Chapter 5 Chapter 5 I Play Pinnock with a Horse

I had a strange dream, the dream was full of pasture animals, most of them wanted to kill me, only a few wanted food. I must have woken up several times, but what I heard and saw when I woke up was unreal, so I just continued to fall asleep.I remember lying on a soft bed and being spoon fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn but was pudding.The blonde curly-haired girl was in front of me, giggling as she scraped the drip off my chin with a spoon. When she saw my eyes open, she asked, "What happens on the summer solstice?" I said hoarsely, "What?" She looked around, as if she was afraid that someone would overhear. "What happened? What got stolen? We only have a few weeks left!"

"I'm sorry," I said vaguely, "I don't..." There was a knock on the door and the girl quickly stuffed me with a mouthful of pudding. When I woke up again, the girl was gone. A tall, muscular blond man who looked like a surfer was standing in the corner of the room watching me.He has a lot of blue eyes, at least a dozen.Distribute on cheeks, forehead and back of hands. When I finally got wide awake, nothing weird happened except that everything around me was better than anywhere I'd ever been.I sat in a rocking chair on the large balcony, looking at the grass on the green hills in the distance, and the smell of strawberries in the breeze.I had a blanket over my legs and a pillow behind my neck.Everything is so good, but my mouth feels like a scorpion is nesting, and my tongue is so dry that every tooth hurts.

On the side of the table near me was a goblet of what looked like iced apple cider.There was a green straw in the glass, and a small paper umbrella stuck in maraschino cherries. My hands were weak, and although I was holding the glass, I couldn't exert force, and the glass almost fell. "Be careful." A familiar voice said. Grover leaned against the balcony railing, and it looked like he hadn't let out a week.He carried a shoebox under his arm and was wearing blue jeans, Converse pumps and a dark orange T-shirt that read "Camp Half Blood."The one in front of me is the ordinary good Mr. Grover, not a satyr boy.

Well, maybe I was just dreaming, maybe Mom is okay and we're still on vacation.We're only in this big house for a reason, and... "You saved my life," Grover said. "I... well, at least I can... I'll go back to the hills, I guess you'll want this." He respectfully put the shoebox on my lap. Here is a black and white horn with a broken notch at the bottom, and dried blood is scattered on the tip of the horn.It turned out that this was not a dream. "The Minotaur," I said. "Well, Percy, don't say…" "That's his name in Greek mythology, isn't it?" I checked with him. "Minotao, half man, half bull."

Grover uneasily changed the subject. "You've been away for two days, how much do you remember?" "My mother, she really..." He bowed his head in silence. I looked at the meadow under the blue sky. At the end of the meadow there were small bushes, a meandering stream, and a wide-spread strawberry field.The valley was surrounded by mountains, and the highest mountain, the one with the big pine tree on top, stood right in front of us.The place is beautiful in the sunshine. Mom is gone, the whole world should be dark and cold, nothing should be beautiful. "I'm sorry," Grover sniffed, "I'm a loser, I'm… I'm the worst satyr in the world."

He said sadly, stomping his foot so hard that it came off, I mean, the high shoe came off.The inside of the shoe is filled with Styrofoam, and the top is a hoof-shaped hollow. "Oh, Styx!" he muttered. Thunder rumbled, echoing in the bright sky. As he struggled to pass the hoof into the prosthetic foot, I thought, oh, that's how he's done it. Grover is a shepherd and half-goat (satyr).I bet if I shaved off his curly brown hair, I'd be able to find little horns on his head, but I'm so sad that I don't care about satyrs, or even the Minotaur .All of this tells me that Mom is literally being strangled and melting in the yellow flash.

I'm so lonely, I'm an orphan, who am I going to live with after that?Stinky Gabor?No, never!I'm going to live on the street first, and I'm going to pretend to be seventeen and join the army.I have to do something to survive. Grover was still sniffling, the poor kid, the poor goat, the poor satyr...whatever he was called, he looked in need of reassurance. I said, "It's not your fault." "It's my fault, I should protect you." "Did my mother ask you to protect me?" "No, but that's my job, I'm a Guardian, at least... I used to be."

