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chapter four ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
004. Lava is Great Dish Soap

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IT WAS THEIR FAULT.

At least accordingly to Tantalus it was. Cassie, Annabeth, Percy, and Tyson had provoked the Stymphalian birds to attack.

They would've just stayed in the trees if it wasn't for the four's bad driving.

Cassie didn't understand how that worked because she was literally in Clarisse, the winner's chariot.

Obviously logistics didn't matter to Tantalus. Especially not when Percy told him to chase a doughnut.

That was the best laugh Cassie had had in a while.

The four were punished to underground kitchen duty with the harpies.

Problem is that the harpies washed with lava, not water so Percy, Cassie, and Annabeth had to wear an apron and gloves.

It didn't affect Tyson who just dunked his hands in the lava and got to work. The heat was unbearable and Cassie swore she'd never sweat that much in her life.

What's worse, is that Tantalus held a special feast to celebrate Clarisse's victory. So there was three times as many dishes to wash.

But the kitchen duty did give the three plenty of time for Percy to try and convince Annabeth again.

Cassie believed him. Percy knew from the small smile she sent when he brought the topic up again.

This time, with the help of a certain brunette, Percy persuaded Annabeth to consider that this was real.

"If he's really found it, and if we could retrieve it—" Percy cut her off.

"Hold on. You act like this . . . whatever-it-is Grover found is the only thing in the world that could save the camp. What is it?"

"I'll give you a hint. What do you get when you skin a ram?" Annabeth asked.

"Messy?"

"Lamb chops?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow in disappointment.

"A fleece. The coat of a ram is called a fleece. And if that ram happens to have golden wool—"

"The Golden Fleece. Are you serious?" Percy questioned.

"No Kelp Head. She's Annabeth, not serious." Cassie laughed.

Percy's sent Cassie a 'really' look which she just nodded back to.

"Percy, remember the Gray Sisters? They said they knew the location of the thing you seek. And they mentioned Jason. Three thousand years ago, they told him how to find the Golden Fleece. You do know the story of Jason and the Argonauts?" Annabeth stopped the two's conversation, returning to the subject at hand.

"What about me." Cassie remarked crossing her arms.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Carter, I know you know about the Argonauts."

"Yeah Chase, and your point is?"

Annabeth shook her head playfully and turned back to Percy.

Percy got the jest of it and nodded.

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

Annabeth's trust in Percy knowing anything was now a -50.

"Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless."

"What?" Percy replied annoyed.

"Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important."

Cassie's eyes widened at the way Annabeth just brushed off a death.

"It was probably important to her." Percy quipped earning a fist bump from Cassie.

"The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land. Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited. That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness, strengthens nature, cleans up pollution—"

"Long story short, it could cure Thalia's tree." Cassie interrupted.

Annabeth nodded.

"And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp. Half-Blood. But Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."

"But Grover found it. He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Annabeth. Cassie agrees. We can rescue him and save the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"

Annabeth looked wary.

"A little too perfect, don't you think? What if it's a trap?"

"Then we die saving Grover!" Cassie answered splashing her hands in the lava.

Kronos was trying to destroy Western Civilization. There wasn't anything else they could do.

"What choice do we have? Are you going to help us rescue Grover or not?"

Cassie chuckled at how Percy was already assuming she was going with him. She was, but it was quite presumptuous of the Kelp Head.

Annabeth's gaze shifted to Tyson. The cyclops was distractedly making boats out of the cups and spoons.

"Guys, we'll have to fight a Cyclops. Polyphemus, the worst of the Cyclopes. And there's only one place his island could be. The Sea of Monsters." The blonde muttered.

"Where's that?"

Annabeth stared at the son of Poseidon like he was dumb. Cassie snickered at her face and turned to Percy.

"The Sea of Monsters. The same sea Odysseus sailed through, and Jason, and Aeneas, and all the others." Annabeth explained.

"You mean the Mediterranean?"

