Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief

The Prophecy Comes True

We were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so ofcourse everybody treated us as if we'd won some reality TV contest. Accordingto camp tradition, we wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honour,then led a procession down to the bonfire, where we got to burn the burialshrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence.Annabeth's shroud was so beautiful – grey silk with embroidered owls – I toldher it seemed a shame not to bury her in it. She punched me and told me to shutup.Being the son of Poseidon, I didn't have any cabin mates, so the Ares cabinhad volunteered to make my shroud. They'd taken an old bedsheet and paintedsmiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSERpainted really big in the middle.It was fun to burn.As Apollo's cabin led the sing-along and passed out toasted marshmallows, Iwas surrounded by my old Hermes cabinmates, Annabeth's friends from Athenaand Grover's satyr buddies, who were admiring the brand new searcher's licencehe'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders. The council had calledGrover's performance on the quest 'Brave to the point of indigestion. Hornsand-whiskers above anything we have seen in the past.'The only ones not in a party mood were Clarisse and her cabinmates, whosepoisonous looks told me they'd never forgive me for disgracing their dad.That was okay with me.Even Dionysus's welcome-home speech wasn't enough to dampen my spirits.'Yes, yes, so the little brat didn't get himself killed and now hell have an evenbigger head. Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be nocanoe races this Saturday...'I moved back into cabin three, but it didn't feel so lonely any more. I had myfriends to train with during the day. At night, I lay awake and listened to the sea,knowing my father was out there. Maybe he wasn't quite sure about me yet,maybe he hadn't even wanted me born, but he was watching. And so far, he wasproud of what I'd done.As for my mother, she had a chance at a new life. Her letter arrived a weekafter I got back to camp. She told me Gabe had left mysteriously – disappearedoff the face of the planet, in fact. She'd reported him missing to the police, butshe had a funny feeling they would never find him.On a completely unrelated subject, she'd sold her first life-size concretesculpture, entitled The Poker Player, to a collector, through an art gallery inSoho. She'd got so much money for it, she'd put a deposit down on a newapartment and made a payment on her first term's tuition at NYU. The Sohogallery was clamouring for more of her work, which they called 'a huge stepforward in super-ugly neorealism'.But don't worry, my mom wrote. I'm done with sculpture. I've disposed of thatbox of tools you left me. It's time for me to turn to writing.At the bottom, she wrote a P.S.: Percy, I've found a good private school herein the city. I've put a deposit down to hold you a spot, in case you want to enrolfor seventh grade. You could live at home. But if you want to go year-round atHalf-Blood Hill, I'll understand.I folded the note carefully and set it on my bedside table. Every night before Iwent to sleep, I read it again, and I tried to decide how to answer her.On the Fourth of July, the whole camp gathered at the beach for a fireworksdisplay by cabin nine. Being Hephaestus's kids, they weren't going to settle for afew lame red-white-and-blue explosions. They'd anchored a barge offshore andloaded it with rockets the size of Patriot missiles. According to Annabeth, who'dseen the show before, the blasts would be sequenced so tightly they'd look likeframes of animation across the sky. The finale was supposed to be a couple ofthirty-metre-tall Spartan warriors who would crackle to life above the ocean,fight a battle, then explode into a million colours.As Annabeth and I were spreading a picnic blanket, Grover showed up to tellus goodbye. He was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt and trainers, but in thelast few weeks he'd started to look older, almost high-school age. His goatee hadgot thicker. He'd put on weight. His horns had grown a few centimetres at least,so he now had to wear his rasta cap all the time to pass as human.'I'm off,' he said. 'I just came to say... well, you know.'I tried to feel happy for him. After all, it wasn't every day a satyr gotpermission to go look for the great god Pan. But it was hard saying goodbye. I'donly known Grover a year, yet he was my oldest friend.Annabeth gave him a hug. She told him to keep his fake feet on.I asked him where he was going to search first.'Kind of a secret,' he said, looking embarrassed. 'I wish you could come withme, guys, but humans and Pan...''We understand,' Annabeth said. 'You got enough tin cans for the trip?''Yeah.''And you remembered your reed pipes?''Jeez, Annabeth,' he grumbled. 'You're like an old mama goat.'But he didn't really sound annoyed.He gripped his walking stick and slung a backpack over his shoulder. Helooked like any hitchhiker you might see on an American highway – nothing likethe little runty boy I used to defend from bullies at Yancy Academy.'Well,' he said, 'wish me luck.'He gave Annabeth another hug. He clapped me on the shoulder, then headedback through the dunes.Fireworks exploded to life overhead: Hercules killing the Nemean lion,Artemis chasing the boar, George Washington (who, by the way, was a son ofAthena) crossing the Delaware.'Hey, Grover,' I called.He turned at the edge of the woods.'Wherever you're going – I hope they make good enchiladas.'Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him.'We'll see him again,' Annabeth said.I tried to believe it. The fact that no searcher had ever come back in twothousand years... well, I decided not to think about that. Grover would be thefirst. He had to be.July passed.I spent my days devising new strategies for capture-the-flag and makingalliances with the other cabins to keep the banner out of Ares's hands. I got tothe top of the climbing wall for the first time without getting scorched by lava.From time to time, I'd walk past the Big House, glance up at the atticwindows and think about the Oracle. I tried to convince myself that its prophecyhad come to completion.You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.Been there, done that – even though the traitor god had turned out to be Aresrather than Hades.You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.Check. One master bolt delivered. One helmet of darkness back on Hades'soily head.You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.This line still bothered me. Ares had pretended to be my friend, then betrayedme. That must be what the Oracle meant....And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.I had failed to save my mom, but only because I'd let her save herself, and Iknew that was the right thing.So why was I still uneasy?The last night of the summer session came all too quickly.The campers had one last meal together. We burned part of our dinner for thegods. At the bonfire, the senior counsellors awarded the end-of-summer beads.I got my own leather necklace, and when I saw the bead for my first summer, Iwas glad the firelight covered my blushing. The design was pitch black, with asea-green trident shimmering in the centre.'The choice was unanimous,' Luke announced. 'This bead commemorates thefirst son of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest he undertook into the darkestpart of the Underworld to stop a war!'The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares's cabin felt obligedto stand. Athena's cabin steered Annabeth to the front so she could share in theapplause.I'm not sure I'd ever felt as happy or sad as I did at that moment. I'd finallyfound a family, people who cared about me and thought I'd done somethingright. And in the morning, most of them would be leaving for the year.* * *The next morning, I found a form letter on my bedside table.I knew Dionysus must've filled it out, because he stubbornly insisted ongetting my name wrong