Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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" Ah , the hero of the day ," Tantalus exclaimed . " Brave Clarisse , who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls !" Clarisse blinked , then blushed . " Um , I didn ' t —" " And modest , too ." Tantalus grinned . " Not to worry , my dear ! This is a summer camp . We are here to enjoy ourselves , yes ?" " But the tree —" " And now ," Tantalus said , as several of Clarisse ' s cabin mates pulled her back into her seat , " before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along , one slight housekeeping issue . Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit , for some reason , to bring this here ." Tantalus waved a hand toward Tyson .
Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers . A lot of sideways looks at me . I wanted to kill Tantalus .
" Now , of course ," he said , " Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity . Under normal circumstances , I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks . But who knows ? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren . Until it proves worthy of destruction , we need a place to keep it ! I ' ve thought about the stables , but that will make the horses nervous . Hermes ' s cabin , possibly ?"
Silence at the Hermes table . Travis and Connor Stoll developed a sudden interest in the tablecloth . I couldn ' t blame them . The Hermes cabin was always full to bursting . There was no way they could take in a six-foot-three Cyclops .
" Come now ," Tantalus chided . " The monster may be able to do some menial chores . Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled ?" Suddenly everybody gasped . Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise . All I could do was stare in disbelief at the brilliant green light that was about to change my life — a dazzling holographic image that had appeared above Tyson ' s head .
With a sickening twist in my stomach , I remembered what Annabeth had said about Cyclopes , They ' re the children of nature spirits and gods ... Well , one god in particular , usually …
Swirling over Tyson was a glowing green trident — the same symbol that had appeared above me the day Poseidon had claimed me as his son . There was a moment of awed silence . Being claimed was a rare event . Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives . When I ' d been claimed by Poseidon last summer , everyone had reverently knelt . But now , they followed Tantalus ' s lead , and Tantalus roared with laughter . " Well ! I think we know where to put the beast now . By the gods , I can see the family resemblance !" Everybody laughed except Annabeth and a few of my other friends . Tyson didn ' t seem to notice . He was too mystified , trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head . He was too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him , how cruel people were . But I got it . I had a new cabin mate . I had a monster for a half-brother .
Chapter Six
Demon Pigeons Attack
The next few days were torture , just like Tantalus wanted . First there was Tyson moving into the Poseidon cabin , giggling to himself every fifteen seconds and saying , " Percy is my brother ?" like he ' d just won the lottery . " Aw , Tyson ," I ' d say . " It ' s not that simple ." But there was no explaining it to him . He was in heaven . And me ... as much as I liked the big guy , I couldn ' t help feeling embarrassed . Ashamed . There , I said it . My father , the all-powerful Poseidon , had gotten moony-eyed for some nature spirit , and