Camp sucked. Ever Since I have been claimed, mostly everyone treated me like someone with a rare disease. The home I thought I had gained wasn't feeling like one anymore.

 

Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back. The attack scared everybody. It sent two messages: one, that I was the son of the Sea God; and two, that monsters would stop at nothing to kill Percy Jackson. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.

 

The only people that were still acting normal with me were Luke and Grover. All of this made me wish that none of those demigod's things was real. I wanted to wake up and realize that I had imagined all of this, that it was a crazy dream instead of me actually experiencing those things.

 

I wanted to be on the beach at Montauk, relaxing and spending time with my mom. All of this was so unfair.

 

I wished I wasn't a demigod. I wished I was a normal if troubled boy that only had to worry about school and his stepfather.

 

Talking about said stepfather, my mom and I wouldn't have to deal with Gabe if I hadn't been a demigod. My mom accepted his abuse and horrible treatment of her because of me, because she needed to hide my demigod scent.

 

Grover had told me that my mother had chosen to marry smelly Gabe because he smelled so horrible that his scent would mask any demigod's scent from monsters.

 

My mother was the kindest and strongest person in the world and she didn't deserve any of this. My mother had told me that my dad cared so why wasn't he there? Why didn't he help when he could have?

 

He was one of the Big Three, one of the most powerful among Gods and he did nothing. A big part of me understood and agreed with Luke. Gods didn't care when they should but another part of me, the childish one wanted to believe that there was a reason why my dad didn't help. I wanted to believe what my mother had told me, that I was wanted and not just the result of a lustful urge of a God.

 

All of those things angered me and made me feel helpless so I ignored them. I threw myself into the insane and exhausting sword lessons of Luke. I tried to understand all of the Greek lessons even with Annabeth's mean stares and my dyslexia making it almost impossible even in Greek to learn as much as I wanted.

 

I knew somebody at camp resented me because one night I came into his cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the New York Daily News opened to the Metro page. The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page.

 

BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER

FREAK CAR ACCIDENT

BY EILEEN SMYTHE

Sally Jackson and her son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.

 

Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing

unusual around the time of the accident.

 

Ms Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.

 

Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.

The phone number was circled in black marker.

 

I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty cabin.

 

"Lights out," I told myself miserably.

 

That night, I had my worst dream yet.

 

I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. It wasn't New York.

 

The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance. About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair.

 

Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green. They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.

 

I had to stop them. I didn't know why but I knew that I had to do so. But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was running in place, my heels digging uselessly into the sand.

 

Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, Give it back! Give it back! Like a kindergartner fighting over a toy.

 

The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt. I yelled, "Stop it! Stop fighting!" The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice.

 

"Come down, little hero," the voice crooned. "Come down!" The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the centre of the earth. My feet slipped and when I thought I would be swallowed by the darkness, I was saved when my arm was grabbed by the guy with the green Greek tunic.

 

With a wave of his hand, the apocalyptic scene vanished, and the darkness under my feet trying to swallow me disappeared as if nothing had happened.

 

Before I was now a peaceful beach as if everything that I had seen happening was just an illusion or a delusion of mine.

 

The green wrestler freed my arm and I fell on the now sandy beach under me.

 

"Hello Percy, I wanted to speak with you" I almost didn't answer. I knew who this was before he even talked. He had black hair, a neatly trimmed black beard, a deep tan, and sea-green eyes that were surrounded by sun crinkles that told one he was prone to smiling. He looked like me or it would be accurate to say instead that I looked like him. This was my dad.

 

"Yes sir" I answered him. He was my Father but could I really call him such? Would he see it as an insult if I did? Even I knew that Poseidon was known for his mercurial and switching mood. It seemed I did an error because his eyes changed, they were like a kaleidoscope of madness whispering to me, trying to drown me. They weren't the familiar green eyes that he had mere moments ago and shared with me.

 

It was worse than what I saw in the eyes of Mr D. It made me remember that before me was one of the oldest and strongest Olympians, something beyond human understanding

 

It only lasted a second even though it felt like an eternity and his eyes went back to their sea-green colour.

 

 

He sighed "I guess I deserve that". His voice sounded sad. I had just met my father for the first time and I had already done something wrong. 'Good job Percy' I thought sarcastically.

