𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐈𝐧 𝐀 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 - 𝑷. 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒐𝒏

𝐎𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞-𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞

My mouth fell open.

"At least..." Chiron raised a hand, trying to keep things civil. "That's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had their usual argument. You know, the typical sibling nonsense: 'Mother always liked you best,' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken right out from under his nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon."

"But I didn't—"

"Patience, child," Chiron said, holding up a hoof like he was trying to prevent a stampede. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning bolt. It's believed Poseidon convinced a human hero to take it."

"But I didn't—"

"I said patience, Percy," Chiron interrupted, giving me a pointed look like I was the one who'd been sent to detention. "Zeus thinks Poseidon had the bolt stolen and is secretly having the cyclopes forge copies, which might be used to overthrow Zeus. The tricky part is, no one knows which hero Poseidon used. Now, Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. And Zeus believes you stole it."

"But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy."

Chiron glanced nervously up at the sky, clearly considering whether the clouds were going to part and deliver a bolt of lightning right on top of us.

I could almost feel the tension in the air. Zeus was probably watching, ready to zap me like a toasted marshmallow.

I heard Grover's voice.

"Er, Percy...?" Grover said from the doorway, where he'd apparently been standing the entire time—because that's just how things worked around here. "We don't exactly use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky."

"The c-word?" I asked, confused.

"Crazy," Grover clarified, looking horrified.

"Right," Chiron said quickly, nodding like a politician in a heated debate, "maybe 'paranoid' would be more accurate." He hesitated for a second. "Though, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before... if you remember question 38 on your final exam?"

He looked at me like I was supposed to pull out my copy of Gods 101 and start flipping through notes.

"How could anyone accuse me of stealing a God's weapon?" I grumbled. "I can't even steal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker night without getting caught." I paused. "And that pizza? Not even good. Just soggy crust and bad toppings. So I'm really not sure how I'm supposed to be the master thief of the century here."

Chiron raised an eyebrow at me. "Exactly, Percy. I'm sure Zeus finds that very... reassuring."

"Well, that's comforting," I muttered.

"Something about a golden net, right?" I guessed, trying to piece this together. "Poseidon, Hera, and a few others trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler or something?"

"Correct," Chiron said. "That was a long time ago, but Zeus never trusted Poseidon after that. And now, of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He's offended by the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war." He paused, then gave me an almost apologetic look. "And now, you've come along. The proverbial last straw."

"But I'm just a kid!"

Grover cut in with his usual sense of calm, which, frankly, didn't help the situation. "Percy, if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted that he had broken the sacred truce..."...and that he sent his new mortal hero to steal your prized weapon, wouldn't that put a little twist in your toga?"