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I Don't Feel That Way Anymore," Nico Muttered. "i Mean... I Gave Up On Percy. I Was Young And Impressionable, And I- I Don't..." His Voice Cracked, And Jason Could Tell The Guy Was About To Get Teary-eyed. Whether Nico Had Really Given Up On Percy Or Not, Jason Couldn't Imagine What It Had Been Like For Nico All Those Years, Keeping A Secret That Would've Been Unthinkable To Share In The 1940s, Denying Who He Was, Feeling Completely Alone- Even More Isolated Than Other Demigods. "nico," He Said Gently, "i've Seen A Lot Of Brave Things. But What You Did? That Was Maybe The Bravest.

-Rick Riordan

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I Don't Feel That

Rick Riordan

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I Don't Feel That Way Anymore," Nico Muttered. "i Mean... I Gave Up On Percy. I Was Young And Impressionable, And I- I Don't..." His Voice Cracked, And Jason Could Tell The Guy Was About To Get Teary-eyed. Whether Nico Had Really Given Up On Percy Or Not, Jason Couldn't Imagine What It Had Been Like For Nico All Those Years, Keeping A Secret That Would've Been Unthinkable To Share In The 1940s, Denying Who He Was, Feeling Completely Alone- Even More Isolated Than Other Demigods. "nico," He Said Gently, "i've Seen A Lot Of Brave Things. But What You Did? That Was Maybe The Bravest.

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I Imagined Loading The God Of The Sea Into A Taxi And Taking Him To The Upper East Side.

Upper East Side

I Touched The Combination Lock. I Concentrated So Hard I Felt Like I Was Dead-lifting Five Hundred Pounds. My Pulse Quickening. A Line Of Sweat Trickled Down My Nose. Finally I Felt Gears Turning. Metal Groaned, Tumblers Clicked, And The Bolts Popped Back. Carefully Avoiding The Handle, I Pried Open The Door With My Fingertips And Extracted An Unbroken Vial Of Green Liquid. Hal Exhaled. Thalia Kissed Me On The Cheek, Which She Probably Shouldn't Haven't Done While I Was Holding A Tube Of Deadly Poison. "you Are So Good," She Said. Did That Make The Risk Worth? Yeah, Pretty Much.

How Old Is She Now?" He Asked. "hard To Say. She Was A Tree For A While. Now She's Immortal.

Want A Cookie,' Ra Said. 'what Kind?' 'weasel Cookie.' I'm Here To Tell You, That Comment About Weasel Cookies Probably Saved The Known Universe.

Annabeth Sat Up And Glared At Her Ankle. "you Had To Break," She Scolded It. The Ankle Did Not Reply.

I Love New York. You Can Pop Out Of The Underworld In Central Park, Hail A Taxi, Head Down Fifth Avenue With A Giant Hellhound Loping Behind You, And Nobody Even Looks At You Funny.

I've Been Waiting A Long Time For A Quest, Seaweed Brain," She Said. "athena Is No Fan Of Poseidon, But If You're Going To Save The World, I'm The Best Person To Keep You From Messing Up.

She Blinked. "hmm? Oh, Don't Care. What Did Anubis Look Like To You?" "what Did... He Looked Like A Guy. So?" "a Good-looking Guy, Or A Slobbering Dog-headed Guy?" "i Guess... Not The Dog-headed Guy." "i Knew It!" Sadie Pointed At Me As If She'd Won An Argument. "good-looking. I Knew It!" And With A Ridiculous Grin, She Spun Around And Skipped Into The House. My Sister, As I May Have Mentioned, Is A Little Strange.

Hold Up," Leo Said. "you Guys Lost A Dragon? A Real Full Size Dragon?

Curse Us Eh/i'll Make You Pay!/i Don't Want To Rhyme All Day!

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

Aphrodite Strikes Again, Huh? You're Gonna Be The Best-dressed Warrior In Town, Beauty Queen.

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 He'll Have An Even Bigger Head. Well, Huzzah For That. In Other Announcements, There Will Be No Canoe Races This Saturday.

Well," I Said. "if You Need Me, I'll Be Outside, Playing With Sharp Objects.

Leo Had Wanted To Paint A Giant Message On The Bottom Of The Hull-wassup? With A Smiley-face-but Annabeth Had Vetoed The Idea.