 

He sat on the sand. "Would you like to sit with me, Percy?" He asked me. I nodded dumbly and sat at his side.

 

There were so many things I wanted to say, that I wanted to ask. I wanted to scream at him, ask him why he wasn't there. I didn't ask any of those things. I instead asked him "What is happening Lord Poseidon? Where are we?"

 

The Lord of the Ocean wasn't looking at the sea anymore. He was looking at me as if he was dissecting me piece by piece. He finally answered "Right now we are within the domain of Hypnos. What you were seeing before could be called a vision, an interpretation of the true things happening in the real world and filtered by your brain. Because I was one of the subjects of the vision and because of my abilities, I was able to hijack it to speak with you."

 

I knew that Gods and therefore demigods existed and that we were capable of doing things mortals weren't able to do but knowing and experiencing something are two different things. What he told me was straight out of what I would see watching the X-men on TV.

 

"What did you want to talk about Sir" I questioned him. I was curious about the reasons he did all of this. I wanted to know why he wanted to talk to me after all this time.

 

"You can call me Dad you know," he said while putting his hand on the back of his neck. "It's also fine if you don't want to. You can call me whatever you're comfortable with" he continued.

 

I realized that he was trying even if it seemed awkward. All my life, I dreamt of the day when my father would come back. I had dreamed of the day when I could show mine to anyone else. I had dreamt of proudly presenting my Dad to others.

 

"I'll call you dad," saying it felt so weird but at the same time felt so right.

 

I went back to my original question "What did you want to talk about Father," I added at the end.

 

"Honestly, a lot of things but before everything I wanted to tell you something important Percy" I began to pay attention.

 

He looked me in the eyes and said "I want you to know that I'm sorry for not being there. I want you to know that I've always loved you." I could feel tears come forth unwillingly. "I want you to know that no matter what you do, I'll always be proud of you. I swear it to you right now, before the heavens and the earth, and on the Styx'" The noise of thunder made itself known even though it was a dream " that I'll always be proud of you". He finished.

 

I tried to stop crying. I wasn't normally such a crybaby." how could you think that? I'm not smart or strong enough or anything. I am just a dumb kid trying to do better and failing at it. I wasn't strong enough to save Mom". I whispered softly.

 

 

My dad did something unexpected. He hugged me. A part of me wondered if all of this wasn't just me dreaming. I feared that I would wake up and realize that none of that was real.

 

"You are more than everything I wish you could be Percy. You're neither weak nor dumb. Somebody who's dumb wouldn't have been able to trick the Minautor into breaking his own horn and killing him with it. A weak kid wouldn't have been able to beat more than two children of the war god by himself". He whispered while continuing to hold me in his arms.

 

"Even if you weren't strong enough, I would be there, strong for the both of us. I'm sorry I made you cry" he continued while hugging me.

I forced myself to stop crying. I didn't want my dad to be upset because of my tears.

 

"Then, why weren't you there if I am everything you wished I could be?" I asked while looking into his eyes still in his arms. I wanted to know how could all of those things have happened if he cared. I wanted to know why he let Mom and me suffer with Gabe. I wanted to know why he never helped Mom and me.

 

"I never wanted you to go through any of this Percy. I never wanted you to think that I didn't care and didn't love you." he began. " The thing is that I tried to make sure all of this never happened. I wanted to raise you. I wanted to see your first steps, hear you say your first words and drown you with affection and all the best the world could offer" he said seeming lost in past memories.

 

"When I learned that your mother was pregnant, I was ecstatic. I asked her to come live with me under the sea where I would have built you both castles, wonders that she and you deserved. I would have made both of you gods. I would have given you the world. It is forbidden for members of the Big Three to have demigod children. We swore an oath." he said in disgust like a child being forced to eat its vegetables.

 

"But" he added, "if I made you immortal, I wouldn't have technically broken my oath and what could be a greater gift to another than immortality".

 

I thought about being immortal, living inside a castle instead of an apartment shared with smelly Gabe. I thought about never having to worry about money for Mom and me. I thought about being a god and never having to worry about dying be it natural or by the hand of a monster. It sounded like a dream.

 

So "Why didn't you do it, Dad?" I blurted out.

He sighed and answered, "I didn't do it because of your mother." 'why would Mom say no?' I thought.

 

My thought must have been written all over my face because my dad answered what I was thinking. "She said that she refused to depend on someone else. She didn't want somebody else to solve her problems. She didn't want to depend on anyone," he said bitterly as if repeating a past conversation.

 

"I couldn't live with the both of you on the surface without risking the safety of you both. It would have been known by the other gods whether I wanted it or not. It just would have been a question of time. You already experienced what it was to be suspected to be a child of mine" he told me while looking in the direction of the ocean.

 

I knew what he was talking about. I had been attacked by a fury, by the Minotaur and blasted in a car by a lightning bolt.

 

"It would have been worse than everything you already experienced. Hades would have opened the gates of his realm and sent after your mother and you the most abominable and foul monsters. Zeus if not trying to erase you two personally would have sent other Gods or demigods to exact his will" he chuckled darkly.

 

"I knew what I had to do even if I didn't want to. Being a parent means being willing to do anything for your child, even if those things hurt us so I did what I had to do for your safety. I left and almost nothing has ever hurt me that much".

 

I felt sorry and angry for my dad. I felt angry at Zeus, at Hades and at all the other gods. They were the reason behind everything wrong in my life. Their cruelty was as big as their apathy. I wanted to make them pay.

 

I turned my face towards the blue ocean created by my dad. I finally had the answer to all the questions I've always wanted to be answered. It felt liberating as if a weight that had been always there on my shoulders had finally disappeared.

 

We Both stayed in a comfortable silence watching the waves in the distance take and lose form. I was still in the arms of my father and I should have probably not been acting like such a baby but it felt so comfortable.

He turned back to me "I am so sorry Percy. Even with everything I tried, I wasn't able to give you a good and comfortable life." I wanted to protest, to tell him that he had tried, that he was at least now there but nothing came out.

 

"Even now, I can feel the webs of fate encroaching on you. I can in observing the eddies of fate glimpse loss, suffering, and death coming towards you". He sounded as if he was stopping himself from crying.

 

"My brother thinks that I have orchestrated the disappearance of his Bolt. Gods can't steal directly the symbols of power of another god without respecting some conditions, conditions that didn't abide by which meant that I hadn't stolen it myself."

 

He said that Gods couldn't steal directly from other gods which meant that "Zeus thinks that you stole it indirectly".

 

He smiled and ruffled my hair" Smart boy". It made me feel happy and proud.

 

"The indirect way for a god to steal from another would be to use a mortal agent and with you being discovered living in New York where Olympus is also situated, my brother thinks that I used you to steal his lightning bolt".

 

"That is completely crazy!" I screamed. " I didn't even know about gods and monsters before being attacked by a Fury". All of this made me mad. I was blamed again for something I hadn't done and Mom paid the price for it.

 

"Zeus doesn't care," my dad said as angry as I felt. As if To prove this, not far from us, the ocean that was once calm was now churning, moving like a horrible beast trying to destroy everything around it. The sand of the beach was covered by it now and it was continuing to swallow all of the beach. The only spot untouched was the one where my dad and I were sitting.

 

"He accused me of stealing it. He thinks that I am secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple him from his throne. He threatened war if his Master bolt wasn't given back before the Summer Solstice" my dad continued.

 

"He doesn't want to hear reason and he hurt your mother and you. I won't let myself be walked on by my youngest brother. Many think he's our King because of his strength when in reality, he's such only by luck and deception. It is time to make him remember that" my dad said with anticipation as if something he was waiting forever to do was finally possible.

 

"Our sisters talked to him. He agreed to allow you to prove your innocence by giving him back his bolt," my father said with disgust as if he had before him something smelling bad.

"But I did nothing". How was I supposed to give him his stupid bolt when I didn't know where it was?

 

" For the lord of the sky, everyone is deemed guilty until proven otherwise and he's the god of justice. What a joke." I couldn't agree more with my dad.

 

"There are two possibilities Percy" he said while turning his head to look me into my eyes." you can try to do the dangerous quest that will be given to you to find my brother's symbol of power or when you wake up, you could  come undersea to Atlantis with me where you would be safe. Know that whatever you choose, I'll still be proud and will still support you, " he finished with a smile.

 

I could go to Atlantis. It would make everything so easy. I wouldn't have to worry about monsters coming after me and with my father with me protecting me in his own domain, I would be nearly untouchable.

 

I could do this, take the easy option but it's not something I think I would be able to live with. Mom had taught me that doing the right thing meant sometimes doing the hard thing.

 

Going under the sea wouldn't change the fact that I would still be seen as the lightning thief. I would be the reason why my dad goes to war and even though he was confident, I can't say with certainty that he'd win. He was risking everything because of me.

 

"I won't go to Atlantis with you Dad," I told him with conviction. My mind was now made up." I'll prove my innocence, I'll find his stupid bolt to stop the war.

 

"You don't have to Percy," he said sounding sad. I didn't want to make my dad sad but I couldn't back down.

 

"I know that Dad but I am sure of my decision" I answered him.

 

The scenery was beginning to be completely submerged in the ocean that was now at the level of my navel. It was little by little growing but I didn't fear. I knew now that my dad would do everything to make sure I wasn't harmed.

"You are really a strong boy," he said before kissing the crown of my head. "You'll soon wake up in the real world." The Ocean was now at the level of my chin. "Remember Percy that the ocean is everywhere. You just have to call to it to make it answer and it will answer wherever you are. If any moment, you want to stop, call me and I'll come. I have many regrets and have made many errors in my life, but you will never be one of them".

 

He pulled back to look me in the eyes. The water was over my mouth and creeping toward my nose yet I wasn't scared.

"I love you, Percy," he told me before the ocean swallowed me whole and I woke up.

 

"I love you, Dad," I said back in my dark cabin.

My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that. I knew without a doubt that everything that happened wasn't the result of a sleepy mind. I truly met my dad.

 

"Dad" I called in the empty cabin. A sensation of being watched rolled over me. It felt as if I was in the centre of the Ocean and as if nothing could touch me. It stayed for a second and rescinded into the nothingness it had come from. That was the proof that I hadn't made things up.

 

I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold. "Can I Come in?"

It was Grover. He trotted inside, looking worried.

 

"Mr. D wants to see you."

 

"Why?"

 

"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell

you."

 

I should have felt nervous but I didn't. I remembered my father's words. I knew that my dad had my back and that he would do anything to make me safe. I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble and it was probably concerning the theft of the lightning bolt of Zeus.

 

For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House but now after the dream and the conversation I had with my dad, I knew when I woke up that it was a question of time, of when and not maybe or if.

 

Now that I was declared a son of

Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids and was suspected as the lightning thief, I figured that it was a crime in the eyes of the gods except for my dad for me to be alive.

 

The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing, and now Mr D was ready to deliver their verdict. My dad told me that they wanted to give me a quest but in case it wasn't that and actually wanted to harm me, I would call for my dad. It felt not gonna lie good to have somebody you could always be counted on other than your mom.

 

Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.

 

"No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."

 

I pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"

 

He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."

I realized he was right. In the week I had been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rainclouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley.

 

But this storm ... this one was huge.

At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.

 

Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing against invisible opponents–two sets of cards hovering in the air. What had my life become that I didn't bat an eye to that.

 

"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity." I waited.

 

"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father." I don't think my dad would like to be called like this I wanted to say but I restrained myself. I didn't need more problems added to the list of the already existing ones.

 

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.

"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.

Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

 

"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm." 'Thank you Mister Brunner' I thought. He was my favourite teacher for a reason.

 

"A spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr D," Chiron put in.

 

"Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing." 'I would feel a thing' I thought. "Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."

 

"Mr. D-" Chiron warned.

 

"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." I think I knew what he was alluding to. Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."

 

Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A security pass. He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind. I had to admit that it was cool. I still didn't like him though.

 

Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover." We did. Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.

"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

 

Just hearing the name made me shudder.

Chiron probably wanted me to say, Hey, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast. But I didn't feel like lying.

 

"It scared me," I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

 

"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done." Yeah, that didn't sound ominous at all.

 

"Done ... with what?"

 

"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?" and finally, the core of the matter appears.

I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers. I played dumb. I wasn't supposed to know anything.

 

"Um, sir," I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."

 

Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."

 

Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.

 

"Poseidon and Zeus, They're fighting over something valuable ... something that was stolen, aren't they?" I said trying to make my words seem uncertain.

 

Chiron and Grover exchanged looks.

Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"

 

Here came Percy, the best lying kid in New York. I drew to make everything convincing of the times when I had eaten more cookies than I was allowed to by mom and yet was able to make it seem it was the fault of a rat.

Yeah... mom saw right through it but it was almost perfect. It was just because Mom was very perceptive about stuff and not for any other reason. They were delicious though.

 

"The weather since Christmas has been weird like the sea and the sky are fighting". I began "Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And ... I've also been having these dreams."

 

"I knew it," Grover said. Yeah, It worked. I wasn't joking when I said I was the best.

 

"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.

 

"But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"

 

"Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."

 

I laughed nervously. "A what?". I had to play the fool.

 

"Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives."

 

"Oh," I said.

 

"Zeus's Master bolt," Chiron continued, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."

 

"And it's missing?" They should hire better security in Olympus and stop blaming others for their pitfalls.

 

"Stolen," Chiron said.

 

"By who?"

"By whom," Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher. "By you." I let my mouth fall open.

 

"At least"-Chiron held up a hand-"that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera". That sounded childish and not at all how my dad sounded. It was probably mostly Zeus.

 

"Afterward, Zeus realized his Master Bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly-that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."

 

"But I didn't-"

 

"Patience and listen, child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning". I didn't know this.

 

"Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne".

My dad wouldn't lie to me, right? I thought about the love my dad showed towards me and crushed the doubt beginning to take form in my mind.

 

"The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."

 

"But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!" I wasn't trying to be more convincing or anything. I was this time saying something that I truly thought was true.

 

Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.

 

"Er, Percy ...?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."

 

"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam..." He looked at me as if he actually expected me to remember question thirty-eight.

 

How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't even steal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker party without getting busted. Chiron was waiting for an answer.

 

"Something about a golden net?" I guessed.

 

"Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods ... they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?" If Zeus had always been this way, I can understand how other gods and my dad would have had enough and tried to depose him.

 

"Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offence at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along-the proverbial last straw."

 

"But I'm just a kid!"

 

"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"

 

"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon-my dad-he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?" Zeus wouldn't have to worry about rebellion if he hadn't the habit of throwing lightning bolts at people that haven't been proven guilty I reasoned internally. Maybe Zeus should be cast down from his throne forever.

 

Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief on the same date.

 

I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper". Yeah, another thing I did wrong just by existing I thought.

 

Chiron continued "Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"

 

"Bad?" I guessed.

 

"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."

 

"Bad," I repeated. It really sounded bad. Even though I would have loved nothing more than being with my dad, I wanted to prove for once to the world, to everyone that I wasn't what they thought I was. I was sick and tired of always being blamed when things go wrong.

 

"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.

 

I had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me. I was furious and couldn't hide it anymore.

 

"So I have to find the stupid bolt," I said. "And return it to Zeus."

 

"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"

 

"If my dad doesn't have it, where is the thing?"

"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago ... well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle." I was always told by my mom to always know what something entails before I agree. It sounded sketchy.

 

"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?" I asked. Wouldn't that be easier?

"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."

 

I swallowed. "Good reason." If the goal was to make me agree, he was going in a very weird way.

 

"You agree then?" I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly. Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.

 

"All right," I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin." "Then it's time for you to consult the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic."

 

"When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more." Four flights up, the stairs ended under a green trapdoor that was not ominous at all. Yeah, that was sarcastic if you could not tell.

 

I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place.

 

The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else ... a smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes.

 

I held my breath and climbed. The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armour stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF THE AMAZONS.

 

One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things-severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, and various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD 1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.

 

By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy. Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shrivelled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time. How was I supposed to receive a prophecy if the Oracle was a corpse?

 

Looking at her sent chills up my back. And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth like a demon from the evil dead. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. I stumbled over myself trying to get to the trapdoor, but it slammed shut.

 

Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain: I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask.

 

I wanted to say, No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom. But I forced myself to take a deep breath.

 

I didn't know how I knew but The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, for the power that was now swirling around me in the green mist. But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic math teacher Mrs Dodds or the Minotaur. It felt more like the Three old ladies I'd seen knitting the yarn outside the highway fruit stand: ancient, powerful, and definitely not human. But not particularly interested in killing me, either.

 

I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"

 

The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards. Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies.

