Perseus and the Quest for 12

The winner is…

It was option A, get even, and the results weren't even slightly close.

Final scores:

Option A, Get even: 57

Option B, Remember this: 6

Option C, Not his problem: 0

In hindsight, that was probably a bad choice to give. I never like it when the options are a total landslide, because it feels like I haven't done enough to make all of them appealing. I think this week's will be much more split.

Chapter 12

Know (Where to Hit) Thy Enemy

If there was any upside to the talk about a crazy girl caught in the showers, it was that with the whole Dining Pavilion so busy chatting about it that nobody noticed Perseus slip away from the Poseidon table mid-meal.

He stared out across camp with his arms crossed, leaning back against one the pillars. His eyes scanned the direction Julia had run in, but they didn't turn up any sign of the girl. That wasn't surprising. He hadn't expected her to stop anywhere close by. And besides, that wasn't who he was waiting for.

Perseus's vigil didn't last long. Less than five minutes after he adopted his post, he heard a female voice getting closer.

"It'll be fine," the voice was muttering to itself. "Thirty minutes. That's all that I'll need. What trouble could they cause unsupervised in just that long?"

Alice, Julia's best friend and co-counselor, blew past the pillar chewing her bottom lip. She looked so frazzled that she didn't even see Perseus until his hand landed on her shoulder.

Whirling, her eyes widened as she saw him.

"What do you want?" she demanded, knocking his hand off.

Perseus raised one eyebrow. Almost instantly Alice started looking guilty.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I know it's not your fault. I'm just… stressed."

"I get it," Perseus said. "Someone tried to hurt your friend, and they succeeded. What I want to know is who and why?"

"Right now?" Alice asked.

"I'll be a good listener," Perseus promised. "It won't take more than a few minutes."

Alice thought about it, but apparently she really was serious about being in a hurry, because she even forced herself to make her mind up quickly.

"Look," Alice said, "I'm only going to go over this once. Julia and I are counselors, right? But we haven't been for long. The old ones, the Stoll brothers, went off to college after the war, and we got picked to fill in. Simple, right? That's what we thought, but we were wrong. Hermes has always taken the undecided kids under his wing, so Cabin Eleven is the biggest by far. As soon as the Stoll brothers were gone, it's like half the cabin lost their minds. It's just been one thing after another. I'm all for pranks and practical jokes, but they've been pulling ones that take it too far. These feel actually mean. And no matter what we tried or how many times we apologized, Julia and I get blamed. Either people think we did it ourselves, or that we should've kept our cabin under control. Do they think we aren't trying!"

She worked herself up enough that she turned to the side and kicked over a gopher mound in a spray of soil. Meanwhile, Perseus felt a few things click into place.

"You're the ones that had to apologize to those Demeter campers who lost their hair," he said, bumping the bottom of his fist into its opposite palm.

"You saw that?" Alice said. "That's exactly what I'm talking about! Those kids are still bald now. Even Chiron hasn't been able to figure out a way to fix it. As it stands, they're just going to have to let it grow in from scratch. That's too much!"

The first time Thalia showed Perseus a picture of Julia, he thought she looked familiar. That was because he'd seen her that same day. She and Alice were the ones that ran past on the path as he argued with Holly. The competitive girl had shielded her face and fled at the sight of them.

Was that why Holly wanted to ruin Julia's reputation? Because she cleaned up after one of her pranks?

It didn't seem like it, but Perseus was certain that the pranks were related to this somehow.

"Give me names and I'll get out of your hair," he told Alice. "Within all of this prank stuff, who's involved the most?"

"Holly Victor," Alice answered instantly, "and her twin sister, Laurel. But those two are tighter-lipped than Philomela herself. Questioning them is a dead end." She sighed. "Look, Julia and I have already tried sticking our noses into this, and we didn't get anywhere. But they don't know you. You might just be able to pull off what we couldn't. So if you want to do this right, you should start with—"

"Drew Tanaka," Perseus read aloud.

It was at the top of a hastily scrawled list Alice had handed to him before rushing off. Next to each name were concise notes in not-quite-proper English.

Drew's read: Not part of the scheme. Rumor spreader. Knows EVERYTHING!

And wasn't that just the most fascinating collection of details Perseus had ever seen describing someone.

The girl wasn't hard to find. In fact, locating her was almost suspiciously easy. The first person he asked directed him where to go without any hesitation, as if Drew were as permanent a feature of camp as the Big House of the volleyball pits.

