The Sea of Monsters

swallowed. “Clarisse said you were . . . you were . . .”
    “Fired.” Chiron’s eyes glinted with dark humor. “Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he’d created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone.”
    “Besides himself, you mean,” I growled. Just the thought of the camp director, Mr. D, made me angry.
    “But this is crazy!” Annabeth cried. “Chiron, you couldn’t have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia’s tree!”
    “Nevertheless,” Chiron sighed, “some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances.”
    “What circumstances?” I asked.
    Chiron’s face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boom box.
    Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron’s flank but was afraid to come closer. “Pony?”
    Chiron sniffed. “My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur .”
    “Chiron,” I said. “What about the tree? What happened?”
    He shook his head sadly. “The poison used on Thalia’s pine is something from the Underworld, Percy. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus.”
    “Then we know who’s responsible. Kro—”
    “Do not invoke the titan lord’s name, Percy. Especially not here, not now.”
    “But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He’d get Luke to do it, that traitor.”
    “Perhaps,” Chiron said. “But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless . . .”
    “Unless what?” Annabeth asked.
    “No,” Chiron said. “A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago.”
    “What is it?” I asked. “We’ll go find it!”
    Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop button on his boom box. Then he turned and rested his hand on my shoulder, looking me straight in the eyes. “Percy, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told your mother I did not want you to come here at all this summer. It’s much too dangerous. But now that you are here, stay here. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave.”
    “Why?” I asked. “I want to do something! I can’t just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be—”
    “Overrun by monsters,” Chiron said. “Yes, I fear so. But you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the titan lord. Remember last summer! He almost took your life.”
    It was true, but still, I wanted to help so badly. I also wanted to make Kronos pay. I mean, you’d think the titan lord would’ve learned his lesson eons ago when he was overthrown by the gods. You’d think getting chopped into a million pieces and cast into the darkest part of the Underworld would give him a subtle clue that nobody wanted him around. But no. Because he was immortal, he was still alive down there in Tartarus—suffering in eternal pain, hungering to return and take revenge on Olympus. He couldn’t act on his own, but he was great at twisting the minds of mortals and even gods to do his dirty work.
    The poisoning had to be his doing. Who else would be so low as to attack Thalia’s tree, the only thing left of a hero who’d given her life to save her friends?
    Annabeth was trying hard not to cry. Chiron brushed a tear from her cheek. “Stay with Percy, child,” he told her. “Keep him safe. The prophecy—remember it!”
    “I—I will.”
    “Um . . .” I said. “Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?”
    Nobody answered.
    “Right,” I muttered. “Just checking.”
    “Chiron . . .” Annabeth said. “You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp—”
    “Swear you will do your best to keep Percy from danger,” he insisted. “Swear upon the River Styx.”
    “I—I swear it upon the River Styx,” Annabeth said.
    Thunder rumbled outside.
    “Very well,” Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a little. “Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I go to visit my