Annabeth Chase and the Titan's Curse

Chapter 4 - Grover runs his mouth off

"You made it!" Grover yelled, looking relieved to see us. "You -"

He noticed the teachers suddenly and he cut himself off. "Oh, Mrs Gottschalk. Dr Thorn! I, uh -"

"What is it, Mr Underwood?" the man demanded, looking at Grover like he'd like to stomp him with his boot like he would an ant. "What do you mean they made it? These students live here."

I could see Grover panicking, but I didn't have any idea what to do, and neither did Percy or Thalia. My hand started to creep to my pocket, where I'd stashed my knife. I knew that it couldn't hurt a mortal, but it was an instinct thing.

"Yes, sir," Grover stuttered. "Of course, Dr Thorn. I just meant I'm so glad they made . . . the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"

I could see that Dr Thorn didn't buy it. His blue eye glinted at us dangerously, while his brown eye looked murderous. I felt sure that he was going to go all military on us when Mrs Gottschalk cut in.

"Yes, the punch is excellent," she sighed dreamily, still under the Mist. "Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again."

"Yes ma'am," I said quickly.

"Yes, sir," Thalia added.

"Thank you, sir," Grover squeaked, trying to hustle us away.

Percy saluted as we walked away, although I doubted it was intended to mock them. He probably thought he actually was part of the military school.

We hurried down the hall, Grover leading us in the direction of the hall. There were even more military ornaments decorating the walls, weapons and armour, including kevlar chest plates and medals. It seemed like the school had a long history. It might even have been an old fort, used for its defenses. I would have loved to stop and study everything, look at how it was built, but we didn't have time. Maybe later, when we weren't on a dangerous mission.

"That was close!" Grover exclaimed as we stopped outside a door that read GYM. "Thank the gods you got here!"

I hugged him. It had been so long since I'd seen him last and I'd missed him.

He'd changed a lot after the long months. He was taller and fitter-looking, the result of living in a military school I supposed. His curly brown hair was longer, covering his horns even if he didn't wear a red cap over them. There were more whiskers on his cheeks, although you could tell by the cuts that he shaved often.

He wore a baggy jeans and shoes to cover his furry goat legs and hoofed feet, like he usually did. He also had a black shirt that said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT.

Thalia hugged him too while Percy gave him a high five. I thought Percy would be a bit more enthusiastic to see Grover, but I guess boys find it hard to express emotion.

"So what's the emergency?" Percy asked.

Grover looked worried. I immediately had a bad feeling about this. I remembered two years ago, when we were on our first quest to find Zeus's master bolt, Grover had thought himself a failure because he thought he was the worst satyr ever and yet he'd managed to find both of the most powerful demigods of the century: Thalia and Percy. Now, somehow, I was starting to feel like he'd found another powerful demigod.

"I found two," Grover said nervously.

"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed. "Here?"

I felt stunned. It was rare to find one demigod, nevertheless two. Demigods weren't as common as some think and it was becoming even harder to find them.

We'd gone on overtime this year, searching for half-bloods. We were losing campers fast and we really needed to boost our numbers. It didn't help that we weren't the only ones out there looking for them. Luke was too, hoping to build up his army of demigods. We had to find them first, before he warped their minds and got them to fight against their parents, the gods.

As much as I didn't like or agree with the gods, I understood that they were a necessity in our world. If they fell, then so did all of western civilization. We couldn't let that happen.

So we'd sent the satyrs on emergency overtime, having them scour schools from fourth grade to high schools. But still, we weren't collecting as many as we'd hoped.

"A brother and a sister," Grover said. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

My bad feeling returned. I swear the powerful demigods were attracted to him. He was a furry demigod-magnet.

"Monsters?" Thalia asked.

"One." Grover looked pale. If he was scared, it was usually a good chance that we should be too. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"

He looked ready to cry, turning to Thalia with a pleading look in his eyes. Thalia stood straighter, pulling her shoulders back and looking like a real soldier. I knew she loved this sort of stuff, especially having others look up to her.

"Right," she said. "These half-bloods are at the dance?"

Grover nodded, looking relieved to be able to hand matters over to someone else.

"Then let's dance," Thalia decided. "Who's the monster?"

Grover went real pale. I thought he'd faint on the spot, he looked that terrified.

"Oh," he said, looking around him nervously, like the monster was about to pop up beside him. "You just met him. The vice-principal, Dr Thorn."