I Stepped Forward. Call Me Old-fashioned, But I Wanted To Keep His Focus On Me And Not Annabeth. I Think It’s Polite For A Guy To Protect His Girlfriend From Instant Incineration.

There's No Point In Defending Camp If You Guys Die. All Our Friends Are Here.

George Unhinged His Jaw And Coughed Up A Little Plastic Bottle Filled With Chewable Vitamins. "you're Kidding," I Said. "are Those Minotaur-shaped?" Hermes Picked Up The Bottle And Rattled It. "the Lemon Ones, Yes. The Grape Ones Are Furies, I Think. Or Are They Hydras? At Any Rate, These Are Potent."

The Most Dangerous Flaws Are Those Which Are Good In Moderation.

Festus Just Detected A Large Group Of Eagles Behind Us—long-range Radar, Still Not In Sight.” Piper Leaned Over The Console. “are You Sure They’re Roman?” Leo Rolled His Eyes. “no, Pipes. It Could Be A Random Group Of Giant Eagles Flying In Perfect Formation. Of Course They’re Roman!

When I Write, I'm Still Imagining A Kid Reading It On Paper. I Read E-books When I Travel, But In General I Still Prefer Holding An Old-fashioned Book In My Hands. There's A Special, Tactile Experience.

Hermes Rolled His Eyes. "surely You've Seen Network Tv Lately. It's Clear They Don't Know Whether They're Coming Or Going. That's Because Janus Is In Charge Of Programming. He Loves Ordering New Shows And Cancelling Them After Two Episodes. God Of Beginnings And Endings, After All. Anyway, I Was Bringing Him Some Magic Doormats, And I Was Double-parked -" "you Have To Worry About Double-parking?" "will You Let Me Tell The Story?" "sorry."

Stand Your Ground!" Stheno Yelled. "i've Got Free Samples!

Stand Your Ground

Percy Jackson And The Olympians

I Try Very Hard To Be Annoying. Don’t Insult My Ability To Annoy.

They Send A Person Who Can Never Stay," She Whispered. "who Can Never Accept My Offer Of Companionship For More Than A Little While. They Send Me A Hero I Can't Help ... Just The Sort Of Person I Can't Help Falling In Love With." ... As I Sailed Into The Lake I Realized The Fates Really Were Cruel. They Sent Calypso Someone She Couldn't Help But Love. But It Worked Both Ways. For The Rest Of My Life I Would Be Thinking About Her. She Would Always Be My Biggest What If.

Falling In Love

My Brother Broke Into A Toothy Grin. "yay! Your Brain Works!

Isis And Horus," He Said. "i See You've Found New Bodies.

That's Me. Ancient History." [poseidon To Paul]

Ancient History

Ptah? Son Of Ptooey? What Is He God Of Spitting? I Asked

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.

Doughboy," I Said. "what Is This Scroll?" "a Spell Lost In Time!" He Pronounced. "ancient Words Of Tremendous Power!" "well?" I Demanded. "does It Tell How To Defeat Set?" "better! The Title Reads: The Book Of Summoning Fruit Bats!

Life Is Only Precious Because It Ends, Kid. Take It From A God. You Mortals Don't Know How Lucky You Are

Piper Gave Lit A Friendly Sorry-about-that Smile. Even With Her Hair Messed Up And Wearing Two-day-old Clothes, She Looked Extremely Cute, And Jason Felt A Little Jealous She Was Giving Lit That Smile.

It's First Owner...well, Things Didn't Turn Out Too Well For Her. Her Name Was Helena.' Piper Let That Sink In. "wait, You Mean The Helena? Helena Of Troy?' Annabeth Nodded. "and It's Just Sitting In Your Toolshed?

I Prayed The Monsters Would Give Up. Or That Perhaps Philip Of Macedonia Would Climb Back To The Terrace (do Crocodiles Climb?) And Renew The Fight.

Percy: The Heka-what? Annabeth: The Hundred-handed Ones. They Called Them That Because... Well, They Had A Hundred Hands. They Were The Elder Brothers Of The Cyclopes. Tyson: Very Powerful. Wonderful! As Tall As The Sky. So Strong They Can Break Mountains! Percy: Cool. Unless You're A Mountain.

