Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief

I Am Offered a Quest

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: theMinotaur horn, one set of spare clothes and a toiletry bag. I got to sit at my owndinner table, pick all my own activities, call 'lights out' whenever I felt like itand 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 andI 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 talkingabout it behind my back. The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages:one, that I was the son of the Sea God; and two, monsters would stop at nothingto 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. Cabin eleven wastoo nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks inthe woods, so my lessons with Luke became one-on-one. He pushed me harderthan ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise me up in the process.'You're going to need all the training you can get,' he promised, as we wereworking with swords and flaming torches. 'Now let's try that viper-beheadingstrike again. Fifty more repetitions.'Annabeth still 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 betweenthe eyes.After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: 'Quest...Poseidon?... Dirty rotten... Got to make a plan...'Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear shewanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear. I wished she would just yell orpunch me or something. I'd rather get into fights every day than be ignored.I knew somebody at camp resented me, because one night I came into my cabinand found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a New York DailyNews, opened to the Metro page. The article took me almost an hour to read,because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page. 

BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT

 BY EILEEN SMYTHE

Sally Jackson and 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 Islandroad with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded forseveral hundred metres before exploding.Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, undermysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene ofthe wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural areareported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.Ms Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubledchild who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violenttendencies in the past.Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, butthey have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Policeurge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.

