When Lady Hecate fades due to a particularly nasty slow-working poison, Olympus has no choice but to announce their existence to the mortals, which goes about as well as one might expect.
Then the Olympians, finally realising it might be time for a...
I practically leapt out of the tour bus when it pulled into our next destination on the London architecture tour.
St Paul's Cathedral.
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I practically leapt out of the tour bus when it pulled into our next destination on the London architecture tour.
St Paul's Cathedral.
I could hardly contain my excitement. This architecture trip was going so well. First Buckingham palace, then the Houses of Parliament, then the Shard and now this?
The other student climbed slowly off the tour bus, groaning about sore feet and tired minds. I ignored them, too eager for the tour to heed mortal grumblings any attention.
A bubbly tour guide showed us through the security and into the main hall of the huge building, where a service was currently taking place. A blonde woman in purple robes and a tall hat stood at the altar, speaking in soothing tones.
The tour guide, whose name I'd learned was Darcy, whispered facts over the service.
'St Paul's Cathedral is one of the largest churches in the world. Old St Paul's Cathedral was started by the Normans and completed about 1240. It was redesigned by Sir Christopher Wren, as an important part of a huge rebuilding plan, after the Great Fire of London in 1666. The dome is the second-largest in the world at 366 feet high and is reached by climbing 259 steps-'
Slowly, the eyes of everyone in the group turned to me.
Um. Oops. But it wasn't my fault that I was voicing the facts over the tour guide. I'd studied and studied and studied for this. I would be dammed if I let a few mortals ruin my enjoyment of this trip.
The rest of the tour ran a little more smoothly. We visited the crypt, the whispering gallery, and even the staircase where that Harry Potter scene was filmed.
It was when we were back outside, saying goodbye to Darcy when things started going wrong.
Several Hellhounds emerged from the shadow of an oak tree to my right, yipping and snarling in all their ebony glory. Most mortals in the immediate vicinity screamed, and a faint odour of pee stained the air.
I was about to pull my dagger out and vapourize the irritating mutts, when I hesitated, remembering my last words with Percy before I left New York.
I bet you won't even last a week at mortal school, Wise girl. You're no better at incognito than I am.
Wanna bet, Seaweed brain?
Sure. Twenty drachmas you reveal yourself before Friday.
You're on.
I didn't really want to lose because of a few rogue hellhounds. Surely some other demigod was in the area? I tucked my weapon safely back into my pocket. It wasn't my responsibility to kill all of the monsters, was it? Someone else could-
'Annabeth, just kill them already. You're needed on Olympus and I don't fancy playing mortal any longer.'
I spun, staring in shock at the speaker. Darcy? She winked at me, her eyes flashing storm grey. I blinked furiously for a few seconds, before whipping out my dagger and stabbing each of the hellhounds in quick succession. About halfway through, my body lit up with the telltale silver glow of Athena's blessing. I sped up, and a moment later I was standing in front of several piles of golden dust.
Darcy stepped forward, her mortal disguise melting away to reveal my mother, in all her self-important glory.
'Nicely done.' She flashed me a half-smile, laid her hand on my shoulder and before I could start to process the fact that my mother had actually complimented me, we flashed to Olympus, where Percy, Thalia, Jason and Piper were waiting.
