The Adventure That Lies Ahead | PJO x HP

CHAPTER 2

Isa walked Percy around the camp, showing him around. They passed the volleyball pit. Several campers nudged each other, then pointed to the Minotaur horn Percy was carrying. Another said, "That's him."

"Don't mind them," Isa told Percy in comfort. "Not a lot of new campers get to fight a monster and live to tell the tale. Especially new campers."

Most of the campers were older than both her and Percy, but no one disrespected Isa or belittled her. That was because she earned her respect and she's been at camp the longest alongside Annabeth and Luke.

Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing to cover their shaggy hindquarters. Isa could tell Percy was starting to feel uncomfortable with how they were looking at him, so she directed them somewhere else.

"What's up there?" Percy asked Isa.

Isa looked to where his finger was pointing to the Big House attic, and her smile faded. "Just the attic."

"Somebody lives there?"

"No," Isa said. She just had a feeling that Chiron wouldn't want to tell Percy about the Oracle, and technically she wasn't lying. "Not a single living thing."

Isa could tell that Percy knew Isa wasn't being completely truthful. "Come along, Percy," she said. "There's still a lot to see."

They walked through the strawberry fields, where campers picked bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on their reed pipes. Isa even picked two and gave one to Percy for him to try.

Isa told him they grew a nice crop to export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," Isa explained. "And it takes little to no effort."

Isa told him that Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.

Percy and Isa watched a satyr playing a pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire.

"Grover won't really get in too much trouble, will he?" Percy asked Isa. "I mean... he was a good protector. Really."

Isa bit her lip in anxiousness. Before they left the Big House to give Percy a tour, Isa also heard Mr. D called Grover to have a talk with him. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Maybe a bit bigger than reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate 'great courage' by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper⎼or campers⎼and bring them safely to Half-Blood Hill."

"But he did that!"

Isa sighed. "I know," Isa said. "But it's not in Chiron's hands to judge. Mr. D and the Council of Cloven Elders are the ones to decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. I mean, Grover lost you in New York, the, uh, thing that happened to your mom, and he was unconscious when you brought him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows courage on Grover's part or not."

Isa could tell Percy wanted to protest, and he was feeling really, really guilty. "He'll get a second chance won't he?"

Isa bit her lip again⎼another bad habit she does when she's thinking hard or anxious. "That was his second chance, Percy," Isa said, hesitating whether she should tell him or not. But the best got off her as she burst out saying, "The council was not anxious in giving him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. I think Chiron advised him to wait a little longer. I mean, Grover's still pretty small for his age..."