“Annabeth Thalia and I hadn't seen each other in months but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do we were too nervous to talk much. Except for my mom. She talks more when she's nervous. By the time we finally got to Westover Hall it was getting dark and she'd told Annabeth and Thalia every embarrassing baby story there was to tell about me.”

“Dance you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there." I looked nervously at Annabeth, then at the groups of girls who were roaming the gym. "Well?" Annabeth asked. "Um, who should I ask?"She punched me in the gut. "Me, Seaweed Brain." "Oh. Oh right.”

“Percy (talking about Annabeth):"I found myself staring at her, which was stupid since I'd seen her a billion times. Still, she seemed so much more mature. It was kind of intimidating. I mean, sure, she'd always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful.”

“Annabeth, thank goodness, would be staying in New York. She'd gotten permission from her parentsto attend a boarding school in the city so she could be close to Olympus and oversee the rebuildingefforts."And close to me?" I asked."Well, someone's got a big sense of his own importance." But she laced her fingers through mine. Iremembered what she'd told me in New York, about building something permanent, and I thought—justmaybe—we were off to a good start.”

“Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge."We stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like fleas.The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling—not in words I could understand, but it was obvious they hated this dam blocking up their nice river. Our canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake from the dam's discharge vents."Seven hundred feet tall," I said. "Built in the 1930s.""Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said.Graver sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."Zoe stared at us. "How do you know all that?""Annabeth," I said. "She liked architecture.""She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said."Spouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled. "So annoying.""I wish she were here," I said.”

“She studied me with concern. She touched the new streak of gray in my hair that matched hers exactly—our painful souvenir from holding Atlas's burden. There was a lot I'd wanted to say to Annabeth, but Athena had taken the confidence out of me. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.I do not approve of your friendship with my daughter."So," Annabeth said. "What did you want to tell me earlier?"The music was playing. People were dancing in the streets. I said, "I, uh, was thinking we got interrupted at Westover Hall. And… I think I owe you a dance."She smiled slowly. "All right, Seaweed Brain."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.”

“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.”