Chapter 21 Chapter 21 I Pay My Bills

It's very interesting how humans put things in their heads, and how they modify things to conform to the so-called real version. Chiron told me about this long ago, and as usual, I didn't marvel at his wisdom then, but I didn't really understand it until much later. According to Los Angeles news reports, the explosion on the coast of Santa Monica was detonated by a deranged kidnapper who swept a police car with a short gun.He accidentally hit a gas line, which had already been ruptured by the earthquake. This crazy kidnapper (aka Ares) was the one who kidnapped me and two other teenagers in New York.He took us hostage for ten days on a horrific trip across state lines.

Poor little Percy wasn't an interstate criminal after all.The commotion he caused on his Greyhound bus in New Jersey was an attempt to escape from his captors. (Witnesses later even swore they did see the man in the leather jacket on the bus. Weird, why don't I remember seeing him?) This crazy man was also responsible for the St. Louis Arch bombing.After all, I want to know how a child could do such a thing.An enthusiastic waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his petites outside the restaurant, and she had a friend snap a picture and notify the police.Finally, while in Los Angeles, brave Percy Jackson (the kid I've grown to like) steals a gun from his captors and duels with shotgun and rifle at the beach.The police arrived at the scene of the crime in time, but there was an explosion and five police cars were destroyed, so the kidnappers escaped.No one was killed at the scene and Percy Jackson and his two friends are currently safe under police protection.

The reporter told us the whole story, and we just nodded, teary-eyed and starving (which is not difficult at all), and played the part of the victimized child in front of the camera. "I only have one thing on my mind," I said, holding back my tears, "I want to see my dear stepfather again. Every time I see him on TV calling me a criminal, a scoundrel, I know... Anyway ...we'll be fine. I know he'll want to thank everyone who lives in this beautiful city of Los Angeles, and he'll be giving away the best-selling electrical products in the store for free, here's his phone number." Police and The reporters were so moved that they used the hat as a container to help us raise funds.We immediately raised money for three plane tickets to New York.

I know I have no choice but to fly back, and I wish Zeus would take care of me a bit and take care of the situation.However, even if you think about it this way, it is not easy to force yourself to get on a plane. Just taking off was a nightmare, every turbulence was far more terrifying than the Greek monster, and I didn't let go of my hand from the armrest of my chair until we landed safely at LaGuardia Airport in New York.The local press was waiting for us to come out of security, but we managed to escape, thanks to Annabeth, who distracted them with her invisible Yankee hat.She yelled, "They buy yogurt over there! Come on!" and met us in the luggage area.

When we arrived at the taxi stand, we split up.I want Annabeth and Grover to go back to Half-Blood Hill first and tell Chiron about it.They were adamantly against it, and it was a difficult decision to let them go first after all we had been through together, but I knew I had to do the last part of the search on my own.If something goes wrong, if the gods don't believe me... I want Annabeth and Grover to go back alive and tell Chiron the truth of the whole thing. I hopped in a taxi and headed for Manhattan. Thirty minutes later, I walked into the first-floor lobby of the Empire State Building.

I must have looked like a homeless street kid, all torn and bruised.No way, I haven't slept for at least twenty-four hours. I went to the guard at the guard desk in front and said to him, "The six hundredth floor." He was reading a thick book with a picture of a wizard on the cover.I'm not familiar with fantasy books, but this one is obviously a good one, because the guard didn't look up at me until a while later. "Boy, there is no such floor." "I need an audience with Zeus." He smiled absently at me. "Sorry, what did you say?" "You heard me."

I'm almost treating this guy like a mortal, and if so, I'd better run away before he tells someone to take me to a mental hospital.But at this time he said: "Boy, you can't meet without an appointment. Zeus doesn't accept people who come suddenly." "Oh, I think he'll make an exception this time." I slid the backpack off my shoulders and unzipped it. The guard saw the metal cylinder in the backpack, he froze for a few seconds, and then his face turned pale. "that is not……" "Yeah, that's it." I said, "You want me to leave with my stuff and..."