I Could Always See Myself Being A Teacher. I Remember Sitting In Class As A Kid, Listening To The Teacher And Thinking, You Know, I'm Pretty Sure I Could Explain That A Little Bit Better.

Beautiful,' Jason Exclaimed. 'piper, You... You're A Knockout.

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.

Just For You Non-sea-god Types Out There, Don't Go Swimming In New York Harbor. It May Not Be As Filthy As It Was In My Mom's Day, But That Water Will Still Probably Make You Grow A Third Eye Or Have Mutant Children When You Grow Up.

People Of Earth, I Come In Peace!

You Wrote This Right?” He Said. “it Tells How To Defeat Set.” Thoth Unfolded The Papyrus Pages. “oh, Dear. I Hate Reading My Old Work. Look At This Sentence. I’d Never Write It That Way Now.” He Patted His Lab Coat Pockets. “red Pen—does Anyone Have One?” Isis Chafed Against My Willpower, Insisting That We Blast Some Sense Into Thoth. One Fireball, She Pleaded. Just One Enormous Magical Fireball? I Couldn’t Say I Was Tempted, But I Kept Her Under Control. “since When Does Drool Make You Powerful?

The Other Thing That Troubled Me: Dad Was Clutching His Workbag. Usually When He Does That, It Means We're In Danger. Like The Time Gunmen Stormed Into Our Hotel In Cairo. I Heard Shots Coming From The Lobby And Ran Downstairs To Check On My Dad. By The Time I Got There, He Was Just Calmly Zipping Up His Workbag While Three Unconscious Gunmen Hung By Their Feet From The Chandelier, Their Robes Falling Over Their Heads So You Could See Their Boxer Shorts. Dad Claimed Not To Have Witnessed Anything, And In The End The Police Blamed A Freak Chandelier Malfunction.

Yours In Demigodishness, And All That. Peace Out!

He'd Changed Since The Last Summer. Instead Of Bermuda Shorts And A T-shirt, He Wore A Button-down Shirt, Khaki Pants, And Leather Loafers. His Sandy Hair, Which Used To Be So Unruly, Was Now Clipped Short. He Look Like An Evil Male Model, Showing Off What The Fashionable College-age Villain Was Wearing To Harvard This Year.

You’re Probably Thinking: Wait, You Just Charged In Without A Plan? But Annabeth And I Had Been Fighting Together For Years. We Knew Each Other’s Abilities. We Could Anticipate Each Other’s Moves. I Might Have Felt Awkward And Nervous About Being Her Boyfriend, But Fighting With Her? That Came Naturally. Hmm…that Sounded Wrong. Oh, Well.

He Had No Idea Where The Stereotype Of Dumb Giggly Blondes Came From. Ever Since He'd Met Annabeth At The Grand Canyon Last Winter,when She'd Marched Toward Him With That Give Me Percy Jackson Or I’ll Kill You Expression, Leo Had Thought Of Blondes As Much Too Smart And Much Too Dangerous.

We Need A Shroud. A Shroud For The Son Of Hermes.

Now, Now," Bast Said. "it's Not So Bad." "right," I Said. "we're Stuck In Washington, D.c. We Have Two Days To Make It To Arizona And Stop A God We Don't Know How To Stop. And If We Can't, We'll Never See Our Dad Or Amos Again, And The World Might End." "that's The Spirit!" Bast Said Brightly. "now, Let's Have A Picnic.

I Told You I Try Not To Live In The Past And Nothing Could Change The Fact That My Mum Was Gone. But I’m A Liar. The Truth Was, I’d Had One Dream Ever Since I Was Six: To See My Mum Again. To Actually Get To Know Her, Talk To Her, Go Shopping, Do Anything. Just Be With Her Once So I Could Have A Better Memory To Hold On To.

I Was Wishing I'd Bought Some Of That Camp Half Blood Orange Thermal Underwear..." ?!?!

Fish Ponies! I Put Them On The Ceiling!" -tyson

Eating Next To A Twenty-foot-long Crocodile Took Some Getting Used To, But Philip Was Well Trained. He Only Ate Bacon, Stray Waterfowl, And The Occasional Invading Monster.

Poseidon Held Out His Arms And Gave Me A Hug. I Realized, A Little Embarrassed, That I'd Never Actually Hugged My Dad Before. He Was Warm—like A Regular Human—and He Smelled Of A Salty Beach And Fresh Sea Air.

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