“Doughboy, we need to talk.”Doughboy opened his wax eyes. “Finally! You realize how stuffy it is in there? At last you’ve remembered that you need my brilliant guidance.”“Actually we need to become a coat.”

“We need music," Nico said. "How's your singing?""Um, no. Can't you just, like, tell it to open? You're the son of Hades and all.""It's not so easy. We need music."I was pretty sure if I tried to sing, all I would cause was an avalanche.”

“Who are you?" he asked."I'm a shabti, of course!" The figurine rubbed his dented head. He still looked quite lumpish, only now he was a living lump. "Master calls me Doughboy, though I find the name insulting. You may call me Supreme-Force-Who-Crushes-His-Enemies!”

“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!”

“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.”

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

“I need to talk to Clarisse," Annabeth said.I stared at her as if she'd just said "I need to eat a large, smelly boot.""What for?”