“I want to build some thing permanent.”

“I remembered what she'd told me in New York, about building something permanent, and I thought - just maybe - we were off to a good start.”

“But she laced her fingers through mine. I remember what she’d told me in New York, about building something permanent, and I thought-just maybe-we were off to a good start.”

“I want some time without you organic life forms.”

“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.”

“But she wondered why beautiful things had to be wrapped up with evil history. Or was it the other way around? Maybe the evil history made it necessary to build beautiful things, to mask the darker aspects.”

“There’s nothing here,” Carter said.“What do you want?” I asked. “We’ve got wax, some toilet papyrus, an ugly statue.”