"But why..." I suddenly felt dizzy, and the scene in front of me was swimming. "Don't think too much," Grover said, "Drink." He holds the cup for me and puts the straw in my mouth. The smell made me cringe, I thought it was apple juice but it wasn't at all.This is a chocolate bean biscuit, liquid, and it is a blue chocolate bean biscuit baked by my mother. It is hot and creamy, and the chocolate bean is a little melted.After drinking it, my whole body feels warm, comfortable and full of energy.My grief didn't go away, but I felt my mother caressing my cheek with her hand, giving me that cookie, as she did when she was a child, and telling me that things would work out.

Although I still don't understand what's going on, I've already finished my drink.I look at the cup.It was obvious that I drank a cup of warm drink just now, but the ice cubes in the cup hadn't melted yet. "Is it good?" Grover asked. I nod. "What does it taste like?" He seemed to want to drink it, which made me a little guilty. "Sorry," I said, "I should let you have a drink." He opened his eyes wide. "Oh, no, I didn't mean that, I was just... curious." "Like a chocolate chip cookie." I said, "My mom made them herself."

He sighed. "So how are you feeling now?" "Looks like you can throw Nancy Popeye a hundred meters away." "It's fine," he said, "it's fine, and you don't drink a drop of that stuff." "What's the meaning?" He carefully took the empty glass from me like it was dynamite, and put the glass back on the table. "Come on, Chiron and Mr.D are waiting for you." The farm buildings are surrounded by corridors on all sides. My feet were still unsteady, and I struggled to walk to the opposite side. Grover helped me tug the Minotaur's horn, but I held on to it.This thing is what I paid for, and in memory of that hard journey, I will not let this thing leave me.

