The Riptides: Percy's Sister (Percy Jackson And The Olympians)

Book One, Chapter Ten 1.10

It didn't take us long to pack. Percy left his Minotaur horn, I left my backpack (I am not going to dirty that thing again) which only left us with an extra change of clothes and toothbrushes to stuff in extra backpacks Grover found for us.

The camp store loaned us a hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.

Chiron trotted behind us. "The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. The coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions." He gave Annabeth, Percy and I each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares. "These are only to be used in emergencies, if you are seriously hurt. It is god food," he reminded us. "It could cure you of almost any injury, but it is lethal to mortals. Too much of it could make a half blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn you up, literally. And remember, no cell phones. They are traceable by monsters; if you use one, it would be worse than sending up a flare."

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap. "It was a twelfth birthday present from my mom." She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in ancient Greek, to read when she got bored and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green Rasta style cap. I guess he was like Dean, when he didn't wear his cap and it rained you could the tips of his horns. Grover's bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday," both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

We waved goodbye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean and the Big House, then hiked up Half Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

Dean came trotting up the hill. "Molly, wait!"

I turned. "Hm?"

"I can't let you leave without a means of defense." He took my hand and gave me a dagger.

"Won't I get busted if I go through a metal detector?"

"No, celestial bronze can't be sensed by metal detectors. You need it. Trust me." He insisted. "I've been a keeper long enough to know that you always need a weapon. It's done me a lot of good on my scouts, hope it does you just as much."

"Thanks Dean. I'll learn to use it." I put it in my hoodie pocket.

He hugged me and trotted back down the hill.

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the infirmary. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra eyes on his hands, face and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron introduced. "He will drive you into the city and er, well, keep an eye on things."

I heard footsteps behind us.

Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes. Not exactly my style and they looked too big for me anyway.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told us. "And I thought... um, maybe you could use these."