Drew Tanaka, as the name suggested, turned out to be a thin girl of Japanese descent with the body of a supermodel. She sat with a group of friends on the grass near one shore of the canoe lake. Their hangout spot was well picked. Too grassy to be sandy, too solid to be muddy, there was absolutely no threat of getting dirty while still offering a view of the lake's clear waters.

Perseus leaned over, catching sight of his reflection and fixing a cowlick with his index finger. He fixed his most flirtatious smile on his features. From the fact that he could smell hygiene products at a distance of fifty paces, these were Aphrodite girls he was approaching, and looking good never hurt when talking to one of those.

There were roughly ten of them, some sitting on rolled-out towels while others had cushions or portable chairs. At least four different conversations were going simultaneously as Perseus approached.

"Nice day, isn't it?" he said.

Every conversation stopped dead. Perseus experienced what it felt like to be eyed head to toe by ten different sets of eyes, before most turned away again. The chatter started back up. Only his target kept her eyes on him.

Drew was sitting on a plump pink cushion at least three feet wide in either direction. She wore a tank top and pink-tinted sunglasses. Three objects sat next to her within arm's reach: a large bottle of sun-lotion, a tall glass filled with grape juice, and a risqué book with a muscular man on its cover and a large 18 badge.

Drew used a long pink fingernail to push her glasses down to the bridge of her nose.

"Sweetie, if that's your opener then you've got a long way to go before you're ready for all of this."

She swept a hand out at her own body— which, in all fairness, was quite a sight.

Perseus's smile didn't fade.

"Luckily, I'm not here to hit on you," he said. "If I was, I'd have asked if you spilled that juice or if you were just happy to see me."

Drew blinked. Long extended lashes brushed against the plastic of her glasses. She shielded her mouth with a hand as she began to giggle.

"Oh, I like you," she said. Something about it, either the inflection or the look in her eyes, made it feel as if she were talking about a new dish she liked the flavor of, rather than a human being standing in front of her. She leaned forward. "I wouldn't have expected any less from my half-brother, mind."

"You know who I am?" Perseus asked.

Most of the camp seemed to think he was an ordinary son of Poseidon that had been kept sequestered somewhere until the prophecy rolled past. That, or they just didn't care enough about the new blood to ask questions, even when that new blood had one of the Big Three's cabins all to himself.

"If you're surprised about that, you've walked into the lion's den expecting an animal shelter," Drew told him. "You've been at this camp for three days now. Hasn't anyone told you yet that I know everything?"

Perseus blinked, remembering one-third of the margin notes.

"Yes, actually," he said.

"I'm sure you thought that they meant it figuratively," Drew said. "Everyone always does, at the start. But I assure you, if it eats sleeps or shits within these magical borders, Drew Tanaka knows before the person themselves do. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She held out her hand for a hand shake.

Perseus knelt down. He grasped her hand and turned it, gently and naturally, so that the knuckle faced upward. Then he laid down a soft kiss, eyes never leaving Drew.

"I am Perseus," he said. "A half-sibling, like you said. If you know everything about me already, then I suppose all I can say is congratulations. Most don't get that lucky in a century of trying."

Drew allowed her hand to remain in his grasp for as long as he held it, before finally pulling it back to her side. She lifted her juice glass from beside her like it contained aged wine, taking a long sip.

When she set it down, she said, "If it's not me that you're after, then what can I do for you, Perseus?"

"Do you know who spread rumors about Julia?" he asked.

"That mousy little counselor?" Drew snapped her fingers. "Of course I do. You're looking at her."

The blatant confession didn't match at all with her demure smile. Even Perseus was caught off-guard. For some reason, he felt a chill.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because it seemed like fun?" Drew said. "No, wait, that isn't quite right. Was I offered something valuable? Did they buy my services with money? I just can't seem to remember."

"I thought you knew everything. Now you're forgetting something that happened yesterday."

"That really is strange," Drew agreed.

When he walked over to them, Perseus had only seen a gaggle of teenagers. Even when the conversation started, and Drew revealed a sliver of the information she claimed to possess, he felt impressed at most. It was only now that he really came to feel how many strangers were sitting on all sides of him. He was surrounded. Not just by strangers, but by potential opponents.

None of this affected his outward easygoing smile.