"No. Well, yes . . . but no."

"Another straight answer. Thanks."

"Look, Percy, the Sea of Monsters is the sea all heroes sail through on their adventures. It used to be in the Mediterranean, yes. But like everything else, it shifts locations as the West's center of power shifts."

"Like Mount Olympus being above the Empire State
Building. And Hades being under Los Angeles."

"Right."

"But a whole sea full of monsters—how could you hide something like that? Wouldn't the mortals notice weird things happening . . . like, ships getting eaten and stuff?"

"Duh, Kelp Head. They notice but their mortal minds don't understand. All they know is that something strange there. The Sea of Monsters is northeast of Florida. What's the mortal name for it again?" Cassie clarified, looking to Annabeth for help.

"The Bermuda Triangle?" Percy guessed before the blonde responded.

"Exactly." Annabeth confirmed.

"Okay . . . so at least we know where to look." Percy found hope in the situation.

Cassie applauded him for that.

"It's still a huge area, Percy. Searching for one tiny island in monster-infested waters—" Annabeth started.

"Hey, I'm the son of the sea god. This is my home turf. How hard can it be?"

"We'll have to talk to Tantalus, get approval for a quest. He'll say no."

That Annabeth was right about but Percy had a solution.

"Not if we tell him tonight at the campfire in front of everybody. The whole camp will hear. They'll pressure him. He won't be able to refuse."

"Maybe. We'd better get these dishes done. Carter, hand me the lava spray gun, will you?" Annabeth outstretched her hand.

The brunette gave her the bottle and glanced between the two.

"How much you wanna bet this doesn't work?"

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Good thing no one agreed to Cassie's bet.

That night, Apollo's cabin led the sing along as normal. They tried to bring up people's spirits but it didn't do much.

Everyone sang the common camp songs bored: "Down by the Aegean," "I Am My Own Great-Great-Great-Great Grandpa," and "This Land is Minos's Land."

The fire was special so it reflected the campers mood. Most nights it was at least fifteen to twenty feet high.

But tonight, the flames rose to only five feet as Cassie hid her sorrows by stuffing her face with barely roasted marshmallows.

Mr. D had gone back to his lonesome, mumbling something about pinochle with Chiron being more fun than this.

He made a disgusted face toward Tantalus and returned to the Big House.

Finally, the last song concluded and Tantalus praised them.

"Well, that was lovely!"

He attempted to eat a toasted marshmallow but it flew into the flames to escape.

"Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."

"Sir." Percy interjected.

Cassie rested her head on her hand, watching in anticipation.

Tantalus refrained from huffing. "Our kitchen boy has some thing to say?"

Percy stood and luckily Annabeth followed his example. Cassie stifled a laugh at Percy's embarrassment but rolled her eyes at the look Annabeth sent her.

Cassie stood with them crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

"We have an idea to save the camp!" Percy announced.

Nothing was said but the campfire gave away that everyone was interested.

"Indeed. Well, if it has anything to do with chariot—"

"The Golden Fleece. We know where it is."

Percy explained his dream about Grover and Polyphemus' Island. Annabeth told everyone what the fleece could do and it was much more put together when she said it.

Cassie glared daggers from beside Annabeth, at anybody wanting to protest. The sword by her side was now in her hand to add to her threatening aura.

"The Fleece can save the camp. I'm certain of it." Annabeth finished.

"Nonsense. We don't need saving"

Cassie raised an eyebrow.

"Don't need saving my ass. Have you even seen this place."

The brunette gestured around with her sword and her fellow campers nodded in agreement.

The stares they gave Tantalus made him very uncomfortable.

"Besides, the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look?" The activities director tried to correct his mistake.

"Yes, I would." Percy contradicted.

Both the girls turned to him.

"You would?" Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded, remembering what the Gray Sisters had said on their drive to camp.

Then it didn't make sense but now, pieces were falling into place.

"30, 31, 75, 12." Percy said.

