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A Telkhine Was Hunched Over A Console, But He Was So Involved With His Work, He Didn't Notice Us. He Was About Five Feet Tall, With Slick Black Seal Fur And Stubby Little Feet. He Had The Head Of A Doberman, But His Clawed Hands Were Almost Human. He Growled And Muttered As He Tapped On His Keyboard. Maybe He Was Messaging His Friends On Uglyface.com.

-Rick Riordan

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A Telkhine Was Hunched

Rick Riordan

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A Telkhine Was Hunched Over A Console, But He Was So Involved With His Work, He Didn't Notice Us. He Was About Five Feet Tall, With Slick Black Seal Fur And Stubby Little Feet. He Had The Head Of A Doberman, But His Clawed Hands Were Almost Human. He Growled And Muttered As He Tapped On His Keyboard. Maybe He Was Messaging His Friends On Uglyface.com.

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We Walked On The Beach, Fed Blue Corn Ships To The Seagulls, And Munched On Blue Jelly Beans, Blue Saltwater Taffy And All The Other Free Samples My Mom Brought Home From Work. I Guess I Should Explain The Blue Food. See, Gabe Had Once Told My Mom There Was No Such Thing. They Had This Fight, Which Seemed Like A Really Small Thing At The Time. But Ever Since, My Mom Went Out Of Her Way To Eat Blue. She Baked Blue Birthday Cakes. She Mixed Blueberry Smoothies. She Bought Blue-corn Tortilla Chips And Brought Home Blue Candy From The Shop.

Most Problems Look Worse Than They Are. Nothing Is Unfixable.

Words Are The Source Of All Power. And Names Are More Than Just A Collection Of Letters.

Carter Pulled Out Several Lengths Of Brown Twine, A Small Ebony Cat Statue, And A Thick Roll Of Paper. No, Not Paper. Papyrus. I Remember Dad Explaining How The Egyptians Made It From A River Plant Because They Never Invented Paper. The Stuff Was So Thick And Rough, It Made Me Wonder If The Poor Egyptians Had Had To Use Toilet Papyrus. If So, No Wonder They Walked Sideways.

So I Took Her Hand, And I Don't Know What Everybody Else Heard, But To Me It Sounded Like A Slow Dance: A Little Sad, But Maybe A Little Hopeful, Too.

It’s Hard To Look In Charge When You’re Hunched Over Like Quasimodo.

Curse Hermes And His Multi-vitamins!

Amos Clapped His Hands. “khufu!” I Thought He’d Sneezed, Because Khufu Is A Weird Name, But Then A Little Dude About Three Feet Tall With Gold Fur And A Purple Shirt Came Clambering Down The Stairs. It Took Me A Second To Realize It Was A Baboon Wearing An L.a. Lakers Jersey.

Trantulus Casually Roasted A Marshmallow And Reached Out For It But The Marshmallow Commited Sucide And Dived Into The Flames.

My Experience With Khonsu Had Taught Me Not Be Greedy About Time. It Was Best To Appreciate What You Had And Not Yearn For More.

I’m Sorry I Can’t Do More. But Happy Birthday, Sadie.” He Leaned Forward And Kissed Me On The Lips.

They Would Find This House Of Hades. They'd Take The Doors Of Death. And By The Gods, If Leo Had To Design A Grabber Arm Long Enough To Snatch Percy And Annabeth Out Of Tartarus, Then That's What He Would Do. Nemesis Wanted Him To Wreak Vengeance On Gaea? Leo Would Be Happy To Oblige. He Was Going To Make Gaea Sorry She Had Ever Messed With Leo Valdez. "yeah." He Took One Last Look At The Cityscape Of Rome, Turning Bloodred In The Sunset. "festus, Raise The Sails. We've Got Some Friends To Save.

Leo Drummed His Fingers. “great. I Should Have Installed A Smoke Screen That Makes The Ship Smell Like A Giant Chicken Nugget. Remind Me To Invent That, Next Time.” Hazel Frowned. “what Is A Chicken Nugget?” “oh, Man…” Leo Shook His Head In Amazement. “that's Right. You’ve Missed The Last, Like, Seventy Years. Well, My Apprentice, A Chicken Nugget—” “doesn’t Matter,” Annabeth Interrupted.

I Turned And Faced The Olympians. "we Need A Shroud," I Announced, My Voice Cracking. "a Shroud For The Son Of Hermes.

She Would Always Be My Biggest What If.

Swords Can’t Solve Every Problem.

If I Couldn't Trust Her, I Couldn't Trust Anyone.

Coach Hedge Yelled,“thar She Blows! Kansas, Ahoy!” “holy Hephaestus,” Leo Muttered. “he Really Needs To Work On His Shipspeak.