When we got to the other end of the house, I held my breath. This must be the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, you can see the valley connected to the water, and the place is sparkling a meter or two away.Looking around, I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing.It is full of buildings that look like ancient Greek architecture, with pavilions, amphitheatres, amphitheatres, and otherwise, they all look new, with white marble columns gleaming in the sun.In the sandpit nearby, there are twelve kids who look like high school students and sheep boys playing volleyball.Canoe paddling across a lake.There are several huts looming in the woods, and a group of children wearing Grover's orange T-shirts are playing and chasing beside the huts.Some kids shot arrows in the archery range, others rode horses through the wooded paths, and unless I was hallucinating, I did see some horses with wings. At the bottom end of the balcony, two men sat facing each other at a card table.At the poker table was the blonde girl who was spoon feeding me popcorn pudding, leaning against the balcony railing. The man facing me is short and fat, with a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly black hair with a purple sheen. He looks like a child with wings in a painting. What's that called?Poltergeist?No, it's a little angel.Yep, cherub, he looks a lot like a middle-aged cherub walking around a trailer park.Wearing a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt, he looked like a fit for Gabor's poker club, and it felt like even my stepfather could beat him. "That's Mr.D." Grover whispered to me, "He's the battalion commander of the Half-Blood Battalion, so be polite to him. This girl's name is Annabeth Chase, and she's a cadet, but she's been here longer than others. Her student has been here for a long time, and you already know Chiron..." He pointed at the man with his back to me. First, I saw him in a wheelchair, then I recognized his tweed jacket, his thinning brown hair, and his scruffy beard. "Ms. Brunner!" I yelled. My Latin teacher turned his head and smiled at me, with the mischievous expression in his eyes. This expression also appeared in class, that is, when he came to a quiz without warning and gave all the answers to the multiple-choice questions. When set to B. "Ah, Percy, that's good," he said. "There are four of us now, and we can play pinnacle." He opened Mr.D's chair to do it for me. At this time, Mr.D looked at me with bloodshot eyes and sighed heavily. "Oh, sit down, I suppose I should say 'Welcome to Camp Half-Blood,' but don't think I'm really happy to see you." "Well, thank you." I quickly moved away from him.If there's one thing I've learned from Gabor in living with him, it's learning to tell when someone's been drinking.If Mr.D is a teetotaler, then I am a satyr. "Annabeth?" Teacher Brunner called the blond girl. She came over and Teacher Brunner introduced us. "Percy, this lady is in charge of taking care of you and restoring you to health. Dear Annabeth, go and confirm Percy's bed number? We are now placing him in cabin number eleven." Annabeth said, "Okay." She was about my age, maybe five centimeters taller, and looked athletic.With her tanned skin and curly blonde hair, she was exactly what I thought a California girl would be.But her eyes broke this impression, her eyes are a shocking gray, like the dark clouds of a storm, beautiful but scary, it looks like she has completely mastered the battle My best method. She glanced at the horn of the minotaur in my hand, then turned her back to me, and I thought she'd say something like "you killed the minotaur!" or "wow, you're awesome!" . Instead, she said: "You drool when you sleep." Then she ran quickly downstairs onto the lawn, her blond hair flowing behind her. "So," I quickly changed the subject: "Well, Mr. Brunner, do you work here?" "It's not Teacher Brunner." The person who is not Teacher Brunner said, "That's actually a pseudonym, you can call me Chiron." "Okay." I was completely confused, I looked at the battalion commander and said, "Then what does Mr.D... mean?" Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards and looked up at me as if I had just had a loud belch. "Boy, names are powerful, you shouldn't say them casually and use them arbitrarily." "Oh, yes, sorry." "Percy, I gotta tell you," the Chiron Brunner interjected, "I'm glad to see you alive, I've been doing clinics for prospective students for so long, I hate feeling like I'm wasting my time." "A doctor's visit?" "I went to Yancy school to teach you for a year. In fact, we have arranged satyrs in most of the schools. Of course, it is for guarding work. However, after meeting you, Grover informed me that he thought you were very Special, so I decided to go to upstate New York. I believe the original Latin teacher was going to... well, on leave." I try to remember the beginning of the school year, but it seems like a long time ago, and I have only a vague memory of my Latin teacher during my first week at Yancy.Then he disappeared without any explanation, and Mr. Brunner showed up to teach the class. "You went to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked. Chiron nodded. "Honestly, at first I wasn't sure if you were, let's go to your mother and let him know we're taking care of you until you're ready for Camp Half-Blood, but you have a lot to learn before that happens. Yet You did it, you got here, and this is the first experiment." "Grover," Mr.D said impatiently, "do you want to play or not?" "Yes! Sir!" Grover said tremblingly, and he hurriedly pulled the fourth chair away, I don't understand why he was so afraid of this pudgy man in the tiger Hawaiian shirt. "Can you play pinacel?" Mr. D looked at me suspiciously. "I'm afraid not," I said. "I'm afraid not, 'sir,'" he said. "Sir." I repeated, my impression of the battalion commander was getting worse and worse. "Here," he told me, "it's the greatest game ever invented by man, after sword fighting and elf video games, and I hope all 'civilized' young people understand the rules of the game." "I'm sure the kid can learn it," Chiron said. "Please," I said, "what the hell is this place? What am