"I'd say to forget about telling me why you spread the rumor, but you seem to be way ahead of me on that," he said. "Instead, I just want to know one thing. The 'they' that put you up to this. What are they after?"

"What a loaded question," Drew said.

"Can you answer it?"

She gave him a look across those pink rims. "Of course."

"Will you answer it?"

"What is an answer worth to you?" she asked.

Perseus shook his head. "I just got to the place," he said. "I hardly have a thing to my name, and I'm not immortal anymore to grant blessings or favors. I'm not exactly loaded enough to go around giving offers."

"On the contrary!" Drew said. "You have something I want very badly."

"What's that?"

Drew reached across the distance between them, tapping his chest with an acrylic nail. "You."

Perseus froze. Something tickled his ears. Behind him, he heard his name. Then he heard it again. All nine of Drew's cohort were still chattering to each other, but the conversations had changed. Two talked about him helping Julia get one over on her ex. Another said something about the Zeus cabin, with the rest of the sentence too low to catch. Others talked about girls, a few that Perseus had met but others he didn't even know by name, being caught up with him in romantic trysts. The fabricated stories mixed up with the true ones to create a comprehensive biopic painting Perseus as an unscrupulous player.

Which was an absolute outrage. He was a very scrupulous player!

"It's not every day a boy of such high quality comes crashing into camp," Drew said, pushing her glasses back up to cover her eyes. "I have so many uses for you. More than enough to make a deal for some gossip about Julia Feingold and her petty enemies. Say one word and it's all yours. More than that, I can take your revenge for you. I could ruin every one of their lives here as easily as—"

She snapped her fingers.

"Is this what you mean about knowing everything?" Perseus asked, jerking his head at her friends chatting behind him. "Whatever you don't know, you just make something up to fill in the gaps?"

"The truth isn't important between friends," Drew said. "You only need to use just enough of it to get people to believe you. I could make your life very easy at this camp, Perseus. But I could also make it much harder."

The two stared each other down. Behind him, Perseus heard the conversations turn back to regular topics. The strange sense of pressure that had swept him faded. Everything went back to a peaceful lakeshore atmosphere, just some kids out for an easy afternoon of relaxation.

He stood up, blatantly snagging the grape juice glass that Drew had been drinking out of. Perseus tilted it all the way back, chugging it like a shot without a hint of shame.

"I'll think about it," he said, tossing the glass onto its side in the grass.

As he walked back to the cabins, he felt the weight of eyes heavy against his back the entire way.

The next target from the list couldn't have had a more different atmosphere to Drew's if they were actively trying.

Percy checked the list again, looking up from it at the blond boy napping in front of him on a bench.

It was a public bench, outside, designed for campers waiting their turn on the archery range. But this kid had completely commandeered it in the most unique way Percy could imagine.

A long, hand-knit quilt was wrapped around his body like a sleeping bag, tucked over his shoulders. There was a pillow under him and a nightcap on his head with a slight blond fringe peaking out.

Clovis. Sleepy.

That was the extent of the notes on him.

"Clovis?" Perseus asked.

The boy turned over in his sleep.

"Clovis!"

"Wha…?" The boy's eyes cracked open.

"I have a few questions for you," Perseus told him.

"I'm not buying anything," Clovis said drowsily.

He was back to snoring within seconds. No matter what he did, Perseus couldn't wake him again. He debated taking more extreme matters (rolling the boy off his perch) but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it and moved on.

"Lou Ellen?" Perseus asked.

A short girl with dark hair turned to face him, surprise covering her features. She was dressed for horse riding, which made sense considering he caught her just outside of the stables.

"Yes?" she said. "Do I know you?"

Shy and playful was how Alice's notes described her. Perseus could certainly see the first part as he approached. She was watching him like she might bolt.

"So that is you." Perseus smiled like he was relieved, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. It's just, we haven't talked before, so I was really scared I got the wrong person."

He made a show of looking away. Lou Ellen immediately rushed to say, "I get it! What did you need?"

What do you do when trying to make a shy person lower their guard? Act like you were more nervous about this than they were.

"It's nothing much," Perseus promised. "You're friends with Holly, right?"

Lou Ellen seemed to reraise her guard at that question. Perseus filed that information away for now.

"I am," she said tentatively.

"Great! I was just wondering… I've caught my friend looking at her during meals, and I mean looking at her a lot. I'm certain he's crushing on her. I just wanted to ask, is she single right now? If I have to let him down, I'd rather let him down easy, you feel me?"