The phone number was circled in black marker.I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bedin the middle of my empty cabin.'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 behindme. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart,palm trees and low hills in the distance.About a hundred metres down the surf, two men were fighting. They lookedlike TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greektunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green. They grappled with each other,wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightningflashed, 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 windblew me back, until I was running on the spot, my heels digging uselessly in thesand.Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at thegreen-robed one, Give it back! Give it back! Like a kindergartner fighting over atoy.The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt.I yelled, Stop it! Stop fighting!The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and avoice 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 centre ofthe earth. My feet slipped, and darkness swallowed me.I woke up, sure I was falling.I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it wasdark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn'tdreamed that.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.''Why?''He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you.'Nervously, I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble.For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House. Now that Iwas declared a son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren'tsupposed to have kids, I figured it was a crime for me just to be alive. The othergods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing, andnow Mr D was ready to deliver their verdict.Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. Ahazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed anumbrella.'No,' he said. 'It never rains here unless we want it to.'I pointed at the storm. 'What the heck is that, then?'He glanced uneasily at the sky. 'It'll pass around us. Bad weather alwaysdoes.'I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even beenovercast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of thevalley.But this storm... this one was huge.At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morninggame against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberryfields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normalbusiness, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm.Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat atthe pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just ashe had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. Theywere playing against invisible opponents – two sets of cards hovering in the air.'Well, well,' Mr D said without looking up. 'Our little celebrity.'I waited.'Come closer,' Mr D said. 'And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal,just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father.'A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows ofthe house.'Blah, blah, blah,' Dionysus said.Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing,his hooves clopping back and forth.'If I had my way,' Dionysus said, 'I would cause your molecules to erupt inflames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chironseems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep youlittle brats safe from harm.''Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr D,' Chiron put in.'Nonsense,' Dionysus said. 'Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I'veagreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead,sending you back to your father.''Mr D –' Chiron warned.'Oh, all right,' Dionysus relented. 'There's one more option. But it's deadlyfoolishness.' 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 Iget back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? AndPerseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensiblechoice than what Chiron feels you must do.'Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plasticrectangle. A credit card? No. A security pass.He snapped his fingers.The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a holograph, then awind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingeringbehind.Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. 'Sit, Percy, please. AndGrover.'We did.Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't got to use.'Tell me, Percy,' he said. 'What did you make of the hellhound?'Just hearing the name made me shudder.Chiron probably wanted me to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds forbreakfast. But I didn't feel like lying.'It scared me,' I said. 'If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead.''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,' I 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 theedge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boilingtogether.'Poseidon and Zeus,' I said. 'They're fighting over something valuable...something that was stolen, aren't they?'Chiron and Grover exchanged looks.Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. 'How did you know that?'My face felt hot. I wished I hadn't opened my big mouth. 'The weather sinceChristmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked toAnnabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And... I've also beenhaving these dreams.''I knew it,' Grover said.'Hush, satyr,' Chiron ordered.'But it is his quest!' Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. 'It must be!''Only the Oracle can determine.' Chiron stroked his bristly beard.'Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having theirworst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that wasstolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt.'I laughed nervously. 'A what?''Do not take this lightly,' Chiron warned. 'I'm not talking about some tinfoilcovered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-footlong cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-levelexplosives.''Oh.''Zeus's master bolt,' Chiron said, getting worked up now. 'The symbol of hispower, from which all other lightning bolts are patterned. The first weapon madeby the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top offMount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packsenough 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 thewinter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had anargument. The usual nonsense: "Mother Rhea always liked you best," "Airdisasters are more spectacular than sea disasters," et cetera. Afterwards, Zeusrealized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his verynose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now a god cannot usurp another god'ssymbol 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 besuspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which givesPoseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeusbelieves Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having theCyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeusfrom his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidonused to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. Youwere in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck intoOlympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief.''But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!'Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to beparting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over ourvalley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.'Er, Percy...?' Grover said. 'We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord ofthe Sky.''Perhaps paranoid,' Chiron suggested. 'Then again, Poseidon has tried tounseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your finalexam...' He looked at me as if he actually expected me to remember questionthirty-eight.How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't evensteal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker party without getting busted. Chiron waswaiting for an answer.'Something about a golden net?' I guessed. 'Poseidon and Hera and a fewother gods... they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promisedto be a better ruler, right?''Correct,' Chiron said. 'And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course,Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offence at the accusation.The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. Andnow, you've come along – the proverbial last straw.''But I'm just a kid!''Percy,' Grover cut in, 'if you were Zeus, and you already thought yourbrother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted hehad broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a newmortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't that put atwist in your toga?''But I didn't do anything. Poseidon – my dad – he didn't really have thismaster bolt stolen, did he?'Chiron sighed. 'Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is notPoseidon's style. But the sea god is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that.Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That'sJune twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for beingcalled a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Heraor Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrivalhas inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someoneintervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before thesolstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would looklike, Percy?''Bad?' I guessed.'Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced tochoose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead.Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the TrojanWar 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 stunnedsilence at the sky.I had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the wholecamp because of me. I was furious.'So I have to find the stupid bolt,' I said. 'And return it to Zeus.''What better peace offering,' Chiron said, 'than to have the son of Poseidonreturn 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 hadyears ago... well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can saymore, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of theOracle.''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?'I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly.Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.'All right,' I said. 'It's better than being turned into a dolphin.''Then it's time you consulted the Oracle,' Chiron said. 