Chapter 9 Chapter 9 Assignment of tasks

The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three. I don't have to compete with others for space anymore, and now I have a lot of space to put my luggage.My luggage amounted to a Minotaur corner, a change of clothes, and a toilet-bag.During dinner time, I can sit at the exclusive table and freely choose the activities I want to do. I can shout "turn off the lights" as long as I want, without cooperating with others at all. But I am in total bewilderment. Just when I was beginning to accept that Cabin Eleven was my home and that I was supposed to be just an ordinary kid, an ordinary half-breed, I should say, I was quarantined as if I had acquired some rare disease.

No one mentioned the Cerberus thing, but I think they were talking behind their backs.This attack scares everyone and shows two messages: one, I am the son of Poseidon and two, the monsters will never stop chasing me, and they can even invade camps that have always been considered safe . The other students tried to stay as far away from me as possible, because seeing my actions against Ares and the guys in the forest made the people in Cabin 11 very nervous and did not dare to take the swordsmanship class with me.So now it's me and Luke one-on-one. He's much stricter than before, and he's not afraid to hurt me in the process.

"You need full training, you can do it," he assured as we practiced with our swords and lit our torches. "Now let's try Snake Blow again, practice fifty times." Annabeth still teaches me ancient Greek every morning, but she seems a little distressed.Every time I say a few words, she will have a bitter face, as if I just punched her in the face. After class, she'd leave talking to herself, "Finding missions...Poseidon?...that sucks...I have to plan..." Even Cressa kept her distance, though her malevolent eyes still clearly conveyed that she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear.How much I want her to yell at me or punch me hard, I'd rather fight with her every day than be ignored.

I know someone in the battalion is very upset with me because I went into the cabin one night to find a paper from the outside world dropped on the porch, a photocopy of the New York Daily, with the Subway edition open.This article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more words floated across the page. Bizarre car accident so far The whereabouts of the boy and mother remain a mystery (Eileen Smithson/Reporting) Sally Jackson and her son Percy are still missing a week after they mysteriously disappeared.The 1988 Cameron they were driving was badly burned.When the car was found on a road in northern Long Island last Saturday, the roof was cracked and the front axle was broken. The whole car overturned and slid about 100 meters before the explosion.

The mother and son were scheduled to spend the weekend in Montauk, but they left in a hurry for unknown reasons.A small amount of blood was found in the car and near the scene of the accident, but there were no clues of the missing Jackson mother and child.Residents of the farm said they did not see anything unusual at the time of the accident. Ms Jackson's husband, Gabriel Ariano, alleges that his stepson Percy Jackson was a troubled student who had been expelled from numerous boarding schools and was violent. Police have not identified Percy as a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but have not ruled out his scheme.Below are photos of Sally Jackson and Percy.Police urge the public to call the Crime Stoppers toll-free line immediately if they have any information.

The phone number is circled in black fancy pen. I crumpled up the newspaper and threw it away, then dumped it on the bed in the middle of the empty cabin. "Turn off the lights." I said painfully to myself. That night I had the worst nightmare ever. During the storm, I ran along the beach.There was a city behind me in the dream, but it wasn't New York.The composition of the city is different, with buildings far apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance. From the waves about a hundred meters from the shore, two men were fighting.With beards and long hair, they looked a lot like wrestlers and muscular men on TV.They were all dressed in flowing Greek robes, one in blue, the other in green.They wrestled, wrestled, kicked, and headbutted, and every time they wrestled, lightning fell, the sky grew darker, and the wind blew.

I had to stop them, but for some reason, the harder I ran, the more the wind pushed me back, and when I finally stopped, my heels were digging meaninglessly in the sand. In the roar of the storm, I heard the man in blue yell at the man in green: "Give me back! Give me back!" It was like two kindergarten kids fighting over a toy. The waves are getting bigger and bigger, beating the shore violently, and the splashing waves hit my face, which tastes like salt. I yelled: "Stop! Stop hitting!" The earth shook, and laughter came from somewhere underground.Then there was a voice, so deep and sinister that my blood froze.