 

My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was an illusion, made out of most I repeated to myself. It wasn't real. Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: "You shall go west, and face the god who has turned."

 

His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: "You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned."

 

The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: "You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend."

 

Finally, Eddie, our building super, delivered the worst line of all: "And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end."

 

The figures began to dissolve. At first, I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I yelled, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?" I didn't think that I had other friends except for Grover. Does it mean that he would betray me? Would it be someone else?

 

The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementoes.

 

I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cobwebs too and I wouldn't learn anything else. My audience with the Oracle was over.

 

"Well?" Chiron asked me when I got out of the attic. I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."

 

Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"

 

"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."

 

My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She . .. she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."

"I knew it," Grover said.

 

Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"

I didn't want to tell him. What friend would betray me? I didn't have that many. And the last line-I would fail to save what mattered most. What kind of Oracle would send me on a quest and tell me, Oh, by the way, you'll fail. How could I confess that? Worse, how I could live with myself knowing that I will disappoint my dad?

 

"No," I said. "That's about it."

 

He studied my face. "Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."

 

I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better.

 

"Okay," I said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the West?"

 

"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"

 

"Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.

 

"Yes, quite. Someone who harbours a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided aeons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."

 

I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. "Hades."

 

Chiron nodded. "The Lord of The dead is the only possibility."

 

A scrap of aluminium dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"

 

"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."

 

"Yes, but-but Hades hates all heroes," Grover protested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon... ."

 

"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."

 

"Great," I muttered. "As if it could not have been worse."

 

"But a quest to ..." Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."

 

"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."

 

A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. The desire for revenge. Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the hellhound. It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light. It was his fault my mother had died. Now he was trying to frame me and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed.

I was ready to take him on. Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld ...

 

Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane. You're a kid. Hades is a god but you also have another god on your side a voice in my mind whispered.

 

Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips. The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get his searcher's license, whatever that was, but how could I ask him to do this quest, especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail to save what matters the most to me? This was just suicide.

 

"Look, if we know it's Hades," I told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."

 

"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron replied. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades-and I imagine Poseidon does, they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule". I didn't know this. I was back to square one. If I wanted to face Hades, I would have to find a way to outsmart him to face him out of his domain where I could count on the help of my dad.

 

"Heroes," continued Chiron "on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, and challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"

 

"You're saying I'm being used."

 

"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you."

 

My dad needs me. Maybe before, I would have felt resentful but I was given a choice. My dad needed my help yet gave me the choice to go on the quest or go hide in Atlantis. I only felt at that moment anticipation and anxiety. I wanted to succeed, find the master bolt and like some demigods in the past bring Mom from the underworld but on the other side, I was scared of failing. My failure meant war and devastation. I wasn't the only one at risk here.

 

I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"

 

"I had my suspicions. As I said ... I've spoken to the Oracle, too."

 

I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but I decided I couldn't worry about that right now. After all, I was holding back information too.

 

"So let me get this straight," I said. "I'm supposed to go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead."

 

"Check," Chiron said.

 

"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."

 

"Check."

 

"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."

 

"That's about right."

 

I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts. "Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.

 

"You don't have to go," I told him. "I can't ask that of you.

 

"Oh ..." He shifted his hooves. "No ... it's just that satyrs and underground places ... well..." He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminium bits off his T-shirt.

 

"You saved my life, Percy. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."

 

I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic. Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months. I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.

 

"All the way, G-man." I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."

 

"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America." said Chiron.

 

"Where?" I asked.

 

Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."

 

"Oh," I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane-"

 

"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"

 

I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken me anywhere by plane. She'd always said we didn't have the money. Besides, her parents had died in a plane crash.

 

"Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."

 

Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed as if to confirm Chiron's words.

 

"Okay," I said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, I'll travel overland."

 

"That's right," Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."

 

"Gee," I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?

 

The air shimmered behind Chiron.

Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket. I guess we found the idiot I thought.

 

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of

Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

 

"If you do say so yourself," I said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"

 

Her cheeks coloured. "Do you want my help or not?"

 

The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get even if I didn't forget the fact she set me up with the Ares cabin.

 

"A trio," I said. "That'll work."

 

"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own." Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.

 

"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."

