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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.

-Rick Riordan

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The Other Thing That

Rick Riordan

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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.

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Leo Had Recently Discovered How To Change The Display, Like The Times Square Jumbotron,so Now The Banner Read: Merry Christmas! All Your Presents Belong To Leo!

Merry Christmas

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.

Rachel: You're A Half-blood, Too? Annabeth: Shhh! Just Announce It To The World, How About? Rachel: Okay. Hey, Everybody! These Two Aren't Human! They're Half Greek God!...they Don't Seem To Care.

Words Had Started Swimming Off The Page, Circling My Head, The Letters Doing One-eighties As If They Were Riding Skateboards.

Running With A Drowsy Child Of Hades Was More Like Doing A 3 -legged Race With A Life Size Rag Doll.

Leo Scratched His Head. “well I Dunno About Enchiladas-“ “enceladus,” Piper Corrected. “whatever. But Old Potty Face Mentioned Another Name. Porpoise Fear, Or Something?” “porphyrion?” Piper Asked. ”he Was The Giant King, I Think.

Sometimes Mortals Can Be More Horrible Than Monsters.

I’d Been To The British Museum Before. In Fact I’ve Been In More Museums Than I Like To Admit—it Makes Me Sound Like A Total Geek. [that’s Sadie In The Background, Yelling I Am A Total Geek. Thanks, Sis.]

We’re Staying Together,” He Promised. “you’re Not Getting Away From Me. Never Again.” Only Then Did She Understand What Would Happen. A One-way Trip. A Very Hard Fall. ”as Long As We’re Together,” She Said. She Heard Nico And Hazel Still Screaming For Help. She Saw Sunlight Far, Far Above- Maybe The Last Sunlight She Would Ever See. Then Percy Let Go Of His Ledge, And Together, Holding Hands, He And Annabeth Fell Into The Endless Darkness.

Wow," Thalia Muttered. "apollo Is Hot." "he's The Sun God," I Said. "that's Not What I Meant.

We Passed Hieroglyphic Scrolls, Gold Jewelry, Sarcophagi, Statues Of Pharaohs, And Huge Chunks Of Limestone. Why Would Someone Display A Rock? Aren't There Enough Of Those In The World?

Akmon Squealed With Delight. “i Knew You Were As Smart As Hercules! I Will Call You Black Bottom, The Sequel!

The Real Story Of The Fleece: There Were These Two Children Of Zeus, Cadmus And Europa, Okay? They Were About To Get Offered Up As Human Sacrifices, When They Prayed To Zeus To Save Them. So Zeus Sent This Magical Flying Ram With Golden Wool, Which Picked Them Up In Greece And Carried Them All The Way To Colchis In Asia Minor. Well, Actually It Carried Cadmus. Europa Fell Off And Died Along The Way, But That's Not Important." "it Was Probably Important To Her.

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

Back Up Shall We? When My Brother, The Crazy Chicken Warrior, Turned Into A Falcon And Went Up The Pyramid’s Chimney With His New Friend, The Fruit Bat, He Left Me Playing Nurse To Two Very Wounded People—which I Didn’t Appreciate, And Which I Wasn’t Particularly Good At.

The Forge Looked Like A Steam-powered Locomotive Had Smashed Into The Greek Parthenon And They Had Fused Together.

And If Someone Doesn’t Believe In Any Afterlife?” I Asked. Walt Gave Me A Sad Look. “then That’s What They Experience.

Yay!' He Said. 'now We Can Eat Peanut Butter Sandwiches And Ride Fish Ponies! We Can Fight Monsters And See Annabeth And Make Things Go Boom!

Frank Couldn't Breathe Underwater. But Where Was He? Percy Turned In A Full Circle. Nothing. Then He Glanced Up. Hovering Above Him Was A Giant Goldfish. Frank Had Turned -clothes, Backpack, And All- Into A Koi The Size Of A Teen-aged Boy. "dude." Percy Sent His Thoughts Through The Water, The Way He Spoke To Other Sea Creatures. "a Goldfish?" Frank's Voice Came Back To Him: "i Freaked. We Were Talking About Goldfish, So It Was On My Mind. Sue Me.