Lou blinked. "Oh, that's all? I mean, no, I don't think so! Her sister Laurel is dating Paolo right now, but Holly should be single. Did you… want me to ask about it or something?"

Her face made it look like following through on that would be as pleasant as a field trip to Tartarus, but Perseus thought it was impressive that she offered in the first place.

"Gods, no," he said. "If he wants this to go anywhere, he's gotta ask himself. In fact, if you want to help, please don't tell her about this? It'll go smoother if she first hears about it from my friend himself."

"Sure," Lou agreed, her relief evident.

They stood there in silence for at least thirty seconds, time ticking on.

"Was that everything?" Lou said suddenly.

"Yeah," Perseus said. "I don't need anything else."

As he watched her all but flee to the stables, Perseus mentally added a few notes to Alice's assessment.

Gets nervous easily— could be an advantage for him, but could also be a disadvantage just as easily.

Butch Walker. Short temper. Rainbows? Horses? Very loyal.

Perseus stared at the most eclectic description yet, then looked up at the teenaged boy standing with crossed arms in front of him.

"You said you needed something?" asked Butch.

"I just had a couple of questions," Perseus said, trying a mellow smile. Something he was sure would be disarming enough not to set off even the shortest temper.

"About what?"

"Holly—"

"I don't have anything to say about her," Butch said sternly.

"That's fine," Perseus said. "All I wanted was someone to help coach my volleyball skills. I just arrived, see, and I keep getting destroyed. But I heard there was someone else just as good as she his. Her sister Laurel—"

"I don't have anything to say about her, either," Butch cut him off.

Perseus's easy smile twitched.

"I've got some drachmas saved up. I'd be willing to pay for their help."

"I don't care," Butch said. "Anything else?"

Perseus was sorely tempted to call out the fact that 'anything else' strongly implied the boy had been at least mildly helpful with the earlier questions, rather than shooting them down before they were fully out of the asker's mouth. "Just one more thing. Could you teach me a little about horses?"

It was over twenty-five minutes before Perseus managed to escape. For the rest of the day, talk of saddles and the difference between a trot and a gallop spun through his head.

Paolo Montes was a good looking guy. Perseus didn't swing that way, but he knew how to respect what others had going on.

Alice thought so too, apparently, considering how his entry read.

Paolo Montes. Hot. Really hot. Dating bitchy Laurel. SHAME.

"Paolo?" Perseus asked.

The dark-skinned boy was reclining in the shade of a tree, not napping but not far off with how relaxed he looked.

Sorry, I don't speak English, he said in flawless Brazilian Portuguese.

As a matter of pride, Perseus could speak any Romance language as fluently as a native speaker. It was a skill that had been ever-useful for him over the years. But, rather than dive into a conversation here, he held back for now.

"Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to bother you."

The boy waved him off. No problem. I was just leaving anyway.

He stood up, knocking stray strawberry stems off his pants. He strode confidently past Perseus, toward someone he'd spotted far behind the ex-god. When Perseus turned, he spotted a blond girl identical to Holly bar a different hairstyle. Where Holly let her dark locks hang low, Laurel had hers cut much shorter and styled into a bob. She said something as Paolo approached, and he planted a kiss on her lips. The two walked away holding hands.

"Fascinating," Perseus muttered to himself.

He put a mark next to Paolo's name on his little list. Identical marks already sat next to the other four names. Glancing back up over them all, Perseus hummed to himself.

He'd done all the scouting he needed to. Now, he only had one thing left to decide.

Who was the weak link for him to break?

Choice: Who should Perseus go after for the information?

Option A: Clovis.

Option B: Lou Ellen Blackstone.

Option C: Butch Walker.

Option D: Paolo Montes.

Option E: None. Cut a deal with Drew instead.

Additional Information: Each option will change the method for revenge against Holly. Different choices will reveal different and different amounts of information, as well as giving Perseus separate ideas for how to get even.

How to Vote: Write a review which says/includes A or B. You can just write the letter, or feel free to type out all your reasoning. Who knows, you may even sway others to back your vote if you make a really good case.

I will count votes cast across all the sites this story is posted to (see my profile for details) and go with whatever has the majority. Chapters will generally be spaced out by at least a week, to give plenty of time for everyone who wants to vote to get the chance to.