"Come down, little hero." The voice whispered: "Come down!" The sand cracked beneath my feet, a rift opened to the center of the earth, I slipped and slipped, and the darkness swallowed me. I woke up and the feeling of falling down was real. I'm still lying in bed in Cabin Three, my body clock telling me it's morning, but it's still dark outside, and the thunder rumbles across the mountains.A storm is brewing, and I'm not dreaming. I heard a sound of hooves at the door, a hoof was beating on the threshold. "Please come in?" Grover came running in quickly, worried. "Mr. D is looking for you."

"why?" "He wants to kill...I mean, it's better for him to tell you himself." I was nervous to get dressed and go with him, I must be in big trouble. In the past few days, I have a little expectation in my heart to be summoned by the main house.I am now declared to be the son of Poseidon, and he is one of the three gods, and it is decided that there should be no mixed-race children. I understand that even if I am alive, it is a sin. The other gods may be discussing the best way to punish my existence, and now Mr.D is preparing to announce their sentence. Over the Long Island Sound, with the sky churning like boiling ink and a drizzle of rain beating our way, I asked Grover if he needed an umbrella.

"No," he said, "it won't rain here unless we want it." I point to the storm clouds. "So, what is that?" He glanced uneasy at the sky. "That would skip us, as bad weather always does." I know he is right.During the week I've been here, not a single cloud has crossed the sky here, and I've only seen a few clouds go around the edge of the valley. But this storm... looks violent. On the volleyball court, the children of Apollo's hut are having a game of ball with satyrs; the twins of Dionysus are walking in the strawberry field, letting the plants grow.Everyone was doing their usual work, but everyone was nervous and their eyes were fixed on the storm clouds.

