Charmolypi

Chapter 95

When Percy got to his cabin, he noticed that Tyson was able to tell that something was wrong. He was worried that the young cyclops would become sad if Percy were to tell him the truth about the situation.

"You will go anyway?" he asked.

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "It would be hard. Very hard."

"I will help."

"He's so sweet and Percy is such an ass towards him I hate that!" Marlene's annoyed words echo through the hall.

Many people agree with the blonde while others giggle and point out her dissatisfied state.

"No. I-uh, I couldn't ask you to do that, big guy. Too dangerous."

Tyson looked down at the pieces of metal he was assembling in his lap-springs and gears and tiny wires. Beckendorf had given him some tools and spare parts, and now Tyson spent every night tinkering, though Percy wasn't sure how his huge hands could handle such delicate little pieces.

James felt a strong sense of gratitude towards Beckkendorf. He knew that the boy had been there for his daughter ever since they were young and that he was one of the only people that got to see the actual Thea Potter.

"What are you building?" Percy asked.

Tyson didn't answer. Instead, he made a whimpering sound in the back of his throat. "Annabeth doesn't like Cyclopes. You ... don't want me along?"

"Oh, that's not it," Percy said halfheartedly. "Annabeth likes you. Really."

Percy saw the tears shining in Tyson's eye and wondered if he, like Grover, was able to understand emotions. Tyson folded up his tinkering project in an oilcloth. He lay down on his bunk bed and hugged his bundle like a teddy bear. When he turned toward the wall, Percy could see the weird scars on his back, like somebody had plowed over him with a tractor.

Many gasped in horror. Those scars were brutal, and it was understandable why the young cyclops had so much trauma. Tyson, at such a young age, considering he's a baby cyclops, had been through very extreme circumstances both physically and mentally.

"Daddy always cared for m-me," he sniffled. "Now ... I think he was mean to have a Cyclops boy. I should not have been born."

"Don't talk that way! Poseidon claimed you, didn't he? So ... he must care about you ... a lot...." Percy's voice trailed off as he thought about all those years Tyson had lived on the streets of New York in a cardboard refrigerator box. How could Tyson think that Poseidon had cared for him? What kind of dad let that happen to his kid, even if his kid was a monster? "Tyson ... camp will be a good home for you. The others will get used to you. I promise." Tyson sighed. Percy waited for him to say something but quickly realized that he had fallen asleep.

Percy tried to sleep that night but couldn't, despite him trying. The fear of what he would see in his dreams about camp, about Grover, or even about Thalia. It terrified him.

The full moon shone through the cabin's window. The sound of the surf rumbled in the distance. The sweet smell of the strawberry field and the laughter of the dryads as they chased owls through the forest was as comforting as it was every camp night. But something was wrong. It was as though Thalia's sickness had shifted the valley's energy.

It wasn't until that moment when the watchers realized the gravity of the situation regarding Thalia's tree. It wasn't only a protective shield that stopped monster from roaming the campgrounds. Thalia's tree was the camp's life source and it was her energy that kept everyone safe and happy.