Jason's Fingers Itched To Draw His Sword. He'd Met Plenty Of Scary Demigods, But He Was Starting To Realize That Nico Di Angelo--as Pale And Gaunt As He Looked--might Be More Than He Could Handle.

Go Chase A Donut. -percy Jackson.

Somewhere Behind Me, Zia Yelled, "hippo!" Which I Thought Was A Little Late. ~carter Kane

I Wasn't Aiming At The School Bus, But Of Course I Got Expelled Anyway.

We Don’t Have Much Time. Mel Will Be Out Of The Restroom Soon.” “you’ve Got A Magician Named Mel?

Nico Drank From The Chalice, Then Offered It To Jason. "you Asked Me About Trust, And Taking A Risk? Well, Here You Go, Son Of Jupiter. How Much Do You Trust Me?" Frank Wasn't Sure What Nico Was Talking About, But Jason Didn't Hesitate. He Took The Cup And Drank.

There's My Baby!" I Cried, Quite Carried Away, "there's My Poochiekins!" ... "sadie," My Dad Said Firmly, "please Do Not Refer To The Devourer Of Souls As 'poochiekins'.

Annabeth’s Hand Slipped Into Mine. Under Different Circumstances I Would’ve Been Embarrassed, But Here In The Dark I Was Glad To Know Where She Was. It Was About The Only Thing I Was Sure Of.

Are You Kidding?" She Looked At Me As If I'd Just Dropped From The Moon. Her Cheeks Were Bright Red. "what's The Problem Now?" I Demanded. "me, Go With You To The...the 'thrill Ride Of Love'? How Embarrassing Is That? What If Somebody Saw Me?" "who's Going To See You?" But My Face Was Burning Now, Too. Leave It To A Girl To Make Everything Complicated. "fine," I Told Her. "i'll Do It Myself." But When I Started Down The Side Of The Pool, She Followed Me, Muttering About How Boys Always Messed Things Up.

You Never Know!” Neith Snapped. “the Point Is, I’ll Survive The Apocalypse. I Can Live Off The Land!” She Jabbed A Finger At Me. “did You Know The Palm Tree Has Six Different Edible Parts?” “um—” “and I’ll Never Be Bored,” Neith Continued, “since I’m Also The Goddess Of Weaving. I Have Enough Twine For A Millennium Of Macramé!” I Had No Reply, As I Wasn’t Sure What Macramé Was.

Writing Is Like A Sport. If You Don't Practice, You Don't Get Any Better.

Blowfish, Did You Say?" "ah, No. Blofis, Actually." "oh, I See," Poseidon Said. "a Shame. I Quite Like Blowfish.

That’s Right, Sadie. For Our First Real Date, I Picked Up Zia In A Boat Pulled By A Deranged Griffin. So What? Like Your Dates Aren’t Weird?

The Driver Got Out Smiling. He Looked About Seventeen Or Eighteen, And For A Second, I Had The Uneasy Feeling It Was Luke, My Old Enemy. This Guy Had The Same Sandy Hair And Outdoorsy Good Looks. But It Wasn't Luke. His Smile Was Brighter And More Playful. (luke Didn't Do Much More Than Scowl And Sneer These Days.) The Maserati Driver Wore Jeans And Loafers And A Sleeveless T-shirt. "wow" Thalia Muttered. Apollo Is Hot." "he's The Sun God," I Said. "that's Not What I Meant.

All Invincible And Stuff

He Gave Me The Brochure. It Was About The Hunters Of Artemis. The Front Read, A Wise Choice For Your Future! Inside Were Pictures Of Young Maidens Doing Hunter Stuff, Chasing Monsters, Shooting Bows. There Were Captions Like: Health Benefits: Immortality And What It Means For You! And A Boy-free Tomorrow! "i Found That In Annabeth's Backpack," Grover Said. I Stared At Him. "i Don't Understand." "well, It Seems To Me… Maybe Annabeth Was Thinking About Joining." I'd Like To Say I Took The News Well. The Truth Was, I Wanted To Strangle The Hunters Of Artemis One Eternal Maiden At A Time.

[percy] Kept Hoping Things Would Get Better For Annabeth And Him, But Their Lives Just Got More Dangerous, As If The Three Fates Were Up There Spinning Their Futures With Barbed Wire Instead Of Thread Just To See How Much Two Demigods Could Tolerate.

I Looked Back, But Bast And Sadie Seemed Fine. They Were Still Staring At The Water As If It Were Some Amazing Internet Video.

I'm Not Usually An Eavesdropper,but I Dare You To Try Not Listening If You Hear Your Best Friend Talking About You To An Adult.

Mussolini?” Leo Frowned. “wasn’t He Like Bffs With Hitler?

Sugar And Caffeine. My Willpower Crumbled.

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