"No! No!" He hurriedly jumped up from his seat, took out a proximity card from the table and handed it to me. "Insert this thing into the security jack, first make sure no one else is taking the elevator with you." I asked him to talk and do it.When the elevator doors closed, I put the card in the jack.The card disappeared, and a red button on the 600th floor appeared on the operation panel. I press the button, wait, and wait. Radio music is playing, singing: "The raindrops keep falling on my head..." Finally, with a sound of "Ding!", the door slid open.I stepped out of the elevator and my heart almost jumped out.

I'm standing on a narrow stone walk that hangs in midair.I am now looking down at Manhattan from the height of the plane.The white marble stairs in front of me meandered in Yunfeng Mountain, and the sky was at the end of the stairs. Although my eyes had already seen the end of the stairs, my brain could not accept the scene in front of me. There can't be such a place, look at it, my mind said. I really saw it, my eyes answered firmly.That place is really there. At the top of the cloud rose a mountain peak covered with snow.Dozens of high and low palaces are built along the hills, forming a city full of mansions. All the houses have colonnades of white columns, gilded terraces, and the fires in thousands of bronze braziers are burning blazingly.The road winds with an exaggerated slope to the top of the hill, where the largest palace is, dazzlingly shining against the snow, and the gardens on the perilous heights are densely planted with olive trees and roses.I saw a souk filled with colorful huts.There is also a stone amphitheater on one side of the hill, and on the other side a chariot race and amphitheatre.This is an ancient Greek city, but there is no sign of ruin at all.It is new, clean and colorful, and this is what the city of Athens must have looked like 2,500 years ago.

This place can't be here, I tell myself.How could this mountain top hang like a 100-million-ton planet over New York City?How could something like this be parked over the Empire State Building, right in front of millions of people, and not even a single one of them noticed? However, it is indeed here, and I am also here. My trip to Olympus was one of wonder and trance.I pass chattering woodland elves throwing olives at me from the garden.Bazaar vendors hawked God's Food sticks, brand new shields, and shiny replicas of the Golden Fleece, the same ones I'd seen on Hephaestus TV.Nine muses are tuning for a concert in the park, where a small audience gathers, satyrs, water elves, and a group of good-looking teenagers, probably lower-ranking celestial beings Bar.No one seems to be worried about the impending innards.In fact, everyone seemed to be in a good mood, and a few turned to watch me pass, whispering to each other.

