𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋!¹ p. jackson

𝐢𝐢. 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 ( 𝐩 + 𝐚 )

CHAPTER TWO

❝ and if my wishes came true, it would've been you.❞

˚˖𓍢ִ໋🦢˚

GROVER AND percy walked up to the front porch of the Big House, their eyes drifting towards Mr. D at the pinochle table, wearing his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt and carefully sipping a Diet Coke. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing against invisible opponents — two sets of cards hovering in the air.

"Well, well," Mr. D started, without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

Percy hesitated.

"Come closer," Mr. D asked. "And don't expect me to bow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-beard is your father."

Percy stifled a laugh, Barnacle Beard?

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds, thunder shaking the windows of the house.

"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus chimed.

Chiron feigned interest in his cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clapping back and forth.

"If I had my way," Dionysus continued. "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble."

Then, Mr. D sighed. "But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep your little brats safe from harm."

Chiron looked up, exasperated. "Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr D."

"Nonsense," Dionysus stated. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. Maybe I should turn you into a dolphin instead, and send you back to your father."

"Mr. D—" Chiron warned.

"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness." He rose, and the invisible player's cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand?"

He hesitated, turning towards Percy. "Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see what I'm offering is a much more sensible choice than whatever Chiron feels you must do."

Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and watched it turn into a plastic rectangle.

A credit card? No, A security pass.

He snapped his fingers. The air seemed to bend and fold around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, and then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.

Chiron smiled at the two boys, his smile appearing tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please, and Grover."

As they took their seats, Chiron laid his cards on the table, displaying a winning hand that he hadn't gotten to use.

"Tell me, Percy," he began. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

Just hearing the name sent a chill down Percy's spine.

He wanted to say—Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast!—but he didn't feel like lying.

"It scared me," Percy replied. "If Arianna hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

A twinkle appeared in Chiron's eye at the mention of Arianna's name slipping from Percy's mouth. "You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."