The worst part was the beginning—the “Percy-Jacksonwhat-were-you-thinking-do-you-have-any-idea-howworried-I-was-sneaking-off-to-camp-without-permissiongoing-on-dangerous-quests-and-scaring-me-half-to-death” part.
But finally she paused to catch her breath. “Oh, I’m just glad you’re safe!”
That’s the great thing about my mom. She’s no good at staying angry. She tries, but it just isn’t in her nature.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” I told her. “I won’t scare you again.”
“Don’t promise me that, Percy. You know very well it will only get worse.” She tried to sound casual about it, but I could tell she was pretty shaken up.
I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but I knew she was right. Being a half-blood, I would always be doing things that scared her. And as I got older, the dangers would just get greater.
“I could come home for a while,” I offered.
“No, no. Stay at camp. Train. Do what you need to do. But youwillcome home for the next school year?”
“Yeah, of course. Uh, if there’s any school that will take me.”
“Oh, we’ll find something, dear,” my mother sighed. “Some place where they don’t know us yet.”
As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. I would’ve been happy to have him as my cabin mate forever, but that evening, as we were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took me by surprise.
“Dream came from Daddy last night,” he said. “He wants me to visit.”
I wondered if he was kidding, but Tyson really didn’t know how to kid. “Poseidon sent you a dream message?”
Tyson nodded. “Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclopes’ forges. He called it an inter—an intern—”
“An internship?”
“Yes.”
I let that sink in. I’ll admit, I felt a little jealous. Poseidon had never invitedmeunderwater. But then I thought, Tyson wasgoing? Just like that?
“When would you leave?” I asked.
“Now.”
“Now. Like…nownow?”
“Now.”
I stared out at the waves in the Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset.
“I’m happy for you, big guy,” I managed. “Seriously.”
“Hard to leave my new brother,” he said with a tremble in his voice. “But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them.”
Unfortunately, I knew he was right. The Fleece hadn’t solved all the camp’s problems. Luke was still out there, gathering an army aboard thePrincess Andromeda. Kronos was still re-forming in his golden coffin. Eventually, we would have to fight them.
“You’ll make the best weapons ever,” I told Tyson. I held up my watch proudly. “I bet they’ll tell good time, too.”
Tyson sniffled. “Brothers help each other.”
“You’re my brother,” I said. “No doubt about it.”
He patted me on the back so hard he almost knocked me down the sand dune. Then he wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. “Use the shield well.”
“I will, big guy.”