I ascended the main road and walked towards the largest palace on the top of the hill.This palace has the same shape as the palace of Hades, but the color is completely opposite.Everything in the Underworld was black and bronze, but here it shone white and silver. I know that Hades must have imitated this place to build his own palace. Except for the winter solstice, he is a refusal of Olympus, so he built a personal Olympus underground.Although I have a bad impression of him, I still feel slightly sorry for him.To be exiled from this palace is really unfair and painful for anyone. At this point I have stepped into the central courtyard, and across the courtyard is the Throne Hall. Just "hall" is an imprecise term, because the place makes Grand Central look like a broom closet, with its huge columns supporting a domed ceiling with slowly shifting constellations. The twelve thrones were arranged in an inverted U shape, like the configuration of the half-blood camp huts, and the size seemed to be specially made for a god as tall as Hades.In the center of the Throne Hall was a great furnace, its flames crackling and burning.Except for the two thrones at the end, the other thrones are empty.One is the headed throne, on the right, and the other is immediately to the left of the headed throne.I don't need anyone to tell me, I know who these two gods are sitting there waiting for me to move forward.I walked towards them, my feet shaking. The two gods now look like tall humans, like Hades, but I can't look directly at them.I felt like my whole face was flushed, and my body seemed to be burning.Zeus, the king of the gods, is dressed in dark blue pinstripes and sits on a simple white gold throne.He had a neatly trimmed beard of marble gray and cloud black, and his handsome face was pompous and commanding, and his eyes were rainy gray.As I approached him, I heard a thin crackle in the air and smelled fresh air. The Celestial sitting next to him was undoubtedly his brother, but in a completely different attire, reminding me of the big waves off the coast of Key West.He wears strappy leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts and a top covered in coconut and parrot patterns.His skin was dark brown, and he had the hand of an old fisherman, covered with scars.He has black hair like mine and has the same brooding look that has often led me to be labeled a rebel.But then his sea-green eyes, like mine, surrounded by sun-like ripples, gave the message that he was smiling happily. His throne is in the style of a deep-sea fisherman, with simple cartouches, black leather cushions and fishing rods in holsters.In addition to the fishing rod, there is also a bronze trident in the leather case, the tip of which is shining with green light. The gods didn't move or speak, and there was tension in the air, as if they had just finished an argument. I went forward to the Fisherman's Throne and knelt at his feet. "Father." I didn't dare to look up, my heart was pounding, and I could feel the energy emanating from the two gods.If I say the wrong thing, they will blow me up. Zeus' voice came from my left, saying, "Little boy, shouldn't you greet the owner of this house first?" I still bowed my head and waited. "Calm down, brother." Poseidon finally spoke, his voice evoking my oldest memory.That warm light when I was a baby, the feeling of God putting his hand on my head."The boy obeyed his father, and rightly so," he said. "Do you still want to recognize him?" Zeus said in a threatening tone: "You declare that this is the father of the child, and you admit that you have violated our solemn oath!" "I admit I made mistakes," Poseidon said, "but now I want to hear from him." did wrong. Something is choking my throat.Am I just that to him?is a mistake?The result of a god's mistake? "I've already bypassed him once." Zeus said dissatisfiedly: "How dare you fly in my airspace... Crack! I should shoot him down from the sky and punish him for his arrogance." "At the risk of destroying the Lightning bolt together?" Poseidon said calmly, "Brother, let's listen to what he has to say first." Zeus complained for a while longer. "I will listen," he said resolutely, "and then I will decide whether to throw this little boy from Olympus." "Percy," said Poseidon, "look up at me." I did, but I'm not sure what I saw on his face.There was no look of love or approval on his face, nor was there any sign of encouragement.Like looking at the sea, some days you can see its mood, but most of the time, it is mysterious and unfathomable. I feel like Poseidon really doesn't know what to do with me, whether he should be happy to have a son like me.Oddly enough, I'm glad Poseidon is so distant from me, if he tries to apologize, or say he loves me, or smiles at me, it's too contrived.I also don't want to see him make flimsy excuses for not being able to spend time with his kids like a normal human dad.But as it is now, I can get on with my life, after all, I'm not quite sure how I feel about him either. "Son, tell Zeus." Poseidon said to me, "Tell him about you." So I told Zeus everything about me.I took out the metal cylinder and it began to spark before the god, and I