“Either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up on enough caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo.”

“I held out a lead figurine of Hades—the little Mythomagic statue Nico had abandoned when he fled camp last winter.Nico hesitated. "I don’t play that game anymore. It’s for kids.""It’s got four thousand attack power," I coaxed."Five thousand," Nico corrected. "But only if your opponent attacks first."I smiled. "Maybe it’s okay to still be a kid once in a while.”

“Sugar and caffeine. My willpower crumbled.”

“Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!”

“Grover started to sniffle and I figured if I didn't cheer him up he'd either start bawling or chewing up my mattress. He tends to eat household objects whenever he gets upset.”

“Khufu carefully picked out everything that ended with-o—Doritos, Oreos, and some chunks of meat. Buffalo? Armadillo? I was scared to even ask.”

“Everybody was patting Nico on the back, complimenting him on his fighting. Even the Ares kids thought he was pretty cool. Hey, show up with an army of undead warriors to save the day, and suddenly you're everybody's best friend.”