Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Advice from the Poodle

That night, we were really miserable. We camped on wet ground in the forest, about a hundred meters from the main road, and the kids from the neighborhood apparently used to party here because the ground was littered with crushed soda cans and instant food wrappers. We got some food and blankets from Aunt Meyer, but didn't dare light a fire to dry our wet clothes.Nemesis and Medusa already made the day exciting enough, and we didn't want to bring in anything else. We decided to take turns sleeping and I volunteered for the first vigil. Annabeth curled up on the blanket, snoring every time her head hit the floor. Grover wore flying shoes and flew to the lowest branch of the tree, leaning against the trunk and staring at the night sky.

"You go to sleep first." I told him: "If there is any trouble, I will wake you up." He nodded, but still didn't close his eyes. "Percy, I feel so sad." "Why? You mean sign up for this stupid quest?" "No, that's what makes me sad." He pointed to the rubbish all over the floor and said, "And the sky, you can't even see the stars, because they have polluted the sky, for the satyr, it's a disaster." Bad times." "Oh, so. I guess you're an environmentalist." He gave me a glare. "Only human beings are not environmentally friendly. Your species quickly fills up the world... Ah, don't worry, it's useless to talk to a human being. If things continue like this, I will never find Pan."

"Plate? A plate for eating?" "It's Pan!" he yelled angrily. "The great god Pan! Otherwise, why do you think I want to get a profiler's license?" A strange breeze blows away temporarily the stench of trash and filth, bringing a fresh smell, a mix of berries, wildflowers and clean rain, all things that should be in the woods for you.For some reason, I suddenly felt homesick. "Tell me about finding Pan." Grover looked at me cautiously, as if afraid I was just joking. "The god of the field disappeared two thousand years ago," he told me. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesus heard a tragic voice from the shore: 'Tell them the great god Pan is dead!' Mankind Believe the news. Since then, humans have invaded the territory of Pendor. But to satyrs, Pan is our master and teacher, he protects us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he is dead, In every generation the bravest satyrs have vowed to risk their lives to find Pan. They will search the earth and explore all the most primitive wildernesses, hoping to find his hiding place and wake him from his sleep. .”

"So you want to be a profiler." "It's been my life's dream," he said. "My dad was the explorer, and my uncle Ferdinand...that's the statue you see there." "Oh, I'm sorry." Grover shook his head and said, "Uncle Ferdinand knows that this job is dangerous, and so does my father. However, I will succeed, and I will be the first explorer to come back alive." "Wait, you said first?" Grover took the reed flute from his pocket. "Never came back from the investigation, they disappeared as soon as they set off, and never came back alive."

"There hasn't been one in two thousand years?" "No." "And what about your father? You have no idea what happened to him?" "have no idea." "But you still want to go." I was surprised. "I mean, do you really think you'll be the one to find Pendor?" "Percy, I have to believe that I am, and that's what every profiler thinks. It's the only thing that keeps us from despairing as we watch what humans do to the world. I have to believe Pan can still be awakened." I stared at the orange haze in the sky, trying to understand how Grover could pursue a dream with little hope.Then I thought again, is my situation better?

"Then what about our going to the underworld?" I asked him, "I mean, what are the chances of success if we fight against the gods?" "I don't know?" he confessed. "But about Medusa, when you were looking for something in her office, Annabeth told me..." "Oh, I forgot, Annabeth always has a plan." "Percy, don't be so hard on her, she's tough and stubborn, but she's a good person. After all, she forgave me..." His voice trembled. "What did you say?" I asked, "Forgive you for what?" Grover suddenly played the reed flute very attentively.

"Wait a minute," I said, "Your first job as a guardian was five years ago, and Annabeth joined the camp five years ago. Could it be that she was... I mean, your first job something went wrong..." "I can't talk about it," Grover said, his lower lip trembling, and he looked like he was going to cry if I pushed him any further. "I just said that when we were at Medusa, both Annabeth and I felt that there was something a little strange in this search mission, which was different from what it appeared on the surface." "Well, of course, on the surface I was blamed for stealing the Lightning bolt, but in fact Hades took it."

"I'm not talking about that," Grover said. "Those vengeance... Goddesses of Mercy seem a bit reserved, like Yancy's Mrs. Dawes... why did she wait so long to kill you? And on the bus, they didn't Use all your strength." "To me, they've given their all." "They were yelling at us, 'Where is that? Where is that?'" Grover said, shaking his head. "They're looking for me," I said. "Perhaps... but Annabeth and I both felt they were not looking for a person, they were saying 'that', as if they were looking for something."

