Percy Pov
The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three. I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all my own activities, call "lights out" whenever I felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.
And I was absolutely miserable.
Just when I'd started to feel accepted, to feel I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid - or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood - I'd been separated out as if I had some rare disease.
Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back. The attack scared everybody. It sent two messages: one, that I was the son of the Sea God; and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill me. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.
The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible except for the apollo cabin and aphrodite cabin as they have trust in Amara. Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so my lessons with Luke became one-on-one.
Well, Amara also stayed close and trained with me and luke. Even became a better fighter and helped give me and Luke a challenge in her alien forms.
He pushed me harder than ever and wasn't afraid to bruise me in the process.
"You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."
Annabeth once taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I'd just poked her between the eyes. Amara got annoyed and argued with Annabeth that she stopped teaching greek and she walk away muttering to herself: "Quest . . . Poseidon?. . Dirty rotten . . ". Amara took over with her alien Grey Matter and she taught better and more fun and even helped me learn more on the mythology of not only greek but roman.
Chiron approved of her teaching after seeing one of her lessons. Many campers joined in her lessons and even most athena campers agreed with her teachings. She made it interesting yet fun.
Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear but I am not sorry for what she said about Amara
I knew somebody at camp still resented me, because one night I came into my cabin with amara and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the New York Daily News, opened to the Metro page.
Amara read the article out to me and she tore it in anger and those them into the trash.
BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT
BY EILEEN SMYTHE
Sally Jackson and her son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle has broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.
Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.
Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past. Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.
The phone number was circled in black marker.
" Percy just ignores this....gabe is a dick and whoever sends this is also one. Your mom is out there...safe...." Amara said. Safe...not dead...she knows I can feel mom is alive and she believes me. " Want me to stay?" she asked and I nod as Ship hops onto the second bed. Amara took that bed as I flop onto my own bed
"Lights out," I told myself miserably.
That night, I had my worst dream yet. I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance. About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green. They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked, and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.
I had to stop them. I didn't know why. But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back until I was running in place, my heels digging uselessly into the sand. Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, Give it back! Give it back! Like a kindergartner fighting over a toy.
The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, and spraying me with salt. I yelled, Stop it! Stop fighting! The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice.
Come down, little hero, the voice crooned. Come down!
The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. My feet slipped, and darkness swallowed me.
I woke up, sure I was falling. Amara had woked me saying I was having a nightmare
Amara's Pov
After calming percy from the vision he got...well we got. i too have a feeling he dreamed what I dream. It was daytime but it was cloudy in the sky
I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.
"Come in?"
Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you...oh, Amara...there you are...well he wants to see both."
"Why?" Percy asked
"He wants to kill ... I mean, I'd better let him tell you."
Percy looked nervous and I hold his hand to calm him. I gave him a smile which made him smile. We both got ready and headed to the big house.
Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. Percy asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.
"No," he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."
Percy pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"
He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."
I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley.
But this storm . . . this one was huge.
At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs.
Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.
Grover, Percy, and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on our first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing against invisible opponents - two sets of cards hovering in the air.
"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity and Amara tennyson the mortal champion."Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to bow to you just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."
A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.
"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said. But when he looked at me glaring his eye soften in worry and fear as a mortal was in the mess of the gods and this mortal has the most powerful beings by her side.
Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clipping back and forth.
"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm...not I will do that" he quickly said at my glare
Chiron looked at me and looked relieved as I have percy under my protection.
Dionysus said. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Peter Johnson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do. Amara tennyson, do not do what his water boy will do if he takes Chiron's choice "
Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A security pass.
He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.
Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy and Amara, please. And Grover."
We did.
Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.
"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"
Just hearing the name made Percy shudder and I held his handChiron probably wanted him to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast.
"It scared me," He said. "If Amara had not stabbed it with her alien diamond head, I'd be dead....hey that rhymes" I looked at him with a serious look. " But it scared me as it tried to kill amara"
"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."
"Done . . . with what?"
"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"
I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.
"Um, sir," Percy said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."
Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."
Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together. "Poseidon and Zeus," I said. "They're fighting over something valuable . . . something that was stolen, aren't they?"
Chiron and Grover exchanged looks. Percy looked at me and understood what is happened
Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"
I coughed and spoke "The weather since Christmas has been weird like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to End in my dream sleep, and he'd overheard something about a theft. Even Luke said he took heard about a thief And . . . I've also been having these dreams of men fighting."
" So have I...the last one..."Percy said
"I knew it," Grover said.
"Hush, satyr," Chiron ordered.
"But it is his quest!" Graver's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be and if Amar is dreaming those as well she must be in on this quest!"
"Only the Oracle can determine." Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Amara and Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt."
Percy laughed nervously. "A what?"
"Do not take this lightly," Chiron warned. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives."
"Oh."
"Zeus's master bolt," Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers."
"And it's missing?"
"Stolen," Chiron said.
"By who?"
"By whom," Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher. "By you."
My mouth fell open.
"At least" - Chiron held up a hand - "that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly - that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."
"But I didn't-"
"Patience and listen child," Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief."
"But Percy never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!" I said " It must be some hero who knows about Olympus and where the bolt is. Percy only knew about his family for a few days. I knew the bolt missing for the Chaos and Balance told me before I came to camp and met Percy."
Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.
"Er, Amara" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."
"Perhaps paranoid," Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam. ..." He said "Yeah...Poseidon, Hera, and a few other gods trapped Zeus in a golden net and promised to free him if he promised to be a better ruler...but that didn't work," I said
"Correct," Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along - the proverbial last straw."
