back to the cabin. She hid in the darkness to watch as Percy and Annabeth conspired against Tantalus' demands, concocting a plan to leave camp, no doubt. It angered her to know that they would disobey direct instructions — clearly meant for them specifically — in order to interfere with a quest she was finally able to go on. But then, she thought, if Tantalus held true to his word, then Percy would be expelled from camp. The idea of not seeing Percy again was the little boost in her mood that she needed to feel better about the day's events.

She swore, that if Percy Jackson ruined this for her and Clarisse, she would kill him.

NOTES;

I'M LITERALLY HAVING TO GO BACK AND CHANGE EVERYTHING ABOUT JUDITH, LITERALLY EVERYTHING.

edited : 06 / 28 / 2020