placed it at Zeus' feet. There followed a long silence, only the faint crackle of the fire in the air. Zeus opened his palm, and the Lightning bolt flew into his palm.When he made a fist, the metal tip flashed with lightning, and then the thing in his hand gradually took the shape of a typical lightning. It was a lightning javelin about 600 meters long, and the hissing energy made my hair stand on end Woke up. "I feel the boy is telling the truth." Zeus murmured, "But Ares would do such a thing, it's really... not like him." "He was arrogant and impulsive," Poseidon said. "Our whole family was like that." "Your Highness?" I said. Together they said, "What is it?" "Aris didn't act alone, there was another...another to help him out." I describe my dreams, and what I felt at the seaside, that fleeting evil that seemed to stop the world for an instant, causing Ares to refrain from killing me. "In the dream," I said, "the voice told me to take Lightning bolt to the underworld, and Ares also said that he had a dream. I think he was being used to start a war just like me." "So you're accusing Hades?" Zeus asked. "No." I said, "Your Highness Zeus, I have met Hades. It is completely different from the feeling at the seaside. The feeling at the seaside is the same as when I approach the abyss. Isn't that abyss the entrance of Tartarus?" ? There is a powerful and evil force at work... older than the gods..." Poseidon and Zeus looked at each other, they discussed this fiercely in ancient Greek, and I only understood one word: father. Poseidon made some sort of suggestion, but Zeus cut him off. Poseidon wanted to continue the argument, and Zeus raised his hand angrily. "Let's not talk about this anymore," Zeus said. "I must go myself and purify the Lightning bolt with water from Lhamnos to wash the human smell off the metal." He stood up and looked at me with a slightly relaxed expression. "Son, you did me a favor that few heroes can do." "Your Highness, I actually have helpers." I said, "Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase..." "To express my gratitude, I will spare your life. Percy Jackson, I don't trust you, and I don't like to affect the future of Olympus because of your arrival. But for the sake of family harmony, I will let You live." "Well... Your Highness, thank you." "No more unauthorized flights. When I return, I don't want to see you still here, or you'll get a taste of the Lightning bolt, and that will be your last perception." Thunder shook the palace, and after a blinding flash of lightning, Zeus disappeared. I stand in the throne room alone with my father. "Your uncle," Poseidon sighed, "has a talent for dramatic exits. I think he would be a great drama god." There was an uncomfortable silence. "Your Highness," I said, "what is in the abyss?" Poseidon looked at me and said, "Haven't you guessed it?" "Cronus," I said, "King of the Titans." Even in the Throne Room of Olympus, far from Tartarus, the name of Kronos dimmed the room momentarily, and even the fire behind me seemed less warm. Poseidon gripped the trident tightly. "Percy, in the first war Zeus cut our father Cronus into a thousand pieces, just as Cronus did his father Uranus. Zeus threw the body of Cronus To the darkest abyss of Tartarus. The armies of the Titans are scattered, their castle on Mount Etna is destroyed, and their monster allies hide in the farthest corners of the earth. The Titans will not die, even the gods Nor could they die. Whatever form Kronos left behind, he was still alive, hidden somewhere, still conscious of his eternal pain, still hungry for power." "He's recovering," I said. "He's coming back." Poseidon shook his head and said: "From generation to generation, across the eons of time, Kronos has been disturbing. He entered the nightmare of mankind, made mankind imbibe evil thoughts, and awakened restless monsters from the depths. Even so, it is another matter to say that he can come out of the abyss." "That's exactly what he wanted to do, Father, he said so." Poseidon was silent for a long time. "On this issue, Zeus has terminated the discussion. He will not allow any talk of Kronos. You have completed the search, son, and your work is over." "But," I paused, arguing won't change anything, and might annoy the only god on my side. "One...do it all, father." There was a hint of a smile on his lips, "For you, obedience is not in your nature, is it?" "Your Highness, it's not..." "I think I have to take some responsibility for this, because the sea doesn't like to be restrained." He stood up at his original height, picked up the trident, and then changed into the height of an ordinary person in the flash, and walked in front of me. "Son, you should go, but before that, you should know that your mother has come home." I stared at him with wide eyes, completely transfixed. "Mother?" "You'll see her at home. She was sent home as soon as you returned the rudder to Hades. Even Hades would have returned your favor." My heart was pounding and I couldn't believe it was real. "Are you... May I please..." I wanted to ask Poseidon if he would go and see her with me, but then I realized that the idea was absurd.Just imagining getting