A Styrofoam Egg Carton Caught His Eye. He Opened It And Found A Single Silver Orb With Little Blinking Red Lights. "this Is Cool, Too!" He Dropped It Into His Backpack. "dan, No!" "what? They've Got Plenty Of Other Stuff, And We Need All The Help We Can Get!" "it Could Be Dangerous." "i Hope So.

Met Them. Killed Them. Got The T-shirt.

Thank Ra!” She Exclaimed. “yeah, I’m Alive.” “no, I Almost Jumped In After You. I Hate The Water!

Destroy Them Later?" Cal Offered, Which Was Probably As Close To Friendly As He Ever Got.

Part Of Their Problem Was Percy. He Fought Like A Demon, Whirling Through The Defender's Ranks In A Completely Unorthodox Style, Rolling Under Their Feet, Slashing With His Sword Instead Of Stabbing Like A Roman Would, Whacking Campers With The Flat Of His Blade, And Generally Causing Mass Panic.

For The Rest Of My Life I Would Always Be Thinking About Her. She Would Always Be My Biggest What If. -perseus Jackson

Since Percy’d Lost His Memory,his Whole Life Was One Big Fillin-the-blank. He Was____________________, From____________________. He Felt Like ____________________, And If The Monsters Caught Him, He’d Be____________________.

I'm Gonna Be Percy Jackson When I Grow Up," She Told Hazel Solemnly. Hazel Smiled And Ruffled Her Hair. "that's A Good Thing To Be, Julia." "although," Frank Said. "frank Zhang Would Be Good Too.

You Titans Are About As Bright As My Gym Socks.

She Looked At Me, Like She Was Drinking In The Fact That I Was Still Here. And I Realized I Was Doing The Same Thing. The World Was Collapsing, And The Only Thing That Really Mattered To Me Was That She Was Alive.

She Had To Go On This Quest. The Fate Of The World Might Depend On It. But Part Of Him Wanted To Say: Forget The World. He Didn’t Want To Be Without Her.

Percy Yelled. "what's Going- Gah! Shrimpzilla!

This Is The Wilderness School. 'where The Kids Are Animals

It's Not Easy. I Got Lots Of Rejections When I First Started Out. If You Want To Write, You Have To Believe In Yourself And Not Give Up. You Have To Do Your Best To Practice And Get Better.

And Please God, Grant Me The Wisdom To Remember That I Am Writing For Children, Not Golden Stickers.

I Guess We're Even,sadie.first,walt And I Rushed Off To Save You In London.then,you And Walt Rushed Off To Save Me.the Only One Who Got Shafted On Both Deals Was Walt.poor Guy Gets Hauled All Over The World Pulling Us Out Of Trouble

"yeah, Flattering." Percy Raised Riptide. "but Actually I'm The Son Of Poseidon. I'm From Camp Half-blood."

Leo: “i Can’t Believe I Thought You Were Hot.” Khione’s Face Turned Red. “hot? You Dare Insult Me? I Am Cold, Leo Valdez. Very, Very Cold.

Her Freckles Were Orange, As If Somebody Had Spray-painted Her Face With Liquid Cheetos.

In A Way, It's Nice To Know That There Are Greek Gods Out There, Because You Have Somebody To Blame When Things Go Wrong. For Instance, When You're Walking Away From A Bus That's Just Been Attacked By Monster Hags And Blown Up By Lightning, And It's Raining On Top Of Everything Else, Most People Might Think That's Just Really Bad Luck; When You're A Half-blood, You Understand That Some Devine Force Is Really Trying To Mess Up Your Day.

Please Tell Me Your Master Isn't Aeolus." "that Airhead?" Favonius Snorted. "no, Of Course Not." "he Means Eros." Nico's Voice Turned Edgy. "cupid, In Latin." Favonius Smiled. "very Good, Nico Di Angelo. I'm Glad To See You Again, By The Way. It's Been A Long Time.

Stacy Schiff Is That Rare Combination: A First-rate Historian And A Brilliant Storyteller. Using A Wide Range Of Sources, She Spins Straw Into Gold, Conjuring The World Of Ptolemaic Egypt In Full Vibrant Color, And Returning The Voice Of One Of The Most Powerful, Fascinating, And Maligned Women In History. Cleopatra Is Impossible To Put Down.

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