"But I'm just a kid!" Percy said
"Percy," Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you. . . . Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"
"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon - my dad - he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"
Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief on the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like?"
"Bad?" I guessed.
"Imagine the world in chaos. Nature is at war with itself. Olympians were forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight."
"Bad," I repeated.
"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath."
It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky. Percy is furious. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of him. I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb and he looked at me with a worried smile
"So I have to find the stupid bolt," Percy said. "And return it to Zeus."
"What better peace offering," Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"
"If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"
"I believe I know." Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago . . . well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle."
"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"
"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge."
I swallowed. "Good reason."
"You agree then?"
We looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly. Easy for him. Percy was the one Zeus wanted to kill. He looked at me and I smile. He nods and turns to Chiron.
"All right," Percy said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."
"Then it's time you consulted the Oracle," Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more." I was about to go with him but Chiron stopped me.
" Not you amara....maybe one day but this is percy quest so he must ask" Percy hesitated to let go of me "It's ok percy I am waiting right here...go" he slowly let go of my hand and head up to the oracle.
Percy Pov
As I arrived and met the mummy oracle I asked. I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"
The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me. Suddenly there were Five people standing in front of me. Their faces became clearer. I saw from the left Grover, Luke then Mrs. Dodds, my mom, and finally in the center Amara. It was an illusion, made out of the mist.
Grover turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.
Luke looked at me and said in the same voice: You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned...
Amara spoke and said: through the battle of wars and stars.
Mrs. Dodds looked at me then said pointing at the mist Amara: She shall be betrayed by one who calls her friend.
Finally, Mom delivered the worst line of all: And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.
The figures began to dissolve. At first, I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend will hurt Amara? What will I fail to save?"
The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos.
Amara pov
"Well?" Chiron asked percy as he came back and sat next to me.
percy said, "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."
Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"
"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."
"She . . . she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned through the battle of wars and stars." Percy said
"I knew it," Grover said.
Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"
"No," Percy said. "That's about it." Percy gripped my hand tight. I looked at him worried he was hiding something.
Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."
"Okay," Percy said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the West?"
"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"
"Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.
"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken."
percy said "Hades."
Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."
A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"
" No that can't be Chiron.....Hades already ruling the underworld. why does he want to double his work and take over the sky? why after so long he wants to rule the whole world? that is not right look Fury came after Percy but went after me as she saw how suspicious I was as I came midway into school. I have a feeling what the oracle means is that whichever god we met west is the god who turned ." Chiron looked and contemplated what I said
"Yes, but - but Hades hates all heroes," Grover protested. "and hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and they had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest."
But that is weird the dog tried to kill me not percy "or the spy works for someone else and uses Hades' name to hide who is really behind it"
"Great," Percy muttered. "That's two major gods or one major god and a mysterious person who wants to kill me."
"But a quest to . . ." Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year."
"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt," Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth."
Why will they not believe me, among all gods hades is one of the better gods. I have a feeling the god we face comes from the third like but there are several gods of war major and minor. I know stars mean me...ad I was the only one with lady nyx's blessing allowing Zeus and a few gods to fear harming me to avoid lady NYX's wrath.
Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips.
"Look, if we know it's Hades," Percy told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."
"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades - and I imagine Poseidon does - they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, and challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"
"You're saying I'm being used."
"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you."
his dad needs percy. I looked at Percy who is confused about his emotions. I kept rubbing my thumb on his hand.
Percy looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"
"I had my suspicions. As I said . . . I've spoken to the Oracle, too."
He looked at me and sighed "There were a lot of clues Percy it was easy to figure out but I had to be sure" I said
"So let me get this straight," Percy said. "I'm supposed to go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead or maybe another god"
"Check," Chiron said.
"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe."
"Check."
"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days."
"That's about right."
We looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts.
"Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.
"You don't have to go," Percy told him. "I can't ask that of you."
"Oh . . ." He shifted his hooves. "No . . . it's just that satyrs and underground places . . . well . . ."
He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his T-shirt.
"You saved my life, Percy. If ... if you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down."
"All the way, G-man." Percy smiled and I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west."
"Wait amara you are not comi..." "Percy the third line through a battle with war and stars. Stars..is me. since I am blessed by lady Nyx. I am the person who fights against war so you need me in this quest and I am not taking a no. I am more of an experienced hero than you Percy"
He wants to argue back but Chiron cuts off"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America."
"Where?"
Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles."
"Oh," Percy said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane - "
"No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?" Percy said no.
"Percy, think," Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive."
Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.
"Okay," Percy said "So, I'll travel overland."
"That's right," Chiron said. "Three companions may accompany you. Grover is one. Amara is the second no matter what we say. The other has already volunteered if you will accept her help."
"Gee," I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"
The air shimmered behind Chiron.
Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket.
"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, Percy Jackson," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up. "
"Yeah no Amara is the smarts of the group so that role is taken," Percy said glaringly. He is still mad
Her cheeks colored. "Do you want my help or not?" " Like I say Amara is smart even your siblings agreed she is the smart as them. I think we need a thief to get a stolen item back. Sorry Miss but we are taking someone who is experienced in questing and stealing. I wish for Luke to join"
"You can't be serious! you need me!" Annabeth said but Chiron stops her "It's his choice Annabeth, this is his quest. Grover informs Luke to get packed" Grover nods and leaves and so does Annabeth mad
"A quadrat," I said. "That'll work. and you think I am smart?"
"shut up," Percy said but I saw him blushing and I giggled.
"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."
Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.
"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."