Rick Riordan

“Most problems look worse than they are. nothing is unfixable.”

“Get closer," I told Blackjack. "I need to talk to the statue."Now I'm sure you've lost it, boss, he muttered, but he flew as close as he could, dodging the flying statue.”

“Nothing lasts forever. But the thing is, you can reuse some. Use your mind. - Leo's Mother, The Lost Hero”

“She sacrificed her life to make things right," Mitchell grumbled. "She[Silena Beuregard] was a hero”

“You're cute when you're worried, your eyebrows get all scrunched together.”

“I hate to tell you this,” Jason said, “but I think your leopard just ate a goddess.”

“Quer dizer que todo mundo aqui toma Bebsi quando come bizza?”

“Oh, I see,” Poseidon said. “A shame. I quite like blow-fish. I am Poseidon.” “Poseidon? That’s an interesting name.”“Yes, I like it. I’ve gone by other names, but I do prefer Poseidon.” “Like the god of the sea.” “Very much like that, yes.”

“Dessa vez, não olhei para trás.”

“Whoa," said Nico as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?""Yeah," I (Percy) said."Why is there lava pouring down it?""Little extra challenge..." - Percy”

“Which reminded me...I still owed the gods a debt."You're a genius," I (Percy) told Annabeth.”

“I sat up in bed. "What did he say?"Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. "The happy man said...bowling practice?"I hoped he was right, but then there was an urgent knock on the suite's interior door. Annabeth stuck her head in--her blonde hair in a rat's nest. "DISEMBOWLING practice?”

“Okay," Annabeth said. "What exactly do you smell?""Something bad," Tyson answered."Great," Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up.”

“Percy, we're going to Polyphemus' island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k...a C-y-k..." She stamped her foot in frustration. As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. We could've been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops. "You know what I mean!”

“Annabeth:My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris. Percy: the brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?Annabeth:No, Seaweed Brain. That's HUMMUS. hubris is worse.Percy: what could be worse than hummus? Annabeth: Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else... Even the gods.”

“Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really IS messed up? What if we COULD Do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework.'m listening. Annabeth: I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did--that's why the fire is still burning. That's why OlympusIs still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Luke does: 'If I could tear this all down, i would do it better.'. Don't you ever feel that way? Like YOU could do a better job I'd you ran the world?Percy:Um...no. Me running the world would be kind of a nightmare. Annabeth: then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw.Percy: what is?Annabeth: I don't know, Percy, but every hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it...well, they don't call it 'fatal' for nothing. Percy(thinking to himself): I thought about that. It didn't exactly cheer me up.”

“Perseus, you are not the hero.”

“The old women only stuck around this long out of a sense of duty. Your mom was the same way. That's why I loved her. She put her duty first, ahead of evverything.”

“Tipični pozdrav tvog tipičnog kentaura na tipičnom odlasku iz ljetnog kampa.”

“I tried to smile like I wasn't about to die.”

“He could't have survied a hundred foot drop. I'm sorry Annabeth.”

“Apollo is hot''He's the sun god.''That's not what I meant”

“Burrito fight!”

“Poseidon grinned. "You're doing well with those new cabins, by the way. I suppose this means I can claim all those other sons and daughters of mine and send you some siblings next summer.""Ha-ha."Poseidon reeled in his empty line.I shifted my feet. "Um, you were kidding, right?"Poseidon gave me one of his inside-joke winks, and I still didn't know whether he was serious or not. ”

“You saved the world," annabeth said."We saved the world.""And Rachel is the new Oracle, which means she won't be dating anybody.""You don't sound disappointed," I noticed.Annabeth shrugged. "Oh, I don't care.""Uh-huh."She raised an eyebrow. "You got something to say to me, Seaweed Brain?""You'd probably kick my butt.""You know I'd kick your butt."I brushed the cake off my hands. "When I was at the River Styx, turning invulnerable . . . Nico said I had to concentrate on one thing that kept me anchored to the world, that made me want to stay mortal."Annabeth kept her eyes on the horizon. "Yeah?""Then up on Olympus," I said, "when they wanted to make me a god and stuff, I kept thinking—""Oh, you so wanted to.""Well, maybe a little. But I didn't, because I thought—I didn't want things to stay the same for eternity, becausethings could always get better. And I was thinking . . ." My throat felt really dry."Anyone in particular?" Annabeth asked, her voice soft.I looked over and saw that she was trying not to smile."You're laughing at me," I complained."I am not!""You are so not making this easy."Then she laughed for real, and she put her hands around my neck. "I am never, ever going to make things easy foryou, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it."When she kissed me, I had the feeling my brain was melting right through my body. I could've stayed that way forever, except a voice behind us growled, "Well, it's about time!"Suddenly the pavilion was filled with torchlight and campers. Clarisse led the way as the eavesdroppers charged and hoisted us both onto their shoulders."Oh, come on!" I complained. "Is there no privacy?""The lovebirds need to cool off!" Clarisse said with glee."The canoe lake!" Connor Stoll shouted. and they dumped us in the water.”

“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.”

“When Luke had descended into the River Styx, he would've had to focus on something important that would hold him to his mortal life. Otherwise he would've dissolved. I had seen Annabeth, and I had a feeling he had too. He had pictured that scene Hestia showed me—of himself in the good old days with Thalia and Annabeth, when he promised they would be a family. Hurting Annabeth in battle had shocked him into remembering that promise. It had allowed his mortal conscience to take over again, and defeat Kronos. His weak spot—his Achilles heel—had saved us all”

“I turned and faced the Olympians."We need a shroud," I announced, my voice cracking. "A shroud for the son of Hermes.”

“Luke gazed at Annabeth. "You knew. I almost killed you, but you knew . . .""Shhh." Her voice trembled. "You were a hero at the end, Luke.”

“Luke's left side was bloody. His eyes were open—blue eyes, the way they used to be. His breath was a deep rattle. "Good . . . blade," he croaked.”

“Blood trickled from the corner of her (Annabeth) mouth. She croaked, "Family, Luke. You promised."Luke stared at the knife in Annabeth's hand, the blood on her face. "Promise." Then he gasped like he couldn't get air. "Annabeth . . ." But it wasn't the Titan's voice. It was Luke's. He stumbled forward like he couldn't control his own body. "You're bleeding. . . ." He gasped again."He's changing. Help. He's . . . he's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please—""The knife, Percy," Annabeth muttered. Her breath was shallow. "Hero . . . cursed blade . . ."Luke turned and collapsed, clutching his ruined hands."Please, Percy . . ."Luke seemed to know what I was thinking. He moistened his lips. "You can't . . . can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can . . . can keep him controlled."I raised the knife to strike. Then I looked at Annabeth, at Grover. And I finally understood what she'd been trying to tell me. You are not the hero, Rachel had said. It will affect what you do. The line from the great prophecy echoed in my head: A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. My whole world tipped upside down,and I gave the knife to Luke.I watched as Luke grasped the hilt he stabbed himself”

“Is Tyson okay?" I asked.The question seemed to take my dad by surprise. He's fine. Doing much better than I expected. Though "peanut butter" is a strange battle cry."You let him fight?"Stop changing the subject! You realize what you are asking me to do? My palace will be destroyed."And Olympus might be saved."Do you have any idea how long I've worked on remodeling this palace? The game room alone took six hundred years."Dad—"Very well! It shall be as you say. But my son, pray this works."I am praying. I'm talking to you, right?"Oh . . . yes. Good point.”

“I stared at her. Maybe I wasn't the brightest guy in the world when it came to girls, but I was pretty sure Rachel had just dumped me, which was lame considering we'd never even been together.”

“Then something occurred to me."Get closer," I told Blackjack.He whinnied in protest."Just within shouting distance," I said. "I need to talk to the statue."Now I'm sure you've lost it, boss, Blackjack said”

“I was flying right toward him (the pig) at the speed of demigod-smashing.”

“So," Annabeth said, "are you going to argue about me coming along?""Nah. You'd just beat me up." Percy said.She managed a laugh, which was good to hear”

“Patterns repeat themselves in history”

“The Minotaur unstrapped his axe and swung it around. It was beautiful in a harsh I’m~going~togut~you~like~a~fish kind of way. Each of its twin blades was shaped like an omega: Ω—the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Maybe that was because the axe would be the last thing his victims ever saw”

“Whoa," Connor Stoll said. "Back up. Zoom in right there.""What?" Annabeth said nervously. "You see invaders?""No, right there—Dylan's Candy Bar." Connor grinned at his brother. "Dude, it's open. And everyone is asleep. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?""Connor!" Katie Gardner scolded. She sounded like her mother, Demeter. "This is serious. You are not going to loot a candy store in the middle of a war!""Sorry," Connor muttered, but he didn't sound very ashamed.”

“Percy Jackson," Hermes said, "because you have taken on the curse of Achilles, I must spare you. You are in the hands of the Fates now. But you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed, how much—"His voice broke, and he shrank back to human size. "My son, my greatest pride . . . my poor May . . ."He sounded so devastated I didn't know what to say. One minute he was ready to vaporize us. Now he looked like he needed a hug.”

“Annabeth came up to me. She was dressed in black camouflage with her Celestial bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder—ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.”

“I looked down at my clothes. They were slashed to pieces and full of bullet holes, but I was fine. Not a mark on me.Nico's mouth hung open. "You just . . . with a sword . . . you just—""I think the river thing worked," I said."Oh gee," he said sarcastically. "You think?”

“Thanks for not freaking out," I said."Oh, I'm freaking out," Paul promised, his eyes wide. "I just think it's awesome!”

“Paul patted Mrs. O'Leary's snout. The living room shook —BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—which either meant a SWAT team was breaking down the door or Mrs. O'Leary was wagging her tail.I couldn't help but smile.”

“Hestia shook her head. "I am here because when all else fails, when all the other mighty gods have gone off to war, I am all that's left. Home. Hearth. I am the last Olympian”

“I tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were in the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before. Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus.Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were on our own with a spy in our midst.Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, I was going to die when I turned sixteen—which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.”

“Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch.from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a massive fireball ofgreen flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything....I stared out the window into deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall. He had a girlfriend, lots of friends, his whole life ahead of him. He couldn't be gone.”

“One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go." He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid—Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world. Then he threw me another essential tool of demigod heroes—duct tape”

“When they ran up to him, Percy said, 'Hey,' like they were just meeting for lunch or something.'You're alive!' Frank marveled.Percy frowned. 'The fall? That was nothing. I fell twice that far from the St. Louis Arch.''You did what?' Hazel asked.”

“Dreams like podcast. Downloading truth in my ears. They tell me cool stuff.”