Grover and I went upstairs to the front balcony of the main house, where Dionysus sat at the poker table, wearing a tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt and holding a Diet Coke, the same as it had been on my first day. Chiron sits across the table in a fake wheelchair.They were playing against two invisible opponents, and two sets of cards stopped in mid-air. "Oops!" Mr.D said, but didn't look up at me, "Our little celebrity." I am waiting. "You can get closer," Mr. D said, "Mortal, don't think your dad is that barnacle beard, I will kowtow to you." Lightning flashes webbed through the clouds, and thunder rumbled and shook the windows of the main house. "Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!" Dionys said. Chiron pretended to focus on his cards, and Grover said something physically, leaning against the rail, pacing his hooves back and forth. "According to my method," Dionys said, "I should let your cells breathe out fire by themselves, and then clean up the ashes, so that all troubles can be avoided. However, Chiron seems to think that this is against me. The task of the battalion is to protect you little troublemakers from harm." "Mr.D, spontaneous combustion is also considered an injury." Chiron interjected. "Nonsense," Dionysus said, "little boys don't take it seriously, but I agree to control myself a bit, that's all right, I'll turn you into a dolphin and send you back to your father." "Mr. D—" Chiron warned him. "Okay, okay." Mr. D's tone became much more relaxed. "There is no other choice, but this is super stupid." Dionysus stood up, and the invisible player's cards fell on the table. "I'm going to Olympus for an emergency meeting, and if I come back with this kid still around, I'll turn him into a bottlenose dolphin of the Atlantic, understand? And, Perseus Jackson, if you still With a bit of brains, you'll know it's smarter to choose to be a dolphin than to do what the Chiron and the like will tell you." Dionysus picked up a card, twisted it, and the playing card turned into a rectangular plastic card.Is it a credit card?No, it's a passport. He snapped his fingers. The air around him seemed to warp, warp, and then he became a point of laser light, and a gust of wind appeared, and he was gone, leaving the air only the smell of freshly squeezed grapes. Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and stressed. "Percy, please sit down, and Grover also sit down." We sat down. Chiron put the cards in his hand on the table, he just didn't show the winning set. "Percy, tell me," he said, "what did you do to the Cerberus?" Just hearing the name makes me shudder. Chiron probably wants to hear me say, "Well, that's fine, I ate Cerberus for breakfast." But I'm not going to lie. "I'm afraid of it," I said. "I'd be dead if you hadn't shot him." "Percy, before you complete your mission, you'll encounter stronger, more difficult monsters." "What task did you complete?" "Of course it's a job search, are you willing to accept it?" I glared at Grover, who folded his fingers. "Well, teacher." I said, "What is it that you haven't told me yet?" Chiron grimaced, "Oh, the hardest part to explain is the details." Thunder rumbled across the valley, and the storm clouds were now drifting to the shore, and as far as the eye could see, the sky and the sea were boiling at the same time. "Poseidon and Zeus," I said, "they were arguing about something important... and that thing was stolen, is that so?" Chiron and Grover exchanged glances. Chiron sat on the wheelchair and leaned forward, "How do you know?" My face was hot, I wish I hadn't had such a big mouth just now. "Since Christmas, the weather has become very weird, like the sea and the sky are in everyone, and when I chatted with Annabeth later, she said that she overheard about the theft, and... I also had this dream .” "I knew it," Grover said. "Shh, satyr," Chiron ordered. "But, this is his search mission!" Grover was very excited, his eyes lit up, "It must be!" "Have to ask the oracle to determine this." Chiron smoothed his horse's mane. "Having said that, Percy, you're right that your father and Zeus are in the middle of the worst feud in centuries. They're fighting over the theft of something important, and to put it bluntly, the Lightning bolt." I laughed out loud. "what?" "Seriously," Chiron warned me, "I'm not talking about the foil-wrapped lightning-shaped prop that you find in second-rate stage shows. It's a cylinder sixty centimeters high, cast in the highest grade of Celestial bronze , both ends are filled with god-level explosives." "Oh." "The Lightning bolt of the god Zeus," Chiron said more and more excitedly, "is the symbol of his power and the prototype of all lightning. In order to fight against the Titans, the first weapon that the Cyclops helped Zeus forge was the Lightning bolt. The bolt came off the top of Mount Etna and hurled itself at Kronos to dislodge him from his throne. A mortal hydrogen bomb is a small firecracker compared to what a Lightning bolt packs." "Is it gone?" "Stolen," said Chiron. "Who was stolen?" "It's 'stolen by someone'." Chiron corrected my grammatical mistakes. He is really a teacher for a day and a teacher for life.He said, "It was stolen by you." I was so surprised that I couldn't close my mouth from ear to ear. "At least," said Chiron, holding up a hand, "that's what Zeus thought. On the day of the winter solstice, the most recent meeting of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon got into an argument, at first just bickering as usual, talking about Rhea Mom always likes you the most, and air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters. Then Zeus found that his lightning fire was missing, and it was blatantly stolen from the throne room. He immediately blamed Poseidon. In fact, since ancient times The law of the gods prohibits a god from stealing another god's symbol of power with his own hands, so Zeus thinks your father sent