I doing here? Blue... Chiron, why did you go to Yancy school just to teach me?" Mr.D said contemptuously: "I also asked the same question." The battalion commander began to deal the cards, and Grover would say something every time the cards were thrown in front of Grover. Chiron smiled at me with pity, as he did in Latin class, as if he wanted to let me know that regardless of my grades, I was a star student in his eyes, and he expected me to give the correct answer. "Percy," he said, "didn't your mother tell you why?" "She said..." I remember her sad look looking at the sea, "she told me she was afraid to send me here, even if my dad wanted her to. She said that once I got here, I might not be able Leave, she wants to keep me by her side." "Typical," Mr. D said, "They are often killed for this. Young man, have you called yet?" "What?" I asked. He impatiently explained what to do in Pinnacle, and I followed suit. "I think there's just too much to talk about," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual introductory videos won't be enough." "Videos?" I asked. "No need for that," Chiron decided. "Percy, you know that your friend Grover is a satyr," he pointed to the horn in the shoebox, "that you killed the Minotaur, and that was no trick. Maybe you don't know it yourself, boy, but This great power is going on throughout your life, and the gods, the Greek gods you call them, their power is very real and active." I stared wide-eyed at the others at the table. I was expecting someone to yell, "No!" but all I heard was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, K and Q, a set of royal wedding cards, got it! got it!" as he counted himself score, giggling. "Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you don't eat it, can I take your Diet Coke can?" "Huh? Oh, good." Grover was about to unload a large piece of empty aluminum can, chewing less vigorously. "Wait," I said to Chiron, "you're telling me that gods like God exist." "Let's put it this way," Chiron said, "God and gods are completely different things. We don't deal with metaphysics." "Metaphysics? But you just said..." "Oh, there are many gods, these great and immortal gods of Olympus, who hold both the forces of nature and the endeavors of man. But that's not very important." "not so important?" "Yes, it doesn't matter. We have discussed the gods in our Latin class." "Zeus," I said, "Greek, Apollo, you're talking about them." Suddenly it happened again... It was clearly a cloudless sky, but there was thunder in the distance. "Young man," Mr. D said, "if I were you, I would really reduce the number of times I throw those names out of my mouth." "But they're just stories," I said. "They're . "Science!" Mr. D sneered, "Then you tell me, Perseus Jackson," and I flinched when he said my real name, but I didn't tell anyone about it. Mr. D continued: "What will humans think of your so-called 'science' in two thousand years? What? They will say science is primitive superstition, that's all. Oh, I love mortals, they have absolutely no such Knowledge, they think they have the answer now, don't they? Chiron, look at this boy and tell me the answer." I don't like Mr.D very much, but there seems to be something else in his tone when he said that I am a mortal, as if...he doesn't think so.But what he said left me speechless, and I could understand why Grover was so reverently playing cards, nibbling soda cans, and keeping his mouth shut. "Percy," said Chiron, "you can choose to believe it or not, but there is only one truth: gods are gods, and gods exist forever. Take a moment to imagine that they will never die, never grow old, alive as you are now. is eternal." I was about to blurt out, sounds good, but Chiron's tone made me hesitate. "You mean, whether people believe it or not..." I said. "That's right," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, would you like ancient legends that were said to be myths or just to explain lightning? Perseus Jackson, if I said that one day people would say that you exist Just a myth, just used to explain how a little boy overcomes the pain of losing his mother, what do you think?" My heart is pounding, I don't know why, he wants to make me angry, but I won't let him.I said, "Although I don't like it, I don't believe in the gods." "Oh, it's better," Mr. D muttered to himself, "you can't believe it until you are burned to ashes by one of the gods. " Grover said, "Please... please, sir, he just lost his mother and he's terrified." "Lucky too," muttered Mr. D as he began to roll up a card in his hand, "I suck at being sent to do such a miserable job, and work with these unbelieving little boys !" He waved his hand, and a goblet appeared on the table. The sun seemed to be playing suddenly, interweaving air into the glass, and the goblet was automatically filled with red wine.I opened my mouth, but Chiron didn't notice. "Mr. D," Chiron warned, "don't forget your Prohibition." Mr.D looked at the red wine and pretended to be surprised. "Oh," he shouted looking at the sky, "I'm used to it! I'm sorry!" More thunder sounded. Mr.D waved his hand, and the wine glass turned into a can of Diet Coke.He sighed unhappily, snapped the pull-tab away, and returned to his poker game. Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D angered his father before, because he fell in love with a forest elf who shouldn't be loved." "Sylvan," I repeat, eyes still on the Diet Coke like it's from outer space. "Yes," Mr. D admitted, "Father likes to punish me, the first ban was terrible, super horrible ten years! The second time, well, she is really beautiful, I really can't leave. That's the second time he sent me here, right here, Half-Blood Hill, for summer camp for you brats. He told me like this: 'It's better to work with young people than to tear them apart. Much better. 