"Ooo-kay. Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

You see, normally Cassie loved sarcastic people who matched her energy. But this guy was getting on her nerves and she didn't know how long she could keep her anger at bay.

"Would you shut up and listen for once!"

Tantalus turned to Cassie, about to find another chore for her to do, but Percy spoke before he could.

"They're sailing coordinates. Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."

Annabeth was surprised along with Cassie.

"30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, I2 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"

"Wait just a minute."

"We need a quest! We need a quest!" Campers cheered despite Tantalus remarks for them to stop.

"It isn't necessary!"

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

"Fine! You brats want me to assign a quest?" Tantalus gave in.

"YES!"

"Very well, I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying."

For once in the past few months, Cassie felt hope. Like there was some way camp wouldn't die and she could stay with her friends and family.

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

That's when things went wrong just as Cassie had suspected.

Tantalus glowered at them in rage.

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

Cassie and Clarisse's siblings roared in support and excitement.

"CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"

Clarisse stood, dazed. But she recovered and smirked with pride.

"I accept the quest!"

"Wait! Grover is my friend. The dream came to me."

Cassie understood where Percy was coming from, but it didn't look too good in front of a bunch of campers who were no longer impressed with him.

"Sit down! You had your chance last summer!" yelled one of the Cassie's siblings.

"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" another agreed.

Clarisse glared at them, avoiding Cassie's gaze.

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

Ares' cabin's roars grew louder as Annabeth and her sibling shouted protests.

Everyone took sides and Cassie slumped back down onto a log exasperated.

This summer could not get any worse. First the tree poisoning, then Tantalus, and now this.

On top of it all, Cassie had missed Annabeth all year . . . Percy and Grover too. But there were these strange feelings that rose in her chest whenever she was around the blonde.

So she pushed them away. She was trying to push Annabeth away too but it was getting extremely hard to stop their accidental physical contact.

The brunette sighed, stuffing her mouth with another marshmallow. Some would say she's in denial, but Cassie denied being in denial.

Tantalus' shouts brought Cassie from her thoughts.

"Silence, you brats! Sit down and I will tell you a ghost story."

The way he said it got everyone into their seats. Cassie never knew a person could sound that evil, but she hadn't met many people outside of camp.

"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was beloved of the Gods!"

"Is he talking about himself?" Connor whispered, somehow next to her.

Cassie didn't look at him but replied. "No, he's talking about someone else. What do you think, C?"

Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Connor smacked her arm and she whacked him back.

"Jeez! Who got on your nerves this morning?"

Cassie rolled her eyes with a smile. 

They stopped fighting before Tantalus would notice, completely unaware of the gray eyes watching them.

"This king 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 mm—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!"

Tantalus waved his finger around.

"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children? Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feel. ings. 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?"

Yep, whatever thoughts Cassie had about Tantalus being a cannibal were confirmed.

"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife. 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 any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"

No one uttered a word. Tantalus looked to Clarisse.

"The Oracle, my dear. Go on."

Clarisse hesitated.

"Sir—"

"Go!" he ordered.

Clarisse listened and rushed off to the Big House.

"What about you, Percy Jackson? No comments from our dishwasher?" Tantalus tested.

Percy was speaking. He wouldn't let Tantalus get to punish him.

Tantalus nodded once Percy didn't reply.

"Cassandra Carter, have anything to say dear."

Cassie glared back, standing her ground, but she didn't answer him.

"Good, 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."

Tantalus wished them a halfhearted goodnight and left. The campers went back to their cabins.

Cassie strolled to her cabin, waiting for Clarisse to come back.

Annabeth, Tyson, and Percy went on their separate ways.

The latter unaware of the encounter he was about to have with the Olympians' mail man.

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ author's note

Little heads up :)

I'm currently writing the Circe Island chapter and there has been FANGIRLING happening so um look forward to that!!!!!

I don't have much more to say but thanks for reading!

— Just Another Overthinker