in a taxi with Poseidon and taking him to the Upper East Side is exaggerated.Besides, in these years, if he wants to see his mother, he can go by himself.Also, there's a smelly Gabor in there. There was a little sadness in Poseidon's eyes. "Percy, before you get home, you must make an important decision. There will be a package waiting for you in your room." "A package?" "You will understand when you see it, Percy, no one can decide the future path for you, you must choose for yourself." I nodded, although I didn't know what he meant. "Your mother is the queen of women." Poseidon said affectionately: "I have never met such a mortal woman in the past thousand years. I still want to say... child, I am sorry that I gave birth to you. Brought to you is the fate of the hero, and the fate of the hero is never happy, nothing but tragedy." I try not to feel hurt.In front of me was my dad, telling me he was sorry for having me. "Father, I don't mind." "Maybe you just haven't started to mind," he said. "Just haven't started. But as far as I'm concerned, it's an unforgivable mistake." "Then, I'll leave first." I bowed awkwardly to him, "I...I won't bother you anymore." I turned and walked five steps, and this is him yelling, "Percy." I turn back. The light in his eyes was very different, it was a kind of blazing pride. "Percy, you've done a good job, don't get me wrong. Whatever you do, understand that you belong to me, you are the true son of Sea God." On my way back, I passed through the city of the gods.The conversation stopped, the Muse paused the concert, and the crowd, the satyrs, and the water elves all looked at me with respect and gratitude.They all fell to their knees as I passed, like I was a hero. Fifteen minutes later, still in a trance, I was back on the streets of Manhattan. I hailed a taxi and went straight to my mother's apartment and rang the doorbell.She was really there, my beautiful mother, smelling of peppermint and salty licorice, and when she saw me, the tiredness and worry instantly faded from her face. "Percy! Oh, thank God! Oh, my darling." She hugged me tightly.We stood on the porch and she ran her hands through my hair while weeping. I'll admit... I'm a little teary eyed too, and I'm shaking.The moment I saw her, I immediately felt relieved. She said that when she first showed up at the apartment that morning, she almost scared Gabor into a fool.She could not remember what happened after the Minotaur.She couldn't believe it when Gabor told her I was a wanted man, that I'd gone from coast to coast and blown up national monuments.She's been worrying like crazy all day because she hasn't heard from me.Gabor forced her to go to work quickly, telling her to go to work quickly to make up for a month's salary that was missed. I swallowed my anger and told her what had happened.I'm trying to make the process sound less scary, but it's not going to be easy.When I talk about fighting Ares, Gabor's voice comes from the living room: "Hey, Sally! Is the patty ready?" She closed her eyes and said, "Percy, he won't be too happy to see you. There were about half a million calls to the store from Los Angeles today, all about free electrical appliances." "Oh, yes, that..." She forced a smile. "Don't mess with him again, okay? Let's go." In the month I've been gone, the apartment has become Gabor's domain.Rubbish piled ankle high, couches turned into beer can cushions, smelly socks and underwear hanging from lampshades. Gabor and his three obnoxious friends are playing poker at a table. When Gabor saw me, the cigar fell out of his mouth, his face redder than lava. "You still have the guts to come here, you little bastard, I want the police..." "He's not a fugitive," Mom interrupted. "Gaber, isn't that great?" Gabor, looking back and forth at us, didn't seem to think it would be a great thing for me to be home. "Sally, this sucks, and I have to get your insurance money back." He growled, "Give me the phone, I'm going to call the police." "Gaber, don't!" He raised his eyebrows and said, "Is it okay if you say no? Do you think I will continue to put up with this idiot? I will take the blame for breaking Cameron on his head." "But……" He raised his hand, and my mother flinched. This was the first time I knew Gabor would hit my mom.I don't know when it started or how many times it happened, but I'm sure he has.Or maybe it's been around for years when I'm not around her. A pang of anger started to swell in my chest, and I walked over to Gabor, instinctively pulling my pen out of my pocket. He laughed. "What? Little idiot, do you want to write on me? As long as you touch me, you will stay in prison forever, understand?" "Hey, Gabor," interrupted his friend Eddie, "he's just a kid." Gabor looked at him angrily, and imitated him in falsetto, "Just a kid." His friends laughed like fools. "You son of a bitch, please be merciful to you." Gabor showed his teeth yellowed by the smoke, "I'll give you five minutes to get out with your things, otherwise, I'll call the police." "Gaber!" Mom begged him. "He ran away from home anyway," Gabor told her, "just keep him missing." I was so angry that I wanted to take off the cap of Bo Tao's pen, but