Through Annabeth's Mind: Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief (Annabeth's POV)

12) Mission Impossible: Make Percy Think

We all waited in silence, anxiously. Percy appeared on one side of the porch.

"Well?" Chiron asked him.

He slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. The color drained from his face and looked shaken, the twinkle of his sea-green eyes gone. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen."

I looked at him, uncertain. Grover sat forward in his chair, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"

"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important."

Percy hesitated, "She... she said I would go west and face the god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."

"I knew it," Grover said. What he didn't know and what I realized was that he wasn't telling us something, or he was lying. That made me both angry and nervous. What if we were destined to fail? No, that couldn't happen. Chiron wouldn't let us go if he knew we didn't have a chance of coming back or retrieving the bolt.

Chiron looked at Percy. "Anything else?"

"No," he lied. "That's about it."

Chiron studied him. "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," he gulped. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"

I thought it was pretty obvious.

"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. Yes, Percy, think, for once in your life, I thought, annoyed.

"If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"

"Somebody else who wants to take over?" he guessed.

"Yes, quite. Someone who harbours 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."

The voice from the dream.

"Hades," he finally replied.

Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility."

A scrap of aluminum fell from Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"

"A Fury came after Percy," Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades."

"Yes, but – but Hades hates all heroes,' Grover protested. 'Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon..."

"A hellhound got into the forest," Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it 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."

"Great," Percy muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me."

"But a quest to..." Grover swallowed. I was feeling the same way, even though I knew where we had to go from the beginning. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in someplace 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."