 

scene*

 

When I went back to my cabin, I found on my bed a collar of white pearls with a written note on the side spelling for protection. It felt like my dad and like the waves of the beach of Montauk. I wore it. It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.

 

The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.

 

The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold.

 

Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions, whatever that meant. He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies if we were seriously hurt.

 

It was divine food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.

 

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.

 

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

 

We waved goodbye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, and then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

 

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room.

According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.

 

"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

 

I heard footsteps behind us.

Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."

 

Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.

 

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these." He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal.

 

Luke shouted, "Maia!"

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared. "Awesome!" Grover said.

 

Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." His expression turned sad.

 

I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say goodbye. I'd been afraid he might resent me internally just like all the other campers, that he was just hiding his true feelings behind a mask. But here he was giving me a magic gift... It made me blush almost as much as Annabeth.

 

"Hey, man," I said. "Thanks."

 

"Listen, Percy ..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hope is riding on you. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?"

 

We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a goodbye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.

 

After Luke was gone, I told her, "You're hyperventilating."

 

"Am not."

 

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

 

"Oh ... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"

 

She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys. I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling, the kind you get when passing close to a shadowy alley at night.

 

I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"

 

He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air ... that would not be wise for you."

 

I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

 

His eyes lit up. "Me?"

 

Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch. First step for Grover and maybe in the future, satyrs will be the ones dominating the sky.

 

"Maia!" he shouted.

 

He got off the ground okay but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass.

 

The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

 

"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

 

"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading

toward the van. In a very long future, I thought the satyrs would rule the sky.

 

Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said.

"If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason-they all got more training."

 

"That's okay. You tried something that most of my ex-teachers didn't do when it came to me" I told him.

 

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."

 

He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, and a removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents.

 

"Gee," I said. "Thanks." trying to sound not disappointed.

 

"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."

 

I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art when I'd vaporized Mrs Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could this be ...?

 

I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand.

 

"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

 

"'Riptide,'" I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily.

 

"Use it only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case."

 

I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"

 

"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."

 

"Good to know."

 

"Now recap the pen," he told me.

 

I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, because I was famous for losing pens at school.

 

"You can't," Chiron said.

 

"Can't what?"

 

"Lose the pen," he said as if he had read my mind. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."

 

I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched it disappear into the grass.

 

"It may take a few moments," Chiron told me.

 

"Now check your pocket."

 

Sure enough, the pen was there.

"Okay, that's extremely cool," I admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"

Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."

 

"Mist?"

 

"Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality."

 

Does that mean that everything I thought I was hallucinating had always been real but I was the only one seeing through it like with Miss Ker? It would have been so much better if I knew about all of this before thinking I was going crazy. It made me wonder how many demigods had been sent to mental hospitals or given meds because of something that was real but only they could see.

 

I put Riptide back in my pocket. For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare. I wondered how monsters became tech-savvy. I imagined the minotaur taking an informatics class. ) I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.

 

"Chiron ..." I said. "When you say the gods are immortal... I mean, there was a time before them, right?"

 

"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."

 

"So what was it like ... before the gods?" I asked.

 

Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall". Another reason to dislike Zeus.

 

"Of course," Chiron continued "eventually, the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."

 

"But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So ... even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?" I asked.

 

Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."

 

"Our destiny ... assuming we know what that is."

 

"Relax," Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."

 

"Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed."

When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer camp send-off by your typical centaur.

 

scene*

 

Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were normal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy. I found myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parent's car, every billboard and shopping mall.

 

"So far so good," I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

 

She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."

 

"Remind me again why do you hate me so much?"

 

"I don't hate you."

 

"Could've fooled me."

She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look ... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

 

"Why?" I questioned.

 

She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

 

"They must really like olives, especially with the fact that they're the worst thing except pineapple on a pizza."

 

"Oh, forget it." She grumbled.

 

"Now, if she'd invented pizza that I could understand," I added.

 

"I said, forget it!"

 

In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me.

 

Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan, it was sunset and starting to rain.

 

Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?

 

I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.

 

Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, and then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.

I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, my mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.

 

I grabbed my necklace. I knew what I had to do to make things better. I will find the stupid bolt, save Mom and everything will be alright. I stopped looking in the direction of the apartment where smelly Gabe probably was. I couldn't change my past but I could change my future.

 

I took a step forward followed by Grover and Annabeth in my back.