a half-breed to steal it." "But I didn't..." "Hear me out, son," said Chiron. "Zeus has good reasons for doubting your father. The Cyclops' forge is under the sea, which gives Poseidon some influence over the Cyclops who helped Zeus make the Lightning bolt. Zeus believes Poseidon took the Lightning bolt and secretly instructed the Cyclops to build an illegal counterfeit arsenal to usurp the throne of Zeus. The only thing Zeus can't be sure of is which half-blood Poseidon found to steal it. Now Poseidon publicly announces that you It's his son, and you've been in New York all winter, so you could easily sneak into Olympus. So Zeus believes he's found the thief." "But I've never been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!" Chiron and Grover looked at the sky nervously, the clouds surrounding us did not dissipate as Grover said, but poured directly into the valley, sealing us inside like a coffin lid. "Uh, Percy...?" Grover said. "We don't use the word 'crazy' for a god." "Maybe it's paranoia." Chiron said, "Let's continue. Poseidon tried to force Zeus to abdicate before, and I'm sure this paragraph is question thirty-eight on your final exam..." He looked at me as if he really wanted to I remember the title of the thirty-eight questions. How could anyone accuse me of stealing the weapons of the gods?I'd even get caught stealing a slice of pizza at Gabor's poker party. Chiron is waiting for my answer. "You mean about the gold net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Sheila, and a few other gods... They seem to have set a trap to catch Zeus and make him promise to be a better ruler, or else they won't let him out, right?" "Correct," said Chiron. "Since then, Zeus no longer trusts Poseidon. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the Lightning bolt because it would amount to a felony charge against him. The vehicle has been arguing back and forth for months, threatening to fire War. And at this time, you appeared, which was the last straw as the saying goes." "But, I'm just a child!" "Percy," Grover interjected, "suppose you're Zeus, and just when you think your brother is plotting to overthrow you, he suddenly admits he's broken his post-World War II oath and declares himself the father of a half-breed People may be used as weapons by him to deal with you... If it were you, would you misunderstand your brother?" "But I didn't do anything. Poseidon...my dad, he didn't really steal the Lightning bolt did he? No?" Chiron sighed and said, "Most sane onlookers would agree that it is not Poseidon's style to steal. But Poseidon is too conceited to explain to Zeus. Zeus demanded that Poseidon return the Lightning bolt before the summer solstice, which is June The 21st, ten days from now. Poseidon also asked Zeus to apologize on the same day for falsely accusing him of being a thief. I hope peaceful diplomacy will work, and Sheila, Demeter, and Hestia are all willing to help The two brothers regained their sanity, but your appearance made Zeus's anger explode. Now these two gods have no intention of backing down, unless someone can intervene to mediate, or get the lightning back to Zeus before the summer solstice, otherwise, War is inevitable. Percy, do you know what a total war looks like?" "Is it bad?" I guessed. "Imagine the world in utter chaos, where nature itself is at war, and the gods of Olympus are forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction, massacre, millions of deaths, Western civilized world becomes a battlefield, war On a scale that would make the Trojan War as insignificant as water polo." "That's really bad," I said. "And you, Percy Jackson, will be the first to be retaliated by Zeus." It started to rain, and the players on the volleyball court stopped in late autumn, dumbfounded, and stared at the sky quietly. I bring this storm to Half-Blood Hill.Because of me, Zeus will punish the entire battalion.I am furious. "So my mission is to find that stupid Lightning bolt," I said, "and return it to Zeus." "What could be more peaceful than to have the son of Poseidon return the property of Zeus?" said Chiron. "Where is this thing if Poseidon is gone?" "I'm sure I know." Chiron's expression became serious. "I got a prophecy a few years ago... Well, I got some reasonable clues from it. But before I tell you, you must officially accept this search mission , you must seek the advice of the oracle." "Why can't you tell me where the Lightning bolt is first?" "I'm afraid that once you say it, you'll be too scared to accept the challenge." I gulped. "What a good reason." "So, you agreed?" I look at Grover, who nods encouragingly. It's easy for him, I'm the one Zeus is going to kill. "Okay," I said, "it's better than being a dolphin." "Then, now is the time for you to ask the oracle." Chiron said, "Percy Jackson, go upstairs, to the attic. If you are still sane when you go downstairs, we can talk again." Up four flights of stairs, at the end of which is a green trapdoor. I pulled the rope, they opened down, and a wooden ladder clanged into place. Warm air coming from above, smelling like moldy rotten wood, and another smell... I remember smelling it in biology class.It's reptiles, the smell of snakes. I held my breath and climbed up the ladder. The attic is full of old equipment of Greek heroes: the standing armor is covered with cobwebs, the once shiny shield is covered with rust, and an old leather suitcase is marked with the island where Isaka and Sisi live. , Amazon label.One table is stacked with glass jars full of infusions: severed furry paws, giant yellow eyes, and other parts of monsters.On the wall hung a dusty trophy that looked like the head of a giant snake, but with horns and the teeth of a shark.The sign reads: Hydela's Head, No. 1, Woostack, New York, 1969. By the window, sitting on a wooden three-legged stool, was the most terrible antiquity—the mummies.It was not an Egyptian mummy with strips of cloth wrapped around it, but a woman's body, shriveled and shriveled into a skin.She wore a tie-dyed sundress with several beaded chains around her neck and a turban covering her long black hair.The skin of her face was thin and malleable, attached to the skull; the eyes were smooth white slits, as if the original eyes had been replaced by marble.He must have died a long, long time ago. Looking at her sent a chill down my spine.Suddenly she sat up straight and opened her mouth.A puff of green smoke poured down from the mummy's mouth, coiled like thick curly hair on the floor, and instantly hissed loudly, as if 20,000 snakes were making a sound together.I stumbled until I reached the trapdoor, but it slammed shut.A voice slipped from one ear into my head and echoed in my head: "I am the god of Delphi, the seer of Apollo, and the murderer of the giant snake Pison. Come here, seeker, ask .” I really wanted to say, "No, thanks, I went to the wrong room, I was actually looking for the bathroom." But no, I forced myself to take a deep breath. The mummy didn't come to life, she was a vessel for some eerie power that now swirls around me in green smoke.But the power doesn't feel evil, like Dawes, the demonic math teacher, or the Minotaur.They are more like the three goddesses of destiny who hook wool from the fruit stand beside the main road. They are ancient and powerful, and they are definitely not human beings.And this force doesn't seem very interested in killing me. I mustered up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?" The fog was thickening, gathering in front of me and around the table where the pot of pickled monsters stood.Suddenly, four men appeared sitting around a table, playing poker.Their faces became clearer and clearer, it was Stinky Gabor and his gang. I clenched my fists tightly, although I knew that the game was not real, it was an illusion, created by the fog. Gabor turned his head and said the oracle in a piercing voice: "You will go west to face the transformed god." The guy to his right looked up and said in the same voice, "You're going to find what was stolen and watch it come back safely." The man on the left discards two playing cards and says, "You will be betrayed by a man who calls you a friend." Finally, Eddie, the caretaker of our house, delivered the worst of all: "And in the end, you'll fail to save the most important." The human form begins to dissolve.I was too startled to speak at first, and then, as the mist rolled into a giant green snake and slid into the mummy's mouth, I snapped back and yelled, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What Will it fail?" Mist's tail disappeared into the mummy's mouth, and her body fell back, leaning against the wall.Her mouth was tightly closed, as if she hadn't opened her mouth in a hundred years.The attic fell into silence again, forgotten by everyone, except for the whole house of antiquities, there was nothing else. I don't think it's possible to know a little bit more even if I stand here until my body is covered in cobwebs. The matter of asking the oracle is over. "How?" Chiron asked me. I slumped into a chair with money at the poker table. "She said I would get back what was stolen." Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the rest of the Proposal Coke can. "awesome!" "What's the full word of the oracle?" Chiron stressed. "That's important." My ears are still buzzing with the reptile's voice. "She... she said I would go west, to face the shape-shifting Titan, and that I would retrieve the stolen thing and see it returned safely." "I knew it," Grover said. Chiron seemed dissatisfied and said, "Is there anything else?" I don't want to tell him. That friend will betray me?I don't have many friends. And the last item, I will fail, not save the most important.What kind of oracle is this, assigning me tasks and saying to me, "Oh, by the way, you're going to fail." How can I say it? "No." I said, "That's it." He scrutinized my expression carefully. "Percy, very good, but you must know that the words of the oracle usually have double meanings, so don't think too much about it. The truth is always unclear until it actually happens." I think he knew I was withholding some bad news, so tried to make me pay off a little. "Okay," I said eagerly, "so where do I go? Who is this God of the West?" "Ah, Percy, think about it," said Chiron, "if Zeus and Poseidon spent each other's strength in war, who would benefit from it?" "Want to replace Dekami?" I guessed. "Exactly. That god is resentful, that god has been displeased with his luck from eons ago when he divided the world, that god's kingdom will grow in strength as millions die, that god hates his brothers for forcing He vowed not to have mixed-race children again, but the two brothers broke that vow." I think of my dream, that evil voice coming from the ground.I said, "Hades." Chiron nodded and said, "Hades is the only possibility." Some shards of aluminum cans fell out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait, what... what?" "There is a Nemesis following Percy." Chiron reminded him, "She observed this little boy, and after confirming his identity, she started to kill him. Nemesis only obeys the orders of one god, that is Hades." "That's true, but... maybe it's because Hades hates all heroes," Grover argued. "Especially after he found out that Percy was Poseidon's son..." "The Cerberus went into the forest," Chiron went on, "but that thing can only be summoned from the prison of the underworld, and it must be summoned by someone in the camp, so Hades must have a spy here. Hades must assume Poseidon's going to let Percy clear his name, so he's desperate to kill the little half-blood before he goes on a quest to find him." "Great." I muttered to myself, "There are two great gods who want to kill me." "But going..." Grover swallowed. "I mean, wouldn't Lightning bolts be in Maine or something? Maine is pretty good this season." "Hades sent his minions to steal the Lightning bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid the Lightning bolt in the Underworld, and fully expected Zeus to blame Poseidon. I can't say I can fully guess Hades' motives, either. I don't know why he chose this time to start the war. But one thing is certain, Percy must go to the underworld to find the Lightning bolt and reveal the truth." A strange flame burns in my body.The weirdest thing was that it wasn't a feeling of fear, but an anticipation, a desire for revenge. Hades has tried to kill me three times so far, sent Furies, Minotaurs, and Cerberus; he caused my mother to disappear into the spotlight, and now he's going to frame my father as a thief.In fact we never did that at all. I am ready to confront him head-on. Also, adding to Mom's words in the underworld... There's still a little part of my brain that's awake that tells me, "Wow, boy, you're just a kid, and Hades is a god." Trembling with fear, Grover started eating his cards like potato chips. The poor kid has to go on the hunt with me so he can get his scout's license.No matter what license it is, how can I ask him to take this mission, especially after the oracle has told me that I am doomed to fail.This is suicide. "Well, since we already know Hades did it," I said to Chiron, "why don't we tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon can go to the underworld and arrest the leaders." "Doubt and certainty are two different things." Chiron said: "Besides, even if other gods including Poseidon suspect what Hades said, they can't retrieve the Lightning bolt by themselves. Because unless invited, gods can't cross the realm of other gods, This is another ancient law. However, half-blood heroes have certain privileges. They can go anywhere and challenge any god, as long as they are bold and strong enough. They are not born to be responsible for the actions of half-blood heroes. Why do you think Are the gods manipulating the world through humans?" "It was you who said I was being used." "I mean, it's no surprise that Poseidon is asking you for this now. It's been a difficult adventure, yes, but he's in danger, and he needs you." My dad needs me. Emotions churned through my body like shards of glass rolling in a kaleidoscope.I don't know whether to be resentful or grateful; to be happy or angry. Poseidon ignored me for twelve years, and now he suddenly needed me. I look at Chiron. "You knew I was Poseidon's son from the beginning, didn't you?" "I have doubts, just like I said... I only found out after asking the oracle." I have a feeling he's withholding a lot of the prophecies he's heard, but I'm determined not to bother with that right now, after all, I'm withholding some information too. "So, let me clear things up," I said, "I'm going to the underworld to fight Pluto." "That's right," Chiron said. "To find the strongest weapon in the universe." "That's right." "Then bring it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, within ten days." "correct." I looked at Grover, who was gobbling down the ace of hearts. "Did I just mention that Maine is great this season?" he asked wearily. "You don't have to go." I told him, "I can't ask you to go." "Oh..." His hooves twitched on the ground, "No... just satyrs and the underworld..." He took a deep breath, stood up, and slapped the playing cards and aluminum can shards off his T-shirt. "Percy, you saved my life. If... if you really want me to follow, I won't let you down." I felt very moved and wanted to cry, although I don't think it's very heroic. Grover is the only friend I've ever had for more than a few months.I'm not sure how a satyr would be of any help when fighting Pluto, but knowing he's willing to be with me makes me feel better. "So, Commander," I turned to Chiron, "so where are we going? The oracle only says west." "The entrance to the underworld has always been in the west. Like Olympus, it moves every era. Of course it is also in the United States now." "Where?" Chiron looked surprised, "I think this is obvious enough, the entrance to the underworld is in Los Angeles." "Oh sure," I said, "so we'll just get on the plane..." "No!" Grover screamed. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever flown on a plane in your life?" I shook my head, embarrassed.Mom never took me on a plane, she always said we had no money, and also, because her parents died in a plane crash. "Percy, think about it," Chiron said. "You are the son of the god of the sea, and your father's enemy is Zeus, the king of the sky. Your mother knows it's best not to let you in the plane. Once you enter the airspace of Zeus, you No way to get off the plane alive." Suddenly there was lightning above us and thunder rumbled. "Okay," I decided to ignore the storm, "so we're going overland." "Correct," said Chiron. "You can have two companions go with you. Grover is one of them. The other has already volunteered, if you are willing to accept her assistance." "Huh," I said in feigned surprise, "who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a search like this?" There was a flash of light in the air behind the Chiron. Annabeth emerged, tucking her Yankees cap into her back pocket. "I've been waiting for this quest for a long time, Kelphead," she said. "Athena doesn't care about Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to help you not screw things up." "Since you dare say that," I said, "I guess you've got plans, smart girl?" Her cheeks flushed and she said, "Do you want my help?" The truth is, I want, I need all the help I can get. "A trio." I said, "It's doable." "Very well," said Chiron. "You'll be taken to Manhattan Station this afternoon, and you'll be on your own after that." There was lightning and the grass was poured with torrential rain. It was unexpectedly bad weather. "No more time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should go pack." -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- --