"That's unreasonable." "I know, but if we misjudge, and we only have nine days left to find the Lightning bolt..." He looked at me, as if hoping for an answer, but I didn't have one. I remembered what Medusa said, I was used by the gods, and what awaited me was worse than turning into stone. "I didn't confess to you," I told Grover, "I don't care about the Lightning bolt. I promised to go to the underworld to bring my mother back." Grover played soft notes on his reed flute and said, "I know, but are you sure that's the only reason?"

"I'm not here to help my dad, he doesn't care about me, and I don't care about him." Grover looked down from the branch. "Listen, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth, and I'm not as brave as you, but I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're actually glad Dad's alive, and you're happy when he recognizes you. Part of you want him to read You're proud, that's why you sent Medusa's head to Olympus, you wanted him to see what you've accomplished." "Really? Maybe a satyr doesn't have the same emotions as a human, because you're wrong, and I don't care what he thinks."

Grover pulled his foot up the branch. "Well, Percy, it doesn't matter." "Plus, I haven't accomplished anything to brag about. We barely got out of New York, and we're stuck here with no money or any way to go west." Grover looked at the night sky, as if thinking about it. "How about I come to watch the night first? You go to sleep first." I wanted to object, but he started playing Mozart, soft and sweet.I turned away, my eyes a little sore, and after a few bars of the Piano Concerto No. 12, I fell asleep. I dreamed that I was standing in a dark cave with a cracked Ken in front of me, and foggy creatures billowed around me, and somehow I knew that these whispering smokes were the spirits of the dead. They tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me back, but I was forced to go forward to the edge of the abyss. Looking down makes me dizzy. The opening of the fissure was wide and completely black, and I knew it must be a bottomless pit.Moreover, I feel that something is trying to climb up from the bottom of the abyss, it is a huge and evil thing. "Little hero," a voice echoed in the depths of the darkness, it said proudly: "Too weak, too young, but maybe you can do it." The sound felt old, cold, and heavy, wrapping me like a sheet made of lead. "They lied to you, boy," said the voice, "Talk with me, and I will give you what you want." A shimmering image stopped at the crack, it was Mom, the moment she melted into golden light.Her face was contorted in pain, as if the Minotaur were still strangling her neck.She looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Go!" I tried to yell, but no sound came out. The cold laughter echoed in the abyss. An invisible force pushed me forward, and if I hadn't stood still, the force would have pulled me into the pit. "Son, help me rise up." The voice became eager, "Give me the Lightning bolt, and strike at the treacherous gods!" Wraiths of the dead whisper around me: "No! Wake up!" The image of my mother begins to fade, and something in the pit tightens its invisible pincers around me. I understand that it is not trying to pull me in, it is trying to use me to pull it out. "Very good." It muttered in a low voice: "Very good." "Wake up!" The dead whispered: "Wake up!" Someone shake me again. My eyes are open, it is daylight. "Oh," said Annabeth, "so you zombie is alive." I was shaking from this dream, and I could still feel the monster of the abyss gripping me in my chest. "How long have I been asleep?" "Long enough for me to make a good breakfast." Annabeth tosses me a bag of cheese-flavored cornflakes from Aunt Meyer's counter. "And Grover just went on an expedition, and you see, he called a friend." My eyes can't focus well. Grover sat with his feet crossed on the blanket, and the furry thing on his lap was a dirty, unnaturally pink stuffed toy. No, that's not a stuffed toy, that's a real pink poodle. The poodle was suspicious and barked at me. "No, he's not," Grover said. I blink. "Are... are you talking to that thing?" The poodle barked. "This thing," Grover warned me, "is our ticket to the west, be nice to him." "Can you talk to animals?" Grover dismissed the question. "Percy, this is Gradiola. Gradiola, this is Percy." I looked at Annabeth and figured she'd have a blast playing me with Grover, but she looked super serious. "I don't say hello to pink poodles." I said, "Stop it." "Percy," said Annabeth, "I've said hello to the poodle. Say hello to the poodle too." The poodle barked loudly. I think the poodle said hello. Grover explained that he ran into Gradiola in the forest by chance, and they chatted.The poodle ran away from the home of a rich man in the area. In order to get him back, the family announced a gift of two hundred dollars.Gradiola didn't really want to go home, but he would if it could help Grover. "How did Gradiola know about the gift?" I asked. "He saw the sign," Grover said. "Bullshit." "Of course it's nonsense." I said, "You treat me like an idiot." "So, we'll send Gradiola back," Annabeth said in her most strategic tone. "We'll get the money, and we'll buy a bus ticket to Los Angeles, as simple as that." I think of my dreams, the whispers of the dead, things in the abyss, and my mother's face when she melted into golden light.These may all be waiting for me in the West. "Don't take the bus anymore." I said cautiously. "No bus." Annabeth agreed. She pointed to the train tracks down the hill, which she couldn't see in the darkness last night. "About 800 meters there, there is the Amtrak train station. According to Gradiola, the westbound train station leaves at noon."