'Go upstairs, PercyJackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, wewill talk more.'Four flights up, the stairs ended under a green trapdoor.I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered intoplace.The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and somethingelse... a smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes.I held my breath and climbed.The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armour stands covered in cobwebs;once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered withstickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. Onelong table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things– severed hairyclaws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mountedtrophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full setof shark's teeth. The plaque read: HYDRA HEAD NO. I, WOODSTOCK, NY,1969.By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesomememento of all: a mummy. Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human femalebody shrivelled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beadednecklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thinand leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the realeyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time.Looking at her sent chills up my back. And that was before she sat up on herstool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth,coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty-thousand snakes. Istumbled over myself trying to get to the trapdoor, but it slammed shut. Insidemy head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain: Iam the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer ofthe mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask.I wanted to say, No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom. But Iforced myself to take a deep breath.The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle forsomething else, the power that was now swirling around me in the green mist.But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic maths teacher Mrs Dodds orthe Minotaur. It felt more like the Three Fates I'd seen knitting the yarn outsidethe highway fruit stand: ancient, powerful and definitely not human. But notparticularly interested in killing me, either.I got up the courage to ask, 'What is my destiny?'The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around thetable with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sittingaround the table, playing cards. Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabeand his buddies.My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was anillusion, made out of mist.Gabe turned towards me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: Youshall go west, and face the god who has turned.His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: You shall find whatwas stolen, and see it safely returned.The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: You shall be betrayed byone who calls you a friend.Finally, Eddie, our building super, delivered the worst line of all: And you shallfail to save what matters most, in the end.The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to say anything, but asthe mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into themouth of the mummy, I cried, 'Wait! What do you mean? What friend? Whatwill I fail to save?'The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclinedback against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in ahundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full ofmementos.I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cobwebs, too, and Iwouldn't learn anything else.My audience with the Oracle was over.'Well?' Chiron asked me.I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. 'She said I would retrieve whatwas 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.'My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. 'She... she said I wouldgo west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and seeit safely returned.''I knew it,' Grover said.Chiron didn't look satisfied. 'Anything else?'I didn't want to tell him.What friend would betray me? I didn't have that many.And the last line – I would fail to save what mattered most. What kind ofOracle would send me on a quest and tell me, Oh, by the way, you'll fail.How could I confess that?'No,' I said. 'That's about it.'He studied my face. 'Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's wordsoften have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is notalways clear until events come to pass.'I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was tryingto make me feel better.'Okay,' I said, anxious to change topics. 'So where do I go? Who's this god inthe west?''Ah, think, Percy' Chiron said. 'If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in awar, who stands to gain?''Somebody else who wants to take over?' I guessed.'Yes, quite. Someone who harbours a grudge, who has been unhappy with hislot since the world was divided aeons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerfulwith the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him intoan oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken.'I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under theground. 'Hades.'Chiron nodded. 'The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility.'A scrap of aluminium dribbled out of Grover's mouth. 'Whoa, wait. Wh-what?''A Fury came after Percy,' Chiron reminded him. 'She watched the youngman until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only onelord: Hades.''Yes, but – but Hades hates all heroes,' Grover protested. 'Especially if he hasfound out Percy is a son of Poseidon...''A hellhound got into the forest,' Chiron continued. 'Those can only besummoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned bysomeone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspectPoseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like tokill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest.''Great,' I muttered. 'That's two major gods who want to kill me.''But a quest to...' Grover swallowed. 'I mean, couldn't the master bolt be insome 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 theUnderworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretendto understand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose thistime to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld,find the master bolt, and reveal the truth.'A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. Itwas anticipation. The desire for revenge. Hades had tried to kill me three timesso far, with the Fury, the Minotaur and the hellhound. It was his fault my motherhad disappeared in a flash of light. Now he was trying to frame me and my dadfor a theft we hadn't committed.I was ready to take him on.Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld...Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane. You're a kid.Hades is a god.Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato crisps.The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get hissearcher's licence, whatever that was, but how could I ask him to do this quest,especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail? This was suicide.'Look, if we know it's Hades,' I told Chiron, 'why can't we just tell the othergods? 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 theother gods suspect Hades – and I imagine Poseidon does – they couldn't retrievethe bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except byinvitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certainprivileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're boldenough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero'sactions. 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 riskygamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you.'My dad needs me.Emotions rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. I didn'tknow whether to feel resentful or grateful or happy or angry. Poseidon hadignored me for twelve years. Now suddenly he needed me.I looked at Chiron. 'You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven'tyou?''I had my suspicions. As I said... I've spoken to the Oracle, too.'I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but Idecided I couldn't worry about that right now. After all, I was holding backinformation too.'So let me get this straight,' I said. 'I'm supposed go to the Underworld andconfront the Lord of the Dead.''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.'I 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,' I told him. 'I can't ask that of you.''Oh...' He shifted his hooves. 'No... it's just that satyrs and undergroundplaces... well...'He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminiumbits off his T-shirt. 'You saved my life, Percy. If... if you're serious aboutwanting me along, I won't let you down.'I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be veryheroic. Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months. Iwasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I feltbetter knowing he'd be with me.'All the way, G-man.' I turned to Chiron. 'So where do we go? The Oraclejust said to go west.''The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age toage, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America.''Where?'Chiron looked surprised. 'I thought that would be obvious enough. Theentrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles.''Oh,' I said. 'Naturally. So we just get on a plane –''No!' Grover shrieked. 'Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been ona plane in your life?'I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken meanywhere by plane. She'd always said we didn't have the money. Besides, herparents had died in a plane crash.'Percy, think,' Chiron said. 'You are the son of the Sea God. Your father'sbitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust youin an aeroplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come downagain alive.'Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.'Okay,' I said, determined not to look at the storm. 'So, I'll travel overland.''That's right,' Chiron said. 'Two companions may accompany you. Grover isone. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help.''Gee,' I said, feigning surprise. 'Who else would be stupid enough tovolunteer 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, Seaweed Brain,' she said. 'Athenais no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best personto keep you from messing up.''If you do say so yourself,' I said. 'I suppose you have a plan, Wise Girl?'Her cheeks coloured. 'Do you want my help or not?'The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get.'A trio,' I said. 'That'll work.''Excellent,' Chiron said. 'This afternoon, we can take you as far as the busterminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own.'Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were neversupposed to have violent weather.'No time to waste,' Chiron said. 'I think you should all get packing.'