The Sea of Monsters

the higher it rose, changing color and heat with the mood of the crowd. On a good night, I’d seen it twenty feet high, bright purple, and so hot the whole front row’s marshmallows burst into the flames. Tonight, the fire was only five feet high, barely warm, and the flames were the color of lint.
    Dionysus left early. After suffering through a few songs, he muttered something about how even pinochle with Chiron had been more exciting than this. Then he gave Tantalus a distasteful look and headed back toward the Big House.
    When the last song was over, Tantalus said, “Well, that was lovely!”
    He came forward with a toasted marshmallow on a stick and tried to pluck it off, real casual-like. But before he could touch it, the marshmallow flew off the stick. Tantalus made a wild grab, but the marshmallow committed suicide, diving into the flames.
    Tantalus turned back toward us, smiling coldly. “Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow’s schedule.”
    “Sir,” I said.
    Tantalus’s eye twitched. “Our kitchen boy has something to say?”
    Some of the Ares campers snickered, but I wasn’t going to let anybody embarrass me into silence. I stood and looked at Annabeth. Thank the gods, she stood up with me.
    I said, “We have an idea to save the camp.”
    Dead silence, but I could tell I’d gotten everybody’s interest, because the campfire flared bright yellow.
    “Indeed,” Tantalus said blandly. “Well, if it has anything to do with chariots—”
    “The Golden Fleece,” I said. “We know where it is.”
    The flames burned orange. Before Tantalus could stop me, I blurted out my dream about Grover and Polyphemus’s island. Annabeth stepped in and reminded everybody what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from her.
    “The Fleece can save the camp,” she concluded. “I’m certain of it.”
    “Nonsense,” said Tantalus. “We don’t need saving.”
    Everybody stared at him until Tantalus started looking uncomfortable.
    “Besides,” he added quickly, “the Sea of Monsters? That’s hardly an exact location. You wouldn’t even know where to look.”
    “Yes, I would,” I said.
    Annabeth leaned toward me and whispered, “You would?”
    I nodded, because Annabeth had jogged something in my memory when she reminded me about our taxi drive with the Gray Sisters. At the time, the information they’d given me made no sense. But now . . .
    “30, 31, 75, 12,” I said.
    “Ooo-kay,” Tantalus said. “Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers.”
    “They’re sailing coordinates,” I said. “Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies.”
    Even Annabeth looked impressed. “30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He’s right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That’d be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!”
    “Wait just a minute,” Tantalus said.
    But the campers took up the chant. “We need a quest! We need a quest!”
    The flames rose higher.
    “It isn’t necessary!” Tantalus insisted.
    “WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!”
    “Fine!” Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. “You brats want me to assign a quest?”
    “YES!”
    “Very well,” he agreed. “I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying.”
    My heart filled with excitement. I wasn’t going to let Tantalus scare me. This was what I needed to do. I was going to save Grover and the camp. Nothing would stop me.
    “I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!” Tantalus announced. “And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious.”
    Tantalus looked at Annabeth and me as if he wanted to flay us alive. “The champion should be one who has earned the camp’s respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest . . . Clarisse!”
    The fire flickered a thousand different colors. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, “CLARISSE! CLARISSE!”
    Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride. “I accept the quest!”
    “Wait!” I shouted. “Grover is my friend. The dream came to me .”
    “Sit down!” yelled one of the Ares campers. “You had your chance last summer!”
    “Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight