Rick Riordan

“If you've ever tried ba travel, I wouldn't recommend it-- unless of course you fancy turning into a phantom chicken and rafting uncontrollably through the currents of the Duat.”

“Let me get this straight. Your table ran away because you polished it with Windex?”

“Oh...my...god,"Drew whimpered."Who..."Anubis ignored her (bless him for that) and held out his elbow for me - a sweet old-fashioned gesture." May I have this dance?""I suppose," I said,as non committally as I could. I looped my arm through his, and we left the Plastic Bags behind us, all of them muttering,"Oh my god! Oh my god!"No ,actually, I wanted to say. He's my amazingly hot boy god. Find your own.”

“Whoa, boy, he told himself. Golden Rule for Demigods: Thou shalt not Hokey Pokey with psychos.”

“Run!” Piper said.“We are running!” Jason picked up the speed.“Run better!” Leo shouted.”

“Leo felt trapped. He’d once been stuck in a cave on top of Pikes Peak, surrounded by a pack of werewolves. Another time he’d been stuck in an abandoned factory with a family of evil Cyclopes. But this—standing in an open clearing with a dozen pretty girls—was much worse.”

“Hello!” The girl in the blood-red dress beamed at Leo. “Are you Dionysus?”There was only one answer to that.“Yes!” Leo yelped. “Absolutely. I am Dionysus.”

“Just because I’m Native American doesn’t mean I can track furniture through the wilderness.” She deepened her voice: “‘Yes, kemosabe. A three-legged table passed this way an hour ago.’ Heck, I don’t know.”

“Leo gestured to the empty core. “The syncopator goes here. It’s a multi-access gyro-valve to regulate flow. The dozen glass tubes on the outside? Those are filled with powerful, dangerous stuff. That glowing red one is Lemnos fire from my dad’s forges. This murky stuff here? That’s water from the River Styx. The stuff in the tubes is going to power the ship, right? Like radioactive rods in a nuclear reactor. But the mix ratio has to be controlled, and the timer is already operational.”Leo tapped the digital clock, which now read 65:15. “That means without the syncopator, this stuff is all going to vent into the chamber at the same time, in sixty-five minutes. At that point, we’ll get a very nasty reaction.”Jason and Piper stared at him. Leo wondered if he’d been speaking English. Sometimes when he was agitated he slipped into Spanish, like his mom used to do in her workshop. But he was pretty sure he’d used English.”

“The waiter brought fresh-baked bread and cheese, a bottle of sparkling water for Annabeth, and a Coke with ice for me (because I’m a barbarian).”

“I don’t leave her speechless very often. I have to enjoy those rare moments.”

“Was that amazing?” she demanded.“That was amazing,” I agreed. It’s hard to pull off a romantic kiss when you’re both drenched in muck, but we gave it our best shot.”

“I smiled at the giant. “Actually, Cacus, I have another secret weapon.”The giant’s eyes lit up with greed. “Another weapon? I will steal it! I will copy it and sell the knockoffs for a profit! What is this secret weapon?”“Her name is Annabeth,” I said. “And she’s one of a kind.”

“My girlfriend: sophomore honors student, demigod, and—oh, yeah—head architect for redesigning the palace of the gods on Mount Olympus in her spare time.”

“She was beautiful in combat. I know that’s a crazy thing to say, especially after we’d just climbed a sewage waterfall, but her gray eyes sparkled when she was fighting for her life. Her face shone like a goddess’s, and believe me, I’ve seen goddesses. The way her Camp Half-Blood beads rested against her throat—Okay, sorry. Got a little distracted.”

“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.”

“I turned to Annabeth and shook my head in exasperation. “Always Hercules. What is it with Hercules?”Annabeth shrugged. “He had a great publicist.”

“Cacus.” I’d had years of practice looking dumb when people threw out Greek names I didn’t know. It’s a skill of mine. Annabeth keeps telling me to read a book of Greek myths, but I don’t see the need. It’s easier just to have folks explain stuff.”

“I gave her a smile that I hoped conveyed something like: Hey, you know I’m on your side. Gods are such jerks! But what can you do?Probably my expression actually conveyed: It’s not my fault! Please do not kill me!”

“I could hear hopefulness in her voice, but also doubt. She was waiting for me to admit the obvious: I’d forgotten. I was toast. I was boyfriend roadkill.”

“Annabeth and I were relaxing on the Great Lawn in Central Park when she ambushed me with a question.“You forgot, didn’t you?”I went into red-alert mode. It’s easy to panic when you’re a new boyfriend. Sure, I’d fought monsters with Annabeth for years. Together we’d faced the wrath of the gods. We’d battled Titans and calmly faced death a dozen times. But now that we were dating, one frown from her and I freaked. What had I done wrong?I mentally reviewed the picnic list: Comfy blanket? Check. Annabeth’s favorite pizza with extra olives? Check. Chocolate toffee from La Maison du Chocolat? Check. Chilled sparkling water with twist of lemon? Check. Weapons in case of sudden Greek mythological apocalypse? Check.So what had I forgotten?I was tempted (briefly) to bluff my way through. Two things stopped me. First, I didn’t want to lie to Annabeth. Second, she was too smart. She’d see right through me.So I did what I do best. I stared at her blankly and acted dumb.”

“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.”

“I can try to disable it," I said, "but if I mess up, this whole apartment is going to fill with gas. We'll die."Thalia swallowed. " I trust you. Just... don't mess it up.”

“My stomach churned. The monster had mimicked Thalia perfectly. If I'd heard that voice in the dark, calling for help, I would've run straight toward it.”

“You sure about this?" I asked Thalia. She turned to me. "Amaltheia leads me to good things. The last time she appeared, she led me to you."The compliment warmed me like a cup of hot chocolate. I'm a sucker that way. Thalia can flash those blue eyes, give me one kind word, and she can get me to do pretty much whatever.”

“Far below, I heard Cacus bellowing as millions, maybe even thousands of filthy gallons of water slammed into him. Meanwhile, Annabeth alternately shouted, gagged, hit me, called me endearing pet names like, "Idiot! Stupid--dirty--moron--" and topped it all off with "Kill you!”

“Great. I've made a friend.”

“Piper to Drew:P: In case youthink Im not a true Daughter of Aphrodite dont even look at Jason Grace. He may not know it yet but he’s mine. If you even try to make a move, I will load you into a catapult and shoot you across Long Island Sound.”

“When in doubt, start from the top.-Jason Grace”

“Now, leave." All three boys slumped forward. Percy fell face-first into his pizza. "Percy!" Annabeth grabbed him.”

“Lord Bacchus, do you remember me? I helped you with that missing leopard in Sonoma." Bacchus scratched his stubbly chin. "Ah... yes. John Green." "Jason Grace.""Whatever," the god said.”

“Its our loot. If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver”

“If you don't like it you can kiss my quiver”

“Bes had indeed put on his ugly outfit. He climbed onto the roof of the limbo and stood there, legs planted, arms akimbo, like superman-exept with only the underwear.I wasn't sure what to say except: "Put some clothes on!""These children are under my protection," Bes insisted."I don't know you," I said, "I never met you before today.""Nonsense. You expressly asked for my attention.""I didn't ask for the Speedo Patrol!”

“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.”

“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.”

“For the rest of my life I would be thinking about her. She would always be my biggest WHAT IF.”

“It knew that the earth goddess intended on razing all human civilization, and this city, which had stood ffor thousands of years, was saying back to her: You wanna dissolve this city, Dirt Face? Give it a shot.”

“They kidded him, calling him Admiral, but for once Le accepted the title. This was his ship. He hadn't come this far to be stopped.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 to wreak havoc on Gaea? leo would be happy to oblige. He was going to make Gaea sorry she ever messed with Leo Valdez."Yeah," He took once last look at the cityscape of Rome, turning bloodred in the sunset. "Festus, raise the sails. We've got some friends to save.”

“Nico leaned over the edge o the chasm, thrusting out his hand, but he was much too far away to help. Hazel was yelling for the others, but even if they heard her over the chaos, they'd never make it in time.Annabeth's leg felt like it was pulling free of her body. Pain washed everything in red. The force of the Underworld tugged at her like dark gravity. She didn't have the strength to fight. She knew she was too far down to be saved."Percy, let me go," she croaked. "You can't pull me up."His face was white with effort. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless."Never," he said. He looked up at Nico, fifteen feet above. "The other side, Nico We'll see you there. Understand?" Nico's eyes widened. "But-""Lead them there!" Percy shouted. "Promise me!" "I- will."Below them, the voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess.Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her, she thought he had never been more handsome."We're staying together," he promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."Only then did she understand what would happen. A oneway trip. A very hard fall."As long as we're together," she said.She heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help. She saw the sunlight far, far above- maybe the last sunlight she would ever see.Then Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness.”

“Are you the cursed kid Nemesis mentioned?" Leo asked. "But you're a girl." "You're a girl," said the girl."Excuse me?”

“He told me he wouldn't hurt... Charlie. He lied to me.”

“Boy," Annabeth interrupted, "I'm sure you both would've been wonderful at killing each other. But right now you need some rest.”

“Aphrodite," she said."Venus?" Hazel asked in amazement."Mom," Piper said, with no enthusiasm.”

“Gods forbid if she ever broke up with him. She'd never be able to visit the sea again without remembering her broken heart.Annabeth about Percy”

“You sure you're not a Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?”

“Annabeth recognized something else in her face, too - in the hard set of her mouth and the deliberate way she raised her chin like she was ready to accept any challenge. Reyna was forcing a look of courage, while holding back a mixture of hopefulness and worry and fear that she couldn't show in public.Annabeth knew that expression. She saw it every time she looked in a mirror.”

“Entertain me, heroes of Olympus. Give me a reason to do more."Bacchus to Percy and Jason”

“Piper went a little crazy. She cried out with relief and dove straight into the water.What was she thinking? She didn't take a rope or a life vest or anything. But at the moment, she was just so happy that she paddled over to Leo and kissed him on the cheek, which kind of surprised him."Miss me?" Leo laughed.Piper was suddenly furious. "Where were you? How are you guys alive?" "Long story," he said. A picnic basket bobbed to the surface next to him. "Want a brownie?”

“It was if the city knew about Percy's dream of Gaea. It knew that the earth goddess intended on razing all human civilization, and this city, which had stood for thousands if years, was saying back at her: You wanna dissolve this city, Dirt Face? Give it a shot.In other words, it was the Coach Hedge of mortal cities- only taller.”