'Ha! That's not fair." Mr. D is like a little kid who is only six years old, pouting his mouth and making himself angry. "Then..." I stammered, "Your father is..." "God!" Mr. D said: "Chiron, I thought you taught him the elementary course, my father is of course Zeus." I searched for names related to Dai from Greek mythology, well, he loves red wine, wears tiger skin, and a satyr works here, plus Grover is afraid of him, as if Mr.D is his Same as master. "You are Dionysus." I said, "Dionysus." Mr. D rolled his eyes: "Grover, what have they been saying all this time? Did this kid use the word 'crap'?" "Yes... yes, Mr. D." "Percy Jackson! Nonsense! Do you think I'm Aphrodite?" "You are a god." "Yes, child." "God, you are a god." Immediately he turned and looked straight at me, with a purple flame in his eyes, and in that flame I saw a hint that this whiny pudgy man was now revealing only the slightest of his true nature.What I saw in his eyes: the unbelievers strangled by vines; the drunken warriors mad with thirst for war; the sailors screaming as their hands became webbed and their faces elongated into the snout of a dolphin.I knew that if I continued to stimulate Mr. D, he would make me experience worse things, he would implant the disease in my brain, and I would be locked in a rubber room and wear a restraint for the rest of my life. "Want to try it, kid?" he said softly. "No, sir, no need." The fire died a little, and he turned back to the cards. "I think I won." "Mr.D, not necessarily," Chiron said, he put down five straight cards, counted the points and said, "This round belongs to me." I thought Mr.D would vaporize Chiron from his wheelchair, but he just sprayed paint from his nostrils, as if he's used to being beaten by his Latin teacher.He stood up, and Grover got up too. "I'm tired," said Mr. D. "I think I'll take a nap before leading the party. But before that, Grover, we have to talk about your erroneous performance on this mission." .” There were beads of sweat on Grover's face. "Yes... yes, sir." Mr.D turned to me and said, "Chalet No. 11, Percy Jackson, pay attention to your manners." He burst into the house, and Grover followed with a miserable look on his face. "Is Grover okay?" I asked Chiron. Chiron nodded, though he looked a little worried. "Old Dionysus isn't really crazy, he just hates his job, it's already for him... well, die hard, I guess you'd say, and he can't stand waiting for one more centuries before being allowed to return to Olympus." "Mount Olympus," I said, "do you mean that there is really a palace there?" "Well, let's put it this way, there is a Mount Olympus in Greece now. It was indeed the residence of the gods and the gathering place of the power of the gods at that time. Because of the respect for the ancient gods, it is still called Olympus now. Lypass Hill. But, Percy, the palace has moved, and so has the god." "You mean the Greek gods are here? In... America?" "Indeed, the gods have moved to the center of Western civilization." "In...in what?" "Percy, think about it, what people say about 'Western Civilization', do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living, real power, a collective awakening that's been caught for thousands of years. God Participate in it, you could even say that the gods are the source, at least they are so attached to it that it is impossible to get out, if they leave, the whole western civilization will be wiped out in one fell swoop. The holy fire started in Greece, and then, like You know it well, I should say I hope you know it, because you passed my class, the core of the holy fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, just changed different names, like Zeus became Zhu Peter, ah Phrodite becomes Venus...wait, but same power, same god." "Then they were forgotten." "Forgotten? No. Is Western civilization forgotten? The gods even migrated to Germany, France, Spain and other places for a short stay. The place where the glory of civilization is the most dazzling is where the gods are. For example, they stayed in England for a few days. century, you only have to look at the architecture to know that the gods have not been forgotten, and they have appeared in paintings, statues, and above all builders wherever they have ruled in the last three thousand years. Percy , yes, of course they are your America now, look at the eagle of Zeus, the symbol of America, the statue of Prometheus at Rockefeller Center, and the Greek facade of your government building in Washington. I think Ask if you can find a city in the US that doesn't feature any of the Olympians. Like it or not, America is now the centerpiece of the Holy Fire, and trust me, a lot of people don't like Rome much either .The great power of the West in the history of the United States, so Olympus is here, and we are here." The load was too heavy, especially since I seemed to be included in Chiron's 'we', as if I were a member of the club. "Chiron, who are you? I... who am I?" Chiron smiles, he shifts his weight as if trying to get up from a wheelchair, but I know that's impossible, he's paralyzed from the waist down. "Who are you?" He said thoughtfully, "Well, that's a question we all want to answer, don't we? But what we have to do now takes you to your bed in cabin number eleven. Got new friends. Lots of class tomorrow, and chocolate marshmallow sandwiches at the campfire tonight, I love chocolate." This is, he actually got up from the wheelchair, but the way he stood up was weird.His blanket fell from his legs, but the legs didn't move, but his waist continued to grow past his belt.At first, I thought he was wearing a long white velvet underwear, but when he rose above the chair, higher than everyone else, I realized that the velvet underwear was not underwear, it was the front of some animal, Muscles and tendons are covered with coarse white hairs.The wheelchair wasn't a chair either, it was a container, a huge box on wheels, and it must have been enchanted, otherwise it couldn't have held his whole body.One of his feet protruded from the box, a long, knuckle-kneed, smooth hoof, then another front foot, then a hip and a hind foot, and finally the box was empty, save for two hanging from the metal casing. Human prosthetic feet. I stared wide-eyed at the horse jumping out of the wheelchair. It was a white horse, but above the neck, it should be the Latin teacher I knew, firmly planted on the horse's body. "It's much easier," said the centaur. "I've been locked in there for so long, my joints are asleep. Now, Percy Jackson, come on, let's meet the other students."