it didn't work.This sword cannot be used on humans, and Gabor is, by the loosest definition, human. Mom grabbed my arm. "Please, Percy. Come on, we're going to your room now." I let her pull me away, but my whole hand was still shaking with anger. My room is completely cluttered with Gabor's junk, a pile of used car batteries, a rotting sympathy bouquet with a card that looks like it's from someone who's seen an interview with Barbara Walters. "Honey, Gabor is just a little upset," Mom said. "I'll talk to him later, and I'm sure it can work out." "Mom, things won't work out, as long as Gabor is around, there's no way to work it out." She twisted her fingers nervously, "I can... this summer, I will bring you by my side at work, and then in the fall, I might help you find another boarding school..." "mom." She lowered her eyes and said, "Percy, I'll try, I just...need some time." A package appeared on my bed, and I swear it wasn't there just now. Q This is a scuffed cardboard box, big enough to hold a basketball, with my words on the address strip: 600th Floor, Empire State Building, New York, New York Gods of Mount Olympus wish everyone Percy Jackson There is neat handwriting written in black pen on the top, which should be a boy's handwriting, with the address of our apartment written on it, and a few other words: Return to sender. At this moment, I understand what Poseidon said in Olympus. One package, one choice. "No matter what you do, you must understand that you belong to me, and you are the real son of the Sea God." I look at mom. "Mom, do you want Gabor to leave?" "Percy, it's not easy, I..." "Mom, I just want you to tell me the truth, that villain keeps beating you like this, do you want him to leave or disappear?" She hesitated, then nodded slightly with an almost imperceptible movement. "Percy, yes, I want him to go, and I'm trying to find the courage to tell him. But, you can't do this for me, you can't solve my problems." I look at the box. I could solve her problem by slashing open the package, slapping it onto the poker table, and taking out the contents.I can start a statue garden, right in the living room. That's what Greek heroes do in stories, I thought, and that's what Gabor deserves. But stories of heroes always end in tragedy, Poseidon told me. I remember things in the underworld.I think Gabor's ghosts will wander forever in the Sunland, or they may be sentenced to a barbed wire prison to receive horrible punishments, such as endless poker games, or sitting on waist-high boiling oil Listen to opera.But do I have the right to send anyone there?Even someone like Gaber? A month ago, I wouldn't have hesitated, but now... "I can do it," I told my mother, "just look into this box and he'll never bother you again." She glanced at the package and seemed to understand right away. "Percy, no," she said, walking away, "it can't be like this." "Poseidon said you were a queen." I told her, "He said he has never met a woman like you in the past thousand years." Her cheeks flushed, "Percy..." "Mom, you deserve a better life than you have now. You should go to college and get a degree. You can write novels and maybe meet a nice man again and live in a nice house. You don't have to fight to protect me anymore. Gabor lives with him, so let me help you get rid of him." She wiped tears from her cheeks. "You talk like your father," she said. "He used to stop the waves for me and build me a palace under the sea. He thought he could solve the problem with a wave of his hand." "What happened?" Her colorful eyes seemed to be in my mental searcher, "Percy, I think you know, I think you are as good as I am enough to understand this. If my life has any meaning, I have to live it on my own. I I can't let the gods take care of me, and I can't let my son take care of me. I have to... find the surge by myself, and your search task has awakened me." We listened to the sound of poker being played, swearing, and ESPN on the living room TV. "I'm going to keep the box." I said, "If he threatens you..." She was pale, but she nodded. "Percy, where are you going?" "Hill of Half-Blood." "This summer, or... forever?" "I think it depends on the situation." We made eye contact and felt like we had reached a consensus.We all know what to expect at the end of the summer. She kissed my forehead and said, "Percy, you're going to be a hero, you're the greatest." For the last time, I looked around my bedroom, thinking I would never see it again, and then I walked up to the front door with my mom. "How fast, you son of a bitch?" Gabor called after me, "Finally free." At the last moment, I was still a little skeptical, a little bit painful.How could I turn down such a perfect opportunity for revenge?I was getting out of here, and I didn't save Mom. "Hey, Sally," he yelled. "Where's my meatloaf?" With intense anger burning in Mom's eyes, I thought maybe I'd left her a good helper after all, and that was hers. "Meatloaf is coming, honey," she told Gabor. “The meatloaf is a big surprise.” He looked at me and blinked. When the door closed, the last thing I saw was Mom staring at Gabor, as if contemplating what kind of garden statue he was going to be.